The Cottage Cooking Club - July Recipes

Today, marks the third month of our international online cooking group, the Cottage Cooking Club.

As a group, recipe by recipe, we are cooking and learning our way through a wonderful vegetable cookbook written in 2011 by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, called „River Cottage Everyday Veg“.

The Cottage Cooking Club online cooking group is meant to be a project aimed at incorporating more vegetable dishes in our everyday cooking. And learning new ways to prepare tasty and healthy dishes, and sharing them with family and friends.

We will make an effort to use as much local, regional, organic and also seasonal produce as is resonably possible. With that goal in mind, during that month of July, I prepared a few wonderful dishes from the book and made my utterly devoted taste testers quite happy!

My first recipe for the July post is the „River Cottage Summer Garden Soup“. How can you not prepare a soup with such a lovely title - no matter how warm it is in my tiny kitchen during the summer months, there was no way I would pass up the opportunity to make this fabulous recipe.

This recipe is most certainly meant to showcase the best summer produce you can find.

The base for my colorful soup was a homemade vegetable stock (yes, it was homemade, for the recipe, please consult page 130). The unbelievably delicious summer vegetables I used for this soup were chopped fennel bulbs, celery stalks and spring onions. Then there were French beans and freshly shelled peas, white courgettes, broad beans, orange, yellow and violet carrots. I replaced the salad that the recipe calls for with baby spinach, used tones of Italian parsley for sprinkling and some fennel fronds as a finishing touch. - A dream in a soup bowl!

I paired this dream with the "Bruschetta with Broad Beans" that we are also cooking this month and the "Radishes with Butter and Salt", a recipe that we made two months ago.

Second up is one of my personal favorites from the book – the "Tomato, Thyme and Goat´s Cheese Tart" – anyone who knows me also knows that I am seriously in love with these kinds of tarts.

When I started my personal series last year cooking my way through this book, I made this recipe using mozzarella and basil (if you are interested you can take a look here) – this time I opted for the goat´s cheese as well as some thyme.

The base is puff pastry that gets „lined“ with garlic – I used two garlic cloves, young garlic, no papery skins yet and sliced them before topping the pastry with it. The rest of the topping is the best seasonal tomatoes you can get your hands on – I opted for large sweet cherry tomatoes and a good-quality goat cheese with just the right amount of saltiness and some fresh thyme from the garden – now I do not know which tart I like better, the Spring Onion Galette (if you are interested you can take a look here) or this one…be that as it may, I have prepared them many times, with variations as to cheese and herbs and they are always a huge hit with all my taste testers.

The third recipe goes so well with these kinds of tarts, especially the Tomato, Thyme and Goat´s Cheese Tart. Another winner, the Marinated Courgettes with Mozzarella.

Again, this is a recipe that I have prepared before and that I like to come back to often.

How can you possibly go wrong with pan-fried (grilled in my case) summer courgettes that you marinate with a fruity olive oil, fresh lemon juice and zest and a bit of young garlic and then gently toss with creamy buffalo mozzarella, freshly ground black pepper and a wonderful crunchy, medium coarse sea salt.

Let me indulge for a second here, I do not know whether you have had the distinct pleasure of taste testing different kinds of black pepper – may I say that I have, and I loved the taste experience. If you happen to have a wonderful spice merchant in your neighbourhood (and who doesn´t), why not buy a different, good-quality black pepper and use it in a recipe like this – just a suggestion. Black pepper should always be bought in peppercorn form and always be ground just before using. There are a myriad of black peppers to choose from and this is a perfect recipe to show off a different kind of black pepper, different from your everyday-kind-of-pepper.

The fourth recipe is yet another recipe where you can really showcase that wonderful summer produce – Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall calls this „Shaved Summer Veg“.

You will be required to produce „wafer-thin“ slices of summer veg to prepare this „deliciously crunchy and gorgeously colorful salad“. For the dressing you need English mustard (I have made a habit of always using Dijon mustard in the recipes), clear organic honey, lemon juice, a light olive oil, sea salt and that freshly ground black pepper.

