BUCKWHEAT RYE BREAD

SOAKER
100 g whole rye flour
100 g whole buckwheat flour
100 g white buckwheat flour (or all whole or white buckwheat flour)
4 g salt
225 g water

FINAL DOUGH
175 g water (lukewarm)
6 g instant yeast
all soaker
295 g bread flour
4 g salt
16 g honey
1 tsp. coriander, ground
½ tsp. anise seeds, ground


DAY 1

In the morning, stir together soaker ingredients, until well hydrated. Cover, and let sit at room temperature.

In the evening, stir together water and instant yeast. Add to other ingredient for final dough, and mix (with paddle attachment) on lowest speed for 1 minute (or by hand). Let dough sit for 5 minutes.

With dough hook (or by hand), knead on medium-low speed, for 2 min. Dough should be very supple and sticky. Continue to mix for 4 min. more. Dough will still be sticky.

Transfer dough to floured work surface, and, with wet or oiled hands, stretch and fold dough (pull one side up and fold it over itself, repeat this maneuver with other three sides). Let rest for 10 min, and repeat stretches and folds 3 more times (total time 40 minutes). Gather dough into a ball, place in a lightly oiled bowl (seam side down), cover and refrigerate overnight.


DAY 2

Remove dough from refrigerator 2 hrs. before using.

Preheat oven to 475 F/250 C, including steam pan. Divide dough in 2 equal pieces. Shape 2 boules, and proof in bannetons (seam side up) or on parchment lined baking sheet (seam side down), for ca. 45 - 60 minutes, or until grown to 1 1/2 times their original size.

Score breads crosswise. Bake for 15 minutes at 400 F/200 C, rotate 180 degrees, and continue baking for another 15 minutes (internal temperature at least 200 F/93 C, and bread should sound hollow when thumped on bottom).

Let breads cool on wire rack.

Acadia meets Germany - Acadia trifft Deutschland

Buckwheat is high in minerals like iron and potassium, a good source of protein, and, not only that, it has more Vitamin B than wheat! I ate buckwheat "porridge" for breakfast every day while I was pregnant with Per - at that time nothing could be healthy enough for the benefit of my first child.

It took a while to get used to its strong and distinctive taste (and I softened it with generous amounts of cream and honey). But I thought that in a bread, buckwheat might add a very interesting flavor, so I looked for a recipe. I found one in my old German baking book, and played for quite a while around with it.

I tried it several times, in different ways, but the result was never really satisfying. Something was missing, the taste was okay, but not that great, so I put it away, to work on it another time, perhaps.

But buckwheat grows right here in Maine, and when, for the first time, I tasted Ployes (French Acadian buckwheat pancakes) I remembered my quest for a good buckwheat bread.

And this time, using a different technique, some spices and a little bit of honey, my buckwheat bread turned out as tasty as I had hoped. It can be done with white buckwheat flour, whole buckwheat, or a combination, depending on your preference for a milder or more assertive taste.

Buchweizen hat einen hohen Gehalt an Mineralstoffen wie Eisen und Kalium, ist eine gute Eiweissquelle, und nicht nur das, es enthält auch mehr Vitamin B als Weizen! Als ich mit Per schwanger war, ass ich jeden Tag Buchweizenbrei zum Frühstück - damals war mir nichts gesund genug für das Wohlergehen meines ersten Kindes.

Es brauchte eine Weile, bis ich mich an den kräftigen, etwas strengen Geschmack gewöhnt hatte (und ich milderte ihn mit grosszügigen Dosen Sahne und Honig ab). Aber ich dachte, dass Buchweizen Brot einen sehr interessanten Geschmack geben könnte, daher suchte ich nach einem Rezept. Ich fand eins in meinem alten deutschen Backbuch, und habe eine ganze Zeit lang damit herumgespielt.

Ich probierte es mehrere Male, auf verschiedene Weise, aber das Ergebnis war nie so richtig zufriedenstellend. Irgendetwas fehlte, der Geschmack war zwar okay, aber so toll nun wieder auch nicht, daher legte ich es beiseite, um es mir eventuell später wieder vorzunehmen.

