Apfelstrudel

For two apple strudels (are then baked at the same time).

Preparation time: approx. 3 to 3 1/2 hours in total:
First you need to make the dough, which then needs to rest in the fridge for 2 hours! During this time, you can prepare the filling.

Ingredients for the dough 200 g flour - Double-handled is best here. If you can't get this, you can also use standard wheat flour (405 in Germany). You may need to use 1-2 tsp more flour if you are using double-handled flour. 2 El sunflower oil 1-2 pinches of salt Ingredients for stuffing 600 to 700 g tart apples (e.g. Boskop, about 4 pieces) some lemon juice (1/2 lemon) 30 g butter 40 g bread crumbs 40 g almond sticks 60 g brown cane sugar 1 TL cinnamon powder 30 g liquid butter to spread Icing sugar for dusting
The dough Put 200 g flour, 2 Tbsp sunflower oil, 120 ml water and 1 pinch of salt in the mixing bowl. Let the machine knead for around 10 minutes. Then brush with a little oil, place in a bowl and cover with cling film. Place in the fridge for approx. 2 hours.
The stuffing Wash and peel 4 apples. Cut out the core. Then cut the apples into eighths and cut these pieces into thin slices. Sprinkle the slices with the juice of about half a lemon and leave to marinate. Lightly fry 40 g almond slivers in a clean pan until lightly browned, then melt 30 g butter in the pan and add 40 g breadcrumbs. Fry the mixture, stirring frequently, until golden brown. Add 60 g brown cane sugar and allow to soften slightly (I always do this until I notice that the sugar starts to stick to the pan when stirring). Attention: The sugar must not liquefy, otherwise you will end up with a big hard lump of the whole mixture :-). Add 1 tsp cinnamon. Stir well and leave to cool.
The Strudel After 2 hours, take the dough out of the fridge and divide it in half (we want to make 2 strudels). Now roll out the first part thinly on a floured surface, sprinkling a little flour over the dough as you do so. Now comes the exciting part: Pull out the dough over the back of your floured hand. To do this, have a clean kitchen towel on the work surface and lightly flour it. The dough should be so thin that you can see the pattern of the kitchen towel shining through. See my photos of course, but I have watched these videos and find them very helpful: essen & trinken Backschule Der Strudel - Ein Hauch von Teig (2020) by Anita Lackenberger: (in German) Pulling out the dough over the back of the hand (at 4:00) and here the dough is pulled with the hands (at 5:52) - for me, the important message here was: If there is a small hole, never mind, just close it. Soothing! Spread a thin layer of melted butter on the dough. Cover the dough lengthwise with half of the bread/almond mixture. Spread half of the apple pieces on top. Fold in the side edges about 2-3 cm. Lift the cloth slightly at the front edge and carefully roll up the strudel. While doing this, keep gathering up the cloth, i.e. stay close to the strudel, and also press the strudel down a little from above. Place the baking paper on a baking tray and carefully place the strudel on top. Brush with melted butter and sprinkle with almond slivers if you like (you can of course leave them out if you don't like them, it's not the tradition, but it tastes good! We sometimes do it with, sometimes without). Now, in exactly the same fashion, make the second strudel. Bake the strudels in the preheated oven (middle shelf) at 200℃ (fan oven) for approx. 15 minutes until lightly browned. Dust heavily with icing sugar immediately after removing from the oven and serve. They go well with fresh whipped cream, vanilla sauce and a scoop of vanilla ice cream ;-)

 

Swabian Zwiebelkuchen (Onion Cake)

Preparation time approx. 3.5-4 hours
You should definitely serve a Federroter (red must) or Federweisser (white must) with this!

