Stollen Bread (Germany)- The World on my Plate series!

In the concluding part of “The world on my plate series”, we travel to a land far, far away from India. Germany. What do I make? Stollen Bread. Let me tell you a little bit more about my fascination for breads.

If you have been reading my blog; you would know that I don’t bake much. I did try a butter cake sometime back but that was it.  Baking breads, seemed a distant dream. I was told its only for the professionals. But, I always loved eating breads, perhaps because I’m a Bandra boy;  and we all know how famous bakeries in Bandra are across Mumbai.  But I was wanted to make (or should I say bake) my own bread. It  was  very therapeutic I was told.  Sigghhh.. Didn’t work with me.. But, I knew I wanted to culminate the series with something sweet. Something that we all could cherish.

I happened to be reading on various breads made in different parts of the world which was when I came across the ‘Stollen’ made in faraway Germany. This bread bears an uncanny resemblance to the Christmas cake. The difference being this is Stollen is leavened with yeast, stuffed with candied fruit and baked. The bread is shaped to look like the baby Jesus wrapped in swaddling clothes. I had found the bread I’ve always wanted to make. I decided to jump into the battle field and tame the proverbial yeast monster. It yielded quite easily. After a while the yeast did the trick and the dough had risen…first part of the mission accomplished. Next step followed suit and my confidence grew.. I knew this was going to be something good. Second proof too passed the test and then it was time to test by fire. Off she went into the oven to be baked. She was out after some 40 minutes. steaming hot like a lady fresh out of a sauna ;). Almost seducing you to have a peck :).  What did she taste like? Ummm… delight in every bite.. the soft dough provided a solid base to the candied peels and slight nudge from the spices right the down your throat. An experience that you need to have.

All through, I have thoroughly enjoyed bringing you this series. There has been much learning about the different cultures of the world and food. As you would have seen, there is no other universal language than the language of food. I hope you enjoyed this series as much as I did bringing it to you

Stollen Bread

Ingredients:

• 250 grams all purpose flour
• 150 grams (I used a mixture of Tutti –fruity, finely chopped glazed cherries, finely chopped dates, raisins) + some almonds hazelnuts and almonds for garnishing
• 7 grams fresh yeast + some warm water and 1 and 1/2 tablespoon sugar
• 125 ml warm milk
• 80 grams caster sugar
• 60 grams butter
• 2 large tablespoons icing sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• Marzipan for garnish (optional, i skipped this)

Procedure:

• Activate the yeast, by dissolving it in the warm water  along with the sugar. Leave aside for 15 minutes till frothy.
• In a sufficiently large vessel, combine the flour, caster sugar, salt and butter and combine gently.
• Now make a well in the center and add the yeast mixture. Knead with the milk to form a smooth, but pliable dough. Knead for some more time till the dough is slightly more softer and you are comfortable working with it.
• Place the dough in lightly oiled vessel and allow it to rest till it has doubled in size. This should take approximately 40-50 minutes.
• Once the dough has risen well, gently deflate it b y knocking it with your fist lightly.
• Give it a another knead for about 5 minutes.
• Roll out the dough to about 1 inch thick square
• Place the mixed fruit in the center and roll up the sides and fold the dough to cover it. Seal the ends by pinching it.
• Leave it for another 30 minutes to rise until it is double in size.
• Meanwhile, preheat the oven for 10 minutes at 100 C
• Bake at 170 C for 35 minutes or till it has a golden crust.
• Once done allow it to cool for a while. When cooled, roll out the marzipan (if using) on the bread. 
• Else, sprinkle with icing sugar and garnish with almond and hazelnuts.

Simple Butter Cake!

Its been a while since I posted a cake recipe on the blog. Nearly a year almost.

Why haven’t I baked in all this while…. Well call it my bane. The proverbial Achilles heel.  After a couple of baking attempts went put; I thought it would be better if I could focus on eating a cake, than baking one.

The plan worked, till a reader wrote requesting if I could post a simple butter cake recipe. I discussed with a few friends who bake and they said it was pretty simple. I tweeted to another round of encouragement from folks. I wrote back to the reader saying I’d post the recipe. The good thing, there was time on hand. So, I searched for a simple recipe that would fit the brief. I was so spoilt for choice that I didn’t know which to choose. I narrowed down one and sent it to a friend for authentication. He sent it back with recommended changes.

So, preps done and I now was ready to face the music. I started whisking the butter gingerly, much like Sachin Tendulkar’s nervous edge down to third man to get off the mark. But as I covered the steps in the recipe, the confidence in process and myself start to increase. You need to love baking, experienced and professional bakers told me. I was now beginning to love the process. I did see the batter coming out just as my friend described it would.  I was happy. The tin was dusted and prepared. In went the batter. I had a few walnuts that I had saved from an earlier dish and felt they would give a nice crunch to the cake. In they went. But now was the true test. Waiting for the cake to bake. Believe you me those thirty five minutes seemed like and endless Rahul Dravid innings. Finally, the timer went off and I dashed off the oven as if my life depended on it.  It passed the skewer test. Now too wait for another few minutes, till it cooled completely. It finally did.

