CAKES & VEGETABLES - PART III - SWEET POTATO - Sweet Potato Bundt Cake with Bourbon and Pecans

This is the third cake that I am featuring in of my October Series called “CAKES AND VEGETABLES”. Today the chosen vegetable is the wonderful sweet potato. A root vegetable that resembles a potato, although it is not related to it. It is quite different in taste and texture. It has a pinkish-orange skin and a deep-orange, creamy-textured flesh that is much lighter and fluffier than that of the potato. As their name suggests, sweet potatoes have a slightly sweet flavor.

Sweet potatoes can be cooked in similar ways to the potatoes but cook much more quickly. You can use the sweet potato for mashing or roasting, or you can use them in vegetable soups and stews. You can also add them to risottos, pasta dishes such as ravioli and curries or make sweet potato fries and fritters. But you can also bake with them and create sweet potato pies (with or without meringue) or crème brulée or bake this fantasticly simple yet wonderful Sweet Potato Bundt Cake with Bourbon and Pecans.

Recipe for Sweet Potato Bundt Cake with Bourbon and Pecans
(as adapted from Dorothy Dalquist)

Ingredients for the Bundt

• 300 grams (1 1/2 cups) firmly packed light brown sugar 
• 75 grams (1/3 cup) unsalted butter, room temperature, plus some more for the Bundt pan
• 2 eggs (L), organic or free range
• 250 ml (1 cup) cooked and puréed sweet potato, cooled (you willl need about 1 1/2 sweet potatoes)
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract (I used homemade vanilla sugar)
• 390 grams (2 3/4 cups) plain/AP flour, plus some more for the Bundt pan
• 200 ml (3/4 cup) milk, room temperature (I used 3.5% milk)
• 75 ml (1/3 cup) bourbon or apple juice
• 1 tbsp baking powder (I used baking powder with ground saffron)
• 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice (I mixed my own using cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice and ginger)
• one pinch of fine salt (I used fine sea salt)
• 50 grams (6 tbsp) chopped pecans (you can substitute walnuts of other nuts)
• some confectioner´s sugar for serving

Equipment

• one 10 or 12 cup Bundt or Gugelhupf baking pan 

Preparation of the Bundt

1. Lightly butter and flour a 10 or 12 cup Bundt or Gugelhupf baking pan, shaking out the excess.
2. Preheat your oven to 180 degrees Celsius (350 degrees Fahrenheit).
3. In the bowl of your electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the brown sugar, butter, and eggs until the mixture is very light and fluffy.
4. Add the cooked and puréed sweet potato than the vanilla and beat to combine.
5. In another bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, pumpkin pie spice and salt.
5. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and beat until until just incorporated.
6. Switching to a rubber spatula, fold in the chopped nuts.
7. Distribute the batter in the pan and smooth the top (best done with a small offset spatula).
8. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean, about 50 to 60 minutes.
9. Transfer the cake to a wire rack and cool for about 10 minutes.
10. Remove the cake from the pan and turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
11. Dust with some confectioner´s sugar before serving.

This Bundt is a delicious and moist cake with a wonderful warm orange color, great texture and just the right amount of spicyness – make sure to use the freshest spices that you can, it will make a big difference. This is as much a great coffee cake as it is lovely for serving at a fall dinner party. Not too sweet and full of flavor, it's simply delicious. This cake keeps very well for several days

Since this time of year there is a lot of wonderful and cute marzipan creations in the stores, I picked up a bag of so-called “marzipan potatoes” (“Marzipankartoffeln”), filled mini handmade baskets with them and placed them on the table with the cake. Guests love nibbling on these marzipan treats, the little baskets add a nice decorative touch to an autumnal table.

Sources:

• light brown sugar from "Tate & Lyle" (available for example at http://www.english-shop.de)
• baking powder with saffron from "Dr. Oetker" (http://www.oetker.com)
• Gugelhupf baking pan from "Kaiser" (http://www.kaiser-backform.de)
• marzipan "potatoes" from "Niederegger (http://www.niederegger.de)
• fabric for the tablecloth called "Critter Community" from "Robert Kaufman" (http://www.robertkaufman.com)

PART IV of my CAKES AND VEGETABLES SERIES will feature the extremly versatile Pumpkin.

