Adventures of a Baking Fiend

Plum Season I: Plum Cake

2011-08-18T06:56:00.000+02:00

Yesterday, I made the first plum cake of the season. My parents got a bag full of plums from a friend on Tuesday, way too many to eat, so I offered to take them off their hands and make some cake.

Now, German plum cake is a strange beast. It's usually made as a tray bake and the base is most commonly a yeast dough. On top of that, the plums are arranged tightly and upright in more or less neat rows, and quite often, that's all there is. The only variation that's common is a kind of streusel topping, called "Datschi". Often, these datschis are made as individual servings as small hand sized "flatbread", with the plums less neatly and tightly stacked. My favourite recipe however combines the two into one large streusel traybake.

Zwetschgendatschi
(adapted from Basic Baking by Cornelia Schinharl and Sebastian Dickhaut)

for one large baking tray, you need:

Yeast dough:

350g plain flour
pinch of salt
50g sugar
150-180ml milk
30g fresh yeast (about 7g dried)
50g softened unsalted butter
1 egg

2kg ripe plums

Topping:

130g cold unsalted butter
100g flour
100g ground hazelnuts
1 tsp ground cinnamon
130g brown sugar

Crumble and rub the fresh yeast into the flour in a large bowl, until well distributed. If using dried yeast, stir it into the flour.
Add the salt and sugar and give a quick stir to mix it in, then rub the soft butter into the flour.
Warm the milk to lukewarm and add to the flour together with the egg. If you want to prepare the dough in advance, leave the milk cold and proceed with a cold mix, leaving the dough to rise in the fridge (overnight for example).
Knead the dough well until it becomes stretchy and doesn't stick to the edge of the bowl.
Cover the dough and leave to rise for an hour in a warm place (or overnight in the fridge).
While the dough is rising, it's time to prepare the plums. Wash them and slit them down one side to take out the stone. Don't cut them all the way through, leave them slightly attached on one side, like an opened book.
Butter a large baking tray (ideally one that's at least 1.5-2cm/half an inch deep) or line it with baking paper.
Knead the risen dough briefly, then either roll it out or simply use your fingers to press it out into all corners of the tray. The dough will probably be very thin, depending on the size of your tray, but that's okay, because it will rise again. Mine is usually less than 5mm in most places.
Cover the dough again and set aside for 15 minutes to rise again.
For the topping, you need to cut the cold butter into cubes.
Either in a food processor or by hand, combine all topping ingredients until you have a crumbly mixture.
Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F.
Arrange the plums upright on the dough, pressing them gently in a little bit.
Bake in the middle of the oven for at least 35 minutes (possibly more, mine usually needs at least 50-60 minutes), until the edges are a deep golden brown and the topping is starting to brown.
Leave to cool and enjoy with a big dollop of whipped cream.

I had more than the 2kg of plums the recipe required, so I made a double batch, and ended up with one tray and two tart-sized cakes (only one of which I baked straight away, the other one I've frozen raw, as an experiment).

Making a Virtue of Necessity...

2011-06-13T14:50:00.000+02:00

Public holidays in Germany can be a challenge for the impulsive cook. All shops except bakeries and travel essentials at stations and airports are closed, meaning you have to either plan ahead, or make do with the contents of your cupboards. Sometimes this can lead to quite satisfactory results.

Today, I had the urge to bake or cook something to serve me as packed lunches for the rest of the week, or failing that, at least a sweet treat. At first, I thought about making cupcakes, but as they don't keep well, I eventually decided on something savoury. Lasagne and other pasta bakes had to be ruled out, as I'm out of cheese, and most other recipes were ruled out for similarly lacking ingredients.

A raid of the fridge and cupboards came up with a pack of low-fat cream cheese (just gone past its sell-by date but still sealed and looking fine when I opened it), 2 eggs and some onions, as well as staples such as milk, butter and flour. After begging a friend for her shortcrust recipe (thanks, Natalie!) and making sure it didn't use egg to bind, I had quickly settled on a simple onion and cream cheese tart. Adding a bit of thyme from my herb pots (a sprig of lemon thyme and a few more of regular thyme) turned it into a very satisfying lunch, and there's plenty left for me to have at work for the rest of the week.