The vegetables I chose were kohlrabi, green and white courgettes, yellow, orange and violet carrots and little red radishes – I could not find fresh yellow beets for the life of me, impossible to get those around here but the colorful carrots and radishes more than made up for that fact. I added some red beet cress though – we enjoy the peppery sharpness of the cress together with the crunch of the shaved veg and that creamy, mustardy dressing.

So, now I am halfway through my recipes this month and I need a short break in order to contemplate the elderberries on my elder bush in our garden. Every time I look at them, they remind me of my beloved grand-mother and her garden and her elder bush and the syrup she used to make every year – it had the most amazing deep-burgundy color and was always kept downstairs (“im Keller“) until winter time when you needed a bit something healthy to boost your immune system. So there it goes – no recipe yet. Not that you really need another recipe though.

Onto the „green recipe“ for the month of July, namely the „Bruschetta with Broad Beans and Asparagus“ (or French beans in my case).

The recipe is for beans or asparagus – alas no more asparagus to be had anywhere – so it was French beans and lovely broad beans (the girls are getting to be real masters at cleaning and prepping them), together with spring onions and goat cheese. Instead of rubbing the grilled sourdough bread with garlic, I carefully sautéed some very thin slices of garlic and added them to the bean-cheese mixture.

No need to say more - we loved this recipe to crumbs and pieces.

The next recipe needed a bit of an experienced fresh-tomato-pasta-sauce-person. A bit. The amount of the tomatoes I used was way more than the recipe for the „Pasta with Raw Tomato“ calls for.

That´s when that lovely thing called „scale“ comes in handy – the 750 grams were quickly doubled at the store – no reason not to, they are abundant these days, so much so, you cannot not buy more than you need.

I used two kinds of tomatoes for the sauce. The bright red ones and my newly-found favorite kind for cooking and for making salads, the zebra tomatoes – these beauties hail from Belgium, Flanders to be exact and I am quite partial to that region anyways. But I digress. The recipe is otherwise quite nice and summery.

You make the summery sauce, using the skinned and seeded tomatoes (a bit of a mess, I must admit), more young garlic, chili, capers, sea salt, black pepper and a ton of torn, fresh basil leaves – I will admit to adding quite a bit of fresh oregano to the sauce  – perfect. By the way, if you can get your hands on the tiny capers called Capperi di Lipari sotto sale, use these but make sure to rinse off the salt and dry carefully before using in this sauce. Lots of fresh herbs and delightfully pungent capers can make all the difference.

Instead of making the „Panzanella“ that most participants had signed up for, I opted for a recipe from last month, the „Lettuce, Spring Onion and Cheese Tart“. After all, we would like to have all thirty recipes done after the third month and this is definitely a recipe that I wanted to try.

Lovely pastry with butter, flour, salt and milk – no eggs. I chose my wonderful French tart pan with high edges – for the more dramatic look, of course.

The filling consists of little gem lettuce hearts – pan-fried. Then spring onions, cheese, fresh eggs, double cream, milk, pepper and salt (I added some freshly ground nutmeg). Definitely the most labor-intensive recipe but also certainly worth making.

I loved the use of pan-fried lettuce – I often throw lettuce in my wok or soup and certainly appreciate cooking with different kinds of salad. I did serve red currants alongside, yes, fruit – it was a wonderful change to the usual side salads these days and it added some wonderful tartness, not to mention color, to the plate – besides, the talented author of this book recently (October, 2013)  penned another wonderful cookbook called „River Cottage Fruit Every Day!“. The recipes in that book combine fruits and berries with savory foods – I have tried a few recipes from that book and love the concept. Oh, the possibilities...

Speaking of savory, one more savory recipe to go. The easy-peesy „Chargrilled Summer Veg“. Of course, I would not be me if I had not made a lot of these before – the proof can be found here. And, yes, I did get a tad inspired by the recipe. You all know that I seem to have way too much time on my hands so I chargrilled white asparagus a while back and made an absolutely delightful Salad of Chargrilled White Asparagus with a Bacon and Caper Dressing with this. I do not think that I need to post a recipe for the dressing – just use your favorite dressing to make your chargrilled veg be part of your summer salads – we all have a favorite, I am sure.