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CAKES & VEGETABLES - PART I - CARROT - European-Style Carrot Cake

CAKES & VEGETABLES - PART II - BEETROOT - Nigel Slater's Extremely Moist Chocolate-Beetroot Cake with Crème Fraîche and Poppy Seeds

CAKES & VEGETABLES - PART III -SWEET POTATO - Sweet Potato Bundt Cake with Bourbon and Pecans
CAKES & VEGETABLES - PART IV - PUMPKIN - Mini Pumpkin Muffins and Pumpkin Biscuits

CAKES & VEGETABLES - PART V - POTATO - Old-Fashioned Potato-Raisin Gugelhupf

CAKES & VEGETABLES - PART VI - PARSNIP - Parsnip Spice Cake

CAKES & VEGATABLES - PART VII - BEETROOT - Nigel Slater´s Beetroot Seed Cake

Tuesday with Dorie - Bagels

Today´s recipe for the Tuesdays with Julia group are Bagels.

Bagels are by no means common around here – they are just starting to make an occasional appearance at bakeries and some well-known American bagels chains have opened a few bagel shops. But to say that they are easy to find would be an exaggeration.

When I first read that we were baking Bagels for the Tuesdays with Dorie Group, I felt a bit intimidated because although I have tasted the famous New York and Montréal Bagels before, I certainly never baked any. I remembered tasting bagels with “different toppings” such as sesame, poppy or caraway seeds, plain or flavored with cinnamon and raisins (which I particularly enjoyed) and the Bagels that I remember with “real affection” were those slathered with really good cream cheese, thinly sliced tomatoes and lox! So in order to be able to enjoy those Bagels, I decided that despite my trepidations, I should give the recipe a try. And I am quite happy that I did.

The recipe which was contributed by Lauren Groveman looks complicated and long but, in fact,  it is very simple and the different steps can be followed easily. Bagels are made with a yeast dough and high-gluten flour (which I found at an Italian store), the rest of the ingredients are quickly put together, water, sugar shortening (I used unsalted butter with no apparent ill effect) and salt. After some good kneading and a first rise, the dough gets deflated and chilled for a few hours in the refrigerator.

After the second rise came the fun part, shaping the Bagels. Very meditative. The Bagels need to be boiled for a good minute an each side in water, sugar and soda then transferred to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and dusted with cornmeal. Then they get brushed with egg whites and water, topped with seeds (I chose a mixture of sesame, poppy and sunflower seeds) and baked for about twenty to twenty five minutes. Before baking, you will have to toss some ice water and cubes onto the oven floor to create some serious steam.

These Bagels were so wonderful, they emerged from the oven so much nicer looking than I had imagined they would look like and they were delicious. We ate them for dinner and the whole family was crazy about them – this recipe is a keeper, for sure! While we were shopping for vegetables yesterday, I had picked up some “Smoked Sausage Spread” (“Mettwurst”) in a Weck jar  - this is a local specialty that certainly has a rustic appeal and it was delicious with the Bagels. As you may have noticed from a few of my previous blog posts, we do love those “Weck” jars around here not only for jams and jellies but also for pickles, sausages, pesto but also for baking cakes and I always buy them whenever I see them and then my collection just keeps on growing.

To see all the other Bagels by the very talented and enthusiastic members of the Tuesday with Dorie group, please do click here. The recipe can be found at Heather´s delightful blog Heathers Bytes - thank you so much for hosting, Heather!

Green Tea and White Chocolate Cookies

Baking with tea or powdered tea is a wonderful way to add very interesting flavors to cakes and cookies. I have baked Earl Grey Cookies and Green Tea Shortbread and Cupcakes before and made Chai-Spiced Honey Bundt Cakes (see also my post of Feb. 10, 2012) and was always intrigued by the taste that the different teas, whetther in powdered from, ground up or used as an infusion, add to baked goods. So when I came across a recipe for Green Tea and White Chocolate Cookies on Nami´s fantastic blog called Just one Cookbook, I knew that I had to try out her recipe.

The cookies are very pretty when baked and mine had a pronounced flavor of green tea which I adore. The white chocolate added not only a nice visual effect but tasted wonderful in combination with the green tea. Just make sure that you use a really good quality white chocolate such as Lindt.

The powdered green tea that I used in this recipe is called “Matcha” and since it is quite expensive, you should not skimp on the other ingredients for the cookie and try to use the best ingredients that you can get.