Onion tart with cream cheese and thyme

Pastry
225g flour
100g cold butter
1/4tsp salt
40-60 ml cold water (just enough to bind)

Filling
200g cream cheese (mine had 17% fat)
2 eggs
splash of milk
6 medium onions
salt
pepper
fresh thyme (6-8 small sprigs)

Method

First, slice the onions and gently fry in a little olive oil on a low heat with a pinch of salt until soft, sweet and lightly browned. Preheat the oven to 200-220°C.
For the pastry, sift together the flour and salt into a food processor and add the cold butter in small chunks. Whizz together until it resembles breadcrumbs, then slowly add the water until the dough starts to come together. Roll out the pastry and line a 22-24cm round tin.
Once the onions are cooked, turn off the heat. Beat the eggs briefly, then mix well with the cream cheese and enough milk to give a runny consistency like buttermilk. season well with salt and pepper, and mix in the thyme.
Fill the uncooked pastry case with the cooked onions and pour over the egg mix.
Bake in the middle of the oven for 25-35 minutes, until the filling is set and starting to brown on top.

Miniature "Hexenhaus" (Gingerbread House)

2010-12-05T16:48:00.001+01:00

For all those who never get around to making a proper gingerbread house, I have a solution: the miniature "Hexenhaus" - no baking required, and easily devoured.

You will need:

Icing sugar
some warm water
Dominosteine (small chocolate covered lebkuchen shaped like a cube, or other small cube shaped confectionary or biscuit)
Butterkekse (Butter biscuits, or other thin square or rectangular cookies that break easily)
Plenty of decorations such as gummibears, chocolate drops, sprinkles, etc.

1. Make firm icing by mixing icing sugar with a tiny bit of water (I used about 2 tablespoons of icing sugar with half a teaspoon or so of warm water). Use one biscuit for the base and break another biscuit in half )or break off 2/3rds of two biscuits) to make the roof.

2. Dip the base of your cube in the icing, then place on the back half of your biscuit base.

3. Smear some icing on the left and right edge of the cube and place the roof pieces on the house.

4. Use more icing to seal the gap at the top and to decorate the roof with snow.

5. Decorate your house with anything you fancy

Baking Adventures: Brötchen (Rolls)

2010-09-06T11:42:00.005+02:00

One thing I love about German bakeries are the plain crusty rolls, the Brötchen, that you can get absolutely everywhere. And for a plain white yeast dough product, there are surprisingly many recipes as well as preferences by the consumers.

Now me, I like mine to have a definite taste, a crunchy crust, but a soft and almost doughy inside that's still satisfying and not completely consisting of air. You know, the kind of Brötchen I remember from my childhood, that taste good enough to eat plain and dry, just tearing off pieces and stuffing them in your mouth.

They are surprisingly hard to find in bakeries though, these days.
The closest I've come, strangely, are the ones from one of those in-store supermarket bakeries. Most proper bakeries seem to have too much crust, or are too dry or airy inside. Or just don't taste right.

It's difficult to describe what's so special about the taste of the "right" Brötchen, but it's more than just the taste of wheat. There has to be a bit of sweetness, and a tiny hint of salt.

Purely by accident, I seem to have stumbled on a recipe that works for me the other week. I had made bagels to a recipe I had used before a few weeks ago, and when I tried them, it suddenly hit me that the taste was exactly what I was looking for in rolls. They were obviously, being bagels, more dense and chewy than rolls, but the taste was perfect, and the crust wasn't too bad either.

So I decided to see whether the same recipe (minus the boiling that stops the yeast working in bagels, and thus makes them so nicely chewy and dense) would work for Brötchen too.

I made one minor change in replacing the dried yeast from the original recipe with fresh yeast, and I suspect I need to adjust the amount of water down, as the dough was very sticky, but otherwise I'm pretty satisfied with this first attempt.

Brötchen
makes 15
adapted (and doubled) from BBC Good Food magazine

Ingredients:

42g fresh yeast (one pack from a German supermarket)
2 tbsp golden caster sugar
500-600ml warm water
4 tsp salt (and I just realised that I only added 2, which would explain why my first taste test seemed a bit sweeter than expected)
900g bread flour (strong flour/type 550)

Mix the sugar with the warm water in a large bowl and crumble in the yeast. Leave for a few minutes until frothy.
Pour the rest of the water into the bowl (this made a very sticky dough for me, so it might be an idea to reduce the water by 100ml), add the flour and salt and mix to a dough.
Knead the dough for 10 minutes until it is smooth and elastic. If it is too sticky, it might help to add more flour. I've also found that leaving it to prove briefly (say, for 10 minutes) before kneading also seems to make it easier to handle.
Leave the dough to prove for at least an hour until doubled. This can either be in a warm, draft-free place (I find heating the oven to 50°C then turning it off when I put the dough inside creates a good, draft-free place) or in the fridge overnight.
Knock back the dough and form into dough balls. Place with the seam down on a generously floured baking tray and cover with a tea towel to rise again for an hour or until at least doubled in size.
Preheat the oven as high as you can get it (250°C on mine. I also used a pizza stone to bake the rolls on).
Bake the rolls for 15-20 minutes until golden brown. Tap the bottom and check for a hollow sound to make sure they're cooked.
Leave to cool.

