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Biscotti with apricots and Chocolate

12/10/2020

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Christmas and the New Year are just around the corner. Since we can’t have our usual Christmas activities with friends and family maybe this is the time and the year to enjoy some peace and quiet, to be reflective, to light a candle and find things that make us happy.
​ I am trying!
Biscotti with Chocolate and apricots
I am decorating the house for myself (my husband and son could care less) by putting up a few things that weren’t stored in the attic. I bought some new things at a local store just to support them. Several nights ago, I watched the sunset with my German girlfriend who lives next door. We shared some Glühwein (mulled hot wine) and we had fun sitting in her garden. I am trying out some new cookie recipes and was pleased with these apricot chocolate biscotti. It is a real treat to dip one of them into my morning coffee or afternoon tea. The biscotti are chewy with the fruity flavor of apricots and orange flavored semisweet chocolate. I am happy to add them to my baking arsenal and make them again.
Biscotti with Chocolate and apricots
These little  gingerbread house ornaments make a great project for children. A warning though, cutting the graham crackers for the tiny house ornaments can test your patience.
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I am contemplating making my French country pâté, giving a little to my friends and freezing some. Instead of taking it to a party I can have it for lunch.
French Country Pâté
If you are looking for cookie recipes, here some suggestions: gluten free hazelnut meringue cookies, or Basler Brünsli, made with chocolate, almonds and some Christmas spices.
Biscotti with Chocolate and apricots
My mini muffins with blueberries are a little labor intensive but oh so good. They are my son’s favorite.
Blueberry mini muffins
review recipe for gingerbread christmas ornaments​
review recipe for country pâté
review recipe for christmas cookies
For this recipe I used unsulfured dried apricots that were soft. I love orange flavored chocolate but any other semi-sweet chocolate would be fine. Both, the butter and the eggs should be at room temperature.The biscotti are easy to make but it takes some time to bake them twice.  Make sure you don’t burn them.  If you want more chocolate, dip one half of the biscotti into melted chocolate.  I didn't do that. They will keep in a tin for several weeks.
Print Recipe
Ingredients:​

This recipe makes about 45 biscotti 

5 oz (1¼ cups) ( 125g)  dried apricots
3.5 oz (100g) semisweet chocolate 
9 ¾ oz (2 cups) (280g) unbleached white flour)
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp cinnamon 
¼ tsp salt 
2 oz (4 TBS) (60) g soft butter 
6 oz (¾ cup) 175 g sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
3 oz (¾ cup) (100g)  slivered dry roasted almonds
Directions:
​

Cover a baking sheet with parchment paper. Preheat the oven to 350˙Fahrenheit
Cut the apricots and chocolate into small pieces. 
Stir the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt in a bowl.  
Cream the butter and sugar in a mixer until creamy. Add the eggs one after another. Add the vanilla. 
Add the flour mixture and stir with a wooden spoon until incorporated. Don’t over mix. Add the apricots, almonds and chocolate and mix them into the dough.
Divide the dough into 2 equal parts and form 2 loaves (10 inches long and 3 inches wide) next to each other on the cookie sheet. Using floured hands will help with forming the loaves. Bake the loaves for twenty minutes, remove them from the oven and let them cool for 20 minutes. Reduce the heat to 325˙Fahrenheit.
Cut the loaves with a serrated knife into ⅔ inch slices. Put biscottis on two baking sheets and back each for about 20 minutes at 325˙ Fahrenheit. Make sure they don’t  brown too much. Some of mine had baked just a little bit too long. Cool the biscotti and put them in a tin.
​
Guten Appetit!
Translated from a German recipe (Lecker)
By ©Sunnycovechef.com
​​
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French Apple Cake

10/20/2020

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I know I’m overdue to write a new post for my blog. I have many excuses why it has taken me so long: the California wildfires, an unexpected medical diagnosis, as well as my friends, house, and garden all needing attention. What it really boils down to is major procrastination. It’s not that I haven’t anything to post, as I have cooked many meals in my partially  remodeled kitchen. I love my new countertops, my new sink, and my pull-out drawers. ​
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I made some delicious beef short ribs with cauliflower gratin for a friend who just moved back into her house after evacuating from the Bonny Doon wildfire. The fire had burned her fence and woodpile, but left her house intact. She had hitched her horse trailer in the middle of the night to save her horse and donkey. I had several other friends who had to evacuate, but luckily nobody lost their homes.
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So, let’s get back to my kitchen and cooking. I made different recipes with zucchinis and yellow squash from my garden. My favorites are zucchini cakes and zucchini carpaccio. The recipe for the cakes are here and the carpaccio is easy to make. Slice a small yellow squash with a mandoline, put them on a plate, sprinkle some raspberry vinegar and good olive oil over the squash. Put it on a bed of lettuce if you like. Season with coarse salt, pepper, and some fresh thyme and you have a great salad. Now you can add whatever you want.
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For my book club dinner, I went all out. I served my over-the-top crepes filled with salmon and fennel. It was delicious and everybody enjoyed the alfresco dining on my outdoor deck. It was a gorgeous evening and we didn’t talk a lot about books. We just enjoyed each other’s company, one of those rare treats in these times of COVID. There were only five of us, which made it easier to keep the 6-foot distance.
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For dessert, I decided to make a French apple cake by Dorie Greenspan from her book Around My French Table. David Lebovitz adopted and posted the recipe on his blog, which I really enjoy reading. He now lives in Paris but used to be the baker for Chez Panisse in Berkley.  It's a delicious and easy-to-make recipe. I have made it several times and everybody sees to enjoy it. Please do not omit the rum in this recipe, as it what really makes the cake. Because I didn’t have any rum, I used some of the liquid from my Rumtopf (fruit preserved in rum). In my humble opinion, this cake needs to be served with some whipped cream. 
​Click here for the recipe
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Of course, there is always my German Apple cake which I have baked for decades.
​Click here for the recipe.
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You may also like my apple strudel cake, another favorite of mine.
Click  here for the recipe.
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Do not omit the rum, as it adds richness and flavor to the cake. But if you do not want to bake with alcohol, double the amount of vanilla. Epicurious is posting the same recipe calling it Marie-Hélène’s Apple Cake. There are many helpful comments on the post like substituting calvados for rum. I am going to stick with the rum but it would be interesting to find out. This is a beginners cake, so anyone can bake it and it is done in no time—perfect for the home cook. It is important to use a variety of apples for flavor and taste. I like playing with recipes, so I added my own twist. I used the apple peels to make a thick syrup that I added to the cake after it was baked, which is totally optional.
Print Recipe

Recipe for French Apple cake

Ingredients:

A 9-inch Cake pan with a removable bottom.

3/4 cup (110g) flour
3/4 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
4 large different kind of apples (4-5 cups)
2 large eggs at room temperature 
3/4 cup (150g) sugar
3 TBS dark rum
½ tsp vanilla extract
8 TBS (115g) butter, melted, then cooled
1 TBS lemon juice

Apple Syrup  (optional)

peels from the apples 
¼ cup sugar
½ cinnamon stick
2 cups of water
Directions:

The cake:
Melt the butter in the microwave and let it cool. Preheat the oven to 350˚ Fahrenheit (180˚ Celsius) and put your rack in the middle of the oven. Spray or butter a 9-inch (20-23cm ) baking pan with a removable bottom. Whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Peel and core the apples. Save the apple peels. Dice the apples into bite-size pieces and sprinkle with lemon juice. Beat the eggs with an electric mixer until foamy. Then add the sugar and beat until smooth. Add the rum and the vanilla and mix together. Stir in half the flour mixture, then half of the melted butter. Repeat with the rest of the flour and butter. Just stir enough to combine the ingredients. With a spatula, fold in the apple pieces, making sure they are well coated with the batter. Scrape the mixture into the baking pan. Smooth the top with your spatula. Put the pan on a baking sheet and bake for about 50 minutes (up to an hour) until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Let the cake cool for about 5 minutes, run a knife around the edges to loosen the cake and carefully remove the sides of the cake pan. 
If you make the syrup with the apple peels, sprinkle it on top of the cake. Serve the cake with whipped cream. Ok, you can use ice cream if you prefer.. 

The syrup:
2 cups apple peels (packed in).
¼ cup sugar
2 cups water
While the cake is baking, cook the apple peels for about 10-20 minutes. Strain the liquid through a sieve into a bowl. Put the syrup back into the pot and boil to reduce the liquid until it becomes a thick syrup. Spoon onto the the top of the cake. 

Cooking the apple peels in water and straining them also makes a great apple juice.
​
Recipe by Dorie Greenspan adapted by David Lebovitz
posted by ©Sunnycovechef.com
​​
​
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Alice Waters' Blueberry and Lemon Tart

9/8/2020

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Here we are, Labor Day has passed, summer is almost over. Recent weeks have been  devastating for Santa Cruz County and California with huge fires burning and thousands of people evacuated. Many people lost their homes and all their belongings and some lost  their lives. My heart goes out to all of them. For a couple of days Santa Cruz had the worst air quality in the world. My husband and I decided to  go to our mountain cabin. I packed some personal stuff, just in case. I also took one of my favorite cookbooks called Chez Panisse Fruit  by Alice Waters that had not been packed away during my remodel. From this book I would like to share a scrumptious recipe for a blueberry lemon tart. I have made many recipes from this book and have never been disappointed. I make her apricot jam every year and never get tired of it. I like everything about this book, the recipes, the layout, and the illustrations. I also have been fortunate enough to eat at Chez Panisse in Berkley many times. Alice Waters is a great cook and shares her talent with children and young adults, which I think is wonderful. She was a pioneer in the farm-to-table movement. ​
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I baked the lemon tart twice, once in the first week of August and then again last week. Even my husband who usually goes for the sweeter versions when it comes to dessert liked this tart.  ​
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The flavors in this tart are phenomenal, with the crispness and rich butter flavor of the páte sucrée, and the sweet tart flavor of the blueberries combined with the zesty lemon curd. It is a perfect combination for your taste buds. If you bake this, I hope you enjoy this tart as much as we have.
If you are interested in some different lemony or blueberry desserts click on the photo for my blogpost and the recipe.
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An easy to make German sheet cake with blueberries
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A rustic galette made with raspberries and blueberries
The pâte sucrée is easy to make. I baked mine a day before I added the filling. You might have some leftover dough, which you can be used to a cookie a cookie or two. If you have enough you can make a  mini tart. The eggs and butter should be at room temperature. You can use an 11-inch round tart pan with a removable button or  8 individual 4-inch tart pans. I think this tart would also look good in a rectangular tart pan. The dough is easy to work with. I think frozen blueberries would be fine in this recipe.
Print Recipe
Ingredients:

The Páte Sucrée
¼ pound (113 grams) unsalted butter at room temperature 
​½ cup ( 100g) sugar 
¼ tsp salt 
¼ tsp vanilla extract
1 egg yolk 
1 ¼ cup unbleached all-purpose flour 


The Lemon Curd

grated zest of two lemons
juice of two lemons (about 6 TBS ) 
3 TBS water
½ cup (100 g ) sugar
¼ pound (1 stick ) (113 g) butter
¼ tsp salt
3 whole eggs
3 yolks


The  Blueberry Topping

3 cups blueberries (500g) 
¼ cup sugar 
2 TBS water
Directions:

The Pâte Sucrée:
With a mixer, beat the butter and sugar until creamy, about two to three minutes. Add the salt, vanilla and egg yolk and mix until combined. Add the flour and mix for a short time. Put the dough on a dry surface, and with the palm of your hand, push the dough away from you until you get a ball that holds together. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and flatten it into a disk. Chill the dough for several hours or overnight. Take the dough out of he refrigerator and let it stand for a a few minutes to soften a little. Roll out a 13-inch disc of dough between two square pieces of floured parchment paper or two sheets of plastic wrap (which I prefer). Loosen the sheets while rolling it out, so it won’t stick to the paper. Flip the dough around while rolling it out and keep loosening the plastic wrap to prevent sticking. Roll out the 13-inch circle of dough that is 1/8 inch thick. Chill the dough with the wrap for a few minutes. Remove the plastic wrap and roll the dough around a pin to put it in the tart shell. Alice Waters gives instructions to only remove one sheet and flip the dough into the tart pan and then remove the second sheet. I think both methods will work. Use any dough scraps to patch any cracks. Chill the tart in the freezer for ten minutes before baking. Put the tart directly from the freezer into a preheated 350˙F oven and bake for about 15 minutes until slightly golden. 

