Sunday, December 28, 2008

Homemade Cream Cheese Cinnamon Rolls



If there's one recipe involving yeast dough that is really worth your time it's cinnamon rolls! Oh my, I had no idea homemade cinnamon rolls tasted so much better than any purchased cinnamon rolls (at least any I have ever had). 

A while back I was searching the Saveur website and found a recipe for Cream Cheese Cinnamon Rolls. I showed it to my sister and we immediately decided we would have to make them some time. When Christmas rolled around, my sister decided to make the cinnamon rolls for Christmas Day breakfast. She prepared the dough and filling on Christmas Eve. When I arrived at her house that day I finished the recipe up to the point where you let the cinnamon rolls rise in the pan (we actually used a glass baking dish and it worked just fine). After letting the rolls rise for a while, we put them in the refrigerator overnight. When I woke up the next morning my sister had already baked the rolls and added the remaining melted butter. All I had to do was ice the rolls. I just used 1 cup of confectioners' sugar and water instead of buttermilk. Once the icing was on, we ate the rolls right away. Wow, there is nothing more delicious than a warm cream cheese cinnamon roll fresh out of the oven--mmhmm!

I recommend eating the cinnamon rolls as soon as possible since they become stale really fast. If you can't eat them (or serve them to other people) while they are still warm, I recommend reheating them. 

Cream Cheese Cinnamon Rolls

Makes 8 rolls

For the dough:
1 1/4-oz. package active dry yeast
1/2 tsp. plus 1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup milk, at room temp.
2 tbsp. light brown sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 egg
1 egg yolk
2 3/4 cups flour, sifted, plus more for kneading
3/4 tsp. fine salt
8 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temp., plus more for the pan

For the filling:
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
1/4 cup finely chopped pecans
1/4 cup finely chopped walnuts
1/4 cup raisins
1 tbsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. fine salt
1/8 tsp. ground cloves
2 tbsp. maple syrup
4 oz. cream cheese, at room temp. 
8 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted

For the icing: 
2 cups confectioners' sugar
1/4 cup buttermilk

1. Make the dough: In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with a hook, combine yeast, 1/2 tsp. of the sugar, and 1/4 cup water heated to 115°. Stir to combine and let sit until foamy, about 10 minutes. Add remaining sugar, milk, light brown sugar, vanilla, egg, and egg yolk. Beat on low speed until thoroughly combined, 1 minute. Turn mixer off and add the flour and salt. Mix on medium speed until the dough just comes together. Turn mixer speed to high and knead dough for 4 minutes. Add the butter and continue kneading until dough is smooth and pulls away from the side of the bowl, about 6 minutes. Remove bowl from the mixer, cover with plastic wrap, and set aside in a warm place. Let the dough rise for 1 1/2-2 hours, until it has doubled in size.

2. Meanwhile, make the filling: Combine the sugar, dark brown sugar, pecans, walnuts, raisins, cinnamon, salt, and cloves in a large bowl; stir to combine. Stir in the maple syrup. Set filling aside. 

3. Punch the dough down and turn it out onto a heavily floured surface. Gently knead the dough until it's no longer sticky, adding more flour as necessary, about 1 minute. Using a floured rolling pin, roll the dough into a 10" x 10" square. In a small bowl, beat the cream cheese with a rubber spatula until it's smooth and spreadable. Spread the cream cheese evenly over the dough square; the fold square into thirds as you would fold a letter to fit into an envelope. Take the open ends of the resulting rectangle and fold into thirds again, to  make a smaller dough square. Invert the dough so that the seam is face down and, using the rolling pin, gently roll into a 10" x 20" rectangle.

4. Turn the dough so that the short sides are parallel to you. Brush the top of the dough with half of the melted butter. Drizzle the reserved filling over the dough, leaving a 1" border at the edge farthest away from you. Lightly press the filling into the dough. Using your hands, lift up the bottom edge of the dough and roll it forward into a tight cylinder. Place dough cylinder, seam side down, on a cutting board and, using a thin, sharp knife, trim off the ends; cut cylinder crosswise into 8 equal-size slices. Nestle the slices, cut sides up and evenly spaced from one another, into a buttered 9" x 13" light-colored metal baking pan. Cover pan with plastic wrap and set aside in a warm place to let rise for 2 hours. (Alternatively, the rolls may be refrigerated overnight.)

5. Heat oven to 375°. Uncover the rolls. (If refrigerated, let them sit at room temp. for 15 minutes). Bake until golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center of the rolls comes out clean, about 30 minutes. 

6. Make the icing: While the rolls are baking, whisk together the sugar and buttermilk in a small bowl until smooth. 

7. Transfer the pan of cinnamon rolls to a cooling rack; brush with remaining melted butter. Let cool for 5 minutes. Dip the tines of a fork into the icing and drizzle all over rolls. Serve immediately. 

