Nut Slices - XMas Cookies IV

 The next recipe for Christmas cookies is ready to be explored by you!
You think I already have a lot?
Well, you should see how Timo loves those cookies and how they “melt” under my fingers. I really have to hurry to bake new ones. If not, one poor decemberday, there are no cookies left! Uh-OH!

Okay, here are the nut slices. I already posted them last year, but without recipe. Because I really love them and I want you to love them, too, here is it.

In Germany, you can buy these slices in big size in bakeries. I already loved them as a child.
But now, I prefer the smaller ones, because you can better control the amount you eat and I am always a little tickled pink when I filch one out of the cookiebox.

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NUT SLICES
70-80 pieces

Ingredients:

Dough:
>> 250 grams all-purpose flour
>> 4 Tbsp sugar
>> 200 grams unsalted butter, softened
>> 1 egg

Nut Topping:
>> 150 grams unsaltened butter, softened
>> 180 grams icing sugar
>> 200 grounded grams hazelnuts
>> 1 tsp cinnamon, grounded
>> 2 eggs

>> 200 grams dark chocolat

Let´s go:
> Preheat oven to 190°C (370° Fahrenheit)
> Prepare baking sheets with baking paper
> Knead a smooth dough from flour, sugar, butter and egg.
> Roll it out to a rectangle - it`s worth the effort to prepare this rectangle really exact, so it is absolutely perfect to cut later into triangles.

TIP: To roll out the dough without heavy sticking, layer it like this:
Baking paper – dough – flour – baking paper. Roll over the last baking paper.
> Prick dough with a fork at some parts

> For the nut topping: mix butter, icing sugar, hazelnuts, cinnamon and eggs.
> Coat onto your dough-rectangle

> Bake it in the middle of your oven for 20 to 25 minutes, until lightly brown.
> Take it out and cut it when it is still hot in small triangles.
Easiest way is that here:

> Let cool down
> Melt chocolate in a warm waterbath (how to see my recipe for the cocoa-spice-mountains here)
> Dip two corners of your triangles into the chocolat, put onto a baking paper and let dry.

TIP: Before dipping into chocolate, shake the slice a bit for that the crumbs fall down. If you do not, your melted chocolate is soon full of little crumbs.

Enjoy! These are really very yummy!
And we do it like every time:
Dancing around in the kitchen, raise your beautiful voices to sing jingle bells and be happy, because you just made the awesomestststst cookies ever! With singing and dancing, they get even better!

Cocoa-Spice-Mountains - Xmas Cookies III

Hellohooow Naschkatzen & Naschkater (german word for having a sweet tooth :o))

So here I am with my next "Every-year"-recipe for xmas-cookies.

I visited my parents like last year at their little house at the lake - the best thing there in winter is the little chimney! My mother and me bake a lot. We love it, and my father loves it when there is a beautiful warm crackling fire burning in the chimney and everything smells like cookies.
After that haaard work we had some nice walks with our cameras around the lake, which is so beautiful and sometimes a little scary in wintertime.

The crackling chimney. And on the right, me and my "uncle" Hans-Karl

For the cookies:
These ones here belong to those recipes I didn`t eat in childhood, but I explored it the first time I bake my own cookies in my very first own appartment. Since then, I bake it every year, because the flavour is..well, like it is said: chocolat with spices! And I am crazy about spices - you should see my cupboards - and I`ve got also a lot of herbs in the garden, which I dry or use fresh. Well, I am a little witch, I guess.


So, this is a verrry simple basic recipe.
Like I am a little kitchen-alchemist, I love to add flavours and make experiments with basic recipes.
You can do so, if you want, too!
Add some spices you love or you can imagine very well in combination with chocolat (thyme? rosemary?). Or dip in a chocolat you really love...white, black..whatever. As topping, you can also put on whatever comes in your mind. With my mom I already chopped apricots and sprinkled them into dark choc. So: Be creative. Or just stick to the recipe here. It`s awesome, just like it is (you even can omit the choc-topping, they are wonderful in a pure way)

Okay, the only thing a little tricky (if you are not in Germany) is the gingerbreadspice (I don`t know if you get this in other countries).
So I add a recipe for it, too. It is just a spice mixture. A little from here and there and POFF! - tadaaa! There it is!

For sure, you can just add cinnamon, if you like, then you have chocolat-cinnamon-mountains.

