Brätzeli

These Swiss cookies have been my favorite for as long as I can remember. The problem being that in order to make them you need a special press, something like a waffle iron with Swiss designs. There are three options, know someone who has an iron and always remain on their good side; import an electric iron from Europe or find a cast iron Brätzeli iron. I was lucky enough to be given an electric bratzeli iron many years ago and I have been making cookies for myself and others.

A few weeks ago we attended a semi-local Schwingfest (Traditional Swiss Wrestling Festival), upon returning home I happened upon a cast iron Brätzeli iron on Facebook marketplace. My husband looked at me like I was crazy when I said that I had to have it. We figured out a way to make it happen, as it was located over an hour away in the heart of the worst traffic in the area.

Clearly it hadn’t been used in years and it had a bit of rust on the outside. Otherwise it was in great shape. After purchasing my newest treasure. I asked where the prior owner where they had acquired such a rare item. I say rare as I have been looking for almost 20 years and only seen one in the midwestern United States. She told me that it had belonged to her mother who had been a Swiss immigrant. As it turns out; like it commonly does it is a small Swiss world, and I had known her mother. We had been in the same women’s singing and yodeling group. She taught me how to make her famous Ida bread and how to knit. She even attended my wedding.

Once I learned that the brätzeli iron belonged to Ida I was over the moon with excitement. Her daughter was happy that it was going to a home that would appreciate it an use it. She was kind enough to give me a recipe book too.

This is a community cookbook produced in the early 1980 by the women of the San Joaquin Valley Swiss Club. I know many people who have and love this cookbook but I had yet to have a copy. From this cookbook I made my first batch of Brätzeli on my new to me iron.

Ingredients:

4 eggs

1 C butter

1-1/2 C Sugar

Zest of one lemon

Juice of half a lemon, fresh squeezed

1 oz of Kirschwasser (Cherry Bandy)

Pinch of Salt

3-1/2 C Flour

Mix all of these ingredients together well and cover with plastic wrap and chill for at least two hours.

Now before I could use the Brätzeli iron I needed to clean it and re-season it.

First a quick bath in the sink and some scrubbing with a salted potato to remove the rust and get it looking good. Making sure to wash off the excess salt before drying in a hot oven. Then I coated it was a thin layer of oil.

I should have realize it would take more that one coat of oil, but I was impatient and I just wanted to make cookies!

Needless to say the first batch just didn’t come out. So I cleaned it up and started again.

The second batch came out but not in a way that resembled a cookie. It tasted amazing so crisp. I didn’t expect it to taste different from the electric iron but it did.

Third try and we are getting somewhere. Over cooked but 4 distinct cookies.

Got it on the fourth attempt. They proceeded to get better from that point on. Defiantly a learning curve.

My children were eating them as fast as they came off the iron. So I guess that is a win. I also had enough to take up to Kids Swiss Kamp the following weekend.

If you happen to have an old cast iron cookie press in your garage or you know someone who does I hope this encourages you to clean the dust off and bring it back to life.