Aber Buchweizen wächst gerade hier in Maine, und als ich zum ersten Mal Ployes (French-Acadian Buchweizenpfannkuchen) auf dem American Folk Festival in Bangor probierte, erinnerte ich mich wieder an meine Suche nach einem guten Buchweizenbrot.

Und diesmal, mit einer anderen Technik, einigen Gewürzen und ein bisschen Honig, wurde mein Buchweizenbrot so lecker, wie ich mir es vorgestellt hatte. Es lässt sich mit hellem Buchweizenmehl, dunklem Vollkorn-Buchweizenmehl, oder einer Kombination herstellen, je nach Vorliebe für einen milderen oder stärkeren Geschmack.

RED WINE CAKE

CAKE
50 g cranberries, dried, or golden raisins
1 tbsp. rum
250 g butter (unsalted), at room temperature
175 g sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. cinnamon, ground
1 pinch salt
4 eggs
120 g all-purpose flour
50 g whole wheat pastry flour (or also all-purpose flour)
80 g hazelnuts
1 tbsp. cocoa
16 g baking powder
150 - 175 ml red wine, dry and fruity
50 g semisweet chocolate, finely chopped

GLAZE (optional)
125 g caster sugar
2 - 3 tbsp. red wine

CAKE:
Soak cranberries or raisins in rum.

Preheat oven to 175 C/350 F. Adjust rack to second lowest tier. Grease and flour Bundt cake or Gugelhupf form (1 3/4 l/60 fl. oz).

In food processor, grind hazelnuts together with 50 g of the flour (there may be some bigger pieces left). Sift together rest of flour, cocoa and baking powder in small bowl. Add ground nuts and stir to combine.

With hand held or stand mixer, whisk butter, sugar, cinnamon and salt, until very fluffy, at least 6 minutes. Add vanilla extract and eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition, until mixture is very smooth and creamy.

Stir in flour mixture in 3 additions, alternating with red wine, until combined. Fold in chocolate and soaked cranberries (or raisins).

Fill dough into cake form, smoothing top with rubber spatula. Bake for 45 - 50 minutes, until needle comes out clean.

Let cake cool in cake pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto wire rack. Let cool completely.

ICING: Mix powdered sugar and red wine, until smooth. Pour over top of cake in irregular pattern. (The pink icing looks pretty, but I like it less sweet, therefore I omitted it in my cake.)

I adapted the recipe for "Rotweinkuchen" from "Für jeden Tag" magazine.

A Feline Foundling and Steeped in Red

Two years ago we found a little stranger on our doorstep, attracted by the tantalizing smell of barbecued chicken, and my (universally understood) call to the food bowl: "Miez, Miez, Miez (= kitty, kitty, kitty)!" The little Maine Coon was skin and bones under her pretty fur, and ate ravenously what we gave her. She must have been lost for quite a while.

A call to the animal hospital led to a tearful reunion of kitty and her owners. They told us she had vanished three months ago, and they had given up all hope of seeing her again. A token of their gratitude were two large bottles of wine, one white, one red.

Since I am the only occasional imbiber in this household - Richard getting headaches from alcohol - I had to figure out what to do with the 2-liter bottles of vin ordinaire. Once open, the contents had to be consumed - or else turn to vinegar.

The white finally ended in the glasses of the non-discriminating younger members of my family. The red started collecting dust in the basement. Finally I found a recipe for "Beef Goulash in Barolo", a clipping from a German foodie magazine. Being pretty sure that any other dry red would do as well, half of the bottle found its way into this delicious, spicy stew.

But what about the other half? Not another stew, not noble enough for Coq au Vin, so it had to be pastry. Red Velvet Cake was an obvious choice, but too much fuss, I wanted something simpler. And I found it, rich and spicy enough to mellow the dryness of the wine, moist and scrumptious: Red Wine Cake.

NOUGAT TORTE

Looking for a birthday cake for my smart and pretty, but lactose intolerant stepdaughter, I leafed through my German and Austrian pastry baking books. Nearly every one of those gorgeous torte recipes listed whipping cream as main ingredient.

The solution to this problem? Here it comes: chocolate lover's dream and almost lactose free - Nougat Torte for a lactose challenged, chocolate loving, no teetotaler birthday girl!