Cooking Adventures: Turkey breast stuffed with feta and macadamias and served with rice

2010-05-30T10:53:00.004+02:00

Yesterday, I cooked dinner for my parents, just because I felt like it. Living on my own means I don't get the chance to cook properly near as often as I'd like, so every few weeks I invite my parents over for dinner on a Saturday or Sunday, and make a proper meal.

Most times this means lasagne, as I like to freeze the leftovers for quick weekday meals. But since my freezer is currently full to the brim, I thought I'd try something different, something I made once a few years ago.

I'm not usually big on poultry, but I like it once in a while, especially if it is stuffed with some kind of delicious filling. When I was in Australia over Christmas a few years ago, the friend I stayed with made us turkey stuffed with macadamias and cranberries. I tried making this myself when I got back and it's a very delicious roast for a crowd.

Another recipe that I got from a cookbook by Australian cricketer Matthew Hayden also fills poultry with macadamias, but this stuffing is less sweet with feta, onions and bacon instead of the cranberries. It's also a recipe for 4 rather than a crowd, so this is what I chose to make yesterday.

The original recipe calls for chicken breasts to be sliced open int long rectangles, but since the butcher at our market had thin steaks/escalopes of turkey breast right next to the chicken, I went for those instead. They seemed to stay a little juicier than chicken, so I think I will stick with this variation in the future, even though making them into parcels was still rather fiddly.

I also forgot to add the herbs in the recipe (somehow having pots of herbs outside instead of buying them as needed increases the risk of forgetting them), but it still tasted very good.

As side, I made some plain basmati rice, and served it with pesto and herb butter, as there is no real sauce from the turkey. It would probably be quite easy to make one, but the rice with the herby dressing was plenty enough for us.

Macadamia and feta stuffed turkey with rice

4 turkey breast escalopes/steaks
50g sesame seeds
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
2-3 rashers of bacon
3 garlic cloves, crushed or finely chopped
200g feta, chopped or crumbled
50g macadamias, finely chopped
2 teaspoons fresh thyme, chopped (optional, since I forgot and it still tasted very nice)
2 teaspoons fresh rosemary, chopped (optional)
salt and pepper

For the rice

200ml rice
400ml boiling water
salt
olive oil

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F and grease a roasting tin with a little olive oil.

Fry the sesame seeds in a dry frying pan over medium heat until golden and fragrant, then transfer to a bowl or plate to cool. Mix with the macadamias, feta and herbs and add a small grinding of pepper.

Heat one tablespoon of olive oil in the frying pan and gently cook the onions, garlic and bacon until lightly browned. Cool. Season with a pinch of sea salt and mix with the macadamias and feta mix to form a paste.

Fill the turkey steaks with about a quarter of the mix each, roling them up into parcels and securing with skewers or toothpicks. (This can be a bit fiddly)

Brush with the remaining olive oil and place in the roasting tin. Bake for about 30-40 minutes until cooked through.

For the rice, measure the volume of rice you want (I used 200ml for 3 people), and fry gently in a little bit of olive oil or butter for a minute or two. Top up with double the volume (in my case 400ml) boiling water, add salt to taste (I used about half a teaspoon), cover with a tight lid and simmer on a low heat for about 20 minutes. Turn off as soon as all the water has been soaked into the rice, and leave to sit with the lid still on until the turkey is ready. Fluff up before serving.

Struwen

2010-04-02T11:07:00.007+02:00

It's Good Friday today, and I am currently in the process of making Struwen. Struwen are a traditional Good Friday recipe where I live. They are essentially slightly sweet yeast pancakes with raisins.

Originally they were a proper Lenten dish, containing none of the forbidden ingredients such as butter or eggs, but over the years, probably even centuries, they have grown into a quite luxurious treat. ;-)

In my family, my gran always used to make them for the whole family on Good Friday, but as she is getting older, I have started to take on part of the responsibility, using her recipe.And because I think that traditions are worth sharing and spreading, here is the recipe we use:

500g flour
375 ml milk (lukewarm)
40g yeast
2 tablespoons sugar
1-2 eggs
1 teaspoon salt30g butter
125g raisins/sultanas
peel of one lemon
frying grease or oil

Preparation:
1. Dissolve the yeast in lukewarm milk.

