The 6th December is St Nicholas day.
St Nicholas day is a North European tradition - and the origin of our Santa Claus. Legend has it that St Nicholas was a kind and generous older man who would reward well behaved children with mandarins, nuts and sweets. He would come on this day accompanied by his helper, Schmutzli, who was feared by children as he would strike naughty ones with a long whip he carried by his side.So you had the carrot and the stick for childrens' behaviour.'
On St Nicholas day the 'Gritibänz, a sweet bread in the shape of St Nicholas , is made in his honour.
- Ingredients
- 500 gr plain flour
- 40 gr caster sugar
- 300 ml full cream milk
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 2 teaspoon dry yeast
- 60 gr butter
- 1 beaten egg for glazing
- some currants, almonds and 1 date for decoration
pre heat oven to 180˚
put all the dry ingredients into your mixing bowl
lightly heat up the milk and butter
with your dough hook mix everything until nice and smooth
cover the dough and let rest for about 1 1/2 hours until doubled
divide into 3 balls and begin to shape your Gritibänz
use your artistic imagination, you can do anything you like
brush the gritibänz with the beaten egg and bake foe 25 minutes
let them cool on a biscuit track