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GINGERBREADSPICE

all spices grounded
>> 35 grams cinnamon
>> 9 grams clove
>> 2 grams pimento
>> 2 grams coriander
>> 2 grams cardamom
>> 1.5 grams nutmeg
>> 2 grams ginger

> Just mix all together and fill in a little glass or box or whatever. Tadaaaa! That`s it! Easy, eh?
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COCOA-SPICE -MOUNTAINS
60-70 pieces

>> 200 grams butter, softened
>> 100 grams icing sugar
>> 3 eggyolks (you can freeze the eggwhites for later. Use them f.e. for cinnamon-cookies or baisers)
>> 8 grams vanilla sugar (1 package here in Germany)
>> 1 tsp. gingerbreadspice
>> 1 pinch of salt

>> 200 grams all purpose flour
>> 130 grams hazelnuts, grounded
>> 35 grams cocoapowder (good quality, if possible)
>> 1 Tbsp. baking powder

>> 100 grams chocolat glaze
>> 70 pistachios, pure, roasted a little time in a pan. (You can also use almond bits or other nuts)


> Mix butter, icing sugar, egg yolks, vanilla sugar, salt and gingerbreadspice with a handmixer until creamy.
> Sieve flour, baking powder and cocoa into the buttermixture, add hazelnuts and knead with a handmixer until smooth. Wrap in foil and cool it in the fridge for at least 1 hour.
> Prepare two baking trays with baking sheets.
> Preheat oven to 170°C (350°C Fahrenheit)
> Flour your hands (! - better you put a little bowl with flour next to you to refresh it from time to time) and shape little balls from the dough. The size should be round about like a small (!) walnut.
> Put them on the tray. You can make round about 6 rows with 6 balls. They rise a little bit, but not that much.
> Bake them 12 minutes.
> Cool down on a cooling rack.
> Chop the chocolat glaze and put them in a small pot and prepare a how waterbath (How to: The small pot should fit on a little bigger one. In this bigger one, give 2 cm of water. Put the chocolat pot above (pot should not touch the water). Heat the water slowly (do NOT boil it))
- when the chocolat is melted, dip in the top of a cookie and add a nut on top.
> Cool down and let dry

You can store them up to 6 weeks ! But I guess you eat them before :)


Oh, and like always:
Dance through the kitchen, singing Jingle Bells for upgrading you cookies to wonder-awesome-awh-awh-christmas-cookies!
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Beautiful-scary lake

Me, my mum and a beautiful last-berry-standing.

Who wants to swim?

Mommy`s Spitzbuben - XMas Cookies II

Ooooookay guys, this is the easiest cookie-recipe ever. It is THE recipe of my childhood! Oh myyy!... I already had a post last year with these ones *klick*, when I made them with my mom, but no recipe - sorry for that!

I eat/bake those cookies for christmas time since I was a little kid - I guess I already participated in this feast when I was an embryo, because my mother made them long before I was born.
In Germany, this christmas cookie is really popular. Nearly every family bakes it.
We call it "Spitzbuben" in most parts of the country.

Over the years, I got different recipes from different moms and grandmas.
Every family has its own favourite recipe, but honestly: it`s just a shift in ingredient amount. The ingredients itselfs stay the same.

If you take more butter, it`s getting softer and more fluffy, if you take less, it`s getting harder.
If you roll them out thinner, it´s getting more fine, if you roll it out quite thick it has a great bite.

I post here my own variation, which is a  mixture between my mom`s recipe and the one of my mom-probably-one-day-in-law. The thickness of your rolled-out circles stays with you. As thick as you prefer. I roll them out 0,5 cm or a little more.

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SPITZBUBEN
amount depends on the thickness

Ingredients:
>> 200 grams sugar
>> 250 grams unsalted butter (little softened)
>> 500 grams flour
>> 1 egg

Filling:
>> a 400 ml glass of marmelade (jelly, no pieces of fruits!)


> Mix all ingredients (except marmelade) together, knead them quickly until homogenous
> wrap in foil, put in the fridge for at least 1 hour
> put the dough out, roll it out on a generous floured surface.

TIP: Put a foil between the dough and your rolling pin. So nothing sticks on the pin, it is the easiest way to roll out dough. Please - flour the surface GENEROUS. The dough can be really gooey!