Monday, December 15, 2008

Würzburg and Gasthof Bären in Randersacker

Last weekend my mom and I went to Würzburg to do some Christmas shopping and to see the Christmas market in nearby Sommerhausen. Würzburg has lots of nice little shops, for example Sinus Shopping and Eckhaus Wohnaccessoires. We also stopped at Café Michel and bought a piece of poppyseed strudel (Mohnstrudel), a piece of cherry strudel (Kirschstrudel) and a piece of poppyseed cake (Mohnkuchen) to enjoy the next day. The poppyseed cake was my favorite of the three.

After browsing through Würzburg we made our way to Sommerhausen. The Christmas market was set up partly in courtyards and partly in houses and galleries. The emphasis on arts and crafts is what sets it apart from other Christmas markets. Of course they were selling the traditional mulled wine (Glühwein), but I don't drink it because it's usually sickly sweet. 

We quickly browsed the market and then headed to the restaurant, Gasthof Bären, in Randersacker where we had reservations. The meal turned out to be excellent. I ordered char cooked with vegetables and served with potatoes (Saibling blau). 



My mom had leg of venison with vegetables and fried dumplings (rosa gebratene Rehkeule mit Gemüse und gebratenen Serviettenknödeln).

 

Then for dessert we ordered the selection of desserts (Dessertvariation). It included Christstollen parfait (geeistes Christstollenparfait), rum pot (Rumtopf), quince mousse (Quittenmousse), mango sorbet (Mangosorbet) and some other kind of sorbet. Christstollen is a typical German Christmas specialty. It's a yeast cake generally made with flour, sugar, butter, milk, raisins, candied orange and candied lemon peel and topped with powdered sugar. There are many variations, such as a stollen made with marzipan, which is my favorite. Rum pot is also a Christmas specialty. You start making it in summer by using fresh fruit and soaking it in rum and sugar. Throghout the coming months you keep adding more fruit and rum. Towards the end of the maturing process you add spices. The rum pot is then served, e.g. with ice cream, around Christmas.  


Monday, November 24, 2008

Winter-Spiced Molten Chocolate Cakes


I just had to have something chocolatey and dense today. What else is new, right? I was getting kind of sick of making hot chocolate. It just didn't taste the same anymore. So I decided to search for lava or molten chocolate cakes on epicurious and found a recipe I had made a few years ago: Winter-Spiced Molten Chocolate Cakes with Rum-Ginger Ice Cream. The title itself is enough to make your mouth water. Mmhmm. 

I didn't make the ice cream because that really would have been pushing it just to satisfy the craving of one person, namely myself, and I also decided to make just a half recipe (so 4 instead of 8 portions) to ensure no over-eating. I also left out the white pepper since I usually don't like pepper in my sweets. Although there are lots of ingredients in the cakes the recipe is really simple to make and the result is so delicious that any amount of work would have been worth it. 

Here's the recipe.

Makes 8

Ice Cream
1 pint vanilla ice cream, softened
2 tablesp. chopped crystallized ginger
1 tablesp. dark rum

Cakes
14 oz. bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped
1 1/4 c. ( 2 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter
2 tsp. ground coriander
2 tsp. ground cardamom
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground cloves
1/2 tsp. ground white pepper
6 large eggs
6 large egg yolks
2 tsp. vanilla extract
3 c. powdered sugar
1 c. flour

Additional powdered sugar
Crystallized ginger strips

For ice cream:
Placed softened ice cream in medium bowl. Using plastic spatula, fold ginger and rum into ice cream. Transfer to airtight container. Freeze ice cream mixture until firm, about 4 hours. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Keep frozen.)

For cakes:
Generously butter eight 3/4-c. soufflé dishes. Stir chocolate, butter and all spices in heavy medium saucepan over low heat until melted and smooth. Cool slightly. Whisk eggs, egg yolks, and vanilla in large bowl to blend. Whisk in 3 c. powdered sugar, then chocolate mixture, then flour. Transfer batter to prepared dishes, filling to top and dividing equally. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and refrigerate.)

Preheat oven to 425°F. Bake cakes until batter has risen above dish, top edges are dark brown, and centers are still soft and runny, about 15 min, or about 18 min. for refrigerated batter. Run small knife around cakes to loosen. Allow cakes to rest in dishes 5 min. Using hot pad and holding dish very firmly, place plate gently atop 1 cake and invert onto plate. Repeat with remaining cakes. Dust with powdered sugar. Top with crystallized ginger. Serve cakes with rum-ginger ice cream. 

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

Spiced Hot Chocolate



For a while now I have been craving a really good hot chocolate. And what I mean by a "really good hot chocolate" is a thick, smooth, velvety, chocolatey drink that leaves you intensely satisfied and happy. 

The last time I had a really good hot chocolate was this summer at Ginger Elizabeth's in Sacramento (see previous blog post). You must be thinking "Who is crazy enough to drink a hot chocolate in the summer in Sacramento?!" But I had heard so many good things about the Oaxacan Spicy Hot Chocolate that I had to try it. And it did live up to the hype!

