Sunday, 16 March 2025

Seabass on Potatoes with spinach

 What you need

  • 500g potatoes - the firm cooking kind or salad potatoes
  • olives
  • a whole sea bass (already gutted)
  • 1 medium to large onion
  • 1 lemon
  • 1 carrot
  • a bundle of tarragon
  • butter ca 100g
  • salt, pepper
  • two cloves of garlic

Equipment

  • sauce pan large
  • baking tin or baking pan - so the sea bass can fit in as a whole
  • a sieve

How you do it

  • wash the spinach
  • peel the onions and carrots and slice them
  • wash/rinse the tarragon
  • prepare the fish
    • wash, rinse and dry with paper kitchen towels
    • salt/pepper on the in and outside
    • stuff the fish (if possible) with some of the tarragon, a slice of lemon and onions
  • peel the potatoes and cook for 15-18min in salty water
  • rinse and let dry/cool for another 15min - maybe smash them a little bit in the pot
  • while waiting, melt the butter with a bit of tarragon and a slice of lemon
  • preheat the over to 200C
  • put the potatoes into the baking pan 
  • melt the butter with a bit of lemon zest or a slice of lemon and some of the tarragon.
  • pour over the potatoes 
  • sprinkle the potatoes with salt and pepper (preferably rock salt or crystalline salt)
  • bake for 30min until golden brown
  • remove the pan from the oven and let it cool down for a few minutes
  • turn the heat up to max e.g. 250C
  • if the sea bass needs more seasoning, do it now. 
  • add the olives, bay leaves and lemon slices to the pan
  • Then place the sea bass (skin up if it's filets) over the potatoes and return the pan into the oven for another 10min or so
For the spinach
  • in the sauce pan melt butter and put the sliced/cut onions into it until they become translucent
  • slice the garlic and add it to the mix
  • then add the spinach and cook the whole this for ca 10min. The spinach will "collapse"

Saturday, 19 October 2024

Velouté de champignons

 

Ingrédients pour 4 personnes

  • 2 échalotes
  • 2 noix de beurre
  • 500 g de champignons de Paris
  • 1 l de bouillon de légumes
  • 15 cl de crème fraîche (optionnel)
  • ½ c. à c. de thym effeuillé
  • 1 gousse d’ail pelée
  • sel
  • poivre

La préparation

Peler et émincer les échalotes. Faire revenir à feu doux dans une casserole avec beurre, thym et ail. Nettoyer les champignons à sec avec un pinceau, les couper grossièrement. Réserver les pieds pour les ajouter au bouillon de légumes.

Ajouter les champignons aux échalotes, faire revenir quelques minutes puis ajouter le bouillon chaud. Couvrir et cuire à feu moyen pendant 15 minutes. Passer au mixeur plongeur. Ajouter la crème, puis mixer à nouveau.

Servir bien chaud, avec, selon l’envie, des croûtons de pain, des lardons et/ou des herbes ciselées.


Sunday, 11 June 2023

Caesar's Salad

 This Caesar salad recipe comes to us from co-founder Justin’s father, who would make it from scratch as a side to barbecued rib-eye steak. Justin tweaked the classic recipe by adding homemade croutons spiced with rosemary and garlic, which play well with the strong, punchy dressing.

Ingredients

For the Salad & Croutons:

2 hearts Romaine lettuce (younger, lighter-coloured leaves are best)
1/4-1/2 loaf sourdough bread (enough to make around 3 cups of croutons) 
2 tbsp olive oil 
1 tsp garlic salt 
1 tsp dried rosemary leaves 
30g Parmesan, freshly grated 

For the Dressing: 

4-6 fillets of anchovies (tinned is best) 
2 cloves garlic, any green cores removed 
2 egg yolks 
2 tsp Dijon mustard 
1 tbsp red wine vinegar 
Juice of half of a lemon 
1/4 cup olive oil 
1/4 tsp Worcester sauce 
1/4 tsp Tabasco sauce