> Cut out the cookies with a circle cookie cutter in the size you prefer. If you want, cut a little hole in every second circle (like I did) - so you get those nice "marmelade eyes".
> Put them on baking sheet on baking tray
> Bake them for about 8-12 minutes. Have an eye on the cookies. Get them out before they get brown on top. The bottom side is then lightly brown. Take care during the baking process, so you find out soon the "strength" of your oven and the baking time YOU need for your Spitzbuben.
> Take out, let cool down on a rack.

> Put the marmelade in a little pot and heat it softly until more liquid.
> Brush or coat (with a knife) one circle with some marmelade, put another circle on top.
> Let dry for a few hours.
> Store them in a Tupperware or closed box.

ENJOY! <3 Really ...they are awesome!

And like always: Dance around and sing Jingle Bells to make cookies even MORE tasty!

German Lebkuchen & Chocolat Baiser Kisses - XMas Cookies I

Okaaay, lovely people.
The pre-christmas time began. This is MY TIME! Christmascookierecipes...come to me! YAYA!

Just in time, 1st of november, I began baking. Not one day before or one later.1st!
I always make two recipes in one session.
One "every-year-again-recipe", a classical one. And the second is something new. Something different, interesting, not-so-classical.


Here we go:
1) Absolut classical german LEBKUCHEN, from Nuremberg. For me, the Nuremberg Lebkuchen are the best in whole Germany. Nobody does so well as they do. The tradition is very very old. The Lebkuchen are so fresh and tasty and fluffy and spicy, and and and...OHH, I love them!
I had kind of a "second family", my guest family in Portugal, when I lived there. I brought them once a package of Nuremberger Lebkuchen, and the dad of the family got crazy about it. He ate it ALL (and he has two little kids...he didn`t want to share - hahaha!).
Please, people out there, TRY it! bake it. Love it! Enjoy! It`s so wonderful! Best of christmastime!

2) Not classical, but experimental, beautiful and ommnomm: Chocolat Baiser Kisses.
It combines three ingredients I really really love:
Cocoa (Chocolat) Powder (into the baisers), marsipan and nougat (my absolute favourite chocolattype!)

Here are the recipes:
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Nürnberger LEBKUCHEN
50 pieces, wafer aperture: 50 mm)

TIP: Begin to prepare them either early in the morning or in the late evening. They have to rest for 12 hours before baking.

Ingredients:
>> 50 wafer (aperture 50 mm)
>> 4 eggs
>> 250 grams brown sugar
>> 250 grams all-purpose flour
>> 200 grams hazelnuts, grounded
>> 70 grams candied lemon peel
>> 70 grams candied orange peel
>> 75 grams almond, chopped
>> 1 tsp cinnamon, grounded
>> 1 pinch of grounded clove
>> 1 pinch of grounded cardamom
>> 1 pinch of grounded nutmeg
>> 2,5 level tsp baking powder

Icing:
>> 200 grams icing sugar
>> 3 Tbsp lemon juice
>> 50 almonds, peeled (half or complete, it`s your choice. I prefer them half, because they stick better in the icing)


> Mix eggs and sugar in a mixer undtil creamy
> Add flour, almonds, hazelnuts, candied lemon & orange peel, cinnamon, baking powder and all spices. Fold in thoroughly with a wooden spoon.
> Prepare 2 baking sheets. Put wafers on it and a little cup of water next to you.
> With the help of two teaspoons, put a good amount of dough onto the wafer. You will get a feeling, how much it should be. Be generous! The heaps can be a little bigger.
> Damp your fingers and flatten the dough heaps into the final shape. Arrange them immediately after shaping onto the baking tray/baking sheet, where they should stay. The wet wafer makes it stick on the sheet, and you can`t really move them before baking.
> Put them aside and let them dry for 12 hours.
> Preheat oven to 150° C ( 300 F )
> Put the trays in the middle of the oven. Bake for 18-20 minutes.
> Let them cool down.
> Prepare the icing by mixing sifted icing sugar and lemon juice. Brush Lebkuchen with it and put one almond on the top. Let them dry completely.

TIP!!: To store them, please put a slice of fresh bread into the same box (seperated by a kitchen paper). The bread "feeds" the Lebkuchen with humidity, so they stay wonderful soft and luscious in the inside.

