 With this Linzer torte, I wish you all a happy and peaceful 2017 filled with love, happiness, sweetness, and renewed hope. May you all find fulfillment and joy in this crazy world? I am so happy to share some of my life with you through my blog. Thank you all for visiting and encouraging me with your comments and friendship. It is greatly appreciated. My love to all of you.  It seems that I am crazy about nuts these days. It has become my go-to snack during the day. But most of all, I use them in baking as I often substitute nuts for flour. For weeks, I have been trying different recipes for Linzer torte, a cake that gets its name from the town of Linz in northern Austria. This lattice-topped torte, filled with jam and a crunchy nutty crust, is a delight for the taste buds. It’s a crumbly, nutty affair that can be eaten any time of the day. I finally chose an Austrian version from a baker who inherited the recipe from her mother. I also tried a recipe from a well-known American chef who used roasted almonds and powdered sugar. I am much happier with the recipe I am sharing with you. According to Wikipedia, Linzer torte is said to be the oldest cake in the world (a fact much debated around the dinner table). Although interesting, it is not necessarily a reason to bake it. I was drawn to this cookie-like torte because of its taste and texture. It does improve with age, and you can make it three days ahead of time. In my humble opinion, it needs to be served with whipped cream. I made this torte for my girlfriend’s birthday party. I served small pieces with a good amount of whipped cream (someone whipped the cream by hand, and it was so good). Every last crumb was eaten, and several people went back for seconds. The only difficult part is making the lattice crust. I put the strips on (without putting them into a lattice pattern) because my crust was crumbly. Traditionally, this torte is made with red currant marmalade. I used seedless raspberry jam mixed with red currant jam in one of my tortes. In my final version, I used one cup of seedless raspberry fruit spread mixed with ¼ a cup of my strawberry jam to give it some extra flavor. I used Kerrygold butter. You need an 11-inch tart form with a removable bottom. This is best served in smaller slices with a big slug of whipped cream. It will serve 12-14 people.
 A happy and healthy New Year from Sunny Cove Beach
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For the last couple of weeks, I have been baking up a storm. Those who follow me on Instagram and Facebook have seen my photos. Baking cookies has given me some peace in these turbulent times.  Because I like to reduce or replace sugar in recipes, some of my cookies were rejected by my tasters. One of them was my German chocolate cookies, the ones that look like paws. I liked them, but nobody else did, so I won’t post that recipe.  My husband’s favorite cookies are the biscuits de Noël (French sable cookies), they are sugary and remind him a little bit of his mother’s sugar cookies minus the frosting. The recipe comes from Clotilde, who lives in Paris and has a lovely blog called Chocolate and Zucchini. Click here for the recipe.   My favorite cookies this year are Basler Brunsli, a specialty of Basel, a city in German-speaking northern Switzerland. These cookies are chocolatey and chewy with the flavors of Christmas. The main ingredients are chocolate and raw almonds (no flour), just some confectioner’s sugar, egg whites, cinnamon, and cloves. Both the hazelnut meringue cookies and the Basler Brunsli are gluten-free.  I started my blog because my girlfriend, Diane, took me to our local bookstore over three years ago to listen to an author who was promoting her new book, My Berlin Kitchen. “Oh no,” as I thought she was one of those plump German women dressed in a dirndl with braids in her hair promoting sauerkraut and dumplings. I didn't want to disappoint my girlfriend, so I agreed to go. Off we went, and I almost fell from my stool when I saw a beautiful, shy young American woman introduce herself as Luisa Weiss. This was definitely not the person I had expected. She opened my heart and allowed me to be German again. You see, I was never proud to be German, as I was mostly ashamed of Germany’s ghastly past. That evening, when I listened to Luisa read an insert from her book, my heart finally opened, and I allowed myself to be German for the first time ever. It was okay, I would and could never forget what happened in Germany during the Nazi times, but I could be German and learn to love my native country. In her first book, My Berlin Kitchen, Luisa describes her life in Berlin. Born to an Italian mother and an American father, her childhood takes place in the divided Berlin of the Soviet Times. She describes many situations that are very familiar to me, such as her search to belong somewhere and her experience of different cultures. In food, she finds a common denominator. After living a successful life in New York, she leaves for love in Berlin. You can also follow her on her blog, “The Wednesday Chef.” This year, she has published a beautiful new cookbook called Classic German Baking. This impressive volume opens up the world of Germanic baking to all of us. The Washington Post included it in the round-up of the year’s best cookbooks. According to them, Classic German Baking is “a happy marriage of European craft and American sensibilities.” When I showed it to my 16-year-old friend from Berlin, who has been living with her American father here in Santa Cruz for a year, her eyes lit up, and she was transported back to Berlin through all the recipes she loves. Click here for her website, The Wednesdaychef   Since this is a new recipe for me, I followed Luisa’s recipe and made no changes. The recipe is thrown together in no time, but rolling out the dough was a little bit of a challenge. I used a small wine glass that I dipped in sugar as a cookie cutter. For chocolate, I used Trader Joe’s Pound Plus chocolate. Luisa recommends 60-70% cacao in the chocolate. According to Luisa, the cookies will last for a month if kept in a tin.
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WELCOME TO SUNNY COVE CHEFThank you for visiting my blog. My two passions are cooking and traveling. Traveling exposes me to a wide variety of food and experiences. I walk around cities looking for markets, restaurants, bakeries, shops, you name it, and if it is related to food you will find me there, tasting, smelling, talking to vendors, and having a great time. Categories
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