CAKE (12 - 16 servings)
60 g/2.1 oz all-purpose flour
60 g/2.1 oz hazelnuts, ground
50 g/1.8 oz bread crumbs
1 heaping tsp. cocoa powder
1/8 tsp. cinnamon
60 g/2.1 oz butter, softened
20 g/0.7 oz sugar
70 g/2.5 oz almond paste, chopped or coarsely grated
7 egg yolks
1 tbsp. vanilla extract
7 egg whites
70 g/2.5 oz sugar

NOUGAT CREAM
250 g/8.8 oz semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
130 g/4.6 oz whipping cream (or pureed silken tofu)
250 g/8.8 oz Nutella
200 g/7 oz butter

RUM MIXTURE
60 g/2.1 oz water (1/4 cup)
3/4 tsp. brown sugar
45 g/1.6 oz rum

ADD-IN AND GARNISH
1 nougat bar (if you can't get the chocolate kind of nougat, use 1/2 bar semisweet chocolate)
50 g/1.8 oz almond slices, toasted

To make the cake:
Preheat oven to 180 C/350 F. Line bottom of 28 cm/11" springform pan with parchment paper, and grease.

Add flour, hazelnuts, bread crumbs, cocoa and cinnamon to bowl of food processor (or mini chopper), and pulse until nuts are sufficiently ground.

In a large bowl, mix together butter, 20 g sugar, almond paste, egg yolks and vanilla extract until creamy. In a separate bowl, beat egg whites with 75 g sugar until stiff.

Fold first egg whites into butter mixture. Then fold in flour mixture. Transfer to prepared springform pan, smooth top with rubber spatula. Bake for 30 - 35 minutes. Let completely cool on wire rack.

To make the nougat cream:
In a saucepan, cook cream until hot, remove from heat, and stir in chopped chocolate, until melted. Then stir in Nutella, until smooth (place back on switched-off, but still warm stove, if necessary). (If using silken tofu, melt chocolate first, then stir in tofu and Nutella).

Let mixture cool to room temperature, then transfer to mixer bowl, add butter, and beat until creamy.

To assemble:
Remove cake from pan and peel off parchment paper. Cut horizontally in three layers. In a small bowl, mix ingredients for rum mixture. With potato peeler, shave nougat or chocolate bar into thin stripes.

Place bottom layer of cake on platter, and brush with rum mixture. Generously spread nougat cream over cake bottom. (The amount of nougat cream is enough for covering every cake layer generously. But don't forget to save some of it for the pastry bag!) Sprinkle with 2/3 of nougat or chocolate shavings.

Place second cake layer on top, brush with rum mixture, and cover with nougat cream. Place third layer on top. Brush with rum mixture, then spread nougat cream evenly over top and sides of cake. Fill rest of cream in pastry bag with large star tip, and garnish torte with nougat cream rosettes. Sprinkle top with rest of nougat or chocolate shavings. Then sprinkle toasted almond slices over top and sides.

Keep torte in a cool place. Keeps fresh at least for 3 days.

Adapted from Karl Neef: "Sonntagskuchen & Festtagstorten"

APFELKUCHEN WITH ALMONDS AND APFELKORN CREAM

DOUGH
125 g all-purpose flour
50 g whole wheat pastry flour (or more all-purpose flour)
1 tsp. baking powder
75 g butter
1 egg
30 g sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 pinch salt
25 g almond meal

FILLING
750 g apples, mixed, (I used Granny Smith, Honeycrisp, Macoun)
juice of 1 lemon
150 g butter, softened
75 g brown sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 egg
1 tsp. lemon zest, grated
20 ml Apfelkorn or Calvados
100 g all-purpose flour
250 ml whipping cream
25 g almond slivers


DOUGH:
Preheat oven to 400 F/200 C. Butter a 1/4-sheet pan.

In mixer bowl, sieve together flour and baking powder. Add butter, egg, sugar, vanilla extract, salt and almond meal. Knead at low speed until all comes together, then switch to medium speed and continue kneading until smooth. Wrap dough in foil and refrigerate for 30 min.

Roll out dough to size of sheet pan. Transfer to pan and press dough up around sides to shape a small rim. Prick with fork several times.