So, in order to gild the lily with all those wonderful recipes, it was time to make some veg ice cream for dessert. I opted for the pea ice cream sans mint (being rather German not British) because I am totally crazy about peas and because two or three of my fellow CCC bloggers had already opted for equally intriguing sounding Chocolate Beet Ice Cream.

Who knew that my kids would absolutely adore fresh summer Pea Ice Cream?! This was the best – although a tad time consuming to prepare because I used fresh peas (no, not frozen, not canned or anything else). Now, I have made this twice – this time I did leave a bit of texture with tiny specks of incredibly bright green peas and served it with champagne currrants and  the best pistachio oil I have ever tasted, ever. And, yes, I use the real pistachio oil, bright green, healthy, and all and from my local oil mill - not the pistachio-infused one. And, yes, I paired oil with ice cream.

We are in love. Unfortunately, none left.

Please note, that for copyright reasons, we do NOT publish the recipes. I would like to point out that you should make sure to follow the rules on this EVEN if you chose to change or adjust an ingredient or two or the title of the recipe. For more information on the participation rules, please go here.

To see which wonderful dishes the other members of the Cottage Cooking Club prepared during the month of July, please go here.

Dutch Boterkoek with Red Currants - Holländischer Butterkuchen mit roten Johannisbeeren

Today I am featuring a Dutch boterkoek, which can roughly be translated as “butter cake”. It can be described as a dense, rich, buttery bar cookie, baked in a round tin, and cut into wedges after baking. In summertime, the Butter Cake is even more delicious paired with a handful of seasonal summer fruit such as red currants. The taste of the good-quality butter together with the sweet almonds is unbeatable in combination with the delightfully tart red currants.

Heute gibt es einen holländischen Boterkoek oder auch Butterkuchen. Man kann ihn als wundervoll buttrig und reichhaltig beschreiben, ein Kuchen, der in einer runden Backform gebacken wird und nach dem Backen in dreieckige Stücke geschnitten wird. Im Sommer schmeckt dieser Butterkuchen sensationell, wenn man ihn zusammen mit roten Johannisbeeren genießt. Der Geschmack der guten Butter zusammen mit den süßen Mandeln ist ein wahres Gedicht in Kombination mit den wunderbar säuerlichen roten Johannisbeeren.

Boterkoek is a traditional Dutch recipe, somewhat of a cross between a tart and shortbread. Since there is quite a bit of butter in the boterkoek and given just how key butter is to the flavor of this recipe, you should really try to use the best-quality and freshest butter you can find.

Boterkoek ist ein traditionelles holländisches Rezept, ein Gebäck, das eine Mischung ist zwischen einer Tarte und Shortbread. Da der Boterkoek eine gute Menge Butter enthält und sich in dem Rezept eben alles um den Geschmack von Butter dreht, sollte man Wert darauf legen, eine wirklich gute und wohlschmeckende Butter zu benutzen.

The Boterkoek makes a wonderful afternoon or even mid-morning treat with a cup of your favorite tea, coffee or hot chocolate.  Since the preparation of the cake is straightforward and utterly uncomplicted to say the least, it is certainly the perfect recipe to prepare at the last minute if you have unexpected guests for example.

Den Boterkoek kann man selbstverständlich nicht nur zum Nachmittagstee, Kaffee oder heißem Kakao genießen, er schmeckt auch einfach wundervoll mal eben so zwischendurch. Da das Rezept für den Boterkoek recht unkompliziert ist, lässt er sich auch mal schnell und ohne große Vorbereitungen herstellen, wenn zum Beispiel unerwartet Gäste kommen.

The boterkoek is usually made in a special round boterkoek baking pan. The butter cake is then cut into wedges, leaving it somewhere between a cake and shortbread. But, because you are probably not likely to find one of these specialty baking pans at your kitchenware store, you can bake the Boterkoek in a regular round baking pan or springform pan. Once the boterkoek has cooled, and you have taken it out of the pan, you can cut into it into wedges or small slices.

