schnecken

VI's ode to Kringle reminded me of my own dietary abyss, the Schnecken. I have only found it at one German bakery in Cincinnati (and fortunately I didnt discover it until I was moving away). It is basically a loaf of sticky buns baked in extra butter and sugar until crisp. On the 3 occasions that I have bought it, I have finished it in under 48 hours. The only other thing that comes close for me are homemade rice krispy treats (I have been known to eat a whole tray in one sitting), but they are much healthier, containing only 1/2 stick of butter. I have periodically looked for Schnecken here, but fortunately for my heart, I have failed. When I google it, the first 10 pages of links are all in German. I suppose I should take the hint and give up, but my memories have been awakened. If anyone knows of a source, please share it with me.
-Will

I can't help directly, but I can help with the Google issue -- if you go to the Google Preferences page, you can tell it that you want it to return only pages written in English. It isn't perfect, but it will get rid of those first 10 pages of unhelpful results...

Hi,

You may also have Google translate the German language website. It may say the link is in German, then next to it in lighter text is a link to allow you to translate the page into English. This will not be a perfect translation, by any standards, though often you can derive the gist.

I think, if I am not mistaken, that Rugulach (Rugelach) are also (otherwise known as) Schnecken. In German, and I assume Yiddish, Schnecken means "snail." However the version that I believe you are looking for is here.

Wow--they do look incredible, don't they?

Trixie-pea,

I think you may be confused because they both contain cinnamon and sugar and are "rolled".

Rugelach are crescent shaped cookies made from a cream cheese dough.

Schneckens are sticky buns and are made from a brioche or bread dough.

An old friend's grandmother, Hungarian Jewish caterer, once taught me to make schnecken while my grandmother was in town. I am sure it was just an excuse for the two of them to visit.

Her schnecken were beautiful and delicious, ever after meeting my grandmother, she sent some over when she knew that my grandma would be in town. She also taught me how to stretch to dough for the true strudel.

For years, at Halloween, I looked for schnecken so I could pin them on my ears and go to costume parties as Princess Leia. Alas, no luck.

Evil Ronnie,

I have heard the term Schnecken used to describe rugelach before. I did a quick Google search, and it seems that some people do call the sour cream based rugelach, "schnecken." I think that the Jewish version is called rugelach, and the Austrian/German version of the same recipe is sometimes called "schnecken" or butterhorn. Although there is clearly the yeast based cinnamon roll recipe which is also called schnecken.

I'm no expert and may be way off base, but I just wanted to make the point that I have heard people call what I have always known as rugelach--(and perhaps erroneously) schnecken.

Trixie

Schnecken schmecken gut!

Ach, verzeihung, kiekt mal her!

Note the use of Gänseschmalz, 'goose fat', in this recipe.

Antonius

The schnecken that I had were rectangles of sticky bun/cinnamon bun dough stacked(?) horizontally in a tall loaf pan. they were baked with a ton of butter and sugar and cinnamon. the sugar caramelized and got nice and crunchy. the butter was absorbed into the dough to such a degree that the bottom half of each slice was translucent, and the butter would ooze out as you ate it. I am not sure why the butter didnt congeal at room temp, but it didnt. I dont like nuts so the ones I got had none. Didnt ask about the snail version though.
-Will

Just reading this post is making my arteries snap shut!