Pretzswords: Soft Pretzel Swords

Soft Pretzel Swords for Your Food Arsenal

Everyone needs a few armaments round the table. So why not make them delicious as well? The characters of Westeros seem to always be heavily armed - even at dinner. Here at House Cook, our arsenal is equipped a little differently. Sure, we have a couple of broad swords lying around, but when it comes to food our swords are completely edible.

If you love soft pretzels, then follow our recipe and shape them into pointed swords and knives that will make you ready for battle...or maybe just snack time. Whether you're fighting or eating, we recommend you always have a pretzel on your side.

Prep time: 30 minutes

Bake time: 10 minutes

Makes 8-12 Pretzels (less or more depending on how big you make them)

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups lukewarm water

1 packet active instant yeast, or 2 1/4 tsp

1 tsp salt

1 Tbsp sugar

3 3/4 - 4 1/4 cups flour

1 egg

Salt for flavor

Step 1: Preheat the oven to 425 degrees and prepare a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Step 2: Dissolve the yeast in the lukewarm water. Stir gently with a spoon for about one minute until mixed. Add salt and sugar and stir until thoroughly combined. One cup at a time, add in three cups of flour. Mix with a wooden spoon while you add until the dough is thick. Add flour a quarter cup at a time until it is no longer sticky. 

Step 3: Flour a flat surface. Place the dough on top and knead if for about three minutes. Shape into a ball. Separate the dough into sections for the pretzels. You can make each pretzel as big or small as you want.

Step 4: To shape the swords, we used two different techniques. The first is to roll the dough into a long rope. Fold the rope in half and twist it together. Shape the end into a point and add two clumps of dough at the thicker end for the hilt of your sword. The other technique is to roll the dough into a long rope. Flatten the rope and then pinch it together with two finger. Pull one end into a point. Now take a smaller piece of dough and make a hilt that is large at the ends and thin in the middle. Lay the hilt over the top of the sword. Place each sword on the parchment paper when it is complete.

Step 5: Beat the egg into a small bowl. With a brush or your fingertips, spread egg over the top of you pretzels. Sprinkle with salt. (I like to use garlic salt on my pretzels). Place pretzels in the oven for ten minutes or until the bottom is golden brown.

And that's it! An easy and quick pretzel recipe with a Game of Thrones twist. We hope enjoy this great treat for a regular snack or a Game of Thrones viewing party.

North of the Wall: German Black Forest Cake

A view over the hills of the eastern edge of Germany's Black Forest facing France

What's been keeping House Cook from having much chance to cook these days? Distance and many, many changes.

This has been a season of change for us all. Anna-Lara has found a job and has been getting used to a new rhythm of life, Katy-Lynn is preparing for college, Julianne is jumping into her exciting new world of high school, and the youngest of us has been working as her soon-to-be rockstar self, practicing piano and winning science fairs. Meanwhile, I, Sarah-Lambert, have moved to Germany.

Today is the first in our new series, "North of the Wall," featuring foods and drinks and adventures from Germany where winter is most definitely coming.

Feast your eyes on some delicious, traditional Black Forest cake:

Yeah... tasty looking, right? It certainly is.

When I first started looking for the recipe, I could find only German ones. Not too much of a problem since translating a recipe isn't the most difficult, but thankfully, I found one written up in English that is only a tiny bit different from the one in German (you can find the English one I used as reference here). The recipe we're sharing with you today from North of the Wall is a mix of these two recipes.

German Black Forest Cake

Moderate difficulty. Prep time 40-60 minutes (I took 60, but you're probably faster). Cook time 40 minutes.

Ingredients: 

Cake:

1 2/3 cups   flour
2/3   cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 tsp   baking soda
1 tsp   salt
1/2 c   shortening
1 1/2   cups sugar
2   eggs
1 tsp   vanilla extract
1 cup   buttermilk
2/3 cup   kirsch (cherry schnapps)

Filling: 

1 stick of butter, room temperature
1 3/4 cups powdered sugar
1 pinch of salt
1 tsp strong coffee or espresso brewed and cooled
1 (14 oz) can of dark sweet pitted cherries in heavy syrup

Whipped frosting:

2 cups heavy whipping cream
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 tbsp kirsch
1/2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
grated semi-sweet chocolate for garnish
extra dark cherries for decoration


Step 1: Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Step 2: Line the bottoms of two 8 inch round pans with parchment paper (or tin foil) circles.

Step 3: Sift together flour, baking soda, cocoa, and salt and set mixture aside.

Step 4: Cream shortening and sugar until nice and fluffy. Then beat in eggs and vanilla.

Step 5: Slowly, add the flour mixture into the shortening mixture alternating with your buttermilk until they are thoroughly combined. **If the mixture seems too dry add a tiny bit more buttermilk**

Step 6: Pour the mixture into your pans and bake for 35-40 minutes.

