Apfel Puddingteilchen/Apple Pudding Danish

Pastry filled with vanilla pudding or custard then topped optional with fruit of choice I stayed with autumnal fruits like our local apples, really simple but oh so yummy treat that you could find in any German bakery. Again I had some trouble figuring out how to call this in English, did not have much luck so I am just calling it a danish.

There are so many delicious apple dessert that I would like to make, but it would just be to much to eat;) I am glad to be able to get back into baking and also eating normal again, after being sick for the last two weeks. Strong stomach pain kept my in bed or on the washroom for most of the time. I am feeling much better now, trying to get back into normal eating without getting stomach pain can be challenging. Also hope to get back to posting a recipe per week again.

 

 

Recipe is adapted from Chefkoch.de

Apple Pudding Danish

Pastry Dough:

• 300 g unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 80 g honey or sugar
• 1 pinch salt
• 1 pkg vanilla sugar or 1 tbsp vanilla extract
• 150 g quark or greek yogurt
• 6 tbsp milk
• 6 tbsp oil, canola or coconut oil

Filling:

• 1 pkg vanilla pudding powder, Dr. Oetker
• 500 ml milk
• 40 g honey or sugar, or more

Apple Topping:

• 2 1/2 medium apples, peeled and sliced
• 1/4 cup maple syrup or more
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 tbsp cinnamon

For Eggwash:

• 1 egg yolk
• 1 tbsp milk

-Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

-Prepare vanilla pudding according to package a few hours ahead, it needs to cool down and set.

-Mix apples with the maple syrup, lemon juice and cinnamon and let simmer on medium/low heat for about 10 minutes.

-In a medium bowl mix together quark, milk, oil, honey, vanilla extract and salt. Sift flour and baking powder into the wet ingredients and mix it well until holds together, it will be a soft dough.

-On a floured surface roll out the dough into a rectangle, then cut into 10-12 pieces. Transfer pieces onto baking sheet and fold edges in slightly. You can keep a rectangle shape or make it more round or traditionally into a pretzel shape.

-Add 2-3 tbsp of vanilla pudding into the center of the pastry then top with the apples.

-Brush pastry with the egg wash, sprinkle with some slivered almonds if you like

-Bake in a preheated 350F/180C oven for 20-25 minutes or golden brown.

 

I hope you give this recipe a try, it is so good, perfect for your afternoon tea or coffee!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Ursula

 

 

 

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Forest Berries Meringue Pie/Waldbeeren Meringue Kuchen

Happy weekend everyone!!

While growing up in Switzerland, we used to spend a lot of time in the forest. With family or with school. They have nicely looked after hiking trails. There is just something calming and peaceful about it. We would also often look for and find a lot of blueberries and strawberries! Now these are sweet memories:)

I’ve had a lot of raspberries and we are still picking some strawberries in our garden. We used to have blackberries but after getting hurt (scratched) a lot, we had enough and we dug the plant out…but I tell you that is a stubborn plant, it keeps on growing back…My brother in Switzerland has a thorn-less blackberry plant!!! That is the most amazing thing. Haven’t seen this here so far.

For this berry pie I used a mix of what I like to call forest berries (Waldbeeren): blueberries, strawberries, blackberries and raspberries. Deliciously melt in your mouth meringue filling! Totally worth trying out! Feel free to use your favorite pie crust recipe.

 

 

 

 

Forest Berries Meringue Pie

Pie crust:

• 200 g unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 100 g butter, cold, cut into very small pieces
• 2-3 tbsp honey
• 1/2 lemon, zest
• 1 egg

-Mix together flour and salt, add butter and with a pastry blender or your hands mix until crumbly.

-Add lemon zest, honey and egg. Knead only until it holds together. Wrap in plastic wrap and let rest in refrigerator for 30 minutes.

-Preheat oven to 375F/190C

-Grease a 9-inch pie form. Roll out dough to fit form. Prick dough with a fork. For blind baking I cover bottom with parchment paper, then as a weight I pour some legumes like dry chickpeas over paper. Bake for about 10 minutes then remove paper with legumes and lower oven temperature to 350F/180C and finish bake until golden brown.

Meringue:

• 3 egg whites
• 1 pinch of salt
• 150 g sugar (I used honey)
• 500 g berries of your choice (I used blackberries, blueberries, raspberries, strawberries)

-Beat egg whites with salt until peaks form, add half of the sugar, beat until shiny then add rest of sugar until stiff.

-Mix half of the meringue with the berries. Fill into baked pie crust. Then top with remaining meringue.

-Bake in 375F/190C oven for a few minutes until golden brown.

 

 

Hiking in the Swiss Alps 2016

 

 

 

Enjoy!

Wishing you all a happy weekend!

Ursula

 

 

 

 

You can find me on Instagram: @littleswisslittlecanadian

 

 

 

Bee Sting Cake/Bienenstich

Hi there, I am finally back! I’ve had a wonderful trip to Switzerland-visiting my family, I really really enjoyed it:)

I thought you might like to see some photos I took:

 

Lake Thun

Eiger, Moench, Jungfraujoch

Beatenbucht, Lake Thun

Schloss/Castle Schoenau

Spitzbub Cookie

Nussgipfel

Bienenstich/Bee Sting Cake

Seeing all the yummy stuff over there, I thought of making Bienenstich, Bee Sting Cake. A famous German Cake.

