The holidays are mostly about nostalgia and family traditions for me. Those favorite treats that come out on the buffet table and you try to wait till after dinner before you eat them all. My grandparent’s house is the root of most of my childhood holiday memories. Gathering in the basement and my grandpa playing christmas records, the kids gathered around with the song books in hand. Whomever sang the best got to open up a gift, it was very competitive. Grandma was a good cook and had lots of christmas treats to choose from, one that always made it on the table was the Rosette cookies.
“A rosette called struva in Swedish is a thin, cookie-like deep-fried pastry of Scandinavian (Swedish and Norwegian) origin. Rosettes are traditionally made during Christmas time. They are made using intricately designed irons. The iron is heated to a very high temperature in oil, dipped into the batter, then re-immersed in the hot oil to create a crisp shell around the metal. The iron is immediately removed and the rosette is separated from the iron. Usually, the edges of the rosette are dipped into frosting or sugar. Rosette recipes are popular in the United States among families with Scandinavian ancestry.”
So when my mother in law asked if I wanted to help her make some Rosette cookies I was very excited, I had never actually seen anyone make them before. The tricky part was getting the oil to the correct temperature and getting the batter to the correct crispy pastry texture, and not eating them all as they came off the iron all warm and crunchy.
RECIPE
Ingredients:
- 2 eggs
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup flour
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- peanut oil for deep frying
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
Preparation:
Dip the hot iron into the batter, making sure NOT to let the batter run over the top of the iron. If you do, the rosette will be impossible to remove. Immerse the coated iron in the hot fat and fry 25-30 seconds until light brown. Slip off onto a paper towel.
On large plate, combine 1 cup sugar and cinnamon and mix well. Dip rosettes in this mixture while still warm. You can also sprinkle them with powdered sugar. Don’t skip this step – the cookies aren’t really sweetened until they’re coated in some kind of sugar! Makes about 36 rosettes…….from Busy Cooks
Have a fabulous holiday and happy baking.
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