Another Christmas tradition (which is also a bit of a European thing in general) is 'piparkukas' - translates as 'pepper cakes' but is gingerbread. My mother never made them because she had a friend who was a master of Latvian baking and we'd always get our supply from her - so I never learned how.
Take 1 : found a recipe online that looked pretty uncomplicated. Got all the ingredients ready, followed the recipe - and ended up with a dry, cracked dough that I knew didn't look like what it should. But I thought 'I've got a dough, let's just whack it in the over and see what happens'.
What happened was not pretty. Or edible.
Take 1 ended up in the bin. My other half apparently saw them there and thought he'd taste. Needless to say, they stayed in the bin!
I belong to the Latvians Living In Australia Facebook group so I put out a call for help and was inundated with recipes. My mission between now and Christmas is to try a different recipe every second day until (fingers crossed!!) I get something that is at least edible, if not pretty.
I also want to tackle stage two - decorating. My bestie has been busily constructing a gingerbread church and I am no compelled to master the art of biscuit icing. I've bought the icing bags and nozzles and I'm ready to get creative - but first I need the biscuits to put my creativity onto.
So, wish me luck in my quest to master piparkukas so I can pass the recipe on to my kids and grandchildren.
This is Andra's last post for 'Romancing The Genres' and she'd love to give you a 'going away' gift. If you'd like a FREE copy of her steamy Christmas book 'Unwrapped' you can download a copy HERE.
4 comments:
What a fun post - at least reading it. And I'm sure becoming a Championship Piparkukas baker has its moments.
Thank you for the Christmas book and for being with us since 2018. You will be missed!
Loved your post! I have had the same problem with recipes from the family cookbook. Never turns out exactly like it should. We'll miss you!
Having a special recipe for your family is wonderful. I admire your desire to master this, however many times it takes. I hope you are able to find the perfect one in time for Christmas.
Take care on whatever the next steps of your writing journey may be.
Andra -best of luck with the recipes. You have more stamina than I do when it comes to baking :-) We'll miss your posts. Hope you come back and visit once in a while.
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