Country Bread with Barley and Pearl Millet

This is another attempt of mine to bake a proper 'German' bread. With 'German' bread I mean a bread that has a nice crust, lots of flavour and is moist and soft on the inside. Just like you get it in the country side in Germany. I must say, I'm slowly getting there. It is a fact I am proud of because good bread is one of the few things I really miss living here in India. Bread like this can be eaten just by itself or maybe with some butter on it.

This time I first made a sponge starter and also gave the dough lots of time to rise and develop at a rather low temperature. As a result the bread has lots of flavour and a very mild sourness to it. It is definitely worth the effort and time you put into it. I therefore recommend to make this bread on a day when you don't have to leave the house. The result will compensate you royally for the sacrifice of staying home.

It is a common practice in Europe to make a starter dough for bread. There are different types of starter doughs and they take anywhere between 5 hours for a sponge, 15 hours for an Italian Biga and 5 days for a traditional sour dough.

For the sponge starter I dissolve 7g dry yeast in 250ml warm water. The amount of yeast might be different depending n the kind of yeast you use. The dry yeast I use recommends 25g dry yeast for 750-1000g of flour. In a bowl I now mix 175g whole wheat flour with the yeast mixture until I have a smooth batter. I cover the bowl with cling foil and leave the batter for 5-6 hours to develop. In warm and humid areas like Chennai, where I live, the batter will need only 3-4 hours to develop.

The sponge is ready when it doubled to tripled in volume and has lots of bubbles.

For the bread dough I mix in a big bowl 200g whole wheat flour with 70g hard wheat semolina, 100g barley flour, 100g pearl millet flour, 30g split sorghum, 50 gluten powder and a pinch of salt.

In a small bowl I dissolve 18g dry yeast in 250ml warm water. I now carefully mix the sponge starter with the dissolved yeast until it is well combined.

I pour the starter mixture into the middle of the dry ingredients and mix it to a smooth dough. This dough I knead for 10-15 minutes to ensure that the gluten is well developed. I transfer the dough into a slightly oiled bowl and cover it with a cling foil. The dough needs to rise for 7-8 hours or over night at a room temperature of 18-22°C. Here in Chennai I usually place it for 5-6 hours in a corner of my air-conditioned bedroom as it is the only room where the temperature is anywhere close to the required temperature. This slow rising process will give the bread lots of flavour and a mild sour taste.

It is now time to pre-heat the oven to 220-240°C.

I carefully knock the dough down and knead it for about 2 minutes. I slightly grease a 18cm round baking dish. I take the dough out of the bowl onto a slightly floured table top and form it into a round ball. This I roll in 3-4 table spoons puffed amaranth, place it into the greased baking dish and bake it at 220-240°C for 45-60 minutes or until it sounds hollow when you knock on it.

Take it out of the oven and after 5 minutes out of the baking dish. Let it cool on a wire rack. Once it is completely cooled slice it and enjoy it.

Enjoy and have fun in the kitchen!

Love

Carola

Almond Fudge Brownies

Brownies are sinful delicious everything-will-be-alright food. The ingredients send out so many positive impulses to our brain that there is only one thing for it to do... Tell us we are feeling good.

They were invented some when in the end of the 19^th century for a ladies pick nick and evolved from there to the varieties you find today. The original was still well baked and had an apricot glaze on it. I couldn't find any info how the fudge like moister got into it. But I guess like most great inventions by pure accident when someone removed the baking tin too early from the oven and the result was a hit with the bakeries clients.

I like them with lots of very dark chocolate and an extra portion of cocoa. It means pure happiness! They should be baked on the outside but gooey on the inside. At the centre the batter should be just set. And they should be low on sugar. Well, if that is possible. But they should not taste too sweet.

Have a glass of cold milk or hot coffee with it to balance out the intense flavours of the brownie.

I started replacing the traditional walnuts with almonds as a lot of my friends are allergic to walnuts and pecan nuts are very difficult to get here in India. Oh, and I love them plain, meaning without any topping. This is again a very personal choice. If you like it you can top them off with a nice frosting or a ganache. For me that is too much chocolate.

This recipe is for a 22x22cm square tin or a 24cm round tin. I use chocolate with a minimum of 70% cocoa in it and good unsweetened cocoa.

For brownies the oven should not be too hot. If you have any doubt put a baking thermometer in the oven while pre-heating it and check the temperature before you put the brownies in. The ideal temperature is 175°C. If your oven is hotter than 180°C reduce the heat setting and leave the oven door open for 2-3 minutes before you put the brownies in the oven.

These brownies are a feast of chocolate. The 1^st step to brownie bliss is to melt 200g dark chocolate in a bowl set over a pot of boiling water. Make sure that the water does not touch the bottom of the bowl. Once the chocolate is melted set it aside to let it slightly cool down.

