Springerles

When I was a kid, I didn't like springerles. My sister hated anise so much that she would vomit it up, whether by choice or not I can't be sure. This was rather unfortunate, because she liked to help my mother roll out the cookies with the special carved springerle rollers. One was from my grandmother, one was from Knott's Berry Farm, and the third, a rectangle with four of the images carved into it, from a catalogue. It took my mother two days to make the cookies. On day one, she would mix the egg yolks separately from the egg whites, until the whites formed stiff peaks and there were no more bubbles. She would then combine all the ingredients, knead them, and then roll out the shapes. Then she let the dough dry out, covered, overnight. I didn't particularly like them--they weren't very sweet, and anything that reminded me of a medication I used to have to take that tasted like the worst kind of black licorice, was to be shunned. Apparently, the more air they get, the more brick-like and better they are. These days I think of them as digestive biscuits, or hardtack, because of their consistency. The anise helps to settle the stomach, and if not overdone, is very delicate. Odd in such an indelicate, hard-working cookie.

I inherited making the springerles even though my sister is more the baker, because I can handle anise, and it's really the only connection I have to my mother's family. My mother inherited the springerle making in much the same way, because her sister was married and had children so young. She was the domestic in their family, and my mother was not.

When my mother first took up the tradition, she mistakenly did the yolks and whites at the same time, which made the cookies too yellow. She had to buy baker's ammonia in a block from the drugstore and then pound it into powder. Apparently, this lends an ammonia scent to the kitchen while they are being mixed, but which fades after they are cooking. My mother ended up having to replace the baker's ammonia with baking powder after the druggists stopped carrying the ammonia. In Germany, something called hartshorn is used (the baker's ammonia) still.