Nussecke- Nut corners- German Nut bars

'Nussecken' as it is called in German literally means Nut corners or nut triangles. It is usually put in the category of 'fine baked goods.' It is a German speciality made out of two types of ground nuts and goes well with coffee or tea or just like that. Germans love it and I am sure so will you. Once you taste it, you would realise that it is worth the effort that goes into making it. It is a special favourite for kids.

Ingredients:

For the Pastry

White Flour- 225 grams
Unsalted butter at room temperature- 100 grams
Baking powder- 1 teaspoon
Vanilla sugar/essence- 1 to 1 and 1/2 teaspoon
Egg-1

For the Nut filling

Butter- 150 grams
Sugar-150 grams
Vannila sugar/essence- 2 Teaspoons
Water- 4 Tablespoons
Powdered Hazelnut (You can use Almond powder instead)- 200 grams
Chopped Hazelnut (You can use Chopped almonds instead)- 200 grams
* I combined two types of nuts and used Almond powder and chopped Hazelnuts.

Apricot Jam

For the decoration/corners

Bitter chocolate bars


Process:

In a bowl mix all the ingredients for the pastry and kneed together.

It would form a firm dough. Cover it and keep it in the fridge for at least half an hour. It would make it easier for you to roll it out.

Next, roll out the dough and spread it on the baking dish and make small insertions using a fork.

 Like this.

Next spread a layer of apricot jam all over this base. You could use a market bought jam or make it at home using the recipe in my blog (Plum Preserve) replacing the plums with apricots and leaving out the cinnamon powder or a recipe of your choice. 

                                                   

Now for the filling, in a large pan melt the butter, add the nut powder and pieces and the sugar. Cook for a while and add 4 Tablespoons of water.

When the mixture is ready, spread it over the baking dish that already has the pastry base and apricot jam layer.

Bake at 160- 180 degree Celsius for 25 minutes. Let it cool and then cut into triangles.

Now chop some dark chocolate and melt it in a pan on slow flame.

Dip the corners of the nut triangles in chocolate the way you like. Only the 3 tips of the triangle, all the edges or just two ends.  Let the chocolate set and serve.