Yum

I wish I could tell you all that I made these, but I have been sick with a nasty cold that has even kept me home from work so as much as I wanted to make them, the ones I have pictured here were made by my mom.  She’s a little insane I’ll tell you, when I stopped by her place last week she gave me a handful of more than 20 different cookies that she made.  It’s pretty typical of Czech baking.

These are very traditional Czech Christmas cookies and if you use the Nila Vanilla Wafers for the bottom then there isn’t any baking involved.  That may make them seem easy but given that there are so many steps they are quite time consuming.

In order to make these you do require the forms which are easily purchased online here, this is the only place I’ve been able to find them, and unfortunately they don’t ship to Canada but you’re good to go if you’re in the U.S.  If anyone knows where Canadians can buy these please let me know.  I have a couple that my mom brought back from the Czech Republic.  I’ve seen where people have said that you could use the forms from egg cartons but I think they would lack a little something.

I have to admit that I’ve loved these primarily due to the filling, booze filling of course.  Though some folks use a cream or whipping cream we’ve always had them with an egg cognac and I’m a huge fan of that!

For the dough:

• 180 grams powdered sugar
• 120 grams of butter (unsalted)
• 200 grams of vanilla wafers (ground)
• 2 Tablespoons cocoa powder
• 4 Tablespoons Rum (smelly kind of course)

Mix all the ingredients by hand until you have a dough consistency.  First put a little sugar into the forms so that the dough won’t stick then stuff the forms with the dough until shaped and pop them out.  Set them aside.  If you find the dough too sticky then add a little more of the ground wafers, alternatively if it’s too hard then add a little rum.

Egg Cognac Filling:

This is where the egg cognac comes in!  You can always fill these with whipping cream or a custard but my favorite has always been the egg cognac.  I know that it can be purchased if you like and I believe that Bolt has an egg cognac that is good but we’ve also made some.

• 6 egg yolks
• 5 Tablespoons of icing sugar
• 1 Can of sweetened condensed milk
• 1/4 Cup Rum or Vodka
• a sprinkle of freshly grated nutmeg *optional
• 1/4 litre of milk * optional

First mix the yolks and the sugar until light in color then drizzle in the condensed milk while mixing, also add in the liquor and continue mixing.  Nutmeg can be added and it gives it a festive flavour but it can easily be left out.  The milk is added if you’d like to drink the mixture but for the filling for the cookies you need to have the mixture thick so it should be left out.

*note that this recipe uses raw egg yolks, this is the way my family has always made the cognac but for those of you who are nervous the eggs can be pasteurized prior to use see instructions here or alternatively you can purchase pasteurized eggs specifically for this kind of use.

In order for the filling to not seep into the dough or the wafer it’s best that you brush the inside of the bee hive with chocolate, and also brush the top of the wafer with chocolate and let that dry before assembling.  To assemble, spoon the egg cognac into the bee hive and brush the edge with melted chocolate and place the cookie on top.  These can be placed upside down in an empty egg carton or right side up, allow them some time to adhere.

Make sure these are stored in cool place or refrigerated due to the raw egg inside. Once they are set, they can be topped with powdered sugar, dipped in regular chocolate or white chocolate and sprinkled with all types of things, coconut, sprinkles, colored candy…. anything festive.