Vanilla Bean Petticoat Tails Shortbread

This rather dainty looking Shortbread is called Petticoat Tails Shortbread, a large disc of shortbread with a decorated edge and cut into elegant triangles. The texture is rich and buttery with a distinct vanilla flavor. It is not too sweet and has the most delightful pale yellow hue from the cornmeal that is used for making the dough. Let us not forget that it is ideal for sharing and perfect to compliment tea, whether you enjoy black, green or herbal tea.

The Petticoat Tails Shortbread is said to gain its distinctive shape and name by resembling the pieces of fabric used to create the elaborate petticoats of the 12th century – including that of Mary Queen of Scots. Other sources suggest that the name could derive from the French petits cotés, a type of pointed biscuit that was eaten dipped in sweet wine, or the old French term for little cakes, petites gastelles. Personally, I prefer the more romantic idea of the petticoats and the lacy fabric they were made of.

Whatever the real source of the name, they are definitely a perennial favorite and Mary, Queen of Scots was reputed to have been particularly fond of these buttery cookies.

The Petticoat Tails Shortbread is very easy to make. I decided to add a nice dose of pure vanilla flavor to the dough. To give your shortbread that extra bit of wonderful flavor, you can either use the scraped seeds of a vanilla bean or you use that wonderful vanilla bean paste – it works equally well. Other than that, all you need is caster sugar, real good quality butter (use either unsalted or salted butter. If you chose to use salted butter, then you have to skip the salt in the dough) and flour (I like to use white spelt flour for these but you can use regular wheat flour). All that is left to do after making the easy dough is to roll it out, trim it and shape it. The only other important thing to remember is to make sure that once the dough is cut and shaped, it should be chilled for about thirty minutes before you bake it, that way, it will keep its distincive pattern and shape.

Having made this Shortbread more times than I care to remember, I know that the shaped dough can easily be kept in the fridge for a day or two – just make sure to cover it well with cling wrap. Then, it can be baked fresh on the day you plan to serve it – pretty convenient if you ask me.

Vanilla Bean Petticoat Tails Shortbread

Ingredients

• 250 grams really good quality unsalted butter, softened (OR use salted butter, then skip the additonal salt)
• 100 grams caster (superfine baking) sugar
• scraped seeds from a vanilla bean from Madagascar or Hawaii, if possible
  (keep the pod for making vanilla sugar*) OR you could use 1 1/2 tsp vanilla bean paste instead
• 250 grams white spelt flour (OR use regular wheat flour), plus a little extra for rolling out the dough
• 100 grams fine corn flour (not corn starch and not polenta), also know as corn meal (finely ground)
• ½ tsp fine sea salt
• icing sugar, for dusting

Equipment needed

• baking sheet
• baking parchment 
• wooden skewer or fork
• lace doily
• small sieve

Preparation

1. Scrape the insides from a vanilla bean into a large mixing bowl.
2. In same bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until smooth. OR put the butter, sugar and scraped seeds of a vanilla bean in a food processor and whizz until pale and creamy OR rub the butter and sugar by hand, then add the seeds of the vanilla bean.
3. Add the flour, corn flour and salt, and beat until mixture is well combined. OR pulse until the mixture clumps together into small pieces.
4. Tip onto a lightly floured work surface and bring the dough together as a ball – take care not to overwork the dough.
5. Roll the dough to a 25cm circle, about 1cm thick. Trim around a large plate to give a really neat edge.
6. Transfer to a large baking sheet lined with baking parchment.
7. Use two fingers to crimp all the way around the edge of the dough then, using a fork or wooden skewer, mark dotted lines to portion the shortbread into 8 wedges.
8. Cover the prepared dough loosely with cling wrap.
9. Place the baking sheet in the fridge and chill for at least thirty minutes and up to a day.
10. When you are ready to bake the shortbread, pre-heat your oven to 180° Celsius (160° Celsius for convection ovens).
11. Bake the shortbread for about 25 minutes or until golden and cooked through.
12. Leave to cool completely on the baking sheet or the shortbread will break.
13. To decorate, place a lace doily over the shortbread and using a small sieve, dust with a generous layer of icing sugar. Pull the doily away to reveal the beautiful lacy pattern. Keep in a cookie tin or glass container for up to five days (after a few days, the vanilla taste will lessen but I seriously doubt, that it will last for a few days anyways.)

I truly love the smart decoration technique for this classic tea time treat, namely to use a doily to dust on a pretty lace pattern in icing sugar.

