double banana & cherry breakfast cake

by on January 15, 2013

breakfast cakeHeads up this might change your life! Stuff your mum didn’t told you and never will: it is totally fine to have cake for breakfast! Didn’t know that? You are welcome!

I kind of told the news at the front door and revealed already in the post title that we are talking about serious breakfast cake eating.  And now you may wonder what’s the big difference between regular and breakfast cake? Yes me too… Here is my explanation in a nutshell: breakfast cake is still a meal not a dessert (let’s pretend), it’s more dense like a muffin, less sweater but no not healthier at all.

This cake stuck around for four days last week. It sat on the kitchen table and shrank as if by magic. We were constantly cutting off a piece, a slice or a corner. Sometimes when I had the need for something sweet, I drizzled honey on top or coated it with homemade marmalade. And yes there is booze in my breakfast cake and there is nothing wrong with that, but you might want to skip it if you feed it to kids.

breakfast cake 2

Double banana & cherry breakfast cake

ingredients

  • 80 ml / 1/3 cup olive oil (not extra virgin)
  • 60 ml / ¼ cup maple syrup
  • 2 -3 very ripe bananas
  • 1 egg
  • 200 g / 1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 tsp. baking powder
  • ½ tsp. fine sea salt
  • 85 g / 1 ½ cup dried cherries
  • 2 Tbsp. brandy, bourbon or other booze (optional)
  • 100 g/ 1 1/3 banana chips
  • 1 Tbsp. turbinado sugar

instructions

  1. Preheat your oven to 180 C / 350 F and grease your 18 cm / 7 inch round cake pan or springform pan.
  2. In a small bowl add dried cherry and brandy and let soak for 30 minutes.
  3. In a medium bowl measure flour, baking powder and salt, set aside.
  4. Add banana chips to the bowl of your food processor and pulse until you have tiny pieces, some might be pulverized that’s ok. Remove and set aside.
  5. Add oil, maple syrup, ripe bananas and egg to the bowl of your food processor (attached with the blade) and run the motor for 10 seconds.
  6. Add flour mix and pulse just until combined. Add cherries and banana chips crumbs and pulse shortly.
  7. Pour batter into cake pan, sprinkle with turbinado sugar and bake until toothpick inserted in middle comes out clean for about 35 to 40 minutes.

some notes

Use 2 large or 3 small bananas!

double-banana-cake-2-1

{ 2 comments }

brown butter and hazelnut scones

by on November 8, 2012

Yesterday I was pretty proud about my workout. Today I walk as elegant as a cowboy after a long day on his horse’ back. My muscles are soar and it takes me double the time to get up from a chair. Let me tell you about my gym, now that I am about to move soon, I kind of look at thinks with a different eye.  First on the way there I have to pass a school, so I make sure not to hit the road at arrival or departure time of hundred of small kids with their crazy mums. If there wouldn’t be two policemen and a school crossing guard dealing with the traffic, I don’t know how anyone could survive this chaos. In case I left the school behind me and I am still willing to drive further to the gym, a higher force is testing me again. I can see my favorite pie shop on the right and the temptation is strong to pull over and get a slice of fruity or creamy pie. But (mostly) I am strong and reach the gym finally. Holding my key tag under the scanner an enthusiastic computer voice wishes me: “have a great workout”. It’s so stupid, kind and mean on the same time. I am so sorry for the nice guys working there and hearing this all day long. The next thing I notice, is the burned coffee smell. Especially in the morning this place is a meeting point for senior citizens and this gang likes to hang out, chat and have a cuppa. It is a cozy atmosphere but the coffee smell hits me like a punch in the face (nose). The black water is simmering for a very long time until bitter and lacking any flavor. Though I am not sure if there had been any in the first place.

I head downstairs while passing the squash courts and a mixed smell of testosterone, sport shoes and good old men sweet creeps up my nose. I instinctively start mouth breathing and walk faster, it is the only survival strategy that works.  Finally I arrive at the treadmill. Sometimes I run like a young god, but sometimes you know…

I am not very sporty, I’ve never been. If it wouldn’t be for health reasons I don’t believe I would workout just for fun, that’s for sure. Biking and all that fun sport is a different chapter, that me like.  After a good workout in the morning, I surely deserve a nice brown butter  and hazelnut scone with a hot cup of coffee, freshly brewed of cause.

