If I could start again

I’ve dedicated too much time for eating the bakings instead of shooting and posting about them. Well, here goes. Finally some sweet spring bakes!

Home-made puff pastry baked with vanilla-pudding in the middle and topped with fresh, sweet strawberries! Totally delicious! Brushed with boiled apricot jam for the extra shine.

More strawberries! This time in the form of a pie. Got it even out the form without it crumbling all into pieces! Mmm.. it was very scrumptious.

Been practicing. How to work with fondant and suddenly my kitchen is full of these fondant working tools.; little cutters, food-colors, brushes, silicon rolling pins and god-knows-what. Well, this was one of the too-many-test-cakes-could-not-eat-them-all and yeah… Next weekend I ought to be ready for the real deal. It won’t look anything like this, though, I promise.

Today I went to a lye-baking-course. Was so good. Like one of those TV-cooking-shows only live. And so you would get to eat everything in the end without having to lift up your finger. And could take as much with you as you could carry, too. Oh, and the best part was that it was even interesting! Six hours passed faster than on any school lecture.

They also showed us some snacks. So important for us bakers to produce these, they say. Well, I find them super yummy, so wouldn’t be a wonder if our customers did, too. Should offer more stuff like this! Though, with the broccoli one on the front I wasn’t quite convinced with.. Maybe with asparagus or paprika instead.

Hope the summer will be as delicious.. since it finally seems to have arrived!

Marika ~

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Let us share what we see

Though these things were only not seen by me, but also baked and eaten by me. Unluckily, pics are the only thing I can share here. (And recipes – yes, yes, someday).

Made a chocolate mousse cake. Been a while, so. And wanted to decorate a cake, so. But my Bavarian cream somewhat failed. Guess I worked too warm pudding into the whipped cream. Always too impatient. Luckily the wafer cookies make it look more impressive. So worked like a real pro, using ready made decorations. That’s why it looks so pro, too.

These cookies turned out cute, again. The recipe works. Tried a different nozzle, filled them with nougat and even rolled a few in chocolate sprinkles. Had fun playing.

Made an almond vanilla cake, it ought to be a Spanish one. Quite yummy, the marzipan really comes through. But nothing so special, that I’d note the recipe.

Still a baker, too. Inspired by Hannover, I made einstrangzopfen (it means that shape, a braid made with one string of dough) at home. But not out of your average white dough. Mine were, of course, dipped in lye. We love that stuff.

Marika~

 

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‘Cause it’s a bittersweet symphony

Better than your average hobbit, been there and back again, oh so manieth time this year. Finland, I think I’ll make it once more this year. Still six unused holiday days, but if my luck doesn’t work it’s wonders, I think it will be yet another Christmas in Germany. But let’s get over with Halloween first, before we start thinking about Santa. Well, kinda did that already, or why else would there have been so many pumpkins?

Came back with cranberries, and in no time had they turned into a cake. Was too impatient with the layers, though, and everything mixed into a lovely pink mess. Waah, I may never learn.

Many other cakes have appeared, too. Today I met one, actually four small ones, with kiwis and butter-cream inside them. I was too impatient once again, though, as I used fridge cold butter for my butter-cream. But at least I had the patience to let the custard cool properly this time. Maybe next time I’ll do it all properly.

Macaroons worked out. Well, spite the air-pockets inside that do bug me. Even if I banged the tray against the table a dozen times. But otherwise, quite nice. Filled with blackberry jam, yum yum.

Bread has been baked, too. Some archipelago loaves and one with quite a bit of quark. Everything works.

Marika~

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So we gotta make the most

Huh, I’ve had quite the bake off this week. Gone all crazy, I see it now, looking at the pics of all the things I’ve baked. But I can’t help it, and why should I. Nothing bad about baking a few croissants, two loaves of bread, angel cake, mole cake and a lye-cheese baguette. Oh yes, not to forget these egg custard tarts, inspired by my oh-so-lovely great british bake off. Those actually were an answer to the need of having some cinnamon that I had, for I replaced the nutmeg in the recipe with cinnamon. Served with apple jam and ta-da, had the perfect treat to celebrate the arrival of the autumn.

Well, that recipe left me with a bunch of egg whites, and not feeling like meringues, had to find something else to make. So, made a cake I had actually never eaten before, angel food cake. It’s a funny one, like no other cake. The structure is so fluffy and then again it seems so springy when cutting it… But it worked, though I made only half the portion. Otherwise I would have needed 10 egg whites, and that many even I didn’t have left over.

Then there was one more cake. The mole-cake. I always thought it was called mole cake ’cause the berries in it looked like moles or something, but no. Actually, it’s the surface of the cake that looks like a mole hole, like the dirt around it after all the digging. Well, in my blonde version of the cake the mole has been clearly digging in some sandy beach or something or then we have to go with my first explanation. Hmm, oh but I wanted to make a non-choco one, for in my world chocolate and berries are a no-go. But all in all, this cake is super delicious (still got some, yay!). I used blueberries instead of cherries in mine, for I got some from work, and they go well with banana, too.

Huh, wonder what inspires me next week, but I have a bad feeling about it. Something must definitely be baked.

Marika~

Ps. It’s been a while, since I posted a pic of Tiuku, but it seems that today I did. No, didn’t mean the cat hairs on the bakings, there was a bit more than that this time.

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