Dominostein

Dominostein: The German Chocolate Cookie

The Dominosteine are a speciality of the festive season, typically sold at the time of Christmas both in the regions of Germany and Austria.

Dominosteine are composed of multiple layers which carry typically an icing of dark chocolate. The base is made up of Lebkuchen and the further layers are composed of jellies which are made using either sour cherries or apricots. An alternative to the jelly can be marzipan or persipan.

The inventor of the Dominostein is considered to be a certain Herbert Wendler from Dresden and it was prepared for the first time in the year 1936.

The Base:

Lebkuchen is used for the base. Typically speaking, it holds similarity with the gingerbread and by itself is a popular Christmas treat. Often otherwise the Lebkuchen is known as the honey cake and its historical roots can be traced back to the time of the Egyptians, Greeks and the Romans. At that point in history, honey was the only sweetener which was available far and wide and was considered as a treat of the deities. Honey was also considered to hold magical and curative properties. Records have also shown that during the time of battles honey cakes were worn by the soldiers as a charm to protect the body from harm.

The Lebkuchen is considered to have been conceived by the monks in Franconia, Germany back in the 13th century. Another document presents a certain time in the year 1487 when Freidrich III had invited his family to a festival which was underway in Reichstag. During this festival, they were presented with the Lebkuchen.

Furthermore, since the year 1809, there have been many varieties of the Lebkuchen in production. However, the main ingredient across has been flour. The other ingredients included – honey and spices such as aniseed, coriander, cloves, ginger, cardamom, and allspice, the nuts included almonds, hazelnuts, and walnuts, or candied fruit. To distinguish the many different varieties of Lebkuchen the one factor that one must keep in mind is the nuts used.

For the purpose of raising the dough salt of hartshorn and potash are also used. Then the prepared dough is on oblates which are a kind of thin wafer. Glazing the dough or covering it with dark chocolate is another typicality associated with the process.

Recipe

The Dominostein is also otherwise known as domino stones. It is a speciality of the Christmas season and is among the cheaper confection items as compared to the others. This was also one of the main reason that Herbert Wendler prepared it in the year 1936. It was meant to appeal everyone, the wider audience. The Dominostein particularly gained prominence after the Second World War when Germany was undergoing shortage of food.

The following recipe will require a total time of 180 minutes and will yield close to 4 dozen cookies.

Ingredients

For the dough

• Honey: 125 grams or ½ c
• Sugar: 125 grams or 10 table spoons or 5/8 c
• Butter: 25 grams or 2 T
• Egg yolk: 1
• Water: 5 T
• Flour: 300 grams or 2 2/5 c.
• Liberkuchen spice mix: 1 T
• Almonds: 50 grams or 2/3 c grounded
• Ammonium carbonate: ½ teaspoon (Food grade)
• Potassium carbonate: ¼ teaspoon (Food grade)

For the filling

• Orange marmalade: 1 c (in the case of unavailability you can also go for apricot jam)
• Almond paste: 150 grams or 6 oz.
• Powdered sugar: 100 grams or 1 c.
• Rum: 2 T (in the case of unavailability you can simply use water)
• For the chocolate coating
• Chocolate coating or couverture: 1 lb.
• Shortening

Preparation

    The layers

Firstly you will be required to take a medium non-stick sized saucepan. Place this saucepan on the heat and add sugar along with honey and butter to it. You will be required to stir by using a light hand until the point the sugar dissolves. When it dissolves, take the saucepan off the heat and allow it to cool down.

Next, in a non-reactive bowl (preferably made of glass or ceramic) add first the egg yolk then add a bit of water and baker’s ammonia. Mix them well. With that done, add the honey mixture into this bowl and mix them carefully. The idea is to combine them properly.

Again, take a completely separate bowl of similar dimensions as above and add flour, grounded almonds and the baker’s potash. Mix them well and now add this mixture into the other bowl. You will be required to knead it till the point the dough becomes tight and soft.

Next, with that done pat the dough into squares measuring seven inches by seven inches and their thickness should ideally be ranging between ¼ and ½ inches. With that settled, place them on a parchment paper and make sure that their edges are straightened out. You can do this by using a knife.

Now, place them in a preheated oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit or 175 degrees Celsius for approximately 25 minutes. The time may vary a bit, but make sure that the squares get set and their colour does not become brown.

With that done, take them out of the oven. When they cool down, take a serrated knife and cut them horizontally and put them on the side for now.

