summer baking: Strawberry cake. A recipe

IDear Readers,

summer has arrived. FINALLY! After being gloomy and rainy and grey and cold, the sun has finally decided to show herself and to stay. It's warm, it's nice, the sky is blue and people are more happy and relaxed. 

I love the summer. It's my favourite time of the year. There's a reason why I have a huge Sun Mandala tattooed on my back! ;)

Anyway, with the warmer temperatures the first regional strawberries have arrived in the supermarket and I took some time yesterday (it was a holiday in Austria and I didn't had to work) to make an old family favourite: A strawberry joghurt cake. It's easy and quick to make, not too sweet and really fruity and refreshing. Perfect for eating it outside, with naked feet and the sun shining in your face. 

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Der Sommer hat es nun endlich nach Österreich geschafft. Nachdem die letzten Wochen grau, dunkel, nass und kalt waren, ist die Sonne nun aufgetaucht und wird auch endlich bleiben. Es ist warm, es ist schön, der Himmel ist blau und man merkt gleich, dass die Menschen viel fröhlicher und lockerer sind.

Ich liebe den Sommer, er ist mit Abstand meine liebste Jahreszeit. Mit Kälte kann ich ja so ganz und gar nicht umgehen. Hat schon einen Grund, warum ich mir eine große Mandala-Sonne auf den Rücken tätoowieren hab lassen! ;)

Jedenfalls hab ich den gestrigen Feiertag genutzt um mal wieder einen alten Familienklassiker zu backen - eine Erdbeer-Joghurt-Torte. Die geht ganz einfach, man braucht nicht viele Zutaten und sie schmeckt nicht zu süß, aber schön fruchtig und erfrischend. Perfekt um mit nackten Füßen draußen zu sitzen und die Torte zu genießen, während einem die Sonne ins Gesicht scheint.

You need:
250 g strawberries // 250 g Erdbeeren
500 g yoghurt // 500 g Joghurt
250 ml whipped cream // 250 ml Schlagobers
6 eggs // 6 Eier
6 spoonfuls of flour / 6 EL Mehl
6 spoonfuls of powdered sugar // 6 EL Staubzucker
6 pieces gelatine // 6 Platten Gelatine

First you make a sponge:
For that you separate the eggs. Mix the yolk with the sugar and the flour. Whip the eggwhites until they're stiff and gently stir them under the yolk-sugar-flour-mixture. 
Bake the sponge at 180 degrees for about 15-20 minutes.
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Zuerst den Biskuitteig: Die Eier trennen, die Eidotter mit dem Mehl und dem Zucker vermischen. Das Eiklar zu Schnee schlagen und vorsichtig unter die Dottermischung heben. Bei 180 Grad für ca. 15-20 Minuten backen.

For the topping whip the cream until it's stiff. 
Mix the yoghurt with 3-4 spoonfuls of powdered sugar. You can add a little lime juice if you want - that depends on your taste.
Soak the gelatine in water until it's soft. Then stir it in a warm pot until it's liquid. Add it to the yoghurt, then immediately mix the whipped cream under it.
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Für den Joghurtguss den Schlagobers schlagen. Den Joghurt mit 3-4 EL Staubzucker mischen. Wer mag kann auch ein paar Spritzer Zitrone untermischen - dann schmeckt's noch frischer!
Die Gelatine in Wasser einweichen und danach in einem Topf erwärmen, bis sie flüssig ist. Die flüssige Gelatine in die Joghurtmischung leeren und dann gleich die Schlagsahne unterheben.

Put the strawberries onto the cooled sponge, then put the yoghurt topping over it. Put it in the fridge for at least 2 hours until the yoghurt topping is stiff.
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Die Erdbeeren auf dem ausgekühlten Biskuitteig verteilen und die Joghurtmasse darüberleeren. Für mindestens 2 Stunden in den Kühlschrank stellen, bis die Joghurtmasse fest geworden ist. Am Besten ist es, wenn die Torte über Nacht im Kühlschrank bleibt. 

Enjoy with a large cup of coffee and some nice company.
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Den Kuchen mit einer großen Tasse Kaffee und netten Menschen genießen. Mahlzeit.

Double Chocolate Heaven

Hey Guys!

My best friend and her boyfriend love to cook and have guests. They invited me and my husband over for dinner many, many times and everything they ever made was utterly delicious. So we decided that it's our turn, to invite them and cook for them. They visited us last week and we had a lovely evening!
I made mushroom risotto. I love making risotto and it turned out yummy everytime I made it.

But I thought about dessert for a while. Should I bake a cake? Make muffins? A mousse? Or something else? Just a fruit salad?

A while ago I stumbled over a german blog called Tulpentag. Jenny posts about Interior, DIY and she shares tons of delicious recipes. It was there that I found the recipe for the Double Chocolate Tarte and I decided that THIS was the cake I needed to try. It turned out wonderfully delicious and that's why I asked Jennys permission to share that recipe with you, as it's only available in German on her blog. Click over to visit here for the nicer pictures!

Here we go.
You need:

200 g dark chocolate (I used a 40 percent chocolate)
60 g coconut oil
130 g sunflower oil
220g brown sugar
5 eggs
30 g cocoa powder
2 spoons (spelt) flour
100g raspberries

Preheat the oven to 190 degrees.
First melt the chocolate with the coconut oil.

