Monthly Archives: Januar 2015

Jan 30

#pestostorm Pesto mit Gin

I’m making 2 exceptions today, as today’s post is in German only and has nothing to do with baking. Sorry 🙂

Ich bin kein Koch-Mensch und das ist auch okay so. Es ist nicht so, dass ich es nicht kann, sondern eher so, dass ich nicht besonders viel Spaß daran habe. Während ich kein Problem damit habe, für Gebäck ewig in der Küche zu stehen, für’s kochen kann ich einfach nicht die gleiche Geduld aufbringen. Aber ich mache heute eine Ausnahme, denn manchmal ist es einfach notwendig über seinen eigenen Schatten zu springen, um eine gute Sache zu unterstützen. Denn nach dem #dishstorm ist vor den #pestostorm, zu dem die Küchenchaotin aufgerufen hat und da muss ich einfach mitmachen! 10945060_815243521848336_1769626671_n

Warum? Das ist kompliziert… Manchmal passieren Dinge, die einen auf die Palme bringen und die einfach nicht richtig falsch sind, wie hier geschehen. Darauf kann man entweder nichts tun, sich aufregen, zurückschlagen oder eine beliebige Kombination aus allem. Und zurückschlagen kann man auf die harte und die nette Tour. Und in diesem Fall wurde auf eine wirklich charmante Tour zurückgeschlagen. Da haben die großen und die kleinen Foodblogs mitgemacht und es hat mich nicht nur zum lachen gebracht sondern mir auch viele leckere Rezepte & Blogs gezeigt. Und ich will jetzt einfach mit diesem Post ein dickes Däumchen für diese Mega-Aktion und alle Beteiligten zeigen. Ja, es gibt immer solche und solche Blogger/Unternehmen/Agenturen/Einhörner/… aber in dem Fall ist so einiges nicht so prall gelaufen und das muss man auch mal sagen dürfen. Ich kann nur hoffen, dass alle was daraus gelernt haben und in Zukunft auch mal den “Common-sense” im Internet anwenden. Darauf trinke ich und das Pesto auch 🙂

Pesto mit Gin

Pesto mit Gin | schabakery.com

  • 30 g Basilikum (entspricht etwa einem Bund)
  • 10 g Koriander
  • 20 g Pinienkerne
  • 20 g Walnüsse
  • 2 EL Olivenöl (am besten nicht so intensives im Geschmack)
  • 1 EL Gin (oder mehr/weniger je nach Geschmack)

Das schöne an Pesto ist, dass die Zubereitung sehr einfach ist. Alle Zutaten zusammen pürieren und am Ende mit Gin abschmecken, fertig. Ich habe den feel! Gin benutzt, den ich dank Sandra auf der Kulinart Messe in Frankfurt gekauft habe und der sich zu einem meiner Lieblings-Gins gemausert hat. Es sei gesagt, dass man mit dem Gin vorsichtig sein muss, denn der Alkohol löst ja bekanntlich Aromen und der Geschmack veränder sich mit der Zeit. Ich dachte erst, dass ein Esslöffel Gin viel zu viel sei, aber nachdem das Pesto ein paar Minuten stand war es einfach perfekt.

Jan 25

Apple Streusel Cake

Apple Streusel Cake | schabakery.comFood is like people, some are born to be models and some are just unphotogenic. I belong to the latter group, it’s hard to get a good picture of me and the same applies to anything with streusels (or crumbles as the Americans say). But Streusels are ubiquitous in German baking, if you ever entered a bakery in Germany you can tell and I want to share a recipe with you. It is not like we Germans put streusel on everything, but on almost everything. There is an overwhelming variety of sweet pastries available in German bakeries, often eaten for breakfast, second breakfast or around coffee time. And I’d guess that at least half of these sweet “Stückchen” (pieces of pastry) come with streusels and different fillings like custard, curd, fruit or you-name-it.

Streusels are Grandma-style and down-to-earth, I guess that’s why everybody loves them. Even when the dough is too dry or compact, the crumbly cover makes up for it. When I was a kid I loved eating raw streusels and I often sneaked back into the kitchen just when the cake came out of the oven to burn my fingers & tongue while ‘stealing’ some steaming hot streusels from the sides of the cake.