    The Marzipan layer

Take a medium sized bowl made of an unreactive material, preferably glass or ceramic. In this bowl add the almond paste along with powdered sugar. Now, cut them by using a pastry dough cutter. Then you can add the rum or simply water depending upon the availability. Now, mix them together and turn it into a fine, smooth paste.

Next, you will be required to take a wax paper and put the paste on it and roll. You can also use powdered sugar for this purpose if the necessity arises.

    To Assemble the Cake

Firstly, the base or the Lebkuchen has to be prepared. You can also go on and brush its surface with sugar water and some more of the rum. This will make the squares a bit softer. Next, take the marmalade and paste it over the surface of the bottom layer or lebkuchen. Then you can go on and paste the marzipan over the jam. Also, paste the remaining jam on the bottom side of the top most layers and place it neatly over the bottom layer.

You can adjust the placement of the layers and make sure that they have a tight, sandwich like framework. Now, again using the serrated knife you can go on and cut the large cake like framework into squares of one inch. It is also important to note that while cutting make sure that the motion is of that of sawing, this will not allow the larger cake to crumble.

    The chocolate coating

Firstly, take a saucepan and melt the chocolate coating. You can also use shortening to further thin the melted chocolate.

Take one cookie at a time and dip each of them into the melted chocolate. Roll them so that each and every side is covered evenly.

With each of them coated, you can lay them one at a time on a waxed paper and allow them to get dry. They are now ready to be consumed.

The other popular German disserts are as follows:

• Nussecken: It is a kind of shortbread cookie which contains ground hazelnuts that are further cut into triangular pieces and then typically are dipped into liquidised chocolate.
• Aachener Printen: It is a variety of pastry. One of its closest associates is the Lebkuchen. It was originally prepared first in the city of Aachen in Germany and thus the name of the pastry. As far as the production and the usage of the term are concerned, the rights are limited and owned by the city itself. It holds a protected designation and its manufacturing can only be conducted within the city of Aachen.
• Berliner: One of the most popular items of confection in the whole of Germany. The Berliner is similar to a jelly doughnut and is a favourite of many Germans and of people outside Germany as well.
• Bethmännchen    : It is a kind of pastry cookie which is prepared using marzipan, almond, powdered sugar, rosewater, flour and egg. It is a speciality of the festivities around the time of Christmas.
• Bratapfel: It is a simple dessert comprising of baked apples which are cooked in the oven. Bratapfel is traditionally prepared during the winter months, particularly during the Christmas time.
• Bienenstich: It literally means Literally – Bee sting and is a German dessert which is prepared by using sweet yeast dough along with topping that is baked and comprises of caramelised almonds.
• Black Forest cake: This probably the most famous German cake of all time. The Black Forest cake typically comprises of many different layers of chocolate cake which are then stuck together by using whipped cream.
• Buchteln: The    Buchteln are varieties of sweet rolls that are prepared by using the yeast dough. This dough is then further filled with jam, ground poppy seeds or curd.
• Franzbrötchen: It is a kind of small, sweet pastry which is prepared by baking them with butter and cinnamon.
• Gugelhupf: It is a simple marble cake or Bundt cake prepared in the German tradition.
• Germknödel: The Germknoedel comprises of fluffy yeast based dough. Using this dough dumplings are formed and then they are filled by using spicy plum jam and finally served with melted butter and a mix of poppy seeds and usually has a fine layer of sugar on top.
• Garrapinyades: The Garrapinyades comprises of nuts, usually almonds are used that are cooked in a particular way.
• Kuchen: In the German language, the word kuchen is used for the cake.
• Magenbrot    Magenbrot.jpg    small, sweet glazed biscuit that shares many similarities with a gingerbread cookie. Often sold at Christmas market.
• Pfeffernüsse: These are varieties of spiced cookies and are usually available in tiny portions.
• Prinzregententorte: It is a variety of a Bavarian cake which comprises of a minimum of six thin layers of sponge cakes. These layers are then interlaid with chocolate buttercream, with a dark chocolate glaze.
• Spaghettieis: One of the most fascinating German disserts, the Spaghettieis is a kind of German ice cream which is prepared in a manner to resemble the spaghetti.
• Spekulatius: It is a type of spiced shortcrust biscuit which is traditionally prepared by baking. The Spekulatius is generally a speciality of the Christmas season.
• Welfenspeise: It is the famous pudding which comprises of two layers. It is cooked using milk and vanilla sauce.

Zwetschgenkuchen: The Zwetschgenkuchen or plum cake is classified as a kind of sheet cake or pie which is made using yeast dough or shortcrust dough which is thinly spread onto a baking sheet and then covered