hello, goodbye


summer is fading and a very special time is coming to an end as well. i did partake in a further education programme for a few months and finished it just days ago. the last weeks were fantastic in particular and i truly miss all those special people from all over germany i was taking classes with. i've never seen them in person and hardly know what they really look like (i bet we wouldn't recognize each other if we met in the street) but their voices are still stuck in my head and i'll keep them close to me as long as i can.

being busy i - again - neglected this poor old blog a little bit. my instagram is more up to date though, if you may want to have a look.

happy week all!

 a cake for midsummer


i made this cake for the first time last year and it turned out so nice that it has become one of my regulars. 

when the berry season was at its peak i drove to a pick-your-own farm and plucked loads of dark red strawberries. they were joined by peaches and some blueberries and became this (very early) cake for midsummer. 

you can find the recipe by nigel slater here!

 elderflower cordial










i've been waiting one whole year to try and make my own elderflower cordial (and it turned out to be much more simple than i thought).

here's what i did. you'll need...

1 organic lemon
1 organic orange (if you like)
1 kg sugar
20 g citric acid
25 elderflower blossoms

first rinse off the lemon and orange with hot water and dice them into medium sized slices.

bring 1 litre of water, sugar and citric acid to a boil. after the sugar has dissolved let cook for additional 5 minutes.

now carefully trim the stems away from the elderflower blossoms - don't wash them!

place the blossoms and the lemon/orange slices in two big clean jars (i used two 750 ml jars). pour the hot syrup into the jars and stir gently to blend it all together. store in a dark place for 3-4 days, stirring the cordial once daily.

strain the blossoms and slices from the cordial. bring the cordial to a boil once more until it's hot and pour it into sterilized bottles. store the elderflower cordial in a cool dry place for up to one year. once opened, you have to store the bottles in the refrigerator.

mix one (or two) finger-width of cordial with ice cold sparkling water and add the juice of half a lemon! hope you enjoy this summer drink as much as i do!

 snowflakes












what if it's winter, but there's no snow?
you've got to make one yourself!

 yellow pasta




i was shopping some groceries when these yellow and green pumpkins smiled at me from the vegetable and fruit section. they wanted to come with me and - of course - i obliged them.

at home the first thing i had to do was looking up what kind of pumpkins i just had bought, as i had never used them before. i soon decided to make a simple pasta with mint and lemon zest in it - a dish that combines the produce of autumn with the flavour of summer. and it tasted great!

pasta with minted pattypan squash

1 pound farfalle pasta
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1¾ pounds small pattypan squash, quartered
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice, plus 1 teaspoon grated zest
½ onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
¾ cup finely chopped fresh mint
¾ cup grated parmesan cheese
salt and pepper

in a pot of boiling, salted water, cook the pasta until al dente; drain, reserving 1/3 cup of the cooking water.

meanwhile, in a large skillet, heat 2 tablespoons olive oil over high heat. add the squash and cook, turning occasionally, until browned, about 5 minutes. transfer to a large bowl; stir in the lemon juice.

lower the heat to medium-high; add the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil to the skillet. add the onion and cook, stirring, until softened, about 3 minutes. stir in the garlic, lemon peel and reserved pasta cooking water.

add the pasta to the squash mixture. toss in the mint and cheese; season with salt and pepper.

i found the recipe: here. enjoy!

 red currant






this is what i get to see each morning, when i look outside my bathroom window: red currants sparkling like rubies in the morning sun. and you can make fantastic cakes of them, too. that one here is 'a cake for midsummer' by nigel slater and has also apricots and raspberries in it.

sunday greetings!

 mango + coconut




first homemade popsicles! recipe by mydarlinglemonthyme.

mango, coconut + pineapple popsicles
makes 8

the flesh from 1 large mango, diced and frozen for 2 hours
the juice of 1 lime
chopped fresh pineapple (from around 1/4 small pineapple)
125ml coconut milk
2-3 tablespoons honey

blend mango pieces with lime juice in an upright blender until smooth. sweeten with honey and spoon into 8 popsicle moulds, then tap moulds on the bench to make sure the mixture is right down in the bottom. place pineapple, coconut milk and honey into the blender. blend on high until relatively smooth. divide between popsicle moulds, insert wooden sticks and freeze for 4 hours or overnight. run moulds under warm water to help release. enjoy slowly!

 white asparagus pizza


one of the best pizzas you'll ever eat. nothing more to be said. here's the recipe.

you'll need:

1 quantity of your favourite pizza dough
1 eggplant
6 white asparagus spears
1 handful of dried tomatoes, cut into pieces
2 mozzarellas
400g sour cream
freshly grated parmesan
1 clove of garlic, grated
salt + pepper
olive oil

preheat the oven to 220°C.

