Traditional German Poppy Seed Cake

Hi guys!

I am sorry it's already been a while again since my last post. Things have been rather busy and I haven't had as much time for cooking as I would have loved to. Anyways, my dad's birthday was last Saturday so I decided to treat him to his absolutely favorite cake which is a poppy seed cake - a typical northern Germany recipe. I use my grandmothers for it for as long as I can remember - and she can't remember where she got hers from, but it was probably passed on to her from her mother. Well, here you go:

For the dough:
40g (about 2 tablespoons; 1.4 oz) white sugar
250g (8.8 oz; 1 + 2/3 cup) all-purpose flour
50g (a little less than 1/2 stick; 1.7 oz) unsalted butter, softened
125ml (1/2 cup; 4 fl.oz) milk (whole or skim works fine, I haven't tried non-fat)
pinch of salt
30g (1 oz) yeast
zest of 1/4 lemon

For the filling:
500ml (2 cups; 16 fl.oz; 1 American pint) milk (again, whole or skim doesn't matter)
250g ground poppy seeds 
pinch of salt
40g (1/3 stick; 1.4 oz) unsalted butter
40g (about 2 tablespoons; 1.4 oz) white sugar
50g (1.76 oz) raisins
50g (1.76 oz) almonds, peeled and chopped

For the topping: 
75g (about 2/3 stick; 2.6 oz) unsalted butter, in small cubes
75g (2.6 oz; 1/3 cup) white sugar
1 sachet vanilla sugar
100g (3.5 oz; 2/3 cup) all-purpose flour

1) For the dough, combine the flour with sugar, salt, lemon zest and softened butter in a bowl. Heat the milk until it is warm (not hot!) and stir in the yeast until it has dissolved. Add the yeast mixture to the bowl. Using your hands or a machine with kneading hooks, knead until a dough has formed. Turn the dough onto a lightly flour-dusted surface and knead with your hands for about 3 minutes. The dough should feel a tiny bit humid, but not wet and it shouldn't stick to your fingers. Put the dough back in the bowl, cover with a clean kitchen towel and leave to rise in a warm place for 1 hour. 

2) While the dough is rising, prepare the filling. If you can't directly buy ground poppy seed, you can easily buy whole seeds and ground them either in a food processor or with a hand-held blender. They will start turning into a slightly wet and oily paste while braking down which is just what you want. 

3) Heat the milk for the filling in a pot. Once it's almost boiling, add the ground poppy seeds, turn the heat to medium-low and let cook for 3 minutes, stirring all the time. Add the sugar, butter, salt, raisins and chopped almonds and stir to combine. Set aside to cool.

4) Once the dough has risen, take a 26cm (10inch) round spring tin and grease it. Preheat your oven to 220°C (428°F). Roll the dough out on your kitchen surface until it is large enough to fit into the entire tin - bottom and edges. Pour the filling onto the dough.

5) Now it's time to make Streusel, the topping - one of my favorite things and super easy. Combine the ingredients listed for the topping in a bowl and work with your hands until you end up with large lumps. Evenly distribute the Streusel on the filling, don't put them on the edge. 

6) Bake at 220°C (428°F) for about 30 minutes. Let cool in the tin on a cooling rack.

Here's how it looks:

This cake has just the right amount of sweetness combined with the slightly tart flavour of the poppy seeds and the raisins and chopped almonds add a little bit of a crunch with regards to the texture. I cannot remember one family gathering without it - it's kind of our signature. Some children might not like it because it is a little bitter and not just sweet, but my cousins and I have been eating it as soon as we had teeth and could! I especially remember feeding my youngest cousin when she was 3 years old and she would happily munch on it. 

Have fun trying and I hope you enjoy it as much as I (or rather we) do!

Rote Grütze (red fruit compote)

Hi guys!

Summer is finally here - you'd figure as soon as walking into a grocery store and seeing all the raspberries, strawberries, cherries etc. lined up next to each other. This is why for today's meat free recipe, I've chosen a desert recipe that uses all the beautiful produce. Rote Grütze which can't really be translated but is nothing else than a red fruit compote is a very traditional dish in the Netherlands, Scandinavia or northern Germany which is where I'm from. The recipe is my grandmother's and has been in the family for quite a while. 

Here's the recipe:
200g (7 oz) strawberries
150g (5.3 oz) raspberries
150g (5.3 oz) cherries
350ml (11.8 fl. oz) red fruit juice (you can use blackcurrant juice, but cherry juice works great as well)
60g (2.1 oz; 4 tablespoons) cornstarch
100g (3.5 oz; 1/2 cup) white sugar
250ml (8 fl. oz; 1 cup) red wine

1) Cut the strawberries in quarts, maybe half the quarts depending on the size. They should end up to be about the same size as the raspberries. Pit the cherries. 

2) In a large pot, heat the red wine, fruit juice and sugar. Stir until the sugar is dissolved and everything is boiling. Once it's boiling, remove from the heat, and whisk in the cornstarch. Put back on the heat and continue stirring until the mixture is thickening and the white from the cornstarch has gone away. 

3) Remove the sauce from the heat and add the berries. Let cool down. Serve with whipping cream, vanilla sauce or vanilla icecream.

Serves: about 8
Active preparation time: 30 minutes (stirring included)
Total preparation time: about 30 minutes

Here's how it looks:

This has been a go-to dessert in my family for years. My sister and I got our boyfriends to try and they've been hooked as well. You can definetely use any kind of red fruits you like. Make sure the total adds up to 500g (17.6 oz). I like to mix things up with blueberries, blackberries when they're in season. I never omit the cherries though. They add nice texture and they're my favourite. The red wine adds depth and the fruit juice and sugar a nice sweetness to the general fruitiness. 

Have fun trying and enjoy!