Der Boterkoek wird normalerweise in einer speziellen Boterkoek Backform gebacken. Nach dem Backen wird der Kuchen einfach in Stücke geschnitten. Falls man keine spezielle Boterkoek Backform in seinem Backformen-Fundus hat, backt man den Kuchen einfach in einer normalen Springform oder in einer anderen runden Backform. Eine Pie-Form tut es natürlich auch. Nachdem der Boterkoek ausgekühlt ist, kann man ihn dann aus der Form nehmen und in gleichgroße Stücke schneiden.

Dutch Butter Cake (Boterkoek) Ingredients for the Cake 150 grams good quality unsalted butter 200 grams super fine (caster) baking sugar 1/8 tsp fine sea salt a bit of finely grated lemon zest (organic lemon, please) 1 ½ tsp pure vanilla extract (you can also use some almond flavor) 1 egg (L), beaten (free range or organic) 200 grams white spelt flour (feel free to use regular AP (plain) or cake flour – most recipes for boterkoek call for AP flour) 1/4 tsp cinnamon ½ tsp baking powder 20 grams flaked almonds handful of fresh red currants, to serve

Holländischer Butterkuchen (Boterkoek) Zutaten für den Kuchen 150 Gramm gute Butter, ungesalzen 200 Gramm feinster Backzucker 1/8 TL feines Meersalz ein wenig geriebene Zitronenschale (von einer unbehandelten bzw. Bio-Zitrone) 1 1/2 TL natürliches Vanillearoma (oder natürliches Mandelaroma) 1 Ei (L), verquirlt (wenn möglich Bio) 200 Gramm Dinkelmehl Type 630 (man kann natürlich auch normales Weizenmehl nehmen – in den meisten Rezepten wird Weizenmehl Type 405 verwendet) 1/4 TL Ceylon Zimt ½ TL Backpulver 20 Gramm Mandelblättchen einige rote Johannisbeeren zum Servieren

Equipment needed round baking pan or springform pan (26 cm) unless you happen to own a specialty round boterkoek pan pastry brush parchment paper

Zusätzlich eine runde Backform oder Springform (26 cm) – wenn Sie eine spezielle Boterkoek Backfrom besitzen, nehmen Sie natürlich diese für´s Backen des Boterkoek ein Backpinsel etwas Backpapier

Preparation Preheat the oven to 175 degrees Celsius. Lightly grease a boterkoek specialty baking pan or butter another round cake pan (26 cm) and line the bottom with greaseproof paper. In a medium bowl, cream the butter, sugar, salt, lemon zest and vanilla extract until light and fluffy. Remove one teaspoon of the beaten egg and set aside in a small bowl. Pour the rest of the egg into the butter mixture, and stir well. Whisk together the flour, cinnamon, and baking powder. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and mix until you have a smooth dough. Transfer the mixture to your baking pan and press the dough with the palms of your hands into the pan until you have a reasonably smooth top. If you feel that the dough is very sticky, use a piece of saran wrap (cling film) and place it on the dough and then smooth the surface with the back of a cup measure or a large spoon. If you would like to have a distinct pattern on your boterkoek , then mark the dough with the tines of a fork at this stage. Mix the teaspoon of egg with a teaspoon of water, and brush on top of the boterkoek. Sprinkle with the flaked almonds, and bake for about 25 to 30 minutes until just golden and firm to the touch. Transfer to a cooling rack and let cool for about 15 minutes before unmolding (or the boterkoek will break). Let the boterkoek cool completely before cutting it into wedges (or slices if you prefer).