Serves 4-6

Method

  1. Preheat the oven to 180°C fan. Cut lettuce into 5cm chunks, rinse in a colander, and pat dry. Wrap in a tea towel and put in the crisping drawer of the fridge.
  2. With a mortar and pestle or a spice grinder, grind the dried rosemary leaves. Cut bread into 2cm cubes and toss with olive oil, garlic salt and ground rosemary. Spread croutons out on a baking sheet and toast in the oven until golden brown (about 10-15 minutes), turning the baking sheet halfway through.
  3. Meanwhile, blend dressing ingredients together with a hand blender, starting with 4 anchovies and 1 tbsp red wine vinegar. Taste and add more to adjust flavour to your liking.
  4. Add lettuce to a large (ideally wooden) bowl, pour in the dressing and half the Parmesan cheese. Toss well and add croutons. Season with fresh, coarse black pepper. Serve the remaining Parmesan on the side.

BK Tips

  • You can make the croutons in advance, or make extra to use for later. It keeps well in a sealed container for up to 4 weeks.

Saturday, 17 December 2022

Celeriac and Chestnut soup

 What you need

  • Ca 200g of chestnuts
  • A celeriac root
  • 2 medium onions
  • 1 carrot
  • Butter
  • Apple juice ca 100ml
  • Chicken or vegetable stock ca 400ml
  • Salt, pepper
  • Ca 150ml cream
  • Thyme

Equipment

  • Sauce pan
  • Blender

How you do it

Prepare the chestnuts

  • Put the chestnuts into a bowl and soak in water for ca 1 hour
  • With a knife, cut each nut on the flat side
  • Preheat the oven to 200C
  • Put the nuts into an oven tray and bake for 30min
  • Afterwards: let the nuts cool down by removing them from the oven tray.
  • Peel the nuts and put aside

Prepare the soup

  • Peel the onions, the carrot and the celeriac root and cut it all into small chunks
  • In the sauce pan take ca 50g of butter and heat it up. Add the thyme
  • When the butter is molten add the onions first and sauté until translucent 
  • Then add the carrot and mix well for ca 2 min
  • Add the celeriac root and chestnuts
  • If necessary add a little butter
  • Mix for ca 2 min and add some pepper and salt
  • Add the 400ml stock
  • When it boils reduce the heat to a simmer, put the lid on and let it cook for ca 30min, stirring occasionally
  • Add the apple juice. Bring to the boil and let it cook for 5min.
  • Take off the cooker and let it cool down for ca 10min.
  • With a handheld blender blend the soup really well so that it is entirely smooth
  • Put back on the cooker and heat up until it boils
  • Add the cream and cook for another 5min

Saturday, 15 October 2022

Mustard Cream sauce, sautéed carrots

 What you need

  • Butter, 2x50g (for carrots and for the sauce)
  • 3-4 carrots
  • 1 table spoon Dijon mustard, 1 table spoon whole grain mustard
  • 1 small onion or shallot, 1 garlic clove
  • 100ml white wine
  • 1 pot of single cream, ca 200ml
  • 1 tablespoon of Parmesan (grated)
  • Salt, pepper
  • Brown sugar (for the carrots)

Equipment

  1. 2 pots/sauce pans
  2. Whisker
  3. Sieve

How you do it

Sauce

  • Peel the shallot/onion and garlic and cut thinly
  • Put the butter into the sauce pan and turn on the heat.
  • When the butter is getting hot (not brown) put the chopped onion/garlic in 
  • Add salt, pepper and stir until onions are translucent
  • Add the wine and cook/stir until the amount is reduced by about a half
  • Add the mustards and stir well
  • Add the cream and Parmesan and stir well
  • Cook until the sauce starts to thicken - continue to stir

Carrots

  • Peel and cut the carrots into ca 2 inch long chunks. Cut them again longways so that you stripes of carrots
  • Put the carrots into the pot and cover with water
  • Bring to the boil for ca 5-6 minutes
  • Remove the carrots and excess water using a sieve. 
  • Dry the pot and add the butter and put on the cooker on low heat
  • Add a little salt (some people recommend brown sugar) and melt the butter
  • Add the cooked carrot stripes and mix well with the molten butter for ca 2 minutes 

