Apple Yeast Pancakes (with Vanilla-Rum Sauce)

These are exceptionally good, simple pancakes. You only need a single egg, some yeast, milk and flour, plus a little sugar and oil and some cooking apples. Apart from those pantry (and fruit bowl) staples, nothing special is needed. That makes them a reliable option for a good late-autumn breakfast when you haven't gone grocery shopping quite yet.

I added some spices and walnuts, which went very well with the apples, but can be easily skipped. The mild yeast flavour of the batter and the apples are a good match. While I've got other, richer recipes for yeast pancakes, these can be fallen back upon when a single egg is all I've got. 

The vanilla sauce I made with rum was from the previous day (and my second-last egg) and when warmed, tasted extremely good with these pancakes in particular. Other good companions include sour cream, maple syrup (of course) and apple butter. Serve them hot and enjoy them in plenty- this recipe makes a lot. Halve it if you don't want to eat a dozen or aren't feeding a small army. I've got some in the freezer for the days when I don't have time to make pancakes, along with waffles and my new favourite homemade granola... it's good to be prepared.

Apple Yeast Pancakes
Adapted from Moje Wypieki
Makes a really, really large amount of pancakes

750-800 g. Flour (I used half type 550 and half bread flour)
1.5 L Milk, 3.8% is best
2-3 TBSP Brown sugar
42 g. Fresh yeast, or 3 Tsp. Active dry yeast
1 Tsp. Cinnamon
1/2 Tsp. Nutmeg
2 Tsp. Vanilla extract
Pinch of salt
1 TBSP Nut oil, or melted butter
1 Egg
5 Cooking apples, thinly sliced (with a mandoline is best)
2/3 C. Walnut pieces (optional)

Oil or butter, to fry
Syrup, vanilla sauce or cinnamon-sugar, to serve

Mix flour, salt and spices. In the middle, form a well.

Heat one cup of the milk until warm and dissolve the yeast and sugar. Add to the centre of the flour and let sit, covered, 10 to 15 minutes. Add the rest of the milk, vanilla, oil, and egg and mix well to combine.

Let rise covered for 1 1/2 hours.

Prepare a cup of hot water and two large spoons. Heat a nonstick skillet or cast iron pan with a bit of butter or oil. Use the spoons to scoop balls of dough onto the pan and use a spatula to press a few slices of apple into each (along with walnut pieces, if using). Cook for about a minute on each side and keep warm in a low-temperature oven until ready to serve.

Rum-Vanilla Sauce
400 ml. Milk, 3.8%
1/2 TBSP Cornstarch
1 Egg yolk
2 TBSP sugar, plus 1/2 TBSP vanilla sugar 
2 TBSP Dark rum
1 Tsp. Vanilla extract

Heat milk over medium heat until steaming in a small saucepan. In another bowl, combine cornstarch, sugar, and yolk with a whisk. 

Once milk is hot, use half a cup to temper the yolk mixture by whisking it in very quickly, until well-mixed. Pour into the pan with the rest of the milk and cook, while whisking, until it bubbles.

Remove from heat and whisk in rum and vanilla. Keep warm until serving.

Yeast Strudel with Cheese-Strawberry Filling and Streusel

We had our first proper snow of the year this weekend, and the water has finally frozen over on the pond, which is a sign that winter is finally settling in after a relatively warm November. Right now it still all seems lovely, the powder-sugar look of the snow and the promise of Christmas (and winter break!) around the corner, but soon enough I'm sure I'll be fed up with it. After all, I hate the cold. Hate it. 

Anyways, I stay indoors as much as physically possible in the months from October to March, preferably in the nice, warm kitchen. I wanted to bake something nice with a slightly summery taste, but all the butteriness and warmth that winter demands. So I made a simple strudel with a filling of Polish fresh cheese (tvarog), lemon zest, and a thickened mixture of frozen berries picked in the summertime, sugar and lemon juice. The whole thing was topped with a very crumbly streusel and though it kind of exploded in the oven (too much filling; I've corrected for that in the ingredients list) it still tasted fantastic, with the flavour of the warmer months from the berries and the lemon zest to brighten things up. The cheese filling is very good, but would have been even better if I'd used a cheese with greater fat content- try to look for something creamy. The streusel gives some extra textural appeal.

