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Brown Spice Cookies I (Brune Kaker)

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. 1

    Combine syrup and sugar

    Mix the syrup and sugar together thoroughly in a roomy mixing bowl.

  2. 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. 3

    Leavening

    Dissolve the baker's ammonia in 1 tbsp milk and stir it into the dough.

  4. 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. 5

    Roll out and cut

    Roll the dough out thinly on a floured surface and cut out cookies.

  6. 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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From19141949Modernised
To19141949Modernised
1914 (proofread, p. 553) → Modernised~83% of the text changedremovedadded
½ kg. 500 g sirup ½ kg. (mengden er utydelig i originaltrykket). 500 g sukker (mengden er utydelig i originaltrykket). 3 stk egg ¼ kg. (vispes). 250 g smør (smeltet). 1 spiseske ss revet pommeransskal pomeransskall (kan erstattes med appelsinskall). 1 teske hjortetaksalt ts hjortetakksalt (utrørt i 1 teske pepper ss melk). 1 ss melk (til hjortetakksaltet). 1 ts pepper. kanel ½ teske (mengde ikke oppgitt i originalen; ca. 1 ts). 0,5 ts nellik (malt). 3 teskeer ts ingefær (malt). 1 teske ts kardemomme ca. (malt). 800 gr. g hvetemel (ca.; ca. 600 g i deigen, resten ved utkjevling). 1 del. dl lunkent vand. Sirup vann. Bland sirup og sukker blandes, tilsættes godt sammen i en romslig bakebolle.. Rør inn det lunkne vand, vannet, de vispede egg, krydderierne, eggene, kryddernevnene (pomeransskall, pepper, kanel, nellik, ingefær og kardemomme) og det smeltede smør, hjortetaksaltet, utrørt smøret.. Rør ut hjortetakksaltet i 1 spiseske melk, ss melk og saa meget av bland det sigtede inn i deigen.. Sikt inn så mye mel, ca. 600 gr., g, at man faar en passende deig deigen blir passe fast. Dekk til at sætte bort og la deigen stå kjølig natten over. Utkjevles, utstikkes over.. Kjevle deigen tynt ut på melet bord og stekes stikk ut kaker.. Stek kakene pent brune. brune på smurt plate ved 190–200 °C i 6–8 minutter. Avkjøl på rist.

Note on Modernised

Mengdene for sirup og sukker er utydelige i OCR-teksten og er tolket som ½ kg av hver. Mål er omregnet til moderne enheter (dl, ts, ss), og hjortetakksalt beholdes (kan erstattes med samme mengde bakepulver + natron). Mel oppgis som «ca.», siden originalen bruker ca. 600 g i deigen og resten ved utkjevling.

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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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