Desert or Dessert

with the leftover 200g sourdough I made a sandwich bread

Ingredients:

500g Spelt flour (or unbleached AP flour)
200g Sourdough
10g Honey
10g Salt
250g lukewarm milk
50g soft butter (I melted it in the milk and cooled it to lukewarm)

Dissolve the sourdough and sugar in the lukewarm milk (not to warm, you don’t want to harm the sourdough). Add the rest of the ingredients to it and knead about 10 minutes until all is well mixed. Cover the dough and let it rest 30-45 minutes.
Knead the dough again, then either form a loaf or roll the dough out, roll it into a log and cut that log into 4 pieces. Place the loaf or the 4 pieces into a buttered loaf pan, cover  and let it proof 1-2 hours (mine was about 3 hours). You can slice the loaf prior to proofing if you choose to.
Bake the loaf at 200C/400F for about 45 minutes. Remove the pan and place on a cooling rack.

Very good Sandwich bread. The tangy taste (Sourdough) just keeps asking you for more.

We have a saying in Germany “necessity makes inventive” (die Not macht Erfinderisch). Inventive I became when I found this yogurt in our basement


refrigerator way past it’s expiration date. My first instinct was to toss it. But the lid seemed fine, there was no swelling so curiosity won. I opened the lid took a taste and guess what, it’s still fine. I guess whatever they are doing to the fat molecules and who knows what is keeping this yogurt still eatable almost 2 month after it’s prime. Makes me think that I need to move on to real fresh milk and make my own.

So here I am with half a liter of still usable yogurt and there is only one thing between the yogurt and the oven. A good recipe, I started searching the German net and I came across the cup method which has somewhat become popular here. It’s basically what the US has been doing forever, using a cup to measure.
Also called the 1-2-3 method (well I guess I just made that up). This batter came together very fast, there is really nothing to it and it would be a great first cake for a young future baker.
A quick lick from the bowl (oh, come on I know you do that too when no one is looking!) and I think we have a winner in the quick and easy category.
 

Yogurt-Lemon-Poppy seed cake
Ingredients:

1 c yogurt
2 c sugar (2T of which are vanilla sugar)
3 c flour
3 eggs
3/4c canola oil
2 tsp. baking powder
2 T poppy seeds
Zest from one lemon
1/2 tsp lemon extract (I used extract to give it lemon flavor. I did not wanted to add more acid since the yogurt was sour itself)

Mix the flour with the baking powder and sugars. Add all other ingredients and mix until smooth.
Prepare a baking form and fill it.
Bake at 180F for about 40 min or until toothpick comes out clean.

This cake is not bad but not one of my favorite either. It is very moist and heavy the first day. I think it’s much better the next day and who knows maybe it’s one of those that taste best on the third day? Only tomorrow will tell.
I could not taste the lemon extract at all so I would up it to 1 tsp. next time.
I like my normal lemon poppy seed much better so if there is a next time I would simply not add the poppy seeds to not give me the illusion of it being what it’s not.
Overall it is a cake that is quick, easy and maybe just right for a breakfast with fruits. Come to think of it, it might be a great one to toast.
What surprised me is that it does not taste very sweet at all. With 2 cups of sugar I would have expected it to be much sweeter and it was not. Maybe it was due to the very tart yogurt.
Out of ten I give it a five.

UPDATE:
Yup, it’s real good on day 3. This would be a good cake to make a few days in advance of when you need it. Made a good breakfast with some fresh pear and a glass of milk for my son this morning. It’s been upgraded to a 6. Not a piece was left over.

Finally had some real success with sourdough bread baking. Turns out I was not feeding my starter right and used way to little to give it enough lift.
Look at those loafs. Are they not gorgeous?
 