The last time I had had a really good hot chocolate before this summer was in the winter of 2006 when I was in Salzburg. It was at the famous café Demel. Not only was the hot chocolate delicious but so was the whipped cream (Austrian: Schlagobers, one of my favorite Austrian words) that topped it. Mmmm. Good memories. 

Seeing that it is so hard to find a good hot chocolate, I was very glad when I came across a recipe for Spiced Hot Chocolate in the Bon Appétit of December 2005 a couple of days ago. So today, when the craving for something I couldn't specify came over me, I remembered the recipe and went straight to work. The recipe is simple and the outcome is more than satisfying. The hint of cinnamon is just perfect. Believe me, this hot chocolate will make you happy. 

But one word of advice: do not drink it in the evening. I made my hot chocolate after dinner (which was a few hours ago) and I still feel like I could bounce off the walls! One last note: I made half the recipe, so technically enough for three people, and basically just filled up one mug with it, which used up 3/4 of the recipe I made. Next time I would just fill a mug halfway (since I don't have any demitasse cups) and then add whipped cream. That way you won't get quite the chocolate shock!

Here's the recipe:

Whisk:
2 c. whole milk
1/2 c. (packed) golden brown sugar
1/2 c. whipping cream
in a heavy large saucepan over medium heat until mixture begins to simmer. Reduce heat to medium-low and add
1/4 c. unsweetened cocoa powder
4 oz. (115 g) chopped bittersweet or semisweet chocolate
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
Whisk until chocolate is melted and smooth. Pour hot chocolate into 6 demitasse cups. Garnish each with whipped cream and a cinnamon stick. 

Serves 6. 

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Chocolate Almond Torte (Torta Caprese)



I have a lot of blogging catching up to do. Hopefully once my thesis is turned in there will be more time for blogging. For now I am going to share a wonderful chocolate almond torte recipe from the Bon Appétit May 2002 issue that I made for my mom's birthday two weeks ago. The recipe is simple and the cake is wonderfully moist. There is no flour in the recipe so the cake is dense, but not as dense as a chocolate-only flourless cake. The almonds make for a looser texture. The next time I make the recipe I think I may leave out the almond extract. I don't think it is needed. Also, I would like to try orange peel instead of lemon peel. My aunt already tried it and really liked it. 

1 1/2 c. blanched slivered almonds
1 c. sugar
8 oz. bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped
5 large eggs, separated
1/2 teasp. almond extract
1/2 teasp. grated lemon peel
1/2 c. (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted, cooled

1/4 teasp. salt

Powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter 10-inch-diameter springform pan with 2 3/4-inch-high sides. Combine almonds and 1/3 c. sugar in processor. Blend until almonds are very finely ground. Transfer almond mixture to medium bowl; do not clean processor. Add chocolate and 1/3 c. sugar to processor. Blend until chocolate is finely ground but not beginning to clump, about 45 sec.; stir into almond mixture. Using electric mixture, beat egg yolks and remaining 1/3 c. sugar in large bowl until mixture falls in heavy ribbon when beaters are lifted, about 5 min. Beat in almond extract and lemon peel. Fold in chocolate-almond mixture, then butter. 

Using clean dry beaters, beat egg whites and salt in another large bowl until stiff but not dry. Fold whites into chocolate batter in three additioons. Transfer batter to prepared pan. 

Bake cake until tester inserted into center comes out with moist crumbs attached, about 40 min. Cool cake completely in pan on rack. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover; store at room temperature.) Cut around pan sides to loosen; release sides. Sift powdered sugar over cake. 

Saturday, October 11, 2008

Klara in Nürnberg

I have been pleasantly surprised by a fairly new restaurant in Nürnberg called Klara. It opened in October 2006 after previous restaurants at its location (next to the "Neues Museum", the museum of art and design) had failed. Since its opening I had been to Klara a few times, but I was never thrilled until my last visit a few days ago. I think I know why. As of May of this year the restaurant has a new chef. And with this new chef the dishes have become better! Following are pictures of what we had. Everything was delicious and I will definitely be going back soon!

Ravioli with Mussels and Root Vegetables in a Saffron Cream Sauce 


Beef Roulade with Mashed Potatoes

Side Salad


Wine Chocolate Cake with Stewed Prunes and Whipped Cream


P.S. Klara has a wonderful outdoor seating area on the "Klarissenplatz", which is great in summer. 

Thursday, September 25, 2008

Best Brownie Recipe


Sherry Yard's "Out-of-This-World Brownies" are the best brownies I have ever made! They are dense and smooth almost like a truffle. The recipe is from her book "Desserts by the Yard" and is the first recipe I have tried from this newly acquired treasure.

Here's the recipe. I have condensed the words to a bare minimum and have left out the salt since I never put salt in my desserts unless I am wanting that sweet/salty contrast, which is hardly ever the case. 

