OSTER-PINZE - AUSTRIAN EASTER BREAD WITH A BLESSING

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Looking for a seasonal specialty for my customers at A&B Naturals, I came upon an Italian Christmas bread, Pinza, that, after crossing the border to Austria, switched holidays - and turned into Easter bread, Pinze.

After a solemn blessing in the church, this lovely Styrian Easter bread (often adorned by a red egg, and cut three times, to symbolize the Holy Trinity) is served with the meat on Easter Sunday.

Steiermark - Styria, home of the Easter Pinze

There are several versions for Pinze, and it is either seasoned with vanilla or anise. The anise can be steeped in wine or cooked in milk to extract its flavor.  

All recipes include lots of eggs and egg yolks, so keep the Lipitor at hand, but I'm sure it is good for you, since it comes with a blessing.

Eggs for 2016 Pinze production

I tried a Pinze version with anise, soaked in wine. Though the bread turned out quite nice, I couldn't detect much anise aroma.

Therefore I decided on Petra's Easter Pinza (from her Chili und Ciabatta blog), substituting some of the white flour with whole wheat.

The bread, made in 3 steps with 2 pre-ferments, was wonderful. The only problem: its time consuming schedule would not work for my little bakery, unless I pulled off an all-nighter. So I turned to my favorite method: stretch & fold plus overnight stay in the fridge.

Eggy goodness

That way I could work the dough all at once, and let the folding and cold fermentation do the rest.

No pre-doughs needed, very little hands-on time, and no standing around, waiting for pre-ferments and dough to rise.

In other words, the baker could hug her pillow, while the yeasties did their job!

My overnight version was just as good as the original, more involved one!

The Easter Pinze is a soft bread with a wonderful flavor. Though slightly sweet, it can be served with Easter Ham, like in Austria. Or, as we did, enjoyed simply with some good butter, or jam.

Almost too pretty to eat - Easter Pinzes

OSTER-PINZE - AUSTRIAN EASTER BREAD  (adapted from Petra Holzapfel's Chili und Ciabatta)
(3 small loaves)

Dough
463 g/16.3 oz all-purpose flour
52 g/1.8 oz whole wheat flour
8 g/0.3 oz instant yeast (for a yeast conversion see here)
160 g/5.6 oz milk
70 g/2.5 oz sugar
50 g/1.8 oz egg yolks (ca. 3)*
75 g/2.6 oz eggs (ca. 1 1/2)*
75 g/2.6 oz butter
5 g/0.2 oz salt
4 g/1 tsp. vanilla extract (or seeds of 1 vanilla bean)
15 g/1 tbsp. lemon juice
zest of 1 lemon

*if your eggs or yolks weigh a little bit less than the recipe amount, add some of the remaining egg whites to reach the weight.

Egg wash
1 egg
1 tbsp. milk
1 pinch sugar
1 pinch salt

DAY 1
Heat butter with the milk, until melted (stove top or microwave). The milk should not come to a full boil. Remove from heat and stir in first egg yolks and eggs, then the yeast.

Add egg milk to other dough ingredients in mixer bowl, and mix for 1-2 minutes at low speed, until all flour is hydrated. Let dough rest for 5 minutes, then continue kneading at medium-low speed for 6 minutes. Dough will stick to bottom of bowl, but pull (mostly) back from the sides (don't worry, and don't add more flour!)

Transfer dough to a lightly oiled work surface and, with oiled hands, pull it into a square. Fold dough from top and bottom like a business letter in thirds. Repeat folding from both sides. Cover dough package  (upside down mixer bowl) and let it rest for 10 minutes on the counter.

Repeat stretching and folding 2-3 more times, at 10 minute intervals, until gluten structure has developed, and dough starts to resist the stretching (don't tear it!) After the last fold, place dough, covered, in the refrigerator overnight. (I usually portion it at this point, and put it in individual containers.)

Nicely risen overnight - you can see the gas bubbles on the front side

DAY 2
Remove dough from refrigerator 2 hours before using. It should have almost doubled.

Turn it out onto a lightly floured work surface, and divide it into 3 equal parts (about 325 g each).

Brush breads with egg wash

Shape pieces into rounds, and place them, seam side down, on a parchment lined baking sheet.

Brush breads with egg wash, spray with baking spray, cover, and let rise for about 60 minutes, or until doubled and fully proofed - finger poke test: a dimple should not fill up. (If breads are not fully proofed, they open too wide during the bake!).

In the meantime, preheat the oven to 375°F/180°C. (No steam).

Re-apply egg wash and cut the Pinze pattern

Re-apply egg wash. Using scissors, make 3 deep cuts into the loaves, to create the traditional Pinze pattern.

