Carnival Celebrations Part II "Krapfen-Kuchen" (Doughnut Cake)

Today is the second day of Carnival ("Karnevalsfreitag"). The Carnival involves thousands of spectators dressed up that yearly watch and cheer the famous parades with their colorful floats, dance groups and ...

...music groups.

German "Carnival Parades" ("Karnevalszüge") are held mostly on the weekend before "Rose Monday" ("Rosenmontag"), or on the Monday itself.

Along the Rhine every town has a "Carnival Prince and Princess" ("Karnevalsprinz und Prinzessin") who command a uniformed guard, the "Prince's Garde" ("Prinzengarde").

To celebrate the second day of Carnival today,  I am featuring a "Krapfen-Kuchen" (Baked Doughnut Cake) which consists basically of a straightforward sweet yeast dough. It is easy to prepare and it is certainly nice to decorate it with some colorful Carnival decorations, such as these paper clowns.

Recipe for "Krapfen-Kuchen"
(Baked Doughnut-Cake)

Ingredients for the Cake

• 750 grams plain/AP flour
• 1 1/2 fresh yeast cakes (you can substitute active dry yeast: one package or 2 1/4 tsp for each 6 ounce package of fresh yeast)
• 350 ml warm milk (I use whole milk)
• 150 grams sugar (I use superfine white sugar)
• 1 pinch of salt (I use sea salt)
• zest of one organic orange
• 150 grams unsalted butter, room temperature
• 120 grams seedless jam of your choice
• 100 grams powdered sugar
• 3 tbs freshly squeezed lemon juice
• some colorful sprinkles and paper decoration (optional)

Preparation of the Cake

1. Put the flour into a large bowl. Make an indentation in the flour, put the crumbled yeast cakes in that indentation, add 1 tbsp sugar and pour the warm milk over the yeast and the sugar. 
2. Let the flour with the yeast mixture rest in a warm place for about 10 minutes.
3. Add the remaining sugar, milk, salt, orange zest and 100 grams soft butter and knead until a soft dough forms.
4. Cover and let the dough rest in a warm place until it has doubled in volume. 
5. Divide the dough into 24 pieces. Roll each piece into a ball and place on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper.
6. Cover the baking sheet and let rest again in a warm place for about 30 minutes.
7. Preheat oven to 175 degrees Celsius ( 350 degrees Fahrenheit). 
8. Melt remaining butter and brush the top of the cake. Bake for about 30 minutes.
9. Let cake cool on rack. Using a tip and a pastry bag fill every second piece with a bit of jam.
10. Stir together confectioner' s sugar and lemon juice and ice every other piece of cake. Dust other pieces with remaining sugar.
11. Decorate with confetti sprinkles and little paper clowns (optional).

Part III of my Carnival Celebrations Series will feature three different traditional Carnival pastries that are all dressed up for the Carnival season, the so-called "Quarkbällchen" (Quark Doughnut Holes) and my favorite type of waffles that my beloved grand-mother used to bake, namely "Eiserkuchen" (Waffle Rolls). So, let the celebrations continue!

Carnival Celebrations Part I - "Mutzenmandeln" (Almond Pastries)

Today marks the official beginning of “Carnival”. It goes by many names in German, depending on the region and dialect. Whether you call it “Fastnacht”, “Fasching” or “Karneval”, it is a time for revelry, humor, and satire.

The actual celebrations of the German Carnival take place 40 days before Easter, it is like a last week-long party before Ash Wednesday (“Aschermittwoch”) and the beginning of Lent (“Fastenzeit”).

The Carnival celebrations kick off with "Women’s Carnival Day" (“Weiberfastnacht”) at exactly 11.11 a.m. The next highlight is “Rose Monday” (“Rosenmontag”). Marching bands, dancers, and floats parade down the streets, throwing confetti, sweets, little bundles of flowers and toys. The elaborate floats often show caricatured figures mocking politicians and other personalities and thousands of dressed-up Germans are flocking the streets every year to watch this spectacle.

Almost every German city celebrates Carnival and organizes a street parade in its city center. The best and most traditional Carnival festivities take place in the Cities of Cologne, Düsseldorf, Münster, Aachen, and Mainz.