This rich home-baked treat is a real crowd-pleaser. It is a not too sweet, melt in the mouth shortbread that goes perfectly with that cup of tea in the afternoon. Or maybe serve it with fresh seasonal fruits and berries or that homemade ice cream.

I always have a soft spot for baked goods that have a bit of a story to them. It is lovely to think that there is tradition and history in what we are eating and sharing with our family and friends.

*Homemade Vanilla Sugar

Since Pure Vanilla Sugar can be a bit difficult to find in stores it might be best to make your own and keep it in a jar. It has an almost indefinite shelf life and the taste is worth the little effort it takes to make your own. You can add it to your baked goods by simply substituting vanilla extract by vanilla sugar.

Ingredients

• caster (superfine baking) sugar - you can use one cup or more
• one vanilla bean (from Madagascar or Hawaii)

Preparation

Put the sugar in a glass jar and split the length of the vanilla bean and cut into sections (leave the seeds in OR use scraped vanilla beans for baking these lovely Vanilla Bean Petticaot Tails). Place the sections into the sugar. Shake, cover and store in a cool and dark place for about two weeks before using.

Enjoy!

French Fridays with Dorie - Veal Marengo

Today´s recipe for the French Fridays with Dorie group is Veal Marengo, a hearty veal stew from Provence with tomatoes, mushrooms, olive oil and herbs.

Oftentimes, French cuisine is full of myths and fables. Classic recipes frequently have disputed origins, as with this dish, named „Marengo“, after the June 14, 1800, Battle of Marengo in northern Italy between French forces under Napoleon Bonaparte and Austrian forces. Napoleon wanted a celebratory meal and legend has it that Napoleon’s cook, a Swiss chef named Dunand, the son of a chef for the Prince of Condé in France, assembled some meagre provisions available to him in his battlefield kitchen. Blessed with boundless talent, the cook created a dish of chicken, tomatoes, craw fish, eggs and water and presented it to the famous Commander after the decisive clash. Napoleon liked it so much that he demanded to eat the dish after each and every victory.

Some writers suggest that over the years, Chef Dunand replaced the chicken with veal, dropped the crayfish, fried eggs and toasted bread and added mushrooms and wine. Be that as it may, Dorie´s recipe which is based on a recipe from Le Cordon Bleu in Paris, calls for veal shoulder, onions, tomatoes, white wine, bouquet garni, cipolline, mushrooms and baby potatoes to serve.

For today´s recipe you have to toss cubed boneless veal shoulder in well-seasoned flour to coat. Then in a lovely cocotte, heat oil over medium-high heat and brown the veal cubes. Transfer the browned veal to a plate. In the same cocotte, over medium-high heat, cook onion, tomato paste and tomatoes. Add white wine and a nice bouquet garni (fresh thyme, parsley, rosemary and and a bay leaf). Add the veal back to the cocotte, season with freshly ground black pepper and some sea salt, cover and cook on low for about 30 minutes. In the meantime you cook the pearl onions (since I could not find those, I used French shallots instead  and mushroms (I used baby portabellas) separately. Do not forget to boil some nice, small potatoes in the meantime. To serve, add all the cooked components to your plate and serve the boiled potatoes alongside.

Instead of adding the chopped Italian parsley to the veal stew, I tossed the small potaoes in parsley-chive butter – my grand-mother used to serve potatoes this way and I have a soft spot for serving spuds prepared the same way she did as these simple potatoes are a delicious accompaniment to hearty stews like this Veal Marengo.

For Parsley-Chive-Potatoes you simply put the unpeeled potatoes in a large pot and add water to cover the potatoes by 2 inches. Season the water with salt and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer until the potatoes are tender when pierced, about 10 to 12 minutes, depending on their size and weight. Drain the potatoes well, peel and transfer to a serving bowl. Add the butter, chopped parsley as well as chives and carefully toss to coat. Serve immediately while still nice and hot.

We all loved, loved this stew and the kids could not get enough of it – absolutely delicious. Tender meat, very tasty sauce with lots of mushrooms and shallots, just the way we like it. A celebratory dish indeed, it is rich and tasty and would also be perfect for a dinner party.

And what better recipe than this one to show off my new, absolutely beautiful, show-stopper of a bright red cocotte from Staub Germany that I just received last week!!! Thanks so much to the kind folks at Staub!!!

To see whether the other members of the French Fridays with Dorie group enjoyed this week´s recipe, please go here.