2. Place flour in a bowl and make a shallow opening for yeast milk.

3. Mix yeast milk with a little flour and let rise for 15 minutes.

4. Add the remaining ingredients and beat well until smooth.

5. Let rise for an hour.

6. Bake in a well heated pan, making small pancakes (approx. 1 tablespoon of batter per cake).

7. Eat warm or cold, with maybe a bit of sugar and cinnamon, and a milky coffee.

Bread Adventures: Wholewheat Bread with Oats and Seeds

2010-01-31T06:59:00.006+01:00

I think you've noticed by now that I'm a big fan of Rachel Allen's books. This recipe is from her as well.

A friend asked me the other day for a recipe with a high wholemeal content, and I wasn't sure my usual recipe would work with more than 50% wholemeal flour. So I had a look through my books and stumbled upon this recipe for a wholewheat loaf with oats and seeds, which is from Rachel's Favourite Food at Home.

A lot of wholewheat breads can be very dense and crumbly, but this one is surprisingly light. It is a bit crumbly, but that's probably partly due to the sunflower and other seeds, not just the flour type used.

It has a lovely nutty flavour, and contains quite a bit of fibre, so is definitely a healthy option. I also roughly calculated the calorie content and based on 16 slices per loaf, there are around 117 kcals in each slice, which much better than the brown bread I've made before.

Wholewheat Loaf with Oats and Seeds
by Rachel Allen

Ingredients:
200g wholewheat flour
75g plain flour
75g mix of sesame, poppy, and sunflower seeds, plus 2tbsp for scattering
50g oats
25g bran (I used wheat bran)
1 tsp salt
350-400ml warm water
1 tbsp honey
15g fresh yeast or 7g (1 sachet) dried yeast
1 tbsp sunflower oil

Mix the flours, seeds (reserving the 2 tbsp for scattering the top), oats, bran and salt in a large bowl.

Pour 100ml warm water into jug and dissolve the honey in it, then stir in the fresh yeast. Leave for 5 minutes until the mixture starts to froth.

Once frothy, add another 250ml of warm water and the sunflower oil and mix, then pour into the dry ingredients and stir well to make a sloppy, wet dough. If it's too dry, add some more water.

Pour the mix into a greased loaf tin and scatter the top with the reserved seeds. Cover with clingfilm and leave to prove in a warm spot until risen to the top of the tin (approx. 1 hour).

Preheat the oven to 200°C (175°C for fan-assisted oven).

Bake the loaf for about an hour in the tin, then take it out and check if cooked. If not, return to the oven without the tin until the bottom sounds hollow when tapped firmly.

Cool on a wire rack.

Cooking Adventures: Lasagne

2010-01-24T17:56:00.005+01:00

I've just finished portioning the leftovers of a big batch of lasagne, and because this batch turned out really well, I thought it best to write down what quantities I used so I remember for next time.

This makes a very big batch, would easily feed 8-10 I'd say.

I usually share it freshly baked with my parents and then have around 8 portions left for the freezer, but I make those smaller on purpose so I'm not tempted to overeat. ;-) Which is very easy with this...

This recipe was adapted from this one originally published in Rachel Allen's "Rachel's Food for Living".

I usually prepare the lasagne the day before I want to eat it, mostly because the bolognese sauce takes quite a a while to prepare and cook, but you could cook it straight after assembling, or prepare it earlier on the day of serving.

Ingredients:

3x 400g tin chopped tomatoes (I use organic ones as I've found them to be the best taste-wise)
4 medium yellow onions, chopped as fine as you can
1 large red onion, chopped finely
1 garlic clove, grated or finely chopped
150ml wine (ideally red wine, but rose works too, white only if it is semi-dry)
150ml water
2-3 tsp sugar
pinch of salt
ground pepper
olive oil
fresh or frozen herbs (basil, oregano, thyme, and/or a herbes de provence mix)
500g ground meat, optional (if I use meat, then it's usual half beef and half pork)

50g butter, unsalted
50g plain flour
600ml whole milk
salt, pepper
ground nutmeg

enough lasagne sheets (I usually have some fresh ones in the freezer from making pasta and getting fed up with shaping the dough after rolling it, but it works just as well with dried) for a big baking dish (mine is about 25x33cm, and a good 7-8cm deep)
parmesan cheese
mozzarella or other good melting cheese to top the lasagne

First, heat some olive oil in a large frying pan or pot with a fitting lid. If I'm using minced meat then I usually fry it first until browned and cooked through, then set aside while I make the sauce.

If using no meat, or after you have browned the meat, gently cook the yellow onions over a low heat until they start to go translucent. Then add the red onion and continue to cook over a low heat with the lid on until completely soft, stirring occasionally to stop the onions on the bottom from burning. This stage can take anywhere from 10 to 25 minutes, depending on how finely you chopped the onions, and how full the pan is.

