Tag Archives: Apple

December 22nd, 2010

Fruitbread

Früchtebrot(2)I planned to bake “Kletzenbrot” this year. Kletzenbrot is named after the Kletzen which are added to the dough and this Kletzen are dried pears. But then I remembered that I have to big glasses filled with dried apples in the pantry because this autumn  I dried a lot of the apples we harvest. (I mentioned before that we harvest lots and lots of apples this year, didn’t I?)

So I decided to use some of this dried apples in the bread instead of dried pears. And so I call it Fruit bread and not Kletzenbrot.  The dough I used is a simple bread dough with sourdough. The sweet of this bread comes from the added fruits and nuts. It tastes most delicious cut in very thin slices and spread with some butter. It is my favorite bread for breakfast at the moment and it keeps fresh for a long time because of the fruits and the sourdough.

This fruit bread is my post for the last Bread Baking Day of 2010, which theme is “Bread with dried Fruits”. Continue reading

December 4th, 2010

Apfelpunsch

ApfelpunschI like Christmas markets – if they are not crowded – and when I visit one with friends or colleagues we normally end our tour at a Glühwein stand. I do not like Glühwein not so much so I drink one of the non alcoholic drinks their offer. The hot chocolate is often not so good and the qualitiy of the “Kinderpunsch” differs very much from market stand to market stand.

This year I tested one that was just made from white grape juice and spices which was not bad but for my taste it was to sweet. And then I discovered the Apfelpunsch stand at the Christmas market on the Altermarkt in cologne. This was very delicious, a not so sweet heated apple juice, seasoned with cinnamon and clove.

Coming home after a long walk in the snow we both liked something hot to get warm again. And so I recreated the Apfelpunsch at home. It is easy to prepare and delicous so I think I will serve the punsch more often this winter. Continue reading

November 13th, 2010

Apfeltaschen

Apfeltasche

It is time to use up the last apples of this years apple harvest. Now the remaining apples are at the end of their shelf live, so they start to shrivel now.

I saw apple turnovers at Chili und Ciabatta some days ago and I like the idea to bake some turnovers. But I love turnovers which dough is mellow and flaky. So I decided to use a variaton of the dough of this mushroom quiche. I added some sugar to the dough and reduced the amount of salt, so it fits to a fruit filling.

The filling is a simple one: some Vanilla, sugar and apples, bound with a teaspoon starch.

The turnovers are delicous, the dough is like I liked them and stay fresh at least for two days. It is the dessert for my lunch at work. Continue reading

October 26th, 2010

Apple cake Elfriede

Apfelkuchen ElfriedeWhen I saw Petras Apple Cake Elfriede this weekend I knew that I had to try this recipe. The picture of the cake looked so delicious.

Of course I change some small details of the recipe. For the nut cream I used almonds and no walnuts or hazelnuts like the recipe requested. I like to use the same nuts as I used in the crust so almonds were my first choice. The second change is caused by the fact that I read the recipe not attentively enough. So I mixed the cookie crumbles with the nut cream instead of sprinkle them on the top of the cream.

Its a really delicious apple cake which I can strongly recommend. I like that it is filled with lots of apples and the nut cream adds a delicious flavour to the cake. Only the crust could be a little bit more crispy for me. The next time I do it I will replace half of the honey with sugar hoping that this will make the crust crunchy.

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October 12th, 2010

Apfelstrudel

ApfelstrudelIf anyone thought we finished the topic “Apples” already, he or she was mistaken. Every time I stroll through my parents garden, I come back with a arm full apples. And when I look at these apples they are the best because they came from the branches high in the tree, out of reach for ladder and apple picker, sun-kissed and heavenly red and sweet.

And so we are still cooking and baking with apples. This weekend I did some appel strudel with homemade strudel dough as dessert for lunch on Sunday. The filling I choose is a very simple one, just apples, sugar and breadcrumbs. No nuts, cinnamon or raisin, letting the apples shine with their great taste. We served the apple strudel with some whipped cream. Continue reading

October 5th, 2010

Apfelküchle

Apfelküchle We still have plenty of apples so there will be a lot of recipes with apple in the next weeks for sure. We finished this years apple harvest. We picked all apples we could reach with ladder and apple picker, but there are still apples left on the highest branches.

Because we picked about 100kg apples this time we brought most of it to our local cider mill. There you can trade your apples for juice. For 100kg apples you get about 12 bottles apple juice.

But the most beautiful apples we place in baskets and store them in the attic. They will keep at least for a month or so, but this is a sort that can not stored for month like others. So eating and preserving apples is the order of the day. Continue reading

September 20th, 2010

Rheinischer Apfelkuchen – Riemchenkuchen

Rheinischer Apfelkuchen (2)

This year is a good year for apples. The old apple tree in my parents garden nearly collapses under the weight of the fruits. So we started this Saturday to harvest. We stopped after we harvest everything we could reach with our hands or with the fruit picker. This yielded about 50 kg of fruits and there are still lots of apples on the higher branches (I would guess that there is still 100kg fruits on the tree).

We take about 12 Kilograms apples home and preserve them today in weck glasses, made chutney and apple sauce. Some of the apple sauce were used as filling in one of my favorite cakes: Rheinischer Apfelkuchen, often called Riemchenkuchen, too. The word Riemchen means little lace and refers to the lattice on top of the cake which is formed by dough stripes. It is a local speciality typical for cologne.

And what will we do with the remaining apples? Because the apple is perfect for cooking but can not be stored for more then some weeks, we will bring them to a local cider mill, where we are paid with apple juice for our apples.

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July 4th, 2010

Apple Mint Ice tea

Apfel-Minz-Eistee

The heat we had the last days (more then 37°C) is gone overnight and it is about 8°C colder then yesterday but it is still very humid so that every movement seems to be to much. I am not made for Temperatures about 30°C. My brain seems to work with half of its normal speed then.

So I need some refreshments. And a really delicious refreshment is a Apple Mint Ice tea. The Inspiration for this kind of Ice tea we get when where shopping in our supermarket. The organic brand Alnatura has a new softdrink called “Naturell”. It contains of mineralwater, jucie and herbal extracts. We tested the different mixtures and liked “Apple and Mint” most. But I think that one Euro is to much for 500 ml. So I bough one litre organic apple juice  instead. At home I made some mint tea with fresh mint from my parents garden and mixed the tea with apple juice. That is cheaper and tastes better because I can adjust the mint taste to our preference.

A cool and refreshing drink for long and hot summer sundays.

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