Lemon Curd
Slowly over a low heat, heat the lemon juice, water, sugar, and salt in a heavy bottomed saucepan until the butter is melted and the sugar is dissolved. Whisk the whole eggs and egg yolks in a bowl and very slowly drizzle the lemon mixture into the egg mixture stirring constantly. Pour the mixture back into the saucepan and cook over a low heat while stirring all the time, scraping the bottom of the pot until the curd thickens, about 5 minutes. Be careful with your heat so the mixture doesn’t curdle. Strain the curd through a fine sieve and pour it into the baked tart shell while still warm. Spread evenly.

Blueberry Topping
​Divide the blueberries into 1½ cups each and put half of the three cups into a saucepan. Add the water and sugar and cook over a medium heat for about five minutes, smashing the blueberries with a wooden until they turn into a thick jam. Fold the remaining cup and a half of blueberries into the jam, and heat for about a minute to warm them. Spoon the blueberry topping evenly over the lemon curd. Cool until the curd has set. My tart tasted the best the following day.

Guten Appetit!
recipe by Alice Waters
posted by ©Sunnycovechef.com
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Rote Grütze and celebrating seven Years of blogging

7/14/2020

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My dear blogging friends from around the world, I want to thank you for connecting with me through my blog for the last seven years. It has been so much fun getting to know you and I appreciate how you motivate me to keep on going. While I sit at my computer, I think of you in your own individual spaces. These are lonely times, especially for older people like me. Because of COVID, we have to distance ourselves and can’t socialize the way we used to. That’s why this blog is so important to me, as it keeps me connected. Thank you!
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Rote Grütze with red currents
This last month has been a very busy one for me, as my husband and I finally found a contractor whom we like and appreciates our unique home. After I broke my ankle in Budapest (and made it home safely), I realized that my bathroom situation needed a change. As I was unable to take a shower in my upstairs bathroom, I had to slide downstairs on my butt using my arms to push me up and down.
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The old bathtub-shower
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my old countertop
Upstairs, I had a beautiful tub-shower combination but I had to step over a  20-inch ledge to get in and out. Right now, the workers are building a shower that will enable us to stay in our home of 35 years a little longer. I also decided to give my well-used kitchen a facelift by putting in a new countertop and backsplash, as well as some other improvements like pull-out shelves in my lower cabinets. During this construction project, my husband and I have moved into our downstairs living quarters. ​
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My living quarters during our construction
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It is comfortable and cozy, but we only have a hot plate and a microwave to cook with. Sometimes in the evening, I can sneak upstairs and use my oven. Because of that, my cooking has been simple and there has been quite a bit of takeout food. My friends have also cooked for me, but we are at the age where we have to be careful not to catch this nasty virus. So, almost all of our get-togethers occur outside.
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This is the way I like Rote Grütze, like a compote with a lot of my homemade vanilla sauce.
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In this photo I made the Rote Grütze with a little more cornstarch. I served it with vanilla sauce and a sad looking meringue that I made from some leftover egg whites.
Let's talk about my beloved Rote Grütze, a typical German dessert from northern Germany. There you can buy it in jars in almost every grocery store. You cannot buy it here in the US, but that’s OK because it is super easy to make. It’s healthy and a perfect way to use all the fruit you have in your garden or the refrigerator. Traditionally, it is made with red currants and other berries. Here in California, red currants are seldom available, so I made mine with cherries, blackberries, blueberries and a few raspberries. Since the fruit is only heated and not cooked, it is crunchy and fresh. Rote Grütze translates into “red porridge.” It was traditionally made with semolina, but today potato or corn starch is being used to achieve a creamy to pudding-like consistence.  Think of a jelly with fruit. Or a compote. I personally like it with my homemade vanilla sauce, because the sauce adds richness and flavor. However, some people eat it with yogurt or ice cream. There are cakes made with Rote Grütze in Germany and sometimes it is served over warm waffles. Why not serve it with pancakes? If you make this, I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. ​
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red currents
Last week at the farmer’s market I scored 2 baskets of red currents and I just had to make Rote Grütze again. It was divine. With the leftover red currents and other fruit I made my Rumtopf.  The one I made last year was delicious with ice cream or just by itself , a potent little treat.  ​
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review recipe for Rumtopf
Vanilla Sauce
The consistency is up to you depending on how much cornstarch you use to thicken this dish. The first time, I used 3 tablespoons of cornstarch and it came out soft and saucy. The second time, I increased the amount of cornstarch to 3 ½ tablespoons and it turned into a jelly with fruit. I definitely prefer the softer version and that’s how it is prepared in Germany. I used pitted cherries, blackberries, a few raspberries and some blueberries. When I scored red currents at the farmers market I made it a third time.  I used the red currents, raspberries, strawberries, blackberries, and cherries and three tablespoons of cornstarch. It was excellent. Rote Grütze  will keep in the refrigerator several days .
Print Recipe
Ingredients:
​

This recipe makes approximately 4 cups (enough for 6 servings) 

​1 ½  Ib (680 g) mixed berries 
2 cups (½ liter) cherry juice 
3 TBS Creme Cassis
1 vanilla pod
4 TBS sugar
3 TBS cornstarch
Directions: 

Clean and wash all the fruit, take the pits out of the cherries. I have a cherry pitter that works well. Half the vanilla pod lengthwise and scrap out the beans. Add the sugar, vanilla beans and pod to the juice and bring to a boil.  Mix the cornstarch in 3-4 tablespoons of cold water add to the boiling juice and cook for about two minutes, stirring constantly until the juice thickens and gets shiny. Add the fruit and Creme de Cassis and simmer for another 2 minutes. At this point you can add more sugar to sweetened the dish. I don’t add additional sugar but I have to have my homemade vanilla sauce with Rote Grütze.

Guten Appetit!
Translated from a German recipe
by  © Sunnycovechef.com
​
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Lemon Love

3/2/2020

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My lemon trees in my tiny little yard are my treasures. I love their aroma and love their flavor. Every year I try to write a new post on my blog with a new lemon recipe. I remember the year all my lemons were stolen . It  was so sad. This year I had a bumper crop that I shared with friends near and far. I sent off some boxes to friends on the east coast. I don’t mind sharing as long as they are a few left for me.
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preserved lemons
I asked for new lemon recipes on a Facebook site I belong to and the response was amazing. I got over three hundred responses with a lot of wonderful new recipes. Thank you to all of you. I will share two new recipes here and save the Facebook post so I can try  some amazing looking recipes later. I am a little pressed for time because I am leaving for a trip to France in two days where I will cook my heart out in a very special kitchen. If all goes well I will tell you about it later.
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lemon curd
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limocello and lemon curd
I made Limoncello and lemon curd. The curd is delicious and easy to make if you have a Vitamix. This is the first time I made limoncello and after reading more about it I don’t think that it is authentic, but again it was easy to make and I had a little taste today. Not Bad! I also made 6 jars of preserved lemons. I must say I had a production going and loved it because I was in my element. 
Recipe for lemon curd made in the Vitamix
It makes about three cups

Ingredients:


6 small eggs at room temperature
½ cup fresh lemon juice
1 TBS lemon zest
1 cup sugar
a pinch of salt
½ cup unsalted butter at room temperature cut into pieces


Recipe for Limocello:

I used  Giada De Laurentil’s  recipe for limoncello . I liked it but I don’t really have any comparison since I never have had limoncello before. I will make  it again when I have more lemons and return from my trip. Any help for this recipe is greatly appreciated. 
When making the recipe make sure you remove as much of the pith from the  lemon peel as possible.

​Click here for Giada's recipe

Click here for Holly Baker's lemon curd recipe
Directions for the lemon curd:
​

Put the first five ingredients in the Vitamix. Begin at Variable 1 and gradually increase to 10. Blend for about three minutes. When the mixture gets hot keep checking  with a thermometer  and continue to blend for another few minutes until the thermometer reads 160 degrees. Now your eggs are safe. Add the butter and blend until smooth for about 10 seconds.
Pour the curd into some jars and cool overnight in the fridge. 
​

Recipe by Holly Baker from A Baker's House
​adapted by© Sunnycovechef.com
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preserved lemons on avocado toast




​Preserved lemons capture the heavenly perfume of the lemon and excite your palate. It brings out the best in my avocado toast and many other dishes.
​ Click here for the recipe.



This is a nutty, chewy , nor-too-sweet cake which is made with whole lemons and ground almonds.
​ 
Click here for the recipe
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lemon cake

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Zitronenspeise (lemon mousse)



​You want a melt in your mouth lemony dessert, try my German lemon mousse or Zitronenspeise as we call it in Germany.
​ Click here for the recipe



This tart lemon sorbet made with buttermilk has been an old friend of mine for years.
​Click here for the recipe.
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lemon sorbet

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lemon bread


​Perfect for an afternoon snack, this simple lemon tea bread is compact and infused with lemon juice. 
​Click here for the recipe


A delicious lemon pudding cake that is light and makes a great ending to any meal. The recipe comes from the Greens Restaurant in Fort Mason in San Fransisco.
​ Click here for the recipe
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lemon pudding cake
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Black  Forest Chocolate Mousse

2/7/2020

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You have all heard of the famous German cake called Black Forest Cake​, a chocolate cake filled with cherries and whipped cream. In Germany it is called Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte. I had my share of it when I lived in Germany. My godmother, who was an excellent baker, made an awesome one. Somewhere I have her recipe, I think! But in the meantime and with Valentine’s Day just around the corner, I found a much easier German recipe for chocolate mousse with cherries. How good is that? You can whip this up in no time and end up with a memorable delight.
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This is not a sweet dessert, it has no added sugar and it is made with a few ingredients that I got at Trader Joe’s. It needs some good chocolate, heavy cream, frozen cherries, cherry marmalade  and Kirsch liquor or Kirschwasser as we call it in Germany.
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I upped the ante by adding some fruit from my Rumtopf, which turned it into an adult dessert for my book club meeting. Remember my Rumptopf I made last summer by preserving fresh fruit in rum. I was a great success, we enjoyed it over the holidays and I gave some jars to my friends. Next year I am making it again when cherries are in season. Cherries were my favorite fruit in the Rumtopf.
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Let’s get back to my mousse that I am leisurely nibbling on while writing this post. Like I said before, it is not sweet but it is rich and chocolatey. The cherries with their sauce add a fruity crunch to the mousse. A little bit of this dessert will go a long way. If you make this I hope you enjoy it as much I did.
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For my book club dinner I made my Italian crespelle (crepes)  stuffed with fennel and salmon in a white lemony sauce. Life is good when I am in the kitchen.
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Rumtopf
Crepes filled with Salmon and Fennel
​This mousse is made in no time, yet it is perfect for any dinner party with its rich chocolate flavor being complimented by the cherries  and the sauce.  Depending on the portion it will serve 6-8 people, maybe more. It is rich, so a little bit goes a long way. This is a great dessert to make ahead. My husband and I enjoyed it for several days.
Print Recipe
Ingredients:
​

7 oz. ( 200g) good quality bittersweet chocolate 
1 lb. ( 500g ) frozen dark sweet cherries
½ ( 100g) cup cherry marmelade
2 TBS Kirschwasser  (optional) substitute water 
​2 ¼ cups ( 600g) heavy cream
​Directions:

Put the frozen cherries with the Kirschwasser into a pot, cover and simmer until the cherries reach the consistency you like. I like mine crunchy and just heated up the cherries until they where defrosted. Stir in the cherry marmalade and let it cool. 

