Baking up a Storm........

Zimtsterne (Cinnamon Stars)
One of the more interesting things about having parents of different nationalities is that high days and holidays are celebrated with a mixture of the traditions from both countries. Not only does it keep both parents happy, but as a child I enjoyed the best of both worlds. I believe that it is the mother who marks out the traditions in the household, and fortunately for her, my English father was more than happy to celebrate Christmas German style, and wouldn't have had it any other way.
Celebrations started on Christmas Eve evening with the exchange of presents, as is the German way, with Christmas Day being a bit more low key. However, in keeping with British traditions, lunch was turkey and all the trimmings, followed by Christmas pudding, if there was any room.
We also had a mixture of English and German baking. Mince pies and Christmas cake nestled against Stollen and all the Weihnachtsplatzchen (Christmas biscuits) that my mother and I made.
In Germany, Christmas is absolutely not Christmas without a never ending supply of these specially baked goodies that women (and maybe a few men) spend hours making. These are not large flat cookies, or biscuits that you might dunk in your tea, but small, dainty mouthfuls of indulgence that are often decorated with chocolate, jam, or nuts. There are hundreds of varieties, and in Germany there is no end of magazines devoted to the platzchen in the run up to Christmas.
Each family has their own recipes, and they are often handed down. My mother still makes those that her mother made (and the ones I grew up with), and I make six varieties that have been tried and tested over the years since my late teens. For several years I would try a new recipe each year and if I liked it enough it would stay in my repertoire. If not, well, you live and learn - there is always next year. Add to that there are the two types of mince pies that I make, because I do also like to embrace my English side.
You might be thinking that all of this baking might seem a bit excessive given that in Britain mince pies and Christmas cake are the backbone of the Christmas tea-time table. It might be, if I was to eat them all by myself. But they are also gifted to special friends, as well as being exchanged with family.
The first two weekends in December are given over to baking. I must admit that some years I can get in the zone and bake, bake, bake. And other years it can be a labour of love. But one thing it always is, is worth it.
Zimtsterne (or Cinnamon Stars) are one of my favourites and an absolute classic. No biscuit assortment would be complete without them. I have been making them since my teens and if I can remember back that far, they were the first variety I made. The recipe came from one of the aforementioned magazines. In fact, I think all of my biscuit recipes were sourced from them. Where they are now, I have no idea, but that doesn't matter much now as I have them all written in a small book that gets dusted down every Christmas. I love these because although a little fiddly to make, the end result is a delicious mix of cinnamon, nuts, crunch and chew.
There is still time to make them if you fancy adding a little Continental flavour to your baking. Or if you want to give a personal hand made gift to someone, they would be very welcome, I am sure.
The original recipe uses only ground almonds, but I have always added ground hazelnuts because they add flavour, colour and texture. However, if you find ground hazelnuts hard to get hold of, and don't fancy making your own, it is absolutely fine to just use all ground almonds. Indeed, many recipes do.

Recipe
4 medium egg whites, at room temperature

350g icing sugar, sifted (plus extra for rolling out)

250g ground almonds

250g ground hazelnuts

2 tsp ground cinnamon

You will also need 2 - 3 baking trays, lined with baking parchment, and a star shaped biscuit cutter

This mixture makes about 60 biscuits

1. Whisk egg whites until stiff.

2. Add the icing sugar in 3 batches and whisk in each addition for a couple of minutes until thick and glossy.

3. Put aside 6 tablespoons of the mixture into a bowl and cover with cling film or foil.

4. Add the almonds, hazelnuts and cinnamon into the remaining mixture and using a wooden spoon stir until you have a dough. It can be quite sticky at this stage, so there is no harm in adding a little more icing sugar (especially on your hands), if necessary to make it easier to handle.

5. Wrap the dough in cling film or foil and put it in the fridge for about an hour or two until it firms up a little. Doing this makes the dough easier to handle, I find.

6. Preheat the oven to 150C / 300F / Gas 2.

7. When you are ready to make the biscuits take the dough out of the fridge and divide into quarters. Dust the surface of your work surface and rolling pin with icing sugar, and a quarter at a time, roll out the dough to a thickness of  5mm.

