Aunt Grace would be proud – Photo: L. Weikel

Kiffel Mastery

It’s been days since I embarked upon this quest. I’ve received an assortment of earnest clues from you, my companions on this 1111 devotion; glimpses of possibilities and tantalizing if elusive hints of how I might walk in the footsteps of Aunt Grace and bring forth the resurrection (at least in our household) of her nut-filled kiffels. I thank you for suggestions – they were all frustratingly, as I say, elusive.

Not the Only Tradition

Just as I’ve regaled you with memories of the walnut torte birthday cakes Aunt Grace would bake us (supplemented, of course, by Carol’s Chocolate Cake), I realize, now that I’ve been recently focusing my attention on my childhood, that kiffels were every bit as much a Christmas tradition in our home as the walnut torte was our birthday tradition.

To be sure, my father’s mother was an extraordinary baker in her own right, albeit not Hungarian (actually, mostly Irish). Grandma’s coffee cake, apple pie, and biscuits – oh my goodness, her biscuits, that didn’t even need butter on the soft, downy insides revealed when you broke one open – were enough to make you melt into a pool of drool.

And her coffee cake was indeed another part of our Christmas morning tradition – although I seem to recall she would bake that at other times of the year as well. Same with her apple pie, which was extraordinary. (My recollection of her apple pie is all about the crust. I remember eating all the cinnamon infused filling first so I could ever so slowly, bite by bite, savor the crust, baked just to the perfect state of doneness.)

Christmas Tradition

But on Christmas morning, all my nieces and nephews would have to sit on the stairs waiting for the adults to get their cups of coffee and settle into their spots in the living room before the stocking unpacking and present unwrapping extravaganza could commence. (I got to come down maybe a minute or so earlier to claim my ‘spot’ in the room, because I was technically in the generation of their parents.) Part of my parents’ and brothers and sisters’ ritual, once settled, was to pass to each other the round ‘tin’ lined with waxed paper that held the cherished Aunt Grace’s kiffels nestled in confectioner’s sugar. As a child, I favored the powdered sugar and could take or leave the kiffels themselves. But as maturity crept up on me, I began to appreciate the adults’ culinary discernment.

After we married and moved away, and Aunt Grace grew much older, my closest sister and her husband began making the kiffels. For a good ten years or so, they would see to it that a small round tin, lined in waxed paper and filled with kiffels, would be part of our continuing Christmas tradition.

Times Change

As I’ve mentioned recently, I was always under the impression that the desserts made by Aunt Grace were simply too difficult for me to replicate. So it’s only been in the past four years or so when I’ve actually started trying my hand at the walnut torte – and now, this year, the kiffels.

I find it fascinating to realize the pedestal upon which I placed these confections, honestly believing I did not have the baking skills to recreate them for myself. I’ve found I make tweaks to the walnut torte recipe; every time I make it I bring it inch-by-inch closer to capturing the essence of Aunt Grace’s cakes.

Kiffel Challenge

Which leads me to these kiffels and, in particular, the quest to recreate the quintessential nut filling.

So many of you remarked on egg whites, sugar, and walnuts. A few had butter in the recipe instead of egg whites. Nobody had a lot to say as far as proportions of those ingredients. But I’m delighted that you cared enough to give me your best ideas! Thank you!

This morning, though, I decided that I was either going to give it a try and ‘wing it’ as far as proportions – or I would have to let it go for the season. After gathering the ingredients for the nut filling as best as I could guess, I looked over one last time all the comments that were made either on the blog posts or via email. And then a miracle happened!

As if she’d heard me from afar, Aunt Grace had my niece write the exact recipe for her kiffels’ nut filling and post it under my blog post! Let me emphasize this:with exact measurements!  I was delighted! For whatever reason, just having that confirmation of exactly what she would use and in the proportions she used them made all the difference for me.

Eureka Moment

And then, as if the clouds parted and angels started singing, I suddenly fully comprehended that I’d not been rolling the kiffels – I’d been pinching them. Closing them and their fillings up as if they were pierogies. Wrong, wrong, wrong.

So now, all of a sudden, my creations look like kiffels, too!

I also made a point of allowing the balls to sit out a bit more before ‘wrastling’ them into submission with the rolling pin. The results are, if I may be so bold, spectacular.

The delectable deliciousness I’ve been indulging in this evening as the kiffels have come out of the oven and then bathed in a shower of confectioner’s sugar after cooling is so reminiscent of Christmases past that I feel a different sort of connection this year. I’m appreciating the tastes that accompanied the rituals of stockings and presents. The anticipation for and appreciation of Aunt Grace’s baking. And the warm feeling I have deep down that I eventually managed to get it right. Honestly, I think Aunt Grace was watching over me today, especially. It just all clicked into place and my hands knew what to do.

I’m committing these recipes to electronic and handwritten recipe cards. These traditions are too delicious and nurturing to the soul to lose.

(T-697)