I know we had a lot brown butter lately and even the brown butter and hazelnut combination as a granola, but why change a winning team? I could bath in brown butter and hazelnuts are my favorite.

brown butter and hazelnut scones

ingredients

  • 100 g / ¾ cup spelt flour
  • 150 g / 1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
  • 50 g / ½ cup old fashioned oats
  • 2 tsp. baking powder
  • 65 g / 1/3 cup granulated sugar
  • ¼ tsp. fine sea salt
  • 130 g / 1 cup hazelnuts
  • 100 g / 7 Tbsp. unsalted butter
  • 1 egg
  • 120 ml / ½ cup milk (2%)
  • 1 tsp. vanilla extract
  • egg wash: 1 egg and 1 Tbsp. cold water whisk until combined
  • 1.5 Tbsp. turbinado sugar

instructions

  1. Preheat your oven to 200 C / 400 F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
  2. In a saucepan over medium high heat, add butter and cook, stirring frequently (it will foam) until you see small brown specks, remove from heat, strain and let cool.
  3. Process oatmeal in your food processor until it looks like coarse meal.
  4. Place hazelnuts on baking sheet and roast in your oven for 5 to 7 minutes, keep an eye on them, they turn black in a blink. Let cool. Grind in your food processor until fine.
  5. Pour milk into a small bowl, add egg and vanilla extract, whisk until incorporated.
  6. Blend flours, oatmeal, baking powder, sugar, salt, and hazelnuts in your food processor. Add brown butter and pulse to combine, add milk mix and pulse again. Be careful not to over process.
  7. Using a ¼ cup cookie or ice cream scoop place balls on baking sheet, flatten until ½ – ¾ inch thick. Lightly brush with egg wash and sprinkle with turbinado (raw) sugar.
  8. Bake 20 minutes, let cool 5 minutes before serving.

{ 3 comments }

hazelnut and brown butter granola

by on June 22, 2012

 

Some weeks ago I had been in our library, walking up and down the shelves full of cookbooks, an old book about how Germans eat, cook and what they like for every meal of the day, caught my intention. The pictures showed meat, sausage and ham in bulks, the author mentioned Germans like abundant meals and vegetables are not so popular. Shaking my head in disapproval! Well I disagree, if that all would have been true, my bud would have the size of Texas and I would have health issues like diabetes (most likely). You might know I am German and I miss and appreciated my crispy roll (Brötchen) in the morning along with some good cheese or Black Forest ham. But most of the time there had been some fruits and muesli for breakfast. Since my move to the states and my hoard of “imported” muesli went fast, I settled for granola and steel cut oats (but that’s a different story) for weekday mornings.

If it comes to granola I like it simple, no fancy grains, exotic dried fruits or anything I would have to find in an specialty store or online. It’s not that I won’t believe in the extra hassle to make something special, it’s just I forget about it. On workdays breakfast should be quick and easy.

You might get the notion I am putting brown butter on everything I eat these days. Fair enough… you are right. My taste buds told me brown butter elevates every food to a higher level, no that’s just me being silly. Actually it is simple as it can be, I love the taste of brown butter and every time I make something with butter, I wonder if I can swap it with brown butter and is it worth the extra cooking step? Most of the time it is absolutely appropriate.

 hazelnut and brown butter granola

Use any kind of nuts you like, almonds and pecans are also great for granola. The same applies to seeds: sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds (pepitas)…

I love the taste of (chopped) dried plums in this granola but the chunks stick together and it’s like eating whole dried plums. Any ideas? How ever dried apricots are tasty or chocolate morsels (but I don’t do that any more). Just remember to add all this after cooling.

ingredients:

200 g / 2 cups rolled oats

100 g / 3/4 cup hazelnuts, roughly chopped

60 g / 2/3 cup coconut flakes, unsweetened

50 g / 1/3 cup sesame seeds

45 g / 1/4 cup flax seeds

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp salt

3 Tbsp unsalted butter

100 ml / 1/2 cup maple syrup, honey or agave syrup (or a mix of that)

70 g / 1/2 cup dried cranberries, cherries or raisins

instructions:

Preheat your oven to 150 C / 300 F and line your baking pan with parchment paper.

