Fröhliches Oktoberfest

I took three years of German in high school, and every year we celebrated Karneval and Oktoberfest (sans booze) in class. I learned how to make spaetzle and how to eat so many undercooked snickerdoodles that I felt like throwing up afterward. Plus, I discovered Nutella for the first time. Needless to say, I am pretty fond of those Germans.



When the October issues of my cooking magazines showed up, they all mentioned Oktoberfest in some way; Rachael Ray had the biggest spread - Oktoberfest in 15 Minutes or something over-simplified like that. This planted the seed in my mind; what if we celebrated Oktoberfest this year?



My mom was all for it and my Aunt Nettie was coming into town with her friend Marilyn halfway through October, so we worked them into the plan as well. My mom was in charge of the beer and sausage and I was in charge of picking recipes and making dessert (of course).



The only challenge I faced was my Aunt's gluten-free diet, which I was more than happy to accommodate. When I'm given limits, it makes it easier for me to think up new dessert inventions.



After wracking my brain, I finally invented something similar to a parfait, served in custard cups. Basically, chocolate pudding (not too sweet) with the filling found in German chocolate cakes on top, along with some freshly whipped cream. I really wanted to make homemade pudding, but it was a very busy weekend, so I ended up just buying chocolate pudding and adding a little extra cocoa powder to it to pull down the sweetness.



And, in the end, Oktoberfest was a hit! The pretzels were gone in an instant and everyone ate and felt quite German.

The dessert ended up being just alright; I prepared the cups before dinner, with the topping and whipped cream, and put them back in the refrigerator, when I should have just left them out or waited until serving to put room-temperature topping on the pudding. Because the puddings were so cold, the topping was very hard. Other than that, the flavor was perfect!



I'm not going to post the recipe for the pudding because it was so simple. Just find a filling for a German Chocolate Cake and make a third or half recipe. And then slop it on top of some pudding.



Giant Soft Pretzels
Makes 8 pretzels

1 cup water, plus
2 tablespoons water (70 to 80 degrees)
3 cups all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons brown sugar
1 ½ teaspoons active dry yeast
2 quarts water
½ cup baking soda
Kosher salt, to taste

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Place water, flour, sugar, and yeast in a large bowl. Mix and knead this dough for 5 to 10 minutes. If needed, add 2 tablespoons of flour after a few minutes. Turn dough onto a lightly-floured surface.

Divide dough into 8 equal-sized balls; roll each ball out into a 15- to 20-inch rope and form into a pretzel shape. Meanwhile, in a large sauce pan, bring water and baking soda to a boil. Drop pretzels into water, two at a time, and boil for 10 to 15 seconds.

Remove pretzels from water with a slotted spoons and drain on paper towels. Place pretzels on a greased baking sheet and bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until golden-brown. Lightly brush with water and sprinkle with kosher salt.