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.  

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. 

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. 

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. 

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.