On "Shrove Tuesday"("Veilchendienstag"), costume balls are held all over Germany, while the quiet "Ash Wednesday" ("Aschermittwoch") marks the end of the frenzied fun.

As with every longstanding tradition, special food is served during the Carnival period. So during the next couple of days, the so-called "fifth season" ("fünfte Jahreszeit"), I will be baking some wonderful traditional Carnival treats. Pastries that are particular to Carnival, for example “Krapfen” (Doughnuts) or “Mutzenmandeln” (Almond Cookies), are prepared as a special pre-Lenten delicacy. These fried treats are traditionally filled with jam or jelly and/or sprinkled with cinnamon sugar.

So, as the celebrations start today, on so-called "Weiberfastnacht", the kids will put on their respective costumes before they leave the house to go to school. Particularly in elementary schools, classes will be replaced by costume and/or Carnival parties. Schools will also be closed for the next six days.

Today, I will start my Carnival baking frenzy with traditional “Mutzenmandeln”.

Mutzenmandeln are almond-shaped pastries or cookies made from a medium stiff dough with baking powder as a leavening agent. The dough is prepared with or without ground almonds, cinnamon, real vanilla and some dark rum (or whole milk). Personally, I much prefer the version containing almonds. We love the taste of ground nuts, particularly almonds, in baked goods. You can buy these cookies at many bakeries in Cologne and in the lower Rhine region during Carnival, but they are easy to make at home and they do taste so much better when you bake them yourself.

The dough has to be rolled out and, here comes the fun part, you cut out the cookies using a special cookie cutter that cuts twenty almond shaped cookies at the same time. The cookies get fried in vegetable shortening, or oil, drained on paper towels and dusted with powdered sugar while still lukewarm.

While the special cookie cutter might not be available everywhere (www.staedter.de), the cookies can also be cut out by using a tear drop cookie cutter set, such as the one from Ateco (Ateco Tear Drop Metal Cookie Cutter Set available for example at www.amazon.com).

Recipe for "Mutzenmandeln"
(Almond Cookies)

Ingredients for the Cookies

• 3 large eggs plus 1 egg yolk (use organic or free range whenever possible)
• 3 tbs dark rum (or whole milk)
• 175 g (6 ounces) powdered sugar, sifted
• 75 g (2,6 ounces) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 200 g (7 ounces) almond meal (or grind the almonds yourself, skin on)
• 400 g (14 ounces) plain or AP flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon, preferably from Ceylon
• 2 tsp pure vanilla sugar (homemade or store bought)
• some more powdered sugar for dusting the fried cookies

Preparation of the Cookies

1. With an electric hand mixer or a standing mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, beat the whole eggs and the egg yolk together with the rum (if using) or the milk, until frothy.
2. Add the powdered sugar and continue whisking for a few minutes.
3. Cut the softened butter into small pieces and gradually add to the dough mixture.
4. In a medium bowl whisk together almond meal, flour and baking powder.
5. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and slowly beat until the whole dough comes together ( it will be sticky). If the dough is very soft, place it in the refrigerator for about one hour.
6. In a deep fryer heat your oil or vegetable shortening until it reaches 180 degrees Celsius (350 degrees Fahrenheit).
7. Divide the dough into four parts. While rolling out 1/4 of the dough to a 1 centimeter (0.4 inch) thickness, you can keep the rest of the dough in the refrigerator.
8. Cut out the cookies preferably using an almond or tear shaped cookie cutter.
9. Deep-fry the cookies for about three to five minutes or until they have a deep golden color.
10. Transfer to a paper-lined cookie sheet to get rid of some of the grease used for frying.
11. While still lukewarm, liberally dust with powdered sugar.

NOTE: while the cookies taste best the day they are made, they do keep well for up to a week if properly stored. If we have any left-over cookies, I like to use a large glass or porcelain container to keep them as fresh as possible.

Part II of my Carnival Celebrations Series tomorrow will feature a so-called "Doughnut Cake" or “Krapfen-Kuchen”, a cake with a yeast-based dough that gets baked and not fried. - So, let the celebrations begin!

