Varacita's Bakery & Konditorei

Ekadasi Shrikhand Cake

2009-12-31T09:08:00.003-05:00

This is an Ekadasi Mango Shrikhand Birthday Cake with mango slices on top. After making cakes for friends and family members the past few months I finally got to make one for myself! This is my very own birthday cake, and since my birthday happened to fall on Ekadasi it had to be a no-grain-cake. My husband had been asking me for years to make the same cake I made him for his birthday (on Ekadasi) when we just got married, some 11 1/2 years ago. He liked that cake very much, but would I be able to remember how I made the cake back then? I did have the recipe but it was kind of ambiguous. Plus the measurements were in deciliters! I prefer to weigh all my ingredients. Plus who in the world has a deciliter measuring cup? Back then we lived in Sweden and I suppose deciliters is what they use there when they bake something. Fortunately I brought a deciliter measuring cup with me when we moved to the States. So, that problem was solved.

The problem with Shrikhand is that it is too runny to use it as cake icing even though I started out with some really thick hung yogurt. When I added the mango puree and homemade powdered sugar (no cornstarch in it) it became a challenge to keep the icing on the cake without running down the sides. I think next time I would use something else than mango puree. It is just too liquid. I am sure if one could get the consistency of Shrikhand right it would make a great cake frosting.

Well, here is what I did with my runny Shrikhand. First I put it in the freezer to firm it up a bit, making sure to stir it every now and then. I spread a think layer of icing on the cake which I had poked with a toothpick to help it aborb the Shrikhand. Then I put the cake in the fridge for half and hour to let the cake absorb some of the icing. Another thin layer, back in the fridge, another thin layer, ... (you get the idea). Finally the cake was all iced and it went back in the fridge overnight. Next day it was ready for the final touches - the mango slices on top and the toasted sliced almonds on the side.

The more time you give the cake to absorb some of the Shrikhand, the better it tastes. By the seond day the icing was nice and firm, the cake was nice and moist, and it tasted great.

For my next birthday I will have someone else make my cake though. I was up past midnight to make the cake and on my birthday the kids woke me up way too early because they were hungry and wanted a slice of the cake, and I wasn't even finished yet decorating it!

Maybe I'll put the kids + husband to work next year to make ME a cake for a change. Not a bad idea!

Baby Shower Cake - It's a Girl!

2009-12-27T11:05:00.004-05:00

I made this cake for a baby shower I organized. I messed up with the writing on the cake. I guess I was too tired when I got to the last touches. I wanted the writing to curve and it did work on the top part but the "Girl!" did not want to curve...

3 layers of vanilla cake with professional buttercream icing and powdered sugar icing for the basket weave and the writing and flowers on the top of the cake. The layers were sandwiched with raspberry buttercream.

Pretty basketweave. Takes a long time to do.

The baby is not marzipan or anything else edible. Since I did not have much time I just bought this baby at the Party Shop where they sell them as party favors. Still cute though.

Chocolate Birthday Cake

2009-11-25T08:57:00.003-05:00

Another birthday cake for one of my son's friends. This time the request was for a chocolate sheet cake with chocolate layers and icing. For the filling I used Raspberry Buttercream. To make Raspberry Buttercream I strained a jar of good quality raspberry jam to get out all the seeds and then mixed it with regular (not chocolate) buttercream.

This cake is very rich, with about 2 1/2 pounds of butter and about 8 oz. of semi-sweet chocolate in it. And very yummy too.....

LEGO Birthday Cake

2009-09-05T20:22:00.005-04:00

I made this cake for my son's 8th birthday. Since Legos is his favorite toy we had a Lego themed birthday party and had to have a Lego birthday cake as well. I did not like any of the Lego cakes I found pictures of on the internet so I had the idea to put the Lego logo on the cake and my son thought this would be great.

This cake was in several ways different than my previous ones. First, I used homemade fondant for the first time and second, I used artificial food coloring. There was no way that I could have made the logo with natural food coloring. I put the Lego logo on wax paper and lifted it off the cake before I cut it but still lots of kids wanted to have a taste of it and the parents did not mind at all that they were eating the artificial stuff. The artificial colors sure make cake decorating a lot easier. I might just as well stick with it. Just use it sparingly. I am sure my kids will not get sick or die if they have the artificial colors once every few months. At least I hope so....

This cakes had 3 layers of my standard yellow butter cake, made with whole wheat pastry flour.
For the filling I made caramel for the first time and then turned it into whipped caramel cream. I really liked that filling. The icing was a classic buttercream, meaning I used sugar syrup instead of powdered sugar. For the vegetarian fondant I used a recipe I found on the internet and I was very satisfied with the result. Making the LEGO logo was quite time consuming. I think fondant is very similar to play dough in consitency. You can make all kinds of shapes and figures with it. I have seen pictues of cakes decorated with fondant that look like a piece of art, but for me the taste of the cake is more important than the looks. But I will see were fondant will take me... The possibilities are endless...

Not my prettiest cake. I did not have enough time to make it. The birthday boy liked it.

Speaking of the birthday boy - here he is, blowing out the candles. Happy birthday Janardan!

Soccer Ball Ekadasi Birthday Cake

2009-08-05T15:31:00.002-04:00

I made this cake for my son's best friend for his 8th birthday. Since his birthday happened to fall on Ekadasi it had to be a grain-free cake. I used my buckwheat cake batter for the layers and a cream cheese-butter-icing for the frosting. Since I only use natural food coloring I could not make a black soccer ball but who said a soccer could not be orange? Turmeric was used for the orange color and wheat grass juice powder for the green color.

I find it challenging to make cakes in the hot summer weather here in Florida. I had to put the decorating bag in the fridge every so often because the icing was literally melting in my hands. That's why the cake looks a little bit messy.

Independence Day Cake aka 4th of July Flag Cake

2009-07-06T13:10:00.003-04:00

My family was invited to an Independence Day BBQ (vegetarian, of course) party. We were invited kind of last minute and I only had short notice to prepare a dessert I was asked to bring. I immediately thought of making a flag cake since I had seen one a day earlier at the public library here on the cover of a magazine. I did not have the recipe, so I just made one up. I baked a sheet cake and frosted it with cream cheese buttercream icing and whipping cream. The hostess had requested to use spelt flour in the cake batter because her husband is allergic to wheat. I usually use whole wheat pastry flour for cakes but the spelt flour worked great as well.
The blue part is made with blueberries and the red stripes are obviously made with strawberries. Sorry, I do not have time to post the recipe. I have a very active 16 month old and I spend most of my day keeping him out of trouble and cleaning up the mess he constantly makes. He is a very naughty boy, and also very curious and very smart.