I chose to give some of these cookies as gifts and instead of packing them in cookies tins, I went to my favorite Asian market and bought the smallest steamer baskets with matching covers that I could find. I placed a layer of brown unbleached parchment paper at the bottom of the baskets and just placed the cookies inside – just make sure that you let the recipient know that the cookies should be wrapped if they intend to keep them for a few days.

The recipe for these amazing and pretty cookies can be found on Nami´s blog! Thank you for sharing this fantastic recipe Nami!

Sources:

• Japan Matcha Yume Organic from “Tee Gschwendner” (http://www.teagschwendner.com)
• Lindt Excellence White Chocolate from "Lindt" (http://www.lindt.com)
• Table linens from "Butlers" (http://www.butlers.de)

French Fridays with Dorie - Crispy, Crackly Apple-Almond Tart

Today`s chosen recipe for the French Fridays with Dorie group is “Crispy, Crackly Apple-Almond Tart”, a very pretty and simple rectangular apple tart with lots of crunchy layers of phyllo dough. The phyllo dough consists of paper-thin sheets of unleavened flour dough used for making pastries in Middle Eastern and Balkan cuisine.

We have been eating a very similar tart for the longest time, I cannot remember how many times I made an apple tart with a puff pastry base and rows of delicious sliced apples, sometimes I also make a hazelnut cream as a layer beneath the rows of sliced apples and most of the time I serve a homemade warm vanilla custard sauce (”Vanillesauce”) alongside. But this time, I followed Dorie´s wonderful recipe exactly and the result was an amazingly delicious “Crispy, Crackly Apple-Almond Tart”.

The first step is the preparation of the almond cream with all but six ingredients, namely almond flour (easily done by grinding almonds into a fine meal, I should mention that I left the skins on the almonds), superfine white sugar, an egg, vanilla extract (I used homemade vanilla sugar), a pinch of fine salt and a few tablespoons of cream (I used 35% cream). Since the almond cream needs a three hour rest in the refrigerator, a bit of planning is required. Once the almond cream has had a rest, the next step in the recipe calls for layering eight sheets of phyllo (I made nine layers), brushing each layer with melted butter and sprinkling a bit of sugar over each buttered layer. 

After I layered the phyllo dough on a baking sheet, I spread the almond cream (leavening a border) on the dough, peeled the apples and arranged them in rows on top of the almond cream. The tart needed to bake for a good forty minutes. The sides of the baked tart curled up around the layers of the apples and the almond cream - an effect that is wanted for this tart.

Last step in this recipe is the “finishing touch”, brushing a glaze of apple jelly over the apples – this will make the tart taste even more delicious and it looks even prettier with the rows of “shiny looking” apple slices.

Usually I use a local apple jelly to brush my apple tarts but this time, I used an apple jam with cinnamon (“Confiture Pommes à la Cannelle”) that I heated ever so slightly and strained before brushing it over the tart. I found this cute Weck jar with the apple cinnamon jam in my favorite Dutch kitchen supply store “Dille Kamille” and just could not resist – it added a delicious finishing touch to the tart, all 80 grams of it (which is not more than a heaping tablespoon).

I brought the apple tart to the table "whole", as Dorie so aptly points out, bringing this tart to the table before it is cut, makes for a pretty presentation. This is a fun tart to prepare with ingredients that are fairly easy to procure. I like that you can make it with local produce such as apples and apple jelly from your favorite farmer´s store or market. This recipe is a keeper and a nice change to our usual puff pastry apple tart.

To see how the other Doristas fared with this wonderful “Crispy, Crackly Apple-Almond Tart”, please click here.

For more Filo Tart inspiration on my blog, have a look at:

December Filo Tart with Mini Brussels Sprouts (Winterliche Filotarte mit Rosenkohlröschen) (HERE)
Filo Tart with fresh Figs & Prosciutto (Filotarte mit frischen Feigen & Prosciutto) (HERE)
River Cottage "Veg Everyday" Courgette and Filo Rice Pie (HERE)
Filo Tart with White Asparagus, Goat Cheese & Meadowsweet Blossoms (Filotarte mit weißem Spargel, Ziegenkäse & Mädesüßblüten) (HERE)
• Red Swiss Chard & Mushroom Filo Tart (Filotarte mit rotem Mangold & braunen Champignons) (HERE)

CAKES & VEGETABLES - PART II - BEETROOT - Nigel Slater's Extremely Moist Chocolate-Beetroot Cake with Crème Fraîche and Poppy Seeds

This is the second cake in of my October Series called “CAKES AND VEGETABLES”. Today the chosen vegetable is the wonderful beetroot. The deep ruby earthiness of a beetroot is surprisingly well suited for bittersweet chocolate cake. No matter how you feel about beetroots in salads or soups, today´s featured cake will not be an acquired taste. Crushed beetroots are a wonderful way to make a moist, nearly molten cake. In this "Extremely Moist Chocolate-Beetroot Cake with Crème Fraîche and Poppy Seeds", the beetroots make themselves known, but only barely, or "elusively", as Nigel Slater says.