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Chocolat Baiser Kisses
30 pieces
Ingredients:
>> 100 grams almonds, grounded
>> 100 grams icing sugar + 20 grams extra for the marsipan
>> 2 Tbsp best dark unsweetend cocoa powder
>> 2 eggwhite
>> 50 grams fine sugar
>> pinch of salt
>> 100 grams marsipan paste
>> 100 grams nougat (I tried to use a good chocolat instead of the stuff you can find in the baking areas in supermarkets. It worked, and it tastes much better!)


> Preheat oven to 150°C (Air circulation 130°C)/300 F and prepare 2 baking sheets.
> Mix almonds, 100 grams icing sugar and cocoa powder
> Prepare a how waterbath and an ice cold waterbath.
> First, beat eggwhites over the hot waterbath with the fine sugar and pinch of salt. It should be a warm, stiff mass.
> Second: beat it immediately after that in the cold waterbath, until cooled down.
> Fold in almond mixture.

> Fill the mass into a piping bag.
    If you have no, do it yourself :)  >>MAKE YOUR OWN PIPING BAG
> Squirt 60 little heaps onto the sheets, not bigger than 2 cm diameter. You can flatten the top with damp fingers, if you want.
> Bake them for about 18 minutes. Let them cool down (in the oven, door open)

> Roll out marsipan on your 20 grams leftofer icing sugar.
> cut circles out of the marsipan in the same size of the final baisers. You can do that with whatever you find - I often take a small shot glass, the edge floured that it doesn`t stick on it.> Melt Nougat.
> Brush two bottom sides of your baisers, put one marsipan circle in between and glue them together.
> To dry them, you have to be a little creative, because if you lay them down, the both baisers drift apart. I put them on a cooling rack, where I could arrange them stable.> Let them dry.


Most important: ENJOY ENJOY ENJOY and sing JINGLE BELLS, while dancing in the kitchen
(makes the cookies more magical)

Everybody is involved! Be a foodie-hero!

Everybody who is interested in food - and better: everybody who isn`t yet - should please (!) watch this here:

Fresh handmade Pasta

Before the Christmascookie-Season begins (my traditional start is the 1st of november), I`d like to give you something salty, because it is getting sooo sweet soon!

There are a lot of recipes for fresh pasta in the web and in books.
But most of us buy the dried pasta from the supermarket, because we think, it is too hard and too complicate to do it by yourself.

Here is the wonderful message: It isn`t!
I tried it, and really, I swear - it isn`t!

I guess one thing is, that most of the recipes tell you to buy 00-flour, called “Semola”.
Because I live in the big wonderful city of Hamburg, it is no problem to get it. For some of you it could be (but in the Internet, for sure, you can order it!).
I don`t know how the dough behaves when you use all-purpose flour, but I heard it`s getting a bit slimy, and that is something you really really don`t need while making pasta.

Second is: The pasta-machine.
You can roll the dough by hand, for sure. Italian mamas often do that. But most people use pasta machines. But the good news are: they aren`t very expensive. You don`t need a high-class machine if you make pasta time by time and not every day for 5 families.



For the dough itself, you really need nearly nothing!
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FRESH PASTA
serves 4

Ingredients:
200 grams 00` Semola Flour
2 eggs
1 TSP olive oil
1 pinch of salt
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>> Mix all together and knead it. Knead knead knead, until you have a beautiful smooth elastic dough.
In former times in Italy (probably still today?) people put the dough into a plastic bag and knead it with the feet, because they have more power in there.
I tried it out. It`s a little bit strange in the beginning, and you need to find out a “feet-knead-technique”, but it helps if you do not have too much power or you don´t wanna leave half of your day-energy in kneading.

>> Then flatten the dough a little and put it into the pasta machine.
The important thing is, that you have to roll them through ALL the 8 or 9 steps, it`s getting thinner and thinner.
AND : the first 3 steps when it comes out, fold it again double and put it again through the same step.
Try it out, you will get a feeling for it.


Watch this video from GIULIA <3 when you wanna see how to use a pasta machine and how the dough should look like.



>> Boil enough salted water.

>> If the dough is ready, put it through the part of the machine where you can form long broad stripes.
If you wanna do it by hand, cut the dough to the length you want to have, than flour it generous and fold it softly (do NOT press it together!) a few times. Then take a knife and quickly (!) cut them into the thickness you wanna have. After you did that with the whole dough, unfold the single stripes quickly, put them unsorted on a floured plate.

