The Celebration Of Yuletide Part III

The Baking

Traditionally the houswife will bake cakes for Yuletide in three different shapes:

* Large Cake
* Gingerbread and Almond Biscuits
* Shaped Biscuits

The houswife should allways be aware that the Yuletide baking has a special meaning. It should not only taste good, but it should be part of the meaningful celebrations. The cakes and biscuits should therefor be an expression of the great changes at the Winter Solstice, like the Yuletide Tree, The Jul Wreath and the candles. Therefor a good houswife should pride herself on keeping to the old recipies and shapes rejecting all cheap and American factory produced goods.

The large cake, which is still served today with a candle in the middle, and the large flat cake are still to be found in every house today.

Gingerbread cakes and biscuits, which taste so nice made with honey and syrup and which fill the whole house with their delicious aroma, should be cut out in heart shapes, star shapes, or wheel shapes.

The preferable shapes of the almond biscuits are:

* The Cockerel - the announcer of day time
* The Boar - boarmeat used to be eaten at Yuletide
* The Rider - Wotan on his horse
* The Hunter - Wotan
* The Spinner - Lady Holle in fairytales; Frigga
* The Tree Of Life
* The human couple

In addition hand formed biscuits should be made and formed in the shape of the Runic Letters. This is not at all difficult if the dough is rolled into a long thick spaghetti. Runic Letters like the Swastika, the 4 spoke, 6 spoke or 8 spoke Sun Wheel, the Odal Rune in all different shapes, the pretzel, the sun spiral and the horse shoe can then be formed easily.

These cut out and hand formed almond biscuits should be used to decorate the Jul Wreath, they shouls hand on the Yuletide Tree, and they should be found on the Yuletide Table of every family.