Sunday, 25 September 2022

Risotto with Peas

 What you need

  • 1 cup of arborio rice (or 150g)
  • 300g fresh peas
  • 200ml fresh chicken stock or 1 cube of chicken stock
  • 1 onion, 1 garlic clove 
  • Salt, pepper
  • 1 medium block of feta cheese, ca 150g
  • Water
  • Oil
  • 150ml or a cup of wine. I also took gin once, which worked nicely.
  • Pumpkin seeds for decorating

Equipment

  • Saucepan
  • Chopping block
  • Blender
  • Jar/bowl for blending

How you do it

  • Peel the onion and garlic and cut them 
  • Cut the feta cheese into little cubes
  • In a jar, take 1/3 of the peas and a bit of water and purée it with a kitchen blender. Set aside
  • Put 3 table spoons of oil in a medium to large sized sauce pan and heat up.
  • When the oil is hot add the onions first. Fry them until they are just about to turn brown, then add the garlic for 1 min
  • Add the rice and stir for a few minutes, ca 3-4min. 
  • Add the wine (or alcohol) and let it evaporate
  • Add the chicken stock, or hot water with chicken cube
  • Cooking the risotto rice should take ca 20min. During that time, stir frequently and add a little hot water to it each time the liquid in the sauce pan has almost evaporated
  • In the last 5min add the chopped feta cheese
  • Continue stirring
  • After 20min add the rest of the peas and cook for another 3-4 min, continue stirring
  • Serve on a plate and you might want to sprinkle some pumpkin seeds over it (or almond slices).

Saturday, 24 September 2022

Kohlrabi Slaw

 What you need

  • 1 kohlrabi
  • 2 carrots 
  • 1 leek, 1 onion
  • Small pot of double cream and of sour cream/crème fraiche
  • 2 teaspoons of mustard
  • Salt, pepper

Equipment

  • Grater
  • Bowl
  • Small bowl

How you do it

  • Peel the kohlrabi and cut in quarters
  • Peel onion and cut it either into rings or into small pieces
  • Peel leek and cut into rings
  • Peel the carrot
  • Use the grater to grate the kohlrabi into the bowl, then the carrots
  • Add the sliced/onions and leek
  • In a small bowl pour in the double and sour cream. Add the mustard, salt and pepper. 
  • Stir well and add to the bowl with the vegetables
  • Mix well, cover the bowl and put it in the fridge for a couple of hours before serving

Instead of sour cream, yoghurt might also work. Some recipes recommend mayonnaise,  but I always find it too heavy and fat.

Saturday, 27 August 2022

Carrot Cake-Loaf

 Left-over carrots? Why not use them to make a carrot cake.

What you need

  • ca 300g carrots
  • 200g sugar or brown sugar
  • 180g plain flour
  • 2 large or 3 medium eggs
  • 140ml vegetable oil
  • 2 tablespoons of baking powder
  • pinch of salt
  • ground cinnamon
  • freshly grated nutmeg
  • cardamon powder
  • vanilla extract

For the icing I simply use 
  • lemon juice
  • icing sugar

Equipment

  • mixer/blender
  • kitchen bowl and mixer
  • baking form
  • grater
  • baking/grease-proof paper

How you do it

  • pre-heat the oven to ca 150C
  • grease the baking form with butter or oil. Insert the grease-proof/baking foil. It should stick against the form
  • peel and grate the carrots, put aside
  • put the eggs and sugar in the bowl. If you have a mixer, use a whisker and whip up the eggs/sugar until it gets to a creamy consistency
  • add all the other ingredients and continue mixing. The dough may well be a bit liquid, but that's ok.
  • pour the content into the baking form. Et voilà put it into the oven.
  • Bake for 1h15min (75min)
  • take the form out of the oven. you should be able to lift the cake out of the form by lifting the baking paper. transfer the cake to a plate
  • in a bowl, sift in the icing sugar. Add the lemon juice. And then whisk it (with an electric/handheld device) to make sure that no lumps are left. You might need to add icing sugar to ensure a thick consistency.
  • pour the icing slowly over the cake. You may have to do this in stages, otherwise the whole icing runs off. 