>> Then put them into the salted water.
They only need a few minutes to cook, 2 or so (depends also on the thickness). If they stay longer, they`ll be sticky and slimy. So take care of them.

One last hint: Pasta (and this is also the same thing for all other food) won`t be good if you do not put all your patience and devotion in it.

Enjoy them with whatever you want. Pesto, tomato sauce or, like I love, just with olive oil and a few herbs or with butter and salt.

What Katie Ate! ROCKS!

I guess a lot of foodblogger and foodies know this lady: KATIE!
Katie got a foodblog where she posts for already a long time stunning photographs and wonderful delicious recipes. She has her very own style in cooking and styling, so she is really popping out of all the stuff you can find in the web.


I follow her blog already a very long time.
She always tells a lot about what`s up in her life and it is quite fun, because you get the feeling to know her personally. She is so authentic and warm and funny, that it is a pleasure to "visit" her time by time.

One day she wrote that she was asked to make her own cookbook.
Well, she was SO happy and surprised! The first thing I thought was: "FINALLY!" - she is so damn talented that I asked myself why nobody else had this iodea before.
Well, she kept people update about her cookbook timetable and what happened, and now - the book is in stores!!!!!
I immediately ordered one, because I am so happy for her (and for the world) and I really really love her work!

And people, I got to tell you: She CAN cook! So...if you want to buy some very special cookbook with a rusty flavour, with no fear of meat or big meals - buy it! It`s so lovely!

All images taken from What Katie Ate ~ Recipes and other bits and bobs 

© Katie Quinn Davies 2012 and Penguin Books, Australia

KATIES BLOG

Pumpkin-Walnut-Tarte

Yepp...it`s pumpkin season!
Timo and me drove into the countryside, south of Hamburg, to buy some different pumpkins.
My idea was just the pumpkinsoup I made a week ago.
But when I put the "small" pumpkins on my kitchenscale, I had to realize: They are muuuch more heavier than I thought.
I made a whole huge pot of soup, put most of it in the freezer, and I still had two Hokkaido and two Butternut left.
So I made a pasta-sauce out of one Butternut.

So, now I still have more than the half of what we bought!
A friend of us from Switzerland, Zora, told me I should make a pumpkintarte. Why not?
It is easy to do and tadaaaa!...here it is!



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PUMPKIN-WALNUT-TARTE
28 cm diameter - tarte pan

INGREDIENTS
Dough (Shortcrust)
>> 250 grams flour
>> 50 grams icing sugar
>> 125 grams cold butter, cutted in little pieces
>> 1 egg (big)
>> little bit of milk
>> some oil or butter to  grease the pan

Filling
>> 500 grams pumpkin (pealed and diced)
>> 500 ml milk (full-fat)
>> 200 grams cane sugar
>> 1 vanilla bean
>> 2 eggs (big)
>> 3 TBSP sugar
>> 1 hand full of walnuts
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Preparing the dough:
NOTICE: All ingredients must be as cold as possible. I normally put the flour into the refrigerator the day before. If you can`t, no problem. You can wash your hands very cold, too, and so on.

>> Sieve icing sugar & flour onto a workplate
>> Just with your fingertips, knead the butter carefully into the flour (until u have crumbles)
>> Add eggs and a little shot of milk
>> Knead all together as quick and carefully as possible until it is a rough dough (no problem if you see  some butterflakes still)
>> sprinkle with flour, press it down to a thick plate, wrap it into foil, put into fridge for 30 minutes.
>> grease the pan
>> roll dough out (on a floured plate) until 5 mm thickness
>> put into greased pan, press it into form and cut off the overlapping dough
>> prick a few times with a fork
>> wrap in foil , put into fridge for 30 more minutes

>> preheat the oven: 180°C  (356°F)

Preparing the Filling:
>> put pumpkincubes, milk, vanilla bean (vanilla pulp and bean separated) and cane sugar into a pot
>> let it boil softly, stir steadily
>> let it simmer until pumpkin is soft (~30 minutes)
>> put out vanilla bean, purée all together with a blender.
>> Let it cool down

