Recipe of the Month: December 2022

When it comes to December recipes, you might be thinking about Christmas, but here's a fun thing to make for St. Nicholas' feast day on the 6th (NC) or 19th (OC) of the month.

Frohen Nikolaustag! St. Nicholas’ feast day often gets overlooked in the English-speaking world, a non-event somewhere in the Advent season of Santas and elves and snowscapes in the shops. In Europe, however, not so.

I grew up in an area of Australia with very strong German roots, and that shows at Nikolaustag - a parade from the church at the end of town through the main street, a man dressed as a bishop waving from a car as he’s escorted by a brass band and children dressed up as angels, before we all arrive in the park where we sing Christmas carols and the children are handed out gingerbread.

A popular story about St. Nicholas is that he gave money to a needy family by leaving it in their shoes. I love that at the Nikolaustag parade and carols we are encouraged to give to needy local families by placing money in a giant boot. It’s a good reminder for us that St. Nicholas should be an inspiration for us as Christians, rather than just an opportunity to get sweets or toys in a stocking.

The “St. Nick Boot” encourages charity in my area.

I know for a lot of people, chocolate coins are the food of St. Nicholas’ feast day, but for me it’s gingerbread, so here’s my fast-friendly gingerbread recipe. It’s fun to cut them out into circles of different sizes so it looks like coins!

Gingerbread Coins

Ingredients

100g Nuttelex or another dairy-free margarine
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup maple syrup or golden syrup
2 cups of self-raising flour
1 tbsp ginger
1 tbsp cinnamon
1 tsp cloves
1 tsp nutmeg
pinch of black pepper

Method

1. Cream the butter and sugar together, and then add the golden syrup.

2. In a different bowl, mix together the flour and spices.

3. Add the wet ingredients into the dry ones and mix together well until it forms a dough.

4. Roll the dough out to about 5-8mm (1/3 inch) thick and cut it into circles using whatever circular object you can find.

5. Bake at 180C for less than 10 minutes.

Flour and spices.

Cut different sizes of circle out of the dough.

Try not to eat all your gingerbread currency at once!