Tuesdays with Dorie - Focaccia with Butternut Squash and Winter Sage

Today´s recipe for the Tuesdays with Julia group is Focaccia. This type of flatbread dates back to Ancient Rome and was originally cooked in the ashes of the fire, "focus" means "hearth" or "fire" in Latin. This classic recipe was contributed by Craig Kominiak, the Executive chef of Ecce Panis Bakery in New York City. Back in Septemer 2012, we already baked his wonderful Whole Wheat Bread.

Focaccia, can be described as an Italian olive-oil bread, quite flat and usually round or square-shaped. It has an almost cake-like texture and is often flavored with different olive oils, herbs such as rosemary, thyme, sage, oregano or basil and it can be topped with a variety of different delicious things such as with black or green olives, olive tapenade, or can even be filled with ham or cheese, or be used as a "dipping bread" or as a "sandwich bread". You can even make a sweet version of Focaccia (I have tried a terrific recipe for a dried-fruit focaccia before) and add cherries, golden raisins, grapes and walnuts, to name but a few examples.

It is fun to bake your own Focaccia and experiment with adding various toppings and fillings. Last Monday, I posted a Focaccia with thinly sliced potatoes, crème fraîche, fresh rosemary and some blueberry syrup. So I took a cue from that delicious recipe and topped today´s Focaccia with butternut squash and sage.

Craig Kominiak's recipe makes three Focaccias. I decided to divide the recipe and make two large Focaccias.  The dough is easy enough to make with the usual ingredients of yeast, water, olive oil, flour and salt. After two rises, the dough needs a good 24 to 36 hours "cold rest" in the refrigerator.

Since last week´s Focaccia was rectangular, I baked today´s  Focaccia in a large round vintage pie plate that I had dusted with cornmeal prior to baking. For the topping I chose thinly sliced butternut squash on top of a bit of crème fraîche, then added a bit of freshly ground black pepper, French sea salt, some mild Italian olive oil and a few leaves of winter sage.

This simple, rustic bread makes a great partner to salads and antipasti and it is a delicious accompaniment to Italian food. It is also a wonderful idea to cut it into generous wedges and serve with olive oil and balsamic vinegar for dipping or just eat it plain.

This Focaccia recipe is easy to make and easy to adapt. Try adding different herbs and toppings.

To see the other Focaccias as prepared by all the other enthusiastic members of the Tuesday with Dorie group, please do click here.

The recipe can be found at Sharmini´s blog – Wondering Through. "Thank you for hosting today´s recipe, Sharmini"!

Dragons dancing around the Cologne Cathedral

On the occasion of the Chinese New Year, the City of Cologne (Germany) and the Consulate General of the People's Republic of China organized numerous festivities in and around Cologne last year. This was to celebrate 25 years of twinning between Cologne and Beijing as well as 40 years of diplomatic relationships between China and Germany.

A Chinese market was open to visitors on Roncalli square,...

...creating an authentic Chinese atmosphere, offering delicious titbits from Chinese cuisine, and featuring arts and sports shows.

I loved watching the making of Chinese hand-pulled noodles by these talented cooks from a local Chinese restaurant.

Another one of the cultural highlights was a show by the "Museum for East Asian Arts" ("Museum für Ostasiatische Kunst"). An exhibition under the title of "Glory of the Chinese Emperors: Art and Life in the Forbidden City" ("Glanz der Kaiser von China") brought a fine selection of treasures from the Chinese emperor's courts dating back to the 17th and 18th centuries to the City of Cologne.

Amazing carving of fruitts and vegetables. Look at the birds and the dragon.

But the most amazing photo opportunities arose with these colorful dragons...

...dancing...

... around the Cologne Cathedral...

...and the "Roman-Germanic Museum" ("Römisch-Germanisches Museum"). 

What a sight!

***********

For more information about the Cologne Cathedral (Kölner Dom):

Domkloster 4  

50667 Köln

Germany

http://www.koelner-dom.de

And the Listing of the Cathedral in the World Heritage List:

http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/292

The Roman-Germanic Museum (Römisch-Germanisches Museum):

http://www.museenkoeln.de/roemisch-germanisches-museum

The Museum for East Asian Arts (Museum für Ostasiatische Kunst):

http://www.museenkoeln.de/museum-fuer-ostasiatische-kunst

French Fridays with Dorie - Brown-Sugar Squash and Brussels Sprouts en papillote

Today´s recipe for the French Fridays with Dorie group is “Brown-Sugar Squash and Brussels Sprouts en papillote”.