Zubereitung Heizen Sie Ihren Ofen auf 175 Grad Celsius vor. Die runde Boterkoek-Backform oder eine andere Backform (26 cm) fetten und den Boden mit Backpapier auskleiden.  In einer mittelgroßen Schüssel die Butter, den Zucker, das Salz, die geriebene Zitronenschale und das Vanillearoma miteinander verrühren. Etwa einen Teelöffel von dem verquirlten Ei in eine kleine Schüssel geben. Den Rest vom Ei zum Teig geben und mischen. Mehl, Zimt und Backpulver gut mischen.  Die Mehlmischung zu der Buttermischung geben und gut miteinander verrühren. Den Teig in die Backform geben und mit den Händen andrücken – falls der Teig zu sehr klebt, kann man auch ein Stück Frischhaltefolie auf den Teig legen und ihn dann mit Hilfe eines breiten Löffels oder mit einem Glasboden glatt streichen oder drücken. Wenn Sie ein Muster auf ihrem Boterkoek haben möchten, dann sollten Sie jetzt eine Gabel mehrmals über den Teig ziehen, so dass ein Gittermuster entsteht. Den Rest vom verquirlten Ei mit einem TL Wasser mischen und mit einem Backpinsel den Teig damit bestreichen. Mit den Mandelblättchen bestreuen und ungefähr 25 bis 30 Minuten backen oder solange, bis der Boterkoek eine schöne goldene Farbe hat. Den Boterkoek auf ein Kuchengitter stellen und mindestens 15 Minuten auskühlen lassen, bevor Sie ihn aus der Form nehmen (sonst bricht der Kuchen). Ganz auskühlen lassen, dann entweder in breite Streifen oder in keilförmige Stücke schneiden.

Boterkoek is a really simple recipe with surprisingly good results for something so easy – so go ahead and try this wonderful Dutch treat. And as I already mentioned above, in summertime, the Butter Cake is even more delicious paired with a handful of seasonal summer fruit such as red currants

Boterkoek ist wahrlich einfach und relativ schnell in der Herstellung und es lohnt sich wirklich, diesen wunderbaren Kuchen einmal auszuprobieren. Und, wie ich schon erwähnt habe, schmeckt der Butterkuchen im Sommer geradezu sensationell, wenn man ihn zusammen mit roten Johannisbeeren genießt.

Eet smakelijk!

French Fridays with Dorie - Coddled Eggs with Foie Gras

Today´s recipe for the French Fridays with Dorie group is "Coddled Eggs with Foie Gras“. Coddled eggs are not just eggs that have been treated in a pampered sort of way, they are actually eggs that have gone through a particular process of cooking. To be precise, "to coddle" is to cook them in water at a temperature just below boiling. Or to immerse them briefly in boiling water.

The original British "egg coddlers" that I know are small porcelain jars with a screw-top lid that essentially allow you to soft-boil eggs after having dispensed of their shells. The advantage being that you can "boil" or rather "coddle" them with any assortment of butter, herbs, cheese, meats, and seasonings, developing tasty egg combinations of all sorts. Here, Dorie`s French version of  a coddled egg calls for some lovely pâté de foie gras or mousse as the main flavor component.

To make this recipe you butter the inside of your ramekins, divide the pâté de foie gras among the ramekins, crack open one very fresh organic or farm-fresh egg per dish, being careful not to break the yolks as you do so. Add fine sea salt and some freshly ground black pepper and then spoon a bit of cream over the egg white. No need to mix the ingredients. Then you place the four ramekins in your steamer basket. Place the saucepan on a burner on medium heat, bring to a simmer, and cook the eggs in their ramekins for five to seven minutes. After having being properly steamed, the eggs will have set, the yolks will still be runny, and the ingredients will have worked their magic throughout.

A final sprinkling of that delicately anise-flavored herb terragon, that is common to French cooking, adds just another elegant flavor component to this wonderful French appetizer.

I must admit that one of the pleasures of eating coddled eggs has to do with swirling the ingredients with some lightly toasted bread that you dig down into the ramekins.

We love our soft-boiled eggs and our eggs sunny-side-up, but every couple of weeks coddled eggs could make for a particularly nice brunch. Like this one – Coddled Eggs with Pâte de Foie Gras.

To see how much the other members of the French Fridays with Dorie group enjoyed this recipe, please go here.

If you happen to own Dorie Greenspan´s "Around my French Table", you will find the recipe for the „Coddled Eggs with Foie Gras“ on pages 194-5.

Cherry Vanilla Cake with Almonds - Kirschkuchen mit Vanille und Mandeln

Another lovely summertime cake. It is a simple yet classic recipe.With fresh summer fruits and easy enough to prepare at a moments notice, it is perfect for any day of the week. No need to wait for that special occasion.

