Why does the recipe take so long (about 13 hours)?

The active work is short, but the dough must stand cold overnight before it is rolled out, cut and baked. Resting makes the dough firmer and easier to work with.

Why does it list both about 800 g and about 600 g of flour?

You work about 600 g of flour into the dough before it is set aside overnight, so you get a suitable dough. The rest of the flour (up to about 800 g total) is used when rolling out and kneading the next day, as needed.

What is baker's ammonia, and how is it used here?

Baker's ammonia is an old leavening agent (hartshorn salt / ammonium carbonate). In this recipe you use 1 teaspoon, dissolved in 1 tablespoon of milk, added to the dough together with the spices and the melted butter.

Which spices give the cookies their flavor?

Pepper, cinnamon, 1/2 tsp cloves, 3 tsp ginger and 1 tsp cardamom, plus 1 tablespoon of grated bitter-orange peel (peel of the bitter Seville orange).

Brown Spice Cookies I (Brune Kaker)

Name: Brown Spice Cookies I (Brune Kaker)
Prep time: 50 min
Cook time: 12 h 10 min
Total time: 13 h
Yield: 60 servings
Cuisine: Norwegian
Ingredients: 500 g syrup (the amount is unclear in the original print); 500 g sugar (the amount is unclear in the original print); 3 pcs eggs (beaten); 250 g butter (melted); 1 tbsp grated bitter-orange peel (can be substituted with orange peel); 1 tsp baker's ammonia (hartshorn salt) (dissolved in 1 tbsp milk); 1 tbsp milk (for the baker's ammonia); 1 tsp pepper; cinnamon (amount not given in the original; about 1 tsp); 0.5 tsp cloves (ground); 3 tsp ginger (ground); 1 tsp cardamom (ground); 800 g all-purpose flour (approx.; about 600 g in the dough, the rest when rolling out); 1 dl lukewarm water

Erken's Brune Kaker I (1914), a Norwegian brown spice cookie: a syrup dough with 1/2 kg syrup, 1/2 kg sugar, 250 g butter, 3 eggs, richly spiced with bitter-orange peel, pepper, cinnamon, cloves, ginger and cardamom, leavened with baker's ammonia (hartshorn salt), about 800 g flour. The dough rests overnight before it is rolled out, cut into shapes and baked.

Source: Henriette Schønberg Erken, Stor kokebok, 1914-utg. s. 553 (falt i det fri)

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About the dish

From the "Baking" chapter of Henriette Schønberg Erken's "Stor kokebok" (1914), among the brown syrup cookies and Christmas cookies. Baker's ammonia (hartshorn salt) was the usual leavening agent in brown cookies.

How to make it

1
Combine syrup and sugar
Mix the syrup and sugar together thoroughly in a roomy mixing bowl.
2
Add liquid, eggs and spices
Stir in the lukewarm water, the beaten eggs, the spices (bitter-orange peel, pepper, cinnamon, cloves, ginger and cardamom) and the melted butter.
3
Leavening
Dissolve the baker's ammonia in 1 tbsp milk and stir it into the dough.
4
Work in the flour
Sift in enough flour, about 600 g, so the dough becomes suitably firm. Cover and let the dough stand in a cool place overnight.
5
Roll out and cut
Roll the dough out thinly on a floured surface and cut out cookies.
6
Baking
Bake the cookies a nice brown on a greased sheet at 190–200 °C (390 °F) for 6–8 minutes. Cool on a rack.

Changes from the original

The amounts of syrup and sugar are unclear in the OCR text and have been interpreted as 1/2 kg of each. Measures are converted to modern units (dl, tsp, tbsp), and baker's ammonia is kept (it can be replaced with an equal amount of baking powder + baking soda). The flour is given as "approx." since the original uses about 600 g in the dough and the rest when rolling out.

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Tidsmaskin – hva endret seg?

Velg to utgaver og se hva Henriette Schønberg Erken la til, fjernet eller endret mellom dem.

Fra1914 1949 Modernisert

Til1914 1949 Modernisert

1914 (korrekturlest, s. 553) → 1949 (korrekturlest, s. 644)~42% av teksten endretfjernetlagt til

½ ¾ kg. sirup ½ ¾ kg. sukker 3 egg ¼ ¾ kg. smør 1 ~~spiseske~~ spiseskje revet ~~pommeransskal~~ pomeransskall 1 ~~teske hjortetaksalt~~ teskje hjortetakksalt 1 ~~teske~~ — pepper ¾ — kanel ~~½ teske~~ ¾ — nellik 3 ~~teskeer~~ teskjeer ingefær 1 ~~teske~~ teskje kardemomme ca. 800 gr. hvetemel 1 del. lunkent ~~vand.~~ vann. Sirup og sukker blandes, ~~tilsættes~~ tilsettes det lunkne ~~vand,~~ vann, de vispede egg, ~~krydderierne,~~ krydderiene, det smeltede smør, ~~hjortetaksaltet,~~ hjortetakksaltet, utrørt i 1 ~~spiseske~~ spiseskje melk, og ~~saa~~ så meget av det ~~sigtede~~ siktede mel, ca. 600 gr., at man ~~faar~~ får en passende deig til ~~at sætte~~ å sette bort natten over. Utkjevles, utstikkes og stekes pent brune.

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Frequently asked questions

Why does the recipe take so long (about 13 hours)?: The active work is short, but the dough must stand cold overnight before it is rolled out, cut and baked. Resting makes the dough firmer and easier to work with.
Why does it list both about 800 g and about 600 g of flour?: You work about 600 g of flour into the dough before it is set aside overnight, so you get a suitable dough. The rest of the flour (up to about 800 g total) is used when rolling out and kneading the next day, as needed.
What is baker's ammonia, and how is it used here?: Baker's ammonia is an old leavening agent (hartshorn salt / ammonium carbonate). In this recipe you use 1 teaspoon, dissolved in 1 tablespoon of milk, added to the dough together with the spices and the melted butter.
Which spices give the cookies their flavor?: Pepper, cinnamon, 1/2 tsp cloves, 3 tsp ginger and 1 tsp cardamom, plus 1 tablespoon of grated bitter-orange peel (peel of the bitter Seville orange).

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