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  • Writer's pictureLaurane

Bredle - traditional Alsacian Christmas cookies



I grew up by the sea, on the Aquitaine coast. However, I was influenced by culinary traditions originating 900 km away from La Rochelle. My mother, born in Lorraine, is an excellent cook, so I grew up with the best baeckeoffe, choucroutes or flammekueches. However, today I would like to talk about a tradition that is very present in my family: the bredle tradition. This tradition is about making assortments of cookies for the year-end holidays.


So where exactly did the Bredle come from?


I have done a little digging in order to be able to give you information on the so called bredle's origins, but more importantly to demonstrate that no matter what others might say, bredle (and this also applies to sauerkraut) is not German. Enough joking: the history of the tradition, but also the origin of the recipes, is difficult to establish. According to popular belief, bredle originated with moulds. The bredle would thus have started to appear in the 14th century.


Although I couldn't find many sources to support my point, there is strong evidence of the existence of bredle as far back as the Middle Ages. According to some sources, in 1570, Strasbourg's magistrate banned the St Nicholas market. This prohibition prevented housewives from buying the ingredients needed to make bredle: citrus fruits (oranges, mandarins and lemons) and spices, resulting in violent protests. Bredle can also be found in the Memoirs of the Baroness of Oberkirch - a contemporary of the 18th century) who tells us that they could be bought "on the Christkindelsmärik in Strasbourg" (market of the Infant Jesus).


In the 18th century, the bredle tradition became more widespread. With the advent of the biscuit cutter, the early 19th century witnessed a considerable increase in the production of bredle.


Cooking bredle


The core recipe for all bredle variants is flour, sugar, egg yolk and butter. The bredle are shaped with Christmas cookie cutters, such as Christmas trees, boots, stars or gingerbread men. Traditionally, each recipe is carefully kept in the family and is usually passed on orally.


I really wanted to share with you one of my mom’s recipes. Here is one of the butterbredle. Hope you will enjoy cooking and eating them !



Ingredients:

  • 250 g flour

  • 125 g sugar

  • 125 g softened butter

  • 4 egg yolks

Preparation:

  • Mix sugar, eggs, soft butter and flour together. Once the dough is well kneaded, put it in the fridge for about two hours.

  • Roll out the dough and cut out various shapes with a cookie cutter.

I personally love Christmas tree shapes, it reminds me of Christmases with family in Lorraine.

  • Brown the cakes with a beaten egg yolk.

  • Cook for 10 minutes at 180°C (th.6) on a buttered baking tray.


Alternatives

There are currently as many recipes of Bredle as there are families keeping the tradition, and so there is a wide choice of biscuits to be tasted. Below is a non-exhaustive list of the most common Bredle variations:

  • The Butterbredle, small butter shortbread

  • Lapkueche or Leckerli, gingerbread or spice biscuits

  • The anisbredela, a biscuit with egg white and green aniseed.

  • The Zimtsterne cinnamon stars

  • Schwowebredle, almond cakes – also with hazelnuts or walnuts



Tasting time


The bredle preparation traditionally starts at the end of October - beginning of November during the Altweibersommer (Indian summer). Personally, my mother and I tend to start in the beginning of December. In accordance with tradition, these tasty biscuits must not be eaten before Christmas Eve. I admit that we never wait until Christmas Eve to eat them ; it is too tempting.


Traditionally, until then, the bredle are kept in metal boxes. And so it goes every year, with about twenty metal boxes piling up on my desk.


By tradition, Christkinde (Alsacian for "Infant Jesus ") brings the biscuits, which will be eaten after listening to the Christmas carols and opening the presents. But don't panic, once Christmas Eve is over, every opportunity is seized to eat them: for coffee, as a snack or by offering them in small gift bags.


Bredle can be eaten in any way you like, but the most devoted followers recommend them to be eaten with coffee or during dessert or at snack time with a large glass of mulled wine or milk. The followers of this tradition usually bake around ten kinds of bredle, sometimes more. Yes, my mother is a real competitor. I hope I have made your mouth water. Enjoy your day and see you soon for a new post !



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