Dominosteine (aka. Domino Cubes) are one thing that makes you realize Christmas Season has started the moment you see them in the supermarkets – and that is unfortunately already in September in some stores ;) And it feels like they start doing it earlier each year – soon you can get them in summer already…
Anyways – Dominosteine are something typical german. Invented in the mid 30’s by Herbert Wendler – Maitre Chocolatier from Dresden – as a cheap alternative for his expensive filled chocolates. It is now a typical sweet treat for Christmas, made with a layer of gingerbread, a layer of jelly and a layer of marzipan – all covered in chocolate. Sounds good, right? It is! Normally I would buy it in the store – they are cheap and good and with one package I’m fine for the Christmas Season anyways (I prefer other cookies)…
BUT – a friend of mine made them last year and he told me it was a bit of a disaster – they tasted good but looked nothing like the original. Normally he is a good baker, so I thought….. CHALLENGE ACCEPTED! ;) Let’s see if I’m doomed too. Turned out I wasn’t ;)
The first couple Dominosteine I coated with chocolate looked crappy – it took some time to get into the groove. But to be honest – they will not get on the list for my regular christmas bakes – only for special occasions. It is hard labor after all :)
Hope you will have as good results as me when baking these little fellas. Enjoy baking!
INGREDIENTS / ZUTATEN
For the ginger bread layer:
4.6 oz. (130g) liquid honey
1/8 cup (30g) sugar
4 tbsp. (40g) butter
3.5 oz. (100g) semi-sweet chocolate
1 1/4 cups (150g) all-purpose flour
1 tsp. ginger bread spice*
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
pinch of salt
1 egg
For the jelly layer:
6 leaves gelatine
21 oz. (600g) quince jelly
4 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
For the marzipan layer:
1 cup (100g) walnuts halves
7 oz. (200g) marzipan
4 tbsp. rum
For the decoration:
17.6 oz. (500g) semi-sweet chocolate coating
1.8 oz (50g) white chocolate coating
* If you don’t have ginger bread spice, you can easily make it yourself – mix 4 tbsp. ground cinnamon, 1 tbsp. clove powder, 1 tsp. allspice, 1/2 tsp. nutmeg, 1/2 tsp. ground coriander, 1 tsp. cardamom, 1 tsp. ground ginger and 1/2 tsp. mace powder – store in an airtight container in a dark place.
Für den Teig:
130g flüssiger Honig
30g Zucker
40g Butter
100g Zartbitterschokolade
150g Mehl (Type 405)
1Tl Lebkuchengewürz
1 1/2 Tl Backpulver
Prise Salz
1 Ei
Für das Gelee:
6 Blätter Gelatine
600g Quittengelee
4 El Zitronensaft
Für die Marzipanschicht:
100g Walnusskerne
200g Marzipanrohmasse
4 El Rum
Für die Verzierung:
500g Zartbitterkuvertüre
50g weiße Kuvertüre
DIRECTIONS / ZUBEREITUNG
2. For the jelly let the gelatine leaves soak in water. In a small saucepan add quince jelly and lemon juice and bring to a boil, stir constantly. Squeeze the gelatine to remove water, add to the jelly and let dissolve completely. Let cool down a bit (if it’s too liquid, it will probably spill out of the frame) – pour on the gingerbread and let harden in the fridge over night.
3. Chop the walnuts finely in a mixer. Roast the nuts in a non-stick pan until fragrant – don’t burn them. Let cool down. Grate the marzipan coarsely (if you freeze it for some time in advance, this will work better). Mix walnuts, marzipan and rum until you get a nice smooth dough-like mixture (it is a bit sticky). Place on plastic wrap and roll out a rectangle (7.8×11.8 inch). Place on the jelly layer and remove the plastic wrap. Remove the frame.
4. Chop the chocolate coating and add to a heatproof bowl. Place on a saucepan with simmering water to melt the chocolate – the temperature of the chocolate should not get higher than 98°F. Cut the cake into 40 cubes (1.2×1.2 inch). Immerse the cubes in the melted chocolate coating (or place on a fork and let the chocolate run over the cubes) – allow excess chocolate to drip off and then place on a baking sheet prepared with baking parchment to dry.
5. Melt the white chocolate coating over simmering water and fill in a small piping bag. Decorate the domino cubes. Store in a tin box in a cool place up to one week.
2. Für das Gelee die Gelatine in kaltem Wasser einweichen. Quittengelee und Zitronensaft aufkochen und glatt rühren. Ausgedrückte Gelatine darin auflösen. Das Gelee leicht abkühlen lassen und dann auf den Kuchenboden gießen – wenn das Gelee zu flüssig ist, läuft es aus dem Backrahmen heraus. Über Nacht im Kühlschrank fest werden lassen.
3. Walnusskerne in einem Mixer sehr fein hacken. In einer beschichteten Pfanne kurz anrösten bis sie duften. Abkühlen lassen. Marzipan grob reiben (klappt besser, wenn man das Marzipan vorher etwas anfrieren lässt). Walnüsse, Marzipan und Rum zu einer glatten Masse verkneten (wird etwas klebrig sein). Auf Klarsichtfolie zu einem Rechteck (20x30cm) drücken oder ausrollen und auf das Gelee stürzen. Klarsichtfolie abziehen. Den Kuchen aus der Form lösen.