For copyright reasons, we do not publish the recipes from the book. But you can find the recipe for “Veal Marengo “ on pages 264-66 in Dorie Greenspan´s cookbook "Around my French Table".

Springtime Baking: Lemon Cake with Almonds & Poppy Seeds

Come to think of it, I always have lemons in the house. I want a full bowl all year round, as they are an ingredient I use almost every day, for savory as well as sweet recipes. And at this time of year, I will often squeeze a bit of lemon juice into my cup of fine hot black tea, especially on those chilly early spring days.

Lemons are available year round and when they are prolific, there are many ways to take advantage of the glut, make some lemon curd, preserved lemons, marmalade, drinks such as lemonade, or use them in your vinaigrette. But I love to have a cake for the weekend, so I decided to bake a lemon cake, different from the Lemon Buttermilk Bundt that I usually bake with that incredibly thick and rich buttermilk from my favorite farm.

After a bit of reseach, I settled on this Lemon Cake with Almonds & Poppy Seeds. The recipe is a good way to use some of my lemons – the recipe uses the zest and juice of three ripe, juicy, medium-sized lemons. I love the clean flavor of the lemons, together with the sweet, rich taste from the almonds and the nutty crunch from the lovely poppy seeds. Fabulous taste and beautiful texture, you will love this cake!

Cannot stress enough that in early spring, when there are some nice days but still a lot of cold and rainy days, I do not always want a hot and heavy dessert. I want something that will brighten my mood as well as the dark day. So a lemony cake will do just fine.

Choose lemons with a reasonably unblemished skin for this recipe. Organic and/or untreated lemons are ideal. You will be more likely to find these at a farmers market or at a specialty seller as they are not always widely available. As you will be adding quite a bit of zest here, try to avoid the regular lemons from the supermarket.

Lemon Cake with Almonds & Poppy Seeds
(inspired by a recipe from the very talented Mr. Jamie Oliver)

Ingredients

• 180 grams unsalted butter, softened, plus a little extra for greasing the baking pan
• 180 grams plus 1 ½  tbsp  superfine (caster) sugar
• 6 eggs,(L), free-range or organic, separated
• fine outer zest and juice of 3 organic (untreated) medium-sized lemons
• 90 grams white spelt flour, sifted (feel free to use wheat flour)
• a good pinch of fine sea salt
• 180 grams ground natural almonds
• 3 tbsp milk, room temperature
• 115 grams poppy seeds

To finish the Cake

• 50 grams icing sugar, sifted
• 1 tsp mixed spice* (available at your local British shop or online)
• crème fraîche, to serve
• some more lemon zest

Preparation

1. Preheat your oven to 180ºCelsius (350ºFahrenheit).
2. Grease a 26-28 cm springform baking pan with butter, line the bottom with parchment paper and butter again.
3. In the bowl of your mixer, beat together the butter and 180 grams sugar until light and fluffy (this will take about five minutes).
4. Add the egg yolks, one at a time, while the motor is running, then beat in the lemon zest and juice. 
5. When the mixture is nice and smooth, add in the flour, salt and almonds and finally the milk. Be careful not to overmix the batter - just enough to combine.  Stir in the poppy seeds and put aside.
6. In a very clean bowl, whisk the egg whites until they form soft peaks. Beat in the remaining 1 1/2 tablespoon of sugar until smooth. 
7. Fold a third of the beaten egg whites into the batter. This is best done using a wide rubber spatula. Than add the rest of the egg whites and fold together carefully – you do not want to beat the air out of the egg whites. 
8. Spoon the batter into the prepared baking pan and smooth the mix out evenly with the back of a spoon or an offset spatula. 
9. Place on the middle shelf of your preheated oven and bake for about 45 to 50 minutes until cooked through, risen and golden brown. Place on a wire rack to cool completely.
10. When cool, release the cake from the baking pan and sift the icing sugar and mixed spice over the top of the cake and serve with dollops of crème fraîche and a bit more finely grated lemon zest. NOTE: This moist cake will keep well for a day or two, make sure to wrap the cake well and keep it in a dry, cool place. Then dust liberally with icing sugar and mixed spice (if using) just before serving.

*Mixed Spice Blend
(if you cannot find Mixed Spice online or at your favorite British shop, you can put together a homemade combination of spices following this easy recipe

Ingredients

• 1 tbs ground allspice
• 1 tbs ground cinnamon
• 1 tbs ground nutmeg
• 2 tsp ground mace
• 1 tsp ground cloves
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 1 tsp ground ginger

Preparation

Blend all spices together, and store in a sealed jar away from light.