Saturday, 20 August 2022

Hareng mariné

 What you need

  • 5 filets of herring, failing that mackerel will do nicely as well. Make sure you get the filets from a fishmonger rather than the stuff (smoked and spiced) you buy in supermarkets. The filets should be deboned. 
  • 2 carrots
  • 2 onions
  • 1 clove
  • A couple of thyme twigs - or take dried thyme
  • 2 laurel leaves
  • 1 lemon
  • 75mg white wine (I actually took gin - don’t know how that works yet)
  • 75mg white wine vinegar 
  • Salt, peppercorns
  • Oil
For serving
  • 4 potatoes (cooking ones, not the baking potatoes)
  • Spring onions
  • Parsley leaves for decoration 

Equipment

  • Pate tin
  • Saucepan

How you do it

  • Peel onions and carrots
  • Slice onions into thin rings chop the carrots
  • Wash and slice a lemon into thin rings
  • Wash and dry the mackerel filets. With a sharp knife, cut the filets into 2 halves alongside. Then cut diagonally into chunks of ca 1 inch (2.5cm) wide
  • Put the mackerel chunks into the tin. When the surface is covered slightly salt and pepper them and add half of the lemon rings on top.
  • Continue until all of the mackerel/lemon is in the tin
  • Add wine/vinegar, onions, carrots, laurel leaves, clove, thyme, peppercorns and salt into the pot and bring to the boil with the lid closed for 10min
  • When 10min are over pour the content over the mackerel/lemon chunks in the tin. I usually pour in some oil to make sure all of the fish is covered in the marinade
  • Let it cool down after which cover the tin well (the smell) and put in the fridge. It should marinate for at least 3 days. A week apparently is ok, too.

How to serve

  • Remove the marinated fish from the fridge. Take the portion you need out of it and put aside. It should get to room temperature
  • You need potatoes. Peel them and cut them into 1cm thick rings. You can also use some spring onions for decoration
  • Put them into a pot with cold water and a bit of salt
  • Bring to the boil and cook for 20min, including the time it takes to boil the water . The potatoes should be soft but not disintegrate.
  • Remove the potatoes from the hot water and put on a plate. Immediately, put some of the marinated mackerel with onion rings and carrots over the hot potatoes and add the marinade as per taste.


Monday, 15 August 2022

Key Lime Pie

 There are many different versions of this American classic. Here is one that works for me.


What you need

Filling

  • A pot of condensed milk. They usually come in sizes of between 350-400g
  • 5 medium or 4 large eggs
  • Juice of 4-5 limes

Crust

  • 14-15 digestive biscuits
  • Ca 140g butter
  • Ca 45-50g granulated sugar

Equipment

  • Quiche baking form
  • Mixer
  • Bowl

How you do it

  • Preheat the oven to 170C
  • Separate the egg yolk from the whites of the eggs and put the yolks into a bowl and set aside (you can use the egg white for something else - it won’t be needed for this cake though)
  • Get the juice from the limes and put into a glass
  • Grease the baking form
  • Crumble the biscuits and add them to a mixer bowl. Add sugar and butter and start mixing until it becomes a dough that you can put into the baking form.
  • Make sure the dough covers the baking form evenly. Put into the oven and bake for 10-15min. It should get slightly brown.
  • Remove the form from the oven and let it cool down.

Now start preparing the filling:
  • With a handheld whisker (electric if available) start whisking the egg yolk in the bowl.
  • When it starts changing colour and consistency gradually pour in the condensed milk
  • While keep whisking add the lime juice
  • Pour the content onto the pre-baked dough in the baking form
  • Put into the oven for ca 15-20min. It should not get too brown,
  • Remove from oven and let cool down
  • When cold enough put into the fridge for at least 6 hours, or overnight.
It can be served with whipped cream or Swedish cream




Sunday, 24 July 2022

Apricot Fool

 Picked up from one of Martin Walker’s Bruno books.