Grind about a ¼ cup of the chocolate to sprinkle over the mousse when serving it. Set aside for later, chop the rest of the chocolate coarsely. Heat ½ cup of cream, take off the heat and stir in the chocolate. Whisk until all the chocolate is melted making it into a soft ganache.

Whip the remaining cream to medium peaks. When you whip the cream you see the beaters leaving a trail, slow down the beating and watch. You do not want to over-whip the cream or you and up with a grainy mousse.  Put some of the cream aside for decorating the mousse . Gently, with a big spatula, fold the cream into the chocolate in thirds. 

Divide the mousse into individual bowls or cocktail glasses. Add about four cherries with the sauce . Dollop with the reserved whip cream and sprinkle with the grated chocolate. 
You can make this ahead and chill in the refrigerator for several hours. 
​
Guten Appetit!
Recipe from the German Magazine Lecker 
adapted by © Sunnycovechef.com
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Plum Tart or Zwetschgenkuchen

9/27/2019

3 Comments

 
When I see plums I always think of the Italian prune plum tree we had at our farm in Germany where these plums are called Zwetschgen. When the fruit ripened in mid September we would make Zwetschgenmus (plum jam) and everybody baked Zwetschgenkuchen on large trays. They dough was usually a yeast dough with different toppings for the plums. My favorite was a custard topping which is called Schmandkuchen. One day I would like to bake it in my village and get advice from all those old cooks and bakery friends. In the meantime I found this wonderful recipe on YouTube that is easy to make and all my American friends liked it. The shortbread dough is used for the crust and the streusel.
German  plum cake
The Zwetsche , a European plum ( Prunus domestica) has many different names, in France it is called quetsche, here in the US they are called Italian Prune Plums and sometime Empress Plums. These plums are small and dense with purple skin, easy to pit (freestone pits) and have yellow flesh. There is something magical that happens to this egg shaped, somewhat bland tasting Italian plum when you bake it, it becomes a sweet gooey delight, in cakes, in jams, and dumplings. As was the case with my cake.
German Plum cake
I am writing this while eating small slivers of this tasty treat. My doctor tells me to stay away from sweets and I do most of the time but there are times when these rules don’t apply. This cake brings back memories from my childhood in Germany, where Zwetschgenkuchen was a seasonal treat . My mother liked the simple version, adding plums with a little bit of sugar to a sheet yeast cake. Sometimes she splurged and put a custard on top of the cake. I remember stuffing myself and being told to share. My friend, aunt Frieda, that lived on the next farm made the best sheet cakes ever in a wooden pizza oven where she also baked her bread. I would sit on her wood box watching her cook. Oh, those childhood memories.
German plum cake
Some more  of my recipes using plums. The plum jam is tart but full of flavor. It's baked in the oven so you don't have to sweat over a hot stove and there is no stirring.  Click on the photos below for the recipe.
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Spiced Plum Jam
Marian Burros Plum Torte
Marian Burros Plum Torte
Here is the link to the YouTube video where I found this recipe. It's in German but Thomas  speaks very slowly and it is fun to watch him make the tart. I think this would be a great project for young cooks. ​
When buying Italian Prune Plums get the hard ones, some of the soft ones will be rotten inside and always buy more, just in case. These plums don’t have a long shelf life, that’s why a lot of stores don’t carry them.You can use another variety of plums if you are unable to get Italian plums.
Print Recipe
Ingredients:
A  12 inch cake or tart pan with removable bottom
This tart makes 10 generous slices, 12 small ones. 


14 oz. (3 cups) (400g) white flour
8 oz. (2 sticks) (230g) cold butter
4.5 oz. ( a generous ½ cup) (130g) sugar
1 ½ tsp baking powder (7g)
​1 egg and 1 egg yolk  

1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 TBS. lemon zest
a pinch of salt
2 Ib. of Italian prune  plums or other plums.
3 TBS. Turbinado raw cane sugar
Directions:
Generously butter a 12 inch tart or cake pan with a removable bottom.  
Sift the flour with the baking powder. Cut the cold butter into smallish cubes. Put the sugar and lemon zest in the food processor, pulse for 30 seconds to mix the lemon zest into the sugar. Add the flour, butter, eggs, and a pinch of salt. Pulse until  the butter is broken into small pieces . Pour the dough onto a surface and put a little less than 1/3  aside for the streusel. Kneed the the dough with your palms until it comes together. Start pressing pieces of the dough into the tart pan and flatten them with your hands. Build the dough up to the sides and chill the tart for at least 30 minutes. 
In the meantime wash the plums and remove the pits from the plums by cutting them half open but leaving them in one piece. Sprinkle them with the cane sugar and let them stand for a few minutes. Take the tart out of the fridge and arrange the plums in a circular fashion starting on the outside. Sprinkle the tart with the streusel. Both times I baked the tart I had some leftover streusel that I froze for later use. 
Bake the tart on a baking sheet to prevent the juices from spilling into the oven. Bake at 350 degree Fahrenheit (180 Celsius) in a preheated oven for 50-60 minutes. You want the dough to slightly brown and some of the plum juices being released and bubbling. 
Cool the tart for about an hour on a cooling rack. If you want you can sprinkle some powdered sugar over the tart. The tart tasted great a day later. 


Guten Appetit! 
recipe by Pour Le Plaisir - Thomas kocht
​translated  and adapted by ©Sunnycovechef.com

​
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Lebkuchen - Chocolate Spice Cookies

12/19/2018

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I was looking through my Christmas baking folder for some inspiration (which I need desperately these days) and came upon a recipe from a 2002 Gourmet magazine issue. I had written “excellent” on the recipe. Last year, I made a a similar cookie recipe from Luisa Weiss’s Classic German Baking called Baseler Brunsli (click here for the recipeBaseler Brunsli). Both these cookies belong to the family of Lebkuchen. You can find many different recipes for Lebkuchen throughout the German-speaking countries. Lebkuchen is a blanket term for German gingerbread, and this particular recipe is a smoother and more cake-like version, with a hint of chocolate, hazelnut and almond too. I love them because they are not overly sweet, but my American family is not a big fan of this tasty treat. They will go for the sweeter shortbread, sugary kind of cookie. That’s why I bake a variety of different cookies, put them in my tins and have one I like in the afternoon with my tea.
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​I baked these cookies because they remind me of the German Elisenlebkuchen, a treat from the German town of Nürnberg. Traditionally, they are baked on wafers and covered with either chocolate or a powdered sugar icing. I didn’t add the wafers and the icing, which makes them less sweet and easier to bake. I also liked the combination of ground hazelnuts and almonds. Instead of chocolate, this recipe uses unsweetened cocoa powder. Like all Lebkuchen recipes, these cookies improve after being stored in a tin for a few days or weeks. They are soft and chewy, and should not be stored with other cookies.
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This year will be a special Christmas because my niece and her husband are visiting from Germany. It doesn’t happen very often that I get to celebrate with my German family and it is always very special to me when they come to my home in California. So, I am baking and decorating as much as I can. Check out my post from 2016 with most of my family’s favorite cookie recipes. (click here)
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If you feel like a savory treat for the holidays, try my country pâté. It’s a great party pleaser.(click here )
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My dear readers, I wish you all a peaceful holiday filled with good food and surrounded by people you love. May the stars shine upon you and may your home be filled with warmth and good cheer.
Fröhliche Weihnachten and best wishes for the coming year!
This is a soft, chewy cookie that will improve with age. Store them in a tin box between wax paper. For the nut flour, use roasted and peeled hazelnuts and peeled almonds.
Print Recipe
Ingredients:
This batch makes 43-45 large cookies

For the nut flour:
3/4 cup (3 ½ oz) roasted and peeled hazelnuts 
3/4 cup (2 ½ oz) sliced almonds
2 3/4 cup all-purpose flour 
3 TBS unsweetened cocoa powder
1 TBS ground cinnamon 
1 tsp ground ginger
½ tsp ground cloves 
3/4 tsp salt
½ tsp baking powder 
¼ tsp baking soda
​ 

For cookies:
1 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 cup mild honey
½ cup butter, softened 
2 large eggs 
½  cup finely diced candied orange peel
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350° Fahrenheit, arrange the oven racks in the lower and upper ovens.
Making the nut flour:
In a food processor, grind  the nuts (be careful not to make nut butter) adding the rest of the ingredients and continuing to grind.
Making the dough:
In an electric mixer, beat the butter, brown sugar, and honey until creamy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the flour on a low speed (do not over mix), stirring in the candied fruit.

Spray two cookie sheets thoroughly with oil, as these cookies are sticky and traditionally put on edible rice paper.  
Roll a generous tablespoon of the cookie dough into a ball and arrange each one on the baking sheet. Leave some space, as these cookies will spread. I put my hands in a cup with hot water when rolling these cookies, which helps a lot. 
Bake the cookies for 15 minutes in the upper and lower thirds of the oven, switching the positions of baking sheets halfway through baking. The cookies are done when their surface no longer appears wet, but the cookies themselves will be soft. Carefully loosen the cookies from the baking sheets with a spatula. 
Traditionally, these cookies are served with icing (which I didn’t do). If you choose to ice them, mix 2 cups of confectioners’ sugar with 3 tablespoon lemon juice and ice the cooled cookies.  The icing will darken while stored. Gourmet magazine recommends to ice them later. 
​

Guten Appetit!
recipe from Gourmet magazine
​adapted by©Sunnycovechef.com
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An Ode to Purple Plums and Marian Burros' Recipe for Plum Torte

9/27/2018

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Fall has arrived  and I have been happily cooking away in my kitchen with my new-found treasure Zwetchgen, a small unassuming purple plum that is called Italian plum in this country. In their natural state these plums have very little flavor and taste bland—but once  baked, they transform into a treat , perfumed, tart, and sweet. I made several batches of my plum butter and I am thrilled to have them in my pantry (garage). The flavor is amazing, rich and earthy. But I also made several cakes. ​
Every September, from 1983-1989 the New York Times printed Marian Burros’ recipe for plum torte. Here is a link to the recipe (and I love reading all the comments). I have made this cake twice now, and have adjusted the recipe to my taste. I also baked a tart with a custard that my Swiss friend made for me in Switzerland. It was delicious and I hope to post it one of these days. My French girlfriend made a tarte aux quetsches, unfortunately I didn't get to taste it.  Zwetschgenkuchen in Germany is usually baked with a lot of plums and a yeast-based sheet cake. Marian Burros’ Plum Torte recipe is a no-fuss, easy-to-make dessert. It is similar to other cake recipes with fruit that I have made many times. My tasters approved, but my fussy husband thought it was a little dry.
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I also like using plums for my galette. Click for the recipe here.
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The original recipe called for a cup of sugar. I only used ½ cup, but to make up for the lack of sweetness, I sprinkled the top with 4 tablespoons of turbinado sugar that gave the cake a crunchy crust. Apparently, this cake freezes well when double-wrapped in foil and placed in a plastic bag. But I have not tried this. If you want to be fancy, you can grind the lemon zest with the sugar in a food processor.
Print Recipe
Ingredients:

½ cup white sugar 
½ cup softened butter
1 cup unbleached flour
1tsp baking powder
2 eggs (room temperature) 
a pinch of salt
½ tsp vanilla
1 tsp lemon zest
2 heaping TBS of Greek yogurt
10-12  pitted purple plums 
3 TBS turbindino sugar
​lemon juice

​​
Directions:

​Butter a 9 or 10-inch pan with a removable bottom 
Wash the plums, then pit them and halve them 
Heat the oven to 350 degrees
 

Sift the flour with the baking powder
Cream the butter in a bowl until fluffy. Add one egg at a time, then add the lemon zest (if you didn’t grind it with the sugar), and the vanilla. Mix until well combined. Add the baking powder mixture and yogurt, then mix until blended.
Scrape the batter into a springform pan. Place the plums skin-side up on top of the cake. Sprinkle generously with turbinado sugar and sprinkle with some lemon juice. 

