Category Archives: Cake & Pastry

August 27th, 2015

Zwetschgenstreusel

Zwetschgenstreusel (2)Der Liebste ist puristisch, wenn es um Zwetschgenkuchen geht: Hefeteig, Zwetschgen und vielleicht ein bisschen Zucker. Ich hingegen mag Streusel sehr, auch auf den Zwetschgen. Bis ich ihn aber von der Idee eines Zwetschgenstreusel überzeugt hatte, dauerte es. Ich musste versprechen, dass die Streusel keinesfalls hart und das Teig – Zwetschgenverhältnis ausgewogen sein würde. Das tat ich leichten Herzens, denn die Streusel für meinen liebsten Streusekuchen (mit oder ohne Pudding) haben die perfekte mürbe Struktur. Zusammen mit einem dünnen Hefemürbeteigboden (der nicht durchsaftet) und einer kräftigen Portion Zwetschgen ergeben sie einen köstlichen Zwetschgenstreusel, der auch den Zwetschgen-Purist sehr gut schmeckt hat!

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July 19th, 2015

Black and Red Currant Mousse Cake

Johannisbeer-Mousse-Törtchen (3)

In  my parents garden grows one single cassis bush next to the red currant bushes. When I was picking berries two weeks ago I sneaked some cassis into my bowl as well, as I had already the plan in my mind to serve little mousse cakes for the Sunday coffee with my parents.

Light mousse cakes made with Joghurt, berries and white chocolate are especially delicious on hot summer days. I did something similar already as filling of this raspberry charlotte. This time I topped a chocolate sponge with a mousse made of a mixture of red currant and cassis. The mousse hides a kernel of currants and cassis compote. It is a delicious little cake with a slight sourness and bit of sweetness, perfect for lazy Sunday afternoons.

 

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June 25th, 2015

Berry tartlets with Elderflower Cream

Beerentörtchen (3)

It’s summer. Maybe the weather is autumn-like (which is somehow typical German) but the strawberry stall is back at the Albertus-Magnus-Place and this means: It’s summer. They are selling strawberries from a local farmer and the special offer of the week were two Kilogram for five Euro! I did not hesitate and bought a basket for my beloved  boy friend. As I’m allergic against strawberries he had the two kilos for himself and so he had enough fruits to cook jam, to snack them pure and to bake a cake.

And as I like some cake as well we made come with blueberries for me as well. The base of this little tarteletts is Sablé Breton, which I found on Michas Grain de Sel, and which I topped with an elderflower flavoured cream and with berries (of course). The delicate flavour of elderflowers fits to the berries very well. The cream is very easy and contains just elderflower syrup and whipped cream. A perfect cake for lazy weekends!

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June 14th, 2015

Red Currant Cream Puffs

WindbeutelUntil now our year was an exhausting one. So we needed a break to refresh and so we headed to the beautiful East Frisia. After a week with some sun, wind and as only sound birds singing in the trees we came back relaxed and happy. After unpacking the car I started to think to finish our short vacation with some sweet treats. A quick look in the fridge revealed some eggs and cream and in the freezer I found some currants from the last year (it is really time to use them!). And about two hours later our table was set with some Cream puffs and coffee.

For the dough I use the recipe from Bertinets Cookbook. It yields cream puffs which rise good, and which have a crisp crust and a soft crumb. To prevent them from deflating, it is important to bake them until they are evenly golden and crisp. If they turn out to be not completely crisp after the indicated baking time, it helps to turn the oven on convection mode for about five minutes.

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May 14th, 2015

Rosinenschnecken

Rosinenschnecke

Since laminating the dough for the Tebirkes was so easy, I  wanted to test this method and make some Danish raisin rolls (Rosinenschnecken in German) for a lazy sunday afternoon. The only problem was the fact, that raisin rolls contain R-A-I-S-I-N-S and my love don’t like them at all. And so I needed a filling which would be fine and moist even without raisins. After some musing I decided to go for a Creme Frangipane, which is a mixture of pastry creme and a almond mixture.