I am somewhat surprised my sourdough produces anything since it has lead a life of neglect in the fridge for most of his life so far.
This time however it has gone the longest without feeding. I can’t even remember the last time I did. It still looked ok despite it being a watery mess. I simply stirred it all up, weighed out 100g and filled it into a big bowl and gave it it’s first feeding of 100g flour and 100g lukewarm water. Mixed that all up and put the bowl into the heater room in the basement. It’s the warmest place in the house (26-28C). The next day I fed it again with 100g each of flour and water and moved it into the kitchen (22-26C). Since my sourdough was really malnourished I waited another day before I gave it the last feeding before baking. This too was 100g each of flour and water and kept it in the hallway (18-22C). One day later I was ready to start baking. The different temperature gave the Lactobacillus (both homofermentative and heterofermentative) and the Sourdough yeasts the right climate to do it’s work.
I have been doing some research and came across this German site which is all about sourdough. If you read German be sure to visit this site.
My first bread was a rye mixture bread. 

Holsteiner Landbrot
Makes about a 3 lb loaf
600g Sourdough
(usually for rye you would use a rye sourdough, I used mine which is not rye sourdough but spelt)
400g Rye flour
300g Spelt refined
250ml Buttermilk
50 ml Canola oil
1 full T salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
3 tsp Bread seasoning


Bread seasoning:
makes 3 tsp
1 tsp Coriander
1/2 tsp fennel
1/2 tsp anis
1 tsp Caraway

Use a coffee mill to grind it somewhat coarse

Mix all ingredients in a big bowl and knead until you have a smooth and solid dough (about 10 min). Add more water or flour if needed.
Let the dough rest for 30 minutes and knead it again, about 5 minutes. Form an oblong loaf and rest in a proofing basket (I did not use a basket and it did not spread). Slash your loaf, cover and let proof for about 2 hours (mine proofed longer) in a warm place. I slashed this loaf a bit to deep.


If you are baking with a baking stone preheat your oven about 40 min prior with the stone in place. When it’s time to bake put your loaf in the oven and add some water to a hot dish in the oven to create some steam.
Bake at 250C/500F for 10 min than reduce the heat by 20C/50F every 10 min. and finish baking the bread at 180C/350F for a total of 60 min.
Remove your loaf from the oven and let cool on a roast.



This bread turned out wonderful and 5 days later was still moist. This bread really tastes best on the second or third day when all the spices have mingled.

I admit, it’s not the best way to get your Vitamin C but it sure is one of the most delicious.
A few days ago I saw a recipe for a lemon sheet cake in this German Blog (Koch Banausen) and knew right away that it was time to bake a cake.
I make it a point to keep lemons in the house at all times so there was not need to worry about the stores being closed on a Sunday. Yup you read that right, stores are not open on Sundays in Germany. Sure the Commissary carries lemons too but I have yet to find any organic fruits or vegetables there (packaged ready to eat salad bags don’t count).
I had a few hours all to myself though it really did not take that long to whip up this sheet cake. Since I prepared the night before by leaving some eggs and butter out to come to room temperature I was all set to get started and within 15 min. had that cake in the oven and 20 min. later it was baked. I waited for the cake to cool down than glazed it. I waited with the glaze until after the cool down because I wanted to keep the glaze on top and not for it to soak into the cake. This is a great quick and easy lemon sheet cake. You should give it a try.



Lemon Sheet cake
Ingredients:
350g butter (room temperature)
250g sugar
2 vanilla beans (I used one) ***
6 eggs
2 organic lemons
350g flour
2 tsp baking powder (8g)
250g powdered sugar

Heat your oven to 350F / 180C
Beat sugar and butter until creamy, slowly add one egg after the other until very creamy. Scrape out the inside of the vanilla bean and add to the butter mixture.
Mix flour with the baking powder and add to the butter mixture. Zest the lemons and add to batter.
Butter a cake pan (mine is 16x13 inch) and fill it with the batter evenly. Bake for about 20 min. or until toothpick comes out clean.
After your cake has cooled sift your powdered sugar and mix with the lemon juice from the zested lemons. Glaze your cake with this mixture. Done! Now enjoy the fruits of your labor. Quick and easy lemon sheet cake. I told you so!
For step by step pictures check the “Koch Banause” link above. 