This recipe is very easy to prepare and consists of merely eight ingredients. The vegetables that are baked in parchment are Brussels Sprouts and Butternut Squash and together with one Granny Smith Apple they make for a delicious and healthy side dish. Although this vegetable dish clearly does have a late autumn/early winter appeal, it is still delicious at this time of year. Other than the two vegetables and the one fruit, all you need is a good-quality olive oil (I used Greek organic olive oil), some freshly ground black pepper, a bit of sea salt, some natural brown sugar and a few fresh Winter Sage leaves (still growing in my garden).

Brussels Sprouts have quite a dreadful reputation. Like miniature versions of the common cabbage, they grow on large stalks and have a sweet, nutty flavor, which some people can find too pungent. But, treated with a touch of love and care, these little buds can become one of your favorite winter vegetables. When shopping for this vegetable, you should look for the ones with tight compact heads and no sign of wilting and the stalks should look moist and freshly cut. Brussels sprouts can be enjoyed shredded, either eaten raw in a salad or fried with bacon and butter. Or they can be blanched in boiling water or baked in the oven as part of a gratin. And although they are in season from September until April around here, I had a hard time finding really fresh ones.

But what proved to be almost impossible to find at the beginning of  February was Butternut Squash. We do not eat that much squash or pumpkins around here and they usually disappear from the stores before Christmas. I had bought some sweet potatoes from Israel as a back-up but finally found what must have been the last butternut squash anywhere in the City of  Bonn. Since I used only about a third for this recipe, I will prepare a Focaccia with roasted Butternut Squash on the weekend.

Granny Smiths, on the other hand, are readily available year round and the cubed apple made an interesting addition to the Brussels Sprouts and Butternut Squash. Not too sweet and even after baking "en papillote" for a good thirty minutes, the apple cubes still kept their shape.

Since I took so many liberties with last weeks´ recipe, I followed this one to “a T” except for the fact that I baked everything in one package, not four packages and used unbleached parchment paper as opposed to aluminum foil.

I never use aluminum  foil in my cooking or baking and the presentation in a “parchment papillote” is so much prettier than one in foil.

At one of the many fruit & vegetable shops that I went to before I could get started with this recipe, I found some very fresh looking Jerusalem Artichokes and decided to make some veggie chips that I served alongside the Squash and Sprouts. Sprinkled with French sea salt, we find them to be quite tasty. They curl up quite a bit while frying and have to be watched carefully because they are fully cooked in about a minute.

We liked today´s recipe and it was a cinch to prepare. The sweetness from the brown sugar harmonized nicely with the tart apple and the wintry vegetables. Definitely a side-dish to keep in mind for next fall/winter when squash is abundantly available.

To see how the other Doristas prepared the “Brown-Sugar Squash and Brussels Sprouts en papillote”, please click here.

Müller Cloth Mill - Industrial Museum "Tuchfabrik Müller" in Euskirchen (Germany)

The Müller Cloth Mill (Tuchfabrik Müller) is located in the City of  Euskirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia (Germany). It is part of a growing group of the so-called "Museums of Industry". This delightful Museum provides interesting and unusual insights into the production process of a Cloth Mill by showing fully working machinery and equipment from around 1900.

The Museum opened its door to the public in 2000. The Museum preserves the Cloth Mill's state exactly as it was when it was closed down for business by the owner Kurt Müller in 1961. He simply walked out the door and locked it behind himself.

This industrial Museum is at the heart of the "European Route of Industrial Heritage" and a central stop on the "Wool Route".

The factory started life as a papermill in 1801. A few decades later things changed quite a bit. In the mid-19th century the building was used to scoure and spin wool and to full the cloth. From 1860 onwards the increasing demand of power supply lead to the installation of a new steam engine, which replaced the old mill wheel.

The building was purchased in 1894 by Ludwig Müller who decided to set up a Cloth Mill.

