Though exact numbers vary, people claiming German descent make up America's largest ethnic group. (The German-American Hall of Fame claims 65 million, or 23 percent, of the U.S. population in 2003 was of German descent.)

Most people probably don't know it, but at Christmas, many beloved traditions originated in Germany: Gingerbread, Christmas trees, Christmas cards, Christmas stockings, Santa Claus, and many favorite hymns and carols.

Putting a little extra "German" in Christmas can be as simple as baking German goodies such as anise cookies and experimenting with a couple of new dishes to add some novelty to the familiar.

The first is a bread pudding made with traditional German fruit bread and impressively embellished with chocolate and caramelized bananas. Stollen is a German yeast bread filled with currants, almonds, orange zest and cinnamon. If you can't find a stollen or comparable fruit bread commercially, you can make your own version - most bread machines have instructions for making fruit bread. Don't have a bread machine? Buy a package of frozen sweet dough and add your own favorite fruit and nut ingredients.

Stollen Bread Pudding with Chocolate Chunks and Caramelized Bananas

Cooking spray

4 eggs

1/3 cup sugar

2 cups milk

1/2 pint (1 cup) heavy whipping cream

1 teaspoon vanilla extract or scraped seeds from 1/2 vanilla bean

1/2 (of a 48-ounce) loaf German stollen, stale, cut into crouton-sized cubes

1 (3 1/2-ounce) bar dark chocolate, chopped

2 tablespoons pear brandy

Caramelized Bananas

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 2-quart baking pan, and set this pan into a larger pan. Add water to the larger pan (you are preparing a water bath in which the pudding will bake).

In a large bowl, whisk together eggs and sugar. Whisk in milk, cream and vanilla. Transfer 1 cup of this custard mixture to a saucepan and set aside.

Add stollen and chocolate to remaining custard mixture in the large bowl; stir well. Pour into prepared baking pan and bake until puffed and firm in the center, about 11/4 hours. Meanwhile, add pear brandy to reserved custard mixture and heat in medium-low, whisking constantly, until it thickens and coats the back of a spoon. (Be careful not to turn the heat too high or stop whisking, as the eggs might scramble.)

Remove pudding from oven, and let cool before slicing. Meanwhile, prepare Caramelized Bananas. To serve, place a few warm banana slices on each plate, top with a square of warm bread pudding, and drizzle with warm custard sauce.

Caramelized Bananas

Slice 4 medium bananas. Heat 3 tablespoons butter in a skillet until melted. Turn heat to medium and stir in 3 tablespoons sugar. Add banana slices and cook until brown; turn with a spatula and cook again until brown. Remove from heat and serve.

Nutritional information (per serving based on 16 servings): 407 calories, 9 g protein, 57 g carbs, 2 g fiber, 16 g fat, 95 mg cholesterol, 73 mg sodium.

(From the German Agricultural Marketing Board.)

After the turkey dinner and a couple of days of leftovers, Christmas guests start hankering for a little variety. For the week between Christmas and New Year's, break the "turkey blockade" with this unusual entree, also courtesy of the German Agricultural Marketing Board (which recommends accompaniment by a glass of dry German Riesling):

Berlin-Meets-Beijing Salmon and Stir-Fry

6 (6-ounce) salmon fillets

3 tablespoons ponzu sauce or soy sauce

2 tablespoons Bavarian-style sweet mustard

1/2 teaspoon blended sesame oil

Stir-Fried Noodles and Cabbage

Preheat broiler. Arrange salmon fillets in broiler pan. Whisk together ponzu or soy sauce, mustard and sesame oil and brush over fillets. Broil salmon 7-10 minutes or until it flakes with a fork and is rosy-colored inside, not deeply salmon-colored. Serve over Stir-Fried Noodles and Cabbage.

Stir-Fried Noodles and Cabbage

2 tablespoons sesame seeds

2 tablespoons peanut oil, divided

1 tablespoon blended sesame oil, divided

1/2 medium red bell pepper, seeded and sliced

1 cup very tightly packed and well-drained sauerkraut

4 cups tightly packed chopped or shredded green cabbage

1/2 (18-ounce) bag German spaetzle noodles or other thin egg noodles, cooked and drained

Small red pepper and scallion slices for garnish

Heat a large skillet or wok. Add sesame seeds, tossing until they turn golden and begin to pop. Transfer to a small plate and set aside. Heat 1 tablespoon peanut oil and 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil in skillet; add sauerkraut and red pepper. Stir-fry on medium heat until sauerkraut begins to brown. Add cabbage and stir-fry until it wilts. Transfer to large bowl and set aside.

Heat remaining oils in skillet and add noodles (in 2 batches if they won't all fit in the skillet at once). Stir-fry until fragrant and beginning to brown. Transfer to bowl with sauerkraut and cabbage; add sesame seeds and stir gently. Divide among 6 plates and top each with a salmon fillet. Garnish with red pepper and scallions. Serve.

Nutritional information per serving (of 6 servings): For salmon, 324 calories, 35 g protein, 1 g carb, less than 1 g fiber, 19 g fat, 100 mg cholesterol, 680 mg sodium. For stir-fried noodles, 259 calories, 7 g protein, 35 g carbs; 5 g fiber, 41 mg cholesterol, 188 mg sodium.

Descendants of the German-Russian immigrants to the Plains who travel to Germany as tourists are often surprised to encounter "German" food which doesn't resemble what their parents and grandparents made.

Differences arise partly because German-Russian foods were handed down from the peasantry of the 17th and 18th centuries, and partly because some dishes were adapted from the Russian culture around them.

But the flavors of anise and cinnamon identify the treat most readily associated with a "German" Christmas - pfefferneusse. This is from "The Best from Our Nest," by Margaret Swift, of Glen Ullin.

Pfefferneusse

1 cup sugar

1 cup brown sugar, packed

1 cup butter

2/3 cup black coffee, brewed

11/2 cups honey

81/2 cups flour

4 eggs, beaten

3 teaspoons baking soda

11/3 teaspoons anise

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon nutmeg

1 teaspoon allspice

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1 teaspoon salt

Powdered sugar for rolling

Mix all ingredients except powdered sugar in a large bowl and chill in refrigerator overnight. The next day, remove cookie dough from refrigerator for at least 10 minutes and preheat oven to 375 degrees. Form dough into small balls about 1 inch in diameter and place on ungreased cookie sheets. Bake 10-12 minutes. When cooled, shake them in a bag with powdered sugar to coat. Store in an airtight container.

(Reach Karen Herzog at 250-8267 or karen.herzog@;bismarcktribune.com.)