Chocolate german Spitzbuben with orange curd

Klara und Ida have been inspired by our cocoas and have chosen “Choc Orange” for a reinterpretation of the german Spitzbuben popular at Christmas.

They are big fans of these “double decker” cookies. Here comes their recipe:

They just look beautiful every time, no matter what cookie cutter or filling you use for the cookies. Classically, Spitzbuben come with a light-colored dough and a dark red jam center. We changed the cookie recipe to match Becks cocoa™ and gave the cookie dough a dark cocoa coating. In addition, we pick up the delicious, wintry orange flavor in our Christmas cookie recipe and emphasize it with homemade orange curd. It wanders as a bright and above all delicious filling between the cookies.

These are the ingredients you need for your orange curd

To make your orange curd the best it can be, there are a few things you should look for in your ingredients:

Oranges: Be sure to use untreated organic oranges. For your orange curd you need the freshly grated peel of an orange. Therefore, it is important that the orange is untreated. Once you have grated the zest (this works well with a Parmesan slicer), cut the orange in half and squeeze it. We use fresh orange juice for our orange curd, which simply tastes more aromatic than the already bottled.
Sugar: For our orange curd we recommend normal white sugar. Since we like to work with cane sugar, we have also tested this. However, we have made the experience that he likes to darken the curd once. Therefore, we play it safe and use normal sugar for sweetening.
Eggs: In our orange curd we give as fresh as possible organic eggs. This is important because the eggs are not cooked, but only carefully heated until they cause the mixture to stick. Therefore, you should make sure that the eggs are really fresh.

1. How to make your orange curd:

Homemade orange curd is simply unbeatable. You can enjoy it wonderfully as a spread, refine desserts with it or use it like here for our cookie recipe for Christmas. Curd has always put us off a bit until not too long ago. After we tested it for the first time as a classic lemon curd, it was clear: Curd is much easier to prepare than you think. In addition, Curd gives the possibility for the most different variations. Our orange curd is one of them. For us, it brings exactly the wintry warmth that lemon curd sometimes lacks – it fits wonderfully with the warm summer months. So that orange curd succeeds in any case, you should note the following:

2. What is the best way to make orange curd?

If you follow our recipe, you are on the right page. In addition, you should bring a little flair. Because your curd consists of two components, which are mixed together sensitively. On the one hand, there is the mixture of sugar, orange juice and orange zest. Secondly, there is the beaten and whisked egg. For the whole recipe, it is important to always match the right temperature. It is better to let the orange juice cool a little longer than too short. We hold our little finger in it briefly to test. If the liquid is still warm but no longer burning hot, you can let it run into the egg. On the stove, it is important to set the temperature correctly. If it’s too low, your orange curd won’t stick, if it’s too high, you’ll get scrambled eggs with orange juice. We always leave the temperature on medium. If we find that the orange curd doesn’t set, we usually turn it up briefly until it starts to set and then immediately turn it back down. This boost is enough to generate the perfect curd.

What can orange curd be used for?

Orange Curd can be used in a variety of ways, such as:

Spread for yeast pastries
Filling for cookies
Topping for cakes, pancakes or crepes
addition to desserts such as panna cotta or tiramisu
Gift from the kitchen for Christmas

This is the perfect way to make your chocolate Spitzbuben:

It won’t be long before we reach the recipe for our Spitzbuben. However, we would like to give you a few tips along the way so that they turn out perfectly:

The cooling time for your cookie dough: Make sure to chill the cookie dough for a sufficiently long time. Unfortunately, cutting it short won’t help, because once the cookie dough warms up, it’s much harder to work with.
The thickness for the cookie dough: Since Spitzbuben always consist of two cookie layers, you should roll out your cookie dough as thinly as possible. To do this, flour your work surface and also the dough. That way, it won’t stick and will be easier to work with.
The decoration: For our Spitzbuben, we dusted the top cookie with cocoa powder from Becks cocoa™ before placing it on the orange curd. To do this, we sprinkled the cocoa through a fine sieve onto the cookies. This gives them an extra helping of cocoa flavor and a beautiful dark color. However, the decoration is not a must – especially if you want to transport them, you can also do without it without hesitation.

Now though, scroll down for the cookie recipe for your next Christmas….

Chocolate shortbread cookies with orange curd

Recipe for about 20 Spitzbuben

250 g spelt flour type 630
110 g margarine or butter
50 g sugar
2 tablespoons Becks cocoa™ CHOC ORANGE
1 egg
1 pinch of salt

Ingredients for homemade orange curd

50 ml orange juice from organic oranges (equivalent to about 0.5 -1 oranges)
grated zest of 1 organic orange
40 g sugar
1 organic egg (size M)
20 g butter

For the dough of the cookies, mix all ingredients together and knead into a smooth dough. Form it into a roll, wrap it in beeswax paper and let it rest in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

Then line two baking sheets with parchment paper and roll out the dough on a floured work surface until 3 mm thin. Cut out cookies with Spitzbuben molds (use half of the dough for the bottom of the Spitzbuben and the other half for the top) and place on the baking paper. Preheat the oven to 180 °C convection, place the baking sheets in the oven and bake for 15 – 20 min. Then remove from the oven and let cool.

In the meantime, prepare the orange curd. Wash the oranges thoroughly with hot water. Grate the zest from the orange with a fine grater. Cut the orange in half and squeeze. Put orange juice, zest and sugar in a small saucepan and heat slowly until everything boils. Simmer for 3 minutes.

While juice is boiling, crack egg into a bowl and whisk thoroughly. Cut butter into coarse pieces.

Remove pot with orange syrup from heat and let cool for 3 – 5 minutes. Now, in a long stream, add half of the syrup to the eggs, whisking as you go. Return the saucepan to the stove and pour in the egg mixture. Now stir the orange curd mixture over medium heat, stirring comfortably but constantly with a wooden spoon. The mixture should be just before boiling point, but definitely not starting to boil! After about 2 minutes, you should notice the mixture gradually firming up. (If this does not happen, increase the heat very carefully and only briefly, then it will immediately begin to set, now reduce the heat again directly). Continue stirring for 1 – 2 minutes or until the mixture has set.

Then remove the saucepan from the heat. Add the butter cubes and stir until they have dissolved. The orange curd is ready and can even be eaten warm. For the cookies, transfer it to a jar or small bowl and let it cool in the refrigerator. Once it has cooled, it will be firm enough to spread easily on the cookies without running down.

Once the orange curd has set, cover the underside of the cookies with 1 teaspoon of orange curd and place the matching top on top. Continue in this manner until there are no more cookies left. If there is any curd left, store it in the refrigerator and use it as a spread.