April 7th, 2013

White Chocolate Muffins with Vanilla and Cardamom

Category Cake & Pastry  Tags: , ,   No Responses

Weiße Schokolade Muffins

When we need a cake which can easily transported in a box, I tend to bake Muffins. And so I suggest Muffins when I talk with my sister about her birthday, too. She like the idea of Muffins but had no clue what kind she would like to have and so she announced that whatever I bring would be delicious.

And so I opened my pantry and looked through my baking ingredients on search for inspiration. Finally I saw in my chocolate box half a bar of white chocolate, a leftover from the Christmas baking.

Immediately a recipe starts to form in my brain: muffins with molten white chocolate, a hint of vanilla and cardamom….

And that’s what I bake then: White Chocolate Muffins, flavoured with vanilla and freshly grounded cardamom. A easy and yet so delicious treat!

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April 1st, 2013

Chocolate Hot Cross Buns

Category Overnight, Special Occasions  Tags: , , , , ,   14 Responses

Hot Cross buns

When I saw Hot Cross Buns on an English Blog some years ago, I was fascinated by their look and the describtion of the spices (cinnamon, allspice, cardamom). But living together with a person who does not like raisins at all, baking them never made sense to me.

But this year I learned that in Australia and New Zealand Hot Cross Buns are often baked with chocolate instead of raisins. That was the solution to my problem!

And so I baked Hot Cross Buns for Breakfast on Easter Monday. I made the sleeping long variation – like my Burger Buns the Hot Cross Buns are made with only a tiny bit of fresh yeast, so I can form them the night before. They proof by roomtemperature and the next morning I only had to pipe the crosses and put them in the oven. And until I cooked coffee and prepared our breakfast table, the buns are done.

Is there a better start in a day then with a cup of coffee and still hot chocolate hot cross buns with the flavour of cinnamon, cardamom and allspice?

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March 31st, 2013

Aachener Poschweck

Category Bread, regional breads, Special Occasions  Tags: , , , , ,   20 Responses

Poschweck

When I saw the Poschweck that Petra baked some days ago, I knew that I had to bake some as well because it looked so delicious!

The Poschweck is a very traditional bread which the Bakers of Aachen gave as present to their customers during Easter since the late medieval. It is first mentioned 1547 in the “Aachener Bäckerverordnung” (Bakers edict). In 1760 some bakers tried for the first time to get rid of this custom but they where forced by the municipality to deliver the sweet breads.  After nearly another 100 years they tried again to break with the tradition, which ended with the so called “Poschweck riot” in which angry citizen demolished shops. To restore the public order the bakers where forced once again to bake and give away the Poschweck. Finally, in 1946 the bakers succeed with their claim to sell the Poschweck instead of giving it away.

I used Petras Recipe as a start for my own variation of Poschweck. With a pâte fermentée and less yeast the bread develops a complex taste. With almonds, raisins and sugar cubes and the hint of orange and vanilla it is a really rich bread. I love the fact that the sugar cubes will melt during baking and leave sweet and sticky holes in the bread (which you can see on the picture below).  A perfect bread for persons with a sweet tooth!

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March 30th, 2013

Easter bunnies 2013

Category Bread, Special Occasions  Tags: , ,   6 Responses

Osterhäschen

When I take a look out of the window on Good Friday, I had to blink and take a second look. Yes, during the last night our street was dusted with snow. During Christmas I would be happy with snow, but at the end of march I don’t need it anymore. I shortly considered to go back to bed and to stay there until it is finally spring. But complaining about the weather will not change it and so I started some dough to bake a nut-filled braid, some “Poschweck” and this sweet Easter bunnies.

I bake Easter bunnies every day. We eat some for Breakfast and the rest I give away. So we gave one of the bunnies as Easter present to my little niece. This year I made the dough with a pâte fermentée and seasoned it with some grated orange peel.

They taste good – my niece eat immediately a big part of her “Hasi” – is there a bigger compliment?

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March 29th, 2013

Multigrain Batards

Category Bread  Tags: , , , , ,   24 Responses

MehrkornstangeIn Germany it is a tradition to bring salt and bread as a present when friends or family moved into a new home. The present symbols wealth and luck for the new home.