In a bowl I beat 100g soft unsalted butter with 170-220g vanilla sugar until it is light and fluffy and most of the sugar is dissolved. The amount of sugar you use depends on how sweet you like the brownies to be.

Most people use muscovado sugar for brownies. I prefer vanilla sugar for which I simply place a few lengthwise cut vanilla beans with lots of sugar in an airtight container and let it stand for a few days. For the vanilla sugar you can use regular white or brown sugar.

Constantly beating the mixture I add 240g egg, one egg at the time, and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract. Then I add the melted chocolate to it and make sure everything is well combined.

In a separate bowl I mix 60g plain flour with 60g cocoa. This mixture I sift onto the chocolate mix and stir it well. Now I add 100g coarsely chopped almonds, give it a quick stir and pour the batter into the greased baking tin.

I bake it at 175°C for 25-30 minutes. When you touch the centre it should be soft. Take the brownies out of the oven and let them cool down. They taste best when they are still a little warm. I like to serve them with either plain or with a mild sour cream on the side.

Fresh out of the oven

I made these last weekend and there were some very happy smiling faces at dance class. As I said, brownies are a mood enhancer.

Enjoy and have fun in the kitchen!

Love

Carola

Mutton Curry a la Carola

The Indian kitchen is like a big mystery to me. For the simple reason that I do not have a feeling for the spices used in it. I do not know how the flavour of a dish changes if I add more mustard seeds, turmeric or cumin to it. When it comes to herbs I know that, I know exactly how the flavour changes when I add more juniper berries, oregano or celery leaves to a dish.

Herbs are something I grew up with. So are spices like bay leaves, cinnamon, nutmeg or all spice because they are also used in European dishes. But how to mix a proper Masai is a mystery for me as I never learned it. Maybe I should start taking cooking lessons in it.

On the other hand I love Indian food. May it be North or South Indian, I love it. So I had to find a way to work around my lack of knowledge. And this is when I started experimenting with ready made masala mixes. In the beginning I wondered why my food tasted powdery until I learned that you need to temper the spices to bring out their flavour and to get rid of this powdery raw flavour. That was many years ago shortly after I moved to India. Over the years and lots of trials later I know that I do not like chat masala or anything made with it. I never liked fresh coriander but use it sometimes in cooking. I just make sure I remove all of it before I serve the food.

Besides this, a vast collection of masalas is meanwhile a stable in my kitchen. I just don't use them the traditional way. I happily mix them together and create my own personal interpretation of Indian food. For example madras curry powder with chilli, mango, onion, orange juice and raisins as a marinade for grilled chicken.

This is how I ended up with what I call Curry a la Carola. Here the mutton curry version. The routine is always the same.

In a big pot I heat 4-5 table spoons oil. I like to take sesame oil as it adds a nice flavour. I cut 1 large peeled onion into quarters and than into fine stripes. Once the oil is hot I add the onions, 1 teaspoon each garlic paste and ginger paste. Over reduced heat I let it fry for 2-3 minutes. Now comes the masala. I just take 1 teaspoon of each packet I have in my masala box so that I end up with 6 teaspoons of masala. Most times I blend a variety of graham masala, fish fry, mutton, tandoori, chicken and egg masala together. But let your creativity run wild.

Important is that you stir constantly while you temper the spices. They must not get burned as it will ruin the flavour. After tempering the spices I add 500g boneless mutton or lamb meat and stir-fry it a few minutes that it can absorb the masala flavour.

Now I add 2-3 dry red chilli cut into stripes, 300g tomatoes cut into small dices and 400g yoghurt to it. Give it a good stir and cover it with a lid.

Cook it over low head for about 30 minutes until the meat is very tender and the oil has separated from the rest of the gravy.

If you like to you can add the vegetables to it. In the same method you can also make a chicken or pure vegetable curry. Sometimes, especially if I add prawns or fish I add 400ml coconut milk to the masala base instead of the yoghurt. If I make prawn or fish curry I cook the gravy separately and add the prawns and fish only for the last few minutes to avoid over cooking them.

Every time I cook this it tastes a little bit different and I like it this way. I most times serve the curry with brown rice. This time I made dosa. I am honest with you, I bought the dosa batter. Another thing on my to-learn-list is how to make dosa.

Enjoy and have fun in the kitchen!

Love

Carola

Farfalle with seafood and wine sauce

There are days when you need just that little extra treat. For me today was such a day. There were just too many things that went wrong today....

Most times when I have such a day I skip dinner and replace it with a big portion of ice cream. My friends always tease me for it. Honestly I think ice cream just cools down your temper when you are upset. But today I didn't feel like ice cream. I wanted some nice food for the soul.

For me that definitely means some variety of pasta or some food from my childhood. Today I decided on pasta. Farfalle to be specific as there will be lots of sauce. Penne would also be a good choice. But I don't recommend pasta like Spaghetti of Tagliatelle for such a liquid sauce. I don't call it Italian food because for that there is way too much sauce in this recipe. I call it a Frida special.

