I love Alton Brown. He is my favorite food celebrity. His mix of science and food is irresistible to me, and his quirky humor makes it fun to watch. He also has some very good advice, which my husband usually insists that I follow. No one trick ponies in the kitchen (other than the fire extinguisher of course). I recently broke this rule, with the assistance of my in-laws. For Christmas this year, I received from them, at my request, a krumkake maker. A what?!?
A krumkake is a thin, Norwegian cookie made on a griddle similar to a waffle, but much, much thinner. It is closely related to a pizzelle which is the Italian version of the cookie. In both regions it is traditional at Christmas time. The traditional pizzelle is anise flavored. (For a great comparison between the two types, that I wish I had been able to find before I settled on one, check out this site: http://fantes.wordpress.com/2011/11/23/christmas-treats/) Both cookies are descended from the medieval wafer cookie. That heavenly light crisp cookie, known variously as nebula and angel’s bread, which finished off the best meals in the best houses. Reading of this bread in Fast and Feast: Food in Medieval Society by Bridget Ann Henisch of course meant I had to try it when I found pizzelles at our local grocery, and having tried it, I pined for months over an iron. They aren’t horribly expensive, but at $40-50, it was not for casual purchase, especially since it broke the house rule mentioned above.
And then came Christmas, and my mother-in-law, who is always encouraging me to break the rules. 🙂 I have to admit that I have thoroughly enjoyed the krumkake iron.
The cookies are light, thin and crispy. While they are still warm they can be shaped into rolls, bowls, or cones. (They will make great ice-cream cones this summer. Do you think I will be able to talk my husband into an ice cream maker by then?) I have also successfully developed a savory version, with garlic salt which makes a great homemade cracker.
So maybe the argument could be made that it is not truly a one trick pony after all.
But now I have even more reason to be glad I have it. I have recently made the switch in my kitchen away from “non-stick” pots and pans toward stainless steel (for cooking meats) and cast iron (for everything else). They cook much more evenly, stick even less than “non-stick” (which as far as I could tell never was), and when stuff does stick, I can scrub till it’s clean without risking the finish. There are also some really nasty things in Teflon and the like. It’s not supposed to be a problem if you don’t overheat the pan, like I never do that… Still, there are a few things that you just can’t make without non-stick surfaces, and one of them is crepes. I love crepes. Anything delicate and bready, you can pretty much bet on me adoring. So recently it occurred to me… The plates of my krumkake maker are non-stick, they are also round, and maintained at a constant temperature… Are you seeing where I’m going here?
Tada! Crepes made with a krumkake iron. I found it worked best if I didn’t close the iron to cook them. They turned out a little chewy, but that may have been the recipe I was using (my quick and dirty Better Homes and Gardens recipe). Soon I will try them with my Vegetarian Epicure “French Crepe” recipe. It’s quite fiddly and has a tendency to break up when I cook them in a pan. Hopefully it will do better on the iron.
Here by the way, is my favorite (so far!) krumkake recipe.
- 4 Large eggs
- 1 1/2 Cups all-purpose flour
- 1 Cup sugar
- 1/2 Cup butter/margarine, melted
- 2 Tablespoons corn starch
- 1/2 Teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 Teaspoon cardamom seed
Beat eggs and sugar until light yellow. Add cooled melted butter and vanilla and cardamom seed. Sift flour and corn starch and add to egg mixture. Batter will have a dough-like consistency. Use spoon to place on grid, or 1 inch round balls can be formed and placed on grid.
To make the crackers, omit the vanilla, the sugar and the cardamom and replace them with 2 teaspoons of garlic salt.