8. Cut out star shapes using the biscuit cutter and place onto the lined baking trays. Press the off cuts together into a dough again (do not knead) and re-roll and cut until you have used it all. Then use another quarter and do the same.

9. Brush each cookie with the meringue mixture that you have set aside and bake for 20 - 25 minutes until the meringue is set. and hopefully not too coloured.

10. Leave to cool on the tray for about 10 minutes. Transfer onto a wire rack to cool completely and store in an airtight tin lined with foil.

Baking Notes

You don't have to make 60 biscuits. Halve the mixture and make a more manageable 30 if you prefer.

Ideally, the idea of the meringue is to stay white (to look like stars), but in the years I have been making these this has never happened. They usually turn a very light golden colour, which is fine for me. Just keep an eye on them though so they don't colour too much.

You will also find that the base of the biscuits don't look cooked. They are. As long as you can pick each biscuit off the paper easily, they are done.

I hope you will give these a try and I would love to know if you do and what you think of them.

 

Small but Perfectly Formed

Baci di Dama
I had intended September to be all about biscuits ever since a friend at work told me that it was National Biscuit Month. Well, that clearly hasn't happened since we are now a third of the way through this very month and it is only now that I am posting a biscuit recipe. This month is actually an American celebration, and their biscuits are more like our scones, rather than the snack that you might dunk into your tea (or not). However, a small matter of  how a word is interpreted, or geography, makes no difference to me if it means I can bake.
I don't make biscuits that often, other than at Christmas (when I make a LOT) but I really wanted to bring you the most delicious, melt in the mouth, hazelnutty morsels, Baci di Dama, or, 'Ladies Kisses'. These biscuits are traditional to the Piedmont area in the northwest of Italy and are so named because the two halves are like lips kissing. The beauty of these is that they use very few ingredients - butter, sugar, flour, chocolate and hazelnuts - to make something truly special.

I think you all know by now about my love affair with almonds in a cake. Well, hazelnuts have the same effect on me in a biscuit. They have such a sweet, buttery flavour which works brilliantly with so many different other flavours such as chocolate, apples, raspberries and coffee, and that flavour and scent only deepens upon heating. 

Toasting and grinding whole nuts creates an infinitely superior product to pre-ground and when a biscuit uses so few ingredients, every one needs to count.
These biscuits are fairly simple to make if a little time consuming but don't let that put you off, as the results are worth it. Every step is there for a reason, so please don't be tempted to deviate from the method. The butter and dough have to be cold and the oven cool as it is this what ensures the balls sink into the characteristic domes to be sandwiched together. Dark chocolate is usually used for the filling, but since I had a great big jar of chocolate and hazelnut spread in the cupboard I used that instead, and it was perfect.

 For the biscuits
(adapted from food52.com)

100g whole hazelnuts, shelled and blanched

100g cold unsalted butter, cubed

100g caster sugar (I used my favourite golden caster sugar)

100g plain flour, sifted

For the filling

100g dark chocolate (melted and cooled), or 4tbsp of chocolate hazelnut spread

This recipe makes about 20 - 25 biscuits

1. Start by preparing the hazelnuts. Put them in a dry frying pan over a low heat and toast  
until they turn golden brown and start releasing their oils and fragrance, about 5 minutes. I would recommend that you stir the nuts while toasting to encourage even browning and
avoid burning, which can easily happen if you don't keep a careful eye on them.

2. Leave the hazelnuts to cool completely, place in a food processor and blitz until they are 
very finely ground.

3. Put the ground hazelnuts into a bowl with the sugar and flour and give it a stir to combine. Add the cubed butter and rub in until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. 

4. Press the mixture together until you have a dough. You should find that it comes together very easily, and requires virtually no kneading. 

5. Wrap the dough in foil and put in the fridge for at least an hour, preferably overnight. 

6. Take the dough out of the fridge and roll teaspoons of the mixture into balls. Place them onto baking trays lined with baking parchment, a couple of centimetres apart, and return to the fridge for a further couple of hours. 

7. Preheat the oven to 150C, and bake the biscuits for 15 minutes until the balls have become domes. They should be pale in colour. 