3/4 c plus 2 tblsp. flour
4 oz. (1 stick or 110 g) unsalted butter
1 oz. (30 g) unsweetened chocolate
7 oz. (200 g) bittersweet chocolate
2 large eggs
1 c sugar

1. Preheat the oven to 350 °F (177 °C). Butter an 8-inch square baking pan.
2. Melt butter with all the chocolate in a pan set over a pot of simmering water. Stir till mixture is smooth. Let cool off.
3. Beat eggs and sugar until fluffy. Add butter and chocolate mixture and mix well. Fold in flour.
4. Scrape batter into the pan and put in oven. Bake, rotating the pan from front to back halfway through, for 25-30 min, until slightly firm to the touch and a crust has formed on top.
5. Allow to cool in the pan (if you can wait that long--I can't). Cut into squares. 

You will not regret making this recipe! 


Monday, September 22, 2008

Fig Salad To Die For!



I never liked fresh figs until this year. I used to think their leathery skin and their slimy insides were pretty gross, but now I'm their biggest fan. When I saw Jamie Oliver's recipe for a fig salad the picture looked so tasty I had to make it. 

Here's my version of the recipe for two people:

2 ripe figs
1/2 mozzarella
2 slices Parma ham

Dressing:
3 tblsp olive oil
1 1/2 tblsp lemon juice
1 tblsp balsamic vinegar
1/2 tblsp honey
salt and pepper to taste

Cut a cross into the figs starting at the stem. Place pieces of mozzarella and ham around the figs and lightly pour dressing over the whole assembly. 

This recipe is so simple, looks amazing and tastes absolutely fabulous!

Saturday, September 13, 2008

Ella in Sacramento



I now have a favorite restaurant in Sacramento: Ella Dining Room and Bar. The food is outstanding and the interior design is very nice as well. What's fun about the food at Ella is that the portions are small (or should I say normal) so you can choose a couple of different plates to share as we did. All dishes were delicious, fresh, and cooked to perfection, but probably the BEST one was the ravioli dish. The ravioli were chock-full of mushrooms and the pasta had the perfect consistency. Mmmmm.

Following are the menu items we chose with their names as written on the menu. I like how Ella doesn't come up with fancy names for their dishes that mean nothing. They keep it simple by describing the dish.

Roasted Baby Beets, Pistachio, Watercress and Olio Nuevo Olive Oil



Raviolis of Mushrooms and Fresh Goat Cheese with Leeks and Black Truffle Butter



Gnocchi, Broccolini, Parma Prosciutto, Organic Cream and Parmesan



Grouper, Eggplant Caponata and Olive Tapenade



Cheesecake with Graham Cracker Crust and Market Berry Compote



Chocolate Brownie with Toasted Almonds, Fudge Sauce and Chocolate Chip Cocoa Nib Ice Cream


Next time I'm in Sacramento I will definitely have to go to Ella's again. It is at the top of my list. 

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Back in the USA


I set foot in America for the first time in over two years last Wednesday. After having already flown on two flights for 9.5 hours before landing in Philadelphia and with a 5 hour layover and an additional 6 hour flight to California ahead of me I knew I was going to need some caffeine. First stop: Saxbys Coffee, a coffee chain I had never seen before. I ordered a low-fat iced mocha and got exactly what I had expected and wanted! Yay! Then I bought an old-fashioned donut to eat with my mocha at a very well-known donut chain and was totally disappointed. The only sensations I had were sweet and oily with a bit of fluff. Nothing special at all. This chain has recently set up shop all over Berlin, Germany, and I had tried a donut there on one of my recent visits, but hadn't liked it. So when I saw the chain here in the US I thought: 'Let's give it one more try. The donuts may be better here.' No chance, though. The donuts at Safeway, a supermarket chain we have in California, even taste better!

I thought my bad food experiences were done for the day (I had already been exposed to bad airplane food earlier in the day--big surprise...) when I found out as I was boarding the plane that there were no free drinks or food to be had on my six hour flight across the United States! WHAT?!?! As if that weren't bad enough the food and drinks had to be paid for in cash and I didn't have any more cash after having spent it on my "healthy" welcome-back-to-America snack. Fortunately, or, rather, unfortunately, my neighbor on the flight was kind enough to give me 9 dollars so I could purchase a tiny, non-exciting "chef's salad" and a bottle of water. What a waste of money! 


The next day, Thursday, I gave in to a craving I had been having lately: root beer float! My dad and I were shopping at one of my favorite supermarkets in town, Nugget Market, and I decided to pick up some root beer and some Häagen-Dazs vanilla ice cream for the float. Nugget Market had a wide selection of root beers, but almost all of them had flavorings in them and I was looking for something as natural as possible. I finally settled on Virgil's Root Beer. It was the only root beer I could find that didn't have any flavorings in it. Just herbs and spices. So after lunch I made a root beer float for my dad and myself. For those of you unfamiliar with root beer floats: all you do is put vanilla ice cream in a glass and fill the glass with root beer. Yum yum! I really like Virgil's and would buy it again. 


