SCRAMBLED EGGS 1 egg + 1 egg yolk 2 tbsp cream white pepper salt grated nutmeg pat of butter

Whisk the egg, egg yolk, cream and spices together in a bowl. Cook the mixture in a double boiler or use a smaller saucepan inside a bigger pan. Bring a little water to the boil in the lower part of the double boiler (or the bigger pan). Melt the butter in the upper part of the double boiler (or the smaller pan) and pour the egg mixture in. Stir the mixture constantly with a wooden fork. As soon as the mixture starts to scramble, add another pat of butter. Mix and serve. Serves 1. BUTTER COOKIES Cookies made according to this basic shortbread recipe resemble the famous "Danish butter cookies", but taste better than most of the store-bought varieties. 100 g butter 100 g flour 30 - 50 g potato flour or cornstarch 30 - 50 g icing sugar 2 tsp vanilla sugar Cut the butter in small cubes and let it become very soft at room temperature. Sieve together the dry ingredients. Using a wooden spoon or a balloon whisk, beat the soft butter in a bowl until fluffy. Mixing with your hand, start adding the dry ingredients, adding enough

only to form a soft dough. Knead lightly until the mixture forms a soft ball. If the dough remains very sticky, add slightly more of the flour-sugar mixture. Use a pastry bag to pipe the dough into different cookie shapes. If you have a cookie press, you can use it to form the dough into pressed cookies, like shown in the picture below.

Cookie shapes formed using a cookie press. If you are forming the cookies by hand, first let the dough harden by placing it in refrigerator, wrapped in plastic. Roll pieces of the dough into long strands and cut them in smaller pieces. Flatten the pieces with the prongs of a fork dipped in cold water, forming fluted cookies. Place the cookies on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper. The dough may also be spread and pressed flat into a rectangular, small and flat cake pan, see the picture on right. Prick the dough with a fork before baking. Bake the individual cookies at 190 200 C for about 7 - 15 minutes, or until they start to turn slightly golden around the edges. If using a cake pan, bake the dough for a little longer, about 20 - 25 minutes, at 160 C.

Let the cookies cool for about 10 minutes before lifting them carefully with a palette knife on a wire rack. Cut the dough baked in the pan into bars while it is still warm. Picture on right: butter cookie bars. Let the cookies cool completely before serving or placing them in a cookie jar. CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES 225 g butter 200 ml soft brown sugar (firmly packed) 150 ml sugar 2 eggs 1 tsp vanilla sugar 500 ml flour 1 tsp baking powder tsp salt ( tsp ginger powder) 250 ml dark chocolate chips or coarsely crushed dark chocolate (150 ml chopped nuts) Beat soft butter, add sugars and continue beating until mixture is pale and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time and beat until smooth. Combine flour, baking powder, salt, vanilla sugar (and ginger powder) and add to batter through a sieve. Stir gently to mix. Stir in chocolate chips. You can replace part of chocolate chips with milk or white chocolate chips or butterscotch or peanut butter chips etc, or/and with coarsely chopped nuts (unblanched) almonds, hazelnuts, walnuts, pecans, pistachios, macadamia nuts etc, or use chopped candied or dried fruit, like apricots, cherries or dates instead. Drop small mounds of batter on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper, leaving space between the mounds. Bake at 165 C for 8 - 10 minutes or until cookies start to brown slightly on the edges.

Transfer cookies on wire rack to cool. Store in airtight container. CHOCOLATE CUPS good-quality dark, white or milk chocolate small, soft pastry brush paper or silicone muffin cups Roughly chop the chocolate into a bowl and let it melt by placing the bowl over a saucepan of barely simmering water. Make sure the bottom of the bowl does not touch the water. Stir the chocolate until smooth. Take a paper muffin cup preferably use two cups, one inside the other, to make the cup sturdier. Dipping the pastry brush into the melted chocolate, quickly brush the inside of the cup (the bottom and sides) with the chocolate to coat it completely. Let the chocolate set in a cool place. Brush yet another layer of chocolate over the first layer, to make the chocolate cup thicker and less brittle. If the chocolate becomes too stiff, gently reheat it over a water bath. Place the cup in refrigerator to harden. After the chocolate has hardened, gently but quickly peel off the muffin paper from around it. Store the cups in a cool place. The cups may be filled with whipped cream, ice cream or various mousses and fresh fruit, berries etc. Naturally, the cups may be eaten along with the filling. CHOCOLATE SQUARES 75 g butter 100 ml sugar 1 tsp vanillin sugar (or vanilla sugar) 1 small egg 100 ml flour tsp baking powder 2 tbsp + 1 tsp cocoa powder Beat the softened butter with the sugar and vanillin sugar until pale and fluffy. Add the egg and beat in