The wine I use in this recipe is a Shiraz Rosé. If you don't get it or don't like it you can any dry rosé or white wine.

For the Farfalle I put a big pot of salted water on the stove and bring it to boil. Once it boils I add 250g Farfalle and cook them al dente.

In a small pot I cook 100g peas together with 100g broccoli and 3 medium carrots, both cut into pieces in little plain water.

In the meantime I finely chop 1 medium onion and 2 cloves garlic. In a deep pan I melt 30g butter and fry the onion and garlic in it until they start turning brown. I cut 100g mushrooms into halves or quarters and add them to the onions. I fry them for about 5 minutes. I keep the mushrooms and onions in a small bowl aside.

Now I pour 200ml wine into the pan an bring it slowly to a simmer. In the meantime I drain the boiled vegetables. Make sure you collect the liquid from the vegetables. I measure 200ml of the vegetable water and add each 100ml sour cream and 100ml fresh cream to it. Into this mixture I stir 2 tablespoons cornstarch. I add the mixture to the wine and heat it slowly stirring constantly. I add salt, white pepper and nutmeg to the sauce.

I reduce the heat to the minimum and add 300g bekti steak, cut into 2cm dices, along with 8 peeled and cleaned jumbo prawns to the sauce. I let it sit for 5 minutes for the fish and prawns to be cooked. Now I carefully stir in the mushrooms, onions and other vegetables. I taste it and add if necessary a little bit more pepper, salt and nutmeg.

I drain the pasta and place it in 4 deep plates. I pour a generous helping of the fish sauce on top of it. Along with the Farfalle I serve the rest of the wine.... or a bit more...

This recipe is for four portions. Experience showed me that in reality it ends up to be for 2-3 portions.

Enjoy and have fun in the kitchen.

Love

Carola

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Two weeks ago a friend of mine posted on Facebook that he tried to bake cookies. The unfortunate verdict from his daughter was.... They taste like cheese! 

I really felt sorry for him as I know he put all his heart into making these cookies.

That was when I decided to put up this recipe. It is one of my most trusted ones and the cookies come out perfect every single time. The original recipe is from a twenty year old Betty Crooker cookbook which I bought during my first visit to the US.

I modified it slightly to my taste. This recipe is for 5-6 dozen cookies.

I pre-heat the oven to 200°C and line a baking tray with a sheet of parchment.

Now I am all set to start.

A lot of people use ready made chocolate chips for their cookies but I prefer to cut up a good dark chocolate bar into pieces. It gives a more intense flavour. So, to begin with I cut 300g of chilled good dark chocolate with 70% cocoa in it into 1cm pieces.

In a big bowl I mix 100g each unsalted and salted soft butter, 250 brown sugar and 60g egg into a smooth paste. In another bowl I mix 350g flour and 1 teaspoon baking soda. I sieve the flour into the butter mixture and knead it into a stiff dough.

I coarsely chop 100g nuts. I use either walnuts, almonds or unsalted pistachios. But you can use any kind of nuts you like. I add the nuts with the chocolate to the dough and mix it well.

I drop rounded teaspoons full of dough onto the baking tray. Make sure you leave about 5cm space between them as the dough will flatten into nice yummy cookies while baking.

Bake the cookies for 8-10 minutes. They will be light brown and soft in the centre. Let them cool down a bit before you remove them from the baking tray. This is where the parchment comes in handy as you can remove the entire sheet from the baking tray and just line it with a fresh one for the next round of cookies.

The cookies can be stored in an airtight container for about a week. They also freeze well. Id you don't want to make that many cookies you can freeze part of the dough. Just ensure that it is wrapped well into cling foil to avoid that it ii drying out while defrosting.

Enjoy and have fun in the kitchen.

Love

Carola

Curried Chicken Spread

Being a confessed Nutella lover it is still one of the few spreads I buy ready made. I prefer to make them myself. May it be jam, liver pâté, vegetable spread or in this case a curried spread with chicken. For the simple reason that I know what is in it.

You can make a spread or pâté in a lot of ways. The goal is to get a spreadable paste. To achieve this spreads are often combined with cream, cheese, butter, egg or mustard. Sometimes there is an emulsifier or gelling agent added.

A lot of the ready made spreads contain high amounts of oil or other fats as they give volume and are cheep. I prefer my spreads to low on fat and high on flavour. That is why I hardly use mayonnaise in them. I also find that making a spread is an easy way to use up small amounts of vegetables or meat you have in your fridge. As I result often I end up making them as fillings for sandwiches to take along on one of my road trips.

I find them also very practical as they are quick to make for a snack on a busy day. It takes hardly 10 minutes. Spread it on your favourite bread, top it with some crunchy lettuce and tomatoes and enjoy.

This recipe is inspired by the classic Coronation Chicken which is a curry flavoured chicken salad.

