All posts tagged: traditional

Grandma’s Classics: beef roulades (Rouladen)

Leave a comment
Dinner / Lunch

A German surprise package traditionally filled with pieces of dill pickle, mustard and thinly sliced bacon. The tart flavour of mustard  and dill pickle is a must, but to complete the filling I prefer thinly sliced vegetables like carrots, onions and bell pepper to bacon.    . Beef Roulades for the roulades: 6 pieces of boneless beef round (pounded) 6 teaspoons Dijon mustard 6 dill pickles (sliced lengthwise) 1 big white onion (cut in thin wedges) 1 red bell pepper (cut in thin strips) […]

5 secrets about the best sauce bolognese ever

Leave a comment
Dinner / Lunch

First of all, the secrets which make all the difference Opt for a minced meat – beef only or mixed beef (2/3) and pork (1/3) – that is not too meagre Add the salt right in the beginning of the cooking process to make sure the juice spreads into the sauce Add  milk to the meat before adding wine and tomatoes to protect the meat from acidity Use a cast iron, ceramic or a heavy bottomed saucepan Cook the […]

cheesecake topped with meringue

Leave a comment
Cakes + Cookies / Sweets

cheesecake topped with meringue for the dough: 200g flour 75g sugar 65g cold butter, cut in small pieces 1 egg 1 teaspoon baking powder for the filling: 500g low fat curd (Magerquark) 125g sugar 2 sachets vanilla sugar 100g oil (or melted butter) 1 sachet custard powder 1 egg 3 egg yolks 1/2 l milk for the topping: 3 egg whites 50g sugar 1 sachet vanilla sugar Mix the ingredients for the dough in a […]

Dresdner Christmas Stollen

comments 2
Cakes + Cookies / Sweets

It’s that very special time of the year. I’m burning pine-scented candles (Annick Goutal Noël  are the best!), I’m hanging box wreaths around the house and sipping spice tea whenever I have a quiet moment to spare. During the month of December I want to share with you some German Christmas bakery: the famous Dresdner Stollen, an elegant gold sprinkled chocolate and caramel tart and some easy-to-make pistachio rosewater snowballs. Dresdner Christstollen 1kg flour 120g yeast 200ml […]

quince leather / Quittenbrot / dulce de membrillo

Leave a comment
Jams + Preserves / Snacks / Sweets

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 colour from yellow to dark orange.Quinces make a wonderful jelly because they contain plenty of natural pectin. Add spices, time […]

marbled walnut guglhupf

comment 1
Cakes + Cookies / Sweets

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 […]

panna cotta + cranberry sauce

Leave a comment
Sweets

Aunt Elisabeth’s * mantra always has been “few but only the best ingredients!” Here’s her  way to prepare this Italian classic: panna cotta: 400g whipping cream 50g sugar 1/2 vanilla pod (scraped) 3 sheets gelatine cranberry sauce Mix a jar of high quality cranberry preserve with a generous amount of gooseberry liqueur Soak the gelatine in a bowl of cold water for 10 minutes. In the meantime bring cream, sugar and vanilla to a boil always stirring. […]

Grandma’s Classics: rhubarb cake

Leave a comment
Cakes + Cookies

  Grandma’s recipe is by far the quickest and easiest way to turn these tart beauties into something truly enjoyable. All it takes are a few rhubarb stems, eggs, flour, butter, sugar and 30 minutes bake…   Grandma’s rhubarb cake 15-20 rhubarb stems 250g butter 200g sugar 4 eggs 400g flour 1 teaspoon baking powder 1 teaspoon vanilla extract Preheat the oven to 180°C (360°F). All ingredients should have room temperature to combine well. Butter the […]

homemade eggnog from scratch

Leave a comment
Drinks / Jams + Preserves

  This is quite a different “golden milk” than the one in my  previous post. Definitely none of its ingredients belongs to the category health food. But MIND OVER MATTER: Christine’s homemade eggnog is so delicious (added to any dessert) that it certainly does have a positive effect on well-being. When I asked her to pass the recipe on to my readers, she popped up in my kitchen with a basket full of her preferred […]

first snow and Bratäpfel

Leave a comment
Sweets

Totally unexpected we woke up to a white Christmas morning. Inspired by the magic of the snow I prepared some Bratäpfel in grandma’s copper snail pot ( this pot has 12 small dents to fit the snail shells, but we weren’t planning to use it for the original purpose any time soon). Quick recipe: remove centre of apple with the seeds and stem, fill with almond butter, plum jam  and pistachios, sprinkle with cinnamon. No […]