Add the grated garlic, and cook over a medium to high heat until the onions start to turn golden, adding a bit more oil if necessary.

Once the onions are coloured to your liking, pour in the wine and water and stir for a moment, dissolving any bits on the bottom of the pan in the liquid.

Let come to a simmer and add the tomatoes, then bring to a simmer again. Season with the sugar, salt and pepper, tasting and adjusting the seasoning if necessary. If your tomatoes are a bit weak on taste, add some tomato puree or paste to liven them up. Simmer until the sauce thickens a bit.

I usually puree the sauce at this stage with a handheld blender, as I've found it makes it easier to layer the lasagne evenly.

Add the fresh herbs and taste again, adjusting to taste, then drop in the browned meat, stir and set aside while you make the white sauce.

For the white sauce, melt the butter in a pan, stir in the flour and cook for a minute or two. Slowly add the milk, whisking constantly and bring to a gentle boil.

Cook the sauce until it starts to thicken, then add salt, peper and some ground nutmeg to taste.

To assemble the lasagne, spoon some of the tomato sauce into the bottom of the dish, then place a layer of lasagne sheets on top. Add more tomato sauce, then a layer of white sauce and a sprinkling of grated parmesan cheese. Follow with another layer of lasagne, tomato sauce, white sauce and parmsan until you've used up all the sauces or reached the top of your dish.

If baking directly, you need to top with the mozzarella or other cheese now and pop it in the preheated oven at 180°C and bake for 30 minutes until bubbling and golden.

Since I usually prepare this a day ahead, I simply store the assembled lasagne without the topping cheese in the cold oven. The next day, I turn on the oven (180°C same as for baking directly), top the lasagne with the topping cheese and bake it for 40-50 minutes, until bubbling and golden and smelling seductively.

I've found that by leaving the lasagne to sit assembled for a day, the pasta sheets end up perfectly cooked without going mushy, so this works especially well for dried pasta, but it doesn't do any harm to fresh pasta either, which has time to soak up some of the flavours and salt from sauces overnight.

This freezes very well cut into portions for one person, and I usually defrost them for 10 minutes in the microwave (cutting the portion in half and turning the middle to the outside after 5 minutes for even cooking), then top with some extra cheese and give it another minute or two to melt the cheese and make sure the lasagne is piping hot all the way through.

Baking Adventures: Christmas Cookies - part 1: Speculatius

2009-11-29T18:16:00.005+01:00

This weekend I got properly started with the Christmas baking. I made some Lebkuchen last weekend, but that was just a short prelude to this weekend's proper baking. And I'm not done yet either, but I'm finally getting into the spirit of things, even if it's much later than usual for me, as I've been known to start planning my Christmas baking in late September!

This weekend, I made two kinds of Christmas cookies: Zimtsterne (cinnamon stars) and Speculatius. I made the cinnamon stars yesterday and forgot to document them, so I'll report on that at another time. However, although I prepared the Speculatius dough yesterday, I didn't get around to shaping and baking it until today, and this time remembered to take pictures.

I've been making Speculatius using the traditional wooden models for over ten years now, but especially in recent times I haven't made them every year, as I always struggled both with the consistency of the dough and the shaping with the wooden models.

This year however, after not having attempted them for at least 2 Christmas seasons, I tried again, and with only minor changes, I finally succeeded making the whole process work. :D

The recipe I'm using came with the first wooden model I bought from the Christmas market. It calls for the following ingredients:

250g soft butter (unsalted)
200g sugar
500g plain flour
1/2 teaspoon cardamom, ground
1 teaspoon cinnamon, ground
1/2 teaspoon cloves, ground
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon water

This always ended up way too dry to handle, so in the past I've resorted to increasing the amount of water until I had a pliable dough. However, this led to it being too tough after baking, and it was kind of glue-like when shaping too.

Yesterday, when I set about making the dough, I wondered if there was an alternative to the water, and since I had all my Christmas cookbooks out anyway, checked to see what other recipes used as liquid. I found one that used one egg for 500g of flour, so that's what I tried, replacing the water in the recipe above with one egg.

And it worked!

So if you fancy giving this traditional German/Dutch recipe a try, here is the recipe with instructions for shaping with the traditional models. Alternatively, simply roll out to about 5mm thickness and cut out shapes with a selection of cookie cutters.