Yes, I did put 50 stars and 13 stripes on the cake. I like being authentic....
And I am not even an American, but the rest of my family is.

Basket Weave Birthday Cake

2009-04-15T15:16:00.005-04:00

I made this cake for my favorite girl, my daughter Marisha. This year she wanted roses on her birthday cake and I wanted to experiment with basket weave decorations. I did make the mistake of using butter cream made with butter only, no shortening. I would not recommend it as the icing was literally melting in the decorating bag as I squeezed it. And what to speak of trying to make roses with it. The icing is just too soft and even though I refrigerated it to harden it a bit, it did not stay firm long enough to make nice roses. Next time I surely will remember to make the right kind of icing for roses or other flower decorations. Or at least I hope so...

Top view of the cake

A closer look at the basket weave decoration.

And here she is - the birthday girl. As you probably can tell, she really liked the cake...

Ekadasi Birthday Cake

2009-03-17T08:45:00.004-04:00

My husband's grown-up son came to visit us on his 30th birthday. His birthday happened to fall on Ekadasi, so an ekadasi cake it had to be. I used my banana-buckwheat-batter which gives a nice moist cake layer and used buttercream icing. I usually use cream cheese icing for my ekadasi cake and I have to say it goes better with it than buttercream icing. The only problem is that cream cheese icing is too soft and runny for decorating purposes. Even though it tasted good I will definitely experiment some more with ekadasi cakes. Plus I have to figure out how to make some "guy colors" with natural food coloring. This one was supposed to be blue and red but no matter how much of "blue" and "red" I used, it still only became dark purple and dark pink. Maybe those colors are impossible to achieve with natural colors...

Another Birthday Cake

2009-03-17T08:32:00.002-04:00

I did some more experimenting with natural food colors. I liked this yellow-orange combination. This cake tasted very good. I think I found the perfect combination of cake and icing. Still, it will not stop me from trying some other cake layer recipes....

Nimai's Birthday Cake

2009-02-23T21:55:00.005-05:00

This is my second flower cake which I made for my son's first birthday. I found the perfect recipe for the cake layers and for the butter cream icing I used French butter cream. French butter cream is tricky to make but it tastes so much better and has a very nice silky texture. It is made with a sugar syrup and all butter, no shortening. For the colored decorations I used the "American" butter cream made with organic non-hydrogenated shortening, butter and powdered sugar. And the food coloring is all-natural again, of course. I need some more practice in the writing department though. But all in all I was very pleased with the result and everyone who tasted the cake liked it a lot.

Marisha did not think that pink roses very appropriate for a boy but I am sure he did not mind at all. He did take a few bites of the cake but otherwise he probably had no idea what this was all about.

And here he is: The birthday boy. My miracle baby who had a true knot in his umbilical cord and for several reasons caused me to have a lot of anxiety in pregnancy. Now he is already one year old and a happy camper. Where did the time go? Didn't I just have him yesterday?

Birthday Cake Experiment

2009-02-23T20:52:00.003-05:00

I always admire well decorate cakes and I always wanted to know how to make those nice roses. And since there are several birthdays coming up this spring I thought I better get some more cake decorating skills. I am not very artistic. I can't draw a nice picture or paint, or sing, or do anything else that is considered an art. Still, I was determined to make some nice cakes this spring. Not that I have never decorated cakes before. I always bake my families birthday cakes and on a few occasions I have baked a cake for friends.

What makes it somewhat challenging though is the fact, that I only use all-natural ingredients and never use artificial food coloring. I have tried the SEELECT brand of natural food coloring before but did not like the fact that it was too liquid. For example, the color blue is blueberry juice concentrate. It made the icing too thin and runny. So I searched the Internet for a better solution and I think I found one. The India Tree brand worked just fine for me although you can only mix pastel colors which I like better than the strong colors you find on decorated cakes in the grocery store. India Tree's Natural Decorating Colors come in a set of three colors: yellow (turmeric), red (beet juice) and blue (red cabbage). If you want any other colors you will have to mix them yourself, and there is were the fun part starts.

I had trouble getting a nice green color. I just could not get a nice green and so my husband suggested that I use some wheat juice powder instead of the India Tree colors and I tried this on my next cake and it worked a lot better. I suppose one could also use spinach powder.

Now my next challenge was the icing. I knew that I probably could not make the roses without using shortening and shortening I did not want to use. I never bake with it. In fact, I never buy it. So one day I was walking the isles at Mother Earth Market and I saw a container of shortening. I was curious about it because I did not think shortening would be sold in a health food store, after all, it is not a healthy food. But is said "organic" on it. So it could not be so bad after all. And what really caught my eye was the word "non-hydrogenated" on the container. Wow, I did not know that such a thing existed. It is made from palm oil, has 0 grams trans fat and less saturated fat than butter. Not that I am going to use it instead of butter from now on, but to use it every now and than for those lovely roses on a cake should be okay.

The above cake was my first experiment. I was not totally satisfied with it. I thought the roses came out good considering it was my very first attempt making them. I did not like the grainy-ness of the icing though. I made powdered-sugar-half-butter-half-shortening icing for the entire cake and it was way too sweet for my taste.

Here is a slice of the cake. The filling was some strawberry jam and whipping cream. The cake layer was okay but I was going to try another one next time. Marisha loved the roses. She did not want to eat them because they looked too good according to her. Only after I promised to make some more did she eat her roses. Well, and since I had to keep my promise I made some more a few days later...

Apple Pudding Cake

2009-01-31T23:03:00.003-05:00

The recipe for this cake is from "The Book of Eggfree Cakes" by Cintia Stammers. My husband was one of the editors of this book. As usual, I made my own version of the cake. First of all I used freshly ground whole wheat pastry flour and Sucanat instead of white flour and white sugar. Secondly I used arrowroot starch instead of cornstarch for the filling but I think I will go back to using cornstarch. I do not like the mouthfeel of arrowroot starch.

As you can see the cake looks more like a pie, just does not have the shape of a pie. The crust is also not as rich and flaky as pie crust. The filling is similar to pudding, hence the name Pudding Cake. First I cooked the apples till they were soft, then mashed them, added some spices, some Sucanat and the arrowroot starch and cooked it till it was thickend. Then I poured it in the pre-baked crust and baked it some more. When the cake was thoroughly chilled I topped it with wipping cream and sliced almonds. It is a very light cake and not at all filling.

One slice is never enough. I always have at least two or three.

And now you know why I still haven't lost all my baby fat...