Bake the cake for approximately one hour on the bottom shelf of your stove. The cake is done when a toothpick comes out clean from the center of the cake. 

Let the cake cool and enjoy.

Recipe from Marian Burros New York Times recipe
adapted by © sunnycovechef.com
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Five years of Blogging

7/21/2018

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Five years of blogging. It is unbelievable how time flies. Wasn’t it just yesterday that my girlfriend took me to a local bookstore to hear an author read about cooking and living in Berlin. When the evening was over, I was mesmerized. The book was My Berlin Kitchen, and the author was Luisa Weiß, who also has a blog called The Wednesday Chef. Even though she is much younger than I am, there are many things she wrote about that I can relate to—her love for Berlin and German cooking comes through loud and clear.
Click here for the crêpe recipe
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A recipe for crêpes stuffed with goat cheese and shiitake mushrooms was one of my first posts. I made it many times over the years..
Me, blogging? I  never would have considered blogging myself, but I did. And now it is a part of my life that gives me great pleasure and deep satisfaction, not to mention the many virtual friends I have made in the blogging world. Most mornings I read new posts from all over the world, which leaves me feeling connected and freed from the worries of my life. Thank you, my friends, for encouraging me and sharing your lives with me.
​Click here for the 
quesadillas post
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My duck quesadillas won a prize at one of my favorite restaurants in town.
At one point, I was thinking about redoing my website, but I didn’t. Maybe if I find the right person to help, I will make some necessary changes. But right now, I am happy with what I have. I continue to be amazed at how many thousands of people visit my little blog. It makes me a bit more careful and I do worry about the mistakes I make. 
​Click her for the warm  goat cheese and roasted garlic dip.
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My friends enjoy slurping up this goat cheese appetizer, roasted in olive oil with a lot of garlic and fresh herbs.
When I started this blog, one of my goals was to organize my recipes that were often on scattered pieces of paper with scribbled notes, full of ingredients and additions to the recipe that were difficult to decipher. Now I am able to quickly pull up a recipe when I need one. I like that very much, as it takes the guesswork out of cooking the recipes I use most.
One common thread that runs through my recipes are that my desserts are not overly sweet. I cut down on the sugar as much as I can. I love sweets but my body doesn't, it's not fair. Many of my desserts have nuts in them. Anything with chocolate improves my day.
Click her to visit my chocolate tart post
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Chocolate Tart , it satisfies your chocolate cravings.
I love different flavors in my main dishes, and there is always some sort of sauce in my fridge. Whether it’s a Romnesco or a green sauce, vegetables are usually the main ingredients. I love trying new flavors and ingredients. I don’t like my food to be boring.
Click here for my Schnitzel bonanza ​
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This Jägerschnitzel (hunters pork chops) has the right amount of sauce for me.
Thanks to all of you for showing an interest and connecting with me through my cooking and Wanderlust blog. I enjoy the company and hope that I am able to share tidbits of my life, my cooking, and my traveling a little while longer with you. 
Gerlinde aka the Sunnycovechef ​
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Apricot Bliss and  Roasted Apricot Sorbet

7/6/2018

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Those of you who follow my blog know I love apricots. I love to bake with them, make dumplings with them, and my apricot jam is an all-time favorite among my friends and family.  The year is 2018 and it has been apricot season for several weeks here in northern California. My friend at the farmer’s market sold me some delicious apricots. But not a whole crate like I used to get from a fruit stand in the Central Valley of California. But it was enough to have a week of apricot bliss.
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My goal is to add a new apricot recipe to my blog every year. Originally, I had planed to make an Italian roasted apricot ice cream recipe I saw in a magazine called  La Cucina Italiana. Unfortunately, I can't find the recipe. This is one of the reasons I have my blog, so that I always have access to my favorite recipes. I think of it as my own personal cookbook. I do like the apricot sorbet I am posting now. It’s easy to make and captures the flavor of apricots in a delicious way. Like most of my desserts, it is not too sweet, but the fruity tart flavor is a great substitute for the lack of sweetness. The apricots are roasted whole and the extra dried apricots contribute more flavor and sweetness.
Every year, I make apricot jam. It is a recipe from Alice Waters' beautiful book Chez Panisse Fruit. I tweaked the recipe for the jam, which I use when I bake, over ice cream, and perhaps a spoonful all by itself.
​It is absolutely divine, click here for the recipe ​
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With my surplus apricots, I made a delicious galette using my blueberry galette recipe. It uses almonds in the dough and for the bottom of the crust. This is an easy recipe that can be made with different fruits such as plums, peaches and more.
I happened to have some olalliebeeries that I added to my apricots.
Click here for the recipe.
My German apricot cake (Aprikosenkuchen} has always been well-liked and will be a real treat with the roasted apricot sorbet. The added marzipan in the cake really does the trick.
​This is apricot bliss!
​ Click here for the recipe.
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​The apricot dumplings are my personal favorite because I happen to love dumplings. They are called Mariellenknödel​ in Austria and are considered a delicacy.
​It is not just a dessert, it is a whole meal.
 Click for the recipe here.




​If you are looking for a light but very tasty meal, this apricot, shrimp and jicama salad is for you.
​ Click for the recipe here.
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​I made my  apricot cobbler twice because it is my husband’s favorite.
​Click here for the recipe.
The original recipe from Gourmet peeled the roasted apricots and forced them through a fine sieve. I did not peel them or force them through a sieve because I used my Vitamix blender and made sure the apricots were finely puréed. You need an ice-cream maker  for this recipe but if you don’t have one try just freezing it and let it soften before serving. I think it would work. The smell of the roasted apricots is amazing
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Dried apricots cooked in syrup
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The roasted apricots
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The apricot mixture
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The Sorbet
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Print Recipe
Ingredients:

This recipe yields about three cups of sorbet
I was able to serve six people with my apricot cake
2/4 cup ( ( 200g)  sugar
½ cup ( 100ml) water
1/3 cup (50g)  dried apricots ( chopped) 
1 ½ pound apricots  (680g) about 15 small apricots
2 TBS lemon juice 
1/8 tsp almond extract.
Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350˙ Fahrenheit (180 celsius) . Wash the apricots and roast them for about an hour whole in a small roasting pan in the middle of the oven until they are soft . After roasting, cool the apricots before you remove the pits. 
In the meantime bring the sugar, water and chopped dried apricots to a boil, stirring until the sugar is dissolved. Cool and let the mixture stand for about an hour to soften the apricots. 
Purée the dried apricot mixture, roasted apricots, lemon juice and almond extract in a blender until very smooth. I puréed mine in my Vitamix for about 2 minutes. Chill the purée for up to eight hours and freeze in an ice cream maker. Keep the sorbet in a covered container in the freezer. 


Guten Appetit
Recipe  from Gourmet Magazine
​adapted by © Sunnycovechef
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Roasted Rhubarb and Strawberry Ice Cream

5/17/2018

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For weeks, I have been obsessed with rhubarb and have been using it in different recipes (as evident in my last post). The more I play with rhubarb, the more fun I have. As a finale for this year's rhubarb season, I am posting my recipe for roasted rhubarb and strawberry ice cream. It took me several tries to come up with this recipe. The strawberry flavor dominates the ice cream, but there there is a hint of rhubarb when you eat it. It has a rich, refreshing taste full of flavor as it melts in your mouth. I hope you enjoy this special treat as much as I do. Just remember, it is not as sweet as most ice creams. ​
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I roasted the rhubarb following a recipe from The Spruce Eats. It only calls for 2 tsp of brown sugar and 3 tsp orange juice for each pound of rhubarb. I increased the amount of orange juice in my recipe to about ½ cup and ended up with a delicious tart compote, perfect for making ice cream. Here is the link to the recipe and some more information on rhubarb.
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Over the years, I have made ice cream and sorbet in my old, noisy ice cream maker that I bought 30 years ago. We keep it in the garage where it does a marvelous job of churning out special treats year after year. Homemade ice cream tastes best when it comes fresh out of the machine, but it is still good after several weeks in the freezer. Just let it come up to room temperature before eating it.
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yogurt cream, yogurt mousse, rhubarb strawberry ice cream and rhubarb compote.
Here is a recipe I posted a couple of years ago for lemon sorbet made with buttermilk and lemon juice. It is easy to make and a refreshing treat after a heavy meal.
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recipe for yogurt mousse
recipe for buttermilk lemon sorbet
Making the base for this ice cream a day before will develop the flavors. Add more sugar if you want a sweeter ice cream.
Here is a link to the rhubarb compote.
Print Recipe
Ingredients:

2 ½ cups sliced strawberries 
1 ½ cups roasted rhubarb compote
3/4 cup of fine white sugar
a pinch of salt
​2 tsp lemon juice

1 tsp lemon zest
1 cup of whipping cream
1 cup of half and half
Directions:

​Sprinkle the cleaned and sliced strawberries with 2 TBS of sugar and let them sit until the sugar dissolves. Mix the strawberries and rhubarb compote with the sugar, salt, and lemon zest in a food processor. I used a Vitamix.  Add the whipping cream and the half and half, pureeing it until the mixture is velvety smooth. Refrigerate the base for at least 4 hours or overnight. Pour the mixture into the freezer bowl of an ice cream maker and freeze according to manufacturer’s directions.