When the chocolate is liquid, put it in a lager bowl. Mix it with sunflower oil, the sugar, the flour and the cocoa powder. Mix until its smooth.

Separate the eggs. Beat the egg whites until they're stiff. Gently stir the egg yolk into your mixture and then fold in the beaten egg whites.

Put the dough into a tarte dish. 

Put the dish into the oven and bake the tarte for about 20-23 minutes. I used a toothpick to see, if the tarte is ready. Prick the toothpick into the tarte - no dough should stick to your toothpick when you put it back out!

I made a rasperry sauce to go with it. Therefore I squished the raspberries through a sieve and mixed it with a little sugar and vanilla.

Et voilá - here is your super delicious double chocolate tarte. Best enjoyed with freshly brewed coffee and some lovely people as your company!

Soulfood Saturday

Hey guys,so today I got up in the morning and immediately thought: I want to bake! Now you might or might not know, baked goods are an extremely important part in the Austrian culinary culture. As I told you in my wedding post this can take a turn into the extreme.When I think back to my childhood I remember that my mother and grandmother always used to bake on the weekends - because then they had enough time to spend in the kitchen. When we visited my grandmother on sunday my mother always asked: What did you cook and bake today? And then they talked about food - cause food is important!Autumn has finally arrived here in Austria. After a glory, sunny and very hot summer, the weather is now cold, misty and wet. And I hate it, I really do. So to make myself feel less miserable I decided to bake (for the first time, might I add) an Austrian classic: Buchteln.Strange word, I know, so I consulted Wikipedia to help me explain them to you:

Buchteln (pl., sing. Buchtel; also Ofennudel(n), Rohrnudel(n)), are sweet rolls made of yeast dough, filled with jam, ground poppy seeds or curd and baked in a large pan so that they stick together. The traditional Buchtel is filled with plum Powidl jam. Buchteln are topped with vanilla sauce, powdered sugar or eaten plain and warm. Buchteln are served mostly as a dessert but can also be used as a main dish.The origin of the Buchteln is the region of Bohemia, but they play a major part in the Austrian, Slovak, Slovenian, andHungarian cuisine too. (source: Wikipedia)

So now that I made you smarter, let's get started:

Ingredients: 800 gramms flour1 package yeast150 gramms caster sugar120 gramms butter2 egg yolks, 1 whole eggca 500 ml milks

First, put the flour into a large bowl. Create a little crate in the middle where you crumble your yeast into.

Warm the milk in a small pot and put the sugar into the milk. The milk should be lukewarm, just test it with your finger. If it feels warm and not too hot for you, it's perfect. Put a little bit of the milk on to the yeast to dissolve it. Now leave it for about 15 minutes. 

milk and dissolving yeast

The yeast should rise and look something like this:

it has risen (Please read that in a deep masculine voice!)

While you let the yeast rise, melt the butter in the rest of the milk. When the yeast has risen, put the rest of the milk and the eggs into the bowl with your flour-yeast mixture. Keep a little bit of the whole egg and mix it with a splash of milk, this will later be lathered on your buchteln.Now let the dough rise for at least one hour. After that it should look something like this:

the dough

and the dough after it has risen. It should at leaste double up its sice. Put it in a warm place and put a dish towel on top of the bowel. That way your dough will rise easily!

Preheat the oven to 175 degrees.

Now take the dough out on a surface where you put some flour. Cut the dough into four parts. Take on part and roll it out. It should be about 5-10 mms thick. 

whoops, should have turned that picture. sorry.

Cut the rolled out though into squares - they can be small oder big - just how you like it.

Now you can fill these squares. You can practically fill them with whatever you want. My mother always mixed cocoa powder and caster sugar (about 50:50) and filled them with it. I tried to fill them with strawberry jam and Nutella. A mixture of Cinnamon and Sugar will also taste lovely (if you like cinnamon - I HATE the taste of it, so no cinnamon for me!) Don't fill too much of it into them or it will run out again. 

that's the cocoa - sugar mix. the cocoa will melt and the sugar will make it a little crunchy. My favorite filling!

Now knead the four corners of the dough together, so you have a nice tight roll. No jam or nutella or cocoa should be able to run out of it. 

Dunk the sides of the roll into oil - this will help prevent them from sticking together, and place them in a buttered pan. 

should have taken a bigger pan...

If you filled all the Buchteln, take a kitchen brush and put the egg-milk mixture on top of them. This will give them a nice, brown color.

Put the pan into the oven and bake the Buchteln for about 20 minutes. If the tops get brown too fast, just cover them up with a piece of baking parchment. The Buchteln are ready when they begin to smell delicious. Alternatively, you can take a toothpick and pick it into the Buchteln. No dough should stay on the pick. 

omnomnomnom

Enjoy your Buchteln while they are still hot, with a cup of coffee or tea - whichever you fancy. If you visit an Austrian café, they will drown the Buchteln in a Vanilla sauce! But my mother always made them plain, so that's what I'm used to!

Please let me know if you tried this recipe at home - I'd love to hear if you liked it! Now if you'll excuse me - I have a delicious treat to devour! Have a lovely weekend, everyone!