Bake breads for 12 minutes, cover them loosely with tin foil, rotate the baking sheet 180 degrees, then continue baking for another about 18 minutes, or until they register 190ºF/93ºC. (Mine took even longer than 18 minutes).

Let breads cool on a rack.

TIP: Pinze keep fresh for 2-3 days, wrapped in plastic foil. You can also freeze them, wrapped in foil and placed in a freezer bag.

Glorious Easter Pinzes

Submitted to      Yeast Spotting

and Panissimo:  Bread & Companatico                                       
                           Sono io, Sandra

                                       
 

Updated 3/27/2016




 

LEBKUCHEN - GERMAN SPICE COOKIES

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Back home in Germany, I never cared too much for Lebkuchen. They are one of the Christmas goodies that show up earlier and earlier in stores, and I hate being reminded of the cold and darkness of winter, when we still have a gorgeous late summer (and snow shoveling is something that I don't even want to think about!)

If "Cooks Illustrated" had not published a recipe for German spice cookies, I would never have dreamed of making them myself. Sheer curiosity prompted me to try it ("Americans and German Lebkuchen, haha!")

Freshly baked and incredibly good!

Reducing the sugar a little, and substituting some of the white flour with whole wheat, the result was absolutely amazing!

Instead of the usual chewy, dry-ish, generic store-bought stuff, these Lebkuchen were delicate and moist.

You could actually taste the toasted hazelnuts; and the spices were spicy in a good way, harmonious, not crude or overpowering.

The first time I made them they vanished so fast, I had to make two more batches, to sustain us until Christmas!

This year I went into a  Lebkuchen and Mohnstollen production frenzy, having to fulfill several special orders for both German specialties. But the spice cookies are so easy to make that even baking a hundred of them didn't feel too daunting.

I like nut bits to chew on, so I don't process them to a really fine meal. Moreover, I find that cookies with coarser nut meal spread less.

If you want you can brush the bottom with chocolate - but to me this seems a bit overkill. The cookies can really hold their own, they don't need any further enhancement!

These cookies can hold their own, they don't need further enhancement

 LEBKUCHEN - GERMAN SPICE COOKIES (adapted from "Cook's Illustrated")
(48 - 50)

177 g/6.2 oz whole hazelnuts, toasted
142 g/5 oz whole almonds, toasted
150 g/5.3 sugar
3 g/0.1 oz cinnamon, ground (1 ½ tsp.)
½ tsp. cardamom, ground
½ tsp. nutmeg, ground
3 tbsp. orange zest (2 oranges)
2 tbsp. lemon zest (2 lemons)
175 g/6.2 oz all-purpose flour
38 g/1.3 oz whole wheat pastry flour
10 g/0.4 oz Dutch cocoa (2 tbsp.)
¼ tsp. salt
85 g/3 oz unsalted butter (6 tbsp.)
150 g/5.3 oz light brown sugar
4 large eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350ºF. Line 3 baking sheets with parchment paper (about 20 cookies per baking sheet.)

Process nuts, sugar and spices together in food processor to coarse meal. Add orange and lemon zest and pulse to combine.

Add eggs one at a time

Whisk flour, cocoa and salt together in a small bowl. In a stand mixer with paddle, beat butter and brown sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs one at a time, last adding vanilla until combined.

Add nut mixture until just incorporated

Reduce mixer speed to low and slowly add flour mixture until combined (don't overmix!). Mix in ground nut mixture until just incorporated.

Working with a small truffle scoop, drop dough on baking sheets, 1.5 inches/4 cm apart.

A small truffle scoop works best for placing the cookies on the sheet

Bake cookies for 7 minutes, rotate sheets (if you bake on more than one tier) and continue baking for another 6 - 7 minutes, until edges are set, but centers are still soft, puffy, and elastic to the touch, with tiny holes and cracks. (Cookies will look raw between cracks, and seem underdone!)

Cookies will still look raw between cracks and seem underdone

Let cookies cool on the sheets for 10 minutes, then transfer them to a rack and let them cool completely.

Lebkuchen should be stored in a tin can in a cool place, they keep for at least two weeks.

ERRÖTENDE JUNGFRAU - BLUSHING MAIDEN WITH CHERRIES

Light, fruity and lemony - just the right dessert for hot summer days!

My family has two favorite summer desserts, both very light, tangy and refreshing.

One is the famous Rote Grütze, made of at least three different kinds of red berries, a summer treat so popular that it slowly made its way from Denmark and Northern Germany to the South, even welcomed by Bavarians (who notoriously despise everything even remotely "Prussian").

