There are plenty of Austrian and German food traditions that authenticate and add dimension to any winter party spread.
Viennese Finger Sandwiches
Vienna’s version of fast food, these elegant open-face sandwiches are a lunch staple that come in a variety of tastes and textures. We use whole-grain bread from Amy’s Bread for ours. Perfect for parties of all sizes.
Spicy Egg Spread
Makes 1 cup
5 hard-boiled eggs
t tablespoon mayonnaise
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
8 cornichons
1/2 teaspoon Hungarian sweet paprika
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon drained capers
Puree all ingredients together in a food processor and spread on fingers of bread. Get creative with the toppings. Chef KG likes to add sliced hard-boiled eggs with tiny herb sprigs on top.
Stollen
This traditional German bread-like fruitcake, usually eaten during the holidays, dates back to the 1400s. It contains dried fruit and citrus peels and is usually covered with some form of icing or powdered sugar.
3 cups raisins
4 tablespoons rum
8 cups flour
2 cups lukewarm milk
2 cakes compressed yeast
1 cup sugar
Pinch salt
2 cups butter
3/4 cup ground or chopped almonds
1 cup candied lemon peel, finely diced
Grated zest of 1 lemon
3/4 cup candied orange peel, finely sliced Ground nutmeg
Butter for brushing
Confectioners’ sugar for dusting
Soak the raisins overnight in the rum.
Prepare a yeast dough using the flour, milk, yeast, sugar, salt, and butter. In turn, work the almonds, lemon peel, orange peel, nutmeg, and raisins into the dough, kneading well after the addition of each ingredient. Leave to rest for 1 hour. Then knead the dough again, divide in half, shape into stollen, and bake in a preheated oven at 350°F for 1 hour. While the stolen is still warm, brush it with melted butter and dust thickly with confectioners’ sugar.