The fruit filling can be highly variable, with fresh fruit being a wonderful substitution if available, and I'll be trying it with other berries in the future, rhubarb as well. I really like the dough- it's very soft and tender, and has just enough structure to hold up all the filling. This is the kind of cake you can even eat for breakfast reasonably, since it's got all your food groups. 

Until Christmas baking proper begins (all I've got thus far is Stollen) I eat my strudel and think of the long winter ahead.

You can't see it, but there's  a thin layer of snow on the deck.

Yeast Strudel with Cheese-Strawberry Filling and Streusel
Adapted from Moje Wypieki

For the Dough:
1 1/2 C. Bread flour
1/4 C. Buttermilk or kefir, warmed slightly
1 Large egg
2 TBSP Sugar, or vanilla sugar
Pinch of salt
30 g. Oil, or melted butter
1 Tsp. Vanilla extract
1 1/2 Tsp. Active dry yeast, or 20 g. Fresh yeast

Mix yeast and buttermilk/ kefir. Add sugar, vanilla and egg. Mix in flour and salt and knead until a cohesive dough forms (you might need more liquid). Add oil and knead until elastic. Let rise in a greased, covered bowl about 1 1/2 hours, or until doubled. Punch down and roll into a 25 x 35 cm rectangle.

For the Cheese Filling:
200 g. Twarog/farmer's cheese
1 Yolk, white reserved
1/4 C. Sugar
1 Tsp. Vanilla extract
Zest of one lemon
25 g. Butter, softened
3 TBSP 18% Sour cream, or 14% plus 1 Tsp. butter (if your cheese is lower-fat; if it's at least 10%, skip this step!)

Mix all together well. Use food processor for a smoother texture, or simply a spoon to keep the curds intact. If the mixture seems too liquid, add a small spoonful of cornstarch.

For the Fruit Filling:
200-300 g. Strawberries, from frozen, thawed
1 TBSP Cornstarch
1 TBSP Sugar
Juice of half a lemon

Mix lemon juice, cornstarch, and sugar. In a small pot, cook the strawberries until the juices run on medium-low heat. Add the cornstarch mixture and stir constantly until thickened. Let cool.

(For fresh strawberries, simply tossing them in the other ingredients ought to be enough)

To assemble, brush the dough rectangle with the reserved egg white, whisked until foamy, in a thin layer all over. In the lower half of the rectangle, spread the cheese filling evenly, but leave about 2 cm around the perimeters empty. Top with the fruit filling and fold the other dough flap over it, pressing down on the clean edges to seal them and tucking them under the roll. Transfer to a sheet lined with baking parchment and let rise covered for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 190℃.

For the Streusel:
100 g. Flour
50 g. Sugar
1 Sachet vanilla sugar, or 1 TBSP homemade
60 g. Butter, melted

Crumble all together by hand or with a pastry cutter, or with two forks in a small bowl.

Before baking, brush the strudel with what's left of the egg white (if there isn't any, or you want a brighter coloured loaf, use a whole beaten egg with a tablespoon of milk). Use a very sharp knife to make a long cut lengthwise along the top of the strudel and sprinkle on the streusel.

Bake for 30 minutes and let cool before cutting. Powder with sugar if desired.

Man'oushe- Lebanese Flatbread with Za'atar

There's this great grocery store that sells stuff from pretty much every place in the near East- including a fantastic variety of fresh breads, such as man'oushe (as it is known in Lebanon, though it is known by other names elsewhere). There's plenty of topping options, but my favourite is the za'atar and olive oil breads (and the miniature ones with cheese and olives... but that's another experiment waiting to happen). I bought a big bag of za'atar in hopes of making my own version, but previous attempts had all been slightly disastrous (read: tooth-chippingly dry and hard). At last, I decided to try again with a new formula that contained such surprising bread ingredients as cake flour and a whole tablespoon of sugar, and finally found success.

 I made some with za'atar and olive oil, and some with a vegetable spread that I thought might go well. I also took care not to overbake them, pulling them out of the oven as soon as they were golden to prevent another bread-frisbee. They came out fantastic, maybe not as good as the professionals make them, but the freshness of home-baked bread is unrivalled. And if they were so good on my first try- I'll be practicing this recipe a lot more often. They're soft and tender and can be topped with vegetables and cheese to make a sort of pizza, as I ate mine. Maybe I'll make some with cheese and olives next time...