On Friday I fell in love...with Ginger Elizabeth Chocolates. The Gateau Maison (photo: right), described as a "Classic European Chocolate Cake", was delicious, but the Gianduja Cake (photo: left) was just outstanding!! The Gianduja Cake is described as "72% Bittersweet Chocolate Mousse, Chocolate Biscuit with a Crunchy Hazelnut Bottom". The combination of textures and flavors are a celebration in the mouth. Both cakes were very fresh. After sampling both cakes my friend and I decided to eat the Gateau Maison first because its flavors were less intense than the flavors of the Gianduja Cake. We also shared a Oaxacan Spicy Hot Chocolate with whipped cream which was also very, very, very tasty. I wish I had the recipes!

More stories to come after I get back from Slow Food Nation taking place this week in San Francisco!



Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Master's Thesis Diet



Writing a master's thesis has done all sorts of weird things to my diet. First it made me addicted to coffee (for me that's one to two coffee drinks a day--if I drank more I'd be bouncing off the walls). Then it made me start craving sweets even more than usual. And I don't mean just any sweets. I'll have a particular craving. For example, today it was chocolate. What I really wanted was some kind of  chocolate cake. Like a molten chocolate cake or a cake with ganache. Something really dense and smooth and rich. But there was nothing of that sort to be found in the vicinity of the library, thank goodness. So I had to settle for something else instead. I ended up getting a scoop of chocolate coconut ice cream at Australian, my new favorite ice cream shop in town (see photo above: macadamia nut and chocolate coconut ice cream). Ever since Campo Eis left downtown (it can now be found in Schniegling) there was no place for me to get a decent ice cream cone since I don't like any of the ice cream the other ice cream shops offer downtown. They all taste fake to me and I wouldn't be surprised if they were indeed made from mixes. That's why I was thrilled to learn that Australian does not use any preservatives, artificial colors or flavors in their ice cream. Which is also why one scoop of ice cream in a cone costs €1,90 and two scoops cost €2,90. But I'll pay almost any price to avoid chemicals in my food!

The thesis has, however, also brought some good changes to my diet! Since I started making myself go to the library every day to work I noticed that I was eating less. When I was working at home I would convince myself that I was hungry and needed to go to the kitchen when in reality I was just bored and was grateful for any kind of distraction (weird enough the I'd-rather-clean-the-bathroom-than-work syndrome has not gotten a hold of me this time). But the thing about working at the library is that you do have to eat when you're there for several hours. After just a few days I got tired of trying to find decent and cheap things to eat in the vicinity of the library. It's just not possible! So I decided I would cook meals at home to take with me to the library. I also decided those meals would include seasonal vegetables. 

I had recently started seeing Hokkaido pumpkins at the store and decided they would be my first victim since I love their color and knew from past experience that they were quite tasty. So I bought a baby pumpkin at the organic market near my house and went through possible recipes in my head on my way home. I decided I would cook the pumpkin on the stove and spice it up with garam masala, an Indian spice mixture. The mix I like is by the company Lebensbaum and is organic.  The ingredients of this particular mix are cardamom, pepper, cinnamon, and cloves. Different companies put different spices in their garam masala mix. I left the skin on the pumpkin because it becomes very soft during the cooking process and it is high in fiber. We all know the benefits of fiber... 



Hokkaido Pumpkin with Garam Masala

1 lb Hokkaido pumpkin in small chunks
Water
1 tsp. Garam Masala 
Salt 
Pepper
Sour Cream
Cilantro

Place pumpkin chunks in a pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil. Add garam masala and salt and pepper. Let simmer until pumpkin is soft, about 15 minutes. Top with sour cream and garnish with cilantro. 



Sunday, August 10, 2008

Crazy For Crumble



I have always loved crumbles. There is something fabulous about having the sweet gooey caramelized fruit on the bottom and the crunchy crumble on top. I also have always been a huge fan of berries. So when I saw Aran's new post on her blog "Cannelle et Vanille" with the title "Saturn Nectarines, Red Currants and Raspberries" I was immediately swept away and had to try the recipe ASAP. 

Until I saw the recipe I didn't realize that Saturn (or donut) nectarines existed. I had only ever heard of Saturn (or donut) peaches (German: Weinbergpfirsich). Since I have never seen Saturn nectarines here I just went ahead and bought Saturn peaches. 

The crumble and the mace mascarpone cream turned out just perfect!!! It was so good that my friend and I ate the whole crumble in one sitting...and I made a larger recipe to be able to use up all the crumble (excuses, excuses...). I plan to make the crumble again soon. However, next time I may substitute almonds for the pistachios since pistachios are really expensive. I also will go lighter on the mace in the mascarpone cream. And next time I will make sure I only make enough crumble as there are mouths to feed. Any volunteers???