What you need

  • 8 apricots
  • 2 juicy oranges
  • Ca 2 cinnamon sticks
  • 3-4 table spoons of honey
  • 1 litre of yoghurt

Equipment

  • Sauce pan
  • Bowl

How you do it

  • Press the oranges and pour the juice into the sauce pan
  • Wash, de-stone and quarter the apricots and add to the sauce pan
  • Add the honey and cinnamon sticks
  • Bring to the boil and then gently cook it for ca 20min. Stir ever now and then
  • Take off the heat and let it cool down.
  • Remove the cinnamon sticks
  • Pour the content into a bowl
  • Then add the yoghurt to it and gently mix
  • Put the fool into a container and then refrigerate 

Thursday, 7 July 2022

Celery Purée

 What you need

  • 1 medium/large Celeriac root
  • 200ml whole milk
  • 2 Smoked garlic cloves
  • 1 small onion
  • Salt, pepper
  • Ca 10g butter
  • Optional 
    • Bit of lemon juice
    • Chopped parsley for deco

Equipment 

  • Large Saucepan
  • Small milk pan
  • Kitchen blender

How you do it

  • Peel and chop the onion
  • Peel the garlic cloves and quarter them
  • Peel the celeriac and cut them into thumb sized chunks
  • Heat up the saucepan with the butter
  • Add the onions and stir until they start to get translucent
  • Add the chopped celeriac and garlic. Stir well to cover them in butter. Add salt, pepper, stir again
  • Put the lid on and cook for 5 min
  • In the meantime heat up the milk
  • After the 5 min, add the warm and hot milk, stir and close the lid again. Cook for 10 min. Stir occasionally.
  • After 10min, take the pan from the cooker. Use a blender carefully to turn the cooked celeriac into a smooth paste. 
  • You might add a bit of lemon juice acc to taste.
  • Put on a plate and sprinkle with a bit of parsley

Wednesday, 20 April 2022

Chicken Paprika

 My mum used to make 'Paprika Schnitzel' which I loved. Here is a variation on the theme - with chicken.


What you need

  • salt, pepper a bit of sugar
  • 3 tablespoons of oil/olive oil
  • 1 red pepper
  • 1 can of tomatoes
  • 3 tablespoons or more of sweet paprika
  • 4 chicken fillets or legs
  • 1 onion, 1 clove garlic
  • flat parsley
  • 1 litre water/chicken stock
  • 50mg flour
  • 1 cup of milk

Equipment

  • casserole pot
  • plate
  • 1 cup

How you do it

  • wash and dry the chicken pieces with a paper/kitchen towel. Then salt and pepper the chicken fillets/legs.
  • chop the onion, garlic and red pepper 
  • put the oil in the pot and heat until the oil is really hot (it will steam a little bit)
  • put the chicken pieces in and cook until brown on all sides
  • lift the meat out of the pot and put on a plate
  • add the chopped onion first and fry until just brown
  • add garlic and red pepper as well as the red paprika, salt, pepper and sugar
  • stir and cook for ca 2 min. Then add the tomatoes from the can including the juice
  • stir and cook for ca 2min then add the water/stock
  • bring to the boil, and then put the chicken fillets/legs back into the pot. At this stage the meat should just be covered by the liquid
  • Cook for 40min on medium heat with the lid on. Stir occasionally to avoid burning
  • In the meantime, 
    • chop the parsley. 
    • add the salt and pepper
    • Put the flour in a cup and slowly add the milk. Stir, e.g. with a fork until you get a smooth liquid/paste.
  • When the 40min are over, gradually pour the milk/flour mix into the pot - and stir while doing so. The sauce should thicken a bit.
  • Add more red paprika/salt/pepper/sugar acc to taste
  • Then add the parsley and cook for another 5 min.

This dish goes well with plain rice or small elbow shaped noodles (think of classical macaroni)

Friday, 24 December 2021

Fig and Honey Spread

 Could be useful for, say, baking a duck.


What you need

  • 8 figs
  • 1/4 cup of honey
  • 1/4 cup of water
  • tablespoon of butter
  • cinnamon

Equipment

  • small sauce pan
  • blender

How you do it

  • wash the figs and cut off the stem and bottom bit. 
  • Quarter the figs and put them into the pan
  • add the honey, water and cinnamon to the pan and heat it up. Small, medium heat
  • cook for 30min
  • take the pan from the stove and add the butter. Let it cool down a bit
  • use the kitchen blender to produce a smooth paste/liquid
  • let it cool down completely
  • put it into an airtight container and then into the fridge

