Hot Chocolate (Mexican Style)

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I hope you’re all having a nice holiday season so far!
It’s about two weeks until Christmas and I’m getting into the mood.

In Germany, we celebrate the “Adventszeit” in the run up to Christmas with an “Adventskranz”, a wreath with four candles that get lit up in the four Sundays in the run up to Christmas, starting with one on the first “Advent Sunday”, two on the second and so on. 

I’m in London right now and am not quite keeping the tradition going here this year but, as you can see in the photo, I have got a wreath and candles…and reindeer…and hot chocolate! So I guess I was a little inspired by American traditions too.

Hot chocolate is as good on a cold winter’s evening as it is on a winter’s morning, especially when it is still dark and you might need a little boost to get going. This Mexican inspired hot chocolate should help with this, thanks to a pinch of chili. If you don’t like this spicy kick just make the hot chocolate without the chili and it’s still a very good cup of cocoa!

For 2 cups you will need:

  • 1 cup of milk – almond or soy would work just as well as dairy
  • 1 cup of water
  • 1/4 cup pure cocoa powder
  • 1/3 cup of honey
  • 1 tsp vanilla essence
  • 1/4 tsp cinnamon
  • a pinch of chili (optional)
  • a pinch of salt

To serve:
(optional)

  • 2 sticks cinnamon bark sticks
  • 6 marshmallows

In a pan, heat the milk, water, honey and vanilla essence on a low heat.
Be careful not to let the milk come to boil.

While the milk is heating up, mix the cocoa powder, with the cinnamon, chili and salt in a small bowl. When the milk is warm pour about a table spoon worth of it into your cocoa mix and stir it together, pressing away any lumps that might form with the back of a spoon. When you have an even paste, add it to the milk pan and continue stirring it over a low heat for about 5 minutes – again, not allowing it to boil!

Serve the cocoa in mugs or drinking bowls with a stick of cinnamon and a few marshmallows that will melt into the drink…enjoy!

Breakfast Pop-Overs

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When I was in the US recently I came across a pop-over pan in William-Sonoma, which is one of my favourite kitchen shops to browse for inspiration and getting the occasional treats. 

I didn’t know what pop-overs were but when I looked up the receipe for them I realized they are pretty much what we call a Yorkshire Pudding here in Britain – and here, these are eaten with a Sunday Roast, as part of a savoury meal. And as they are possibly my favourite part of a traditional Sunday Roast I got very excited when I realized there’s a way I could eat them as a (sweet) breakfast too!

I had to try them out and think they make a great start to the day, eaten with a fruit jam that is not too sweet. I had a delicious spiced plum jam from a lovely bakery and deli called Mabel’s in Toronto that worked a treat and would think Apricot jam would work equally well.

I never actually bought the pop-over pan as I thought I would try making them in a muffin tin instead and they came out just fine.

The pop-overs should be eaten fresh, when they are still a little warm but they are easy to make and here’s how…

For 12 popover’s you’ll need:

  • a 12-cup muffin tin

  • 1 cup plain flour
  • 1⁄2 tsp salt
  • 1 cup milk
  • 2 eggs
  • 1⁄4 cup unsalted butter

Preheat an oven to 450°F / 230°C. 

Melt the butter for a few (!) seconds in the microwave and leave the melted butter aside for a moment.

Mix the flour and salt in a bowl and make a well in the centre of it.

Whisk the eggs together with the milk in a jug and pour the mixture into the well. Whisk until combined and pour everything back in your jug.

Place the muffin tin in the oven for it to heat up for around 2 minutes. Take it out of the oven and spoon a teaspoon of the melted butter into each muffin cup. Pour the batter evenly divided into the cups, filling them half full.  

Bake for 10 minutes, then reduce the heat to  375°F / 190°C and bake them for a further 20-25 minutes until the popovers are golden and crispy.

Take the pop-overs out of their cups immediately and serve warm.

Apple Crumble ‘Coffee’ Cake

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Apologies for having been so quiet for so long!

The main reason was that I was traveling in North America last month.
The good thing about this is that my North American travels always inspire me to try out new receipes and one of these is this one…

I noticed that for some reasons Americans have a variety of ‘coffee cakes’ which don’t actually have any coffee in them. At first I found it a little confusing but now I assume they call them coffee cakes as they are best with a cup of coffee since they are usually on the drier side of cake creations.

This one here is pretty much an apple crumble cake but I based it on an American ‘Apple Coffee Cake’ receipe. The apple pieces make sure the cake is not too dry – but have a cup of coffee with it anyway!

For a cake tin of around 20 x 20 cms (which would be around 8 x 8 inches) you will need:

  • 1/4 cup sunflower oil
  • 1 egg
  • 1/2 cup milk
  • 1 1/2 cups plain flour
  • 3/4 cups caster sugar
  • 2 tsp. baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp. salt
  • 1 tsp. vanilla essence
  • 3/4 cup chopped up cooking apples (or other not-too-sweet apples, such as Bramley apples)

 And for the cake topping:

  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 2 tbsp flour
  • 2 tsp. cinnamon
  • 2 tbsp melted butter
  • 1/2 cup pecans, roughly chopped

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees fahrenheit/gas mark 4 /190 degrees celsius.

