Springerle season: Suburban bakers keep centuries-old tradition alive
As a young boy in Germany, Herb Schwartz worked dough into intricate, hand-carved wooden molds to create a shortbread-type cookie called springerle. The crisp, anise-flavored cookies depicting St. Nicholas, wreaths or horse-drawn sleighs were a favorite at holiday time.
That baking tradition continues today at Herb's Bakery in Elgin, where bakers will create hundreds of these special cookies for holiday platters and celebrations.
"We have a small clientele who remember these as children, or their children remember them," says Schwartz's daughter, Wendy Wessel.
The springerle tradition predates her customers and her late father (he passed away 11 years ago) by several centuries.
Springerle cookies were first made by Germanic tribes during the annual celebration of winter solstice, according to www.cookiemold.com. The first molds were made out of clay and date back to the 14th century. Later, craftsman carved molds from wood. The cookies can be small enough to be enjoyed in a couple of bites or as large as a personal pizza.
These "picture cakes" were pressed out on rectangular or circular molds depicting images of horses, the sacred animal of these tribes. The dough cures several hours or overnight, allowing the detailed images to set before being baked in a low oven.
Some culinary historians believe that the name "springerle" comes from a German dialect meaning "jumping horse." Others have suggested the term refers to the fact that the cookies seem to "spring up" as they bake.
Eventually, images from everyday life including births, weddings and holidays came to be portrayed in the molds. When Dec. 25 was incorporated into the Christian calendar, picture cakes began depicting biblical images, according to www.godecookery.com.
While not initially a baker, Sherry Kallas of Winfield has become enamored of springerle molds.
"I had never seen anything like these," she says. "It's an art that's going away."
But not if Sherry Kallas and her husband Bill have anything to say about it. Bill Kallas' late wife, Caroline, collected the molds and later turned the hobby into a business selling antique reproduction molds from Switzerland. Bill Kallas, former Oakbrook Terrace mayor, sold the business, House-on-the-Hill, in 2002, a few years after Caroline's death -- a decision he says he soon regretted.
Sherry and Bill have recently re-entered the springerle business, selling the replica resin molds at www.KallasHouse.com.
"We have at our disposal almost 1,000 molds," Bill Kallas says. He and Sherry travel to the Swiss manufacturer to select designs. Popular holiday themes include a Nativity scene, a Christmas tree with toys, angels of all sizes and children playing in the snow.
In days gone by, European nobility exchanged the cookies instead of greeting cards, Kallas says.
The dough is made from flour, eggs and sugar and flavored with anise. Modern versions swap lemon, cardamom or liqueurs for the anise. The molds can even be used to create gingerbread cookies.
"Some people get turned off by the anise and don't even try them, which is sad," Wessel says. "It's not a heavy licorice flavor. They're nice to dunk into hot toddies or coffee."
Sherry Kallas says she's tried several dough variations and different techniques, sometime unsuccessfully. After watching the women at Grace United Methodist Church in downstate Pekin make thousands of cookies earlier this season, she believes she knows the tricks.
"I wasn't mixing the eggs long enough," she says. Nor was she working the dough into the molds properly.
"They work with the pressure of their hands, rubbing the dough until it's smooth as a baby's bottom," she says, moving her hand in a circular motion.
Sherry Kallas says she likes decorating the cookies with edible paints and dusts and presenting them as gifts and ornaments. She says the molds can even be used with bake-able clay and papers to produce an endless array of crafts.
Springerle
4 eggs
2 cups sugar
4-6 drops of anise oil or 1 teaspoon anise extract
¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
3¾ cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
Lightly grease cookie sheets.
In large bowl, beat eggs on high until very thick, about 15 minutes. Gradually add sugar, beating well after each addition. Continue beating 10 minutes. Beat in anise and vanilla. Stir in remaining ingredients until well combined.
On floured surface, roll dough to ½-inch thickness. Use palm of hand to smooth dough surface. Dust dough with flour. With springerle mold or rolling pin, press designs into dough. Remove excess flour from the design with a soft pastry brush or paint brush. Cut cookies along design lines and place on prepared cookie sheet. Cover with a cloth and let stand 8 hours or overnight to set design.
Heat oven to 375 degrees.
Place cookies in oven and immediately decrease temperature to 300 degrees. Bake 10-15 minutes or until set. Immediately remove from cookie sheet and let cool. Store in air-tight containers.
Makes 48 cookies.
Nutrition values per serving: 60 calories, .5 g fat (0 saturated), 14 g carbohydrates, 0 fiber, 2 g protein, 20 mg cholesterol, 30 mg sodium.
Gingerbread Springerle
½ cup butter
½ cup brown sugar, firmly packed
½ cup molasses
1 egg
3½ cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground ginger
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
½ cup buttermilk
Grease cookie sheets.
In a large bowl, cream butter; gradually add sugar beating until light and fluffy. Add molasses and egg, mixing well.
In another bowl, combine flour, baking powder, soda, salt, and spices, mixing well. Add to creamed mixture alternately with buttermilk beginning and ending with flour mixture. Shape into a ball; cover and chill 2 hours.
Roll dough to ¼-inch thickness on a lightly floured surface. Dust dough with flour. With a springerle mold or rolling pin, press designs into dough. Remove excess flour from designs with a soft pastry brush or paint brush. Cut cookies along design lines and place on prepared cookie sheets. Cover with a cloth and let stand 8 hours or overnight to set design.
Bake at 375 degrees for 10 minutes. Remove to wire racks to cool.
Makes 36 cookies.
Nutrition values per serving: 100 calories, 3 g fat (2 g saturated), 16 g carbohydrates, 0 fiber, 2 g protein, 15 mg cholesterol, 75 mg sodium.
"Christmas Cookies" (1986 Oxmoor House)
Lemon Springerle
3 large eggs
1½ cups sugar
1¼ teaspoon grated lemon peel
½ teaspoon lemon extract
About 2¼ cups all-purpose flour
teaspoon baking powder
Grease cookie sheets.
Beat eggs at medium speed of an electric mixer until thick and lemon colored; gradually add sugar and continue beating 5 minutes. Add lemon peel, baking powder and enough flour to make a soft dough beating well. Chill dough at least 3 hours.
Let dough stand at room temperature for 15 minutes. Turn dough out onto a floured surface and roll dough to ¼-inch thickness using a regular rolling pin. Dust dough with flour and with a springerle mold or rolling pin, press designs into the dough. Remove excess flour from designs with a soft pastry brush or paint brush. Cut cookies along design lines and place on prepared cookie sheets. Cover cookies with a paper towel and let stand in a cool, dry place about 12 hours to set the design.
Bake at 300 degrees for 15 minutes or until light yellow but not golden. Cool on wire racks. Store in air-tight container
Makes 48 cookies.
Nutrition values per serving: 40 calories, 0 fat (0 saturated), 9 g carbohydrates, 0 fiber, 1 g protein, 15 mg cholesterol, 5 mg sodium.
Southern Living magazine