Speculatius:

250g soft butter (unsalted)
200g sugar
500g plain flour
1/2 teaspoon cardamom, ground
1 teaspoon cinnamon, ground
1/2 teaspoon cloves, ground
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 egg

Beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Beat in the spices, then sift in the flour and baking powder and knead to form a firm dough.
Rest the dough in the fridge for at least an hour, preferably over night. It will keep for several days in the fridge.
When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 200°C (175°C for fan-assisted ovens).
Roll out the dough in small portions and cut out shapes with cookie cutters.
Or, if using wooden speculatius models, proceed as follows:

Dust the models with sufficient flour to coat the insides, shake off excess but not too vigorously. You need a good covering of flour or the dough will stick, as I finally figured out this year. Do NOT oil the boards first, even though all the recipes tell you too!

Press enough dough into one hollow to fill completely, then cut off the overhang with a sharp knife or wire.

Hold the wooden model at a right angle to a hard surface (best to cover with some cloths or other soft protection to prevent damage) and tap the edge firmly onto the surface to loosen the biscuit, easing it out of the model carefully.

Place the shaped cookies on a lined or greased baking tray.

When the tray is full, bake at 200°C (175°C for fan assisted ovens) for about 10 minutes until the cookies turn pale golden. Cool on a wire rack.

The cookies improve if stored in a sealed tin for a few days, as the spices can develop then. They keep well for at least a week stored in a cool, dry place.

Happy baking!

Baking Adventures: Panda Cookies

2009-09-05T17:11:00.009+02:00

So the other day, a friend linked me to this site which has a recipe and instructions for bread where each slice looks like a panda face.

I liked the idea. A lot.

But I thought: panda bread, hm not sure what to do with that. It's obviously a sweet dough too, so...

Then I thought, hey how about cookies? I want to bake cookies anyway.

So that's what I did.

I picked a recipe for German black-and-white-shortbread style cookies, which works along a similar principal to achieve a patterned effect, and simply coloured a portion of the dough with green food colouring paste (I'd meant to use matcha as in the original, but simply couldn't find any affordable stuff).

The result is looking pretty good.

But now you're probably interested in the recipe, right?

Okay, here it is:

Ingredients

1/2 vanilla pod
300g unsalted butter. softened
150g icing sugar
1 pinch of salt
400g plain flour

for the colouring:
1 tbsp cocoa powder
green food colouring

1. Slit the vanilla pod open lengthways and scrape out the seeds.

2. Cream the butter with the vanilla seeds, icing sugar and salt until well blended and fluffy.

3. Sift in the flour and knead together swiftly.

4. Divide the dough into 3 portions: 115g for the dark eyes and ears, 330g for the white face, and the rest for the green background.

5. Quickly knead the cocoa into the smallest portion of dough, then form it into a ball and wrap in cling film.

6. Work the green food colouring into the largest portion of dough until you're satisfied with the colour, then also form a ball and wrap in cling film.

7. Wrap the plain dough in cling film as well and rest all three portions in the fridge for at least an hour until chilled through.

8. Once the dough is chilled comes the complicated part. Making the panda face. It is best here to refer to the original site, and I used the following amounts of dough for the different parts:

Just under half the plain dough for the face, 2/3rds of the dark dough for the eyes.
A good 3rd of the left over plain dough for the hollow between the eyes, and the rest of it to frame the face.
The rest (1/3rd) of the dark dough for the ears.
1/4 of the green dough for the hollow betwene the ears, and the rest to wrap around everything (more or less).

9. Once you have assembled your logs (it might be easier to do two shorter strands), wrap in clingfilm again and chill for another 30-60 minutes.

10. Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F, slice cookies off the log (about 4-5mm/1/4 inch thick) and place on a lined baking tray.

11. Bake for 10-14 minutes, making sure the edges don't brown too much, as it will spoil the pattern.

12. Let cool on a rack and enjoy!

Leftovers Adventures: Mashed potato

2009-06-26T18:53:00.004+02:00

Today for lunch I had baked potatoes made from new potatoes that were on the larger side.

I overestimated my stomach's capacity, and had one good-sized potato left over.

So I decided to make some mashed potato with it for a small dinner.

I microwaved the potato (skin still on) for a minute until hot, peeled it, then added a dash of cream and some salt and mashed it all up. I wanted to add some butter but didn't have more than a quarter teaspoon left.

Then I remembered that I still had some homemade herb butter (my bbq staple: unsalted butter mixed with some salt and fresh-frozen provencal herbs from the supermarket) in the fridge that needed eating as well.

Well what can I say? The result tasted amazing. The herbs really complemented the slightly sweet note from the baked potatoes, and the butter enriched it just enough without making it too greasy.

I would post a picture except it's all gone already!

