Dean is crooning Christmas carols, red and white lights glitter off the snowy streets, crowds gather around the punch and glühwein huts vying for the warmth of steaming liquor - the snow glints off my camera lens, trying to catch it all. Locals meet at Christkindlmarkts, chatting over a drink, as tourists come in waves of buses trying to find the perfect piece of Vienna to bring home for Christmas.
This year instead of swarming the markets as a tourist, I leisurely visit throughout the week, as a local. Bedecked in underarmour, pants, a blouse, a scarf, a wool coat, a hat, gloves, and manly boots, I am ready to brave the mounds of snow, late buses, and tourists to witness the magic that is a Viennese Christmas.
Christmas starts at home though - where children's laughter can be heard over the Christmas carols as we bake hundreds of small traditional Viennese cookies to give to neighbors and friends. It's advent wreaths and advent calenders, snowy sleigh rides and snowmen. Gloves and boots line the hall as everyone gathers inside - here's a cookie for you too!
Austrian Coconut Macaroons
2 egg whites
125 g crystallized sugar (A little over a half cup)
125 g powdered sugar (A little over a half cup)
20 dg coconut (A little over 2.5 cups)
1 serving spoon of flour
1 serving spoon clear colored rum
1 serving spoon lemon juice
Beat the egg whites until they form peaks. Then, mix in the crystallized sugar. Once the crystallized sugar is mixed in well, you may mix in the powdered sugar. Add coconut and flour and mix well. Lastly, mix in the rum and lemon juice. Cover your baking sheets with parchment paper and place the dough in small rounded mounds on the sheet. There should be roughly sixteen macaroons on each baking sheet. Bake at 165°C (325°F) for 30 minutes.
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