wash the asparagus spears, peel them and cut them in half lengthwise (depending on their thickness). also wash the eggplant and cut it into thin slices. gently rub the vegetables with olive oil, salt them and place them onto a baking tray. let them roast in the oven for 10 to 12 minutes.

in the meantime prepare the white sauce. mix the sour cream with the grated garlic and 1 tbsp of olive oil. stir in the parmesan and season to taste with salt and pepper.

remove the vegetables from the oven and let them cool. turn the oven up to maximum heat.

roll out the pizza dough as thin as possible. spread the white sauce over the pizza base and scatter asparagus as well as eggplant and mozzarella pieces all over the top. sprinkle with dried tomatoes. bake until golden and crisp (about 8-10 minutes) and serve with a salad on the side.

 red²








rhubarb and strawberries all over. i made my own rhubarb syrup, strawberry scones and some strawberry marmelade with vanilla bean the other day. what a feast of red.

 ginger cake




i have to admit, i really love this cake. it is moist and heavy, spicy and not too sweet. the first bite tastes a little bit unusual, by the next bite you will get used to this exceptional taste and after the third bite you won’t be able to stop. here’s the recipe.

ingredients

110g unsalted, soft butter
110g dark muscovado sugar
2 large eggs
275g sugar beet molasses
225g sifted plain flour
3 tsp ground ginger
50g sweet pickled ginger
1 tsp pickled ginger syrup
1 tbsp warm milk
1/2 tsp baking powder
round cake tin (Ø 21 cm)

preheat the oven to 170 °c. butter a 21 cm round cake tin. roughly chop the pickled ginger.

beat the butter and the muscovado sugar until the mixture reaches a fluffy consistency. stir in the eggs one by one. let the molasses drizzle in slowly and mix well. gently fold in the sifted flour and the ground ginger. add the chopped ginger as well as the ginger syrup.

dissolve the baking powder in the heated milk – quickly add to the dough.

pour the mixture into the cake tin and bake for 55-70 minutes or until a skewer pushed into the centre of the cake comes out fairly clean. leave to cool completely in the tin before turning the cake out.

the cake tastes best when being stored for 1-2 days before serving. if you can resist.

 kitchen garden










as i like to see things grow, i'm dreaming of my own potager garden – until this dream comes true i plant and grow vegetables in pots and wooden boxes on our balcony and in front of our house. this year i hopefully will harvest some radishes and beet roots (i made a raised bed for this purpose), some salad, yellow and tiger tomatoes, and of course herbs like basil, oregano and tarragon.

after sitting in front of a computer all day long, staring into a screen and typing on a keyboard it is a relief for me to get my fingers all covered with dirt!

 dandelion, honey!










easter is over and the days off were so needed... i spent a lot of time outdoors, planted some more vergetables and plucked hundreds of dandelion flowers to make some honey out of it. if you want to try for yourselves, here's the recipe!

you will need:

300g dandelion petals (you'll have to pluck 500g flowers in total)
1 kg sugar
2 organic lemons
1 l water

first you'll have to harvest 500g of dandelion flowers. make sure you're not picking them from a field where herbicides or pesticides have been used. seperate the yellow petals from the stems, leave no green parts – that's quite a lot of work to do, but worth it! put the petals in a pan, cover them with 1 litre of water and add the sliced lemons. leave to boil for about half an hour. take a cheese cloth and place it over a strainer which is placed over a large bowl to collect the dandelion water. now pour your dandelion water into a large stock pot and add the sugar. whisk it around to get the sugar dissolved. bring to a boil and keep simmering over medium high heat for about an hour. stick a spoon in the mixture, pull it out and let it cool. if the consistency is getting kind of syrupy, you can tell the honey is ready. pull it from the heat and pour it into sterilized canning jars. you'll get about 1 litre of lovely smelling honey!

 making marmelade






this autumn i made marmelade for the very first time. it's so easy to do and the results are so delicious that i can't understand why i haven't tried earlier. now there are three different sorts of marmelade standing on our pantry's cupboards: strawberries with vanilla bean, roast apple and plums with a pinch of cinnamon (which i ate today spread on some freshly made scones).

 summer berry tarts






i made these little berry tarts a few weeks ago and they tasted - oh so - nice. i used a mixture of fresh berries, that i got at our local market, vanilla bean flavour and tons of whipped mascarpone cream.

 apricot










yesterday i made a delicious apricot & almond tart that reminded me very much of having a sweet spanish breakfast at the beachside...

i found the recipe on the blog 'fräulein text' (the english version is by the new york times) and it definitely will be one of my summer favourites!

 rhubarb










today i had the most wonderful rhubarb tart for lunch. it was so easy to make and tasted just delicious. you can find the recipe in the second cookbook by 'leon - naturally fast food'.

as long as i can get fresh rhubarb at the market i have to try out a few more recipes. next weekend i'm going to make my own 'rhubarb schorle', which i love to drink during spring and summertime...