In a pan over medium high heat, add butter and cook, stirring frequently until you see small brown specks, remove from heat, add syrup or honey and set aside.

In a big bowl add all remaining ingredients except dried fruits and add the brown butter mixture, stir well. Lazy people like me use their stand mixer with a paddle attachment for this.

Spread evenly over the baking sheet and bake for 30 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes to make sure granola browns evenly.

Let cool on the baking sheet, add the dried fruits and transfer to an airtight container. Can be stored for at least one month.

You can double the amount, use two baking sheets and rotate them.

 Appendix:

My blogging friend Sandy from Confiture de Vivre indicated to me that Meeta from What’s for lunch honey? initiates a Monthly Mingle about “granola and muesli” this month. Thanks Sandy! I’m game and looking forward to see all the other entries. Is there something like too many granola recipes? :)

{ 6 comments }

orangey sweet bread

by on March 29, 2012

Everyone around here love this orangey sweet bread but I have to admit, for no reason I make this recipe only from time to time, mostly because I got buttermilk around that has to be used up. And this is exactly why I made it last weekend and since then I am suffering from a creative block. I got the recipe ready for you, all the pictures and can’t force myself for some more words. Of course there are all the good reasons I should mention why you should try this and what’s so good about it… So I thought we should get filled in by the one who knows best: the orangey sweet bread itself, further mentioned just as “OSB”. Read the interview:

me: How are you?

OSB: Peachy!

me: How would you describe yourself in three words?

OSB: Three words? Adventurous? Creative and loyal. Let’s say I would be the unloved child of snow white and dopey the dwarf. I am just kidding…

me: Tell us about yourself and about your strengths and weaknesses.

OSB: Well I think I am underrated by many people, they stop thinking about me after their breakfast. But I can do more than that. I can fulfill your sweetest dreams! I am very experienced in french toast, bread pudding or sweet panzanella. It concerns me that some guys want to limit me to their breakfast. Weaknesses are obviously, don’t put salami on me and I am not following the whole grain movement.

me: What is your dream car?

OSB: Like the vast majority: ice cream truck.

me: Tell me about your hobbies and interests, outside of work.

OSB: I tried some water sports, but I hate to get soaking wet and never found the right bikini. I am traveling well, did you ever tried to eat a cinnamon roll in your car? Frosting everywhere! I hate to gossip about my colleagues but I am the smart way. Oh and  I am reading a lot.

me: What is the latest book you have read?

OSB: The baking oven manual, nerve-racking stuff.

me: What is the most embarrassing thing in your bedroom?

OSB: The question should be who… it’s the clover honey bear, he sticks to me like… glue. He has a crush on me and you have to admit we match perfectly, he gives me the orange peel effect, you know what I mean.

me: If you had only six months left to live, what would you do with the time?

OSB: That’s beyond my imagination. Sometimes they slice me up and freeze me for a couple of month. It’s like time traveling, I go to sleep in winter and wake up it’s suddenly spring. Always freaks me out, when they do that. Properly handled I can survive up to one week thanks to the good butter in me. You know the drill, keep me airtight and I am a joy for everyone after a warm up in the toaster.

me: Explain a time you went above and beyond your duty at a certain position.

OSB: When they forgot to freeze me in time and let me go stale… I toss myself (editor’s note: cubed orangey sweet bread) in melted butter, roast for some minutes in the oven and jump in a bowl of fruit salad. Who else would do that for you?

me: What is your favorite color?

OSB: Certainly not green, it clashes with my skin tone. It’s raspberry jam red.

me: If aliens landed in front of you and offered you any position on their planet, what would this be?

OSB: Sometimes I dream big: the secretary of food.

me: If you were a type of food, what type of food would you be?

OSB: I am dreaming about becoming a sweet lasagna, I am in training for this position.

me: What would I find in your refrigerator right now?

OSB: Iced latte.

me: Thank you for talking with me.

OSB: I can’t believe I left my cozy bread box for this crappy interview. By the way things are living in there, green and fluffy.

 

 orangey sweet bread

You need a loaf pan approx. 23 cm / 9 x 5 inch. A stand mixer makes your life so much easier if you are handling yeast doughs but if you are a purist use your hand and add more flour that it won’t stick.