Start with the cake topping by mixing all the ingredients in a small bowl until combined, set aside while you get on with the cake.

Mix the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt together in one bowl so the raising agent gets combined with the flour.

In another, bigger bow, mix the oil, eggs, vanilla and milk together with a balloon whisk. Once they are combined add the dry ingredients from the other bowl along with the pieces of apple and mix everything together briefly with the balloon whisk or even just a big fork but don’t over-mix.

Grease your cake tin and pour the cake mixture into it. Spread the topping evenly over the cake and lightly press it down with a wooden spoon, so some of it goes almost half way into the batter while some of it stays on top.

Bake for around 25 minutes or until your toothpick comes out clean.

Serve warm, or cold – it’s still tasty the next day too!

Plum Coconut Traybake (aka Oma’s Pflaumenmus-Kokos Kuchen)

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You know those plums I went on about in my last post the ‘Zwetschgen’, damson plums or Italian Prune plums (which I have since found out is another name for them)…well, here’s another receipe featuring them but this time in form of a jam, or fruit butter as they would say in the States.

Pflaumenmus, aka plum jam or plum butter, is a very popular plum spread in Germany, often spiced with a hint of cinnamon and cloves. Lots of Germans will be making it right now, using up the harvest from their gardens and my gran makes a great one that we all take jars back home from.

Pflaumenmus is very thick and has an almost black colour due its high fruit content. It’s not that easy to find something like this in English shops but I have found a similar plum jam in Polish shops here in London and, of course, in the German Delis too. You could also make it yourself if you like, using this receipe for example.

Once you have got the Pflaumenmus in your larder you can make this cake all year round.
My gran always has and continues to do so, even as a 85-year old lady. The cake I photographed here was actually made by her just a few weeks ago! And she is very pleased that I am spreading the receipe for it here…

For one large tray you’ll need:

  • 350g flour
  • 150g butter
  • 5 egg yolks
  • 120g caster sugar
  • 12g baking powder (which is circa 3 tsps or if you are German and are using a Germany baking powder sachet, ¾ of the typical German baking powder sachet)
  • 1 medium sized jar of Pflaumenmus aka plum jam/ plum butter
  • 5 egg whites
  • 200g designated coconut
  • 50g ground almonds
  • 150g caster sugar
  • 1 – 2 tsps of almond extract, depending on the brand (my gran uses a whole vial of Dr Oetker Bitter-Mandel Aroma)

Line a baking tray with baking parchment and preheat the oven to 175 degrees Celsius.

Start with the base by mixing the baking powder with the flour and kneading all the dough ingredients together – the baking powder and flour mix, butter, egg yolks and sugar – until well combined and you have a smooth dough.

Spread the dough onto the baking tray and top it with a nice layer of plum jam. You want at least the thickness of 1cm or more of the jam. My gran usually uses one medium sized jam jar for one cake.

For the topping, whisk the egg whites together and once they are stiff, slowly pour the sugar in whilst continuing to whisk. Then fold the almonds and coconut under along with the almond extract and spread the mix on top of the plum jam.

Bake the cake in the oven for around 30 minutes or until the top gets a golden brown colour. Leave to cool in the tray and cut in square pieces which make for a nice breakfast or brunch bite as the cake is not too sweet and goes well with a cup of coffee.

The cake will last for up to a week in an airtight Tupperware type container in the fridge.

Damson Plum Crumble Cake

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PlumCrumbe__3Whenever I go to Germany at this time of the year I bring back a certain type of plum. It’s ‘Zwetschgen’ that I bring back, which are very much like damson plums in England.

They are more of a blue colour and have a more oval shape compared to other plums and they are great in cakes.

The most typical German ‘Zwetschgen Kuchen’ would be made with a yeast based dough but as that needs time to raise I prefer making the other typical variation of a ‘Zwetschgen Streuselkuchen’ which has a crumble (= ‘Streusel’) topping and is just as tasty.

Serve it up with some whipped cream and a cup of coffee you and you have a very German ‘Kaffee und Kuchen’ spread which is usually eaten in the afternoon but I give you permission to tuck into it for brunch too!

For a 26 cm round spring form you will need:
(for the cake)

  • 50g soft butter
  • 50g sugar
  • 5g baking powder
  • 150g flour
  • 1 egg
  • 125ml buttermilk
  • 700g damson plums

(for the crumble topping)

  • 50g flour
  • 35g ground almonds
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • 35g brown sugar
  • 50g cold butter

Grease and line the spring cake tin and preheat the oven to 180 degrees.

Combine the baking powder with the flour in one bowl.
Cream the butter and sugar with an electric whisk, then add the egg and beat it under. Add the flour you mixed with the baking powder. Then add the buttermilk and whisk everything until you have a smooth dough.
Spread the dough evenly into the cake tin.

Now for the plums – wash, half and de-stone them and spread the plum halves over the dough, lightly tucking them vertically so that they are slightly sticking out.

Start to bake the cake in the oven for 25 minutes during which time you prepare the crumble.

Mix the flour, ground almonds, cinnamon and sugar then add the cold butter, cut into cubes, and rub it in the flour mix to get crumbs. Pour those over the pre-baked cake once the 25 minutes of baking time are over and bake it for a further 25 minutes.

Cool the cake down on a wire rack before eating it – ideally on the same day.