I will definitely keep this trick in mind for the next time I want mashed potatoes (I usually make them from baked potatoes anyway, because I like the slight roasting flavour this gives to the potatoes).

Baking Adventures: Raisin Buns

2009-05-10T13:45:00.003+02:00

I mention in my blog info that a recipe for raisin buns was my first foray into experimenting with recipes.

Taking and combining two different recipes as the basis (one I liked the texture of the result, the other had the better tasting buns), I eventually arrived at what I consider the perfect raisin bun:

100ml warm milk
42g fresh yeast
pinch of sugar
60g melted butter (unsalted)
500g plain or strong flour
1 level teaspoon salt
60g sugar
2 eggs
1 egg white
200g raisins
zest of one lemon

You also need for the glaze:

1 egg yolk
1 tablespoon milk

Dissolve the yeast in the warm milk with the pinch of sugar and the melted butter.
Briefly mix together flour, salt, sugar and eggs, then add the yeast mix.
knead thoroughly for at least 10 minutes.
Add the raisins and lemon zest, then leave to rise in warm place for an hour or so until doubled in size.
Preheat the oven to 160°C(fan assisted oven).
Knock back the dough and shape into buns or braid into a loaf and leave to rise again until doubled.
Mix the egg yolk with the milk and brush the dough with the glaze before baking.
Bake in the middle of the oven for 20-35 minutes depending on size. Loaf may take longer.
Cool on wire rack.

These freeze really well. Place in freezer bags when still a little warm, fasten tightly, and place in freezer when cool. Deforst in a low oven (around 100°C) or simply at room temperature.

Bread Adventures: The recipe

2009-04-15T08:41:00.004+02:00

Anne asked me for the recipe I used as the base for my herb bread, so I thought I'd share the story as well as the recipe.

It started out with a simple recipe for a basic white loaf. I had found it last year, tried it a couple of times and was very happy with the results. Then one day I wanted to make the bread and had just started, when I realised that I didn't have enough strong flour. It was either very early or very late, with the shops closed, but I'd already crumbled up the yeast into some sugar water, so I couldn't really stop. So I had a rummage in my cupboard, and luckily I still had some left over extrastrong flour (type 1050) and some wholemeal as well. Together they were just enough to make up the required amount of flour. So I mixed all the flours, then kept going with the original recipe, hoping that it would turn out passably.

Well, the result was not just passably, it was pretty nice. A brown bread that tasted like shop-bought brown toast, only better and more... substantial. I had been looking for this kind of recipe but had found it completely by accident.

Thankfully I remembered how much of each type of flour I had used, and have since also simplified the whole process:

Brown Loaf
(adapted from Rachel Allen, Bake)

2 tsp sugar (I tend to use brown rather than caster, but it's a matter of taste and what you happen to have)
425ml warm water (you may need more or less depending on how much wholemeal flour you use)
2 1/2 tsp dried yeast or 20g fresh yeast
4 tbsp olive oil
750g flour (I use 1 part strong (type 550), one part extra strong (type 1050) and one part wholemeal, but you could go half wholemeal, half plain or strong)
2 tsp salt

Mix the sugar into the warm water, add the yeast, stir, then add the oil and let stand for a moment while you prepare the rest.
Weigh out the flour into a large bowl and stir in the salt.
Pour the yeast water into the flour. I usually now stir it in with a spoon until the water is mostly soaked into the dough, then get kneading with my hands.
Knead the dough thoroughly to work the gluten, until the dough stops sticking and feels elastic but smooth.
Cover and leave to prove for about an hour in a warm spot, or, if you have time, put in the fridge and leave to prove overnight.
If the dough has been proving in the fridge, take it out at least half an hour before kneading again, to bring back up to room temperature so it is easier to work. Knead the dough thoroughly, then shape into loaves or rolls and make a deep cut or several slashes across to allow for better rising and a prettier result.
Cover and leave to rise again until doubled in size. Again you can either do this somewhere warm or cool.
Preheat the oven to 220°C/425°F.
Bake rolls for around 10-15 minutes, loaves for around 30-45, depending on size. Turn the temperature down to 200°C/400°F after 10-15 minutes to keep from browning too much.
Tap the base of the bread to check if it's cooked. It should sound hollow when ready.
Leave to cool on a wire rack.

If you can, definitely try proving the dough in a cool place overnight. It allows the yeast to work at a slower rate and the bread develops more flavour and keeps better this way.

Rabbit: The Aftermath

2009-04-12T19:10:00.006+02:00

The rabbit dinner worked out a treat, despite a few complications due to the size, or lack of size, of my oven.