My Version of Cheesecake

2009-01-31T22:35:00.003-05:00

I am not a fan of rich cheesecakes. Mine is a cross between Austrian Cheesecake (called Topfentorte) and the American Cheesecake. Austrians use topfen for cheesecake, which is a lot less rich. Topfen is made from either whole milk or low fat milk. I usually make mine with whole milk. For this particular cheesecake I used 16 oz of topfen and 8 oz of regular cream cheese. I like to serve it with a fruit sauce. I like to use fruit in season and strawberries are in season right now in Florida.

Next time I make topfen I will take some pictures and post them here on my blog and I will
explain how to make it. I do not know if anyone is interested in it. I am sure there is already a lot of info on this topic on the Internet. Actually, I just did a search on how to make topfen and there is not really much out there, at least not in English. I guess I should do it. Stay tuned .... I can't promise though that it will be any time soon unless someone volunteers to watch the kids, clean the house, do my taxes, wash and iron the laundry, ....

Cherry Cheese Strudel (Kirschen-Topfen-Strudel)

2009-01-11T12:35:00.025-05:00

Yesterday I made cherry cheese strudel. Strudel is a typical Austrian pastry. It consists of thin, parchment-like layers of dough which are wrapped around a filling, e.g. apple, cheese, and fruits like grapes, sweet or sour cherries. It can be savory as well, e.g. spinach or cabbage strudel.

Here is what Wikipedia has to say about strudel:

A strudel is a type of sweet layered pastry with a filling inside, that became well known and gained popularity in the 18th century through the Habsburg Empire.

Strudel is most often associated with the Austrian cuisine, but is also a traditional pastry in the whole area formerly belonging to the Austro-Hungarian empire.

The oldest Strudel recipe is from 1696, a handwritten recipe at the Viennese City Library, Wiener Stadtbibliothek. The pastry probably has its origins in the similar Byzantine Empire or Middle Eastern pastries (see baklava and Turkish cuisine), thus it is even related to the Balkan burek pastry.

The word itself derives from the German word Strudel, which in Middle High German literally means "whirlpool" or "eddy".^[1]

In Hungary it is known as Rétes, in Slovenia as štrudelj, in Czech Republic as závin or štrúdl, in Romania as ştrudel, in Croatia as štrudla or savijača and Slovakia as štrúdľa or závin). It is very popular in Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as other ex-Yugoslav republics.

I apologize to all the people who have come to my blog looking for a strudel recipe and I did not find one here. After getting numerous requests to post the recipe I have finally come around to do it. I usually try different recipes and stick with the one that works for me. So my recipe is actually a combination of recipes I have found in baking books. This one works for me but I have to tell you that I always weigh my ingredients and I cannot guarantee that the conversion to cups and ounces will work for you.

Recipe:

For the dough:

1 1/3 cups unbleached flour

1/8 tsp. salt

7 Tbs. water, plus more if needed

2 Tbs. vegetable oil, plus additional for coating the dough

1/2 tsp. cider vinegar

Put all ingredients into a bowl and mix to form a soft dough. Knead dough till it is smooth and feels like the lobe of your ear. I usually slap the dough onto the work surface a few times while kneading. Gather the dough into a ball and place it on a lightly oiled plate. Put a little oil on top of the dough and cover with stretch foil.

For the Sour Cherry Filling:

7 Tbs. sugar

1 Tbs. cornstarch

12 ounces fresh sour cherries, can us canned ones as well

1/8 tsp. almond extract

In a small saucepan stir together sugar, cornstarch, salt and cherries. Let sit for a few minutes so that the cherries start exuding their juices. Cook on medium heat, bringing the mixture to a boil. Don't forget to stir. When the juice has thickened it is ready. Set aside to cool.

For the Cream Cheese Filling:

12 ounces (1 1/2 packages) of cream cheese, can use low fat

1/2 cup of sugar

2 large egg yolks (mine is vegetarian, I use egg substitute)

pinch of salt

2 tsp. grated lemon zest

2 tsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice

1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

1/2 cup sour creme

1 Tbs. cornstarch

With hand or stand mixer beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Add egg yolks or substitute and beat again. Don't forget to scrape the sides of the bowl. Add salt, lemon zest and juice, and vanilla and beat until incorporated. Lastly, beat in sour cream and cornstarch until blended. Cover and refrigerate.

Bake strudel at 350 F on upper rack for about 40 to 50 minutes or until filling is set and dough is nicely golden brown. Do not eat right away. Let the finished strudel cool for about 30 minutes to 1 hour before eating. I like to dust mine with powdered sugar.

Strudel dough is very similar to filo dough which is used for making Baklava.

I'll show you how I made my cherry cheese strudel. Keep on reading...

First I make the strudel dough. This is about the only thing I bake that is not made with whole wheat flour. I use King Arthur all-purpose flour. The dough needs do be brushed with oil and wrapped tightly in plastic wrap. It needs to rest for at least 30 minutes. Mine probably rested for at least one hour.

While the dough is resting, I prepare my filling. In Austria quark is used for cheese strudel. Quark is called Topfen in Austria. Quark is what it is called in Germany. Even though both countries speak German, some things have different names in Austria. Like carrots are called Moehren in Germany, and Karotten in Austria. But this post is not about the differences in the German language so I will not elaborate further on this topic.

American cheese strudel recipes usually call for cream cheese instead of topfen. I use a mixture of cream cheese and topfen, sour cream, sugar, corn starch, vanilla extract, lemon flavor, and lemon juice.

This is the cherry filling before I cooked it. I used sour cherries from a jar, added some sugar and cornstarch plus a few drops of almond extract. Then I cooked it till it thickened nicely.

I use my dinning room table to stretch the dough. I use a big sheet to cover the table. The sheet is dusted with flour to prevent the dough from sticking. I put the dough in the middle, dust it with flour and roll it out with a rolling pin as far as it will go, which usually is about 20 inches in diameter. Then the fun part starts....

STRETCHING! I lift the dough up and gently stretch the dough with the back of my hands.

See how thin it is getting! You can easily see my hand through the dough. The rule of thumb is that it should be so thin that you can read a newspaper through it. While I have never tried that I think it might be possible. I just go by feel. When I am afraid that it might tear if I stretch it any further, I stop.

When the strudel gets to big I put it on the table and walk around the table, stretching each side as far as it goes.

Then I do the borders/edges. Professional bakers just trim the thick edges off and discard them. My kids love the strudel ends, so I leave them on. Trying to stretch those borders usually causes the dough to tear a little bit. Small holes are okay, especially on the edge. It would be a problem though to have a hole in the middle of the dough, especially a big one. That never happened to me, even when I made it for the first time. The secret is the right dough consistency. And of course, practice makes perfect.