8. Take the biscuits out of the oven and leave to cool completely on the baking trays so they become firm enough to handle.

9. To assemble the biscuits, using a teaspoon place a small amount of chocolate or spread on the flat side of one biscuit, and then top with another biscuit to make a sandwich.

10. Keep in an airtight tin for 4 - 5 days. If they last that long.

A Taste of Provence

Lavender, Lemon and Honey Cake
(adapted from Love, Bake, Nourish by Amber Rose)

Lavender. I have bathed in it. I have scented my house with it. I have even spritzed my laundry with it, but, I had never tasted it. It is a flavour that had always intrigued me as I thought that it might be akin to eating a bar of soap. Which, when I recently tried some (bought) lavender shortbread, it was. I have to say that it was a flavour that I didn't think that I would be hurrying to try again as I found it quite unpleasant. So much so that my biscuit remained unfinished. 

However, that opinion changed when I saw this cake. Although lavender, the lure of the other ingredients proved strong enough for me to want to give it a try. There is something about cakes that include almonds that I love. Perhaps it is the taste, or maybe it is the squidgy dampness that they impart that I am addicted to. I don't know what it is, but if a cake is heavy on almonds then I am a fan. Polenta is used in place of flour in this cake which, being made from corn, makes this cake gluten free, and therefore perfect for those who cannot eat wheat or are trying to reduce it in their diet. 

This cake is my first foray into a beautiful book called 'Love, Bake, Nourish' by Amber Rose, which had been on my radar for a while, and which I finally acquired only recently. If you like cakes and baked goodies that use seasonal ingredients and healthier and nutritious alternatives to refined sugar and wheat flour then this book is for you. 

The recipes are not vegan as they do use butter and eggs, but instead of white sugar you will find honey and maple syrup, and in place of wheat, nut, buckwheat, and spelt flours.

It is an amalgam of two recipes, the cake being from one, and the icing, another. Of course there is nothing to stop you from just making the cake au naturel, but I just think a little adornment stops it from looking naked.

So, how did the cake turn out? Very well indeed! It is very soft and moist, which is to be expected  from all of those almonds, and the polenta adds an unusual crumbly grainy texture, which I found rather moreish. It is also beautifully light and two pieces are easily wolfed down without realising it (or feeling guilty).

However, I cannot say that I really tasted the lavender. Perhaps I chopped it too small, or maybe I should have been brave and used a little more. I am not sure until I make it again and tweak the amount. What does come through though is the lemon (which is always a good thing in my opinion) and there is no reason why you couldn't replace the lavender with extra lemon zest, or replace the lemon with orange zest and juice. You could even go one step further and use a mixture of both to make a super-citrusy cake.

 

For the cake

2 teaspoons dried lavender, finely chopped

100 g golden caster sugar

225g unsalted butter, softened 

225g ground almonds

1 tsp vanilla extract

3 large eggs

Grated zest of 2 unwaxed lemons

Juice of half a lemon

75g honey

110g polenta

1/2 tsp baking powder (Dr. Oetker make a gluten free option if wheat cannot be eaten)

Pinch of salt

For the icing

30 ml lemon juice 

3 tsp honey

125g icing sugar

1 - 2 tsps dried lavender, chopped

Preheat the oven to 160C.

Grease and base line a 20cm loose-bottomed cake tin with baking parchment.

1. Cream the butter, sugar and lavender in a large bowl until very pale in colour and fluffy in texture. I usually whisk with an electric mixer for about 5 minutes for the mixture to get to this stage.

2. Add in the ground almonds and vanilla extract and stir until incorporated.

3. Beat in the eggs, one at a time until well mixed, and then gently fold in the zest, juice, honey, polenta, baking powder and salt with a metal spoon.

4. Pour into the prepared tin, and with the back of a spoon level the surface.

5. Put in the oven and bake for 45 minutes until a cocktail stick comes out clean when inserted in the centre.

6. If you think the cake is becoming a little brown, cover the surface for the last 10 minutes of cooking with a circle of greaseproof paper.

7. Take the cake out of the oven and leave in the tin for about 15-20 minutes before turning out onto a cooling rack to cool completely. Remove the baking parchment layer.