Popular German summer dessert Rote Grütze

The other goes by the poetical name of "Errötende Jungfrau" (= blushing maiden), referring to the delicate pink hue of the dessert. It is made with buttermilk and lemon, and we enjoy it even when the temperature goes up to 90, and our panting Buffy demonstrates the true meaning of "Dog Days".

Summer's Dog Days turn Buffy into a sea dog

"Errötende Jungfrau" is, like Rote Grütze, a traditional North German specialty, not only Pommern (Pomerania) (homeland of my mother and grandmother), but Ostpreussen (East Prussia) and Dithmarschen in Schleswig-Holstein claim it as their own.

Our family version is simple and straight forward: just buttermilk, lemon juice and zest, sugar and gelatin.

The red coloring comes from red gelatin. Other recipes contain egg yolks, fruit or even red wine.

Though my beloved Omi's puristic recipe is very good, I like to achieve the pretty pink color in a more natural way.

Dark, sweet cherries, one of my favorite fruits, make my Maiden blush, and, also, adds some nice bits to the jello-like dessert.

"Errötende Jungfrau" is quick and easy to make. It only needs some time to set and chill.

Make it in the morning, when you want to enjoy it with tea or dinner. Or prepare it the evening before.



ERRÖTENDE JUNGFRAU - BLUSHING MAIDEN WITH CHERRIES  (12 servings)

17 g/ 3 tbsp + 1/4 tsp. gelatin powder (2 1/2 pouches) (I use Knox Unflavored Gelatine)
 or 12 gelatin sheets
 cold water, for soaking gelatin
 1 liter buttermilk (I use 2%)
95 g/6 tbsp. sugar
2 tbsp. lemon juice
1 tbsp. lemon zest
1 tsp. vanilla extract
250 g pitted cherries
125 ml whipped cream (for garnish, optional)

Cherries and cherry puree provide fruity bits and color

In a blender (or with an immersion blender), puree 50 grams of the cherries. Cut remaining 200 grams in halves (saving a few as decoration), and set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together buttermilk, sugar, lemon juice and zest and vanilla extract. Stir in pureed cherries, until well blended.

Cherry puree makes your Maiden blush naturally

For gelatin powder, sprinkle gelatin over 150 g cold water. Let stand for 1 minute, then microwave on high for 30-40 seconds, stirring once to dissolve.

For gelatin sheets, in a small bowl, cover gelatin sheets with cold water. Let stand for 5 minutes, then gently wring to remove excess water, and microwave it until melted.

To temper it (and prevent lumps!), stir 1/4 cup of the buttermilk mixture into the melted gelatin, until well combined. Then, slowly add tempered gelatin in a steady stream back into buttermilk mixture, whisking continuously, until completely blended.

Slowly add tempered gelatin to the buttermilk mixture, whisking steadily

When mixture starts to thicken, but has not completely set, fold in chopped cherries. Pour dessert in a glass bowl, cover, and place in refrigerator for several hours to chill and set.

To serve, decorate with whipped cream (if desired) and reserved cherries. "Errötende Jungfrau" keeps fresh for several days in the fridge.

Enjoy!

RHUBARB-EIERSCHECKE-TORTE - A DRESDEN SPECIALTY

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The first time I heard about a cake called "Eierschecke", when I saw my cousin Uta's post in facebook. "Eier" is the German term for eggs, and "Schnecke" (snail)) is a common name for pinwheel shaped pastry, but I had not the slightest idea what "Schecke" meant, or where it might come from.

I looked it up at Wikipedia, and learned that this specialty from Thuringia and Saxony was named for a three tiered, medieval tunic for men. The cake had, obviously, three layers: crust, quark filling with apples or poppy seed, plus a custard topping.

Medieval schecke - male predecessor of the mini skirt?

I had never visited Dresden before, but in May we went on a trip to Saxony, and there it was:  every bakery offered Schecke, subspecies Dresdner Eierschecke. It came in many variations, yeasted dough or sweet crust, raisin-studded or not, baked as bar or torte.

My husband always gets this devout look in his face when he enters a German bakery. I, of course, view it also as continuing education, and sample solely for scientific purposes. Faithful to the Anderson credo: "Life is Uncertain - Eat the Dessert First!" we conducted a thorough investigation.

Dresdner Eierschecke bars (left of the tortes)

As a result of this extensive field work, I looked for a recipe, soon as we were home. I'm no great friend of raisins, and don't like it too sweet, therefore I wanted my cake to be a bit tart and fruity.

You can get apples, a classic Schecke ingredient, all year long, but now it was rhubarb season, and I had some in my fridge. So I entered "Eierschecke" and "Rhabarber" (rhubarb) in Google's search box, and promptly struck gold.

