Ever since I can remember my father has talked about how my grandmother would cook this german dish for christmas when he was a kid.It was called grow-sin-hauns(don't know the correct spelling).From what I understand its some sort of bread pudding thats served in slices with apricot preserves.I can't find a recipe anywhere... I just remembered that the mixture was boiled inside a cheese cloth not baked.

GERMAN BREAD 1/2 cup butter 1 package active dry yeast 1/4 cup water, lukewarm 2 each egg, well beaten 1 1/4 cups bread crumbs, fresh 1 teaspoon cinnamon 2 teaspoons butter, melted 3/4 cup sugar dissolved in: 1 cup milk, scalded 5 1/2 cups flour 3 tablespoons brown sugar 1/4 teaspoon salt Cream together the butter and sugar, add the scalded milk and mix thoroughly. When lukewarm, stir in the dissolved yeast, eggs and flour (using more flour if necessary to make a stiff batter - dough will be sticky and soft). Beat mixture thoroughly, cover and let rise in a warm place about 1-1/2 hours or until double in bulk. When risen, beat again thoroughly. Grease deep pie pan and sprinkle lightly with flour. With a spoon, fill the pie pans with the dough. Sprinkle top of cakes with the following mixture: combine the soft bread crumbs with the melted butter, sugar, salt and cinnamon and mix well. Let cakes rise about 20 minutes and then bake in a Preheated 400F oven about 20-25 minutes or until golden. BLACK GERMAN BREAD DIP 2/3 c. sour cream 2/3 c. Miracle Whip 1 tsp. minced onion 1 tsp. parsley flakes 1 tsp. Beau Monde 1 tsp. dill seed 1 (unsliced) black German bread Mix all ingredients thoroughly and refrigerate 24 hours. Hollow out the center of the black rye bread. Pour dip into middle of bread. Take the excess bread, from the hollowed out area, and tear into bite-size pieces. Use these to dip into the dip.

You mean "Grosser Hans" it 's a northern German receipt. Here is a receipt: http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=242291 But it is not the original like your grandma and my mom cooked. To day they don't use bread they use flour. But there was also a receipt using flour. "Dithmarscher Mehlbüdel". Grosser Hans was with dried plums, apples, sultanas and apicot. I must look in the cookbook of my grandgrandgrandma. Possibly I find a receipt for Grosser Hans for you that is more original. But Großer Hans is not a Christmas receipt. It is a receipt for using the leftover bread. Greetings from Hamburg, Germany Heinz @Kate: No, they used white bread, not pumpernickel. Pumpernickel is a bread from Northrhine-Westfalia. "Grosser Hans" is a receipt of northern of the river Elbe (Hamburg aaand Schleswig-Holstein). "Grosser Hans" and "Dithmarscher Mehlbüddel" are very semliar. The difference is in "Dithmarscher Mehlbüddel" they used wheat flour (Dithmarschen is a very vertile landscape and was very rich and due to its strategic situation there was a long time no aristrocrazy government. Dithmarschen was a farmers republic. They could afford fresh new flour.) In the other parts of my land (Schleswig-Holstein) the situation was different. They had to use old white bread and that is "Grosser Hans". If you look at the map of the mouth of the river Elbe. North between the river Eider, the Noth- Baltic Sea - Channel and the river Elbe is Dithmarschen. In the rest of the parts of Germany north of the river Elbe they cooked "Grosser Hans".

German Bread Pudding Recipe German Bread Pudding is an unusual spin on your regular bread pudding. This quick recipe uses pumpernickel, rum, heavy cream, semi-sweet chocolate and strawberry jam for an unforgettable dessert. INGREDIENTS: 8 oz. pumpernickel bread 1 - 1 ½ C. rum 3 C. heavy cream 1 C. sugar 1 tsp. vanilla extract 8 oz. semisweet chocolate, grated ½ C. strawberry jam PREPARATION: Spread bread slices on a baking sheet and dry in a 325-degree oven - bread should be very dry. Pour rum over the dried bread slices and, with a fork, break bread into small pieces. Whip cream, adding sugar and vanilla gradually until stiff. In a deep serving dish, spread a layer of whipped cream, then grated chocolate. Top with a layer of the bread mixture and dot with strawberry jam. Continue the layers until all ingredients are used. Refrigerate overnight or at least 8 hours before serving. Serve with a dollop of whipped cream. http://huntsville.about.com/od/cookies/r/germanbreadpud.htm (*-*)