Heute gibt es einen weiteren Sommerkuchen. Ein einfacher und klassischer Kuchen. Mit frischen Kirschen gemacht, eignet sich das Rezept hervorragend um es mal eben so zu backen. Kein Grund auf einen Festtag zu warten.

Make the most of seasonal fruit in this quickly prepared cake. It is studded with sweet cherries and it has as almond topping with real vanilla sugar (homemade, of course) and just a hint of cinnamon. Actually we believ that you should serve this cake while it is still warm from the oven, just as is, with a light dusting of icing sugar or with a bit of real good-quality vanilla ice cream. If you are planning on serving the cherry cake almost straight from the oven, it is a particularly nice idea to bake it in a pretty oven-proof pie dish that can go from oven to table.You can also enjoy the cake once it has cooled - then make sure to serve a generous slice either for dessert or with that afternoon cup of coffee or tea.

Diese Sorte Kuchen gelingen einfach am besten wenn man sie mit saisonalen Früchten backt. Und dieser Kuchen ist voller wunderbar saftiger und dunkler Süßkirschen und hat einen Belag aus Mandeln mit (selbstgemachtem) Vanillezucker und einem Hauch Zimt. Am besten schmeckt der Kuchen wenn man ihn noch warm aus dem Ofen genießt, entweder einfach so mit nur ein wenig Puderzucker oder mit einem richtig gutem Vanilleeis. Dann ist es auch besonders schön wenn man den Kirschkuchen in einer hübschen ofenfesten Form backt, die man zum Servieren einfach nur auf den Tisch stellen muss. Man kann den Kuchen aber auch auskühlen lassen und dann ein großzügiges Stück davon  mit einer Tasse Kaffee oder Tee genießen.

Cherry Vanilla Cake with Almonds Ingredients for the Cake  160 grams (one cup) AP flour, sifted plus some for dusting the baking dish ½ tsp baking powder ¼ tsp fine sea salt 60 grams (1/4 cup) unsalted butter, room temperature plus some for greasing the baking dish 180 grams (3/4 cup) super fine baking sugar 1 ½ tsps. homemade vanilla sugar* (you can sub 1 teaspoons of pure vanilla extract)  2 eggs (L), organic or free range if possible 80 ml (1/3 cup)  buttermilk   about 40 cherries or 400 grams (depending on the size) of sweet/black cherries, cleaned and pitted AFTER weighing

Kirschkuchen mit Vanille und Mandeln Zutaten für den Kuchen 160 Gramm Weizenmehl plus ein wenig für die Backform ½ TL Backpulver ¼ TL feines Meersalz 60 Gramm Butter, Zimmertemperatur plus ein wenig für die Backform 180 Gramm feinster Backzucker 1 ½ TL selbstgemachter Vanillezucker* (oder Bourbon-Vanillezucker) 2 Eier (L), Freiland oder Bio 80 ml Buttermilch  zirka 40 Süßkirschen (oder 400 Gramm), abhängig von der Größe, gewaschen und NACH dem Wiegen entkernt

Ingredients for the Topping 2 tsp coarse sugar (you can sub regular white sugar) 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon 1 tsp homemade vanilla sugar* 4 tbsp slithered almonds (equals about 40 grams)

Zutaten für den Belag 2 TL grober Zucker (oder Haushaltszucker) 1/4 TL gemahlener Ceylon Zimt 1 TL selbstgemachter Vanillezucker* (oder Bourbon Vanillezucker) 4 EL Mandelblättchen (zirka 40 Gramm)

To serve lightly whipped cream, crème fraîche or vanilla ice cream some icing sugar Preparation Preheat your oven to 175 degrees Celsius (350 degrees Fahrenheit). Generously grease a pie dish with butter and set aside. In a medium bowl whisk together  the flour, baking powder and salt. Cream together the butter, sugar and vanilla sugar (if using) and mix until pale yellow. Add eggs one at a time and mix until well combined (add the vanilla extract now if using). Add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture in two additions - alternating with the buttermilk and stir just until combined. Pour batter into prepared baking dish. Place the pitted cherries on top of the cake batter and with the palm of your hand carefully push them into the batter. In a small bowl mix together the ingredients for the topping. Bake the cake for 20 minutes. Scatter the topping on top of the half-baked cake – be careful not to burn yourself! Bake for another 20-25 minutes or until cake tester comes out clean. Note: you can also skip the pre-bake and scatter the topping over the unbaked batter right away, almonds will then be more browned You can serve the cake warm or at room temperature. Dust liberally with icing sugar just before serving.                             *Note: for homemade vanilla sugar, please refer to my last post, the Blackberry Bundt with Lemon Verbena, it has the recipe – you could always sub store-bought pure vanilla sugar – the one with the real vanilla specks, of course.