thoroughly. Combine the flour, baking powder and cocoa powder and add to the batter through a sieve. Stir gently to mix. Line a small and shallow, rectangular cake pan about 22 14 4 centimetres in size with lightly buttered parchment paper. Spoon the batter in the pan, spreading it evenly in all four corners. Smooth the surface gently with a spatula. Bake at 175 C for about 15 - 22 minutes or until the batter has set and a cake tester/toothpick inserted in the middle of it comes out clean. Gently lift the cake from the pan or unmould it and place on a wire rack to cool. When slightly cooled, cut the cake in small squares. Serve them immediately with tea, coffee or fresh, ice-cold milk. COCOA COOKIES 100 g butter 50 g sugar 1 tsp vanilla sugar or vanillin sugar 1 large egg yolk 4 - 5 tbsp cocoa powder coarse wheat flour (for quantity, see instructions below) tsp baking powder Beat the soft butter and the sugars until pale and fluffy. Add the egg yolk and beat until smooth. Place a bowl on a kitchen scale and measure the cocoa powder in it. Then add enough flour to get 150 grams (the weight of flour and cocoa powder combined). Add the baking powder and mix thoroughly. Add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture through a sieve. Mix just enough to get all ingredients incorporated, do not overmix. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and place in refrigerator to harden. Roll the dough with your hands into long cylindrical bars, about 2 centimetres in diameter. Cut the bars in about 5 centimetre long pieces and place them on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper. Flatten the dough pieces with prongs of a fork dipped in cold water, forming fluted cookies (see the pictures below).

Piece of dough

Flatten with a fork

Flattened cookie

Bake the cookies at 180 - 200 C until slightly browned around edges, about 8 15 minutes. You may also pipe the cookie dough through a cookie press to make professional-looking cookies. In that case, do not chill the dough, but pipe it while it is still soft. Makes about 35 - 40 cookies.

COCONUT COOKIES 1 egg 75 g sugar tsp vanilla sugar 115 g finely shredded, unsweetened desiccated coconut (dark chocolate)

Beat the eggs and the sugars thoroughly, until they form a fluffy, pale yellow mixture. Gently fold in the desiccated coconut. Drop small mounds of batter on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper, leaving space between the mounds. The cookies will spread slightly during baking. Bake the cookies at 200 C for 5 - 12 minutes, or until they start to colour slightly. Watch them constantly during baking, they burn very easily. Transfer the cookies on a wire rack to cool. After cooling, you may dip the bottoms of

the cookies in melted chocolate or drizzle the chocolate on top of them. Let the chocolate set and serve the cookies. WHITE CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES 85 g butter 50 ml soft brown sugar (firmly packed) 75 ml sugar 1 tsp vanilla sugar 1 small egg (about 35 g) 160 ml flour 1 tsp baking powder 60 ml + 1 tsp cocoa powder 85 g white chocolate Using a sharp, heavy knife, cut the white chocolate in small cubes. The chocolate will cut neatly without breaking, if you allow it to stand at room temperature before cutting. Cover the chocolate pieces and place in refrigerator or freezer to harden. Beat the softened butter with the sugars and vanilla sugar until pale and fluffy. Add the egg and beat in thoroughly. Combine the flour, baking powder and cocoa powder and add to the batter through a sieve. Add the white chocolate pieces and stir gently to mix. Take a small piece of the dough (weighing about 20 grams) and roll it into a ball. Repeat with the rest of the dough. Place the balls on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper, leaving some space between them, as they spread a bit during baking. Flatten the balls slightly. Bake the cookies at 200 C for about 7 - 10 minutes, or until they are just about starting to brown around the edges. Place the cookies on a wire rack to cool until they are firm. Makes about 20 - 22 cookies.