The dough for the danish contains some cream, which makes the crumb soft, and a big piece of sweet starter for a good flavour and a good rise. For laminating I used again the method of dividing the dough into pieces and rolling them into four rectangles. Then I placed thin cut butter pieces on them and stacked them. The dough stack was then rolled again and followed by two single folds and a half fold.

The Danish pastry turned out as well as I hoped for: A moist filling, lots of buttery layers and a aromatic crumb. And – at least for me – full of raisins 🙂

 

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April 15th, 2015

Bienenstich Muffin

Bienenstich (1)“Bienenstich” is a traditional german cake and its name literally means “bee sting”. For me it is a classical cake to serve on Sundays together with some coffee. When my parents visited us last sunday, I decided to make some muffin sized little Bienstich. Their dough is a “sibling” of my actual favourite braid, but in contrast to the original recipe it contains more cream and no butter. For a relaxed baking I let them proof overnight in a muffinpan in the fridge. And due to the fact that my kitchen machine kneads much better when using 500g flour,  I doubled the amount of dough and made a little braid for breakfast with the second half.

The only little disadvantage is the height of the muffin which makes it challenging to eat it. The easiest way is to split it in two halves. Then it is very easy to enjoy this delicious cake!

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April 6th, 2015

Raspberry Torte with Cream Cheese Core

Himbeertorte

My little Sister likes Raspberry Torte very much and so I like to bake one or the other Variation for her. This year I orientated myself on the Raspberry Charlotte I made last year. To the raspberry mousse I added a cream cheese core and a raspberry-red currant disc. The fruits are frozen ones because April is definite to early for summer fruits. The basis of the cake is a flourless chocolate sponge I found at Kochpotein Evas Blog. The only optical minus point is the fact that I own only one small cake ring and so I filled the incredients for the disc in a shallow bowl. So it is missing straight sides but I can live with it.  The cake is light and fruit, just like we like it.

Happy Birthday, dearest Sister!

 

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March 15th, 2015

Goldknödel with Sweet Starter

Goldknödel (2)I love the fact that my sweet Starter enables me to bake more or less spontaneously with a delicious preferment. And when my parents asked us this morning if we want to meet in the afternoon for a cup of coffee I decided to bake a family classic: Goldknödel (Golden Dumplings).

The recipe stems from the transsylvanian branch of the family and we all love it. My variant here contains less yeast, a preferment and cream instead of butter. This makes the crumb fluffy and enables me to proof the cake overnight if I want to. But today I choose the fast variant and proofed the cake at room temperature.

The cake is served uncut, and everyone can break a piece from it.

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February 12th, 2015

Berliner Ballen with Sweet Starter

Berliner Ballen

I told you already in the last years, that I do not like carnival so much. What I like is baking and eating “Berliner Ballen”, the yam filled german doughnut which is served traditionally during the carnival days. And so I created a new recipe with a lot egg yolks for a very soft crumb and sweet starter for a good flavour and oven spring.

While frying the Berliner I learned a lesson I – in theory – already knew: A glass lid is not as effective in shielding the heat in the pot as a black enameled metal lid. For the first batch I used the glass lid so I was able to observe the doughnuts while frying. But the oven spring was not as good as it should be. So for the next batch I took the metall lid that belongs to my frying pot. And now the oven spring was perfect. The Berliner got the white “collar” – a part of the dough which is lifted out of the hot fat due to the oven spring and which is a sign for a well made Berliner Ballen.

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February 6th, 2015

Wiener Patzerlgugelhupf

Patzerlgugelhupf (2)

The Patzerlgugelhupf is a speciality from vienna. “Patzerl” means “a little bit” and the cake is called like this because of his different fillings: a little bit nut, a little bit quark, a little bit plum butter, a little bit poppy seeds. A cake which is perfect for people who can not make up their mind and a cake which is perfect to use up left overs. I saw a picture of such a cake in the net some time ago and fell into love with it. And so I had to bake him. And because I always love to use the sweet starter as preferment for pastry, I used him here as well. But for those who do not call this kind of sourdough their own: You can replace him easily with a biga! Continue reading