Yuletide Sweets: Zuckerkinder

Background: The Zuckerkinder are a popular dessert consumed by children during the Festival of Yuletide. It is said that the creation of the Zuckerkinder was taught by the great Jǫlfuðr and is an example of folk or hedge magic that can be practiced by the commonfolk even those without a grain of magical potency. 

The legends say that the Zuckerkinder created from the blood of a polite child will be friendly and playful whereas a Zuckerkinder created from the blood of a naughty child will be mean and spiteful. As such children are expected to be on their best behavior or else their Zuckerkinder will torment them. Since the magic of Zuckerkinder is gifted by the Jǫlfuðr, the Zuckerkinder will only animate during Yulemonth. If the blood of a truly malicious child is added to a Zuckerkinder, it will animate and any other Zuckerkinder near it will carry the child off and they will never been seen again. 

Children chasing after a playful Zuckerkinder

Ingredients:

    • 750 Grams of Flour

    • 20 Grams of Gingifer

    • 5 Grams of Canella 

    • 12 Grams of Saleratus

    • 2 Grams of Nutmeg

    • 2 Grams of Ground Cloves

    • 1 Gram of Mace

    • 3 Grams of Salt

    • 215 Grams of Butter (softened) 

    • 350 Grams of Sugar

    • 200 Milliliters of Honey

    • 250 Milliliters of Blood from any Mammal 

    • 50 Grams of Fresh Mandragora (finely chopped)

    • 13 Drops of Children’s Blood (freshly acquired)

    • 5 Grams of Ergot 

    • 5 Grams of Traumpilz

Instructions:

Grind your Ergot and Traumpilz into a fine powder with a mortar and pestle. Mix the flour, ground cloves, gingifer, canella, salt, saleratus, mace, nutmeg into a bowl. Then stir in the Ergot and Traumpilz powder. In a separate bowl beat the butter until smooth then add the sugar and honey until combined. Then slowly mix in the Mammal Blood (not the Children’s Blood) and finely chopped Fresh Mandragora. Let the mixture sit for 10 minutes to rest. After resting gradually and methodically mix the liquid ingredients into the flour mixture along with the Children’s Blood until a thick dough is formed. Cover the dough and let sit for a quarter-day (or 6 hours). After sitting roll out the dough to a 6 millimeter thickness. Using a knife or pastry cutter cut out humanoid shapes from the dough and lay them upon a baking platter. Place the platter in an oven and bake for 10 minutes. While baking it is imperative that one recite the following incantation, HAIL OH GREAT YULEFATHER HEAR OUR CRY, ÚR LÍFINU KEMUR BLÓÐ OG ÚR BLÓÐI KEMUR LÍF, at least seven times for the enchantment to fully take effect. Once removed from the oven, your Zuckerkinder will immediately animate upon being touched by a child and will remain animate for up to one hour before hardening and de-animating. Consuming an animate Zuckerkinder is unspeakable and must not be done under any circumstance under penalty of eternal servitude to the Jǫlfuðr.