If you are pruchasing beetroots, look for small beetroots with the stalks still intact. To store fresh beetroots, cut off the leafy tops and then place to dry in a single layer in a wooden or cardboard box. To cook wash - but do not peel - the beetroot and either boil, steam or bake until tender. Once cool enough, the outer skin should be rubbed off. To avoid stained hands, wash them and anything else you have used as soon as possible. Beetroot leaves and stems can also be eaten, cook them as you would any other spring greens.

Consider beetroot recipes for salads, risottos, dips, tartare or soups with a dollop of sour cream. You can also prepare beetroot chutney, relish or sauce or you can simply pickle them, caramelize or roast them or make pancakes and soufflées with them. The possibilities are endless.

Recipe for Nigel Slater's Extremely Moist Chocolate-Beet Cake
(as adapted from “Tender” by Nigel Slater)

Ingredients for the Cake

• 240 grams (8.4 ounces) fresh beetroots
• 200 grams (7 ounces) dark chocolate (I used Lindt Excellence 70%)
• 60 ml (1/4 cup) freshly brewed espresso
• 200 grams (3/4 cup plus 2 tbsp) unsalted butter, room temperature, plus some for greasing the pan
• 135 grams (1 cup plus 2 tbsp) plain/AP flour, plus some for the pan
• 1 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 3 tbsp good quality cocoa powder 
• 5 eggs (L), free range or organic if possible, separated
• one pinch of fine salt
• 200 grams (1 cup) superfine sugar

Ingredients for the Topping 

• crème fraîche (I used about 200 grams / 7 ounces of a French crème fraîche) – according to Nigel Slater the use of crème fraîche here “it is an important part of the cake”.
• poppy seeds (I used about two tbsp) 

Equipment

• one 22 centimeter (8 to 8 1/2 inches) spring form pan or other round cake pan
• some parchment paper (unbleached if possible) for lining the pan

Preparation of the Cake

1. Lightly butter an 8-inch springform cake pan and line the base with a round of parchment paper. Heat your oven to 180 degrees Celsius (350 degrees Fahrenheit).
2. Cook the beetroots, whole and unpeeled, in boiling unsalted water. Drain them, let them cool under running water, then peel them, slice off their stem and root, and process in a blender or food processor until you end up with a coarse purée.
3. Break the chocolate into small pieces and melt in a small bowl set over a pot of simmering water. NOTE: Do not stir!
4. When the chocolate looks almost melted, pour the freshly brewed espresso over it and stir but once. Cut the butter into small pieces and add them to the melted chocolate. Push the butter down under the surface of the chocolate with a spoon and leave to soften.
5. In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and cocoa.
6. Separate the eggs, putting the egg whites in a large mixing bowl. Stir the yolks together.
7. Now, working quickly but gently, remove the bowl of chocolate from the heat and stir until the butter has melted into the chocolate. Let sit for a few minutes, then stir in the egg yolks. Do this quickly, mixing firmly and evenly so the eggs blend into the mixture.
8. Fold in the beetroots.
9. Whisk the egg whites until stiff, then fold in the sugar. Firmly but gently, fold the beaten egg whites and sugar into the chocolate mixture. Take care not to over-mix.
10. Lastly, fold in the flour and the cocoa.
11. Transfer the batter to the prepared cake pan and put in the oven, decreasing the heat immediately to 165 degrees Celsius (325 degrees Fahrenheit). Bake for about 40 minutes. The rim of the cake will feel spongy, the inner part should still wobble a little when gently shaken.
12. Set the cake aside to cool (it will sink a tad in the center), loosening it around the edges with a thin offset spatula after half an hour or so. It is not a good idea to remove the cake from its pan until it is has completely cooled.