Monday, July 28, 2008

1 Schnitzel = 2 Beers



Summertime is Biergarten time! Now, if you had asked me a year ago I wouldn't have agreed with that statement since I just recently started actually liking beer. I know, it's shocking! Back when I lived in the US people would have a cow when I told them I didn't drink beer because I didn't like it: "But you're German! You have to like beer!" Nyah nyah nyah. Well, things have changed now. I've developed an appreciation for the bitter liquid. But I don't drink just any beer. I still prefer dark beers to light ones because they are more smooth and have more intense flavors.

Keeping this in mind I have really started liking Biergartens (Bier=beer, Garten=garden). They are basically outdoor restaurants that serve beer (and other drinks) and food. This summer is the first time I went to the Kopernikus Biergarten in Nürnberg and it is by far my favorite one. It belongs to the Kopernikus Restaurant and is located right on the ancient city wall of Nürnberg. The food is a combination of Polish and Franconian specialties since the restaurant is located in the Krakauer Haus, which belongs to the city of Krakow, Poland (German spelling: Krakau).

The last time I went to Kopernikus Biergarten was when my visitors from California were here. I told them they couldn't leave Nürnberg without trying the Schnitzel at Kopernikus! At this restaurant the Schnitzel (breaded pork fried in a pan) is huge (see photo above)! There's a common German saying that one Schnitzel is the same as two beers (in Germany beer is its own food group). Well, in this case 1 Schnitzel= at least 3 beers! Not only is the Schnitzel huge, it is served with a large portion of fries (German: Pommes Frites, stolen from the French language) or potato salad (German: Kartoffelsalat). We tried both combinations and both were really tasty. I was a little disappointed, though, that they didn't have Heinz ketchup to go with the fries. Instead they had this other nasty German ketchup that tasted too much like vinegar. 

After we ate and had some beers we decided to go downstairs and have cocktails at Bar Europa, which is also located in the Krakauer Haus. That bar is amazing! They have the most comprehensive drinks menu I have ever seen. The night we were there I had a Flying Kangaroo and a Golden Cadillac. Both were outstanding! Needless to say that bar is now my favorite cocktail bar in Nürnberg. One piece of advice, though, if you ever go there: Beware of the complimentary peanuts--they are totally addicting and you get free refills...




Saturday, July 19, 2008

Café Neuer in Nürnberg



Finally I have found a place that sells excellent cakes in Nürnberg! I was already giving up hope when one day not too long ago I went to Café t9 and they were serving these cakes from Café Neuer. I had never heard of the café before. I tried their cakes at t9 a couple of times and one day while my mom and I were downtown we decided we needed a sweet fix so we thought, why not check out Café Neuer? When we got there I was thrilled to see they had a large selection of cakes (and other sweets). They had cakes with chocolate, with fruit, and with other fillings. They also had a large selection of small individual mousse cakes either with fruit or chocolate. The only negative thing about the café is that the interior is quite hideous and definitely not a place I would like to sit down and enjoy a nice piece of cake. I find this quite disappointing since I like finding cafés to frequent. In this case, I would recommend getting the cakes to go. 

Last week I had friends from California visiting me and I thought it would be great to treat them to some German cakes. So I headed over to Café Neuer and selected some cakes. It was really hard to decide, but I finally chose the following cakes (see photo above):
  • Poppyseed cheesecake with streusel topping (this is a common cake found in Germany)
  • Chocolate hazelnut mousse with hazelnut filling (in the photo the glaze is a little damaged from transportation)
  • Raspberry mousse with fresh raspberries on top 
  • Spanish vanilla cake: a spongy layer cake with chocolate bits and filled with cream, topped with a layer of marzipan (I LOVE marzipan in cakes)
All the cakes were delicious, but I would say that the chocolate hazelnut mousse and the Spanish vanilla cake were my favorites. So far, though, all the cakes I have tried have been good and they are all really fresh. This cannot be said for many cake shops, especially when they have a large selection. None of the cakes from Café Neuer have had the dreaded "fridge taste". Do you know that taste? It's when the cream filling in cakes or other pastries (which because of the perishability of the cream are stored in the fridge) has some off-flavors. The off-flavors come from lipid (fat) oxidation in the cream. And the longer the cake sits in the fridge the more the lipids oxidize. Therefore, fresh cake=no oxidation of lipids=no disgusting fridge taste!

Thursday, July 10, 2008

Calzones and Cookies

I had invited a friend over for dinner for Wednesday evening. After plowing through many recipes I finally decided I would make calzones for dinner and ice cream sandwiches for dessert. 

As I wrote in my last post I haven't always had good experience with yeast. Although my latest experience with yeast was really good I decided to start the calzone dough early in the day just in case my last success had been a fluke. For the dough I used the recipe for Calzones with Cheese, Sausage, and Roasted Red Pepper on epicurious.com. I had no problems. In fact I couldn't keep the dough from rising! I punched it down many times and even put it in the fridge hoping to slow it down and it still went berserk. Very good recipe, is all I can say! For the filling of the calzone I used the recipe Double-Cheese and Prosciutto Calzone. I was thrilled when I found the recipe because it reminded me of a calzone that Cafe Bernardo in Davis used to serve. The calzones turned out really well! However, they didn't really turn brown. That may have to do with the type of oven we have. But the taste was still fabulous! 