Man'oushe with Za'atar
From Rose Water & Orange Blossoms

2 1/2 C. AP flour
1 C. Cake flour
2 Tsp. Salt
1 1/4 C. Water, lukewarm
1 Tsp. Dry yeast, or 15 g. Fresh yeast
1 TBSP Sugar
1 TBSP Oil
1/2 C. Za'atar
1/2 C. Olive oil

Mix the za'atar and olive oil and set aside.

Mix flours and salt. Dissolve yeast and sugar in 1/4 C. of the water and leave for 15 minutes.

Add the yeast mixture and oil to the flour mixture and add the water slowly until a dough forms- you can do this in a food processor, a mixer or by hand. Knead, pulse or mix on medium high until a smooth, elastic dough forms.

Let rise in a covered, lightly oiled bowl for 1 1/2 to 2 hours.

Divide dough into four pieces and form balls. Let rest on a lightly floured surface, covered, for 20 minutes. Preheat oven to 220℃, with a heavy baking tray or baking stone inside. 

Roll out the balls of dough into circles with a floured rolling pin. Rotate as you go to keep it evenly round, until the circle is about 1 cm thick.

Spread about 1 TBSP of the za'atar-oil mixture onto the round with the back of the spoon. Repeat with the other three Use a peel or other thin, sturdy tray to transfer the breads onto the hot baking tray or stone in the oven, and bake for 7-10 minutes.

Nusskuchen/ Hazelnut Cake

I've had a bag of hazelnut meal, already bought on clearance, in my freezer for months now. I remembered it after seeing this recipe for a nut cake, realizing rapidly that freezing an article doesn't put it in a state of permanent suspension, and I didn't want to waste those nuts by letting them go rancid. So, I combined the desire to use that ingredient with my wish to test the cute new Moomin cake pan I got from my mother...

...And made a simple, soft, buttery nut cake. It's deliciously moist, especially if you use part oil as well as the butter, and the flavour of the rum extract is highly complimentary to its nuttiness. You can use real rum if you want, a tablespoonful or two. The texture is very fine, and best illustrated with the fluffy appearance of a forkful:

Tender on the inside and slightly crispy on the outside. Mmmm.

The cake on its own is quite sweet, so the nougat garnish may be excessive. in fact, a dark chocolate or complete absence of garnish might be even better. But, surprise surprise, I had half a packet of nougat that I needed to finish! I also wanted to outline the Moomin design a bit, but unfortunately I tried to pipe the nougat when it was already too cool, and the lines came out messy. Still delicious, though.

This is the ideal kind of cake to have with a cup of coffee (or milk, or milky coffee), and will stay soft for days. It's likely to work well with other kinds of nut, too. My mother really liked it, and she usually isn't a sweets person, so I count this recipe as a keeper. Sometimes the simple recipes are the best.

Nusskuchen/ Hazelnut Cake
Adapted from chefkoch.de

180 g. Butter (I used 80 g. Hazelnut oil and 100 g. butter)
200 g. Sugar 
1 Sachet vanilla sugar, or 1 TBSP homemade
200 g. Ground hazelnuts
120 g. Flour, cake or all-purpose
Pinch of salt
5 Eggs
2 1/4 Tsp. Baking powder
A few drops of rum extract (optional)

To decorate (optional)
-1-2 TBSP powder sugar
- about 100 g. Nussnougat, chocolate, etc.
-Whole roasted hazelnuts

Preheat oven to 180℃. Grease a large loaf pan, or a 21cm. springform. Sprinkle the inside with vanilla sugar, or dust with flour.

Beat butter and sugars until fluffy- add oil and/or rum extract as well, if using. Add the eggs one by one and beat in until well-incorporated.

Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. Whisk into the egg mixture until well-incorporated.

Mix in the hazelnuts until just incorporated. Pour the mixture into the pan and bake for 50-60 minutes, checking after 30 minutes with a fork or baking thermometer every 10 minutes.

Let cool about 20 minutes before unmolding.

If desired, sprinkle with powder sugar, or melt the nougat/chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a pot of simmering water and spread/pipe on. Use whole or slivered nuts for an additional touch.