All done stretching. As you can see, the dough almost covers the whole table. You can also see that I have a fairly large hole on the bottom right hand corner of the table. It happened when I stretched the dough over the corner. This hole is not a problem as it is on the edge. The dough is hanging off the the table edges. Now one has to work quickly or the dough will dry out in a matter of minutes and be like dried up filo dough.

Next I brush the entire surface of the dough with ghee. One could use butter as well. Ghee seems to give nicer layers though.

Put the filling on the short side of the dough, near the edge and fold the edge of the dough over the filling and start rolling, at first just a couple of turns.

Then I fold over the edges on the long side. This will prevent the filling from leaking out. Usually my edge is not as wide as this one. Brush the edge with ghee, since it used to be the underside of the dough which did not have any ghee brushed on yet. Then keep on rolling till the strudel is all rolled up.

Voila! All done.

Transfer the strudel to a baking sheet and brush it with ghee and bake.

And this is how it looks when it is all done. See the layers separating on the top of the strudel. Traditionally strudel is dusted with powdered sugar in Austria.

And this is the guy who asked me over and over again to make him cherry cheese strudel, his favorite. I did not make just one, but two. Actually, I always make two strudel when I make strudel. We had it for dinner and when we were all done, only one piece was left! I asked Janardan to rate the strudel and he gave me a million thumbs up. In reality he only has two though, as you can see.

Now Marisha wants me to make Apfelstrudel (apple strudel) next, her favorite. Since my husband will not be able to babysit Nimai till the end of this semester in school, it probably will not happen soon. Sorry, Marisha!

And this is what else I baked yesterday: Five loaves of unyeasted sourdough bread. Three are sunflower-sesame seed loaves, one just plain and one cinnamon raisin. No, we are not going to eat it all. Most of them are for my customers. We only started to eat the cinnamon raisin and I am not quite satisfied with it. Needs more sweetness and more cinnamon. There is always room for improvement.

And today I am taking the day off baking... Even a baker needs a break sometimes.....

Sourdough Sandwich Loaves - NO yeast

2008-12-30T22:56:00.003-05:00

The one on the left has sunflower seeds in it and sesame seeds on the outside. The other one is just plain.

For people who do not want to eat yeast for whatever reason, here is a bread or two for you. Now, if you want me to bake a loaf for you, you would have to let me know three days ahead. Why? Let me explain....

This is how long it takes to make this bread. In order to have a strong sourdough culture I start out with only one tablespoon of sourdough culture per loaf. I double the volume by adding one tablespoon of flour and 1/2 tablespoon of water and let it sit for 12 hours at room temperature. I continue doubling the culture three more times in 12 hour intervals before it is ready to be mixed with the final ingredients. In other words, it takes 48 hours till I have enough culture to bake a loaf of bread. After mixing and kneading the dough it takes about four to six hours till the first rise is done and the bread dough is nicely risen. I then form a loaf and let it rise again which could take between 2 and 3 hours. It takes an hour to bake and ideally the bread should be cooled completely before slicing it.

I think it may not take as long in the summer when it is hot outside and usually also inside my house. I will also try to see if I can cut the culture fermenting time in half and still get the same result. I like to experiment but the down side is that I might end up with more bread to eat than my family can handle and my freezer is already full with "experimental" bread. Maybe I should open my front door and shout, "Anybody hungry?" like in Vedic times, you know....

Bohemian Sourdough Rye Bread (NO yeast)

2008-12-30T22:40:00.003-05:00

This bread is about half wheat half rye flour and was made without yeast. By the time I found a minute to take this picture, the bread was already several days old, but still tasted great. The advantage of using sourdough over yeast is that sourdough bread is a good keeper. It does not dry out as fast as yeasted bread and the addition of rye flour helped in this regard as well. Actually, we had the last slice of this bread today for dinner with our soup and although the bread was already 10 days old, it still tasted good, just a little bit on the dry side. Even though I baked it as a free form loaf it did not flatten when I turned it out onto the baking sheet from the proofing basket. I am starting to like unyeasted sourdough bread so much that I might just not bake yeasted bread any more, at least not for my family...

When it comes to the people I bake for, they mostly prefer a square loaf of nicely risen yeast bread and I do not blame them. After all, this is what most of them grew up eating. And I am happy baking it for them. After all, the customer is king.... or queen....

Viennese Chocolate Sables

2008-12-30T22:04:00.003-05:00

I never knew these "Viennese" cookies existed until I found the recipe for them on the Internet. I thought I give it a try but the result was rather disappointing. First, I am not good a piping and this was actually the first piped cookie for me. The real problem is not how they look but rather how flat they were when they came out of the oven, and crumbly when handled. They literally fell apart when I picked them up even after they had thoroughly cooled. This cookie is a good example to demonstrate the challenges of whole grain baking using recipes that call for white flour. I prefer recipes that list the ingredients by weight and not by cups. Generally Austrian recipes only list the ingredients by weight, in grams to be exact, except for teaspoons and tablespoons of ingredients. This makes it a lot easier for me, as I just replace the white flour with an equal amount of whole wheat flour. It usually works very well. I do have a problem with American measurements, not the ones in pounds and ounces, of course, but when a recipe calls for 1 3/4 cups of flour, for example. I guess when using white flour it probably is not an issue, but I grind my whole wheat flour fresh, which means it has not "settled" and compacted yet. Sometimes I end up using double the amount of freshly ground flour. I am mostly guessing what I think should be the right amount. Often I get clues from the recipe. If it says that the batter should be POURED into the cake pan I know that the batter has to be pouring consistency. Still kind of ambiguous though. Pouring consistency could mean very thin batter or rather thick, but still pouring consistency.

I like baking books written by professional bakers as they often give the weight of ingredients as well. I am told that this is how they do it - by weight - and I totally understand why.

Now I thought the smart thing to do is to figure out how much weight is listed under one cup of flour in those professional baking books. Well, turns out that those professional bakers do not seem to agree on a specific number. Some say it is 125 grams, others it is 135 grams and I even saw 150 grams for one cup of flour, usually all-purpose. It did help somewhat but I still have to guess ... somewhat...

Now back to the Viennese Chocolate Sables. I obviously did not use enough flour for these. And who knows what else I did wrong...

I do not think that I will make them again. I did not really like how they tasted. Instead I will get some ideas for my next Christmas baking from my sister in Austria who makes the most beautiful cookies I have been told. She uses white flour, food coloring, eggs and who knows what, of course, but at least her recipes will be in grams! Hallelujah!

