Obstboden - Fruit cake

  

                   Obstboden - Fruit Cake

This is the base for a fruit cake very popular in Germany. Once you have this baked, you can top it with whatever fruits you like or are seasonal. Usually that fruit cake is topped with the clear glaze you can find on my blog already. 

This is what you need:

- a round pie pan, around 28 cm in Diameter

- 75 gr Butter unsalted and soft

- 75 gr Sugar

- 1 pinch Salt

- 14 gr. of Vanilla sugar or 1 TSP Vanilla extract

- 2 Eggs

- 150 gr. Flour

- 1 TSP Backing Powder

- 2 TBSP Milk 

This is how you do it:

Put Butter in a bowl and whisk it with the Mixer or Kitchen Aid until its foamy-creamy. Slowly add the sugar, Vanilla sugar (or Vanilla extract) and the pinch of salt and mix it. Then add 1 Egg to the mixture and let it incorporate first and then the 2nd Egg. Combine the Flour and the Baking Powder and stir it. Slowly add a bit of the dry ingredient to the wet and let it mix it up first. Now add the 1st TBSP of Milk to it and mix it up. Then add more of the Flour and then again Milk until all ingredients are mixed up and you have a smooth dough. 

Prepare the pan with oiling or buttering it and then you can either add Flour or fine Breadcrumbs and spread it out in the baking pan so the cake doesn't stick to it. Pour in the dough and bake it 20-25 min in a 350 Degree oven. Make the toothpick test to see if the cake is done. 

Take out the cake and let it cool on a rack in the pan. When its cool, turn the pan around and let the cake slide out. This is going to be the top end. Kind of like an upside down cake thing. 

Once its cooled, you can add the fruits and the glaze and you have a great and refreshing cake for hot summer days. If you fruits are really juicy, you can add a thin layer of white chocolate on the cake first so the sponge is not soaking all the fruit juices up and getting soggy. Enjoy

Guten Appetit

Warm chocolate Pudding

                           Warm Chocolate Pudding  

Warm Puddings like chocolate or vanilla are a big thing in Germany. Especially when its getting to the colder months, its a warming soul food. Most Germans use Instant packs where you just add Milk and Sugar, but here in the USA you can't get them every where. So I had to find a way to make it myself. I am pretty content with my findings. For americans it might not be sweet enough. Well, then just add more sugar to it.

This is what you need:

- 40 gr. of Corn Starch

- 40 gr. Sugar (or sugar substitute)

- 40 gr. unsweetened Cocoa Powder

- 500 ml Milk

This is how you do it:

Pour the milk in a pot and heat it up. In the meantime, mix in a bowl the corn starch, cocoa and sugar. When the milk starts to boil immediately take it from the heat and whisk the dry ingredients into the milk. The cocoa will foam first a bit, just keep stirring until its smooth. Put it back on the heat and let it bubble up one last time to thicken. Now your pudding is done and you can enjoy it warm or cold.

For Vanilla Pudding you use instead of the cocoa powder either Vanilla extract or a Vanilla bean. Also add 1 Egg yolk and stir good so you don't end up with scrambled eggs. That gives the yellow color and helps thicken it.

Guten Appetit

Rotweinkuchen - Red wine Cake

                             Rotweinkuchen - Red wine Cake

This Cake is a recipe I got from my late Grandma. She used to make it all the time when we came for visit. One of her staples. Not even my mom had the recipe and was super glad when she learned that I got it from Oma. Since I am writing this blog here for my daughter first, so all the old recipes aren't getting lost, I am going to share this family recipe with the rest of the world too. You are lucky guys lol. Anyway, here it goes.......

This is what you need:

- 250 gr soften unsulted Butter

- 300 gr. Sugar

- 5 Eggs, divided 

- 1 small coffee mug (or half of a regular coffee mug) of Red wine (the one you use to drink. I like Moscato)

- 300 gr Flour

- 14 gr Baking Powder

- 100 gr. shaved unsweetened Baking chocolate

- 100 gr. Hazelnut Flour (Amazon has it for example)

This is how you do it:

Add the Butter, sugar and Egg yolk in a big Bowl and whisk it until soft, almost white and very fluffy. Beat the egg white in a separate bowl until stiff peaks. Shave the chocolate with a grater. Yes, its messy and a lot of muscle juice, but its worth it. Now add the Flour, Hazelnut Flour, Baking Powder and red wine to the Butter/sugar mixture and mix it well. Now, carefully, fold in the egg white to not release to much of the air bubbles. Preheat oven to 340 Fahrenheit. Butter the Bunt cake pan very carefully. Add the cake mixture and bake it for 1 hrs.. Remove from Oven and let cool completely. 

With Red wine and powdered sugar, mix a thick icing and pour over the cake. 

Enjoy and Guten Appetit

Milchreis - Rice Pudding

                                   Milchreis - Rice Pudding

This is a traditional german Rice Pudding recipe. Not sure if the american version is similar. The recipe is from one of my favorite german star cooks Stefan Hensler.