Guten Appetit 
recipe © Sunnycovechef.com
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Rhubarb Compote with Yogurt Cream and or Yogurt Mousse

5/7/2018

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Yogurt Cream with Rhubarb Compote and Raspberries
When I was in Germany I came across these interesting recipes that I would like to share with you. It’s a yogurt cream that you can also turn into a mousse by adding gelatin. As soon as I was back in my kitchen at home I started to experiment with these recipes and I am happy to say that I am now ready to post them. You can adjust this recipe to your taste by adding more sugar or lemon zest. It is made in minutes, just remember it is not supposed to be sweet. Surprisingly, my husband likes both recipes and he really has a sweet tooth. One night, my other testers preferred the cream. Of course, you can just make the compote and eat it with ice cream.  Whatever you choose, I hope you enjoy this treat as much as I do.
The rhubarb compote is  sweetened with apple juice and some sugar. Once the rhubarb is  cooked the liquid is reduced to a syrup.  This is a light and delicious spring dessert.
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Rhubarb Compote
Rhubarb is a seasonal favorite both in Europe and North America. It is technically a vegetable, but is considered a fruit. Rhubarb stalks will show up in stores and the farmer’s markets from April to June. It comes in in different colors; the ones you find in a store are usually red, but it can also be pale green. It will taste the same despite the different colors. Rhubarb is extremely tart, and is normally cooked and often paired with strawberries or other fruit. Children in Scandinavia will dip the stalk in sugar and eat it raw. The leaves of rhubarb are poisonous, so don't eat them.
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Yogurt Mousse with Rhubarb Compote and Raspberries
Here are some more rhubarb recipes from my previous posts click on the images for the recipes ​
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A German Rhubarb, Strawberry , Meringue Cake
This  Rhubarb  Strawberry Hazelnut Crisp is easy to make and I love it, especially with ice cream.
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Rhubarb, Strawberry, Hazelnut Crisp
And  last but not least let's not forget Robert's delicious Rhubarb-Strawberry Pie
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Rhubarb-Strawberry Pie
If you decide to make the cream or mousse, use a good vanilla bean because that adds to the flavor. The secret to my  compote is to drain the rhubarb juice once it is cooked and reduced to a syrup. This adds richness and additional flavor to the compote. I recommend doubling the rhubarb recipe. One recipe will make about 3 cups of compote.  It will last in the fridge for a week.
I used a smooth low-fat Greek yogurt that I buy at Costco, but you can use regular Greek yogurt to make it richer.  Since I usually don’t drink apple juice, I bought a package of individual containers you put in your kids’ lunch boxes. You can eat the yogurt cream without any whipped cream, however, I think it needs some cream for a richer taste and to offset the tartness of the rhubarb.
Print Recipe
Ingredients:

Rhubarb Compote
1 ½  lbs. (750 g) rhubarb (4 cups)
3/4 cup (175g ) sugar
3/4 cup (150ml) apple juice


Yogurt Cream
1 full cup (250g) smooth Greek yogurt. 
½ cup (50 g ) powdered sugar
½ cup whipping cream 
1 4-inch vanilla bean


Yogurt Mousse 
1 full cup (250g)  smooth Greek yogurt
1 6-inch vanilla bean
½ cup (250g) whipping cream
½ cup (50 g) powdered sugar
​¼ -½ cup of honey 
​¼ cup lemon juice 

1 tsp lemon zest 
1 TBS ​ unflavored gelatin (I used 1 envelope of Knox gelatin)
Directions:
Rhubarb Compote:
​Peel the rhubarb stalks and trim the ends. Cut the rhubarb into 1½-inch pieces (about 4  cups). In a large pot, bring the sugar and the apple juice to a boil, add the rhubarb in a single layer and simmer for 8-10 minutes until the pieces are soft, but not falling apart. Gently drain the rhubarb through a sieve and return the juice to the pot and cook until reduced to a light syrup. Pour the syrup over the rhubarb and cool until you are ready to serve it. I added raspberries to my compote before serving it.


Yogurt cream:
Mix the the yogurt with the powdered sugar. Cut the vanilla bean in half lengthwise and scrape out all the seeds with a small knife into the yogurt mixture. Whip the cream and add to the mixture. Put the cream in a covered container and refrigerate it until you are ready to serve it. It will last for a couple of days.

The Yogurt Mousse  
Mix the yogurt, powdered sugar and scraped out vanilla seeds. Whip the cream until stiff (your whip should hold the cream when turned upside down). Mix the lemon juice and honey in a bowl. Heat the mixture in the microwave until very hot. Sprinkle the gelatin over the hot mixture and mix until the gelatin is completely dissolved, then add to the yogurt mixture. Carefully incorporate the whipped cream into the yogurt cream. Scrape into a serving bowl and chill for at least four hours. This can easily be made ahead of time and will last for several days.

​
​

Recipe from a German Magazine 
adapted and translated by©Sunnycovechef
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German Cherry or Apple Cake

3/1/2018

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There is nothing fancy about this peasant version of an apple or cherry cake, but you will enjoy every bite of it and not feel guilty. The apples are not thoroughly baked and the cake  tastes like pound cake, although I am trying to make it more moist by playing with the recipe. You can enjoy it for breakfast or any time of the day. It is perfect for beginning bakers. If you don’t want to use apples, use cherries. Pitted Morello cherries in a jar can be substituted for apples. I tried frozen cherries but I didn't like them as much as the Morello cherries from Trader Joe's.
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​This apple or cherry cake is not overly sweet with only ½ cup of sugar but is full of fruit and flavor. I have baked this cake many times and have never gotten tired of it. The recipe is from an old Dr. Oetker cookbook that I brought with me when I came to this country in the seventies. The Dr.Oetker brand is a 100-year-old family-owned business where you can find products like vanilla sugar, puddings or baking powder here in the United States.
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​My very first cookbooks were three Dr. Oetker cookbooks. For my 16th birthday, my girlfriend Gabrielle, my mom and I made a cold buffet from the title picture of one of the books. I had promised my dad some leftovers, but there was nothing left at the end of the party. To this day, I wish I had put some food away for my sweet, hard-working dad, who will always be the love of my life. He was a gentle and loving man who was born into a horrible time in German history. He loved visiting me here in California and would have stayed longer if my mother hadn’t been homesick for her village.
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If you want a richer and pie like German  apple cake try my Apple Strudel Cake
If you measure the flour with a cup, make sure you add the flour by the spoonful and level it off with a knife. This will give you a more accurate measurement than scooping it out with the measuring cup, which compacts the flour. But you don’t need to do this with sugar.
Print Recipe
Ingredients:


8 TBS (120 grams or 4 oz.) butter
4 oz  (½ cup + 2 TBS or 120 grams) sugar
1/8 tsp lemon extract
1 tsp lemon zest
​1 tsp lemon juice
7 ½ oz ( 1 ½  cup or 200g ) all purpose flour
3 small eggs 
2 tsp baking powder a
a pinch of salt
4 TBS buttermilk , yogurt, or regular milk


1 pound frozen or canned cherries
or 4 large apples
​

powdered sugar
Directions:

Bring the eggs and butter to room temperature. 
Grease a 9-inch springform pan with a removable bottom and preheat the oven to 375˙ Fahrenheit. 

Cream the soft butter, then add the sugar in thirds and mix until fluffy for about 5 minutes, occasionally scraping down the sides of the bowl .

Stir in the eggs one at a time beating a minute each. Mix the flour with the baking powder and add in thirds. 
Mix in the buttermilk and scoop the dough into the prepared pan.
 
Add the well drained cherries in a single layer.
If you are using apples, peel and cut them into quarters. With a small knife, make fan-shaped cuts on the top of the apple (lengthwise) and sprinkle them with lemon juice. Arrange the apples in a circle on top of the cake with one piece in the middle. 

Bake  the cake for 35-40 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the center of the dough. Cool the cake and sprinkle with powdered sugar before serving.
​
Guten Appetit!
Recipe by ©Sunnycovechef
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Whole Poached Pears

2/4/2018

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​This stunning dessert will dazzle your guests after a heavy winter meal—or any meal. Whole pears are poached in tawny port and cranberry juice with dried cranberries, fresh ginger, a cinnamon stick, allspice, and pink peppercorns to add flavor. The syrup alone is delicious over ice cream or just by itself. I enjoy desserts like this because they are refreshing, light, and make a great presentation.
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My memory of pears will be forever linked to my parents' huge pear tree in the chicken yard at our family farm in Germany. I don't know what variety they are, but it was my job as a child to collect them when they fell from the tree and feed them to the pigs. They were stone hard and had no flavor or taste. After picking, we put them on a rack in the fruit cellar and by Christmas, the skin was all shriveled up. But when my grandfather peeled them and handed them to us, we tasted the juiciest most delicious fruit. They had ripened in the cellar. Nobody would buy them today because of their appearance, but the taste was unbelievable.
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I used Bosc pears for this recipe, because they have an elegant neck and a nice stem. This is another old recipe from my beloved Gourmet magazine. I have made it many times over the years, and it always has been a hit. It’s delicious with whipped cream or ice cream.
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I should have posted this recipe a while ago, but my brother and his wife are visiting from Germany and I am happy being a hostess. They are enjoying the sunny California weather and the beautiful Pacific coastline. I often forget that I live in such a beautiful place. I am taking them to different beaches for walks and ocean views. Their favorite place is the beach at sunset. Having my family around me makes me happy.
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Here are two other pear desserts I love to make. One is a humble but delicious bundt cake and the other is a pear tart with an exquisite flavor and taste.
Preview recipe for Pear and Nut Cake
preview recipe for Almond and Pear Tart
Buy an extra pear (just in case) and make sure all of them have a stem and will stand up.
Print Recipe
Ingredients:

6 ripe but firm Bosc pears
2 cups tawny port
3 cups cranberry juice
½ cup dried cranberries
½ cup cup sugar
1 ( 2-inch ) fresh ginger
1 ( 2-inch) cinnamon stick
​2 ( 2-inch) pieces of orange peel

9 whole allspice kernels
1 TBS whole pink peppercorns
Directions:
​

​Choose a pot where all your pears can fit sideways. Slice the ginger into ¼-inch thick slices. Tie the peppercorns and allspice in a cheesecloth. Put all the ingredients (except the pears) in a large saucepan and bring it to a boil, stirring occasionally until the sugar is dissolved. Reduce the heat and simmer, uncovered, for about 15 minutes.


In the meantime, cut off the bottom of each pear so they can stand upright more easily when you serve them. Peel the pears carefully ( I use a peeler), leaving the stems intact. Carefully arrange the pears on their sides in the poaching liquid. Simmer, uncovered, until tender for about 20 minutes. 
Gently remove the pears with a slotted spoon from the liquid. Discard the cheesecloth bag, boil the poaching liquid until it is reduced to 1½ cups, between 5-10 minutes. Remove the ginger, cinnamon stick and orange peel. Serve the pears warm or at room temperature with the syrup. I served mine with ice cream.

Guten Appetit!
Recipe adapted from Gourmet Magazine
by ©Sunnycovechef
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Blackberry Turnovers and New York City

8/2/2017

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Read about my four-day trip to New York  City on my Wanderlust blog. This trip was a spur-of-the-moment decision and I am so happy I went.
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The view from the Hudson Hotel
I thought it would be nice to combine these two posts together. Ruth Reichl is the cook behind my turnover recipe. I have admired her recipes and books for many years, as I still treasure my old Gourmet magazines for which she was the editor-in-chief. But she also lived in California in her twenties and thirties.
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She wrote a touching story about leaving New York on the Fourth of July for her first experience teaching cooking in the Pacific Northwest for the June issue of Sunset magazine. Even though I never made turnovers before, I was smitten by the story and had to try them.
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I didn't change anything in the recipe, and enjoyed every bite reminiscing about the years back when we were all young. The photo of Ruth Reichl and her husband in the magazine capture the spirit of the times.
link to my New York City post
This is an easy recipe. The only problem I had was putting the turnover together. I used a bowl to measure the pastry and a fork to join them. I also sprinkled the last batch with some turbinado sugar. I almost cut out the salt, but in the end I added 1 tsp like the recipe calls for.
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Print Recipe
Ingredients

Pastry

1½ sticks ( 200g) cold sweet butter, diced 
½ lb. cold cream cheese (230g) , diced
2 cups flour
1 tsp.salt


Filling​

10-12 oz. fresh blackberries  ( 340g) ( about 2¼ cups)
zest of ½ large lemon
½ cup ( 100g) sugar
1 TBS turbinado sugar 
3½ tsp flour 
a pinch of salt
1-2 tsp milk
Directions:

Pastry

Put all ingredients into a food processor and pulse until the dough starts to come together. Turn onto a work surface, divide into half, and press each into a disk and cover with a piece of plastic wrap. Chill for at least an hour, or up to a few days.