In a small pan I melt 40g butter over low heat, add 3 heaped teaspoons Madras Curry powder to it and temper the curry for a few minutes. Be careful that the heat is low otherwise the curry gets burned and looses all its flavour.

I take a blender or food processor and add the following ingredients into it. 2 hard boiled egg (peeled), 4-5 gherkins, 1 teaspoon mustard, 150-200g boiled chicken meat cut into pieces, pepper, chilli powder, 20g onion, 20g leek, 1 glove garlic, 30g yellow bell pepper, salt and the curry butter. Mix it all until you have a smooth paste. Check the taste and add up salt and pepper if required.

If you like it a bit sweeter you can add some pineapple or mango to it. If you like it softer add a spoon of yoghurt to it.

Some fresh baguette and a nice glass of white wine with it. Dinner was never cooked faster.

Enjoy and have fun in the kitchen!

Love

Carola

Sour Dough Bread with Mixed Seeds

I often hear people saying you should only cook or bake when you are happy or in a good mood as otherwise the food doesn't taste nice. I say... If you are angry at the world go and bake bread!

There is no better therapy to work off anger than kneading a good bread dough. 

Bread is the one food that is stable in all cultures in the world. It might not be always as a loaf neither is is always made out of wheat but you find it in one or the other variety everywhere.

I personally love bread which is no surprise as I grew up in Germany where bread is a stable food. But for me bread must have a crust and a substance. I don't like these soft crusted sandwich breads which you can push together to half their size and an hour later they are back to their old self. I find them tasteless, too sweet and they have the tendency to stick to your teeth.

I said in an earlier blog that I have a bread making machine. I like it because it is very convenient but unless I need fresh bread early in the morning I don't bake the bread in it. I use it for making the dough. But nothing beats getting your fingers dirty and getting rid of anger and frustration by kneading a good sour dough with your hands. The satisfaction you get when you feel the gluten reacting with the other ingredients and that stiff greyish mass develops into a beautiful elastic dough is amazing.

Sour dough breads are easy to make and the sourness enriches it's flavours. Sour dough goes especially well with whole wheat, rye and spelt or a mixture of all. You might need a few trials to get the starter dough right as it is very sensitive to the surrounding temperatures. While it takes in north European countries 2-3 days at each stage to ferment it hardly takes several hours in south India. So you need to experiment a bit or take dry sour dough mix instead.

For the starter dough I knead a smooth dough out of 115g whole wheat flour and 75ml warm water in a big bowl. This takes about 4-5 minutes. I always use whole wheat flour for my starter as I find it gives better results and taste. But you can also use a plain wheat flour or a rye flour or a mixture of them for it. I cover the bowl with cling foil and let it stand at room temperature (that is 23-27°C) for 2-3 days until the mixture turned greyish with bubbles and the volume has at roughly doubled. Make sure you removed all crust that might have formed on top of the starter before you 'feed' it.

Now I stir 120ml warm water into the mixture until I have a smooth paste. To it I add 175g flour and make a smooth dough out of it. Form a ball out of the dough and place it in a big bowl. Cover it again with cling foil and let it stand for 1-2 days at room temperature (23-27°C) until it is well risen. Remove all crust that might have formed on top of it before you use your starter.

In general it is advisable to check on the sour dough starter regularly. But do not remove the cling foil while the fermentation process is going on.

This starter can be kept in the fridge for about 10 days. If you want to keep it longer store it in the deep freezer. Just make sure it is completely defrosted and has reached room temperature before you use it for making a dough.

To keep your sour dough going you need to 'feed' it. This means if you use 200g of sour dough starter for your bread you need to replace it with 100g flour and 100ml warm water and knead the starter until it is a smooth dough again. If you maintain your starter well it can last you month and years.

For the bread in this recipe I used different flours and seeds. I like experimenting with different mixtures to see how the different flours influence the taste and structure of the bread.

In a big bowl I mix 250g whole wheat flour, 250g hard wheat semolina, 150g white wheat flour and 2 teaspoons of salt. In another bowl I soak 100g quick dissolving oats in 250ml warm milk. I further dissolve 20g fresh yeast or about 25-35g active dry yeast (the amount of dry active yeast might vary depending on product. Please check on the package how much you actually need) in 150ml warm water and let it stand for approximately 10 minutes until it starts forming bubbles.

Now there are 2 different methods of making this bread.

If you use a fresh sour dough starter like described above you need 235g of starter. Mix the starter with the dissolved yeast and 120ml warm water until you have a smooth paste. Add the oats mixture to it and mix well. Now pour the liquid mixture into the flour and knead the mixture for at least 10 minutes to get a smooth elastic dough. If the dough is too stiff add small amounts of warm water to it until you get a nice smooth dough. If it is too sticky add small amounts of flours. But please keep in mind that the gluten needs a few minutes to develop so have some patience before you start adding any additional water or flour to the dough.

