Skip to main content

Amazing Anise

Anisette Cookies
I absolutely love everything about anise - especially the licorice smell and taste. Every time I leave our local Indian restaurant, I grab a dozen or so anise seeds along with a few sugary candies from the neighboring dish and eat them on my way home. Anise seeds after a meal help to aid in digestion, not to mention they taste lovely. I think I love doing that so much because the combination reminds me of one of my favorite French bon-bons, Les Anis de Flavigny. 
les Anis de Flavigny 
If you have never had the pleasure of tasting les Anis de Flavigny bon-bons, they are a hard, white candy surrounding a little anise seed. If you don't like in your face black licorice taste of candies like Good-n-Plenty, these offer a delicate, subtle licorice flavor. While the brand currently offers a wide variety of flavors, my go-to is the traditional anise, whose origins in Flavigny (Burgundy) date back to 1591! And if you're looking to purchase some in the US, Amazon does sell them (I buy the giant bags of them and just refill my two tins (one is pictured above)

The taste and smell of anise stir up feelings of nostalgia for both France and Germany. When I was in the Hesse region nearly two years ago visiting my daughter who was studying abroad in Marburg, we went to several Weinachtsmarkts (Christmas Markets). They were simply magical, and the smell of anise and almonds filled the air - and my heart.
My daughter looks around in wonder at the Kassel Weinachtsmarkt

The beautiful Weinachtsmarkt in Frankfurt
My girls and I have been reminiscing a lot about that trip recently, and it got me thinking about Christmas. I knew I wanted to recapture that heavenly smell by making anise cookies for Christmas this year, so I last week I purchased a small jar of powdered star anise from my favorite online spice store, Penzeys. I did not want to wait until December to find the perfect recipe, so naturally, I decided to experiment. And I REALLY lucked out because I found a superb recipe on my first try!


After pouring through dozens of online recipes, I decided to make the Italian anisette cookies. I followed this recipe from Italian Dessert Recipes, with a couple of minor changes. I did not have either anise extract or lemon extract. For the lemon extract substitute, I did as she suggested and used one Tbsp of freshly squeezed lemon juice. And for the anise extract, I substituted one tsp. of the powdered star anise. I also needed to add about 1/4 C. more flour than the recipe suggested because the dough was gooier than the recipe described.

The end result was magnificent. They were a huge hit with my family - even with my daughter who is not a big fan of anise.

Follow on Bloglovin
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Les Femmes Tondues

"Germany Wins on All Fronts" - the Eiffel Tower (Getty Images) It is no great secret that some French collaborated during the Nazi Occupation of France. Some did it for less than admirable reasons, such as political gain, anti-Semitism, or true fascist ideology. Other people were frightened and saw no end to the Occupation, while some were motivated simply by the desire to survive.  Many women who collaborated fall into the latter category. French women and German soldiers enjoying lunch at a café (Unidentified Photo Source) Food, clothes, and fuel (among other items) were scarce during the Occupation. Nearly everything needed to sustain life was rationed, and much of France's food and other  necessary  commodities were shipped to Germany. One way to ensure warmth and a full belly was by making nice with a German soldier.  A French woman chats with a German soldier in front of the Eiffel Tower during the Occupation In a desperate attempt to surv...
22 comments
Read more

Sylvia Beach - An American In Paris

This past fall I read Americans in Paris: Life and Death Under Nazi Occupation by Charles Glass. Meticulously researched, the book described the collaboration, resistance, and survival stories of several Americans during the Occupation. Of all the fascinating Americans Glass discussed, I felt an instant connection to one, and have been mildly obsessed with her ever since… Sylvia Beach Photo Source: donswaim.com/ripley-lawrence.htm The Woman Nancy Woodridge Beach was born on March 14, 1887 in Baltimore, Maryland.  She spent much of her childhood and young adult life living throughout Europe. Her first encounter with Paris came at a young age when her father, a pastor, was appointed assistant minister of the American Church in Paris, as well as director of the American student center. As a young adult she spent time in Spain and even served a stint in Serbia in the Red Cross. Although her birth name was Nancy, she would become known to the world as Sylvia Beach. ...
3 comments
Read more

La Rafle du Vel d’Hiv (The Vel d’Hiv Round Up)

Photo Source: 1 st Art Gallery Every Holocaust survivor – every ghost of those who did not survive - has a story to tell. Each story is unique, yet equally tragic. Some we have heard more than once, while others lay silent, buried in the dusty pages of a nation’s shame… Occupation and Anti-Semitism 14 June 1942 marked the two-year anniversary of the Nazi occupation of Paris. By this point, many French had joined the Résistance , while others felt it in their best interest to collaborate with the Nazi regime. Many Jews had fled France, and those who remained behind lived in chronic fear. The Jewish Decrees (France's version of the Nuremberg Laws) saw the Jews of Paris stripped of their livelihoods, property, and rights. As in other occupied areas of Europe, the French Jews were required to wear the yellow stars of David. Inscribed with a single word in the center, Juif (Jew), the badges had to be sewn neatly on the left side of the chest. Failure to do so coul...
17 comments
Read more