When Zorra moved her Blog to a new address, my first thought was, that I should bring Bread for her, at least virtually. And then Zorra asked for Bread for a Blogwarming Party at the Bread baking Day. But no salt is needed, because she has  still a big stock!

It is always harder for me to decide what kind of bread I should bake when there is a theme with nearly no restrictions. So many breads are possible :-). At the End I decided to go for multigrain batards, which are covered with seeds. A great Bread for any party, delicious on its own, but although great with some butter and fleur de Sel!

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March 23rd, 2013

Poppy Seed Gugelhupf

Category Cake & Pastry  Tags: , ,   5 Responses

Mohngugelhupf

A dear friend and favourite colleague doesn’t like poppy seeds. She always tells me that. And then she brings me from her lunch break little pieces of poppy seed cakes to try, because she likes it so much. And tells me about this great recipe for poppy seed rolls, which she could not find in her recipe folder anymore and that she is upset about that. Having this facts in mind, I decided to take a risk when baking her birthday cake.

In the January/ February –Issue of the Magazine “Landlust” I found a recipe for a Poppy seed Gugelhupf and I was very sure that she would like it. The dough contains a lot of eggs and butter, which keeps the cake soft and moist, which is the perfect consistence for a gugelhupf. The cake contains mainly grounded poppy seeds, some almonds and nearly no flour. It is flavoured with grated lemon peel, vanilla and a little pinch of cinnamon. Some lemon juice adds a fresh taste.

The only problem is the tendency of the cake to stick to the pan, even to my non sticking one. So take care to not only grease it very well but although sprinkle the greased pan with some grounded almonds or flour so the cake will come out more easily.  But beside this it is a lovely cake which I baked already twice.

And did my friend like the cake? A big “yes” and she is now thinking that she maybe like even poppy seeds 😉

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March 13th, 2013

Goldknödel

Category Cake & Pastry  Tags: , ,   24 Responses

GoldknödelSometimes I wonder how it could happen that I forget for more than four years to blog about a favourite cake recipe, like it happen for the “Goldknödel” recipe. And it is not only my favourite recipe, it is a family favourite.  A cake, that someone in my extended family will bring for each party. And everyone wants to have his/her share of this cake. A simple but well loved cake.

It is originated in the Transylvanian branch of the family, like the Greta-Gabor-Schnitten. To my suprise I found the recipe although in cookbook Kaffeehaus, which shows me once again how strong the influence of the Hungarian, Romanian and Austrian kitchen was on the kitchen of my ancestors.

When I talked to my parents about what cake I should bring to our sunday “Kaffeetrinken” (the german kind of tea time), my dad suggest something simple. And my mum then had the idea: “What’s about Goldknödel?”

And so I baked the family recipe. It is a slightly sweet yeast dough, which is divided into small pieces and each of this pieces is then turned into molten butter and afterwars in a mixture of grounded nuts and sugar. I followed the recipe nearly completly, I only reduced the amount of yeast. And the cake turned out to be as perfect as it should be. A fluffy crumb, with the taste of caramel and nuts – just as it should be. A simple cake but never boring!

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March 5th, 2013

Ciabatta

Category Bread, hand kneaded  Tags: ,   36 Responses

Ciabatta (3)

The Baguette with the long, cold fermentation was so delicious, that I started to though about using the same methode to bake Ciabattas. And because I did not bake Ciabattas for a quite long time, I did not only think about it but mixed directly a dough.

The dough needs a long time in the fridge, about 24 hours or longer, but the hand-on time is very short. At the beginning you have to fold the dough three times during the first hour, and then the dough slumbers in the fridge. At the baking day, you have only to preheat the baking stone and form the ciabatta. That makes the whole process really relaxing.

The dough is very soft, but gains a good gluten network during folding. With a well floured countertop and a dough scrapper it is easy to form the ciabatta. During the fermentation big air bubbles are already formed in dough.

The bread has a very open crumb with big holes and a crunchy crust. The long fermenation adds a lot of complex aroma with a fruity hint due to the olive oil. A very good bread!

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