1843

Pastry Mold

Artist/maker unknown

This wooden pastry mold was used to make springerle, a type of cookie that originated in the region of Schwabia in southern Germany about five hundred years ago. The imprinted cookies were traditionally made for use in ceremonies and celebrations, and are now typically prepared to mark Christian holidays, such as Christmas or Easter. The pale-ivory colored springerle cookies are made from a simple dough of flour, sugar, anise (a licorice-flavored seed), eggs, and a leavening agent such as ammonium carbonate or baking powder. Once mixed and rolled out, the dough was then stamped with the springerle mold and left to dry for at least 24 hours. During baking the cookies double in height, and it is often assumed that the name springerle, which translates to “little jumper”, derives from this pop-up effect.

Springerle molds made in Pennsylvania by German émigrés showed wide variations in design. This mold is carved with a dozen birds in their native habitats. The carving into the surface of the board is a technique called intaglio, as opposed to relief carving, where the decoration is above the surface.