This is a simple, moist, lemony cake with the wonderful added taste and crunch from the poppy seeds. It tastes wonderful served with thick, creamy crème fraîche or even Greek yoghurt. Add a bit of finely grated lemon zest for an extra boost of lemon flavor. This Lemon Cake with Almonds & Poppy Seeds is a fabulous recipe to get your springtime baking off to a great start. And it is truly a great family treat for any weekend!

While I used a Jamie Oliver recipe as the inspiration for this cake, I decided to make a few changes, one of them being that I increased the batter by a third, to make a somewhat larger cake – the amounts in the recipe above are for a 26-28 cm springform pan. I also did not use the self-rising flour as in the original recipe, but used white spelt flour and added 2 teaspoons of baking powder to the batter instead. I have been baking with different kinds of flour lately and I am loving the results. An ancient relative of modern wheat, the spelt grain (triticum speltum) was already widely grown by the Romans. If you decide to use white spelt flour in your baking instead of the regular all-purpose wheat flour, you will notice that from a quantity-wise point of view, the flours can be used interchangeably.

If you enjoy this recipe, I would love to hear from you - I always apprecaite a bit of positive feedback from my lovely readers! More Springtime Baking to appear on this blog very soon, so make sure to drop by again!

The Cottage Cooking Club - February Recipes

February marks the tenth 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 is meant to be a project aimed at incorporating more vegetable dishes in our everyday cooking, getting to know less known, forgotten or heritage vegetables, learning new ways to prepare tasty and healthy dishes, and sharing them with family and friends.

All the members of this cooking group 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 the month of February, I prepared a nice array of vegetable dishes from the recipe line-up.

Since I prepared eight out of ten recipes, I will write about each dish according to the order in which I prepared them.

My first recipe for this February post was the Potato Rösti (page 391) from the chapter "Side Dishes". I have made those Rösti so many times and written about them at length in this blog – so, I will keep it short. These is one of the most wonderful, economical and versatile side dishes I know. Just make sure to keep some readily boiled and unpeeled potatoes in your fridge and all you have to do is peel them, grate them and fry them at a moment´s notice. Toppings of our choice include spinach, Alpine cheese or caramelized onions. The only aspect that is different from my ususal recipe ist hat I like to use duck fat if I can get my hands on it to fry these babies – other than, predictably, we loved this recipe. Crunchy outside, not too thick and creamy insides - potato heaven.

I veered off the February line-up of recipes , just ever so slightly and prepared Oven-Baked Kale Chips for the kids (and us). Kale has such a different quality when roasted, compared to boiled. It goes crisp and crackly in some parts, and tender in others. Preheat the oven to 220 C. Rinse the kale under cold running water and dry the leaves very well, cut out the centre stalks, then cut into 5cm slices. Place on a baking sheet, drizzle over some good olive oil, and season with salt and pepper. Roast in the oven for 20 minutes, turning halfway through cooking, until crisp at the edges. Sorry, just could not resist that lovely, fresh, curly winter kale.

The second recipe was the Roasted Beetroot Soup with Horseradish Cream (page 144) from the chapter „Hefty Soups“. A perfect winter soup with earthy flavors form the roasted beetroot. We are living in a country of serious beet lovers - although, for some reason, you can mostly find them brined and in jars these days. But I came across a few at my green grocer the other day and happily took them home with me. A few were enough for this recipe. We did enjoy the contrast of flavors, the earthiness from the beets and the tang from the Horseradish Cream that was added as a topping to this thick and very hearty soup. Horeseradish is anoteh beloved item around here. Garnished with really fresh dill, this was a nice change of pace from our usual soups.

The third recipe was Roasted Squash and Shallots with Merguez Chickpeas (page 365) from the chapter „Roast, Grill & Barbecue“. This dish was the most labor intense one of the month and it required a bit of planning ahead. First step was the overnight soak of the chickpeas. Second was the cooking of the chickpeas the next day (you could use canned ones here I imagine to make things easier). The next step required the roasting of  the butternut squash, shallots and garlic. Then the preparation of the chickpea „merguez dressing“ with a lot of fresh spices such as cumin, fennel, coriander, caraway and black pepper (this is where my lovely pestle and mortar from the wonderful Mr. Oliver comes in handy) – then you add some more spices such as sweet smoked paprika, cayenne pepper etc. to the dressing before you toss those cooked and still warm chickpeas in that dressing. You add the roasted squash and shallots to your plate, top with warm chickpeas, spoon over some more warm spicy oil and finish with parsley leaves.

