| Dec 01, 2011
Recipe courtesy of Jacqueline Fontaine
350 grams butter
250 grams sugar
5 eggs
2 lemons (rind only)
1 teaspoon baking soda
Pinch of salt
350 grams flour
250 grams raisins (corinto)
250 grams raisins (sultanas)
250 grams mix dried fruits (apricots, peaches, figs etc.)
100 grams chopped walnuts (not ground)
1 or 2 teaspoons spices (cloves, nutmeg and cinnamon)
1 tablespoon milk
1 teaspoon cognac
1. Beat the butter until creamed; add sugar, then eggs, one by one.
2. Add lemon zest, flour, salt and baking soda, spices, milk and cognac. Put a pinch of flour on the nuts and rasins before you add them to the mix.
3. Place the mix in two long buttered molds and bake for one and a half to two hours at 300 degrees Celsius.
4. If the batter starts to get brown early, you can place a sheet of aluminum foil on top of the mold.
5. When ready, brush the cake with cognac and repeat this process every week until Christmas.
Recipe courtesy of Isabelle Wahle
500 grams of plain white flour
150 grams of butter (softened not melted)
250 ml of room lukewarm milk
2 eggs
15 grams of dried yeast
40 grams of castor sugar
One good pinch of salt
One good pinch of cinnamon
100 grams of sultana raisins
100 grams of coarse sugar crystals (optional as not easy to find in Hong Kong)
one egg yolk for brushing at the end (add 2 Tbsp of milk and a bit of sugar)
1.In a big bowl, combine flour, salt, sugar and cinnamon. Make a well in the flour.
2. Dissolve the yeast in 50 ml of lukewarm milk. Pour the yeast in the well and start stirring with a spoon, add the rest of the milk, and the two eggs.
3. Work the mixture and gradually add in the butter. Turn the dough onto a flour board and knead until the dough no longer sticks to the work surface. The dough should be soft and elastic.
4. Place dough in a bowl covered by a towel and allow rising until it doubles in size (takes about half an hour to one hour).
5. Put the dough back on a work surface, and knead in the sultana raisins (and the coarse sugar). Divide in balls.
6. On a baking sheet, mould the balls into “cougnou”, or little male figures resembling baby Jesus (see picture). Leave to rise for another 30 minutes.
7. Glaze with beaten egg yolk, milk and sugar.
8. Bake in the oven at 180 degrees Celsius for 30 minutes.
Bon appétit!
