1 Cup butter, softened

1 Cup sugar, I use 3/4 white sugar and 1/4 lightly packed brown sugar

2 Cups All Purpose flour

1 egg at room temperature

1 package Dr. Oetker’s Vanilla Sugar

1 tsp baking powder

6-8 apples, peeled, cored and grated

1/4-1/2 Cup seedless raisins

Ground Cinnamon

You will note this recipe looks a lot like my last post on Butter Cake, (Boterkoek), but there is a difference. This one adds in a little baking powder!

Sift together the sugar, flour vanilla and baking powder loosely with a fork. Make a well in the centre and crack in the egg, then fold flour mixture into the egg. When loosely mixed, drop in the butter a bit at a time and knead gently until mixed together. Roll as you would normal pastry. Soak raisins in warm water for 10 minutes to soften. Grate the apples into a pile, add the raisins and stir together with a touch of brown sugar and some flour to evenly coat the fruit. Add some ground cinnamon to this according to personal taste.

Roll out half to two-thirds pastry and place into bottom of glass pie dish. Add the apple mixture. Shake some more cinnamon onto the filling if desired. Roll out one-third to half of pastry that is left and cut into strips 1/4″ wide and make a lattice topping for your top pie crust. Lay strips across pie in one direction, turn pie 90 degrees and lay the rest of the strips across the top.

Bake in 325-350 oven, keeping an eye on it. You are looking for a golden crust. My oven takes about 50-55 minutes for this.

Enjoy!

In my last post I wrote about the Lord Jesus Christ and His family. I wrote about the fact He is both man and God. He is fully man and fully God. As I write this, Christmas Day is six days away. At this time of year we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. The angels proclaimed His first advent to a group of shepherds that night. “For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord,” (Luke 2:11 NKJV). This was the best news the world had ever heard and remains the best news ever to this day. We all need a Saviour. We all sin and we all need forgiveness. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” (Romans 3:23). We give gifts to our loved ones at Christmas because God gave His greatest gift to us when He sent His only begotten Son, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord,” Romans 6:23. We can all have forgiveness and it is so simple. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. Ask Him to forgive you for all of your mistakes, past, present and future, and invite Him to be Lord of your life. He bore all the punishment for sin on the cross and He loves you so much! Gratefully accept His gift of eternal life today.

1 Cup butter, softened

1 Cup sugar, I use 1/4 packed brown sugar and 3/4 white sugar

2 Cups All-Purpose flour

1 egg at room temperature

1 package vanilla sugar powder (I use Dr. Oetker’s which come as a 3-pack)

Pinch of salt

Using my stand mixer with its dough hook, I combine the sugars and the butter until smooth. Add the egg and mix until well combined, scraping down the sides as needed. Add the vanilla powder and the salt and mix again. Add the flour and mix until a smooth dough forms. Divide the dough into two balls and press into greased (I use cooking spray) round, cake pan. You should get about 1/2 to 1 inch of height in each pan.

Bake in a 325-350 degree oven for about 35 minutes. You are looking for an even, golden top.

Let cool for 10 minutes then carefully remove from pans. Cool completely. Slice into eighths, pizza slice style. Store in the refrigerator.

My sister considered this a secret family recipe, but I have found it in my two Dutch cookbooks. So here it is! Enjoy!

This is one of my favourite desserts at Christmas time probably because this is when my grandmother would always make it. She would make it occasionally at other times of the year, but it seemed to be a special treat at Christmas. As we celebrate the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ, reminders of family traditions make me smile. His family was special too. His mother was a virgin and His birth had been predicted over 600 years before by the prophet Isaiah. “Therefore, the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel,” Isaiah 7:14 NKJV. “For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace,” Isaiah 9:6. The prophet Micah accurately predicted where Jesus would be born, “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, Though you are little among the thousands of Judah, Yet out of you shall come forth to Me, The One to be Ruler in Israel, Whose goings forth are from of old, From everlasting,” Micah 5:2. His human father was thought to be Joseph, (Luke 3:23), who married Mary despite her being with Child, Luke 2:4-5. As Luke tells us, the angel Gabriel came  to Mary with a message, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God,” Luke 1:35. You see, Jesus Christ is fully human and fully God. He is the Son of God. Christmas is about Him. Jesus is the reason for the season!