8. To make the icing, mix the lemon juice and honey in a medium sized bowl, and add in the icing sugar in two batches. What you are aiming for is a thick icing that can be poured and drip prettily down the sides.

9. Spoon over the cake and sprinkle with the chopped lavender.
10. If you wanted to, make this the day before you need it and wrap it in greaseproof paper and foil, un-iced, and it will be even better for it.

 

 

A Taste of Eastern Promise

Pistachio and Rosewater Cake
(adapted from RedOnline here)

I cannot tell you how excited I am to share this Middle Eastern inspired cake with you. I think it is one of the prettiest cakes that I have seen for a while and it is my way of heralding the start of Summer.

When I found it amongst my recipe file, I just thought, 'oh hello.....you look tasty, come into my kitchen!'
I love all things pistachio (its ice cream is my favourite), and I love the rose flavour of Turkish Delight. Throw in some pink from the rose petals, and combined in a cake, it just had my name written all over it. However, I have never baked with this classic combination before so I was intrigued to find out if it would live up to my expectations.
It did, and I was so pleased. While the cake was baking, the most delicious scent of rose and lemon filled my kitchen, and when cut into it, that same scent was intoxicating.
The rose flavour was very delicate, (not at all like ingesting a mouthful of  perfume) and mixed with the sharpness of lemon, the cake was so moreish. The pistachio nuts give a slight green hue to the cake, and a creamy nuttiness. You will find this cake very moist because of the oils in the ground almonds, and its taste and texture improves with age. Therefore, if you make this cake, I would recommend that you do so a day or two in advance for maximum impact! 

 For the cake
225g butter, softened (and a bit extra with which to grease the tin)

60g corn flour (I was a bit sceptical about this, but its addition gives a lovely crumbly lightness) 

1 tsp baking powder

100g blanched almonds

125g unsalted shelled pistachios

225g caster sugar (I used white instead of my usual golden because that is what I had in the cupboard)

3 large eggs

Juice and zest of 1 lemon

2 tbsp rose water

To decorate

Icing sugar

25 - 50g chopped pistachios 

2 tbsp edible dried rose petals (I found mine in Waitrose, but they are available online)

To serve
Greek yogurt mixed with lemon curd

23cm 9" springform cake tin, greased with butter and base lined with a circle of baking
parchment

1. Preheat the oven to 160C/325F/Gas mark 3

2. In a dry frying pan toast the almonds and pistachios in a until they have gained a little colour and the and you can begin to smell them. Do be careful to keep an eye on them and stir them occasionally as the almonds can easily get too brown and burn. Don't be tempted to miss out this step as the toasting really helps with developing the nutty flavour.

3. Put into a food processor and grind very finely.

4. Mix the butter and sugar in a bowl until very light and fluffy, about 4-5 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each one, and then add the lemon juice, zest and rosewater.

5. Sift together the flour and baking powder. Add to the butter, sugar and egg mixture and fold in gently until well combined. 

6. The mixture should be a soft dropping consistency. If not, add a little more lemon juice until it is.

7. Pour into the cake tin and bake for 40 - 50 minutes until a skewer comes out clean and the top is golden brown. If you think that the top of the cake is becoming too brown while baking, just put a layer of greaseproof paper over it. 

8. Take the tin out of the oven and leave to cool down for about 10 to 20 minutes for before removing from the tin and placing on a cooling rack. Do be careful at this stage though, because the cake is quite delicate and liable to break in half if you pick it up on either side. I would recommend a fish slice to slide under the bottom of the cake to help move it.

9. Dust with icing sugar, sprinkle either delicately, or liberally with the chopped pistachios and dried rose petals.

 If you try this cake I would really like to know how you like it. Or, do you have a recipe that you make that says 'Summer' to you?

