apple pie and five o´clock tea

This is always a favorite at home, Apple Pie... quickly baked yesterday for our afternoon tea... this time, I added a dose of plum marmalade..

Apple Pie

Preheat oven at 180°C / ca. 350°F

Ingredients - Pie fillings:

1.5 kg apples

100 g sugar

50 g brown sugar

1 tsp grated lemon peel

1/2 teaspoon Nutmeg

1/2 cup raisins

1 cup chopped almonds

6 Tablespoons plum marmalade

1 egg yolk to coat the grid topping

Cooking apple fillings:

Peel the apples and remove the seeds, slice into small pieces, slow-cook in a casserole adding all ingredients until apples become medium soft (about 10 minutes) and liquid has evaporated. If more liquid comes out from apple cooking, remove excess liquid or drain the cooked apple, set aside and let it cool down.

Preparing the crust:

1.

Combine below ingredients in a bowl, knead into a smooth dough, form into a ball then cover with plastic foil and refrigerate for about 30 minutes:

500 g all purpose Flour

30 g Sugar,

a pinch of salt,

200 g Butter, 

cut into cubes

1 Tbsp table vinegar

10 Tbsp cold water

2.

Roll- out the dough on a floured surface using a rolling pin. Use dough to line the pie form carefully pressing all the inner sides to shape the crust. Run the rolling pin over the pie form to remove excess pastry . Keep excess dough material as grid to decorate the pie top later.

3.

Fill crust with the cooked apple mixture and arrange strips of dough to cover pie in grid form. For a golden brown appearance, brush the grid with egg yolk. Bake the pie for about an hour in the preheated oven.

Serve arm or cold with whipped cream ( optional).

Shared at :

Savvy Southern Style

ENJOY!!!

Mango Tart

Note: I ´m having a hard time removing the onion part of the link, sorry guys but the blog on the onion harvest is on the post prior to this one.

A puff pastry is always available  in my fridge, whether fresh or frozen. You never know when visitors are coming instantly. I couldn´t  imagine myself kneading the dough for so long and since supermarkets are offering these pastry, I don´t think that I will ever make this myself..This ready made puff pastry is actually as excellent as in your own handmade, really!

The same as with other quick sweet or desserts to bakem I just have to try it this time with riped mangoes. and below is how I made this...

Mango Tart

Ingredients : 

1 pack filo puff pastry

400 gr Mascarpone cheese

100 grams sugar ( I used 6 tbsp stevia powder as sugar        substitute

1 ripe mango

2 tsp rind of lemon (I used organic lemon)

3 tbsp dark sugar

1 egg yolk

butter to coat the pie form

Preparation:

1.

Preheat oven to 180°C. Coat  the pie form with butter and spread the pastry onto the pie form covering all the inner surface of the form. Cut the excess pastry for later use as cake grid...

Tuck the excess dough towards the inner direction of the form folding it so that all sides become thicker than the rest of the pastry. 

Prick the middle part of the dough with a fork and bake the crust for about 10 minutes in the preheated oven of 180°C until the pastry becomes golden brown. 

Remove from oven and set aside to cool down a bit.

2. 

Peel & slice the mango thinly in elongated form 

and  spread  the pieces in an oven tray lined with baking parchment. springkle the dark sugar on top of the mango pieces and bake for about 20 minutes or until the sugar begins to caramelize and turn golden brown in color. 

Take out the caramelized mango and set aside..

3. 

Combine the Mascarpone, lemon rind and the sugar, mix  properly until well blended. Spread the mixture on the crust and place the caramelized mango on top of the mascarpone pressing the pieces a bit so the pieces settle down.

Meanwhile, cut the excess pastry into strips to be used  as tart grid and set it as topping for the tart. Brush the pastry top with the beaten egg yolk  to give a golden color during the baking process. Bake the tart for 20-30 minutes at 180°C. 

If you want the top crust lighter in shade, you can cover the top of the form with an aluminum foil , removing it 10 minutes before the end of teh baking process. 

This can be served hot or cold in your tea or coffee party...

Happy Baking!

Grießschmarren

Grießschmarren - Wheat Crumble

I can´t think of another english translation for Grießschmarren... 

"Schmarren"  is an austrian dialect for a sweet dish or flour based pastry made out of flour or ground wheat mixed with milk, butter, and sugar and fried in a pan with fat. But... the word could also mean  in informal or colloquial way as " rubbish" to describe something... 
or if someone´s making a person mad and that person would answer

"...das geht dich einen schmarren an! " meaning... "  that's none of your business!".

This sweet dish was so popular in the older days in the countrysides where wives of the farmers prepare this for the whole family... It was so practical because all of  the ingredients were available in their farms. They produced their own milk, butter, flour and eggs were available in abundance. It is cheap to make but very delicious in taste. Nowadays, this sweet dish is so popular in restaurants as a dessert.