Quarkstollenkonfekt (Quarkstollen Bites)

2008-12-16T22:03:00.004-05:00

I made these today. They are similar to the Stollen Bites I made 2 weeks ago. The difference is the addition of quark, which is an Austrian fresh cheese similar to cottage cheese. Quark is hard to find here in the States. I make my own. Austrians like their quark. They use it a lot in baking and even make cheesecake out of it or quark strudel. The other difference between these quark stollen bites and the regular stollen bites is that these are risen with baking powder whereas the other ones have yeast in them. I used to make a big stollen every year, the size of a regular loaf of bread. It always turned out to be too crumbly. I was delighted when I found the recipe for these on the internet because they taste better. Each of the bites is rolled in butter or ghee and then covered with powdered sugar. Every bite is loaded with raisins, chopped almonds and candied orange and lemon peel. For spice I used cinnamon. This is the kind of "cookie" that tastes better with age, like the other cookie I baked today, Honeycake squares (Lebkuchen). I usually start my holiday baking them. Since I ran out of them and have some orders to fill I baked some more today.

My husband has the next 3 days off work and I will hand him the baby and bake as many cookies as I can till Sunday which is the last day I will be selling them at the temple. It will be your last chance to buy them. I won't bake them again until next Christmas. But maybe you do not mind waiting that long...

I guarentee you, they taste yummy!

Spitzbuben (Little Rascals)

2008-12-12T16:38:00.002-05:00

I am still baking every day and hope someone will buy all the goodies. I made these yesterday. They have a funny name, don't they? I used a star cutter for variation. These sandwich cookies are filled with apricot or red currant jam. The dough is a rich cookie dough without nuts. Another cookie that is a labor of love. I do not mind it though. I could bake whole day and would never get tired of it...

Whole Wheat Sourdough Bread - no yeast!

2008-12-12T16:16:00.004-05:00

Last Sunday a young couple came to my table at the temple and asked me if I also make sourdough bread, the kind that does not have any yeast in it. For some reason they do not like to eat anything with yeast in it. While I have made sourdough bread many times before, I only tried it a few times without any yeast in it. It turned out to be a brick, very dense and chewy. I did not like it, so I gave up on it. I did tell this lovely couple though that I would make them a loaf without adding yeast, but warned them that the bread would be on the dense "side." It was fine with them as they do not like the fluffy bread anyways. The next day I did some research on the Internet to find a method to make good sourdough bread that is not too dense. Then it dawned on me that I never tried to make whole wheat sourdough bread, I always make it with mostly rye flour. Since I like to experiment I converted my rye sourdough to a whole wheat one and got to work. It bubbled away happily and I had a feeling that the bread would come out great, and it did! Not dense at all and the taste was phenomenal. I could have eaten the bread all at once, if my stomach could have fit it all.

I was so happy with the result, I called the couple to let them know that I figured out how to make "fluffy" sourdough bread. They were less than enthusiastic. Apparently they really DID want the bread to be on the dense side. They dislike the fluffy American style bread. Oh well, I can make you a brick if you want, but as far as I am concerned, I prefer the "fluffy" version...

I think I will be selling my "fluffy" unyeasted sourdough bread this Sunday. Let's see who else likes it "fluffy" ...

Need a gift? Order a cookie tin filled with my cookies!

2008-12-10T20:19:00.005-05:00

I will be selling my cookies in cookie tins and bags at the temple on Sundays till Christmas. These cookies make the perfect gift for your family, friends, co-workers, even your boss! I only bake these cookies at Christmas time and if you just want to try some, I will have them also available in smaller bags. I prefer to put them in cookie tins though, not because I make more money that way (which, by the way, is not at all the case), just because these cookies are so rich and delicate, they usually do not hold up well in a bag. If you do not handle your bag of cookies with care you might end up with cookie crumbs. Then you'll have to eat them yourself instead of giving them as a gift. Or maybe you will want to buy them in a bag so that you have an excuse for having to eat cookies even though you are on a diet. But who is on a diet at Christmas time anyways....

Actually, bags are okay if you are buying them for yourself or just want to see how they taste before you buy a whole tin. Just be sure to handle your bag of cookies with care...

Here is a list of ingredients for my cookies:

Varacita's Cookie Assortment

Ingredients: freshly ground organic whole wheat pastry flour or spelt flour, organic evaporated cane juice, butter, freshly ground or chopped almonds, hazelnuts and walnuts, dried fruits, pure extracts, spices, powdered sugar, dark and semi-sweet chocolate, candied unsulphured orange and lemon peel, apricot, strawberry and raspberry jam, whey protein powder, organic milk, cream cheese, pistachio nuts, cornstarch, baking powder, sea salt

Linzer Kekse (Linzer Cookies)

2008-12-06T21:56:00.005-05:00

These cookies are one of my favorite. I made them with almonds but hazelnuts could also be used. It is a delicate cookie. I usually use either strawberry or apricot jam to sandwich them. Pictured are candy cane cut-outs and strawberry jam filling. These are really a labor of love because it is quite time consuming to make them. The dough is so buttery and sticky, it needs to be refrigerated for several hours in order to be able to roll it out and then one has to refrigerate the scraps again. Not to speak of rolling the dough out and making the cut-outs. But they sure look pretty and taste good too!

Christmas star cut-out and apricot jam filling.

It is hard to tell what this cut-out is supposed to be. Well, most of them are up side down. Can you guess?

A bell.

Kardamon Spritz Kekse (Cardamon Spritz Cookies)

2008-12-05T16:20:00.002-05:00

This cookies are made using a cookie press. These one do not have any cream cheese in them. I did add some cardamon though. I like them plain and I think I will make a batch of plain ones. These are sandwiched with strawberry jam and glazed with chocolate.

Pfeffernuesse (Peppernuts)

2008-12-05T16:12:00.002-05:00

Yes, these do have pepper in it! The first batch I made came out on the mild side. My husband challenged me to make them taste "spicier". So I quadrupled the amount of spices (ground ginger, cardamon, cloves and pepper). He liked the new version and maybe you will too. They also have cinnamon, ground almonds and candied lemon peel in them. No butter at all. This is a traditional Austrian Christmas cookie. They are usually on the hard side but I made the dough extra soft and they are not hard at all.

Nussecken (Nut Triangles)

2008-12-05T15:36:00.003-05:00

Another cookie for hazelnut lovers! This triangles are made with a layer of tart dough which is brushed with apricot jam and topped with a filling of chopped and ground hazelnuts which were "cooked" in butter and sugar. Traditionally only the corners are glazed with chocolate. I find that this is unpractical because being a delicate cookie the corners always break off when I dip them in the chocolate. The chocolate glaze turned out to be a bit messy. If I had more time I'd make them look prettier. Maybe next year....