600 g / 21.4 oz. (about 5 cups) all purpose flour (unbleached)

100 g / 1/2 cup sugar

1 tsp salt

3 tsp  active dry yeast

400 ml / 1 3/4 cups buttermilk

100 g / 7 tbsp melted and cooled unsalted butter

1 egg

1 egg yolk

15 g / 2.5 tsp orange zest (approx. 1 orange)

1 tsp vanilla extract

Make sure all ingredients are at room temperature. Put everything in the mixing bowl of your stand mixer with a hook attachment  and knead for 3 to 4 minutes but start slowly you don’t want the flour all over your kitchen. The dough should be sticky (at the bottom) but clears up the sides of the bowl, add more flour or buttermilk if necessary. Cover with plastic wrap or a clean kitchen towel and let rise for 45 minutes.

Prepare you loaf pan, grease or use parchment paper. Carefully punch down the dough and dump it into the loaf pan. Cover and let rise for further 30 minutes.

Preheat your oven to 175 C / 350 F and bake for 1 hour. Let cool for 5 minutes before you remove the bread from the pan, put on a rack and let cool completely before slicing.

{ 4 comments }

cardamon ginger scones

by on February 3, 2012

Some summers ago I had been on one of my first vacations with Mr F in the USA. Our base for exploring Manhattan and surroundings had been just food steps away from the famous Small World Coffee in Princeton, NJ. I still remember the first morning, we just arrived from Germany and I already figured out where I would get my cup of Joe or as I also would call it: the satisfaction for my caffeine addiction. By the way is there help? Not that I need it, I am more than happy with my manic coffee habits. But wouldn’t it be great if there would be a group like the AA like ACDC (Anonymous Coffee Dependents Club). We would meet for donuts and hot chocolate or tea and I would bring secretly my fix in one of those thermos travel mugs and I think I wouldn’t be the only one. Not nice… That would be like bringing lottery scratch tickets to a GAM (Gamblers Anonymous Meeting). I got the solution, it should be a CLC (Coffee Lovers Club) and no one would get hurt.
Back to the cardamon ginger scones and how we first met. So there is me awake in the very (very, very) early morning and jet lag don’t let me fall asleep again. As the Small World Coffee finally opened, I was so ready for a cup of hot coffee and Mr F went down the stair, crossed the Witherspoon street, bought coffee and scones and was back in a minute. He still knows how to calm me down and what I need in the morning and things like: don’t use complicated sentences and skip important topics I still should remember later. One of the basics in happy relationship don’t you think?
And you might have already assumed, Mr F came back with some of the great cardamon ginger scones. In the next weeks of our vacation, we returned regularly for coffee and scones to this place. We used to stop by on our way to the Jersey shore for a day at the beach or the railroad station to catch the train to New York. One of the barista used to welcome us with a friendly “guten Morgen”, no matter what time it was. I liked this coffee place a lot, it has a kind of charm with a brain. I think it’s because it is located just one block away from the Princeton University and you can find students, professors and business people sitting around, reading the NY times and enjoying coffee. The amount of active brain cells is higher than in any other average coffee shop. :o

cardamon ginger scones
yields 12 scones
Here you can find the original recipe for Small World Coffee’s cardamon ginger scones.

400 g / 3 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon baking powder (aluminum free)
1/2 teaspoon salt
65 g / 1/3 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamon seeds
110 g / 1/2 cup unsalted cold butter, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
240 ml / 1 cup cold milk
1 large egg
55 g / 1/3 cup crystallized ginger, cut into small chunks

for the egg wash:
1 egg
4 tablespoons sugar

Preheat your oven to 200 C / 400 F, grease or line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a large bowl or in your food processor mix flour, baking powder, salt, sugar, cardamon.
Add butter, milk, one egg and ginger and mix until just combined or pulse if you use the food processor. Don’t over mix, if you still see little pieces of butter, it’s fine.
Form about 1/3 cup balls or use a ice cream scoop or spread the dough over the baking sheet, sprinkle with some flour, form a rectangle and cut into 12 triangles.
In a small bowl whisk one egg and the sugar for the egg wash and glaze generously over every scone.
Bake 17-20 minutes. Do not over bake, they might dry out.

{ 1 comment }

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