For the first time, the whole process of production was then brought together under one roof. Like most other regional mills at the time, Ludwig Müller offered coarse woollen cloth, "loden" ("Loden") and uniform cloth. The machinery that was purchased around 1900 together with the "new" steam engine that dates back to 1903 set the production on a firm basis.

After Ludwig Müller's death in 1929, his son Kurt Müller led the Cloth Mill. In 1961, it was finally closed down, due to a lack of orders. It is hard to believe, but the equipment was never changed or replaced until the factory was closed.

Despite the fact that he had to close down his factory, Kurt Müller had always hoped to start production again one day. However, during the years following the close down, nothing really happened that would have justified re-opening for business. In 1988 the "Rhineland Museum of Industry" ("Rheinisches Industriemuseum") seized the opportunity and took over a completely fitted factory nearly untouched since the last day of work.

The unique building, the machinery and thousands of small pieces of equipment were to be preserved. The building had to be carefully stabilized and the Cloth Mill had to be restored. Today the Cloth Mill turned Museum is providing an insight into the production of woolen cloth, into the different working processes and into the life of the workers. During guided tours through the mill, the old machinery from around 1900 is set in action.

All of the equipment and machinery was restored into conditions that they were in at the time of the closure of the factory in 1961. Therefore the most important machines, the "heart" of the Cloth Mill, such as a "carding machine",a "spinning machine", a "threading machine", four "weaving looms" and a "steam engine" can all be set into motion during guided tours and you can admire the fact that they have been lovingly restored to make them work properly like they did until 1961.

Some machines that are not in action nowadays were also restored by carefully preserving all traces of usage  to provide an authentic insight into the life of a Cloth Mill.

The acids that were necessary for mixing the different dyes were kept in these original glass bottles, some of them leaning up against the wall.

Restrooms for the workers (ladies and gents).

Time for a break.

The following tag was attached to the acid bottles. It is a comment by one of the former worker of the Mill. It reads "Black is the simplest color to mix. But you have to be careful not to mistake one acid for another. Only if the acetic acid has boiled for a half  hour, are you supposed to add the formic acid. Three to four workers were in charge of adding the wool to the mixed dyes."

Tags with wonderful quotes from former workers can be found throughout the Mill.

A belt that was repaired with some metal clips.

Wrenches and metal chains of different sizes that were left right in this spot.

A scale with some orange-yellow wool thread (one of my personal favorite "still lives").

Some of the original machines.

This is the so-called "secret" recipe for mixing one of the dyes. The guide told us that the "recipes" for the dyes were known only to the owner of the Mill and that he would always mix the dyes himself, except for this one time when he had to tell one of his trusted workers how to mix a dye. The worker marked it with white chalk on this wooden door. So much for a secret...

A window where one of the workers had his workspace and kept all his tools close at hand.

One of the bicycles with the original leather saddle used by the former owner to get around the factory premises.

An assortment of spindles all lined-up and with ready to use yarn.

More spindles, this time piled up.

And more spindles - love that striking blue yarn.

One of the most difficult tasks in a Cloth Mill was getting rid of or preventing the infestation of moths. These bags of moth powder were left in this wooden tool box next to some solid looking nuts and bolts.

And a natural way of fighting those pesky moths.There were little white cotton bags filled with dried lavender  in every room. Definitely another one of my personal favorite "still lives".

Wool threads leading from the spindles to the loom.

The finished wool cloth, dyed in different colors, rolled up and lined up for a final inspection.

Handwritten notes in the office of the former owner.

The final fabric was packed up and stored in the office of the owner - no one else was to enter this storage room.

Some glass bottles with different dyes.

What a wonderful "Pfaff" sewing machine.

The brook that flows along the brick walls of the Cloth Mill.

A sample of the different colored wool threads after they were dyed and aligned for weaving.

This Industrial Museum is certainly worth more than one visit - there is also a nice Shop where you can purchase some of the cloth that is still being produced in very small quantities at the Mill. And there is also a wonderful Coffeeshop where you can relax and ponder this charming Museum that you just visited, promising yourself that you will be back soon.

For more information:

LVR-Industriemuseum
Tuchfabrik Müller
Carl-Koenen-Straße
53881 Euskirchen
Germany

e-mail: info@kulturinfo-rheinland.de