Friday, 17 December 2021

Orzo with Shrimp

 What you need

  • 1 cup orzo pasta
  • salt, pepper
  • olive oil
  • 2 garlic cloves
  • 1 onion
  • 1 leek
  • a handful of green beans - or petit poids 
  • 1/2 cup white wine
  • 2 cups chicken stock (or vegetable stock)
  • parmesan cheese
  • a good 20 shrimps, raw
  • parsley

Equipment

  • saute pan

How you do it

  • peel the leek, garlic and onion
  • wash leek/green beans and parsley
  • chop the onions and leek, cut the beans into halves, chop the parsley. Slice the garlic cloves
  • rinse and wash the shrimp
  • in the saute pan cover the bottom with a thin layer of olive oil. Heat up.
  • When hot, add the orzo, chopped/sliced onion, garlic and leek
  • stir and cook ca 3-4 min until the onions start getting translucent
  • add the wine and stir for a few minutes. Most of the alcohol should evaporate
  • add the chicken stock and cook all for ca 10min
  • add the green beans and shrimps and cook for 5-6 min
  • add the grated parmesan and parsley and stir well
  • service immediately

Wednesday, 17 November 2021

Vinaigrette Magique

 Here is another one from France Inter


What you need

  • soja sauce
  • balsamic vinegar
  • red wine vinegar
  • olive oil

Equipment

Container with a lid

How you do it

The proportions for this vinaigrette are 1:1:1:2 (oil), e.g.
1 tablespoon each for the soja sauce and vinegars, 2 tablespoons for the olive oil

  • put the ingredients into the container
  • close the lid (haha)
  • shake well

Orange Cake with Olive Oil

 Attention, ce cake signé @zanazanamuest une petite bombe 💣💥 qui ne vous laissera pas indemne... 


☄️LA RECETTE☄️

Ingrédients
2 oranges moyennes ou 3 petites non traitées
250 g de farine
180 g de sucre de canne 
3 œufs
15 cl d'une bonne huile d'olive
1 pincée de sel
1 sachet de poudre à lever
1 sachet de sucre vanillé (facultatif)

Préchauffer le four à 180°C. 


What you need

  • 2 medium sized or 3 small oranges (blood oranges) - bio because we use the zest
  • 250g plain flour
  • 180g sugar
  • 3 eggs
  • 150ml olive oil
  • pinch of salt
  • baking powder - 1 sachet is probably at least 1 teaspoon. May take 2
  • vanilla sugar

Equipment

  • 2 bowls
  • Mixer
  • rectangular cake form
  • spatula

How you do it

  • preheat the oven to 180C (fan)
  • grate the zest of the oranges into one bowl. Then slice the oranges, juice them and add the juice to the zest. Mix well, so that the aroma gets well absorbed
  • in the mixing bowl add the sugar and the eggs and mix at high speed until it becomes really thick and almost white
  • add to the egg/sugar mix the orange/zest juice and mix at high speed again
  • add the flour, baking powder and vanilla sugar. Again mix well. It should all be a smooth paste
  • add the olive oil to the mix and mix well at medium to high speed for a few minutes
  • use olive oil to grease the baking form
  • then sprinkle some sugar to coat the greased form with it. All the way around.
  • pour the dough mix into the baking form 
  • put into the oven for ca 40min.


Sunday, 19 September 2021

Käsekuchen a la Gisela (cheesecake)

 A recipe from my friend Martin in Hamburg. 

What you need

For the dough (see also the other recipe for "Muerbeteig")
  • 1 egg
  • baking powder 1 teaspoon
  • 75g sugar
  • lemon zest
  • 100g butter
  • 200g plain flour
For the filling
  • 750g frommage frais *
  • 3 tablespoons of cornflour or potato flour 
  • 75g butter
  • 150g sugar
  • 1 lemon
  • 5 eggs
  • raisins, mix dried fruits or canned tangerines (optional)

Equipment

  • baking form/spring form
  • bowls and kitchen mixer
* fromage frais is not easy to come by in the UK. Although I haven't tried it yet, I would imagine it might work with "Philadelphia" cheese, mascarpone, ricotta or maybe even plain and simple sour cream.