Preparation of the Topping and Serving

1. Stir the crème fraîche ever so slighty and carefully spread in an even layer over the cake (this is best done with an offset spatula).
2. Sprinkle the poppy seeds over the cake.
3. Serve in thick slices.

Sources:

• “Tender Volume I: A Cook and his Vegetable Patch” by Nigel Slater (http://www.amazon.co.uk) published September 14, 2009 or for the US edition (http:// www.amazon.com),  published April 26, 2011.
• Baking pan from “Kaiser” (http://www.kaiser-backformen.de)
• Chocolate from “Lindt” (http://www.lindt.com)

If you do not mind showcasing vegetables in baked goods based on their flavor, texture, moisture, or even their nourishing qualities, this "Extremely Moist Chocolate-Beetroot Cake with Crème Fraîche and Poppy Seeds" is one fantastic way to do so. It has a sweet, earthy flavor and a warm color. Chocolate and beetroot are a particularly heavenly combination. This cake was so well received at our house, that I almost did not believe my eyes - except for the very youngest taste tester (who is all of four years old), the kids loved this cake - and they knew before they tasted the cake that it contained cooked and puréed beetroots.The crème fraîche topping is indeed a "must", it adds so much in taste and texture to this cake that I would not dream of serving a slice of this cake without its tangy topping.

If you continue to follow my series, you will notice that there will be one more cake with beetroots but this time they will be raw rather than previously cooked and they will lend a completely different texture to the baked cake.

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CAKES & VEGETABLES - PART I - CARROT - European-Style Carrot Cake

CAKES & VEGETABLES - PART II - BEETROOT - Nigel Slater's Extremely Moist Chocolate-Beetroot Cake with Crème Fraîche and Poppy Seeds

CAKES & VEGETABLES - PART III -SWEET POTATO - Sweet Potato Bundt Cake with Bourbon and Pecans
CAKES & VEGETABLES - PART IV - PUMPKIN - Mini Pumpkin Muffins and Pumpkin Biscuits

CAKES & VEGETABLES - PART V - POTATO - Old-Fashioned Potato-Raisin Gugelhupf

CAKES & VEGETABLES - PART VI - PARSNIP - Parsnip Spice Cake

CAKES & VEGATABLES - PART VII - BEETROOT - Nigel Slater´s Beetroot Seed Cake

CAKES & VEGETABLES - PART I - CARROT - European-Style Carrot Cake

Today marks the start of my new October Series called “CAKES AND VEGETABLES”. The first vegetable to star in my series is the wonderful carrot. The carrot is a root vegetable and as a member of the parsley family related to the parsnip, celery and fennel. Eaten raw or briefly cooked, carrots are an excellent source of vitamin A, carotene and potassium. Choose firm carrots and avoid those that are flabby with wilted green tops. Go for small carrots if you can, as they are more tender than large ones and need very little cooking.

Carrots come in different colors too. There are, of course, the bright orange ones, then yellow and purple ones. The purple ones are said to be the “original carrots”, meaning that today´s orange carrots probably resulted from a cross between the purple and the yellow carrots. I love the pronounced nutty taste of the purple variety, they are best used for a grated raw carrot salad for example. Carrots can be used not only in soups, stews and salads but also roasted, baked, juiced and puréed. And, of course, they are an excellent choice for adding them to muffins, cupcakes, cookies, breads, puddings and the most wonderful and widely beloved carrot cakes.

This recipe is one of my favorite cake recipes of all times, I love the combination of the grated carrot and the ground hazelnuts. The natural sweetness that this vegetable brings to any kind of baking is unsurpassed and just utterly delicious. The warm spices add a wonderful depth of flavor and autumnal warmness to this cake and it does keep serveral day if you wrap it well before decorating.