This is a family favorite too and it´s easy to make...You can also use sweetener instead of sugar.. I used the stevia powder equivalent to the sugar... What I do is, measure the sugar given in this recipe by using a tablespoon, transfer the spooned sugar into another plate and count how many spoons there are...I  used the same number of stevia in spoons. Below is the recipe.

Grießschmarren

Ingredients:

250 grams ground semolina flour
500 ml milk 
50 grams sugar (or 4 tbsp stevia powder or other
sugar substitute)
50 grams butter or margarine
1 pack vanilla sugar or 1 tbsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup raisins or prunes (cut coarsely)
1 tsp grated lemon or orange peel
Berries ( raspberry, blueberries, etc)

Preparation:

1. in a saucepan, bring the milk to boil, add the semolina wheat, mix well until the milk is fully absorbed.. remove from heat and let the wheat cool down.

2. Heat the butter in a frying pan, add the wheat and roast it til it gets brown, add the sugar, vanilla sugar, grated lemon peel and the raisins...continue roasting til all sides of the wheat become golden brown. When done, arrange in a platter and top with berries and sprinkle with sugar. 

Note: You may sprinkle more sugar as toppings according to your taste..best served warm with chocolate sauce or fruit compote of your choice.

HAPPY BAKING!

Easy Pumpkin Strudel

Pumpkin Strudel

My godness,  I´ve just realized that pumpkin is so versatile after gathering all those  yummy & delicious  pumpkin recipes from  wonderful bloggers from various social media. I will try to sort out those recipes and try them sometime...

Meanwhile, here is what I baked today, I´ve been wanting to do this one....It´s a deviation of the popular viennese dessert "Apfelstrudel"... Instead of apples, I used pumpkin to fill the roll... here´s how I made it..

Ingredienst 

 

1 pack phylo/puff pastry - frozen or fresh
200 g diced and steamed pumpkin, butternut or hokkaido sort
250 g curd cheese
1 egg yolk
6 tbsp flour
120 g sugar or 6 tbsp stevia powder
1 tbsp grated Lemon rind
4 tbsp dried coconut flakes
1 cup red currant marmalade or jam
caster sugar to springkle on the strudel
 

Preparation:

1. Pre-heat the oven at  180°C. Smash the pumpkin with either the back of a fork or use a stabmixer to crush the pumpkin, blend thoroughly until a fine consistency is achieved. Add the curd cheese, egg yolk, the flour, the sugar, the coconut flakes and the rind of lemon, blend well... set aside.

 2. Roll out the phylo pastry without removing the wax paper... spread the squash mixture on to the phylo pastry evenly leaving 2 cm allowance on all sides..

3. With the help of the wax paper, roll the phylo pastry carefully towards the other end as in jelly-roll and close the middle edge as well as the sides by brushing them with water and pressing them slightly with your finger.

4. Bake in a pre-heated oven of 180 °C for about 50 minutes to 1 hour.
To  prevent the top of the pastry from getting dark, cover it with an aluminum foil or wax paper after the first 30 minutes of baking, then remove the foil after  20 minutes. Continue to bake for 10 minutes more  to make the crust crispier.


5. Remove from oven and sprinkle with caster sugar and top with red currant marmalade that was heated beforehand in the microwave.
Serve warm or cold... 


HAPPY BAKING!

Easy Orange Cheesecake

Today, we´re supposed to go to a quilt exhibition in Lower Austria, but then, the weather keeps on  changing so often.... a bit drizzle here, a bit dark clouds there.  And so, we were thinking on wat to do... go to the Saturday flea market?.... still unsure of the weather, we decided to stay home...

Having finished my 2nd handquilted pillowcase ,  I though that it would be  a lovely idea to bake and try a new cheesecake recipe which I haven´t baked before... and so this scrumptious cheesecake was born.  The base dough is so easy to make. Here´s how  I did it and
I´m sure you would love this one.

Easy Orange Cheesecake 

Ingredients

Dough

 180 grams Flour

60 powdered sugar ( you can use sugar substitute of 7 tbsps Stevia powder)

Salt ( dash)

125 grams butter

1 egg yolk

Cheese Fillings

 250 Curd Cheese ( look for  "Quark" as the germans call it)

1 egg and 1 egg yolk ( medium size)

60 grams sugar

1 pack Vanilla sugar

20 grams Cornflour

60 grams liquid butter ( liquify thru microwave oven)

plus: dried beans for blind baking

         2 - 3 oranges thinly sliced, rind, skin  and seeds removed

         confectioner´s sugar or powdered sugar for topping

        

  Preparation:

1. Mix together flour, powdered sugar, 1 pinch salt, cut-up  butter (cubes) and egg yolk in a bowl. Knead til  the dough becomes smooth. Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

2 In a bowl combine curd cheese, egg, yolk, sugar, vanilla sugar, starch until all ingredients are well blended. Stir in butter. Mix well. Preheat oven to 190 ° C (fan 170 ° C).

