Monthly Archives: September 2014

September 27th, 2014

Fig Pecorino Ravioli

Feigen-Pecorino-Ravioli We spent our summer holidays this year near Plön. The landscape is very beautiful there and we enjoyed it so. And we fell in love with the small farmers market in Plön. We bought regional cheese from Ulrikes cheese monger with the great assortment of cheese and fresh fruits and vegetables from an organic farm nearby and we fell in love with the fresh fig pecorino ravioli sold from a small pasta manufactory. They had other great combinations as well (zucchini-sesame or porcino) but the combination of fig and pecorino was gorgeous! We bought them at every market day (twice a week) and even stopped for them on our way back home.

Home again we decided to create a recipe similar to them. Our variation is not a perfect copycat but has its own character. But the ravioli taste divinely, the sweetness of the figs is balanced by the hearty pecorino and both are enclosed by the creaminess of the mascarpone. To let their taste stand out, we served them only with some brown butter and grated pecorino and with a bowl of salad as side. That’s enough for a good meal!

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September 23rd, 2014

Federweisser Rolls with Rye Poolish

Federweißer-Würzelchen (2)From our kitchen window we could see how our neighbour, the vintner, put the first flasks with young wine (in Germany called Federweißer) in the display. And because we were waiting for the first bottle of Federweißer already, my dearest one directly went to buy some flasks. He came back with to happily fermenting flasks but not before he and our neighour savoured a glass of it together.

And because we enjoyed the Federweißer bread I baked last year so much, I started directly a poolish with rye flour. The idea of using rye instead of wheat flour I got from Dietmar

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September 14th, 2014

Potatoe Bread (not only for Beginners)

Kartoffelbrot für Anfänger

Vanessa asked for beginner frindly recipes and so reminded me that it s about time to post such another beginner recipe . And so I started to create a recipe which can baked without a lot equipment. And that I could use up the potato flakes which I had in the cupboard since christmas is a bonus point!

Potato flakes are great for beginner breads because they can bind a lot of water so the bread will be moist without struggling with sticky dough. You can either order them online or use organic instant mashed potatoes which contains mainly potato flakes plus salt and some spices (I used the one from Alnatura).

For some extra flavour I added a Pâte Fermentée and a stale bread soaker made from toasted stale bread. This adds a lot of roasting flavour to the bread.

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September 13th, 2014

Autumn Streusel cake with Powidl

Herbstlicher StreuselkuchenWhen August changes into September it marks the beginning of autumn for me.

Now I start to search for my scarfs for the already cool, misty mornings and in the evening I will lit the first candles when the light goes down. Saying goodbye to the summer is not so hard for me, especially when between the cool morning and early evening lies a sunny, golden day. And when I can spent the light filled afternoon with a cup of hot tea together with a pieces of streusel cake filled with the autumn flavours of plum sauce and hazelnuts, then I will welcome autumn light-hearted!

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September 7th, 2014

Apple Mousse Torte

Apfelmousse-Torte (2)

Celebrating my birthday always means for me baking a cake I like very much, too! And something I like very much are cakes baked with the heritage apple “Jakob Lebel” which grows in my parents garden. For me this is the ideal apple for baking cakes or making apple juice. And so I decided that my birthday cake will be apple torte. But I did not use the windfall apples but the last glasses of apple sauce, apple juice and apple slices I preserved last year, so I make room for new, too!

The torte consists of a thin cinnamon cream layer, topped with a apple slices in apple juice jelly (made with agar) and covered with an apple mousse. On top of the cake there are fanned apple slices  and a little rose formed with apple slices, which looks beautiful. To prevent stress on my birthday I prepared most of the cake the night before, so I only had to do the rose and fanned apple the next morning. That worked very well and we had a beautiful day in my parents garden, where I took the pictures of the cake together with windfall apples, too.

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September 6th, 2014

Aromatic Three Grain Bread

Aromatisches Dreikornbrot (1)

On our way back home from the summer holidays we were greeted with a terrible thunderstorm as soon as we passed the border of North Rhine-Westphalia. We shortly whished to turn the car and drive back to the sunny Plön. But when we finally reached home I was happy to have my oven back. And it was like it would whisper: “Bake a bread!” And so I refreshed my sourdough and the next morning I looked through my baking cupboard to see what I could bake.

I found some Emmer, Rye and of course Wheat flour and so I decided to bake a three grain bread.  To enhance the nutty flavour of the Emmer I made a paste from roasted sesame and poppy seeds. I did not add a big amount, only a little bit so it would not stand out but melt with the aroma of the grains.

A this makes a great bread, aromatic with a open crumb and a crisp crust. A perfect start into autumn.

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