 

Bienenstich

Yeast Dough

• 250 g all-purpose unbleached flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp sugar or honey
• 50 g soft butter
• 1 tbsp quick instant yeast
• 200 ml milk, warm
• 1 egg

For the topping:

• 50 g butter
• 2-3 tbsp honey
• 1 tbsp milk
• 100 g almond shavings

Vanilla Pastry Cream:

• 3 tbsp corn starch
• 400 ml milk
• 3 tbsp sugar or honey
• 2 eggs
• 1 vanilla pod

For the dough: In a bowl mix together flour, salt, sugar, add butter and mix well. Add Yeast, milk and egg. Knead dough well until smooth dough forms. Cover bowl with a plastic wrap and let rise until doubled in size.

For the Almond topping: In a small saucepan over medium heat, mix together butter, honey, milk and almonds until warm, remove from heat.

For the pastry cream: In a medium saucepan mix together, and bring the milk, corn starch, sugar, egg and vanilla pod to a boil, while whisking. Remove from heat, pour into a bowl, cover with a plastic wrap touching the cream to prevent a “skin” forming on top. Let cool down a bit then put in the fridge until set.

-Preheat oven to 350F/180C. You can use a round cake pan or a square pan.  Line with parchment paper.

-Roll out dough to fit the pan, let rise again. Cover with almond topping and bake for about 30 minutes. Let cool completely.

-Cut cake in half. Spread pastry cream on bottom then cover with top. Cut in desired slices. Store in Refrigerator.

 

 

Enjoy!

Ursula

 

 

Follow me on Instagram: #littleswisslittlecanadian

Almond Croissants

These lovelies, called “Nussgipfeli”, are one of my favorite pastries to eat when I am in Switzerland. Usually made with a hazelnut filling, either using a puff pastry or a yeast dough, is so good. One of the most iconic Swiss treats.

Here usually you can find almond croissants. These are really yummy too. It is actually pretty easy to make. You can use a puff pastry or make a sweet yeast dough like I did.

 

I am very excited because I am going to visit my family in Switzerland for the next two weeks:)!! Looking forward to see everyone, but mostly my dad who did turn 70 this April. He was very sick last year, undergoing a major heart surgery and we are just happy and thankful to be able to celebrate this special birthday.

On the other side I have to admit I am also looking forward to all the good food;)

 

Almond Croissants 

Yields: 8

Sweet yeast dough:

• 300 g unbleached white flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3 tbsp honey or sugar
• 60 g butter
• 100 ml milk
• 1 tbsp instant yeast

-In a medium bowl mix together flour, salt, yeast and honey.

-In a saucepan warm/melt butter with the milk.

-Add butter and milk to the dry ingredients and mix well. Knead dough well until smooth ball forms. Place back into bowl then cover with plastic foil. Let rise until doubled in size.

Almond filling:

• 150 g almonds or hazelnuts, finely ground
• 4 tbsp coconut sugar, or 3 tbsp sugar
• 1/2 lemon zest
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 4-6 tbsp milk or cream

-Mix all ingredients together. The filling should be moist.

• 3 tbsp apricot jam
• almond slices

-Preheat oven to 200C/400F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

-On a floured surface roll out dough into a circle.

-Spread thinly with apricot jam then cut into 8 wedges.

-Spread filling onto wedges. Roll dough up into a croissant. Let rise for another 15 minutes.

-Brush with some egg wash then bake in preheated oven for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown.

-Brush warm croissants with some icing: 100g powdered sugar, 1/2 tbsp lemon juice mixed together. Sprinkle with almond slices.

–I brushed it with honey;)–

 

Enjoy!

Ursula

 

You can find me on Instagram @littleswisslittlecanadian

 

 

 

Mohnstrudel, Poppy Seed Strudel

Happy Friyay!!

Poppy seed pastries are very popular in Central and Eastern Europe. We have a wonderful Hungarian Restaurant in London where we went for lunch a while ago and we had a Mohnstrudel for dessert, it was amazing! Usually we buy a poppy seed pastry at our local Polish Delicatessen store.

It does not happen often that I make it myself;) But I tell you it was totally worth it, so good!

Poppy seeds are an excellent source of minerals like iron, magnesium, calcium, zinc, copper and potassium. They are also loaded with dietary fibers, vitamins and healthy fats.

 

Mohnstrudel

Yeast dough:

• 50 g butter, melted
• 150 ml milk
• 50 g sugar
• 400 g unbleached white flour
• 7 g instant dry yeast
• 2 eggs

Filling:

• 150 ml milk
• 150 g poppy seeds, finely ground
• 5 tblsp sugar
• 1 vanilla pod, or 1 tbsp extract
• 5 dried prunes, soaked in Kirsch Schnapps
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• milk for brushing
• powdered sugar

-For the dough: Mix together butter, milk and sugar until creamy. In a mixing bowl add flour and yeast, add wet ingredients and using a standard mixer or you hands mix and knead until holds nicely together. Cover with a plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature for about 1 hour.

-For the filling: In a medium saucepan heat the milk then add poppy seeds and sugar, reducing heat to your lowest setting and continue stirring so it does not burn, for about 30 minutes, then add vanilla and cinnamon. I had to add a little bit more milk because it seemed so dry. It is suppose to be moist but not to wet.

-Cut prunes very finely. Mix prunes into the poppy seed mixture. Puree mixture in a blender or food processor. Let it cool.

-Preheat oven to 180C/350F

-On a floured surface or on a parchment paper, roll out dough to a rectangle. Spread filling evenly on the dough leaving a 2 cm space all around. Fold in edges then roll the dough up.

-Place Strudel on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Brush Strudel with some milk. Bake for about 30 minutes.

-Serve dusted with icing sugar.

 

–Was served at the Restaurant with a chocolate sauce–

 

It was even better the next day!!

 

Enjoy!

Happy weekend!!

 

 

Check out my Instagram @littleswisslittlecanadian