I just adore pears. Cute butt shapes and so many ways to prepare them. They are delicious with game, paired with elderberries and quinces for jam , poached or simply eaten out of hand. My pear tree had very little water and a lot of sun this summer and proudly presented me with seven (wow!) ripe pears. Here’s the recipe how I poached them with some lovely spices for my birthday lunch. poached pear with vanilla […]
I stumbled upon the method of caramelizing butternut squash in Donna Hay’s cookbook Fresh and Light. Perfect to turn any autumnal salad into a more substantial meal. What are your favourite pumpkin recipes? Mine are these pumpkin soup with a Bali memory spiced butternut squash bread sweet dumpling, oven roasted with prawns, tomatoes and white wine curried butternut squash soup autumnal surf’ ‘n’ turf introducing black futsu caramelized pumpkin and green bean salad 1 butternut squash, sliced or diced 2 […]
Back in Bali, I tasted a soup (which wasn’t even Balinese, as I found out later!) and it had an unusual flavour combination: essentially it was a savory banana soup. I tried the original recipe and failed badly, but I found a shortcut to a similar taste. The secret lies in a creamy butternut squash and coconut soup, which is the perfect base for a tiny bit of fresh banana. pumpkin soup with a Bali memory 1 tablespoon coconut […]
This upside down cake is perfect to use up the last bit of summer fruit. We ate it for breakfast on my daughter’s birthday. Here’s how to make upside-down plum cake 500g plums, pitted and cut into wedges 150g butter (3 tablespoons for the base layer, rest for the batter) 3 tablespoons brown sugar (I used muscobado) 100g sugar 2 pinches of sea salt 2 eggs 120 ml milk 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 2 teaspoons baking […]
Spiced butternut squash bread 1 1/2 cups flour 1 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon vanilla powder 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom a pinch of ground nutmeg 1 teaspoon grated ginger 1 cup butternut squash purée * 1 cup sugar 1/2 cup vegetable oil 2 large eggs, beaten 1/4 cup water 1/2 cup toasted chopped walnuts or pecans * to make butternut squash purée Cut butternut squash in half lengthwise and remove […]
Once the quince was sacred to Aphrodite, the goddess of love. In the garden of Hesperides it was called the Fruit of Paradise. Quinces have a soft and furry coat. They are intensely fragrant and have no artificial substitute. They can’t be eaten raw and to handle them you need patience and a good knife. When cooked they change flour from yellow to dark orange. Quinces make a wonderful jelly because they contain plenty of natural pectin. […]
To make this fresh and silky apple tart you basically need your hands, 1kg ripe and mellow apples and a few typically German dairy products like Quark (curd) for the crust and Schmand (sour cream) for the filling. silky apple tart for the crust: 125g Magerquark (low fat curd) 125g cold butter, cut in small pieces 125g flour for the filling: 1kg ripe and mellow apples, sliced the juice of one lemon 400g Schmand (sour cream) 1 […]
The calmness around the lake of Moritzburg castle is truly magical on a foggy morning. Later the sun came out and the day burst in glorious autumn colours. I found the marbled walnut gugl in the recipe book of my grandma. marbled walnut guglhupf 250g butter 200g sugar 1 teaspoon ground bourbon vanilla 2 eggs 100g corn starch 300g flour 3 teaspoons baking powder 100ml milk 150g walnuts, ground 50g sugar 2 tablespoons milk 1 tablespoon cognac […]
When it comes to butternut squash soup I’m usually on the heavily gingered spicy side. Minimalist Baker’s suggestion is subtly spiced, soul-warming, silky, coconut-infused and surprisingly different. Curried butternut squash soup (recipe by Minimalist Baker) 1 tablespoon coconut oil 2 shallots, thinly diced 2 cloves garlic, minced 1 small butternut squash a pinch of sea salt and black pepper 1 1/2 tablespoons curry powder 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon 400ml light coconut milk 500ml vegetable broth 2-3 tablespoons maple […]
I used the sweet muscatels as an edible decoration on my table, I spread them on the pizza, juiced them and combined them with little mozzarella balls and black sea salt. And then there were these sublime frozen grapes with hot chocolate fudge and grappa Take the best and sweetest grapes you can get and put them into the freezer for 2 hours. Big grapes will be frozen outside, the inside will be a semi-liquid sorbet. The tiny […]