Kringle, Mandel Kake and Peppernodder, oh my! Christmas baking is a tradition for many, but no one does it quite like Carol and Monty Liknes of Langford. Carol, raised in a Danish heritage household enjoyed baking with her mother every Christmas season.
She enjoyed learning to make famous desserts, one being Pebbernodder. The best way to describe Pebbernodder would be tiny cookies with lots of spices. Once she married Monty, who is of Norwegian heritage, she had to learn to incorporate all of the yummy Norwegian Christmas goodies in with her already known Danish dishes. When asked what the hardest dish is to make, Carol replied that “The Danish Kringler is the trickiest because of the filling.” Each dish has its own difficulty level, but her favorite would be the Peppernodder. “There are so many spices that go into it, some that you wouldn’t even think of for a dessert cookie,” Carol explained.
The most well-known Norwegian Christmas goodie is of course Lefse. Carol said, “Each year we pick a date for the Lefse making and several family members come to partake. They bring their lefse dough ready to be made and that’s what we make all day.” Monty added that “there’s a process to making good lefse. Frying, using sticks to lay it on a flat surface and then covering it with a sheet, which we call ‘putting it to bed.’” This year they made six batches which is actually 100 pieces of lefse.
You may wonder how they can make so much lefse in one day; the key is having stations. Each person has a job. Rollers, fryers, bagger and taggers. Carol says her favorite part of this whole process is spending time with family and friends. She has many fond memories of baking with her grandchildren, especially her grandchilren Jacob and Emily Palmer.
She recalls a time when Emily wanted an American Girl doll. Her family told her she needed to earn the money herself to purchase it. She had the idea to bake and sell cookies to the employees at Wheat Growers in Langford. It was such a hit that she had to hire her grandma and mom to help her keep up with the demand. She earned more than enough money to purchase the American Girl doll but decided instead to buy an iPad with her hard earned cash.
After learning of Emily’s love for baking and to honor Carol’s mother’s Irish/English heritage, Carol, Erin (her daughter) and Emily decided to enter the yearly Celtic Fair held in Aberdeen. The whole family enjoyed making soda bread together, and always placed in the top three every year. Carol credits that to her secret ingredient, Irish whisky. Monty and his brother-in-law also partook in the contest and won second place to Carol and Emily’s first place win that year. Several memories of family time well spent.
She also doesn’t do this baking just in December. Every year her side of the family gets together during the summer, staying at Roy Lake and celebrating Christmas. “I occasionally make a few Danish goodies for my cousin’s family who vacation each summer at Roy Lake.”
And baking is not where it ends for Carol. She also weaves small paper baskets to disperse her Christmas goodies to friends and family. “I usually sit and weave several paper baskets in the evening so that they are ready for when the baked goods are,” Carol explained.
Several years, with several memories, all that come with unforgettable taste. If you’d like to give the Pebbernodder a try, follow the recipe below.
Danish Pebbernødder
1 cup plus 2 tbsps sugar
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup white corn syrup
1 cup sweet cream
1 egg
1 teaspoon baking powder
4 cups flour
1 heaping teaspoon each of the following spices:
Allspice, Cinnamon, Cloves, Ginger, Mace, Nutmeg, Salt,
1/2 heaping teaspoon each of the following spices: Cardamom, Black Pepper, White Pepper,
Cream the sugar and butter, add syrup, cream and egg. Sift baking powder, flour and spices and mix well. Chill the dough. Working with small portions of dough, roll in long slender lengths, cut in small pieces rotating the dough so one end of the Pebbernødder has a vertical cut and the other end a horizontal cut. Bake 350° about 15 minutes. They will be crunchy not soft.