Step 7: When the cake halves are both baked, allow them to cool thoroughly. Once cooled, poke holes all over them using a toothpick or fork and sprinkle the kirsch (cherry schnapps) over them generously. How much you use is up to how strongly you'd like the cake to taste of schnapps. Remember: the alcohol will not be baked off, so don't get crazy with it if you're making this sugar treat for your kids!

Step 8: Cream the butter until light and fluffy.

Step 9: Add the powdered sugar, pinch of salt, and coffee and mix thoroughly.

Step 10: Remove the cake halves from their pans. Place the first half on a plate and spread the mixture from steps 8 and 9 over the surface of the layer. Top this with the pitted cherries and their syrup. **I only ended up using 3/4 of the can. Use as little or as much of the cherry/syrup business as you think looks good**

Step 10: In a separate bowl, whip the cream to stiff peaks.

Step 11: Beat in the vanilla, cocoa and kirsch listed under "whipped frosting" in the ingredients.

Step 12: Frost top and sides of cake and decorate with a dusting of chocolate shavings and a lining of cherries. Want more chocolate? Get crazy with your shavings and apply them liberally!

Keep the cake refrigerated until serving.

White Walker Sugar Cookies: the zombified dessert that's out to get you

We thought they were cookies. We were wrong. So wrong. They were much more than mere cookies. After we removed them from the oven, things got ugly...

It started when we noticed that their eyes were blue. None of us remembered them having blue eyes. Weren't they brown before?

Then they started to move...on their own. That's right. They got right up off the cookie sheet, as though they'd been reanimated. It got gruesome fast!

We tried to run, but it was useless. They were faster. Stronger. Invincible. We didn't stand a chance. Our only recourse was to burn the remaining unfrosted guys before they had a chance to attack.

Sadly, we lost a sister... but it could've been worse. We're not sure what we'll do with Katy-Lynn now. For the time being, we're keeping her locked up. Who knew cookies would turn her into a White Walker? Living in Atlanta, we're pretty used to the dodging zombies issue (The Walking Dead), but we never thought that White Walkers were a risk as well! I guess we were wrong.

All we have to say is, watch out! Make the cookies because they are delicious, but be careful. Be on your guard. You never know what might happen when White Walker sugar cookies are on the loose.

If you're willing to risk your life, here's how to give them a try...

White Walker Sugar Cookies Recipe

Prep time: 20 minutes

Cook time: 8-12 minutes
Makes about 2 dozen cookies

Ingredients:

1 cup room temperature unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 egg
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 3/4 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder

Step 1: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, beat together butter and sugar. Add vanilla extract and the egg and beat thoroughly.

Step 2: In a medium sized bowl, stir or sift together flour, salt, and baking powder. Slowly add flour mixture to the large bowl, beating it in about 1 cup at a time until completely mixed together.

Step 3: Divide the dough into two large balls. On a floured surface, roll dough out to 1/8 inch thick. Cut with cookie cutters, dipping the cookies cutters in flour before cutting. Place cookies on an ungreased baking sheet and cook for 8-12 minutes or until they start to brown.

We decorated our cookies with simple sugar cookie icing that tasted delicious.

Icing ingredients:

1 cup powdered sugar
4 tsp milk

Mix together in a bowl using a fork or a whisk. Divide up the icing before you dye it. You might need to make more icing. We doubled the recipe.

The Kingsroad: a House Cook Gathering

The adventure began with Julianne's flight down to the land of Texas. Surprisingly, going from the bustle and crampedness of the East Coast to the blank and practically lifeless plains of Texas was very relaxing for her as she joined Sarah-Lambert. Their travels took them around to touristy hot spots, such as the Alamo which must've been rather interesting for Julianne to see since she's grown up with only seeing our brother's plastic version of the mission and sun-melted figurines. And after about a week, they drove up to a very, very small town in central Kansas so Julianne could visit her best friend, who might actually be an honorary sister now...

Flashing back over to Atlanta, Katy-Lynn prepared to work a tournament with our mother while Anna-Lara stayed burrowed under her massive comforter while she inscribed new scrolls for the House Cook library. And so, Katy-Lynn departed and Anna-Lara secretly made plans with Julianne and Sarah-Lambert to force Katy-Lynn to Take Up the Black on her 18th day of birth in the following week.

Sarah-Lambert and Julianne quickly finished their ride to Atlanta. Stopping to empty their screaming bladders, which unfortunately kept them from taking any pictures of The Thinker (a famous sculpture that almost looks more constipated than Lincoln on the new U.S. pennies). Later, they explored the replica of the Parthenon in Nashville, and saw the outside of Mammoth Caves in Kentucky (but didn't actually go in because Julianne spent two hours brushing her long, flowing, chestnut locks and tour tickets were sold out before they arrived).

After one night's rest at home, Sarah-Lambert, Anna-Lara, and Julianne rode gallantly up to the tournament where they caught Katy-Lynn by surprise and made her unknowingly Take Up the Black while they waited to be served their ale and bangers and mash. In all her frustration, Katy-Lynn may or may not have broken a few of our kitchen utensils which has kept us from presenting you with any food porn today.