This recipe, posted by Thomas (Tolotika) in kochbar.de, was the one I liked best. It had a sweet crust, the rhubarb sauce was thickened with vanilla pudding powder, and the custard not only contained eggs, sour cream and pudding, but also quark.

Much as I love quark - it's almost impossible to find in the US, and even if you do, it is outrageously expensive and doesn't taste the same. Therefore I use for my German Cheesecake cream cheese as stand-in. Mixed with lemon juice and whipped egg white, it comes closest to quark in taste and consistency.

I reduced the amount of sugar in the custard by half, but the cake is still sweet enough.

There was another problem to solve. Though Richard and I like to eat cake, it's only the two of us, and I couldn't imagine that the airy egg mixture on top of the fruit layer would last several days without getting soggy.

So, back to asking uncle Google, this time for: "conversion large cakes small cakes". Is there anything at all that you can't find in the w.w.w.? Keikos-cakes.com has a very user friendly pan conversion tool on their website. (And it does rectangular pans, too!)

To convert a recipe for a 10-inch/26-cm diameter torte to a 7-inch/18-cm tortelet, you enter the pan size of the recipe and your desired pan size in Keiko's pan conversion tool and, voilà, there is the factor you need (0.48)! Now grab your calculator and multiply each recipe ingredient with 0.48.  

The result was everything I had looked for! The tangy rhubarb makes a pleasant contrast to the sweet custard, and the whole thing is so airy and fluffy that I'm sure it doesn't have a single calorie!

RHUBARB EIERSCHECKE TORTE (adapted from Tolotika at kochbar.de)

(6 servings for a 7"/18 cm diameter cake pan)

RHUBARB

454 g/1 lb rhubarb, cut in 0.5"/1 cm pieces

  75 g/3 oz sugar

  21 g/0.7 oz vanilla pudding powder

SWEET CRUST

120 g/4.2 oz all-purpose flour

  30 g/1 oz sugar

  60 g/2 oz cold butter, cut in pieces

 1/2 egg *)

 1/2 tsp. baking powder

semolina and breadcrumbs (for sprinkling)

*) How to divide an egg into halves? It's easy: on a scale, crack an egg into a cup, stir well, and then take off half with a spoon.

EIERSCHECKE CUSTARD
 60 g/2 oz cream cheese
 60 g/2 oz sour cream

 40 g/1.5 oz sugar (original recipe: 84 g/3 oz)

       2 eggs, separated

     1 ½ tsp lemon juice

         1 tsp lemon zest

 10 g/0.35 oz vanilla pudding powder

EVENING:
In a bowl, stir together rhubarb and sugar. Mix well. Cover, and leave overnight at room temperature.

MORNING:
Drain rhubarb in a strainer over a bowl. Reserve 170 ml/5.75 fl oz of the juice (I didn't have quite enough juice, so I substituted with a bit of milk.)

Grease a 7-inch/18-cm diameter springform, and sprinkle with semolina.

Process sweet crust, until no loose flour remains in the bowl

Food Processor: Briefly pulse flour with baking powder and sugar to combine. Add egg and butter pieces. Pulse, until mixture comes together, and no loose flour remains on the bottom of the bowl. Or knead all ingredients by hand, or with a handheld mixer.

Shape dough into a ball, flatten into a disk, transfer to prepared springform pan, and press into bottom, making a small rim around the sides. Refrigerate, until ready to fill.

Sweet crust bottom layer

Preheat oven to 435ºF/225ºC. Place rack on middle rung.

Following instructions on the package, prepare vanilla pudding with pudding powder and reserved rhubarb juice. Add rhubarb, and stir well. Leave mixture to cool a little bit.

Spread vanilla pudding with rhubarb pieces over unbaked crust

Pre-bake cake for about 25 minutes. Remove from oven. Reduce oven temperature to 410ºF/210º.

For the custard, beat cream cheese, sour cream and sugar, until well combined. Add egg yolks, one by one, and mix to incorporate. Mix in lemon juice and zest. Whisk egg whites until soft peaks form. Fold egg whites in egg/cream mixture.

Gently fold stiff egg whites into egg/cream mixture

Pour Eierschecke custard over pre-baked torte and smooth with plastic spatula.

Spread eierschecke custard over pre-baked torte

Bake torte for about 20 minutes, or until set (but elastic to touch.) Leave for at least 15 minutes in switched-off oven with door slightly ajar.

Let Rhubarb-Eierschecke cool on wire rack. (It will sag a little bit.)

Freshly baked, the Eierschecke-Torte looks like cheese cake.

Or, like the greedy Andersons, eat it while it is still warm!!!

Never forget: "Life is Uncertain - Eat the Dessert First..."

Beautiful Dresden is really worth a trip - not just for the famous Eierschecke!