3.Roll out dough on a floured surface until the dough reaches the size of the tart

     form you are using. Place the dough and tuck it on a tart form, you may use a round form or  a square and add a parchment or baking paper on top of it, add the dried beans and blind bake the pastry ( prebaking of the pastry so it won´t make bubbles).

4.  Bake the pastry in  the oven  for around 15 minutes. Remove baking paper and bake pastry for 3-4 minutes more. Remove and allow to cool slightly

4. Peel  the oranges and remove the white skin. Cut the oranges thinly. Remove any existing seeds.

5. Add the cheese filling in the pre-baked pastry and on top of it,  spread the orange slices as toppings and  bake cake in the oven for about 35 minutes. If desired, sprinkle cheesecake with icing sugar. Can be served hot and cold.

I hope you try this easy one .

Enjoy whatever you´re doing!

HAPPY BAKING! 

  

Apfeltasche ( Apple Pie)

Apfeltasche ( Apple Pie )  

 

 

Hello everyone!

 

We had a wonderful weather today and having a day-off on Fridays, I went food shopping, cooked lunch, biked and baked this delicious "Apfeltasche". It is actually the german equivalent for Apple Pie.  Apfel = Apple and  Tasche = pocket... I had a puff pastry to get rid-off plus some apples which have been the remainders from this week´s buying... and so here´s the recipe.

 

Ingredients

3 large apples
2 tbsp sugar,
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tbsp of lemon juice
1 roll of Puff pastry
Icing sugar, for dusting

Instructions :

Preheat oven ( top & bottom heat ) at 170°C. Peel and core the apples, cut into small pieces  add the Lemon Juice and put in a casserole adding the sugar + 1 tbsp water . Cook til apples become soft, then put in a strainer to drain off excess liquid. Let cool.

Roll out the puff pastry, do not remove the paper. Cut pastry into 4 pieces and fill each with 2 tbsp cooked apples, sprinkle with cinnamon, fold pasty´s side towards the middle and seal the edges by pressing them with your fingers. Line the baking tray with wax paper or parchment,. With the help of the pastry´s paper cover, transfer each to the baking tray. Roll the apple pie carefully to remove the pastry´s original paper.

Bake 20 minutes placing baking tray in the middle rack of the oven.

After cooling, add a jam, whipping cream and berries (optional), sprinkle with powdered sugar.


Note:
If you want a crispier pastry, this can also be deep fried in medium heated oil til golden brown.

You can also substitute the sugar with Stevia powder , with the Ratio of 1:1 

 

 

HAPPY BAKING!

 

My Home Made Raspberry-Mascarpone Ice Cream

 

 

 

Raspberry Mascarpone Ice Cream

 

 

 

We´ve been having temps around 35°C (95 F) lately and it´s so humid, very humid!

So I tried out an ice cream recipe that adds Mascarpone cheese to the Raspberries to have some chilling reserves in the freezer.

 

If you do not have an ice cream maker, no worries!  You only need to freeze your mixture and with occasional stirring you´ll have your delicious ice cream to enjoy.

 

 

Ingredients:
3 egg yolks
4 tbsp Stevia powder ( sugar Substitute) instead of 60 grams sugar

1 tbsp Vanilla Aroma or 1 pack Vanilla Sugar

 

200 grams Rama Creme fein  ( I used  the less 50% fat cream)

       or if you like it more creamy, use 200 grams double cream

 200 ml  milk or semi skimmed milk
200 grams Mascarpone cheese - light ( choose one with lesser fat )
1 Cup Raspberry yogurt
1 Cup frozen raspberry

 

How to prepare:

 

 1. In a container, whisk egg yolks and add 2 tbsp of stevia powder, whisk til the  

     mixture becomes pale yellow in color,  set aside .

2. For the Custard:

 

   In a separate container,  whip the cream, add 2 tbsp of Stevia powder,

   add the 200 ml semi skimmed milk and the Mascarpone cheese, add the yogurt.

  

   Add  the egg mixture from step 1. Add the Raspberries, blend thoroughly.

   If necessary, adjust the sweetness according to your taste...

 

3. Transfer the ready mixture into a sturdy  container and place it in the   

    freezer ,  stirring the mixture occasionally like every half an hour to   

   prevent crystal formations.

 

  When the consistency of the mixture is achieved and the ice cream is good

  enough  to be  scooped , then the ice cream is ready.