How you do it

Dough
  • melt the butter and let it cool down
  • put all the ingredients into a bowl and mix well until it turns into a smooth paste
  • put in the fridge for ca 1 hour
Filling
  • preheat the oven to ca 180-190C (fan)
  • take the dough out of the fridge
  • butter the form. I sometime use semolina to sprinkle onto the surface - it helps to prevent the dough from sticking to the surface
  • spread the dough into the form covering bottom and the sides
  • separate egg yolk and white from the eggs and put the egg white into a bowl with 50g of the sugar
  • whip/beat the egg white until it is stiff. put the bowl aside
  • in another bowl, put the rest of the filling ingredients into the bowl and mix well for several minutes (ca 10min at low speed).
  • gently lift the egg white under the mix and stir gently
  • (optional): if you want to add any dried or canned fruits, put them directly onto the dough before pouring in the filling
  • once done, gently pour the content into the form, make sure it gets evenly spread
  • put into the oven and bake for 45-55min.

Wednesday, 16 June 2021

Muerbeteig German Pastry Dough

 What you need

  • 1 egg
  • 100g granulated sugar
  • 200g butter (soft)
  • 300g plain white flour
  • A sprinkle of cinnamon
  • Grease/semolina for dusting the baking form

Equipment

  • Bowl
  • Baking form, e.g. a quiche baking form

How you do it

  • Measure out the ingredients & put them all into a bowl
  • Preheat the oven to 200C/400F
  • Mix the egg, flour, butter, sugar mix until you get a smooth paste
  • Grease & dust the baking form
  • Spread the dough evenly into the baking form 
  • Once in, take a fork and pinch the raw dough a bit across the form
  • Bake for 10-15min
Let the dough cool down before adding any filling.

Saturday, 17 April 2021

Almond Cake A l'Orange

 Apparently, this recipe hails from Mallorca. But I picked it up from the German news magazine Der Spiegel. As per usual I did it a bit differently (the icing)


What you need

  • 6 eggs
  • 150g sugar granulated
  • 1 orange
  • 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon
  • 1 pinch of salt
  • icing sugar
  • 200g ground almonds

Equipment

  • 3 bowls
  • kitchen mixer and blender with whisks
  • grater
  • juicer
  • mug
  • spring baking form
  • aluminium foil
  • brush
  • sprinkler for icing sugar

How you do it

  • preheat the oven to ca 170-180C
  • assemble and grease the baking form and sprinkle ground almonds evenly on the inside. 
  • put the ground almonds into a bowl. Add the cinnamon. Then using a grater grate the skin of the orange into the ground almonds. Be sure that you only grate the orange coloured - not the white - part of the skin. Mix well, best to do it manually using a whisk.
  • take the eggs and separate yolk and egg white into 2 separate bowls. 
  • to the egg yolk add half of the sugar (75g) and, using a blender or mixer, whisk it for ca 5min until it looks bright and is creamy
  • pour the almond/orange zest/cinnamon mix into the bowl with the yolk sugar mix and manually mix well. It should have paste like consistency.
  • clean the whisk of the mixer thoroughly - no egg yolk/sugar should be left on it. In the second bowl, add a pinch of salt to the egg white and whisk it for 5 min. When it starts to stiffen pour the sugar in slowly. The egg white should stiffen noticeably. You'll notice when the whisking will leave little "cones" in the egg white. 
  • mix the egg white/sugar carefully into the bowl with the almond/egg yolk mix. I usually use a large spoon and carefully lift and stir so that it becomes a smooth paste.
  • pour this paste into the baking form and smoothen it up on the top
  • bake for 50min
  • after ca 25min (when the top starts to turn brown), take the form briefly out of the oven and cover with an aluminium foil. Put it back into the oven and back for 20min. For the last 5min, remove the foil from the form.
  • remove the form from the oven. Carefully separate the cake from the edge of the form with a knife.
  • after a few minutes you can "open" the spring form

Icing

  • juice the orange and pour into a mug
  • add icing sugar to the juice while stirring (with a fork e.g.). Keep adding icing sugar until the juice/sugar mix turns into a thick-ish paste.
  • slowly put the sugar/juice mix on the top of the cake and, using the brush distribute evenly over the surface
  • using an icing sugar sprinkler add icing sugar on top.