Preparation You'll need: A medium springform pan (approx. 21 x 7 cm) A medium pan A medium bowl
Ingredients Dough (for 2 persons) 20+50 g wholemeal flour 20+50 g spelt flour ½ tsp. salt ½ tsp. sugar 10 g yeast 50+25 mL milk 25 g butter
Ingredients Topping (for 2 persons) 250 g chopped onions (2-3 pieces) 25 g butter 1 Tbsp. flour (you can use standard flour here, I usually use spelt or wholemeal, the package is already standing around ;-) 1 egg (L) 200 g sour cream A few pinches of salt 1 tsp. caraway seeds 50-60 g smoked bacon, diced
The Sponge Put 20 g each of wholemeal and spelt flour into the mixing bowl, add 10 g yeast (crumbled), 50 mL milk and 1/2 tsp sugar. Mix everything well and place in the oven. Heat the oven to 30℃ and turn it off again immediately. Allow the pre-dough to work until the volume has doubled (approx. half an hour). Put out 2x 25 g butter so that it is not so cold.
Make the dough As soon as the volume of the pre-dough has doubled, add 50 g each of wholemeal and spelt flour, as well as 25 mL milk, 1/2 tsp salt, 25 g butter. (Let) knead for 7-10 minutes. Then place the bowl back in the oven, covered, and bring back up to 30℃ and turn off. The dough should rest for at least 2 hours! After 1 hour, you could take care of the topping....
The Topping Finely chop 2-3 onions (250 g are needed). Sauté with 25 g butter in a medium frying pan over a good medium heat until translucent (approx. 5-7 minutes), turn off. Then sprinkle with 1 Tbsp flour, mix well and leave to cool. In a medium bowl, whisk 200 g sour cream and 1 egg (L). Add a few pinches of salt, 50 g smoked bacon cubes and 1 tsp caraway seeds (whole). Mix well again and also put aside.
Make the cake After the dough has rested, roll it out so that it fits well in the small springform pan. Spread into the tin; the dough should reach almost all the way to the top. Preheat the oven to 200°C (top/bottom heat). Now add the onion mass to the sour cream in the bowl and mix everything well. Pour into the cake tin and sprinkle with a little caraway and (if you like) a little diced bacon. Don't be surprised, the topping is only about half as high as the edge of the pastry (this rises significantly during baking). Bake the cake for about 40 minutes (until topping is getting light brown), then leave to cool for another 5 minutes and serve warm with new wine.

 

Clafoutis

ChezTeddy in the hands of HoneyBear.

Preparation: You'll need: A shallow large ceramic dish (diameter approx. 28 cm) for the oven A large bowl
Ingredients (for 6 servings) 750 g cherries in a jar (morello cherries) 100 g flour 100 g sugar 2 eggs 250 mL 1 tsp vanilla sugar 1 pinch salt 2 Tbsp. cherry brandy or rum (approx. 40% alcohol) Icing sugar Whipped cream 200 ml whipping cream and 12 g icing sugar Place whipping cream and whisk attachment of food processor in freezer for 10 minutes before preparing. Place whipping cream and icing sugar together in bowl. First let the cream stir on low speed, after 1 minute, turn to highest speed to whip until stiff (takes a few minutes). Do not let it beat too long, just until the desired consistency is reached!
Preparation Preheat the oven to 210℃. Drain the cherries from the jar through a sieve (you could also do something with the water, so maybe catch it in a container). In a large bowl, put 100 g flour through a flour sieve. Add 100 g sugar, 2 eggs and a little of the milk. Mix everything well. Then, in a few stages, while stirring, add the rest of the milk. add the rest of the milk. Mix until a smooth homogeneous dough. Then add 1 tsp. vanilla sugar, 1 pinch of salt and 2 Tbsp. rum. Mix again. Grease the oven dish completely (base and sides). Pour in the batter, then spread the whole cherries evenly. Attention: The idea is that the dough is only so high in the mould that the cherries still stick out of the dough a little bit! But do not pour the pastry over the cherries they should not be covered. Place in the preheated oven (middle shelf). Bake for 10 minutes at 210℃, then go down to 180℃ and bake for another 20 minutes (in the meantime you can make the whipped cream). After baking, sprinkle generously with icing sugar and cool. It is best eaten while still slightly warm with whipped cream.