Types of Bredele

Published: 2018-11-08 22:12:01
Categories : Alsace festivities , Celebrations , General

"Bredele" may not be a word you've come across before, but behind it hides a whole world of baking traditions, that we dearly want to pass onto current and future generations...

A wealth of recipes and shapes

The exceptional diversity of Bredele recipes and shapes also represents the rich culinary heritage of Alsace...

The way they're made is determined by the pastry or dough recipe, giving biscuits their different shapes. The same goes for the prolific amount of ingredients found in them: Traditional pâtisserie products, such as flour, butter, eggs and sugar, are wonderfully combined with more exotic ingredients, such as coconut and spices (cinnamon, vanilla, cloves, aniseed, ginger, cardamom, etc.).

There are 3 types of bite-sized Christmas biscuits, defined by the way they're made:

Cut-out
Piped
Moulded

Cut-out Bredele

Easy and fun to make, they're the bredele most commonly made by Alsace families! Whatever their shape (heart, Christmas tree, star, crescent moon, etc.) and whether they're iced or not, they're made with an all-butter, shortbread-like dough. A dough cut using cutters, a roller or a knife. The flour and other ingredients are mixed together, and the dough is then left to rest in the fridge overnight, ready to be rolled out, cut and baked the next day. Some of the most popular varieties:

Piped bredele

These are made by hand, with a teaspoon, or with a piping bag. The composition and texture of the dough for these bredele varies widely, as do the shapes. There are countless possibilities: Crunchy, melt-in-the-mouth, chewy or soft, and flat, crinkled or risen into cones or domes, or even in the shape of batons or crescent moon. They're generally prepared as follows: The eggs are beaten together with the sugar to combine, and the flour and other ingredients are then added. The biscuits are then baked in the oven.

The best-known piped bredele are:

Moulded bredele

These are the oldest type of bredele, made with wooden or terracotta mould. That's how springerle are made: A small white aniseed biscuit whose name literally means "Little Jumper", that was being made as early as in the 16th Century. Designed as real works of art, they depicted religious or profane scenes, landscapes or simply scenes from day-to-day life. Our Maison is keeping up this historic Alsace tradition, making springerle with authentic moulds, that you can find in some of our stores!