Buttermilchbrot (With Caraway Seeds)

Since my quark-making adventure, I had about half a litre of good-quality buttermilk left over, as well as a nugget of fresh yeast from making stollen. I decided to make a loaf of buttermilk-based rye-wheat bread, since it could be left to its own devices for the most part and I was quite busy with studying. I added some caraway to complement the hearty flavour of rye and to contrast  the tanginess of the buttermilk. I love caraway in rye! Then again, I love caraway in a lot of things. It really goes down very well in this particular recipe.

As well as having a complex flavour, this loaf also has a great, porous crumb that's still dense and moist. It would make an ideal partner with a stew (especially a cabbage-based dish) or in wedges with soup- or with a firm sharp cheese on top. I think I'll try a variation with coriander seed, or maybe cumin, and also try replacing the rye with spelt or another whole grain. The recipe might even work well with kefir instead of buttermilk. 

Buttermilchbrot
From chefkoch.de

450 g. Buttermilk
21 g. Fresh yeast, or 2 1/2 Tsp. active dry yeast
340 g. Bread flour
200 g. Rye flour, dark or medium
1 TBSP Vinegar, preferably apple cider vinegar
1 TBSP Salt
1-2 TBSP Caraway seeds, optional

Mix the yeast and buttermilk to dissolve it. Add the vinegar and both flours and mix until cohesive. Add the salt and knead for 5-10 minutes to form a dough, along with half of the caraway seeds if using.

Let rise covered for 30 minutes. Form a loaf and sprinkle with the other half of the caraway seeds if desired. Otherwise, dust with flour. Let rise covered until doubled.

Preheat oven to 200℃. Cut the loaf with slits around the sides so that it can expand in the oven. Bake for an hour, adding steam after 10 and 20 minutes with a spray bottle of water for an extra crispy crust. Let cool for at least an hour before cutting.

Homemade Quark- German Fresh Cheese

For the longest time I've mourned the fact that you just can't get the insane variety of dairy products available in Germany in Canada. Particularly quark cheese, which is the backbone of a classic Käsekuchen, not to mention a key ingredient in countless other doughs, dishes, and fillings- I've seen one ultra-low fat 0.25% version for sale, but I don't want to make a pastry with that! Vastly superior would be something of at least around 10% fat. 

Of course, there are other types of quark. Magerquark is, to my knowledge, any quark with less than 10% fat- but something to the higher end of that spectrum is better for baking, while that with less fat can be eaten like yogurt with fruit or jam. Topfenquark, which is used in a ton of strudels, Auflaufs, and pastry fillings, is about 20% fat. And Speisequark is about 40% fat, and can be used as a bread spread amongst other uses in giving richness to dishes. 

When I found this recipe for homemade quark that didn't need rennet and could be done within the temperature range that my oven offers, I was suspicious that it was too good to be true. And while this isn't "true" quark in that it isn't cultured the same way... it's definitely a good enough approximation for me! I made mine with half 18% cream and half 3.8% buttermilk to get something with a slight amount of richness, but not too much- perfect for enhancing bread doughs, or for the Quarkstollen that I plan to be making. I'll definitely be trying the recipe out with different fat proportions, like a 20% fat version made partly with whipping cream... then I can try my hand at Topfenstrudel and Topfenpalatschinken. And delicious German cheesecake, of course.

I got just over 400 g. of quark out of this batch, but because I drained it in the fridge overnight, it was really a lot firmer than one would be used to for quark- but that's good, because you typically want to wring out as much whey as you can. Then, you can remoisten it to the desired level by adding some buttermilk or cream. I froze the majority of mine (hey, Google told me I could, but only time will tell if that was really a smart idea) but reserved a small amount to try right away. I added a spoonful of extra buttermilk, some chopped green onion, and some salt and pepper to make a spread for some freshly-baked buns, and it was received with great enthusiasm.

I never would have expected something so good to come of a recipe so simple and easy- any sort of homemade cheese always feels intimidating, but it's really not. My grandmother used to make her own fresh cheeses this way, and in my humble opinion, it tastes much better fresh and homemade.

You can also control the quality of all your ingredients very easily! I'm going to try my hand at other fresh cheeses in the near future. And get back on that Quarkstollen.

Homemade Quark
Adapted from chefkoch.de
(makes 400-500 g.)

500 mL.Buttermilk, 3.8%
500 mL Light cream, 18%

Mix both and let sit for about 15-30 minutes. Pour into a large Dutch oven or other baking pan. Place in an oven preheated to 100℃ and bake for 2 hours. Let cool. 