4. Zartbitterkuvertüre hacken und über einem heißen Wasserbad schmelzen – die Kuvertüre sollte nicht wärmer als 37 Grad werden. Den Kuchen in 40 3x3cm große Würfel schneiden. Würfel in die Kuvertüre tauchen (oder auf eine Gabel legen und mit der Kuvertüre übergiessen) – überschüssige Kuvertüre abtropfen lassen und dann auf einem mit Backpapier ausgelegten Blech trocknen lassen.
5. Weiße Kuvertüre über einem heißen Wasserbad schmelzen, in einen kleinen Spritzbeutel geben und die Dominosteine damit verzieren. Kühl und trocken in einer Blechdose gelagert, halten sie ca. 1 Woche.
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Here is a version of the recipe you can print easily.
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Dominosteine
- Prep Time: 90
- Cook Time: 15
- Total Time: 1440
- Yield: 40 1x
Description
This recipe needs some time – the base for the Dominosteine needs to cool over night and the coating/drying needs some time
Ingredients
For the ginger bread layer
- 4.6 oz. (130g) liquid honey
- 1/8 cup (30g) sugar
- 4 tbsp. (40g) butter
- 3.5 oz. (100g) semi-sweet chocolate
- 1 1/4 cups (150g) all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp. ginger bread spice*
- 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
- pinch of salt
- 1 egg
For the jelly layer
- 6 leaves gelatine
- 21 oz. (600g) quince jelly
- 4 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
For the marzipan layer
- 1 cup (100g) walnuts halves
- 7 oz. (200g) marzipan
- 4 tbsp. rum
For the decoration
- 17.6 oz. (500g) semi-sweet chocolate coating
- 1.8 oz (50g) white chocolate coating
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350˚F (180°C). Prepare an adjustable baking frame (7.8×11.8 inch) with baking parchment. For the gingerbread dough add the honey, sugar and butter to a saucepan and bring to a boil. Let cool down a bit. Chop the chocolate, add to the honey mix and stir. In a large bowl sift flour, gingerbread spice, baking powder and salt. Add the honey-chocolate mix and egg and mix until all is well combined. Transfer the dough immediately to the baking frame and smooth out the surface. Bake for 12-15 minutes. Let cool in the frame.
- For the jelly let the gelatine leaves soak in water. In a small saucepan add quince jelly and lemon juice and bring to a boil, stir constantly. Squeeze the gelatine to remove water, add to the jelly and let dissolve completely. Let cool down a bit (if it’s too liquid, it will probably spill out of the frame) – pour on the gingerbread and let harden in the fridge over night.
- Chop the walnuts finely in a mixer. Roast the nuts in a non-stick pan until fragrant – don’t burn them. Let cool down. Grate the marzipan coarsely (if you freeze it for some time in advance, this will work better). Mix walnuts, marzipan and rum until you get a nice smooth dough-like mixture (it is a bit sticky). Place on plastic wrap and roll out a rectangle (7.8×11.8 inch). Place on the jelly layer and remove the plastic wrap. Remove the frame.
- Chop the chocolate coating and add to a heatproof bowl. Place on a saucepan with simmering water to melt the chocolate – the temperature of the chocolate should not get higher than 98°F. Cut the cake into 40 cubes (1.2×1.2 inch). Immerse the cubes in the melted chocolate coating (or place on a fork and let the chocolate run over the cubes) – allow excess chocolate to drip off and then place on a baking sheet prepared with baking parchment to dry.
- Melt the white chocolate coating over simmering water and fill in a small piping bag. Decorate the domino cubes. Store in a tin box in a cool place up to one week.
Notes
- * If you don’t have ginger bread spice, you can easily make it yourself – mix 4 tbsp. ground cinnamon, 1 tbsp. clove powder, 1 tsp. allspice, 1/2 tsp. nutmeg, 1/2 tsp. ground coriander, 1 tsp. cardamom, 1 tsp. ground ginger and 1/2 tsp. mace powder – store in an airtight container in a dark place.
I love my job, but in between I love to bake and try new things in the kitchen. A lot of my friends and colleagues encourage me to bake - for a very simple reason: they get the leftovers - and it seems they like it most of the time ;) 
Die sehen wirklich toll aus – eine prima Idee Dominosteine mal selbst zu machen.
Vielen Dank für die Inspiration.
Liebe Grüße,
Daniela
Danke… freut mich immer, wenn ich jemanden zum Backen verleiten kann ;))
These look so good. I’m going to have to try them this Christmas and see what our German exchange student thinks of them. Thanks for sharing the recipe.
Hi James!
If your exchange student likes the ones from the store, you will definitely make him happy with this ones ;)
Cheers,
Marc
Thank you so much, I have been desperate for this recipe since I tasted a domino stone at a German Christmas Market in Cambridge whilst passing through some years ago, these look fabulous
Hallo! Ich schreibe aus Mexico. I’m trying to make this recipe for my Deutschkurs. I’m wondering: do you have a Marzipan recipe I could use? In Mexico Marzipan is mainly made with peanuts. Danke schön!
Hi.
Unfortunately, I do not have a marzipan recipe. Always buy it in stores.
Maybe Google can help.
Cheers
Marc
Maria busca la receta en Pinterest ,creo era 600gr harina de almendra con 2 tz azúcar glass,la receta decía 3 pero me parece perfecto con 2tazas,lo ponés en el procesador de alimentos y le podés agregar 2 cucharadas de licor ( yo usé licor de naranja ) y 2 cucharas de agua o agua de rosas o de azahar de grado comestible. Yo lo hice en 2 tantos porque mi procesador no es muy grande y me quedó perfecto.