This is what you need:

- 800 ml milk

- 200 gr. Milk rice or Risotto rice (or short grain rice) however its written on the package

- 1 Vanilla bean, the paste inside and then the whole bean (or Vanilla extract)

- 1 pinch of salt

- 4-6 TBSP Sugar

- around 50-100 ml heavy whipping cream

This is how you do it:

Pour the milk in a sauce pan along with the sugar, salt and the vanilla bean paste and vanilla bean and heat up until it boils. Once it starts boiling add the rice immediately but slowly and stir while you pour in the rice. Reduce the heat to a medium-low and cover it up. Let simmer for around 20 min, stirring just occasionally. In the meantime, you can whip up the heavy cream. I added a tiny bit of sugar to it but you don't have to. Once the time is up, stir and check the consistency. Let simmer for another 5 min if you think it could need some time. Then add the whipping cream and stir well. Let sit another 5-10 min without heat so they can absorb the cream. It will make it a little bit more fluffy and also helps with the tenderness of the rice. 

Serve warm with toppings of your preference like sugar-cinnamon mix or fruits. It's also good cold, but we prefer it warm. It's a hearty, warm comfort food on cold days (or any day lol)

Guten Appetit 

Grilled Pork Belly in Beer marinade

         Grilled Pork Belly in Beer marinade 

This is for you folks whom always see the Pork Belly at the Grocery store but don't know what to do with it or how to cook it. This is an amazing Marinade with is good to prepare a day ahead and then to grill it the next day. This is a very german thing and recipe. I searched long for this. Since I failed to make pictures in the past and I just decided today to make some tomorrow, I just have the marinade picture. I will update with a finished product. Promise.

This is what you need:

- Pork Belly

- 200 ml Beer (use the brand you usually use. We like Yuengling)

- 3 TBSP Mustard (also, use the Brand you would usually use. Not Dijon though)

- 1 Bay Leave

- 4 Juniper Berries (you can find on Amazon)

- 4 Cloves of Garlic 

- 1/2 Onion

- 3 TBSP Oil

- some Red Pepper Flakes

- Salt and Pepper

This is how you do it:

In a big Zip Lock bag put all the ingredients and the Pork Belly. Let sit at least 2 hrs or over night (or longer if necessary) 

Take them out of the Bag and grill them. Enjoy them with whatever side you like. From Garlic Bread over Pasta Salad or Potato Salad. 

Guten Appetit 

McD Chicken nuggets copycat

                McD Chicken nuggets copycat

I found this McDonalds copycat recipe on the internet and let me tell ya, boy that's 

good. You need to try this.

This is what you need:

- Chicken breasts (as many as you want/need)

- Salt and Pepper

- Flour

- Cornstarch

- Garlic Powder

- Onion Powder

- Eggs

This is how you do it:

Cut the Chicken breasts into cubes and pulse them in a Blender. Don't pulse them to fine though. Take them out and salt and pepper them. Don't be greedy with the salt. You want flavor.  Form "nuggets" and place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper (or a silicone baking sheet). Place them in the freezer for 2 hrs..

In 2 separate bowls have some whisked eggs with a bit water ready, in the other mix the Flour, cornstarch, Onion and Garlic powder (go after your guts. It depends on how much you have. I tasted it and adjusted from there. Again, don't be greedy here) Coat the Nuggets first in the wet, then the dry, another time wet and again dry ingredients.

Technically, your Nuggets are done. Now its up to you how you want to cook them. You can pan fry them in oil, air fry them (with some oil sprayed on them) or bake them in the oven (again, spray some oil over them). When you Air fry them, don't use the metal rack. They glue to them and rip off the breading. Or use some baking sheet underneath. It took around 20-30 min. on 400 degrees in the Air Fryer but you might want to have play with this time also. They are way faster fried in oil (and probably more flavorful) but with trying to reduce fat, it's definately and option.

Sorry for not having a picture. I will update when I have one. 

Pasta Alfredo

                                           Pasta Alfredo

I know Alfredo is not really a thing in Italy. Maybe in Rome, but even there I haven't seen this dish on a restaurant menu. Maybe it's more like a mom'n paps kind of thing? Anywho, this dish is a big thing in the United states. But thus far, I haven't found a recipe I liked. I made it for my daughter and the Husband, but I never ate it. Until I found this one. This is really the best Alfredo recipes out there. So, I save you from searching the internet. Just try this and let me know if I was right lol. This is not my recipe though. But let me tell you again the importance of using the original Parmigiano Reggiano. First, the flavor is really different. You will taste it. Second, the quality. It's just made with better ingredients then the copycat. Never go for the grated one. You don't know what else they grated into that. You can find the original Parmigiano at every good grocery store. Look on the back to find the burned in Logo of Parmigiano Reggiano. Then you know it's the original. And of course the price. It's a lot more expensive, but that dish is so cheap on the other ingredients, then you want to put that extra money into quality cheese. 

This is what you need:

-  1/2 cup of Butter (or 1/3. that worked too)

-1 1/2 cups of Heavy Whipping cream

- 2 TSP minced Garlic 

- 1/2 TSP Italian Season

- 1/2 TSP salt- Pepper 1/4 TSP or none like me ;-)

- 2 Cups freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano (don't settle for less)

This is how you do it:

Add the Butter and cream in a large skillet or pot. Simmer on low for about 2 min.. Whisk in the garlic, Italian season, salt and pepper and let simmer for another min.. Whisk in the Parmigiano Regiano and let  melt. Serve over every kind of Pasta or whatever you like.