Making the turnovers

Preheat oven to 375˙ Fahrenheit ( 200 celsius)

Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. 

Mix the blackberries with lemon zest, sugar, flour, and salt.
Do not let it sit for more than half an hour or they’ll get weepy.


Roll each disk into a 15-inch circle. Cut out rounds , Ruth Reichl recommends a 4½ inch circle to make about 15 -18 turnovers. I used a dish of that size to cut out the circles. I did one disk at a time while the other one was in the fridge. I always roll my dough between two sheets of plastic wrap and loosen them each time so that they don't stick. I had to do quite a bit of patching the dough when rolling out the circles. 

Assemble the rounds on the baking sheet. Put several berries on one half pos the circle and fold over the other naked half. Crimp the edges with a fork. Prick a few small hole on top, brush with milk and sprinkle with the turbinado  or regular sugar.

Bake the turnovers for about 20-30 minutes until they have turned a golden brown. After baking let them cool on the baking sheet but loosen the turnovers with a spatula because some of the juices will escape and stick to the parchment paper. I kept my turnovers for several days covered with a towel . 

Guten Appetit
recipe in Sunset Magazine by Ruth Reichl
posted by ©Sunnycovechef
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Apricot Love

7/7/2017

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There is nothing better than  a ripe apricot—picked fresh from the tree and eaten right away. Dripping with juice, tasting intensely sweet with a tinge of acidity, eating an apricot is a truly sensual experience..
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However, most of us will not experience this because today’s apricots are picked firm and then brought to the market. Most varieties grown today have little flavor, are usually pale, odorless and tart. If you want the old-fashioned apricots, look for Blenheims. This apricot got its name from the Duke of Marlborough’s garden at Blenheim Palace in England. Apricots were probably cultivated in China thousands of years ago. The Spaniards brought apricots to the New World and planted them in the mission gardens of California. If you are lucky, you can find Blenheims in the costal valleys of California.
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This year, I bought a crate (28 pounds) of apricots from one of the road stands in the central valley here in California. They were not Blenheims, but had been picked riper than the commercial kind. I don't know what kind of apricot I bought. They were okay, but I had bought a crate of apricots at the same farm stand the previous year and they were better. I put the apricots in a single layer in my cool downstairs bedroom and immersed myself into cooking them. Most of them became apricot jam. The jam turned out fabulously this year—smooth and velvety with a little crunch from the apricot kernels and texture from the skin. It was just the way we like it—sweet and tart at the same time. I would not omit the pits, as they really add a lot of flavor. For this years recipe,  I used 10 pounds of apricots, 6 pounds of organic sugar, 16 cracked and roasted pits and 6 TBS of lemon juice. I was thinking about adding a vanilla bean or a cinnamon stick (or maybe some ginger), but in the end I did no such thing. I like my jam without any other flavors. The fruit itself is enough.
review recipe for apricot jam
​My husband likes my cobbler, and I baked two while I still had apricots. I like my cobbler because I use very little sugar, but it tastes delicious. I made the same cobbler for the 4th of July using peaches, blackberries and a few leftover blueberries.
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review recipe for apricot cobbler
I am very found of my German apricot cake with marzipan. It’s easy to make and a real treat for an afternoon tea. Or great for a picnic on a warm summer day.
review recipe for German apricot cake
My all-time favorite treat during apricot season are apricot dumplings. In Austria, they are considered a meal unto themselves. To make these, you need quark, a German soft cheese. Whole Foods and Shopper's Corner in Santa Cruz now carries quark.
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review recipe for apricot dumplings
While looking through back issues of my beloved Gourmet magazine from the month of June, I found a shrimp, jicama and apricot salad recipe. My husband loved this salad because it is crunchy, fresh and light. For me, the salad was a little bland, yet it was refreshing and elegant in its presentation. It is a perfect salad if you are counting your calories. I can imagine a salad like this being served decades ago in a fancy private club or hotel. Even though this is not my favorite salad, I decided to post it anyway.
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review recipe for apricot jicama shrimp salad
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German Strawberry Shortbread Tart- Erdbeertorte

6/4/2017

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This is a German strawberry cake that is easy to make and  brings out the fruity flavor of strawberries.
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On my last trip to Germany  I was invited to a birthday celebration of my mother's friend and neighbor, Helga. Our families have been friends as long as I can remember. As a child I used to visit them all the time, sitting in their kitchen and watching the women prepare food.  I felt like part of their family. It was a peaceful household where I would go when when I wanted to be somewhere else. Helga was a good friend to my mother and visited her regularly and brought her food. My mom would always tell me on the phone that Helga had brought her some herring salad (one of my mom’s favorites), soup or whatever she’d cooked that day. I am so grateful for the kindness and caring she gave my mother. Helga’s husband, Willie, was my father’s friend and both of them farmed together. My father, a gentle and kind soul, mentored young Willie, who always liked to tease young girls like me. On warm summer nights, with the windows open, he and his friend would lull me to sleep by playing their violins, which made up for the teasing during the day.
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Blackberry Forest Cake
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Egg Liqueur Torte ( Eierlikörtorte)
Let’s get back to the birthday party and the afternoon coffee and cake. In rural Germany a birthday party usually starts around four in the afternoon with Kaffee and Kuchen (coffee and cake). Later in the evening, a hot meal is served. Sometimes, a savory hot meal is served for lunch and then followed by coffee and cake. For Helga’s birthday, all her friends had baked a fancy cake for her occasion. Of course I had to sample each of them and they were all delicious. I managed to get some of the recipes and hope to post them in the future when I have more time—and strawberries are not in season.
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For this post, I chose a common German cake that can be bought in almost any German supermarket, already baked (like a piecrust in this country). I don't care much for the commercial variety, preferring to bake my own. These cakes are called Tortenboden or Obstkuchenboden (try to pronounce that!) which translated means “the bottom for a cake” like you would use for a strawberry shortcake. This cake has fluted edges and the bottom is indented to create an edge. I used a Chef Tell dessert pan by Nordic Ware. I often use it to make flan. Any cake pan will do, and it will taste just as good. Once you bake this shortcake, you can be creative and use any fresh fruit you want. I remember way back when my aunt made it with kiwis and it was delicious. In my recipe I decided to use vanilla pudding for the bottom. Creme anglaise would be fantastic but I wanted to keep it simple and easy to make. Personally, I think it is just as good with a layer of strawberry jam. My husband preferred the one with the custard. In Germany, the cake is covered with a glaze that you can buy. Here in the US, you can buy Dr. Oetker’s glaze for fresh fruit tarts at Cost Plus or Walmart. It comes in small individual packages. I made my own glaze by using some sweetened strawberry/rhubarb juice that I cooked and thickened with pectin. Even though the glaze is traditionally used, I think you can do without it. What makes this cake even tastier is a dollop of Schlag (whipped cream). I sprinkled a handful of slivered almonds over my cake and added some blueberries for color.
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My German visitors enjoyed my baked shrimp with quinoa and peas. Its a great dish for  warmer days. ​
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Click on the photo for the recipe
Strawberries are in season right now. Here are some recipes from my blog. Click on the photo to see the recipe.
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Strawberry Punch
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Strawberry Ice Cream
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Strawberry Rhubarb Cake
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Robert's Strawberry and Rhubarb Pie
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Strawberry Rhubarb Hazelnut Crisp
The tart  and the custard can be prepared a day ahead of time. The pan has to be thoroughly buttered and then dusted with flour to prevent the cake from sticking. The eggs and  butter need to be at room temperature. The original German recipe called for an 11-inch cake pan, although I used a 9-inch form and had enough dough left to make three little mini-tarts. My strawberries were very large, but smaller ones would be fine too. For the butter, I like to use European-style butter like Kerrygold. For the glaze, I used some sweetened strawberry and rhubarb juice, but you can use cherry juice or any dark fruit juice. There will be some leftover pudding and strawberries, which makes a great snack.
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the glaze
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the filling
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A German baking pan
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The baked inverted tart
Print Recipe
Ingredients

The tart :

1 ½ sticks (13 TBS) butter (180g) at room temperature
1 cup (180g) sugar
3 eggs (at room temperature)  
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/3 cup flour (180g)
1 tsp baking powder 


The filling: 

1 package 6½ -cup  Jello Cook-and-Serve pudding & pie filling1½ - 2 pounds of strawberries.


The glaze:

3/4 cup fruit juice 
​3 TBS sugar 
1 TBS powdered pectin

​​
Directions

Preheat the oven to 350˚F/ 180˚C.

The tart
​

Cover all the surface of the baking pan thoroughly with softened butter. 
Sprinkle with flour, shaking off the excess. 

Beat the soft butter in a stand-up mixer with the whisk attachment. Add the sugar and beat until creamy for several minutes. Add the vanilla extract and one egg at a time, continuing to beat after each addition until the dough is well combined. In a separate bowl, mix the flour with the baking powder and add to the dough in several additions. Add the dough into a well-greased and floured cake pan. Smooth the top of the cake.
Bake the cake in the middle of the oven for about 20 minutes. 
Allow the cake to cool slightly and very carefully remove the cake. I ran a knife around the edges before turning it over. Let the cake cool completely. At this point, you can keep it wrapped in the fridge for a day.

The pudding:

Prepare the pudding according to the directions on the package. You want your pudding to be stiff. This can also be done a day ahead of time. 


The glaze:

Whisk together the sugar and the powdered pectin. In a small pan, bring the juice to a boil and drizzle the sugar-pectin mixture into the boiling juice whisking constantly. Boil for 2 minutes. Cool until just barely warm. Drizzle the glaze over the strawberry tart.


Assembling the tart :

Rinse and dry the strawberries. Cut the top off each strawberry to make a flat edge. Spread about a cup of pudding over the cake, leaving the edges free. Beginning on the outside of the cake, arrange the strawberries in a circle with the cut side down. Play with this a little bit and have fun. Drizzle the cooled glaze over the strawberries and allow to set for an hour before serving. The torte can be kept in the fridge covered for a couple of days. Before serving, whip some cream and decorate the cake with it or just serve it on the side. ​

Guten Appetit
recipe from a German website
adapted by ©Sunnycovechef
​
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Linzer Torte and Goodbye 2016

12/27/2016

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​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.
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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 removable bottom. This is best served in smaller slices with a big slug of whipped cream. It will serve 12-14 people.
Print Recipe
Ingredients:​

1 3/4 cup (8 3/4oz, 250g) almonds (will yield 2 cups of ground almonds)

1 cup (7oz, 200g) sugar

2 cups (8 5/8 oz, 250g) all-purpose flour

14 TBS (8oz, 200g) chilled European butter (a bit less than 2 sticks)

3 egg yolks

1 tsp baking powder

½ tsp cinnamon
 

1/8 tsp nutmeg

a pinch of salt

1 tsp grated lemon peel

2 TBS lemon juice

1 TBS mineral water
 

1¼ cup seedless raspberry jam (or a mixture of raspberry and red currant jam)

sweetened, whipped cream
Directions:
​

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Finely grind the almonds in a food processor with 3 TBS flour. The nuts should have the texture of coarse cornmeal. Be careful not to turn them into nut butter.

