Ethan Becker: The Joy of Cooking Christmas Cookies
The Joy of Cooking Christmas Cookies was published when Ethen Beckerupdated his mother and grandmother's cookbook, The Joy of Cooking, in the 90s. Becker included all of his grandmother's German cookie from the first publication and various additions, and added his own recipes. It's compact, but they packed a good overview of Christmas cookies in America into the slim volume.
Personally, I credit the earlier editions of Joy with making some regional German and middle European Christmas cookies better known in America than they are in Germany, outside of their region of origin, particularly Springerle.*
My own favorites are the Mexican wedding cakes, pecan lace, bourbon balls (a version of which my mother has made all my life and is on this site). The recipes are still in the traditional Joy format, with the ingredients interspersed in now-updated directions.
* When we hosted our first German exchange student, there were two other German students in his school. I eagerly baked the students -- who were from Magdeburg, Berlin and Hamburg -- a batch of Springerle, which are a specialty of Stuttgart. It was like serving po' boys to kids who'd grown up eating hoagies and cheesesteaks.
![[Close up of evergreens, January 2011, Copyright Susan J. Talbutt, all rights reserved]](/images/DSCF5158.jpg)
The recipe: Spongecake
This versatile cake can be turned into a Rouladen (aka jelly roll or Swiss roll), the base for a strawberry shortcake, or a fresh fruit tart. Although sponge cake is universal, the Rouladen and fresh fruit tart are, to me, very German. The corn starch makes the cake very tender, and gives it a distinctive taste.
In winter it can be the basis of a jelly roll, and in summer the bottom of a fruit tart. Every February, it becomes the basis of a strawberry shortcake for my brother-in-law, who has always and will always want only a strawberry shortcake for his birthday. It's also great for summer, as it takes 15 minutes or less to bake the cake, keeping your kitchen cooler.