Preparing the Caramelized-Nuts-Topping:
You can do that while the pumpkin is boiling
>> Put sugar into a pan
>> heat softly, wait for the sugar getting golden and liquid (that takes time, be patient)
>> if you see, that all is liguid, quickly put the nuts into it, stir stir stir until every nut is caramellized and put them onto a plate

Dough:
>> Cover dough with baking paper, fill with lenses or rice until full
>> Bake for 10 minutes (called "blind-baking")
>> Take out baking paper with rice/lenses and bake for 10 more minutes
>> take out, let cool down
>> put down oven on 160° C (320°F)


>> Mix eggs a few minutes into pumpkinsauce with a blender
>> fill into tarte pan
>> bake for 30 minutes
>> take it out and immediately spread the nuts over it. They should sink down a litle bit. If not, softly press them just to combine it with the filling
>> let cool down

ENJOOOOY!
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~~~~~~~~ The RAINBOWCAKE RECIPE! ~~~~~~~~~

Lovely people!
I made it!!!

I promised you SOOO long to give you my recipe for the beautiful Rainbowcake.
So many people asked, and I always said "soon!".
It took a lot of effort, because I wanted to make it as beautiful as possible (well, I am an artist, not jonly a foodie :)), so it took longer.
But I never forget what I promised to all of you, and so:

HERE IT IS!
Bake the Rainbowcake and send me photos, please!
Create new ideas of the decor or topping and tell me about it, I am so curious!

FABI´S RAINBOWCAKE RECIPE FOR YOU! <<<< DOWNLOAD

Pumpkin Soup

This is a "the-same-procedure-as-every-year"-recipe. When autumn arrives and everything gets color outside, pumpkins pop out here wherever you go. You can buy them everywhere!


What I REALLY love about pumpkin (except their wonderful taste) is, that you can store them for such a long time!
When you put them into a cold and dry place, you can use themn still in 4 or 5 months, some people say even longer!And because pumpkins are so HUGE (I mean here: the Hokkaido), you can get so much out of it. AND with Hokkaidos, you do not have to peel them - just cook it all together!

There a thousand of possibilitries to enjoy pumpkins.
But here is my basic one, a wonderful soup!

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PUMPKIN SOUP

>> 700 gramm of Hokkaido Pumpkin [diced, seeds removed]
                (= 900 gramms of Pumpkin before cutting)
>> 2 onions
>> 2 TBSP Aceto Balsamico
>> 40 gramm of butter 
>> 1000 ml vegetable stock
>> 200 gramm cream [optional, also just less, if you want]
>> 2 TSP honey
>> grounded nutmeg
>> salt & grounded pepper

> Dice onions and pumpkin
>  Melt butter in a big pan or pot and roast onions & pumpkin gently until they are lightly brown
    ( I put them in different pots and mix them together after, but you can do it also all in once)
>  Deglaze it with Aceto Balsamico
> Add vegetable stock
> Let gently boil it for 15 minutes (until pumpkin is very soft, test it)
> Purée it with a hand blender or whatever you have
> Flavor it with honey, salt, pepper and nutmeg

> If you want it more creamy: Add now the cream, mix it and let it boil up once more.

You can garnish it with whatever you want.
I prefer a blob of curd and some roasted pumpkin seeds. But chopped dill, parsley or some other herbs are wonderful, too! Pumpkin seed oil is a beautiful and tasty garnish, too.
I serve it always with some bread or baguette.

Enjoy your beautiful warm soup! Mother nature loves us :)

Chocolate-Oh-Chocolate Icecream

Well, this icecream is from now on my favourite Chocolate Icecream (and all people who love chocolate icecream know what it means to decide---THIS is my fav!..this is like winning gold at Olympia!)

I added chocolate pieces and chili, because in my opinion, those small chocolate pieces in icecream are the little wonder that makes "good" icecream to "best of" icecream.
And Chili...well...just `cause I llike it. you can leave it out, if you want!