After cooling completely, strain for 2 hours (or better yet, longer in the fridge- I drained it overnight) with cheesecloths over a pot or bowl. Squeeze the curds dry and add a little buttermilk or cream to get a suitable consistency- you usually want it to be about as thick as Greek yogurt.

Übernacht Sonntags-Brötchen - Infinitely Adaptable Overnight Buns

There are few things in the baking world simpler and more versatile than this recipe. It's my go-to for when there's been a glut of sweet things around the house, and I want to make the Sunday breakfast on the savoury and simple side while letting people customize to what they want. And buns are awesome in that they're basically personal breads- the German name pretty much translates to that. Breadlings. Nice.

Real bakeries are already staffed by the wee hours of the morning to ensure that there's bread to sell at opening time, but most of us don't want to (or in my case, simply can't due to sleeping family members) get up at 4 to start making bread for breakfast. Even though many breads are supposed to rest in the fridge overnight, they also often need to warm up to room temperature, get shaped, rise a bit more, and so on- so they really aren't ready in time for a Sunday breakfast. In such a case, one wants something fast, easy to make the night before, and preferably not requiring much morning preparation. These fit that bill very well.

It's also very forgiving. You can use just bread flour or even all-purpose flour, more or less spelt or whole wheat, and skip the malt if you want- it just adds crustiness. The yeast can be fresh or dried, and though I always choose fresh if I can, it works very well with either. You don't even need to do the step of preheating a pan to put the bread on- it's just another way to make them more crispy, as is the water-spraying. I like crusty buns, but you can make them softer by skipping these things.

You can also go nuts with add-ins! I like the plain ones because of the attractive floureyness, but they're also fantastic with sesame or poppy seeds. You could also use caraway, or even cumin. They're also great with grated cheese added as a final touch, not so early for it to burn- just enough so that is forms a crispy delicious crust. I added olives to some on the request of my brother. 

Of course, it's nice how simple these are because they can accommodate just about any desired filling, spread or topping. Any extras can be used for sandwiches, with soup, as toast, or wherever some fresh morning-baked bread might be appreciated.

Overnight Buns
Adapted from Chefkoch
420 g. Bread flour
80 g. Spelt flour, whole wheat flour, or a mix (can substitute more regular bread flour- or use more of another flour in place of the bread flour, though more whole grains will make it denser)
1 1/2 Tsp. Diastatic malt powder, or 1 TBSP malt syrup (optional- honey also works)
2 Tsp. Active dry yeast, or 25 g. Fresh yeast (fresh if you can!)
350-400 ml. Lukewarm water, preferably filtered
1 TBSP Salt
Toppings: Extra flour, any seeds or grains desired, or about 100g. grated cheese such as edam or gouda. Get creative!

Blend flours, malt (if powdered) and yeast (if dry). If using fresh yeast, crumble into the water and mix to dissolve. Dissolve the malt in the water as well, if it is a syrup.

Pour water onto flour and mix with a dough hook on medium-low until incorporated. Increase speed to medium-high and mix until it no longer sticks to the sides of the bowl. Alternatively, work the dough by hand on a lightly oiled surface until it forms a cohesive, relatively nonsticky mass. The dough is quite moist, so it will never be completely unsticky, but it should cling to itself well. On drier days, you may need the larger amount of water.

Add the salt and mix on medium-high for 5-7 minutes, until the dough forms strings when you stretch a small piece apart with your fingers. This can be done by about 15-20 minutes of working by hand.

Cover in a floured or lightly oiled bowl and place in the refrigerator for at least 12 hours.

Preheat the oven to 220℃. Heat up a baking tray, pizza stone, or Dutch oven. 

Divide the dough into 8-10 pieces and let rest 20 minutes covered. Using extra flour to prevent sticking, shape into desired form and slash the tops with a bread lamé or very sharp knife. Add any desired seeds or grains on top by first dusting off the flour, then spraying with water from a spritzer and sprinkling on top. 

Place the buns onto the hot pan, stone, or Dutch oven bottom. Spray the inside of the oven with water. If using the Dutch oven, cover them. Bake for 20-25 minutes, uncovering after 15 if using the dutch oven, and spray with more water after 5 and 10 minutes. Sprinkle with cheese 5 minutes before you plan to take them out if desired.

Let cool about 20 minutes, or 30 if using the whole grain flour.