As I cut through each slice, the delicate cake was perfect. You will have to excuse the pictures, since it was a quick photo shoot. Trust me, the cake was inviting.

We enjoyed the cake with coffee. And yes, I did send the recipe to my reader who wrote

Dear Elson,

I did try the cake recipe you sent me. It was heavenly. Sheer buttery goodness.

Guess I will now use this cake to show off to all my friends that I too can bake. Thanks a lot for the trouble.

Shall also be trying the Fish Coastal Biryani soon. I’ll write and let you know how it turned out to be.

Do keep satiating our hungry souls till then.

It encouraged me to start a series for readers request recipe. Should you have a recipe that you want me to feature on the blog, please feel free to drop in a line on my email address thetummytale@gmail.com or stop by at my Facebook Page. There’s a lot happening there too.

Meanwhile, here is the recipe for the cake.

Simple Butter Cake

Ingredients:

• 150 grams butter, (preferably unsalted)
• 125 grams, powdered sugar
• 125 grams, all purpose flour
• 3 medium sized eggs
• 1 teaspoon, baking powder
• 15 ml milk
• few drops of vanilla essence
• Some extra butter and flour for lining the tin
• 8-10 drops of flavoring essence of your choice (Optional, I skipped this)
• A few mixed nuts, for laying out on top of the cake.

 Procedure

• Brush an 8 inch baking tray with butter; then dust if with sufficient flour and keep aside.
• Next, sift the flour and baking powder together at least 3 times and keep aside.
• Preheat oven at 100 C for about 10 mins
• Using an electric mixer on a high speed cream the butter till it changes its colour to off white.
• Reduce the speed of the mixer to low and start adding the sugar in small batches. Continue this till the sugar and butter have combined well.
• Add the eggs, one at a time and continue mixing. 
• Now, stop the mixer and start folding the flour in small batches, like we did for the sugar. Combine well using a spatula. Add the milk and vanilla essence.
• Gently pour this batter in the prepared tin, spread the nuts on the batter and bake for about 30 minutes. Use the tooth pick/ skewer test to check for the doneness
• When its entirely done, allow it cool for another 20 minutes.
• Enjoy with a hot cup of tea or coffee

Note:

Please note that 30 minutes is indicative. The baking time may increase or decrease, depending on your oven's brand.

Whole Wheat and Oat Muffins

Let me begin by telling you this blog is dedicated to children.  With the summer holidays setting in, it’s great fun to see children (otherwise engrossed with studies and project work) play and have a great time. I remember as a kid we would wait for the exams to end and the day they were over, I would have my cousins come over or rush off to a cousins place for holidays. Those were days when there were no mobiles, or facebook; time was spent watching Giant Robot and playing cricket in the street. I bet you,  life couldn’t be any more fun. How I wish those days would never end!

Now lets speak about the dish today. What better than a yummy muffin that doesn’t give you the guilt of having consumed calories. Muffin and no caIories? Seems a distant dream? Well  personally like muffins, easy to make and more forgiving to the novice baker even if you get a few ingredient measurements wrong. Since it was for the kiddies I thought I should make it a little more healthier  and so I replaced the all purpose flour with whole wheat flour and added some oats.

It’s a great recipe for kids who are fussy and yes, mommies can enjoy it without worrying of the calories.

Whole Wheat and Oat Muffins

Ingredients:

•  100 grams whole wheat flour
•  80 grams oat bran
•  65 grams brown sugar
• 15-20 raisins for garnishing
•  1 tablespoon baking powder
•  2 large eggs
•  1/2 teaspoon ground cinnammon
•  80 ml Honey
• 1 tablespoon vanilla essence
• 4 tablespoon olive oil
• 250 ml full cream milk

Procedure:

• Grease a muffin tray with oil and flour. Dust and keep aside. Pre-heat oven at 100 C for about 10 mins
• First, sift all the dry ingredients together in a bowl (flour, oats, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon)
• In another bowl, add the eggs and beat lightly, add the remaining ingredients (oil, milk, honey and vanilla essence)
• Now add the wet mixture to the bowl with the dry ingredients. Give it a light mix only to incorporate all the ingredients together. Its fine of there are specks of flour around the bowl.
• Pour spoonfuls of this mixture into the muffin tray. Garnish the top with the raisins.
• Bake at 180 C for 35 mins or till a skewer inserted comes out clean.