Add the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg and baking powder into the food processor, pulsing until well combined.

Cut the chilled  butter into 1-inch chunks and add to the food processor with 2 of the egg yolks. Pulse until the dough comes together. My food processor was filled to the rim. 

If you don't have a food processor or would like to do it by hand, sieve the flour with the the cinnamon, nutmeg, salt and baking powder onto a clean surface with a hole in the middle. Buy pre-ground almonds and add to the flour. Put the chilled and cut butter on top of the flour. Add the egg yolks in the hole. Starting from the outside, mix the ingredients into a ball using the palm of your hands to mix the butter and egg yolk. This will make a crumbly crust. 

Divide the dough into two equal parts and put each piece onto a large piece of plastic wrap. Cover both parts with additional plastic wrap and roll one into a disc shape and the other into a rectangular piece. Chill in the refrigerator for at least one hour or overnight.
In the meantime, mix the jam (or jams) with the lemon juice to make it smooth and spreadable. 
Mix the leftover egg yolk with the mineral water.
 
Roll out the round piece between two pieces of plastic wrap into a 12-inch circle. Remove the top layer of plastic wrap and invert the dough into the buttered or oil-sprayed tart form. Remove the other piece of plastic wrap and press the dough with your hands into the tart shell making it nice and smooth. 


Roll out the other half of the dough between two pieces of plastic wrap into a rectangular piece (about 12-inches). Cut intro strips about 3/4-inch x 12-inch. If the dough becomes soft, put in into the freezer to firm up. 


Spread the jam evenly into the shell. Lay strips across the the top in a lattice pattern. My dough  didn't cooperate, so I did the best I could. By the time I baked the torte, you could barely see the imperfection. Brush the lattice dough (not the jam part) with the egg yolk and mineral water mixture and bake in a preheated  350-degree oven for about 45 minutes. Or until the jam starts to bubble. 

Guten Appetit
recipe from a German-speaking website
adapted by ©sunnycovechef
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A happy and healthy New Year from Sunny Cove Beach
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Christmas cookies - BASLER BRÜNSLI

12/7/2016

2 Comments

 
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. ​
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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. ​
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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 Clotlide, who lives in Paris and has a lovely blog called Chocolate and Zucchini.
Click here for the recipe.
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My girlfriend, Marie, likes my hazelnut meringue cookies. Click here for the recipe.
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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.
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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 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 is 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
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Fruit and Nut Chocolate Chunks. No  cooking required. Click here for the recipe.
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These Blueberry Mini Muffins are my son's favorite. Click here for the recipe
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.
Print Recipe
Ingredients:

(makes about 35 cookies)


1 2/3 cups /250g raw almonds
​9 ounces /250g bittersweet chocolate
1 ½ cup /180g confectioners’ sugar.
¼ tsp salt
¼ tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp ground cloves
3 egg whites
2 TBS kirsch or dark rum
granulated sugar, for rolling out the dough
Instructions:

Grind the almonds in a food processor until very fine, but do not let them turn into a paste. Transfer to a bowl. Break or cut the chocolate into pieces and grind them in the food processor until finely ground. Add the ground chocolate to the almonds and mix together.
Add the confectioners’ sugar, salt, cinnamon and cloves to the bowl and mix until combined. Stir in the egg whites, one at a time, and then add the kirsch or rum. The alcohol will burn off in the oven. Stir until well combined, cover with plastic and refrigerate for 12-24 hours.

Preheat the oven to 300˚ F.  Prepare two cookie sheets by covering them with parchment paper. I sprinkled some sugar on plastic wrap and rolled out the dough between two pieces of plastic wrap. Be careful, the dough is very sticky. I used a small 1½ -inch wide wineglass for a cookie cutter. I dipped the rim in sugar before I cut the dough. I had to roll out the leftover dough several times. Putting the dough in the freezer for several minutes helps. I baked each cookie sheet for 18 minutes in the center of my oven. The cookies will be dry but soft to the touch when they are done. Cool the cookies completely before putting them into a tin. They will last for a month if they’re not gone by then.


Guten Appetit
recipe by Luisa Weiss from her book Classic German Baking
©sunnycovechef.com
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Almond Pear Tart

11/3/2016

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Whenever I bake this tart, I pretend I am in Paris. I’m in one of those neighborhood bakeries smelling the scent of sweet pastry and fresh baguettes. I am taking my wrapped tart to one of the benches in the park near Notre Dame and savor every bite while life unfolds in front of me.
But I am not in Paris, I am in Santa Cruz and it is time to share this delicious tart recipe with you. Let’s go back to the IFBC (International Food Blogger’s Conference) in Sacramento that I attended this past summer. While there, my friend Deb (who writes a blog called “East Of Eden”) and I went on an a pre-conference excursion to the California Endive farm and Stillwater Orchards, a pear orchard in the Sacramento-San Joaquin river delta. The delta is a labyrinth of sloughs and an estuary in Northern California. It’s gorgeous country with small rural towns, islands, and tributaries flowing throughout. Most of the land has been claimed by agriculture, pears being one of the fruits grown. There is a Pear Fair in the small town of Locke. Our visit at the end of July was wonderful. The pears were on the trees, ripe and ready to be harvested. After a tour of the orchard, we had a picnic lunch under a giant oak tree. The dessert was a delicious pear crumble.
We all got a bag of pears to take home. I decided to make my pear tart with them. This tart recipe has been a family treasure for many years. Yet I am always in search of the perfect crust. For the blog post, I decided to use a pastry crust known as pâte sucrée, a rich and sweet pastry with a crisp cookie-like texture.
I always  buy some extra pears and make sure that they are ripe. I use Bartlett pears that are juicy. I grind the almonds in my Vita Mix , or you can use a food processor
Print Recipe
Ingredients:
A 10-11 inch tart shell with a removable bottom.
This tart makes 8-10 servings.

Pastry
10 TBS (140 g) softened butter
a pinch of  sea salt
½ cup (55 g)  powdered sugar
1 large egg at room temperature 
1 vanilla bean or ½ tsp vanilla extract
1 ½ cup  ( 220g) all-purpose flour 

The Filling:
4-5  soft ripe pears depending on size. (Bartlett’s are a good choice.)
6TBS (90g) soft butter
½ cup (90g) sugar
​1 egg
1 cup (110g) ground almonds
1 vanille bean or ½ tsp vanilla extract
3/4 tsp almond extract 
1-2 TBS Turbinado sugar or ¼ cup apricot jam
Directions:
Slice the vanilla bean in half lengthwise and scrape out the seeds with a knife or spoon. Grease the tart shell with butter. 

The Pastry:
In a stand-up mixer (fitted with a paddle attachment), blend the softened butter and salt. Add sugar and beat until light and fluffy. Add the egg, vanilla seeds, almond extract ,and beat until combined. Mix in half the flour until just absorbed and add the remaining flour and mix until a ball forms. Do not over mix. Flatten the dough into a circle, wrap it in plastic wrap and refrigerate for about an hour. The dough has to be well-chilled before being used. The dough can be refrigerated for up to five days and frozen for a month.


Almond Cream:
Cream the butter and sugar in a stand-up mixer fitted with a whisk attachment until fluffy.  Add the scooped-out vanilla bean seeds, almond extract and egg and beat until combined. Gently, on a low speed, mix in the ground almonds.

Assembling the Tart:
Lightly butter a 10-11inch (25 cm)) tart pan with a removable bottom. Roll out the dough between two pieces of plastic wrap or parchment paper. Pull off one piece of wrap and invert it onto the greased tart pan. Evenly pat the dough onto the bottom and up the sides of the pan. Put the tart pan in the fridge for about 20-30 minutes. Prick the tart with a fork. Spread the almond cream evenly into the pastry shell  and return it to the fridge for another 10 minutes. 

Peel the pears, cut into halves and remove the cores. Cut each half lengthwise into ¼-inch slices, being careful not to cut through the stem end.  Arrange 6 halves spoke fashion on top of the almond filling, placing one half of the pear in the center. Depending on the size of the pears I  sometimes cut off the ends to fit the pear half into the tart. Sprinkle the tart with 1- 2 TBS of raw turbinado sugar. Bake the tart in the middle of a preheated oven at 355 degrees for 25-30 minutes, until the filling and pears  are slightly browned on the top.

The tart should have a golden  brown color when it’s done. Instead of sprinkling the tart with raw sugar you can heat up about ¼ cup apricot jam pour it through a sieve, and brush it over the warm tart. 

Guten Appetit
recipe by©Sunnycovechef
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German Lemon Mousse ( Zitronenspeise)

10/25/2016

6 Comments

 
This creamy, cloud-like mousse is a traditional German dessert called Zitronenspeise (lemon dish). It is the perfect ending to a heavy meal and a melt-in-your-mouth heavenly dessert. ​
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Traditionally, it is made with cream, eggs and lemon juice. After several trials, I made a lighter version using yogurt and less cream and sugar. There are several ways to serve this lemon dessert, either in individual serving bowls or in one large bowl. I like to serve it spooned onto a plate with a raspberry sauce and some added seasonal fruits. Since it is now October, I baked some plums with honey added. But any seasonal fruit is fine. Of course, this dessert is great just be itself without anything extra.
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At the end of July my friend Debra who writes a blog called “East of Eden” and I attended the 2016 International Food Bloggers Conference (IFBC) in Sacramento, CA. We enjoyed a wonderful weekend filled with excursions to local farms, some great break-out sessions, and a spectacular outdoor dinner. One evening, vendors from local restaurants, food suppliers and businesses introduced us to their products, one of them being pasteurized eggs from “Davidson’s Safest Choice Eggs.” Read how the eggs are being pasteurized here, which includes a cute video. Now that I found these eggs, I don't have to worry using raw eggs when I serve this dessert to my friends and family.
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I am entering my recipe in a contest that Davidson’s Safest Choice Eggs has offered to bloggers who participated in either the IFBC conference, Eat Write Blog or Blog Brulee to develop a recipe using their eggs. Because I received a discount to attend the IFBC , I agreed to write three posts about the conference. For the record, all my opinions expressed are my own.
​This is not a difficult recipe, but it's important to follow the steps. It is also important to use a thick creamy yogurt, as runny yogurts won’t do. This is a very delicate dessert, so you want to chop the zested lemon finely , so you don’t end up with strands of lemon zest.
Print Recipe
Ingredients:

(This makes 6 generous servings)
​

1 cup heavy whipping cream (100 ml)
3/4 cup white sugar (150 g)
3 pasteurized eggs, separated
8 oz (1 cup or 227 grams) plain creamy yogurt
1/3 cup lemon juice plus 2TBS  (120ml)
½ tsp. grated, then chopped lemon peel
1 envelope unflavored gelatin  
¼ cup cold water
a pinch of salt
Directions:

1.Put the egg whites in the bowl of a stand up mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. Begin whisking on medium speed, adding the pinch of salt. Increase the speed, and when the egg whites get frothy, slowly sprinkle 4 TBS of the sugar in small increments. The egg whites should triple in volume and the sugar should be dissolved, which will take about 6-8 minutes. 

2.Transfer the beaten egg whites to a different bowl.