Recipe for European-Style Carrot Cake ("Möhrenkuchen - Rüeblitorte- Gelbe-Rüben-Torte")

Ingredients

• 300 grams  (2 1/2 cups) ground hazelnuts (you can substitute almonds or use half almonds and half hazelnuts)
• 4 eggs (L) free range or organic if possible, separated
• one pinch of fine salt
• 200 grams (1 1/2 cups) confectioner's sugar, divided in two portions of 100 grams (1/2 plus ¼ cup), sifted
• zest from an orange (organic if possible)
• 2 tbsp Kirsch * (Kirschwasser)
• 25 grams (3 tbsp) starch (I always use potato starch)
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon (I always use cinnamon from Ceylon)
• 1/8 tsp ground ginger
• 1/8 tsp ground cloves
• 1 package pure vanilla sugar (2 tsp pure vanilla extract can be substituted)
• 8 medium carrots, finely grated  (about 2 cups when lightly packed)
• a bit of soft butter for the baking pan
• a bit of flour, bread crumbs or additional ground nuts for the baking pan

* Kirsch or Kirschwasser is a colorless Brandy made from the fermented juice of cherries. The Kirsch that I use in baking is from a local distillery called "Hausbrennerei Roth". To my great delight, I discovered their wonderful products at my favorite farmer´s store a few weeks ago.

Ingredients for the first Glaze

• some apricot jam (homemade if possible)

Ingredients for the second Glaze

• confectioner' s sugar
• a bit of Kirsch and milk

Decoration

• marzipan decorations
• 1 tbsp ground unsalted pistachios

Equipment

• a 23 centimeter (9 inch) spring form pan or other round cake pan
• some parchment paper (unbleached if possible) for lining the spring form pan as well as a few strips to avoid drips while glazing the cake
• soft bristled brush
• strainer

Preparation of the Cake

1. Preheat your oven to 180 degrees Celsius (355 degrees Fahrenheit).
2. Butter and flour your baking pan. If you line the pan with parchment paper, butter and flour that as well or substitute finely ground bread crumbs or ground nuts for the flour.
3. Grind the hazelnuts in a food processor until finely ground.
4. In the bowl of your mixer, using the whisk attachment, beat the egg whites with the salt until soft peaks form. Then add 100 grams (1/2 plus ¼ cup of the sifted confectioner's sugar and continue to beat for a while until firm peaks form, set aside.
5. In another bowl, also with a whisk attachment, beat the egg yolks with the other half of the confectioner's sugar, the orange zest and the Kirsch until the mixture is thick and pale yellow ( if you are using vanilla extract, add it now).
6. To the ground hazelnuts add the starch, cinnamon, ginger, cloves and vanilla sugar.
7. Switch to a spatula and add the nut mixture, alternating with the grated carrots, to the egg mixture.
8. Fold in the egg white mixture until no white streaks remain but do not over mix.
9. Carefully pour the batter into the prepared baking pan.
10. Bake in the preheated oven for about 50 to 60 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool for about 30 minutes.
11. Remove the sides of the pan and cool completely on a wire rack, then remove the bottom of the spring form pan.
12. Transfer the cake to a cake platter for decorating.
13. Before you glaze the cake, place a few strips of parchment paper under the cake.

Preparation of the first and second Glaze and Decoration

1. In a small bowl, heat a few tablespoons of apricot jam, put it through a strainer and using a soft bristled brush, glaze the cake.
2. Let the apricot glaze set for a few minutes.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk some confectioner's sugar with one teaspoon of Kirsch and a bit of milk. You need a thick but still pourable consistency.
4. Pour the glaze over the cake. Let the second glaze set for a few minutes.
5.  Decorate with little marzipan decoration and ground unsalted pistachios.

This carrot cake contains no flour and no butter, it is a very moist and nutty cake with no heavy frosting – the decoration that I chose here is also optional, you could also leave this cake plain and serve it with a light dusting of confectioner´s sugar. Sometimes I chose to decorate this cake with marzipan carrots (please see my post of April 3, 2012) but when I came across these marzipan fruits in a sweet shop the other day, I thought that they would add a nice touch to my carrot cake and be a fitting decoration for the start of this series. Besides, my guests love nibbling on some marzipan with their slice of cake, we happily consume quite a bit of this wonderful confection in Germany.

Sources:

Baking pan from "Kaiser" (http://www.kaiser-backform.de)
Marzipan from "Niederegger" (http://www.niederegger.de)
Kirsch from "Bergische Hausbrennerei Roth"  (http://www.hausbrennerei-roth.de)
Unsalted pistachios and hazelnuts from "Seeberger" (http://www.seeberger.de)

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CAKES & VEGETABLES - PART I - CARROT - European-Style Carrot Cake

CAKES & VEGETABLES - PART II - BEETROOT - Nigel Slater's Extremely Moist Chocolate-Beetroot Cake with Crème Fraîche and Poppy Seeds