If you use a dry sour dough starter mix 100g dry starter with the flour. Mix the yeast with the oats mixture and 120ml warm water and pour it all into the flour. Now you proceed kneading your dough.

Cover the bowl with a wet towel and leave it to rise in a warm place for about 1 hour or until the volume has doubled. Take the dough out of the bowl. On a slightly floured surface knock the dough back and knead gently for about 5 minutes. Put it back in a clean bowl and leave it to rise for another 30-45 minutes.

In the meantime pre-heat the oven to 220-240°C.

On small plates keep 2 tablespoons of each white and black sesame seeds, barley, pumpkin, melon and flax seeds. This is what I used but the seeds you use are purely up to your taste.

I carefully knock down the dough again. Now I take small portions of the dough and make balls with3-4cm diameter out of it. I dip each ball into one of the seeds and place them in a rectangular loaf form (approx. 24x12cm). This I repeat until the dough is used up. You will have 3 layers of seed covered dough balls in your form. I cover it again with a wet towel and let it rise for another 30 minutes. Than I bake it for 45 minutes in the oven.

Let it cool down for 5 minutes. Than remove it form the baking form and let it cool down on a wired rack.

Knowing me I wonder around that loaf for the next hour anxiously waiting for it to cool down enough to slice it. I simply love the corner slice of fresh bread combined with slightly salted butter.

Enjoy and have fun in the kitchen!

Love

Carola

Vegetable Tart

Vegetable cakes, tarts, pies and quiches have a long tradition in Europe. In the south of Germany we have onion cake and salt cake, in France varieties of tarts the most famous one being the Quiche Lorraine, in Alsace it is the Tarte Flambée. The UK has an endless variety of them. And there will be no end if I start with the Balkan and south European countries.

The French are very strict about the definition of a quiche. A quiche has a yeast dough or short crust base. The filling is a mix of egg, milk, cheese, sour cream, smoked bacon and onions. The moment you add any additional vegetables, meat or fish it becomes a tart. Even though the rest of the world happily calls it all quiche or pie.

They are quick and easy to make and a wonderful way to use up small left over quantities of vegetables and meat. You can get really creative on your filling. The base for most of these tarts is a yeast dough but during the course of time short crust and puff pastry varieties became also very popular.

In most countries they were made during fall or harvest time. The onion cake for example is usually made and served during the time of the wine harvest and enjoyed with a glass of young wine.

A lot of these cakes and quiches can be baked in wood fired ovens which were traditionally used for baking bread or for example in Italy for pizza. Once all the bread is baked and you stop heating the oven you put in the cake or quiche. This works especially well with yeast based doughs.

I love to make them when I get guests as I can prepare them in advance and then just put them in the oven when the guests arrive. I often make them in individual size using a muffin form. Makes great finger food. And as I said you can easily make them in different flavours so there is the perfect one for every guest. If you add up some fresh salad you have a complete meal.

If I make tarts for parties I always use a short crust base as I don't have to worry about the dough rising any further. I know it can be prevented by putting it into the fridge but unfortunately my fridge is not that big.

For the dough (for 18 individual or two 22cm tarts) I take each 150g plain flour and whole wheat flour, ½ teaspoon salt, 1 levelled teaspoon baking powder, 175g cold butter and 80g egg. I mix all ingredients into a smooth dough. If it is too sticky add a bit of flour, if it is too hard or crumbly add a little bit of ice water to it. Let the dough rest for a minimum of 30 minutes in the fridge.

In the meantime I separate 3 eggs, 60g each. I beat the egg yolks with ½ teaspoon salt and 2 tablespoons water until I have a pale and foamy mass. In a separate bowl I beat the egg whites until they form nice peaks.

I add 50 ml milk, 150 sour cream, 100g grated cheese, like Gruyere or any cheese with a strong flavour, to the egg yolks and mix it well. Than I carefully pour the milk-egg mixture over the egg whites and carefully mix it with a spoon.

I pre-heat the oven to 175°C and grease 18 muffin forms. After taking the dough out of the fridge I roll it on a flour coated surface til it is about 3-4mm thick. With a round cookie cutter I cut the base of the tarts and put them in the muffin forms. For the side of the crust I roll the dough into a 1cm thick roll. This I put along the side of the muffin form and than press it flat with my fingers.

Just before filling the tarts carefully mix 100-150 g each tomatoes, onion, capsicum, zucchini (all cut into small dices) into the the egg mixture and than divide it evenly into the muffin forms. Alternatively you can put the vegetables directly onto the dough and top it up with the egg-milk mixture. In this case give your muffin form a careful shake to make sure the egg mixture goes into all gaps.

Halt of the tarts I sprinkle with some bacon the other half gets a thin tomato slice on top. The tarts need 15-20 minutes in the oven. Remove them from the oven and let them cool down a bit. Than remove carefully from the muffin forms and serve warm.

Enjoy and have fun in the kitchen!