3.Add the whipping cream into the mixer bowl (there is no    need to wash the bowl) and beat until stiff. Transfer the whipped cream to yet another bowl.

4. Heat some water in a medium-sized pot. Using a heatproof bowl, sprinkle the envelope of gelatin over a ¼ cup of cold water. Let the gelatin stand for a minute or two until it softens. Set the heatproof bowl in the pot with the simmering water, and stir the gelatin until it is completely dissolved. Remove the pot from the heat, keeping the bowl with the gelatin in the pot of water.

5. Using the whisk attachment, beat the the egg yolks with the rest of the sugar in the mixer bowl (the one you haven’t washed yet), until yellow and fluffy for several minutes. Add the lemon juice and yogurt and mix well. 

6.Stir in the gelatin from the heatproof bowl. Carefully, with a spatula, fold in the whipped cream. Next, fold in the egg whites with a circular motion. Be careful not to deflate the whipped cream and the beaten egg whites. 

7. Finally, pour the mousse into individual bowls or a large bowl, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight. This is a great dessert to make ahead of time. 

Guten Appetit!
recipe by©Sunnycovechef
​​
6 Comments

Vanilla  Sauce

9/28/2016

0 Comments

 
It's fall and I should be posting my pear tart recipe. Instead, I bought three beautiful baskets of delicious strawberries from my friend Ronald at the local farmer's market. They are so good that we ate half of them while listening to music during our weekly get-together at the market. Each Sunday when I am in town, I meet with some friends over lunch with at the market. It has become a lovely and relaxing Sunday ritual that I really enjoy.
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The strawberries from Ronald are sweet with an earthy flavor. They are good just by themselves, but I thought I fancy them up a little with vanilla sauce. It is a simple and straightforward recipe, yet so delicious – and a healthy ending to any meal. My husband decided to grill a steak since the temperature reached over 90 degrees here on the Pacific coast. After a foggy and cold summer, this was a welcome respite.
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Sunny Cove Beach
Vanilla sauce brings back memories from my childhood days. Almost every Sunday, we would have pudding for our Sunday lunch (which was dinner served at noon). We ate bread and spreads in the evening and called it Abenbrot, which literally means “the bread for the evening.” Our favorite pudding was Götterspeise  (translates as “the meal of the gods”) known as Jello here in the US. Jello is also called Wackelpudding, meaning that the pudding will wobble when touched or moved. Another favorite dessert of mine is rote Grütze (red fruit Jello). My mom  always would serve these puddings with vanilla sauce. I apologize for boring you with all of of this, but trust me, I have not thought of them for years. Maybe that’s why I like blogging, because it brings back so many memories. My sweet dad loved these puddings. He has been gone for so long, but I believe that chocolate pudding with vanilla sauce was his favorite. He was such a sweet and kind man.
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Back to the sauce! It is light, healthy, easy to make with a velvety texture and creamy flavor. It will elevate any fresh fruit– strawberries, raspberries or simple puddings–to another level. You can make it in no time and be creative by serving a cookie on the side, some ice cream or whatever tickles your fancy. This time, I just sliced the strawberries and added some of the sauce. Enjoy!
Just in case you are longing for some apple or pear cakes, here is my well loved apple strudel cake, as well as a delicious chunky pear nut cake flavored with spices and juicy pears. Click on the  picture to get the recipe.
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The sauce is made in about 15 minutes. There is only one trick to it: Do not let it come to a boil because it will curdle and ruin your sauce. The sauce was plenty sweet enough for me, but you could add another tablespoon of sugar for those who have a sweet tooth. This sauce is thick and creamy, resembling a runny custard.
Print Recipe
Ingredients​

3 egg yolks
4 TBS sugar
1 TBS corn starch 
2 ½ cups of milk 
1 vanilla pod
Directions

Mix the egg yolks, sugar and cornstarch with a metal whisk in a heavy medium-sized pot. Cut the vanilla pod in half and scrape the seeds out and add it all to the mixture. Slowly add the milk, whisking the sauce most of the time over medium heat, until the mixture thickens. Turn off the heat and continue to cool in the pot, whisking occasionally. Remove the vanilla pod and put the sauce into a container in the fridge until ready to serve. 
​
​

Guten Appetit!
recipe©Sunnycovechef
0 Comments

German Blueberry, Blackberry and Raspberry Sheet Cake

8/15/2016

1 Comment

 
This delicious light and fruity cake is easy to make. It makes a great snack or breakfast.  One could call it a coffee cake. You will find it in every German bakery or household using a variety of different fruits. I’ve used blackberries, blueberries, raspberries, peaches, and plums. However, my favorite for this cake are gooseberries mixed with red currants. I love the tartness of these fruits from the northern hemisphere. Unfortunately, they do not grow here in northern California. I have tried to grow them many times, but without success, as they need frost in the winter. . ​
It all started when my blogging friend, Suzanne, from apuginthekitchen had bought some gooseberries and red currants at the farmer’s market and asked if anybody knew what to do with them. Instant childhood memories came to mind of stuffing myself with gooseberries fresh from the bushes as they ripened. I remember spitting out the tough skin while enjoying the soft creamy inside filled with seeds. My mom used to can them so that in the cold winter we could eat them as compote with vanilla sauce for our Sunday lunch. Sunday lunches were warm meals (more elaborate than weekday meals) and there was always dessert. My family would also bake large sheet cakes or Blechkuchen as they are known in Germany. These cakes could be as simple as a yeast cake dotted with butter and sprinkled with sugar, which is called Zuckerkuchen (sugar cake). Or the cake could have fruit with custard added as a topping.  Another favorite sheet cake of mine is Schmandkuchen (sour cream cake), a yeast cake topped with a rich custard and raisins. Today, whenever I’m in Germany these simple cakes are some of my favorites.
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Let’s get back to my sheet cake. I cut the recipe in half, which still makes enough for 9 generous pieces. I used a mixture of blueberries, blackberries and raspberries. I am going to try plums next time. If I use plums, I will add some cinnamon too. With the second cake, I substituted spelt flour for the regular flour and ¼ cup coconut sugar for the regular sugar. This version of my cake was dense and lacked the lightness of the other cake. I think my cake tasters were polite when they said they liked it. I prefer the regular recipe served with whipped cream or ice cream.
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The spelt flour cake
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If you like butter you will like this buttery almond sheet cake I posted earlier. ​
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Creaming the dough
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The washed berries
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Dusting the berries with cornstarch
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The cake is ready to be baked
Print Recipe
​Ingredients

9 TBS (125g) soft butter 
½ cup( 100g) sugar
1/8 cup (50g) heavy cream
3 eggs (at room temperature)
a pinch of salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 ¼ cup (150g) flour
2 tsp baking powder 
10-12 ounces mixed fruit
1 TBS cornstarch
2 TBS raw sugar
​Directions
​

Center an oven rack and preheat the oven to 350˚ F.
Spray or butter an 9” x 9” square pan. 
Mix the flour with the baking powder in a separate bowl.
In a mixer, cream the butter and sugar until double in volume.
Add the vanilla extract, a pinch of salt and one egg at a time.
Add half the flour and stir for a few seconds until combined.
Add the cream and the rest of the flour, and mix until the flour is blended into the dough.
Scrape the dough with a spatula into the pan and spread it evenly.
Wash the fruit in a sieve. Add the cornstarch to the fruit and shake. Put the fruit on the cake, distributing it evenly. Sprinkle 2 TBS raw sugar over the cake and bake in the middle of the oven for about 30-40 minutes. Test it with a toothpick. If the toothpick comes out clean, the cake is done. Serve the cake with whipped cream or ice cream.


Guten Appetit!
​recipe © Sunnycovechef
1 Comment

A German Country Wedding

7/24/2016

0 Comments

 
Every wedding is special for the ones involved and etched into our memory forever. This was a special one for me because it involved my niece, who has been like a daughter to me from the day she was born. Since I was unable to have children of my own, her birth was the only one I was able to participate in. My son was six years old when I adopted him.
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Photo von Anna Clement
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Photo von Anna Clement
After living with her boyfriend for seven years, my niece toyed with the idea of getting married in a chapel in Las Vegas, but no papers were ever filed. Then last year, they had a sweet spiritual commitment ceremony on the French Atlantic coast while camping with some friends, her brother and his family. This year, they finally decided to do the real thing with a church wedding  at our family farm in Germany on a Friday, followed by a huge summer party Saturday with more people and more friends. It was definitely an event that my niece had planned for months which took an enormous amount of effort. First, it was going to be a small wedding with family and some friends, followed by the annual summer party that my nephew, niece and friends have every year. As time went on, things got bigger and bigger like weddings often do.
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My brother giving his speech
After everything was said and done, it was the most genuine and sweetest weddings I have ever been to (of course I am biased). When I saw my niece dancing with her friends on the stage very late at night, I knew that she was happy.
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Literally, it took a village, complete with friends and family to make it all happen, but she made all the decisions. A huge tent was rented in case of rain. And it did. Two smaller tents were put up. A stage and a large play area was built for the children. Most of the work was done by friends who arrived days ahead and camped on the property or slept in the emptied-out garden shacks. My son arrived early with my niece and about 12 friends. These guys worked tirelessly until the moment they left. My niece’s best friend, Corinna, was amazing—she cooked for all the people and was the best personal assistant I have ever seen. Dominik , the best man, was working very hard in the yard and making sure that the groom had a helping hand. Guest came from Austria, Colombia, Venezuela, Nepal, and let's not forget California. ​
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We old folks decided to stay in a hotel in a nearby small town. The groom’s mother transported some beautiful but very fragile wildflowers from home. The woman in the neighboring village made a huge wedding wreath. It is tradition in this village to make one for every wedding. What a wonderful local custom. My niece wanted to be married there rather than in her home village two kilometers away. 
In the truest sense, it was a dramatic event. Mother Nature added a violent thunderstorm a half  hour before the wedding. The boys had to get undressed and rescue one of the tents. The decorations from the stage flew all over the farm. Getting to the church was a task not easily done, due to high wind and rain. The church bells rang for awhile. But all was forgotten as my my niece and the groom walked together down the aisle lead by the pastor, which was something they had decided ahead of time. They had lived together for seven years and had been separated by my niece's internship in Melbourne, Australia for a year. And a life-threatening illness had brought them even closer. There were tears of happiness flowing in the little church.
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The thunderstorm was over after the church and all was well. Some farmers decorated a trailer to transport the couple back to the farm.  Some other guests were in a second trailer pulled by a tractor. I loved it.
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This was a trailer with a tractor behind that drove the newlyweds home from the church
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The second trailer
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On the way home
The reception party following the ceremony was fun and we danced way into the night. Everybody had fun.
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The next day, the annual summer party took place. It was a potluck event so people brought salads and my brother's friend barbecued sausages and meat. Unfortunately, it rained, so everything took place in the tents. The following day everybody helped clean up and 
the wedding weekend was over. Weddings in Germany are as different as they are here in the States—from very formal to a small gathering at the justice of peace.
​ I used my own photos except for the the first two. I will add or replace some photos later.
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I ask the bride and the groom to choose their  favorite food from my blog for this post. The bride likes my duck confit quesadillas and the groom my chocolate tart. ​
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Duck Confit Quesadillas, click on the picture for the recipe
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Chocolate Tart, click on the picture for the recipe
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    WELCOME TO SUNNY COVE CHEF

    Thank 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.

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    If you  have tried any of my recipes, snap a photo and tag me @sunnycovechef I'd love to see your creations!​


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