*** You can also use vanilla sugar (exchange 2T of sugar for vanilla sugar). I think vanilla extract would overpower therefore I would not use it. You can easily make your own vanilla sugar by using the empty vanilla beans and simply placing them with some sugar in a jar. Shake from time to time. Add new beans as you use them. They will flavor your sugar for a long time.

This cake went almost all with my husband to work and my son will have found a slice of it in his lunchbox today.

for this month challenge I whipped up only half a batch of the dough because generally I like the dough best if used within 2 days.
The spices of the Msemmen where still on my mind and I felt like eating something along that line but since this was to be lunch it had to be filled with a vegetable meet filling.
I completely free styled this one and started with some cooked chicken and spinach from the freezer. Cooked some potatoes (whipped up a batch of potato rolls with the potato water. We will eat those tonight), sautéed some onions, added spices and simmered all for just a little. Yum!



One last thing, I mentioned I usually like the HBin5 dough within two days of making the batch. This one was an exception. This dough set in the fridge for 6 days and was still great though very wet. I did add a little flour to firm it up.

I am ready to wish winter a “good riddance” and so I daydream while listening to the wind outside of Mediterranean nights under olive trees. 
While I can’t visit those olive trees I can get the second best thing, extra virgin olive oil right out of my pantry. With this I’ll whip up some 100% whole wheat bread dough with olive oil right out of the HBin5 book. You can find the recipe here.
I have been following Michelle from big black dog since the beginning of this year together with a group of fellow bakers. The purpose  is to “bake” through the HBin5 book. I joined this group to challenge myself to try many of the recipes inside this book that I might otherwise not have tried. So why not join in on the fun and bake some wholesome bread at the same time.
I was very excited about this bread. I like Indian and Arabic style breads very much and my take on the suggestions for this dough where right along that line.
Focaccia with Roasted corn and Goat cheese was on the menu. I was very much looking forward to that one but when I mixed up my dough I changed my mind. I like focaccia’s and knew that this dough would not give me what I wanted, a real focaccia. So I will use that topping on a real focaccia dough sometimes this month with toppings and dimples and all.
My first take was Msemmen (Algerian Flatbread) on page 229. We had a chickpea/spinach/beef curry for lunch and this would complement it well.







I liked this bread quite a bit but I would not roll it out after the rise and leave it coiled like a snail and bake it that way in the oven. I will try that out soon and post an update then.


  




Michelle asked in the HBin5 forum about our favorite kitchen gadgets.
Here are two of the gadgets I would not want to bake without.
A French rolling pin and a bench knife.
The bread above was rolled with this pin and the mess was cleaned up with that bench knife.

Is it just me or does the word “chocolate” alone make the world seem brighter.
This chocolate pudding surely did that job for me despite the cold February we had. No sun, no problem, just give me some of that chocolate bread pudding!
Remember those chocolate-espresso-orange-bars from valentines day?
They played a major roll in this dessert.
Close to a week after valentines day we still had 3/4 pan of these bars leftover. They where not that big of a hit here though they where not bad by any means. I also still had one heart leftover and I started thinking that I really would like to use them up before they spoil.
I cut up the bread and made a simple custard like this.
Heat 2c milk (I used some cream for milk as well) and melt 1/4c butter in it.
In a separate dish lightly beat 2 eggs and 1/2c sugar. Slowly add some of the milk mixture to the egg mixture. When all is incorporated fill bread and custard into a buttered baking dish and bake at 350F.
About 40 min. later we had one delicious dessert. Unfortunately the picture does not give credit to that statement. We ate it with vanilla sauce.
After eating this bread pudding I called myself a “knuckle head” because I had actually dumped that apple strudel bread from earlier that month and I bet it would have redeemed itself in a similar bread pudding fashion.
So I will file this under “lesson learned” and think hard about how to give a bread we might not enjoy another chance in another form. I urge you to do the same.
Into March i march…….