CAKES & VEGETABLES - PART III -SWEET POTATO - Sweet Potato Bundt Cake with Bourbon and Pecans
CAKES & VEGETABLES - PART IV - PUMPKIN - Mini Pumpkin Muffins and Pumpkin Biscuits

CAKES & VEGETABLES - PART V - POTATO - Old-Fashioned Potato-Raisin Gugelhupf

CAKES & VEGETABLES - PART VI - PARSNIP - Parsnip Spice Cake

CAKES & VEGATABLES - PART VII - BEETROOT - Nigel Slater´s Beetroot Seed Cake

French Fridays with Dorie - Hummus

Today`s dish for the French Fridays with Dorie group is “Hummus”, a very popular Middle Eastern and Arabic food dip or spread.

This is one easy recipe that requires only seven ingredients, namely, drained chickpeas, some garlic, tahini (a paste made from ground sesame seeds that is served as a dip or as a component of hummus, halva or baba ganoush), freshly squeezed lemon juice, ground cumin, some sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste. The few ingredients all get whirred in the food processor until they reach a creamy consistency that can easily be scooped up with vegetables or bread – I chose to bake some whole wheat pita chips with French sea salt, butter and chives and serve them as "vehicles" to scoop up and enjoy the dip.

Before serving, I placed the Hummus in the fridge for a few hours, tasted again for salt and pepper and added some more freshly squeezed lemon juice. I had the feeling that the taste of the dip improved after a few hours. I garnished the Hummus with some whole chickpeas, a sprinkling of fresh chives and a drizzle of real good quality light olive oil. This was the first time I ever made Hummus and it was well received, although the majority of the younger taste testers preferred munching on the pita chips sans Hummus.

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To see how the other Doristas prepared the “Hummus”, please click here.

Tuesdays with Julia - Cranberry-Walnut Pumpkin Loaves

Today´s recipe for the Tuesdays with Julia group is Cranberry-Walnut Pumpkin Loaves. It is quite enjoyable to be baking loaves with yeast, making the dough, waiting for them to rise and then baking them in the oven and watching them turn out to be wonderful loaves of bread that the whole family enjoys.

The first task was to get a pumpkin since the recipe requires puréed pumpkin. So on Sunday, we took the kids to a “pumpkin farm”. They grow countless varieties of pumpkins and winter squashes there, still somewhat unusual for Europe. You could choose between butternut or spaghetti squash, Musque de Provence, acorn squash, butternut, Hokkaido and many other kinds. I chose a medium sized Hokkaido squash and when we were home, I immediately baked it  in the oven and ended up with about one and a half cups bright orange pumpkin puree.

Steve Sullivan is the contributing baker for this recipe and it is a recipe that is easy to follow. The ingredients are but a few, namely bread flour, freshly ground cinnamon and nutmeg as the spices, a bit of sea salt, active dry yeast (although I must admit that I usually prefer to bake yeast breads with fresh yeast cakes), good quality unsalted butter, homemade pumpkin purée, an egg, plus walnuts (which I left out in my second loaf but had them in my first one) and golden raisins and fresh cranberries.

Turns out that the most difficult part of this recipe was trying to find fresh cranberries and since I could not find them anywhere, I substituted dried cranberries in my first loaf and dried cherries in my second loaf – both turned out to be delicious (albeit not quite as colorful) additions to the Walnut Pumpkin Loaves.

After the second rise and just before baking my second loaf, I placed a small clay plate in the middle of the bread. A few years ago, we used to buy bread at a small bakery not far from where we live and the bakery was in a small town amidst numerous resident pottery makers, so the owner of the bakery had the idea of having one of the artists create these little clay plates to place on his bread before baking. Unfortunately, that small bakery does not exist anymore but I have faithfully kept the clay plates and every so often, I put one on top of my unbaked breads – this process always makes them sink a bit in the middle, but I do not mind, I love the look it lends to my baked goods.

We liked this bread and I certainly enjoyed baking these Walnut Pumpkin Loaves. We all adored the wonderful smell emanating from the oven while the two loaves were baking.

Wonderful bread – great color, perfect for the season and easy to make.

The bread can be enjoyed fresh or toasted with just some good quality butter and whatever else strikes your fancy.

The hostess for today´s recipe is Rebecca of This Bountiful Backyard. “Thank You”, Rebecca !

To see how the other Doristas baked wonderful Cranberry-Walnut Pumpkin Loaves today, please click here.