While we loved the warm spicyness of the dish and the depth of flavor all those wonderful components brought to this dish – I will certainly make this on a weekend next time, I was a bit taken aback by how long this took me to prepare but when squash season will come around again, I will make sure to prepare this again.

The fourth recipe I made – and this one was a real breeze to prepare when compared to the previous one – was the Cheesy Peasy Puff Turnover (page 220) from the chapter „Store-Cupboard Suppers“. The kids adored this turnovers with peas and grated and melted cheese.

This is one of those recipes that surprised me the most. I loved how the flavors came together in this one. Prepared with store-bought puff pastry (who on earth has the time to make this from scratch during the week, I do not), frozen petit pois in winter time, a really good cheese and some farm fresh egg, sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, this is a recipe that I will come back to many times.

I might prepare some smaller version next time with a side salad and/or a spicy tomato soup and serve them to my kids´ friends – curious to see whether they share our enthusiasm for these. And when peas will be in season, I shall use fresh ones and see whether these turnovers are even more delicious with fresh peas. If you like the taste of peas, you have to try this recipe.

Recipe number five was the Avocado and Ruby Grapefruit with Chilli (page 122) from the chapter „Raw Assemblies“.

What a showstopper of a recipe with a genious mix of flavors and textures. Creamy, perfectly ripened avocado, tangy, citrussy grapefruit (which, to my great surprise, proved to be a bit hard to find around here and I had already lined-up blood oranges as a a back-up), spicy finely chopped chilli and some good quality extra-virgin olive oil, freshly ground black pepper and some lovely sea salt. What a delicious surprise.

Onto recipe number six and seven, the Refried Beans Foldover (page 190) with freshly cooked soft Flatbreads (page 172), both from the chapter of "Bready Things".

In the morning I started off with preparing the Magic Bread Dough with flour from my favorite artisan flour mill, Horbacher Mill, pictured above. This has become one of my favorite dough to prepare these days for pizzas, flatbreads, breadsticks etc. The recipe calls for plain white flour which is called “Type 405“ around here) and also strong white flour (called “Type 1050“) - I have taken to substitute spelt flour for both varieties of flour in this recipe.

Then I prepared the refried bean mixture ( a first to me) and I was quite taken by the end result. For the bean mixture you will need onion, garlic, chilli, dried oregano, grated tomatoes, cannellini benas, cayenne pepper or smoked paprika (I used a bit of both). I chose to serve the Refried Benas Folover with sour cream, freshly sliced avocado, red onions, grated cheese and a sprinling of mild smoked Spanish paprika as well as some fresh Italian parsley. Served all warm and fresh this is so incredibly good with the right amout of spiciness and creaminess – really comfort-style food that pleased each and every palate around the table.

The last recipe I made this month was the Baba Ganoush (page 303) from the chapter of „Mezze & Tapas“ – a classic, smoky purée of aubergine, garlic, tahini, lemon juice, sea salt and black pepper.

I went a little unconventional here and served this dip with homemade wholewheat pita crisps with cheese from my favorite local dairy farm, Bauerngut Schiefelbusch, (pictured in my very first little movie at the end of this post), some sour cream, extra chilli and sliced spring onions – why not, we loved it this way and since I have a ton of  that lovely tahini left over, I will make this dip again this week and serve it with freshly baked flatbreads.

Another month full of wonderful vegetable dishes – we certainly love the recipes from this cookbook.

Please note, that for copyright reasons, we do NOT publish the recipes. If you enjoy the recipes in our series, hopefully, the wonderfully talented and enthusiastic members of the Cottage Cooking Club and their wonderful posts can convince you to get a copy of this lovely book. Better yet, do make sure to join us in this cooking adventure! There is still time, we are „only“ half-way through this amazing book!

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 February, please go here.

French Fridays with Dorie - Vanilla-Butter-Braised Prawns

Today´s recipe for the French Fridays with Dorie group is Vanilla-Butter-Braised Lobster – I opted for Vanilla-Braised-Prawns instead and served them (three per person) on a bed of Lemon-Steamed Spinach.

Poaching in butter is a technique most often used to cook fish and shellfish gently, resulting in an elegant flavor and a silky texture. Add some real vanilla here, real like the scraped seeds from a fresh, incredibly flavorful Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla Bean, and you are in for a real treat.

