Vanilla Crescent Cookies
According to a popular myth, the crescent shaped cookie, Kipferl in German or kifeljček in Slovenian, was invented by the Viennese bakers Peter and Eva Wendler after the Turkish siege of Vienna in the 17th century. The crescent shape is said to have ridiculed the Turkish crescent.
However popular this story might be, crescent shaped pastry has a longer history. The first depiction is believed to date to the Hortus Deliciarum in the late 12th century, though the pastry arguably looks more like a pretzel than a Kipferl. The crescents were first mentioned in writing in the Prince's Book by the Viennese poet Jans Enenkel in the late 13th century.
An important ingredient in modern day crescent cookies is vanilla, which originated in the Gulf of Mexico. It was considered extremely valuable and was therefore only available to the wealthy. At the beginning of the 19th century it became possible to grow vanilla on La Reunion (then: Ile Bonaparte or Ile Bourbon) and Java. The plants had to be pollinated by hand, which kept the price high. The real revolution came in 1874 when German chemists succeeded in producing vanillin synthetically. With that vanilla essence slowly found its way into middle-class households.
It was around this time, in 1884, that the first vanilla crescent recipe appeared in Die Süddeutsche Küche, a cookbook by Katharina Prato from Graz. Below is my favorite recipe for this classic cookie.
Vanillekipferl: Dem Original-Rezept aus dem 19. Jahrhundert auf der Spur
Recipe
Dough
200 g butter
a pinch of salt
250 g flour
100 g ground almonds
75 g powdered sugar
10 g vanilla sugar
1 tbsp milk
Decoration
6 tbsp powdered sugar
15 g vanilla sugae
Instructions:
Dough
Mix salt and flour in a bowl. Add butter and rub it into the flour until crumbs form.
Add 100 g ground almonds, 75 g powdered sugar and 10 g sugar and mix until dough forms. If the dough is too dry, add 1 tbsp of milk.
Wrap into cling wrap and put into the fridge for about 30 min.
Divide the dough into pieces with each weighing about 12 g or less.
Shape each piece into a crescent.
Making Vanilla Crescents
Preheat the oven to 200 C (400 F).
Divide the dough into pieces that weigh around 12 g each.
Shape each piece into a crescent. The pictures depict walnut crescents, but the procedure is the same as with vanilla crescents.
Bake for about 10-15 minutes (the exact time will depend on the oven) until the edges begin to turn golden. The cookies should be bright in color, not browned.
While the cookies are still warm, dust them with powdered sugar mixed with vanilla sugar.
Serve and enjoy.