For the ice cream sandwiches I used Häagen-Dazs vanilla ice cream (just about the only brand of ice cream I eat in Germany since most other brands use vanillin, which is articial vanilla, and I can't stand it!) and triple chocolate fudge cookies from Cannelle et Vanille (a food blog with beautiful photos that always make my mouth water). This is the first time I used a recipe found on a food blog and my experience was really good. The ice cream sandwiches were heavenly. Must I mention that the cookies are great for breakfast the next day? 



Tuesday, July 1, 2008

Weekend of Baking

This past weekend I caught the baking bug. I decided I wanted to try a new recipe, so I went to the Gourmet magazine's website and looked around. There I found a recipe on khachapuri, Georgian cheese bread, that looked scrumptious. Now, I'm not a big fan of working with yeast because I haven't had much experience with it and the experience I have had wasn't positive. Despite classes in food chemistry I have managed to kill yeast with water that was too hot. I should have known better! Well, I do now...

So I ended up making the Georgian cheese bread and it turned out quite well (see photo below). I didn't kill the yeast, so that was good. The only thing that I didn't like so much is that the cheese filling turned out to be a little salty. The recipe calls for a Georgian cheese, sulguni, but says you can substitute with havarti and salted mozzarella. I've never heard of salted mozzarella, so I just bought the regular mozzarella you get here in Germany and salted it a little. Apparently that wasn't necessary.



Because of the saltiness factor I decided to make a sandwich with the cheese bread. I thought if I added some unsalty ingredients it would cut the salitness. And it did! I made a sandwich by slicing a cheese bread wedge in the middle and stuffing it with tomatoes and basil (see photo below). What a delicious lunch!



The baking frenzy didn't stop at the cheese bread, though. It continued with carrot-coconut cupcakes with cream cheese frosting, a recipe from the November 2003 issue of Bon Appétit. I love how epicurious provides us with so many recipes from Gourmet and Bon Appétit magazines. It's my favorite website for looking up recipes! Anyways, I had made these cupcakes before and knew they were fabulous. Not too long ago I made a carrot cake and I didn't like the recipe very much. Ever since then I was craving to have these cupcakes again. So I finally made them and they turned out wonderfully! They were really moist and aromatic. Although, I think they would have been even better if only I had had the sweetened flaked coconut they have in the US. They only sell unsweetened coconut here. If anyone knows where to get that kind of coconut in Germany, let me know!



Sunday, June 22, 2008

Greek Delights

I just went on a 10-day trip to Greece with some Greek friends of mine. The last time I had been to Greece was in high school when our class went there on a more or less educational trip. This trip was quite a while ago so Greece felt almost entirely new to me. We started off in Athens and from there did a round trip of the Peloponnese peninsula. There are many amazing places to discover in Greece, such as the archaeological sites and the beaches. 

I made so many food experiences on my trip I don’t even know where to start. Maybe I should start with the food served in the airplane (a Swiss airline). It was bad. All we got was a pizza pocket. You know how most food that's bad for you at least smells good? Well this smelled bad! But I still thought, how bad could it possibly be? It turned out to be a gooey dough thingy filled with tomato sauce and some cheese and, quite unfortunately, some of the dough inside was uncooked. YUCK! I took a few bites and then decided it just wasn’t worth eating. I was better off starving. And then on the flight back I thought, okay, they can’t do much worse than this pizza pocket thingy. I wonder what they will serve this time? And then…da da daaaaa…came the PIZZA POCKET. It was deja vu of the worst kind! I immediately declined the flight attendant's friendly offer of the pizza pocket. Fortunately, I didn't have to starve completely since they handed out chocolates in the shape and design of soccer balls (as a reminder of the current Euro soccer cup). The chocolate almost made up for the horrible pizza pockets. 

The first really good food I had in Greece was dinner in Athens the night we arrived. It is important to note that dinner in Greece doesn't happen at 6:30 pm, 7:00 pm or even 8:00 pm as is customary in the US or Germany. Dinner usually happens much later. The first night we started our dinner around 11 pm! We were a group of 9 people and my friends just ordered a bunch of dishes to share. Since I couldn’t really understand the menu (the Ancient Greek I learned in high school was not helping much) I was interested to see what they had ordered. Bread, salads and other cold dishes were brought first followed by the other warm meat and vegetable dishes. I really liked the salad that was made of a special type of dried bread, tomatoes, feta, dried herbs, and olive oil and vinegar. I could taste the olive oil in the salad and it was so different from any olive oil I had ever had before. It tasted fruitier and more aromatic and generally had more flavor. Other dishes we had that night included a dish of cooked peppers and bacon in cream sauce, and pork in a cream mushroom sauce served with rice. Some of the dishes were a little on the salty side, but the flavors were outstanding. Finally came the dessert (see photo below). We ordered mosaik (on the left), halvas (on the right) and ekmek (in the middle). Mosaik is a dessert made of cookies and chocolate made to look like a mosaic. Unfortunately, this mosaik was way too dry and quite unexciting. The halvas (a dessert made of semolina, sugar, oil, almonds, and cinnamon) also wasn't very good. It tasted too bland and oily. My Greek friend definitely makes better halvas! The ekmek, however, was quite good. Ekmek is a dessert made of three layers: a base made of kataifi (shredded phyllo dough) drenched in syrup followed by a layer of creamy custard and topped with whipped cream. 


