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Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Glut of Plums? Cake!

The purple Italian prune plums are available in abundance right now, at least at the Middle Eastern groceries in my neighbourhood. Last weekend I bought a huge bag for €1.50 a kilo, which I think is incredibly well priced.

Coincidentally, the blogosphere is awash with recipes  for German yeasted plum cake (Pflaumkuchen). Who am I to resist?

I've tried several recipes, all good, although not equally successful. I've had trouble with getting the dough to rise, which I first attributed to old yeast, but have now concluded is due to using the wrong kind of flour. I only had cake flour (patent bloem, in Dutch) and it's low gluten content just doesn't work with yeast. When I used ordinary flour, success!

This cake is an amalgam of several recipes, producing a fresh, not-too-sweet cake that goes well with the morning coffee. I think you could serve it for brunch or as part of luxurious breakfast. It also freezes reasonably well.

Yeasted Plum Cake


The recipe is large! It makes one sheet cake, baked in a rimmed cookie sheet, which will feed a good crowd (ca. 20). You can half the recipe and bake it in a square or round cake form. In this case, you can make it as an upside-down cake instead of a streusel cake.

I am providing alternatives for making a vegan version (soy milk, margarine, egg replacer), which is the version I made for my colleagues. It was excellent. I (and some but not all of my testers) thought adding a bit of salt would lift the flavour, so I've added that to the recipe. Consider it optional.

Cake
250 ml (1 cup) lukewarm milk or soy milk, divided
4 teaspoons active dry yeast
85 grams (6 tablespoons) sugar
500 grams  (ca. 3 cups) all purpose flour
90 ml (6 tablespoons) melted butter or margarine, cooled to lukewarm
2 eggs , at room temperature (or slightly warmed by sitting in a bowl of warm water  for 5 minutes)
    (or 2 teaspoons egg replacer powder mixed with 4 teaspoons of water)
1 large pinch of salt
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
4 teaspoons grated lemon zest (zest of 2 lemons)
1.4 kilos (3 pounds) plums, pitted and sliced

Streusel
Note: don't make the streusel if you half the recipe and make the upside down cake.
40 grams almonds, pecans, or walnuts
50 grams light brown sugar
50 grams flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
pinch of salt
45 grams butter or margarine

  1. Heat the (soy)milk to lukewarm and pour  half of it into a small bowl. Add the yeast and sugar and let stand for 10 minutes until the yeast foams.
  2. Put the flour in a large bowl (of a stand mixer with dough hook, if you've got it), make a well in it,  and add the yeast mixture. Add the rest of the (soy)milk, the eggs, melted butter or margarine, vanilla extract, lemon zest, and salt. Mix thoroughly.
  3. Beat the dough on medium slow speed for 8 minutes until it is shiny and elastic. If you haven't got a mixer that can do this, turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 10 minutes. You can add a little four to prevent sticking but don't add to much, otherwise the cake will be quite dry.
  4. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicon baking sheet.
    Spread the the dough evenly over the pan, right out to the edges. You can use a rolling pin to do this, or just use your fingers. Cover with a tea towel and let rise in a warm, draught-free place for 1 hour until it has approximately doubled in height. I put it in the oven with just the light on. While the dough rises, prepare the plums and make the streusel. 
  5. To prepare the plums, cut them in half and remove the stone. Cut the halves into quarters and cut the quarters into halves or thirds. 
  6. To make the streusel, put the nuts and other dry ingredients in a food processor and pulse until the nuts are chopped (not too finely). Add the butter or margarine and pulse until the mixture is more finely ground and starts to clump together. 
  7. When the dough has risen, gently press it down. Starting on the outside and working inward, lay the plum segments on the dough, gently pressing them in and creating an attractive pattern. (I had one plum that had deep red flesh instead of yellow flesh, so I used it to create a flower pattern in the center.) Sprinkle the streusel over the top.
  8. Let the cake rise for another 20-30 minutes while you preheat the oven to 180 C (350 F), then bake for 30-35 minutes until the cake has turned a golden brown and the plums have softened and cooked.


Note: For an upside down cake (using half the recipe!), let the dough rise in a ball instead of spreading it. Liberally butter a 9 or 10 inch round or square pan, and sprinkle it with 3 tablespoons of sugar. (I use a fluted quiche dish.) Lay the plum segments into a pretty pattern in the bottom of the dish and after the dough has risen for an hour, carefully spread it on top of the plums, making sure you don't disturb the pattern. Let rise for another half hour before baking. When it's done, let rest for 5 or 10 minutes. If the sides are sticking, loosen them with a knife. Place a serving plate upside down on top of the pan, hold them together and quickly flip over. The cake should come out easily, with the lovely plums in a jelly-like glaze made from the sugar and their own juices.