Love

Carola

Plum Tart with Cinnamon Cream

This is the recipe for the plum tart I mentioned in my last blog. It is an old traditional recipe from the area I grew up in. Not much has changed in this recipe for the past few generations. My grandma used to make it. It is one of the 1^st food memories I have.

It is a tart that is usually baked in the late summer when the plums are getting ripe. Ideal is to use dark ripe plums fresh from the tree. I actually called up my mother to double check with her if I got the recipe right. She was very amused when I did this but happily reconfirmed her recipe to me.

Unfortunately plums here in India are not as sweet as the ones that grow in my parents garden. This is why I added up a bit of sugar and cinnamon to the cream.

Traditionally this tart is served when it is still a bit warm with a big spoon of fresh unsweetened whipped cream on the side. It reminds me of my childhood when my Mom made it on Sunday afternoons. We would sit on the terrace or in the garden and indulge in a cake feast. This tart never lasted long and to be honest not much has changed since than. We still fight over the last piece of cake or the last spoon of cream whenever this is served.

For the short crust I take 250g flour, 2 leveled teaspoons baking powder, 50g custard sugar, 150 g very cold butter cut in dices and 60g egg. I put it all in a bowl and quickly mix it with my hands until I have a smooth dough. This dough I chill for about 1 hour in the fridge.

In the meantime I take 1-1,2kg ripe plums, cut them in halves and remove the seed.

I pre-heat the oven to 180°C and grease a 26cm tart form.

To roll out the dough I sprinkle some flour on the kitchen counter surface. I take the dough out of the fridge and pat it flat with my hands. With a rolling pin I roll the dough until it is round in shape and about 4mm thick. With the help of 2 spatulas I move the dough into the tart form. I cut off ans dough that is overlapping from the form. This will later go on top of the plums, similar to a crumble topping. The plums are put in circles into the tart form. On top of it I sprinkle about 1 tablespoon of sugar-cinnamon mix and add the left over dough in small pieces. The tart needs about 25-30 minutes in the oven.

For the cinnamon cream I take 200g fresh cream and whip it until it just starts to set. Now I add 1 tablespoon of sugar-cinnamon mix and whip it just to mix. The cream should not yet form peaks.

Cut the tart in generous pieces and serve it with the cinnamon cream on top or on the side.

You can make this tart also with apples or pears. You can also sprinkle some slivered almonds over it.

Enjoy and have fun in the kitchen!

Love

Carola

Mango-Cointreau Cake

I admire the cake artists who have the talent to turn every piece of cake into a piece of art by decorating it with colourful frosting, marzipan and fondant. It is a talent I don't have. And I love looking at these cakes.

But on the other hand I must confess that I prefer my cakes more natural. I don't like using food colour or artificial flavours. I also don't like it if cakes are coated with enormous amounts of sugar or butter cream. For me that ruins the taste of the cake. All I taste is sugar.

If I decorate a cake I either give it a rather thin layer of plain chocolate or ganache or just a simple frosting or glaze. For me the less coating there is the better. And when it comes to cream fillings I also like them to be packed with flavour rather than sugar. That doesn't mean that I don't like pastries, gateau or cream tarts. I just don't like the artificial sugary stuff.

There needs to be a balance between the flavours in a cake. One of the worst things for me are these death by chocolate cakes which have a sweet chocolate cake filled with chocolate butter cream and than drowned in chocolate sauce. Truly death by chocolate as the overdose of it kills it all.

I rather have a strong chocolate flavour balanced with some fruit or spice. And as much as I love desserts, cakes and sweets I don't like them too sweet.

Take for example a Sachertorte. It is a classic and the apricot jam used as a filling gives it the perfect balance with the chocolate cake and coating.

The same goes for fruity cakes and pastries. For me the filling of a key lime pie or lemon meringue must be nice lemony sour to balance the sweetness of the meringue that covers it.

But than this is purely my personal taste. The other day for example I made a fresh plum tart (recipe will follow). As the plums were a bit sour I simply served it with a slightly sweetened cinnamon cream on the side to balance it out.

Just before the mango season ends I have another recipe that has that sweet-sour balance. It is a Mango-Cointreau cake. There is a lot of fresh orange juice in the dough so it is not very sweet but than you also have lots of chunks of fresh sweet mango baked into it.

                          Fresh out of the oven... not even put on a serving plate

To start with I pre-heat my oven to 180°C.

For the 24cm rose flower baking dish shown in the picture I take 180g egg and beat it with 120g sugar until I have a fluffy whitish coloured mass. In a bowl I mix 150ml freshly squeezed orange juice with 110ml vegetable oil and 40g yoghurt. If you have a problem with lactose you can replace the yoghurt with vegetable oil. In another bowl I mix 225g flour with 10g baking powder. I slowly add the liquid mixture to the egg mixture and mix it until it is well blend. Now I add the flour to it and mix it just enough to get a smooth dough. Make sure you are not over mixing it.