The sweet richness of the butter-braised prawns was tempered here by the bright citrus flavor of the lemon zest in the Lemon-Steamed Spinach (also one of my beloved Dorie recipes).This side dish is a breeze to prepare and I was lucky to come across a big bunch of fresh spinach at the store – I also explained the recipe in the parking lot to a fellow shopper who was wondering how to prepare fresh spinach. You see, my dear compatriots are rather fond of their already prepared frozen spinach from that rather well-known company in Northern Germany.

Honestly, we were thrilled with this recipe, all but the youngest taste tester who just could not make herself take a nibble, although she loves fresh spinach prepared this way, she could not explain why the prawns smelled like her favorite homemade dessert (semolina pudding). But the rest of my beloved lunch crowd was sad that the portions I served were rather small. No reason to whine, there will be a next time, no doubt!

To see whether the other members of the French Fridays with Dorie group enjoyed this week´s recipe, please go here.

For copyright reasons, we do not publish the recipes from the book. But you can find the recipe for “Vanilla-Butter-Braised Lobster “ on pages 324-25 in Dorie Greenspan´s cookbook "Around my French Table".

Violet Tuesday & Miniature Marzipan Bundts

Around here we celebrate Veilchendienstag today which literally translates to Violet Tuesday. In other parts of the world, it is also referred to as Shrove Tuesday, Fat Tuesday, Mardi Gras, or Pancake Day. Violet Tuesday is also the day before Ash Wednesday and usually falls between February 3 and March 9.

The origins of this flowery name are not quite clear. Historians assume that the expression evolved because the day before Violet Tuesday is often referred to as Rose Monday, therefore, it was natural to be looking for a similar name with a flower in its designation.

Whatever the historic origins of the name, Violet Tuesday is not only referred to by various names but it is also observed in many different ways worldwide. But no matter what you call it in your neck of the woods, or how you celebrate today, the day before Ash Wednesday has long been a time for eating and merry making as people prepare for the long Lenten fast that begins tomorrow and covers a period of approximately six weeks before Easter Sunday.

And what better day than Violet Tuesday to be baking Miniature Marzipan Bundts with an light violet sugar icing and incredibly delicious candied violets as decoration

And to be enjoying these tiny Bundts alongside a cup of tea called Earl Grey´s Lady Violet. This is a wonderfully fragrant black tea from Darjeeling, with cornflower blossoms and natural bergamot oil to which we like to add some pretty white rock candy.

Miniature-Marzipan-Bundts

Ingredients for the Mini Bundts

• 2 eggs (L), free range or organic
• 100 grams unsalted butter, room temperature – plus some for greasing the molds
• 4 tbsp, super fine baking sugar
• 2 tsps, pure vanilla sugar
• 1/8 tsp fine sea salt
• 100 grams baking marzipan (with at least 50 % almonds – I like to use baking marzipan with 56 % almonds) - in the States marzipan or almond paste is available form the Danish company Odense here
• 4 heaping tbsps. flour (use wheat or spelt flour here) - plus some for dusting the molds

In addition

• mini Bundt baking tray (12 molds)
• a pastry brush with soft bristles
• powdered sugar
• a few drops of violet food-coloring (optional)
• candied violets (optional)

Preparation of the Mini Bundts

1. Preheat your oven to 175 °C.
2. Butter and flour your mini Bundt cake molds and shake out the excess flour. Set aside.
3. Grate the marzipan finely – if the marzipan is too soft, place it in the freezer for 15 minutes or until it is firm enough to grate easily. Bring to room temperature before continuing with the recipe.
4. Add all the ingredients except the flour to the beaker of your hand-held blender and mix together until you have a smooth batter.
5. Then add the flour and mix some more. 
6. Add the batter to a piping bag with a small nozzle and fill the moulds 2/3 full. Carefully tap the filled molds on the counter once to get rid of any air bubbles.
7. Bake the mini Bundts in your pre-heated oven for about ten to twelve minutes.
8. Transfer to a cooling rack. Let the mini cakes cool for a few minutes and then turn out onto the cooling racks. Cool completely.
9. Decorate as desired with either just powdered sugar or a sugar icing and candied violets.

These charming little cakes seem perfect for a Violet Tuesday celebration but would also make a wonderful afternoon tea treat any day. Or bring them along to your next  picnic, in your snack box, or as gifts.

Enjoy the last day of the Carnival celebrations and Happy Baking on this Violet Tuesday!