Hasselnusstaler (Hazelnut Cookie)

2008-12-05T15:30:00.003-05:00

This is a cookie for hazelnut lovers! It is loaded with hazelnuts and has a whole hazelnut in the middle. Hazelnuts are very expensive. $10 a pound at Ward's, which makes this cookie an expensive one. I happen to like hazelnuts. They used to grow wild in the fields near the village I was growing up. As kids my friends and I liked to pick the hazelnuts but I do not remember eating the ones we picked. I guess we just played with them. My mom always got them at the store and they are expensive even in Austria.

Kitchen Gadgets

2008-12-05T12:23:00.008-05:00

This is my grain mill. A $500 Wolfgang mill which produces stone-ground flour. In the old days they used granite or other stones for grain mills. This one has a ceramic-corundum millstone and was made in Germany. It is a small mill but does a great job. I have owned this mill for about six years now. It is supposed to be quiet for a grain mill, but I have missed several calls because the mill was running and I did not hear the phone ring.

Now I could tell you a lot about grain mills, but you can get the info somewhere else on the internet. Most grain mills (the cheaper ones) do not really "grind" the flour, they pulverize it. They are called impact grinders. And then there are burr grinders.....

I prefer stone-ground flour.

I have owned this stand mixer for about 6 years as well. I do not think it will last another six. I have worked it too much. These machines are not designed for whole wheat dough. I think the gears are all worn. When this one dies, I'd like to get a Kitchenaid Professional Stand Mixer. I better start saving up some money already...

I bought this machine a few months ago thanks to a small inheritance I got after my dad passed away. I use it mostly for making bread, but it will work for cookies as well. It came with a free blender attachment. It works best with larger batches of dough, like three or four loaves of bread or a double batch of cookies. If you are into making whole wheat bread and do not want to knead it by hand, than this is the machine to get. Made in Germany = quality product. One can purchase all kinds of attachments for this machine. I only own the blender and a small food processor attachment.

Now, this machine is the reason why I bought the Bosch machine. This one is called Electrolux Assistant and has caused me a lot of frustration in the past. I never could figure out how to get the machine to knead dough properly. Using this machine involves a BIG learning curve. After three years of frustration, I finally gave up and purchased the Bosch. Guess what? A few weeks ago I finally found the right tip on the internet and now know how to use this machine properly. It simulates the hand kneading action beautifully and the dough comes out very smooth and elastic. It also works on smaller batches. This machine comes with a whole line of attachments and the ones I own is the nut grinder and shredder attachment. A big plus is the big (and heavy!) stainless steel bowl. Still, I do not really recommend you buy this machine, unless you do not mind getting frustrated. Or you could come to my house and see a demonstration. Hey, that's not a bad idea. I wish I could have done that....

Mommy's Big Helper

2008-12-03T21:27:00.004-05:00

Sometimes I do get some real help. Marisha wanted to have her picture posted on this blog, so I told her that she would have to help me bake. Actually, she is always very eager to help, but sometimes I'd rather be left alone baking. I can get more done that way. But then I do remember how much I enjoyed helping my mom bake. That's why I decided that Marisha is old enough now to help me bake and be my "business partner". Being a smart girl she sure is a great asset, don't you think? And I hope I won't hear, "Mom, I am bored." anymore. She always needs to be challenged and that's a challenge for me...

Marisha, rolling the Stollen Bites in powdered sugar. She did a very good job!
She wants to be a teacher though, not a baker...

Mommy's Little Helper

2008-12-03T21:08:00.004-05:00

How come I have all this time to bake all these cookies?
Well, you see, I have a little helper. Here he is:

Nimai, a future scientist ... or maybe just a baker like mommy...

He is not any real help per se, he is helping me by keeping himself busy clanging pots and pans together or playing with the beaters of the mixer. When I turn on the mixer he always wants to be picked up to see the mixer arm turning, or the grinding of the nuts into nut meal, or the grain mill turning wheat into flour. He is so curious. I call him curious George.

And then there is the time he takes a nap, usually only a short one, but still a nap. As soon as he is asleep, I turn on my mixer and start baking. He usually wakes up well before I am done though. I guess he does not want to miss out on the action...

Eisenbahnschienen (Railroad Tracks)

2008-11-29T22:25:00.002-05:00

I used mixed berry jam for these. They do not have nuts in it but still taste good according to my kids.

Husarenkrapfen (Hussars)

2008-11-29T22:10:00.005-05:00

I have no idea why these cookies have a military name but they sure taste good. Another cookie with nuts in it, this time it is walnuts. I think it is very similar to the American Thumbprint cookie.

Ischler Toertchen (Ischler Tartlets)

2008-11-29T22:03:00.002-05:00

This is a very delicate cookie, rich with butter and ground almonds, and sandwiched with raspberry jam and topped with a chocolate glaze and chopped pistachio nuts. Needless to say that they are a lot of work...

Don't they look yummy?

Schokoladen-Orangen-Kipferl (Chocolate-Orange-Crescents)

2008-11-29T22:00:00.001-05:00

These crescents also have some chocolate and orange oil added and have a chocolate glaze.

Vanillekipfer mit Schokolade (Vanilla Crescents with Chocolate)

2008-11-29T21:58:00.001-05:00

Another crescent, similar to vanilla crescents, just has some chocolate added and is less buttery.

Vanillekipferl (Vanilla Crescents)

2008-11-29T21:55:00.002-05:00

These rich crescents are made with ground almonds and lots of butter and dusted with powdered sugar. They are very delicate and easily break apart. Probably every baker in Austria bakes these for Christmas.

Lebkuchen (Honey Cake Squares)

2008-11-29T21:48:00.003-05:00

Another traditional Austrian Christmas "cookie". This is an unusual version of Lebkuchen: An iced sheet cake cut into bite-sized squares made with two layers of Lebkuchen sandwiched with a fruity apricot/raisin/almond filling which keeps it moist. It keeps for months if stored cool. This is my husband's favorite.

Heavenly Stollen Bites

2008-11-29T21:40:00.005-05:00

Stollen is a traditional sweet Christmas bread in Germany and Austria. These "Mini-Stollen" are even better than the big bread. These bite size pieces are loaded with raisins, candied orange and lemon peel, and almonds. The yeast dough does not rise very much because it is so heavy. All my taste testers, which are usually family members, liked them. It is probably my favorite.

Hausfreunde (Friends of the Family)

2008-11-29T21:35:00.002-05:00

These cookies have a funny name but taste really good. They are loaded with raisins, hazelnuts, and dark chocolate. Yum, yum.

Cream Cheese Spritz Cookies

2008-11-29T21:28:00.003-05:00

These cookies are made using a cookie press. The dough has cream cheese added to it and they are quite rich. It is actually two cookies sandwiched with jam (either strawberry or raspberry) and they have a chocolate glaze. Janardan loves these! Well, anything with chocolate will do for him.