After pouring the dough into the greased baking dish I put about 300g of fresh diced mango on top of it.

I bake it at 180°C for about 60 minutes. While the dough is rising the mango chunk will sink into the cake.

After I removed the cake from the oven I pour 4 tablespoons of Cointreau over the cake while it is still on the baking dish. Now I let it cool for about an hour. Than I take it out of the baking mould and pour another 4 tablespoons of Cointreau over the other side of the cake. Let it cool down completely.

I like the cake just like this as the different shades intensify the flower effect. If you like to decorate it further I suggest a simple sugar icing with 250g icing sugar and 2-3 tablespoons orange juice. If you like a stronger Cointreau flavour replace 1 tablespoon of the orange juice with Cointreau.

Enjoy and have fun in the kitchen!

Love

Carola

Chilli Con Carne

Recently a friend of mine was invited to a wedding. The bride and groom asked all their friends to send them a recipe which reminds them of a special moment with the particular friend. In the end they put it together into a nice personal cookbook. I think this is a wonderful idea.

My friends dilemma was that the recipe she wanted to send was not something she cooked, it was something I cooked for her on her birthday last year. Chilli Con Carne. So she called me up to get the recipe. I was more than happy to give it to her as it also reminds me of great times we spent together.

I got this recipe from my Mexican neighbour almost 20 years ago when I was living near Pittsburgh. At this time I also learned that the secret to a good Chilli con carne is to cook it with beer. The beer takes away the burning from the chillies. As a result you have a nice spicy Chilli without the burning sensation in your mouth. It really works even though I never found any scientific proof for it.

This makes it a truly international recipe as it is from a Mexican living in the US, given by a German living in India to my friend living in Turkey who sent it to the happy couple in Germany.

This is a dish that takes time because the longer it is cooked the better it tastes. And the more often it is reheated the better it takes.

For 6 portions I take 250g red beans and soak them overnight in water. If you have less time you can take 2 cans of canned red beans, drained and rinsed.

The next morning I cut a large onion, about 100g, into diced. In a large pot I heat 3-4 tablespoons vegetable oil. I add the onions along with 5 gloves garlic, peeled and coarsely chopped and 500g beef tenderloin cut into 2cm cubes. Fry it until the meat is brown on all sides. Now I add a teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, 2 teaspoons chilli powder, I like to use kashmiri chilli powder but you can use what ever chilli powder you like, and either 4 fresh red chillies or 5-6 dried red chillies cut in halves. I stir this well to temper the chilli. But be careful that it does not get burned.

To this mixture I add 400ml tomato paste, 500g fresh tomatoes, peeled and diced and the soaked beans. After stirring it well I add 500ml of beer. Any regular beer is fine. Do not use strong or dark beer. At this point if you like to you can add some sweet corn kennels to the Chilli.

I cover the pot with a lit, reduce the heat to a minimum and let the Chilli cook for a minimum of 2 hours. I check on it in regular intervals to give it a stir and add up more beer if necessary. If you use canned beans add them after 1 ½ hours of cooking as they otherwise will be overcooked.

After 2 hours I check the taste of the Chilli. If necessary I add up some more spice. This is also the time to add up salt to the Chilli. I let it cook for another 15-30 minutes.

While the Chilli is still on the stove I pre-heat my grill. I take about half a baguette and cut it in thin slices. In a small pot I melt 50g butter. With a bakers brush I brush both sides of the baguette slices with the melted butter and roast it under the grill until both sides are golden brown and crisp.

Most of the times I cook chilli con carne for a buffet at a party. It is so easy to serve. Just put the pot on the buffet, some roasted baguette or tortilla chips in a basket and a bowl of sour cream on the side and everyone helps them selves.

To serve it in a more formal way I pour the chilli into individual bowls. These I place on a big plate along with a small bowl of sour cream and some roasted baguette or tortilla chips on the side.

Enjoy and have fun in the kitchen!

Love

Carola

Ice Cream and Frozen Yoghurt

I like watching TV shows about cooking. I always get new inspiration from them and learn a lot about techniques.

A few days ago I was watching Donna Hays show. She made a frozen banana mango yoghurt that is so simple to make that I was wandering why I even bother to use my ice cream machine at all. All she did was cut mango and banana into pieces. Put them into zip-lock bags and let them freeze in the freezer. Once they were frozen she took them out and put them into a blender, added yoghurt to it and let the blender run until the is a thick frozen mixture. Pour it all into a container and put it back into the freezer for an hour to set. I thought WOW! That is by far the easiest way to get ice cream.

Being me I ended up in my kitchen trying it out. I must say the combination of banana and mango is delicious. And due to the sweetness of the fruits there is no need to add up any additional sugar which makes this the perfect diet dessert.

Curious as I am I wanted to know if this works also for non fruit ice creams. So I started experimenting with a coffee mocha ice cream. Basically a chocolate coffee blend. I am sure by now you have figured out that I am very fond of this combination of flavours.

