Category Archives: Special Occasions

April 1st, 2013

Chocolate Hot Cross Buns

Category Overnight, Special Occasions  Tags: , , , , ,   14 Responses

Hot Cross buns

When I saw Hot Cross Buns on an English Blog some years ago, I was fascinated by their look and the describtion of the spices (cinnamon, allspice, cardamom). But living together with a person who does not like raisins at all, baking them never made sense to me.

But this year I learned that in Australia and New Zealand Hot Cross Buns are often baked with chocolate instead of raisins. That was the solution to my problem!

And so I baked Hot Cross Buns for Breakfast on Easter Monday. I made the sleeping long variation – like my Burger Buns the Hot Cross Buns are made with only a tiny bit of fresh yeast, so I can form them the night before. They proof by roomtemperature and the next morning I only had to pipe the crosses and put them in the oven. And until I cooked coffee and prepared our breakfast table, the buns are done.

Is there a better start in a day then with a cup of coffee and still hot chocolate hot cross buns with the flavour of cinnamon, cardamom and allspice?

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March 31st, 2013

Aachener Poschweck

Category Bread, regional breads, Special Occasions  Tags: , , , , ,   20 Responses

Poschweck

When I saw the Poschweck that Petra baked some days ago, I knew that I had to bake some as well because it looked so delicious!

The Poschweck is a very traditional bread which the Bakers of Aachen gave as present to their customers during Easter since the late medieval. It is first mentioned 1547 in the “Aachener Bäckerverordnung” (Bakers edict). In 1760 some bakers tried for the first time to get rid of this custom but they where forced by the municipality to deliver the sweet breads.  After nearly another 100 years they tried again to break with the tradition, which ended with the so called “Poschweck riot” in which angry citizen demolished shops. To restore the public order the bakers where forced once again to bake and give away the Poschweck. Finally, in 1946 the bakers succeed with their claim to sell the Poschweck instead of giving it away.

I used Petras Recipe as a start for my own variation of Poschweck. With a pâte fermentée and less yeast the bread develops a complex taste. With almonds, raisins and sugar cubes and the hint of orange and vanilla it is a really rich bread. I love the fact that the sugar cubes will melt during baking and leave sweet and sticky holes in the bread (which you can see on the picture below).  A perfect bread for persons with a sweet tooth!

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March 30th, 2013

Easter bunnies 2013

Category Bread, Special Occasions  Tags: , ,   6 Responses

Osterhäschen

When I take a look out of the window on Good Friday, I had to blink and take a second look. Yes, during the last night our street was dusted with snow. During Christmas I would be happy with snow, but at the end of march I don’t need it anymore. I shortly considered to go back to bed and to stay there until it is finally spring. But complaining about the weather will not change it and so I started some dough to bake a nut-filled braid, some “Poschweck” and this sweet Easter bunnies.

I bake Easter bunnies every day. We eat some for Breakfast and the rest I give away. So we gave one of the bunnies as Easter present to my little niece. This year I made the dough with a pâte fermentée and seasoned it with some grated orange peel.

They taste good – my niece eat immediately a big part of her “Hasi” – is there a bigger compliment?

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January 6th, 2013

Three Kings Bread

Category Special Occasions  Tags: ,   10 Responses

Dreikönigskuchen

On of attractions in cologne is the shrine of the holy three kings in the cologne cathedral. The story how this relic was brought is not a nice one. They were part of the loot that Barbarossa take from Milan. The shrine attracted since then pilgrims to cologne and due to many people that came to see it, the decision to build the cathedral was made.

But something like the three kings bread (german: Dreikönigskuchen) is not know here. When I saw the bread that Claudia baked, I had to know more about this swiss tradition. And so I started reading and learned that it is an old tradition that was resurrect in Swiss during the fifties.

The Bread is made of the sweet dough, and shaped as a flower. A small figure, a bean or an almond is hidden in the bread and who finds this will be the king for one day. That is a niece tradition.

For my Three kings bread I choose a sweet dough like for a challah, containing some orange juice which adds a niece flavour to the dough. The vitamin C in the orange juice helps to strengthen the gluten network and so the bread could rise very nicely. For a more complex taste I added some Lievito madre, too. The bread tasted very good, sweet and fluffy, perfect for our breakfast on Sunday.

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December 25th, 2012

Christmas Tree Bread

Category Bread, Overnight, Rolls, Special Occasions  Tags: , , ,   No Responses

Weihnachtsbaum-Brötchenkranz

Today I post the Bread we had for Dinner at the holy night, as I promised yesterday.

I like pull apart breads, like the “Brötchenkranz”, a typical german way to serve rolls at parties. When I saw a Christmas tree shaped “Brötchenkranz” I fell in love with it immediately. Sadly, I cannot remember anymore where I saw it the first time. I thought that it was yeastspotted, but I could not find it there. The Google picture search shows me a lot of baked Christmas trees.

Which was my original Inspiration? I can’t tell.

As dough I choosed an overnight recipe, which I could shape and bake in the morning of December, 24th. The Rolls had a nicely soft and fluffy crumb and a complex taste due to the long rise.

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November 18th, 2012

Christstollen – the same procedure as last year …

Category Christmas Cookies, Special Occasions  Tags: , , , , ,   One Response

ChriststollenThere are only two weeks left until the first Advent! So its really time to bake some Christstollen.

I baked, without a change (!), my Christstollen recipe – like I did it in the last four years. I know that its unusual for me not to change a recipe, but this recipe did not only convince me but although my gourmet collegues and my unbribable honest father.

This christstollen stays very moist due to the water roux I included in the recipe and the spices I use (vanilla, mace, cardamom and cinnamon)makes it very delicious. Only a little bit of patient is needed because the Christstollen should be rest for some weeks before eating it. It needs the time so that all aromas can infuse the stollen and merge to a heavenly taste.

The recipe can be found here and the “How to form a christstollen” can be found here.

I sent this entry to Yeastspotting, Susans weekly showcase of yeast baked good.

April 9th, 2012

Easter bunnies – Overnight-Variation

Category Overnight, Rolls, Special Occasions  Tags: , ,   34 Responses

Osterhäschen

Eastern without homemade Easter-bunnies-buns? That is impossible.

I bake Easter bunnies every year, varying the dough and the shape. This year their shape are a little bit more abstract then in the last years. The boyfriend needed a little hint to see the bunny in this shape. But I fell in love with the shape when I saw it here.

I made the dough as a overnight variation similar to the saffron stars on Christmas. I like the fact that you can sleep longer on holidays and be able to serve warm bread for breakfast.

The long and slow proofing is good for the taste, too, making it more complex. They taste very good, with hints of butter and vanilla, a very delicious treat for a Easter breakfast or brunch!

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April 8th, 2012

Easter pinze with sourdough

Category Bread, Special Occasions  Tags: , , ,   5 Responses

Osterpinze(2)

Since some years I always thinking during Eastern, that it  would be nice to bake an Easter Pinze. Until now, I never did it, but this year it seems to be the perfect time. After a quick search in the internet showed me that there are two different recipe variation. One is made with anise wine, the other one with grated lemon or orange peel. I would never allow anise seeds into my kitchen, not to mention to bake with them… So it was an easy decison.

As basis for my recipe I started with Petras Recipe, but added a sourdough and a milk roux and changed the rest of the recipe accordingly.

When I take the bread out of the oven, it smells already very good, after fresh lemons. And its taste is great, too. Lemon with the tiny bit of tanginess from the sourdough make the bread taste like the fresh air in spring.

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