Griddle baking ("takkebakst")

november 17, 2024

Griddle baking ("takkebakst")

Baked goods such as cookies or lefse hold many powers regarding nostalgia and taste. That’s why I made soft and fluffy Hardingar as well as typical Christmas cookies from Germany.

The recipe I’m using for Hardingar is from the group session, from “Go’bitar fra Besta si kokebok”. Even though the tykklefse are newer than regular lefse or even flatbrod, it “still goes back to around 1900” (Kostveit, 2005, p.84).

For the German Christmas cookies, I looked up a recipe online but could have used a family recipe as well – they are quite similar (Einfach Backen, n.d.).

Disclaimer: I made the Hardingar together with Gianna to reduce the cost and efforts.

Tykklefse
Photo: Gladkokken

Hardingar (tjukklefse/tykklefse)

For the soft and fluffy Hardingar you need the following kitchen appliances:

Ingredients and appliances:

- Measuring cup

- Scale

- Stand mixer

- Cake plate

- Knifes

- Rolling pin

- Cooking plate (takke)

- Spray bottle

The necessary ingredients:

- 2 eggs

- 2 cups sugar

- 1 cup melted margarine

- 3 cups cultured milk

- 2 tablespoons hornsalt (baking soda)

- Flour to form a soft dough (we used approx. 500g)

For the buttercream:

- 250g of butter/ margarine

- 250g powdered sugar

And most importantly: Cinnamon!

All the ingredients for Hardingar
Photo: F. Brietzke

Preparation

I started preparing the dough, while Gianna prepared her cookie dough. First, I measured the margarine and melt it in the microwave. Then I put the two eggs and sugar in the bowl of the stand mixer and mixed them. Afterwards I added the sour milk, hornsalt and melted margarine. I gradually added flour until a thicker consistency developed. We used approximately 500g of flour. After that we mixed up the buttercream and put it in the fridge until we needed it.

wet ingredients
Photo: F. Brietzke

finished dough
Photo: F. Brietzke

Baking

Then we split up and Gianna rolled out and cut the dough while I baked them on the big cooking plate (takke). Because the dough was still very sticky, we used a lot of flour for rolling out. After cutting them in the size of the cake plate, I brushed off the excess flour with a brush.

1. rolling out the dough 2. cutting out with a cake plate
3. baking
Photos: F. Brietzke

The pre-heated plate was at a heat between 5 and 6. I prepared a baking tray and damped two kitchen towels. I started off by baking off one at a time, but later could bake two at a time. After baking on both sides, I put them on the tray and sprayed them with water from both sides. Then I covered them with the second towel and continued baking. In the end we had ~ 14 Hardingar. After baking everything, we continued with spreading on the buttercream, which was a little bit too cold, so we put it in the microwave for ~30 seconds. After spreading it on generous and evenly, I added a good amount of cinnamon. I folded it in half but it kind of broke, so we decided to cut in in half, to have a cleaner finish. I put them back under the towels to not dry out.

1. spraying & covering 2. butterspread 3. a lot of cinnamon 4. finished!
Photos: F. Brietzke

After preparing most of them, I thought to myself that a different spice would fit very well. So, I added cardamom and let everyone in the kitchen try a piece. Most of them enjoyed and I did another one with cardamom and cinnamon. That was the favourite for most, so I made more of them.

Finally, we put each Hardingar in a plastic bag (dated and named) and put them straight into the freezer to keep fresh. We did take a few home to enjoy immediately and share with our roommates.

Observations and conclusion

Besides the fact, that making them is quite a lot of effort, we were unsure at the beginning how much flour we should add because the recipe is not very distinct. A Norwegian student helped us luckily. Another part that was not very clear was “After baking, place the pieces in a tray and soak both sides”. We made the best out of it by spraying both sides with water and covering them. The results were very good and soft.

After meeting a Norwegian woman in a café and asking her about the Hardingar, I found out that they are more commonly known as “tjukklefse” meaning thick lefse. After that, I found more recipes and variations. For example, one from Gladkokken about a variation from Telemark. And as Karlsen Hasselberg says: “every region, fjord village and small town in Norway have their own lefse traditions” (Visit Norway, n.d.).

Sources

Gladkokken. (n.d.). Bestemors Lefser - Laget med kjærlighet på gammel oppskrift. https://gladkokken.no/oppskrifter/verdens-beste-tjukklefse-telemark

Visit Norway. (n.d.). LEFSE - The magic Norwegian wrap. https://www.visitnorway.com/things-to-do/food-and-drink/lefse/

Kostveit, Å. Ø. (2005). Ta til takke : flatbrød, lefser og annan takkebakst. Samlaget.

Christmas cookies (Mürbeteig)

Icing inspired by the Northern Lights
Photo: F. Brietzke

For the short pastry you need the following appliances and ingredients:

Ingredients and appliances

- A big bowl

- Scale

- Rolling pin

- Cookie cutters

Ingredients:

- 125g cold butter

- 200g wheat flour

- 100g regular sugar

- 1 tsp of vanilla sugar

- 1 egg

For the icing:

- Egg white

- Powdered sugar

- Some lemon juice