I started by making a chocolate custard out of 400ml milk, 40g custard sugar, 40g cocoa powder and 25g cornstarch. In a pot a mix the cocoa with 350ml milk and bring it to boiling point. In a small bowl I mix the sugar with the cornstarch. Add 50ml milk to get a smooth mixture. While stirring I now add the cornstarch mixture to the boiling milk. Stirring constantly I let it boil for 1-2 minutes or until it thickens. This mixture I pour into an ice cube tray, let it cool down and than put it into the freezer. I use an ice cube tray as ice cubes are easy to crush in a blender. If you pour the custard into a container make sure you cut it into pieces before you put it into your blender.

In a second ice cube tray I freeze 200ml espresso mixed with 60g sugar. This ice cream needs the sugar to balance the bitterness of the cocoa and espresso. In the liquid stage it will taste very sweet but this will be toned down once the ice cream is frozen.

The next day I take 200ml well chilled whipped cream. I put the custard and the coffee ice cubes into the blender and let it run for about 30 seconds. Than I add the whipped cream and let the blender run until it is a thick paste. It all goes into a dish and back into the freezer for 1 hour to set.

It worked perfectly fine. If you like to you can add 50g coarsely chopped almonds as a special treat to the ice cream. And a special cup of coffee is ready.

It is so simple as all ingredients are frozen separately and than mixed. For me the days that I had to empty the freezer to chill the bowl of my ice making machine are gone.

I was so excited that I immediately tried another flavour. This time mango-ginger with yoghurt. The sweetness of the fruit combined with the spicy ginger turned out to be a very nice combination too.

For it I took 400g mango cut into small dices, put the fruit into a zip-lock bag and left it over night in the freezer. It is important to cut it into small ices as otherwise the blender might get damaged.

For the ginger syrup I take 2 table spoons custard sugar, 3 tablespoons water and 1,5cm fresh ginger finely grated. Boil this mixture over low heat until it starts thickening. Remove from the heat and let it cool down. Pour through a strainer.

Add 400g plain yoghurt to the ginger syrup and mix it well.

Put the frozen mango into the blender and let it run for a few seconds to cut the mango. Add the yoghurt mixture and let the blender run until you have a thick smooth frozen paste.

Pour the mixture into a container and put it back into the freezer to set.

Thank you Donna Hay for giving me this super simple method for making ice cream. From now on home made ice cream will be a regular on my menu.

Enjoy and have fun in the kitchen!

Love

Carola

Coconut Crumble Cake With Mango Filling

Yes, it is still mango season so you will get a few more mango recipes here because I simply love mangoes.

What is interesting is that I never really liked mangoes when I was younger. I developed a liking for them only after I moved to India. But I guess that has to do with the variety of mangoes that are available here. In Germany we usually get African or Thai mangoes and they taste completely different from the ones you get here.

A crumble cake is one of the easiest cakes to make and one of the few egg-less cakes I make. It is a great cake if you want to bake with your child as all you need is a bowl and a scale. No kitchen machine or other things. The best method for it is to mix it with your hands. And I am sure your little one will love to get a bit messy.

The basic recipe for crumple is a sugar, flour, butter mixture in the ratio 1-2-1.

You can reduce the sugar a bit is the filling is already very sweet. For the flour part you can substitute part or the entire flour with finely grated nuts. You can also add up spices like cinnamon or vanilla to it. The butter used must be cold straight out of the fridge. You can substitute it with margarine if you are vegan. But make sure to use a margarine that hardens in the fridge. Otherwise the dough will be soft and won't set after baking.

This recipe is for a 20x20cm square shaped dish. You can also make individual tarts or bake it in a 22cm round pie dish.

To start with pre-heating my oven to 175°C and greasing the baking dish. Now I take 1 medium size mango, peel it and cut it in small dices.

In a bowl I mix 100g coconut flakes with 100g flour and 75g sugar. I cut 100g well chilled butter into small dices. I like to mix half salted and unsalted butter together as I like the contrast of the mild saltiness to the sweetness. I add the butter to the dry ingredients and mix them with my hands until I have nice crumbles.

Now I give 2/3 of the crumbles into the baking dish and press it slightly down that they bond and give a nice base. On top I put the diced mango and than the rest of the crumbles.

It goes straight into the oven for about 30 minutes. After baking let the cake cool down for 5 minutes. Than cut it into pieces while it is still in the baking dish. Let it cool down completely before removing it from the baking dish.

Instead of mangoes you can use peaches or apricots, either fresh or canned.

I like to serve this either some nice whipped cream, some vanilla ice cream or a vanilla yoghurt.

For the vanilla yoghurt I mix 200g yoghurt with 2 tablespoons icing sugar, the seeds from 1 vanilla bean and 2 tablespoons whipped cream. Mix it all together and that’s it.

Enjoy and have fun in the kitchen!

Love

Carola