Two Kinds of Sourdough Rye Breads

2008-11-29T21:05:00.006-05:00

This one is called Swedish Limpa Rye Bread. It was made with a rye sourdough starter, but also contains yeast. Molasses gives it a nice dark color and it has some interesting spices in it as well - cardamon, fennel and anise seeds plus orange oil. One cannot really taste it that much in the bread. I baked this bread directly on a pizza stone with steam which gives it a rustic look and a thick and chewy crust. If you have good teeth and love rye bread, then this one or the next one would be perfect for you. I grew up on rye bread and love it, unfortunately I do not have good teeth....

This is another take on the 50% rye bread made with rye sourdough starter. Again, thick and chewy crust with a moist interior. This one only has caraway and anise seeds in it. The good thing about rye bread is that it keeps a long time.

Speaking of rye sourdough - here it is, bubbling away. This one is ready to be used in bread baking.

German-style Many Seed Bread

2008-11-29T20:51:00.003-05:00

This is my second favorite bread. It has pumpkin, sesame, sunflower and flax seeds in it, hence the name "Many Seed Bread". It is more on the dense and chewy side, but it tastes great. If you love seeds, you would definitely love this bread!

All the ingredients in my Bosch mixer, ready to be kneaded. When the mixer is done kneading, I usually always knead my bread dough by hand for about five minutes to make sure it has proper gluten development - and to get a little bit of a workout since I do not have time for that otherwise.

Sprouted Wheat Bread Again

2008-11-29T20:44:00.003-05:00

This one was made with half the vital wheat gluten of the original recipe. Taste was the same but it was a little bit too sticky and moist for me. I think I will go back to the original recipe. I am getting addicted to this bread. Yeah, it is that good!

As you can probably tell from this bread - I love sesame seeds....

No Gluten = Brick

2008-11-23T19:26:00.005-05:00

Here is my newest experiment: 100% Sprouted Wheat Bread without the addition of gluten.

As you can see from the picture it turned out to look like a brick and was rather dense.

It did taste very good though, just like the one made with the gluten, just less gummy. Not that gummy is necessarily a bad thing, it is a matter of preference. My husband said that he likes them both. The sprouting process brings out the natural sweetness of the grain. One loaf only has 1 Tbs. of organic agave nectar in it, yet it tastes subtly sweet. I ate it with cheese but one could eat it with butter and jam as well. In my opinion it tastes a lot better than the sprouted grain breads you can buy at Ward's. Those do not taste fresh to me. My loaf tastes just as good two days old. It is naturally moist and does not dry out much.

The bread sliced up.

Now that I have two versions of this bread, guess what? I will try a third one! This time it will be an in-between bread, meaning, I will add some gluten but not as much as the recipe calls for. I will experiment till I get it right. I am stubborn....

100% Sprouted Grain Bread

2008-11-19T11:35:00.003-05:00

Yes, you can make it too. It is easy but quite messy and it takes time...
Here are the sprouts, ready to be mashed. I used my Green Power twin gear juicer which mashed the sprouts really nicely. A food processor will do the job too, but you will not end up with the same dough consistency.

Then you add some salt, yeast and sweetener (I used organic agave nectar) and probably some water and vital wheat gluten (optional) and start kneading. This is were the fun starts.

I added the gluten and put it through the juicer together with the sprouts and ended up with a glue paste. I will never make this mistake again. I had to put the dough in the food processor to cut it up to be able to work with it.

Knead. Let it rise in a pan. Bake. That's it. Simple, isn't it? Well, actually not quite. Try it and you will find out. ;-)

Here is the finished loaf. The loaf was light and airy. I will omit the gluten next time and hope it will not come out too dense. I am already sprouting some more grain for my next batch...

100% Whole Wheat Cinnamon Raisin Bread

2008-11-19T08:51:00.006-05:00

Two days ago I made this bread. It tasted sooooo good that I ate just about half of it right away. My kids loved it as well. I spread it with butter and jam and it tasted better than cake. I am not a fan of rich baked goods and I would choose this bread over cakes or cookies any time. It had the perfect combination of cinnamon, raisins and walnuts, not too much, not too little.

The night before I made a biga. This picture is very poor, sorry. A biga is a pre-ferment which I put in the fridge over night to develop flavor. In this case it is made of flour, milk, safflower oil and a tiny bit of yeast.
Here is what Wikipedia has to say about biga:
Biga is a type of pre-ferment used in Italian baking. Many popular Italian breads, including ciabatta, are made using a biga. Using a biga adds complexity to the bread's flavor and is often used in breads which need a light, open texture with holes. Apart from adding to flavor and texture, a biga also helps to preserve bread by making it less perishable.

Guess what this is? Another biga? No. It is called a soaker; does not have any yeast in it and does not go in the fridge over night. I kept it at room temp. over night. It is made of flour, salt, milk and raisins.

Bread in the pan for the rise.... And rise it did beautifully.

What is a Konditorei?

2008-11-17T08:31:00.012-05:00

I suppose you might ask this question.

This is what Wikipedia says about Konditorei:
Konditorei is the German word for a confectionery shop. A Konditorei is like a little café and it normally has a wide variety of pastries on offer. In Germany and Austria it is a very popular custom to go to a Konditorei to have a cake and some tea or coffee mid-afternoon. Cakes vary from creamy cakes to apple strudel.

I would call it a pastry shop which usually also is a small cafe. They do sell confections at a Konditorei, but the focus is more on pastries and cakes.

I think I do not have to explain what a bakery is. But maybe I should show you what an Austrian bakery sells. If it is just a bakery, only bread, rolls, and similar items are sold.

This pictures shows what is typically sold in an Austrian bakery. Most breads are rustic and Austrians actually do not eat much of the fluffy kind of bread that comes in a bag from the supermarket, if at all. Austrians also like Sourdough Rye Bread. I guess it is because they grow a lot of rye since it is easier to grow in Austria's colder climate.

Back when I was still living in Austria (about 13 years ago) there were still some small bakeries selling just what you see in the picture. These bakeries were usually handed down from one generation to the next. Since only bread and alike is sold there, they are fast disappearing. Most bakeries are a combination of a bakery and a pastry shop (Konditorei) and also a small cafe. You can sit down at small tables, sip your coffee or tea, have a piece of pastry to eat and read the newspaper, or meet a friend for Kaffeeklatsch, which is an informal social gathering for coffee and conversation, or gossip....

This pictures show what is typically sold at a Konditorei. Here you can see all kinds of Danish on the top and fruit slices in the middle and on the bottom of the picture.