Sunday, October 14, 2012

Waldkorn Crispbread

When I was in Denmark recently with my sister and brother-in-law we stayed at a wonderful B&B (Dalsgaard B&B) on a small farm 20 minutes from Århus. The accommodation was in a separate building, with separate living room (including fireplace), and two bedrooms. There was no kitchenette or WiFi  but these inconveniences were completely compensated by the fabulous breakfasts featuring homemade bread rolls and preserves, lovely cheeses and sliced meats, and what our hostess Karin called Swedish crispbread (also homemade). These were seed-filled, nutty, crunchy and utterly satisfying.

She very generously gave me the recipe, and I made it almost as soon as we got home to Amsterdam.

I was surprised by the amount of oil the recipe called for, and because I don't have a forced air oven, I had to bake them much longer than Karin's recipe called for. Even then, toasting the crispbreads  afterwards is what gave them their lovely golden brown color. They have kept for a month (while I went on another holiday!) and they still taste great. I often eat one for breakfast with some cheese or accompanying some soup for lunch.

When I made another batch, I decided to make some adaptations—cutting the oil by half and increasing the water, raising the oven temperature. Even at the higher temperature, I baked them for double the amount of time (40 minutes) and eventually lost patience and once again toasted the crispbreads to get them golden brown. And they still taste great!

Waldkorn Crispbreads 

flour and seeds for waldkorn crispbread
Adapted from Karin Dalsgaard
Yield: 24 flatbreads, aprox. 9cm square
Note: This recipe has been adjusted from my original post, so it now produces the correct results--delicious, brown crispbreads!


American    Metric          Ingredient
1.75 cup245 gramswhole wheat flour
.5 cup55 gramsquick rolled oats
.5 cup75 gramsflax seed
.5 cup70 gramssesame seeds
.5 cup65 gramssunflower seeds
.5 cup65 gramspumpkin seeds
1 teaspoon5 mlbaking powder
.5 cup120 mloil
1 cup250 mlwater




  1. Preheat the oven to 190C/375F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats.
  2. Mix all the dry ingredients and then mix in the oil and water. The mixture should be quite soft a spreadable, so add a bit more water if it seems too dry (although I've not found this necessary). 
  3. Spread half the dough on a lined baking sheet, cover it with another piece of parchment paper and roll it out to the edges. Repeat for the second sheet.
  4. Remove the top parchment paper (it just makes rolling out easier) and cut the dough into squares so the crispbreads  will break neatly when baked. 
  5. Waldkorn crispbread after 40 minutes in a medium high ovenBake for 30-40 minutes until the crispbreads are brown and barely yield to pressure when pressed. Karin suggests that if the outer crispbreads are done and the inner ones are not, you can remove the outer ones before returning the rest to the oven. 
  6. If they are not golden brown, toast each piece in a toaster. 
  7. Store in a tin for up to a month.
Note: Karin's recipe calls for baking them at 180C for 20 minutes in a forced air oven. Since ovens can vary a lot, consider this as your starting point and experiment with the temperature and length of time that works for you. I'll do the same, and when I find the ideal combination, I'll update this post.


Saturday, October 13, 2012

On Poached Eggs and Shakshuka

Have I ever mentioned how much I love eggs? I love eggs—poached, soft-boiled, hard-boiled, fried, in omelettes, egg salad, as accents in other salads, not to mention their essential use in baking.

I think my favourite egg dish is eggs benedict, but I always have trouble with the poaching. The egg white just drifts off and I can't get it to go around the yolk in that lovely oval nestling way that proper poached eggs should have. I have tried all kinds of techniques: creating a gentle vortex, adding vinegar in the water, precooking the egg in the shell fo 30 seconds first.

I think the biggest problem is that supermarket eggs are just not fresh enough. In Europe they believe that eggs should not be chilled, so that they are sold at room temperature, which does not help in keeping them fresh. They should read Harold McGee.

In my recent visit back home I picked up some silicon egg poachers that I hope will help me in my quest for better poached eggs. I have tried them once and they were OK, but I needed to peel the eggs out of them. Next time, I'll try a bit of oil spray.

But another variation on a poached egg is to simmer it in a sauce. So today I tried that Middle-eastern favourite, shakshuka, which are eggs poached in a spicy tomato sauce.


This is a basic recipe, but I suspect it is infinitely variable depending on what you have on hand. Potatoes or aubergine can be substituted for the sweet red pepper, or you could add some spinach. One thing that I think is missing is an onion. Some feta sprinkled over it would also be yummy.