Bake 12 - 15 min. (After taking cake out, reduce heat to 350 F/180 C)


FILLING
Peel (only green ones) and slice apples. Toss in lemon juice. Set aside. (Red apple skin looks nice when baked, the green turns brownish).

In mixer bowl, beat butter until creamy. Add sugar, vanilla extract, egg, lemon zest, Apfelkorn (or Calvados) and flour, mixing well after each addition.

Whisk whipping cream until stiff. Fold into filling, and spread evenly over pre-baked crust. Top with apples and sprinkle with almonds.

Place in lower third of oven. Bake at 350 F/180 C for ca. 35 min. (if top browns too much, cover with aluminum foil).

Adapted from Dr. Oetker: "Apfelkuchen".

A bag full of apples, a dreary day and German Apfelkuchen - Eine Tüte voller Äpfel, ein trüber Tag und Apfelkuchen

Last week we bought a bag full of assorted apples from a farmer. Not only the bag was huge, the size of some of the apples (Macoun) was gigantic, too. What to do with all these beautiful apples? A dreary day makes you think of comfort food, and there's that old saying: "Life is uncertain - eat the dessert first". I'm never one to resist the craving for dessert, anyway, and the oven was still warm from baking bread in the morning.

Among my cookbooks is one exclusively on apple cakes (Dr. Oetker: "Apfelkuchen"). I made already a few of them, but wanted to try something new. Many of the cakes are baked on a sheet pan, the kind Americans call "bars" and Germans "Schnitten". I wanted it to be simple, with a lot of apples, some nuts and, preferably, some liquor in it.

Since I don't have to feed a big family I divided my chosen recipe by half, added more apples and, also, different kinds for a more complex taste. The original calls for Amaretto, but I didn't have any, and my husband doesn't care too much for it, either. Also, I liked the idea of an additional apple flavor, so I took the Apfelkorn I had in my cupboard (I'm sure Calvados would have been a great choice, too). I used brown sugar instead of white, and, also, reduced the overall amount of sugar - it's still sweet enough.

It turned out really nice, with a fresh, strong apple taste - and just a hint of booze:
Apple Cake with Almonds and Apfelkorn Cream.

Letzte Woche haben wir eine Tüte mit verschiedenen Äpfel vom Bauern gekauft. Nicht nur die Tüte war riesig, auch die Grösse einiger der Äpfel (Macoun) war gewaltig. Wohin nun mit all diesen schönen Äpfeln? Ein trüber Tag wird durch leckeres Essen erträglicher, und ausserdem gibt es den alten Spruch: "Das Leben ist ungewiss - iss den Nachtisch zuerst!" Ich gehöre sowieso nicht zu den Leuten, die einem Dessert widerstehen können, und ausserdem war der Ofen noch warm vom Brotbacken am Morgen.

Eins meiner Kochbücher ist ausschliesslich Apfelkuchen gewidmet (Dr. Oetker: "Apfelkuchen"). Ich hab schon ein paar davon gebacken, aber ich wollte etwas Neues ausprobieren. Viele der Kuchen sind Blechkuchen von der Art, die Amerikaner als "Bars"(= Riegel) und Deutsche als "Schnitten" bezeichnen. Ich wollte einen einfachen Kuchen, mit vielen Äpfeln, einigen Nüssen, und vorzugsweise auch etwas Alkohol.

Da ich keine grosse Familie ernähren muss, halbierte ich das Rezept meiner Wahl, nahm mehr Äpfel, und dazu unterschiedliche Sorten für einen komplexeren Geschmack. Im Original steht zwar Amaretto, aber ich hatte keinen da, und Richard mag ihn sowieso nicht besonders. Ausserdem gefiel mir die Idee von noch mehr Apfelaroma, daher nahm ich den Apfelkorn, den ich im Schrank hatte (Calvados wäre sicher auch eine gute Wahl gewesen). Ich benutzte braunen Zucker anstatt von weissem, und reduzierte den Gesamtzuckergehalt um Einiges - der Kuchen ist auch so noch süss genug.

Das Ergebnis war wirklich lecker, mit einem frischen, intensiven Apfelgeschmack - und einem Hauch von Schnaps: Apfelkuchen mit Mandeln und Apfelkorn-Creme!