Oh yes, and cookies, of course. Austrians bake cookies that are more fancy than the American drop cookie and usually more labor intensive. Nuts are a main ingredient in a lot of cookies, especially almonds and hazelnuts.

And cakes, of course. Most Americans are familiar with the famous Austrian Sacher Torte. But as you can see in this picture, there are a lot of other cakes sold as well.

This is a typical shop that is a bakery (Baeckerei) and pastry shop (Konditorei) all in one store.

Since I bake bread and pastries as well as cakes, I call my kitchen a Bakery & Konditorei with hopes that I will actually be able to open a real one some day....

Whole Grain Sourdough Rye Bread

2008-11-14T19:55:00.007-05:00

I made two kinds of Sourdough Rye Bread to find out which one would taste better. This one is a 50% Rye Hearth Bread which I baked on a pizza stone to give it a rustic look. Though it tasted excellent, I still would like to improve the texture of the bread. It is, like pretty much everything else I bake, 100% whole grain and that makes it a little dense. It is a big improvement over other rye breads I made before though.

This is my second version of rye bread and is called Three-Stage 70 Percent Sourdough Rye. Here you see the loaves rising on a cookies sheet. I used the Detmolder Method of Rye Bread Production which builds the sourdough slowly over 2 days to make the culture strong and healthy. This method is supposedly used by professional bakers in Austria and Germany and I must say that when I tasted the bread it immediately reminded me of my childhood. It tasted exactly like the rye bread I used to eat as a child in Austria.

The two breads in comparison. On top the "Austrian" Rye Bread and on the bottom the 50% Rye Hearth Bread. I am still not totally satisfied with the results, so back in the kitchen I will go and try to improve the recipe.

Cupcake

2008-11-14T19:40:00.002-05:00

I made this cupcake for Prabhupada's Appearance Day. It is a basic Vanilla Cupcake with professional Buttercream Icing and toasted sliced almonds. This is the first time I made this particular icing. I had to make a sugar syrup first, whip it into my egg substitute and then add the butter. I must say that this icing was way too rich for me. It tasted too much like eating a stick of butter. Maybe when using a real egg it would come out different. Since I do not have that option, I'll probably never find out....

OREO Birthday Cake

2008-11-01T09:54:00.005-04:00

Since the local cake lady is out of town I was asked to bake a birthday cake. The birthday girl wanted an Oreo cake with vanilla and chocolate layers and fillings plus the Oreo cookies on top, so I made her a four layer cake. I got the inspiration for this cake from the internet. I used buttercream icing and the sides of the cake were decorated with chocolate cake crumbs on top of the icing. I do not know how it tasted and have not gotten any feedback yet. I think it looks pretty good though.

Here you can see the top of the cake.

All packed up and ready to go.

This was my test batch. This one does have chocolate ganache icing. It tasted very good.

Janardan's Birthday Cake

2008-10-28T09:23:00.008-04:00

This is the last birthday cake I made for my family. This one was for Janardan.

Janardan did not like that the writing on this cake turned out to be purple instead of blue. I do not use anything artificial for my family, so natural food coloring it had to be. I got blue natural food coloring from Ward's, but since it is made of blueberry concentrate, it turned out to be this color when I mixed it with the icing. I found another brand of natural food coloring the other day and I will see if it will work better.

Here is a close-up of the cake. It was a carrot pineapple cake with cream cheese icing. I guess it was too healthy because the kids weren't really crazy about it but the adults all liked it. There was not a crumb of cake left when the party was over, so it could not have been so bad. Actually, I got a lot of positive feedback for the cake.

More Birthday Cakes

2008-10-28T09:03:00.010-04:00

I made this strawberry cake for my husband 3 years ago.

This one looks pretty good, doesn't it?

***

Looks like I ran out of frosting for this cake....

***

One month later another birthday. I tried the same recipe again and this time it came out all right.

***

More birthday cake pictures to be posted ...

Birthday Cakes

2008-10-27T12:02:00.014-04:00

Here are some birthday cakes I made for my family.

The pictures were taken with an old style camera
(not digital) and I scanned them in. Looks like
the quality has suffered quite a bit.

Janardan's second birthday. Gosh, time flies. This photo was taken 5 years ago!

This cake is called Mille Sfoglie and the layers are made with puff pastry, which I made from scratch. The fillings were Chantilly Cream, which basically is whipping cream with sugar in it and Creme Patisserie, which was in this case Vanilla Pudding with butter in it. The cake is decorated with pistachio nuts. It was a very rich cake, actually too rich for my taste.

Here is a close-up of the cake.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Next is a cake I made for my birthday almost 5 years ago.

I do not remember exactly what the cake was made off. Looks like a two layer
cake with Chantilly Cream and toasted sliced almonds as a decoration.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Marisha loves strawberry cake. In fact, every one of her birthday cakes had to be a strawberry cake so far. Here is one I made when she turned 5, that would be 4 1/2 years ago.

And here is a closeup of that very same cake.

I got the recipe for this cake from a professional baking book. It was complicated to make. The bottom is a cake layer and the top half is Strawberry Bavarian Cream. I used agar agar instead of gelatin. It tasted very good.

More birthday cake pictures to come....

I Love to Bake!

2008-10-24T12:34:00.002-04:00

I have been baking since I was a little girl. Almost every Saturday my mother baked something and I usually got to use the mixer, which back then, of course, was only a hand mixer. My favorite holiday as a kid was Christmas because my mom always baked a ton of cookies and I got to help her, mostly with the decorating.... and tasting, of course. I remember, my mom always had to hide the cookies so that there would still be some left by the time it was Christmas day. I have four siblings and the cookies were so yummy, we probably would have eaten all of them in a couple of days...

I am Austrian. Since Austria is famous for it's cakes, pastries and breads, it would be a shame if it did not know how to bake. When I was growing up my mom thought it was important to train me and my three sisters in baking and cooking. My mom did not use a wide variety of recipes, still I learned the basics of Austrian baking from her and the rest I taught myself.

Contrary to my mother's baking, my baked goods are vegetarian and all natural and usually 100% whole grain. I do not use any artificial ingredients and I even grind my own flour. I like to use organic ingredients, but due to the high price of organic food I mostly use organic flour, sugar, agave nectar, some spices, and milk in my baking.

I bake all kinds of things: Cakes, Tortes, Cookies, Strudel, Bread, Danish, all kinds of pastries....

I am about to start my Christmas baking, though I do not really celebrate Christmas. I just call it Christmas baking because these are the kind of cookies I used to bake with my mom at Christmas time. I usually bake a lot of cookies this time of the year, mostly to give away to friends and family, my kids teachers, my husband's co-workers, and more.

So stay tuned for some pictures of my baked goods. Coming soon.....