Shakshuka

Adapted from Jerusalem,
by Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi
(Halved the recipe, used different hot paste, omitted extra egg yolks and salt, omitted laban or yoghurt)
Serves 1-2

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 sweet red pepper, diced in .5 cm pieces
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon tomato paste
1 teaspoon chili paste, such as harissa or sambal (I used sambal badjak)
.5 teaspoon freshly ground cumin
1 can (400 gram) skinned tomatoes
2 eggs
pita bread


  1. In a medium skillet, sauté the diced red pepper, minced garlic, chili paste, tomato paste, and ground cumin for about 8 minutes, until the red pepper is softened.
  2. Add the tomatoes and simmer for 10 minutes until the sauce is fairly thick. Before adding the eggs, taste it and adjust the seasoning. I omitted the salt because I find canned tomatoes, tomato paste and chili paste generally have more than enough salt, and this proved to be the case.
  3. Break the eggs into the sauce and gently simmer for 5 to 10 minutes, depending on how you like your eggs. (The author says to create a well for each egg in the sauce, but this means the egg makes contact with the frying pan and the yolk will cook from the bottom and be harder than I like.) I like the whites solid and the yolks runny, which poses a bit of a challenge, so I mixed the egg whites into the tomato sauce a bit and after 5 minutes partially covered the skillet to get the top whites to cook, while stilling keeping the egg yolks sunny yellow. 
  4. Serve with some pita bread or turkish bread to sop up the sauce.

I ate this all on my own for supper, but it could easily serve 2 for lunch (especially if you add an extra egg and serve with a side salad).

Friday, October 12, 2012

Charred Eggplant Soup

I have acquired new cookbooks! Both are by the London-based Israeli chef Yottam Ottolenghi, who is famous for his restaurants and catering shops in London. I've never been to one, but he's also well-known for his eclectic and original recipes, often featuring vegetables in the starring role.

So my first recipe to try was using one of my favourite vegies—eggplant. He has a number of recipes that call for burnt aubergine, which means cooking them over a gas flame until they are charred  on the outside and soft and smoky-tasting on the inside. One of them is this soup.

This recipe is a bit labour-intensive but it a delivers a rib-sticking soup with a smoky, earthy, sweet and sour flavour that is really unusual. I liked it a lot, but the immediate hit of charred eggplant flavour might not be to everyone's taste.

The recipe also calls for a type of giant couscous that is difficult to obtain. None of the stores in my neighbourhood carried it under the names provided, but I did find some nameless pasta that was shaped  a bit like little balls, so I used that, since couscous is really a form of pasta. The soup would work very well without it, but it adds that extra heft needed for a main course soup.

Charred Eggplant Soup

Adapted from Jerusalem
(I reduced the amount of oil and increased the chicken stock.
I also didn't bother skinning and seeding the tomatoes.)


5 small eggplants (about 1.3 kilos in total)
3-4 tablespoons oil
1 onion
1 tsp freshly-ground cumin
1 tablespoon tomato paste
4-5 medium tomatoes (350 grams), or used canned tomatoes
4 smashed garlic cloves
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 teaspoons sugar
1.5 teaspoon salt
400 ml chicken stock
400 ml water
1 tsp freshly-ground pepper
100 grams pearl pasta (as I call it)
fresh dill for garnish

  1. Line 3 gas burners with tin foil to catch the juices and keep the stove-top clean. Place one eggplant on each burner and set the flame to medium or high (depending on the size of the burner). Cook for about 15 minutes, turning regularly until the outside is charred and the inside is limp and soft. The skin will burst and some juices leak out. Set aside until cool enough to handle, then scoop the flesh out or peel the charred skin off. Place the flesh into a colander, rinse to get the last charred flakes off, and allow to drain.
  2. Cut the remaining 2 eggplants into about 1.5 cm cubes.
  3. In a large pot, heat 2 tablespoons of oil over medium high heat. Add the diced eggplant, stirring thoroughly to distribute the oil over the eggplant. Cook for about 15 minutes, stirring frequently, until the eggplant browns and turns soft. At first the eggplant will absorb the oil, but as it cooks, it will release it again. If it is not browning at this point, turn up the heat so that at least some of the cubes get some nice colour on them. If necessary, add a bit more oil.
  4. When the diced eggplant is brown and cooked, remove it from the pot and set it aside in a colander to drain, and sprinkle with some salt. Keep any remaining oil in the pot or top up to about 1 tablespoon.
  5. Now add the onion and ground cumin and sauté for 5-7 minutes.
  6. Add the tomato paste and cook, stirring, for another minute.
  7. Add the tomatoes, garlic, lemon juice, sugar, salt, stock, and water. Simmer for 15 minutes.
  8. Meanwhile, cook the "pearl" pasta until al dente. Mine took about 10 minutes.
  9. Add the charred eggplant into the soup and purée using a hand-held blender. If the soup is too thick, add some more water or stock. Then add most of the cubed eggplant and most of the pearl pasta, reserving some of both for the garnish. Heat through for about 2 minutes and adjust the seasoning (sweet, sour, salt, pepper).
  10. Serve the hot soup in bowls garnished with the remaining diced eggplant, pearl pasta and fresh dill.
If you plan to freeze the soup, it might be worth omitting the pasta and only adding it just before serving, since pasta tends to expand and go mushy when left to sit in soup.
I think this soup would also be great with a bit of heat and might consider adding some chilli flakes the next time I make it.
If you don't have gas burners, put the eggplants under the broiler for about an hour, turning regularly. I haven't tried this; it's the author's advice.