Brownies vs Blondies, Part II

Pecan Blondies

Here is the follow on from my brownie post. A little later than anticipated, but I got distracted and excited about my last 2 posts. Until I had baked those cakes, Part II had to wait. I am very much led by my mood when I bake. There are times when I want to bake something familiar, and times when I want to try something new.
Blondies are essentially a white chocolate brownie, and a delicious alternative if you fancy a change from all of that dark chocolate. 
I have made blondies in the past but have never been happy with them, being always too sweet, and the texture cloying. However this recipe I like, and is therefore worth sharing. It comes from the most recent Great British Bake Off book by Linda Collister which I received  for my last birthday, and there is not one recipe that I don't want to try. Please don't be surprised if this book is mentioned again in this blog!
I won't lie, these are sweet (they are made with white chocolate, after all), but not overly so. I believe that the success of blondies is down to the quality of chocolate that you use. The  taste of the chocolate really comes through, and because of this please use a quality brand and one that you would enjoy eating a bar of.
I really like that the pecan nuts are left as halves because they add a really tasty nutty crunch and cut through the chocolate sweetness.
So, brownies vs  blondies? I refuse to call it. Both are super easy to make. Both make a treat which goes down very nicely with a cup of tea. And both would make a decadent pudding. Just cut the squares larger into greedy girl portions, serve the brownies with cream and berries, and the blondies with ice cream and a butterscotch sauce. Delicious!

175g white chocolate (with 25% cocoa solids) broken into squares

115g unsalted butter, cut into cubes

100g golden caster sugar

2 medium eggs, at room temperature

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

125g plain flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

150g pecan halves

You will also need a 20.5cm square tin, which will make 16 squares

1. Heat the oven to 180C /350F / gas 4 and grease and base line the tin with baking paper.

2. In a heatproof bowl which is large enough to hold all of the ingredients put in the butter and chocolate. Put it over a saucepan of just boiled water off the heat to melt. Be careful
that the bottom of the bowl does not touch the hot water because this will over heat the chocolate and cause it to seize. Stir occasionally.

3. When the chocolate is nearly all melted take the bowl off the pan and stir until the mixture is smooth.

4. Stir in the sugar. The mixture will curdle, but will become smooth in the next step. Leave to cool until barely warm.

5. Beat the eggs and vanilla together until they are frothy and then pour into the chocolate mixture. Stir well until the mixture is very smooth and glossy. Sift in the flour and baking powder and mix until well combined. Stir in 100g of the pecan nuts.

6. Put the mixture into the prepared tin, spread evenly and then scatter the remaining pecan nuts over the top.

7. Bake for 20-25 minutes until a skewer when inserted into the cake comes out clean.

8. The centre of the cake might still be a little soft but it will firm up on cooling.

9. Loosen the sides of the cake with a knife and leave it to cool in the tin. When it is cold turn out and cut into squares.
10. They will keep for 4 days in an airtight tin, but I don't imagine that they will last that long!

The Cake of Love

Passion Cake

Valentine's Day is very soon upon us, and what better way to show someone you love them, than by baking them a cake? Here is a recipe that is not the usual chocolate, Red Velvet, or heart shaped creation offered in the name of love.

This is really a carrot cake by another name, and although I cannot vouch for the (ahem) aphrodesiac properties of a carrot, that it has been made for the object of your desire may bring its own consequences.
To learn more about origins of why carrot cake is sometimes known as Passion Cake I looked online. One reason (and the one that I like because it fits in with the theme) is that Passion Cake was the name given in former times to a cake made for weddings as a symbol of the union and love of the happy couple. It was a cheaper alternative to the traditional wedding 'spice' cake, which used large amounts of dried fruit and spices (such as cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and ginger), ingredients that could not always be afforded by the ordinary folk of Britain.

This recipe is from the first proper grown up cookbook that I was given for my 18th birthday from Good Housekeeping, named simply 'Cookery Book, the classic cookery book completely revised', and was one of the first cakes I ever made, and still make, from it. 
This carrot cake is unusual in that it is made with butter instead of the traditional oil. The use of oil makes for a very light and moist cake. Personally though, I am not a fan of the taste and mouth feel of oil in cakes and much prefer the taste of butter in my baking. It does give a denser cake, but I have no issue with this provided it is not dry and tastes good. Which this cake does. 
The cream cheese icing is gorgeous with this cake as it is very light, and the taste of the lemon really cuts through the richness of the cake. It is not a stiff creamy icing like you would see on most carrot cakes, but rather a more runny affair. If you prefer a firmer icing though, just use less lemon juice.