My favorite streusel cake comes with a poppy seed filling, but during winter time I prefer apple streusel. Make sure you use apples that are not too juicy so your dough base does not get soaked. If you only have juicy apples at hand, sprinkle some bread crumbs on the dough before placing the apples. Continue reading »

Jan 18

Red Wine Cake

Red Wine Cake schabakery.comI love boozy bakes! Don’t get me wrong I am no alcoholic, but even when I was a child the boozy cakes were the ones I loved the most. It was special when I was allowed to skim the foam of Dad’s beer glass or eat a piece of Black Forest Cherry Cake on a birthday, sometimes Mum even poured some advokaat over our shortly microwaved chocolate marshmallows for an extra treat. Whenever there was a bit of leftover red wine, my mother turned it into this delicious and moist cake. I now do this myself whenever we open a bottle we don’t like, so the taste of this cake varies with the wine you use, but it is always scrumtious and keeps fresh vor 3-4 days. My sister tweaked the recipe a little with more chocolate sprinkles (who could say no to more chocolate?!?) and I stole it from her so you can also start to save that wine from the drain! Continue reading »

Jan 9

2015 Forecast

Happy new year everyone! I know, I know, I should delight you with less talking and more baking. You get a new recipe next time, I promise. After a short break from the blog due to manflu and going back to work I feel posting a review of 2014 is inappropriate. Instead of looking back to a year with a lot of 1st times (moving into your own house evidently produces a lot of those…), I want to give an outlook to 2015 and fill you in on what to expect.

1. Lunchboxes

1st week of #lunchbox2015I am not a huge fan of nyresolutions, you see all fitness clubs crowded the first 2 or 3 months every year, as well as diet advice and sports equipment are ubiquitous. Yes, I could loose some weight and yes I could be more active, but as far as I am concerned I don’t need a new year to start. I made more of a going-back-to-work-resolution as the quality of our canteen has been going down while prices rise. I decided to bring my own lunch to the office more often, at least once a week instead of eating the same sandwich or overcooked potatoes & broccoli. Life is too short for bad food, that is what Julias Blog German Abendbrot states and she also made a resolution to bring leftovers for lunch more often. We all know what statistics say about those resolutions, they never last too long unless you have others on your side to join you. So we spontaneously decided to be partners in crime and make it a competition. You can follow our attempt to beat the statistics on Instagram  with the hashtag #lunchbox2015 . You’re invited to join, simply post picture of your lunchbox and use the hashtag #lunchbox2015.

 

2. Revamping my portfolio

I went through some of my old recipes lately and decided that they needed refurbishment. I have been doing some recipes over and over again, improved and optimized, it is time to share my insights with you. I will focus on my families classics and will also post more basic recipes that allow to swap ingredients easily and mix & match.

3. Dark Chocolate

I always was and always will be a fan of dark chocolate. There are 5 kilos of finest dark Belgian chocolate waiting in my basement to be turned into indulgence. I want to offer you more ideas than turning them just into a chocolate cake. As dark chocolate seems to be trending in 2015 I am curious to see what others m(/b)ake out of it. Which brings me to…

4. Books & Blogs

I own a shitload (excuse my French) of baking books and magazines, my shelf is floating over. I tried to quit buying new ones for some time, but it turns out I am not much of a quitter. I’d love to share some thoughts on my favourite baking books with you and show you, what’s on my shelf. Probably recipes from most of the books will make it to my to-bake-list but also giving you insights on the books itself should be a new challenge for me.

5. Patisserie

As you might know I got Christophe Felders Patisserie book for my birthday mid last year and there are still a lot of lessons to learn for me. I will continue to be an apprentice to the art of French Patisserie and it’s versatile magic.

6. Experiment

I am eager to experiment more in 2015, this does not only include to try out new recipes but also to mix new flavours and pair things that I might not have thought of before. I will post more about experiments on the social media channels (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram) so keep checking there for more regular updates.

7. German

Last but not least my biggest adventure yet to come: Making this blog multilingual. I have struggled with the technical implementation before and gave up as it annoyed me nothing was going my way. This year it is finally going to happen one way or another.

Putting all this down, I finally realize how much I have loaded on my plate. But for me it is time to spend less time lazy and more time to be creative. May this year ahead of us 2015 be awesome and splendid!