 

 

If you are using an ice cream maker, refrigerated  the ready mixture for at least 4 hours  before preocessing this in the machine.

 

      

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Ice Cream maker:

If you are using an ice cream maker, you would have to freeze its base container for at least 24 hours. Prepare the top lid and the rotary part of the machine before putting on the power. Let the rotating part run before processing of the mixture begins.

 

Carefully add the mixture using a tablespoon pouring it into the open Slot. Never stop the machine during the processing as the mixture will be frozen...

 

Let the machine run between 15-40 minutes until the ice cream is ready. And if  the mixture is still soft, place it in the freezer for a while until it reached the right consistency.

 

 

 Enjoy your ice cream and have a nice chillin day!

 Hope your week-end is fine! Thank you for reading this blog.

 

Til Next!!!

 

 

 

 

Rhubarb Strawberry Tart

 

 

 

There are so many articles featuring rhubarbs these days, I guess it´s because now is its season. Frankly, I haven´t really cooked or baked them... Oma, hubby´s grandma supplied us with her delicious  rhubarb jams and marmalades or even compote that she made herself.  

 

 

While food shopping, I stumbled upon them  in my supermarket and the idea of making a tart out of the stalks got me excited. I brought home a Kilo of the stalks and well, I hadn´t even started the baking part yet  and I was already nervous ´cause I was trying this for the first time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 After a few google researches on how to prepare  them, I concluded that rhubarbs can be cooked with sugar even without  adding water . I slowly cooked the

pieces for about 15 minutes til soft and done.

 

Here´s my recipe....

 

Rhubarb Strawberry Tart

 

 

Ingredients for the pastry

 

500 g all purpose Flour
30 g Sugar
a dash of salt,
200 g Butter chopped into small squares,
1 Tbsp Table Vinegar,
10 Tbsp cold water

 

 

Ingredients for the Fillings:
 

 250 grams curd cheese

2 cups sliced strawberries (cut lengthwise)

1 kg rhubarbs diced into 2 cm cubes

1 Cup + 3 tbsp fine granulated sugar 

1 pack Vanilla sugar or 1/2 tps. vanilla extract

1 tbsp corn starch

1/2 cup soft strawberry marmalade

1 medium egg
 

 Preparing the  Pastry:

 

In a container, mix all pastry ingredients as in above, knead well until dough is smooth and can be formed into a ball.

 

 Divide the dough into two, or put each in a plastic bag  and let them stand in the fridge for 2 hours....

 

 

Roll- out 1 dough onto a floured surface, using the rolling pin, flatten it  and  shape the dough according to the baking form you are using..let the flat dough cover the whole tart form. Set them aside for filling later.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Preparing the Rhubarb:

 

Cut both ends of each stalk, wash rhubarbs and cut stalks into 2-3 cm pieces.

Sprinkle the  sugar all over the rhubarbs and add the vanilla extract, the corn flour, mix thoroughly with your hand until the pieces are well coated, let stand for 

30 minutes...

 

Put the rhubarb pieces in a casserole and cook slowly under low fire for about 15 minutes until  liquid comes out and  the pieces become soft and done... Be careful in stirring the pieces so that the rhubarbs do not crumble.

  

 

When rhubarbs are done, remove & place the pieces in a colander with a container underneath it to extract the excess liquid, saving the juice.

 

Extracted rhubarb juice can be added to apple juice to make a cold drink , I tried it and  I shoud say it ís very refreshing!

 

  

 
 

Place the  rhubarb in a container, carefully adding the sliced strawberries.
 Add 3 tbsps of soft strawberry marmalade. Mix carefully with a spatula until pieces are well coated with the marmalade. 

 

 

In a container, beat 1 egg,  add the curd cheese and the 3 tbsp sugar, mix thoroughly,

 

Place the egg curd mixture onto the prepared pastry form spreading it evenly on the surface. Add the rhubarb strawberry on top and scatter remaining marmalade on top of it....

 

I had a few extra slices of strawberries that I added on top of the tart before putting

on the pastry "grid" below,

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Roll-out the 2nd dough , by using pizza roller/cutter, cut the pastry into strips to cover the tart top alternately like grids. Brush the grids with a battered egg white prepared beforehand to make it golden brown during the baking 

 Place the tart on the lower rack of your oven and bake in a preheated oven of 200 °C for the first 15 minutes then lower the oven heat to 180 °C and bake for more 25 minutes til the crust gets brown. and crispy

 

 

  This can be served warm or cold....

 

 

I´ve added whipped cream, strawberry and  marmalade as toppings, and this tart was a success!!!

  

  

 

 

 

ENJOY YOUR WEEKEND!!!