For the cake
225g unsalted butter
225g soft light brown sugar
4 eggs, beaten (I used size medium)
225g self raising wholemeal flour, sifted (but do add the remaining bran pieces)
1 level tsp baking powder
350g carrots, peeled and coarsely grated
1 lemon, the juice and finely grated rind 
100g walnuts, coarsely chopped

For the icing
1 tbsp lemon juice
75g full fat soft cheese
50g icing sugar, sifted

To decorate
25g walnuts, again coarsely chopped

You will also need a 20.5cm (8 inch) round cake tin.

1. Preheat the oven to 180C / 350F / Gas Mark 4.
2. Grease and line the base and sides of the tin with baking paper.
3. Cream the butter and sugar together until the mixture is light and fluffy.
4. Add the eggs, a little at a time, and beat well after each addition. If the mixture looks like it is curdling beat in a tablespoon of flour after each egg addition. 
5. Sift the flour with the baking powder and fold into the butter, sugar and egg mixture with the bran pieces.
6. Stir in the carrots, lemon rind, 1 tbsp of the lemon juice, and the walnuts.
7. Spoon the mixture into the prepared tin and level the surface.
8. Bake for about 1 1/2 hours until risen and golden brown. To check if it is cooked put a skewer into the centre of the cake and if it comes out clean, it is done. When making the cake for this post I found that the cake was cooked after about an hour and 10 minutes. You can open the oven door after about 3/4 of the cooking time (any sooner and you risk the cake sinking) to check the cake's progress. If it is not quite done, but you think that the top is becoming a little too brown, just cover the cake with foil for the rest of the cooking time. 
9. Leave the cake to cool for about 10 minutes before turning out onto a cake rack and letting it go completely cold before icing.
10. Make the icing by beating together the cream cheese, icing sugar and lemon juice until smooth.
11. Using a palette knife spread over the cake and sprinkle with the chopped walnuts.
12. Eat with your loved one, and enjoy.

NB. I prefer to use half white and half wholemeal flour as I think that using all wholemeal makes the cake a little too heavy, and a little bit......worthy!

 

Breakfast Bites

Cleaning out my kitchen cupboards this weekend I came across leftover ingredients from my marathon Christmas baking sessions. There were a few grams of this (nuts), and a few grams of that (dried fruit), as well as a myriad of other goodies.

Not being one for waste, I had a think about what I could bake to use them up without having to buy too many more ingredients with which to do so. I remembered a recipe that I have not made for a while which would be perfect - Nigella Lawson's Breakfast Bars. These are just like the cereal bars that you can buy, but so much more tasty and filling since they are packed full of oats, seeds, nuts and fruit. 

They are bound together with condensed milk, which negates some of their healthiness, I suppose, but, you could use the light version as I have done in the past. It tastes the same but has less fat.

These little bars are perfect for breakfast with a cup of tea, or as a mid-morning snack, or if you are in a hurry, a bowl of cereal and milk in a portable form.

What I like about this recipe is that it is so adaptable. The bars are delicious if you follow the recipe as given, but you can add whatever you like, or what you have to hand, keeping the condensed milk and oats quantities the same. 

Breakfast Bars

(from Nigella Express by Nigella Lawson)

1 x 397g can condensed milk

250g rolled oats (not instant)

75g shredded coconut

100g dried cranberries

125g mixed seeds (pumpkin, sunflower, sesame)

125g unsalted peanuts

1. Preheat the oven to 130 degrees C / gas mark 1/2, and grease and line a 23 x 33 x 4 cm baking tin.

2. Warm the condensed milk in a pan in order to loosen it slightly. This makes it easier to combine with the other ingredients.

3. Mix the remaining ingredients in a large bowl and add the warmed condensed milk. Mix together  thoroughly with a wooden spoon.

4. Spread the mixture into the tin and press down to even the surface with a metal spoon.

5. Bake for 1 hour and remove from the oven. After about 15 minutes cut into four across and four down, while still in the tin, to make 16 bars. 

6. Remove from the tin and allow to cool completely.

 

NB. I replaced the coconut and peanuts with leftover chopped nuts and pecans, and added some dried cherries to the cranberries which not only added to the colour, but also a welcome sweet and sour note.