Zum Servieren leicht geschlagene Sahne, Crème fraîche oder Vanilleeis etwas Puderzucker Zubereitung Den Ofen auf 175 Grad Celsius vorheizen. Eine Pie oder Kuchenform buttern und mit Mehl ausstreuen. In einer mittleren Schüssel das Mehl, Backpulver und Salz mischen. Butter, Zucker und Vanillezucker in eine Schüssel geben und mit den Quirlen des Handrührers mindesten 5 Minuten schaumig schlagen.  Eier einzeln jeweils 1⁄2 Min. unterrühren. Mehl und Buttermilch abwechselnd zugeben. Mit dem Mehl beginnen und enden. Jeweils nur kurz unterrühren. Den Teig in die vorbereite Form geben. Die entsteinten Kirschen auf dem Teig verteilen, vorsichtig ein wenig in den Teig drücken – das geht am besten mit der Hand. In einer kleinen Schüssel die Zutaten für den Belag mischen. Den Kuchen zirka 20 Minuten backen. Mit dem Belag bestreuen und dabei aufpassen, dass man sich nicht verbrennt. Weitere 20 bis 25 Minuten backen, dann eine Stäbchenprobe machen. Tipp: Oder den Belag direkt auf den Kuchen streuen und die gesamte Zeit mitbacken, dann werden die Mandeln ein wenig dunkler. Man kann den Kuchen warm servieren oder ganz auskühlen lassen. Vor dem Servieren großzügig mit Puderzucker bestreuen. *Tipp: für selbstgemachten Vanillezucker meinen Brombeer-Gugelhupf mit Zitronenverbene Post anschauen, dort ist das Rezept zu finden – oder einfach gekauften Bourbon Vanillezucker verwenden, den mit den leckeren Vanillepunkten.

I am sure that you will agree with me that you do not need an excuse to bake this Cherry Vanilla Cake with Almonds. This is seasonal baking at ist best. But the cake is also delicious and perfect for a picnic. For a picnic, make the cake up to 24 hours ahead and return it to the clean baking pan or pie dish when cold, then wrap in saran wrap or foil and keep in a cool and dry place until you are ready for your picnic. Enjoy summer and summertime baking to the fullest! But you might not always feel like baking a cake. Then how about some lovely cookies like my Summer Pretzel with Cinnamon and Vanilla, they are equally as delicious as cakes studded with fruits and berries at this time of year. There is more to come on this blog to inspire you throughout summer – you do not want to miss that!

Sicherlich braucht man keine besondere Gelegenheit um diesen Kirschkuchen mit Vanille und Mandeln zu backen. Saisonales Backen ist einfach unschlagbar. Der Kuchen eignet sich übrigens auch ganz hervorragend für ein Picknick. Dann kann man den Kuchen durchaus auch am Vortag backen und nach dem Abkühlen wieder in die saubere Kuchenform geben, mit Frischhaltefolie gut abdecken und an einem trockenen und kühlen Ort aufbewahren bis es Zeit für das Picknick ist. Man sollte das Backen ruhig auch im Sommer genießen. Man hat ja auch nicht immer Lust und Laune einen Kuchen zu backen sondern eher kleineres Gebäck. Dann vielleicht Kekse wie meine Sommerbretzel mit Zimt und Vanille die sind genauso wunderbar zu dieser Jahreszeit sind wie frischer Obstkuchen.. Es werden hier noch mehr wunderbare Backideen in den nächsten Wochen zu finden sein. Es lohnt sich sicherlich auch weiterhin vorbei zu schauen!