I wanted to serve the rabbit with oven roasted, herbed potatoes, but couldn't fit the roaster and the potatoes in at the same time, so had to settle for simmering the rabbit over two flames of my hob rather than just sticking it in the oven.

But from the beginning:

The recipe called for the rabbit to be marinated for a couple of hours before cooking. So this morning, I took the jointed rabbit out of the fridge and set about preparing the marinade. For this I needed the following:
1 whole rabbit
1 organic lemon
1 organic orange (I used blood orange as I couldn't get any other organic ones)
1/2 pack fresh thyme
1/2 pack fresh oregano
1 sprig rosemary
1 sprig sage
2 garlic cloves

First I washed the lemon and orange under warm water, and then grated off maybe half the zest separately, making sure not to go down to the white parts, and setting the orange zest aside for later. Then I squeezed the juice out of both fruit. The herbs also got a quick rinse and then chopped up finely and mixed into the citrus juice together with the lemon zest. The garlic I peeled and cut into thin slices, then added to the marinade. This was then poured over the rabbit pieces and put back into the fridge to marinate for a couple of hours.

After a couple of hours I took the rabbit out of the fridge so it could get back to room temperature before cooking. I heated some olive oil (about 4 tablespoons) in the roaster and first browned the meat in several portions on a high heat, the set it aside.

Next I turned the heat down and added 2 roughly chopped onions and a teaspoon of fennel seeds to the roaster, frying them briefly. Then I added about 250ml of dry white win and 400g tinned and chopped tomatoes. Brought this up to a simmer, then added salt, pepper and a pinch of sugar for seasoning. The recipe suggests adding some olives as well (about two tablespoons), but I don't like them so left them out.

Once the sauce has come up to a simmer and is seasoned, the meat can go back in. Pop on the lid and leave to simmer on a low heat for around 45 minutes until the meat is done. Just before serving, add the reserved orange zest and check the seasoning.

For the roast potatoes, I kept things simple. I used 1kg of new season potato, just washed, skin on and cut into wedges. Mixed in a large roasting tin with enough olive oil to coat, some sea salt and the left over herbs from the rabbit. I roast these in the oven at 180°C (fan-assisted/convection oven) for about 45 minutes total, covering the tin firmly with aluminium foil for the first half hour to cook them, then taking the foil off to brown for another 15 minutes or so.

The rabbit cooked up very tender and juicy, but the amount of work involved in preparing it makes this definitely a special occasion dish and not something for everyday cooking. Part of the problem was dealing with a whole rabbit, even though the butcher at the market had jointed it into slightly more manageable pieces for me. Maybe next time I'll stick with just thighs instead of a whole rabbit.

Edit: I was too tired last night to tell you where I got the recipe from: It's in Meat Basics by Cornelia Schinharl (don't let the title fool you, it's a German book with an English title).

Bread Adventures: Oregano and bacon breads

2009-04-11T12:38:00.003+02:00

My brother asked me to make him a batch of bread dough today, because he's off cycling and having a bbq with friends. He plans to wrap the dough around sticks or branches and bake them over the hot coals.

I did this for him last week too, using a basic white loaf recipe from Rachel Allen's Bake, which I have altered slightly by replacing part of the strong flour with extra strong bread flour and wholemeal flour (1 part each of wholemeal, plain, and extra strong) to make a tasty and slightly healthier brown bread.

Then my brother suggested adding some diced bacon to one half of the dough, and some fresh herbs to the other. He wanted to use basil, but I used oregano, as it has a more intense flavour that I think stands up better to the kneading and baking process.

I don't know what he thinks of it yet, but I sneaked a bit of the herby dough for a roll for myself, and must say I'm very pleased. Now I'm tempted to whip up a whole batch of it, some to eat today and the rest for freezing.

The Beginning: Rabbit

2009-04-11T09:00:00.001+02:00

Hello and welcome.

After several years of keeping my baking and cooking adventures offline (okay, mostly offline, I've posted the odd recipe and pictures elsewhere before), I finally thought it was time I kept a better record of my kitchen adventures.

You can find a short bio on the side of this blog, but right now I want to get straight to the point, that is, into my kitchen adventures:

This Easter, I'm planning to cook rabbit for the first time. I bought it fresh from the market this morning, and it's currently chilling until I need it tomorrow. The recipe calls for it to be marinaded with herbs (thyme, oregano, sage and rosemary) and citrus zest and juice for a couple of hours (I'll start that tomorrow morning), and then slowly stewed with tomatoes. I'm going to serve it with new potatoes roasted in some olive oil and with the leftovers of the herbs.

I'll see how it goes.