Recipe: Nussecken (German Nut Slice)

Name: Deep Dish Chicken Pie
Cook time: 45 min
Yield: 6
Ingredients: 8 boneless chicken thighs; 300 g chicken breast; 6 slices streaky bacon; 2 Tablespoon oil; 200g button mushrooms cut into 1/4; 1 large onion chopped; 1 clove garlic; 1 tablespoon Worchester sauce; 3 tablespoons flour; 1 cup chicken stock; 1 teaspoon fresh thyme; 14g Gelatin Powder; Salt; Fresh ground pepper; Pastry Ingredients:; 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour; ¼ tsp salt; 225 g butter chilled and diced; 1 egg; ½ cup water cold; Milk for brushing on pastry

As we count down the weeks until Christmas, the UnserHaus team are sharing their Christmas family food traditions. Here’s Alex’s recipe for Nussecken.

A classic German slice with nuts and chocolate. With a shortbread crust, caramelised nuts and a dipped chocolate corner, Nussecken is the perfect holiday treat.

Serves: 6-8 slices
Difficulty Level: Moderate
Ready In: 1hr to prepare and 20 mins to cook
Appliance/Cookware Used: Cake mixer, rolling pin

Ingredients

Base
300g flour
1 tsp baking powder
150g sugar
½ tsp salt
2 eggs
150g butter (room temperature)

Topping
100g butter
100g sugar
2 tbsp honey
400g nuts, coarsely ground nuts (almonds or hazelnuts, or a combination)
2-3 tbsp apricot jam

Chocolate
200g dark chocolate
1 tbsp butter or coconut oil

Method

Begin with your base by sifting the flour and baking powder. Transfer this into your cake maker along with all other base ingredients and mix on a moderate speed until it has the consistency of bread crumbs. For best results we recommend you use a dough hook. If it hasn’t completely come together, knead by hand to form a dough.
Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for 1 hour. While the dough is chilling, make your topping.
Using a small pot on a moderate high heat combine the butter, sugar, honey and 4 tablespoon water until it comes to a boil. Remove from heat and mix in the ground nuts. Set aside until your dough is ready.
Turn your oven onto CircoTherm or Fan bake at 180°C
Place the dough between 2 sheets of baking paper and using a rolling pin, roll the dough out so it has a thickness of 1cm. You want to try to shape the dough so that it forms a square or rectangle.
Remove the top sheet of baking paper and prick the dough base gently all over.
In a small saucepan heat your jam so that it is warm and easy to spread. Use a knife to gently spread it evenly over the dough.
Add the nut mixture on top of the jam. Make sure the surface is smooth and it is as even as possible.
Place the slice into the middle of your preheated oven and cook for 20 minutes so it has a dark golden colour, then set aside to cool for 5 minutes.
After 5 minutes and while the slice is still warm, trim it so it has straight edges. Cut into 6-8 evenly shaped triangles. Each piece should be approximately 6-8cm long. Allow to cool completely.
To finish the slice, gently heat your chocolate and oil/butter in a saucepan at a very low heat so that they are completely melted (you can melt in a microwave if you prefer).
Once melted, mix so it is well combined then dip each corner of the triangle into the chocolate and set aside to harden and then serve.