(I have an icecream machine. if you do not have one, you can make icecream, too!
But there is a special procedure you have to follow. I don`t know it by rote, so please google it.
I  recommend you warmly the  procedure of the wonderful David Lebovitz, because he really knows what he does: How to make icecream without a machine)

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Chocolate-Oh-Chocolate-Icecream(6 - 8 servings)

What you need:
>> 130 gramm chocolate (70%)
>> 200 ml milk (no low fat milk, please!)
>> 200 gramm cream
>> salt
>> 80 gramm sugar + 1 tsp.
>> 2 egg yolk (size M)
>> 1 tbsp cocoa powder (good one!)
___

> break 100 gramm of the chocolate into pieces
> heat milk, cream, a pinch of salt & 40 gramm of the sugar
> add chocolate-pieces and let melt while stiring

> mix egg-yolks with rest of the sugar (40 gramm)
> mix cocoa powder + 1tsp. sugar, add a bit of the cream milk and stir well until smooth
> mix egg-yolk-sugar mixture with cocoa-powder mixture
> over a hot water bath, mix with a mixer about 10 minutes (not less!) until creamy
> immerdiately after that, mix over an icecold water cath more 6-8 minutes
> Put in the fridge for 30 minutes to cool down totally

> Chop the remaining 30 gramm of chocolate into little splits, add to your cream
> if you want, add a little bit of ground chili> Put into your icecream machine, let freeze for 30-35 minutes (depends on your machine, have a look into your instruction manual)> Let the cream freeze totally in the freezer.



If you do not know how to make a warm/icecold waterbath, Google is your best friend!
Same with making icecream without icecream machine.GO GOR IT!


Eat with vanillasauce or without, or with cookies..or ...whatever you want! ENJOY! :)
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Fluffy Berry-Bomb-Cakes

Well...these ... BOMBS ... were normally thought as little cake pieces, but I already was in doubt when I arranged them on the tray, before baking.
When I watched oven-TV (I love to see my cakebabies grow!), I had to realize: theeeese are no little cakes...these are BOMBS!

But well, ...they are DELICIOUS bombs, and the risk is: you eat it ALL. No matter how big it is.

It´s summertime, so it was close to take berries.
I took for one half blueberries, for the other half - because I really LOVE them - black currants.

But in fact:
This is a simple yeast-raised paistry with a little amount of spice and fruits.
So if you are that experimental type of cook (like I am), choose other fruits or spices, if you want. But don´t blame me, if they taste not like you expected! :)

Here it is, the easy recipe (with the smeary dough, haha! Have fun!)
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Fluffy Berry-Bomb-Cakes

Dough:
>> 1 package dry yeast (7gramm)
>> 375 ml tepid milk
>> 1 tsp ground cardamom
>> 2 eggs (big ones!)
>> a pinch of seasalt
>> 200 gramm sugar
>> 50 gramm melted butter + 15 gramm melted butter for the sheet
>> 800 gramm flour
>> 75 gramm cane sugar

Filling:
>> 400 gramm blueberries (, other berries or another fruit)
>> 75 gramm sugar
>> 1 orange (peel and juice)

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> Stir yeast into the tepid milk. Let rest for a little while.
> Mix egg + seasalt in a large bowl firmly
> While stiring, add cardamom, sugar, melted butter, 500 gramm flour and yeast-milk.
    (dough is fine when it has a gooey texture
> Finally, add remaining flour (300 gramm)

> With floured hands, knead dough a short while. Sprinkle with flour, cover it and let the dough rise in a warm place until doubled in size.


> Meanwhile smash blueberries, sugar, most of orange peel and a splash of orange juice with a fork in a bowl.
> Cover a big sheet with baking paper, place a few butter flakes on it and sprinkle half of the cane sugar onto it.

> Sprinkle working surface with flour.
> Stretch out dough with floured hands until round about size of 20 x 30 cm (~ magazine sheet size).
> Dripp off half of the berry-mixture and spread out on dough
> Fold dough like an envelop and knead again firmly

> Divide dough in 8 parts.
> Shape looooooong, thin rolls while twisting like a spiral from outside to inside
> Place on sheet (leave enough space to one another, they grow to BOMBS!)
> Spread rest of berries onto the BOMBS and press them into dough.
> Sprinkle with some blueberryjuice, remaining cane sugar and orange juice.
> Cover with moist fabric, let rise for 20 more minutes in a warm place

> Preheat oven: 180°C
> For 25 minutes you can try now to clear the chaos you made in the kitchen (good luck!)
> The BOMBS should be now wonderful golden brown and crispy (because of the sugar).
> Open oven, grab them (careful, it`s hot!) and munch`em ALLL ALL ALL ALL!

...good idea : add warm vanillasauce! <3