We had this type of large meal a couple of times during our trip. It’s fun because with lots of people you can order many dishes and try lots of different foods. The second day of our trip we went to the restaurant Eleon in Athens for lunch, which I highly recommend. My favorite dish there was the beef filet in ouzo cream sauce served with rosemary baked potatoes. Another delicious meal we had was at a restaurant on the beach near Karaifa in the Peloponnese. There we had grilled sardines and some other type of small fish that was battered and fried as well as grilled octopus (see photo below) and grilled filled squid. When the waiter brought the octopus I was kind of grossed out because it was just a long tentacle lying in oil. It kind of made me sad because I imagined an octopus swimming around in the ocean missing a tentacle (which is complete nonsense, of course). But that tentacle was the best octopus I had ever had! The skin was crispy and the inside was soft and succulent unlike the calamari you usually get at Greek restaurants in Germany, which often have the consistency of chewing gum and taste way too fishy to be fresh.

Seeing that I have a mouth full of sweet teeth I obviously had to try some of the traditional Greek sweets. Generally, the sweets in Greece are pretty sweet (even for my standards). Many of the traditional sweets are drenched in oil and syrup, such as baklava. Thanks to a recommendation made by the NY Times I had some of the best baklava in Athens at a shop called Karavan (see photo below).  I actually went there twice: once to try and once to buy some baklava to take back to Germany. Both times I bought a 500g box of baklava (it was the smallest size, oh darn!). Karavan makes all sorts of baklava: baklava with nuts, fruits, chocolate. And they all taste really fresh! My favorite ones were the ones with nuts and also the baklava with coconut and chocolate. 


We also had some very good ice cream. There were two notable places. One was a place in Kalamata, called Athanasiou, which sold gelato style ice cream and other Greek sweets. There I had honey walnut and pistachio ice cream. Both were very good. The other good ice cream place we came across was in Nafplion. It was an Italian gelateria called Antica Gelateria di Roma. We happened to come across it while walking through the old town and kind of just stood at the door and looked inside. Unfortunately, one of the women working there (maybe the boss) saw us peeking inside and lured us in by offering us tastes of ice cream even though we had just sworn we were done with desserts for that day (we had had ekmek and galaktoboureko, a milk pudding in phyllo, one of my favorite Greek desserts, earlier that day). Unfortunately, the ice cream samples were really good and we also felt bad leaving without getting anything (obviously part of the boss' tactic) so we shared gianduja and torrone ice cream. It was very, very good and tasted homemade (which makes me think I need to make some homemade ice cream soon!). The next day I even went back to get some more: cherry yogurt and tiramisu. The flavor and texture of the ice cream were really good, but the tiramisu had a little too much alcohol in it for my taste.

One of my favorite things in Greece were the many places to buy savory pastries. The best bakery we found was in Nafplion where I got the best spanakopita (pastry filled with spinach and cheese) I have ever had. The dough was crispy and tasted only slightly oily (but a good kind of oily) and the spinach cheese filling was very flavorful. The pastry was in the shape of a snail so I ate it by unwinding it piece by piece. 

Of course Starbucks has also set foot in Greece. But, fortunately, Greek cafés serve delicious iced coffee drinks so I didn’t have to go to Starbucks to get my caffeine fix. My favorite drink turned out to be cappuccino freddo metrios, an iced cappuccino with a medium (metrios) amount of sugar (see photo below). The waiter asks beforehand how sweet you want it so that she can stir sugar into the hot espresso so it dissolves (it’s very hard to dissolve sugar in a cold drink). Other drinks that were commonly found on the menu were espresso freddo and Nescafé. I didn’t try Nescafé because I try to avoid supporting Nestlé as much as possible seeing that it is such a big company that litters the world with processed foods with low nutrient density. 


One of the most notable food experiences I had throughout the whole trip was dinner made by the mother of my Greek friend. She served us grilled fish, horiatiki (tomato, cucumber, olive, and feta salad with dried herbs, olive oil and vinegar) and horta. Horta is a name for various different types of greens. One common way of preparing horta is by boiling them and serving them warm in a puddle of olive oil with freshly squeezed lemon on top. I was not a big fan of this dish because it was incredibly oily, but the greens themselves were tasty. Another noteworthy fact is that the olives and the olive oil used in the dishes came from my friend's family's orchard. So that was a very special treat!