The Christmas biscuit: an Alsace treasure...

Published: 2024-11-22 09:00:00
Categories : General

Alsace is known for its indulgent and generous culinary specialities, and its delicious Christmas biscuits are one of them, decadently dosed with butter, flour and cane sugar. Whilst you’ll encounter lively debates amongst Alsace locals on what to call these biscuits — the Haut-Rhin residents call them “bradala”, whilst their Bas-Rhin neighbours insist on “bredele”, and in Strasbourg “bredle” is the term of choice — there is one thing that they can agree on: the Alsace origins of these much-loved little biscuits that have become emblematic of their region!

Alsace and bredele: a tale as old as time

The Alsace love for bredele isn’t a recent affair, as historians have found that this traditional biscuit dates back as far as the 16^th century. Ancient moulds that were used to make bredele have been found all along the Rhine River. However, it was only later on, from around the 19^th century, when ingredients like cane sugar became easier to get hold of, that the Alsace locals started to make bredele to celebrate Christmas. Over the years, these little biscuits became popular Christmas gifts, considered to be a generous gesture given the value of their ingredients. Today, bredele are primarily gifted in Alsace, during Advent.

The bredele recipe: a priceless legacy

Jean-Marc Muller - Arranging coconut macarons on a baking sheet

Over the centuries, Alsace locals have become particularly attached to these little Christmas biscuit and recipes have been closely kept secret and passed down in families to keep the Bredele tradition alive. This has been the case for Jean-Marc Muller, Founder of the Maison Alsacienne de Biscuiterie, who has perfected our own Bredele recipe by drawing inspiration from family recipes that have been passed on and shared between generations.

Here at our Maison, we’re driven by a passion to constantly innovate, which means we’re always looking at how we can take our recipes to the next level or come up with brand new creations altogether. Made with a dough featuring generous helpings of almond and a melt-in-the-mouth texture, meet our latest biscuit creation: the Soft Bredele. Exclusive to our Maison, our biscuitiers will tweak this recipe over time, developing it into multiple flavours such as orange, mocha, walnut, hazelnut, almond, pistachio and chocolate.

There’s an Alsace biscuit for every taste

Year in and year out, countless new recipes, shapes and flavours crop up in the decadent world of Alsace biscuiterie. When it comes to how bredele are made, there are different techniques ranging from piping to shaping them with special cutters or traditional (or more original) moulds. There’s one thing for certain, though: no matter the technique, these little biscuits are a delicious example of our Maison’s legacy and our ancestral expertise.

The latest creation to come out of our atelier: the Petit Bonhomme, a butter biscuit brimming with festive spices and caramelised flavours, embodying the authentic and decadent flavour of our region and delighting foodies from both near and afar.

Our New Christmas delicacy