Since there are so many different German recipes for poppy seed cake, I decided to go for a very simple yet absolutely delicious loaf pan marble cake. It is so moist, tender, and fluffy that every non-vegan will think you spent hours and hours in your kitchen creaming together tons of eggs and butter or whipping up a mountain of egg whites. And only you will know that all you did was whisk together some basic ingredients and sneak in some Kirsch-infused marzipan.

A slice of fresh poppy seed cake.

Marbled Poppy Seed Cake (makes 1 10 inch loaf cake)

Have ready a greased and floured 26 cm (10 inch) loaf pan. Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F).

For the cake:

120 g (1/2 cup) plain soy yoghurt
180 ml (3/4 cup) neutral tasting vegetable oil
200 g (1 cup) sugar
240 ml (1 cup) non-dairy milk (I used spelt milk)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
100 g poppy seeds (3.5 oz or 3/4 cup)
100 g (3.5 oz) marzipan
2 tablespoons Kirsch (or soy milk)
120 g (1 cup) whole wheat flour
180 g ( 1 1/2 cups) all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons chickpea flour (or soy flour)
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

In a large bowl whisk together yoghurt, oil, sugar, milk and vanilla.

Coarsely grind the poppy seeds and set aside. (I used my coffee grinder, but not every coffee grinder will grind poppy seeds. Check the manual or use a spice grinder, food processor, or mortar and pestle instead.)

Chop the marzipan and, using a fork, mash together with Kirsch until smooth. Set aside.

Add flours, baking powder, and salt to the batter and whisk until no lumps remain. Take care not to overmix the batter.

Divide the batter equally between two large bowls. Add poppy seeds to one batter and marzipan to the other. Stir both batters until well combined. Again, take care not to overmix. (the poppy seed batter should be smooth, but if a few marzipan lumps reamin in the other, that’s fine.)

Pour half of the marzipan batter into your loaf pan. Pour half of the poppy seed batter over it. Repeat with the remaining batter. Use a skewer to create a marbled effect by swirling it around the mixture in the pan. Bake the cake for 75 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. If the cake gets too dark at the top, cover it with aluminium foil to prevent further browning or burning.

We served this cake without frosting. If you feel like your cake shouldn’t go naked like that, a cinnamon icing is the traditional choice for this cake. Combine 200 g (1 cup) of powdered sugar with 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon and 2-3 tablespoons of lemon juice or soy milk to make the icing. Pour over the cake.

Oh and here’s the riddle. What did we find in the grocery store?

Furby???

Evidence Nr. 1:

Icicles

Evidence Nr. 2:

Frozen palm tree

It was freezing cold and a bit windy. Walking around wasn’t much fun although it may look like it:

Heidelberg

Since we were invited to a party, I wanted to bring some cake. In the end I didn’t even take it and we had these wonderful bars all to ourselves. They have a wonderful intense and tender chocolate shortbread bottom and a soft, buttery caramel topping, which is filled with hazelnuts and drizzled with chocolate. I cut them into bite-sized pieces because they are very rich and addictive. They are also soy-free, if you are able to find soy-free chocolate.

Chocolate-Caramel bars

Chocolate-Caramel Bars with Hazelnuts (makes 25 small bars or 9 large):

For the shortbread (I used this recipe):

Preheat oven to 160°C (325°F) and line a 20 x 20 com (8 x 8 inch) baking dish with parchment paper)

227 g (1 cup) margarine, cut into small pieces
100 g (1/2 cup) sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground vanilla (or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract)
1/4 teaspoon salt
180 g (1 1/2 cups) all-purpose flour
45 g (1/2 cup) Dutch processed cocoa powder
3 tablespoons cornstarch

Combine all ingredients in a food processor and process until a dough forms. Press into prepared pan and bake for 25 minutes. Set aside and let cool.

For the caramel topping (I used this recipe):

125 g (1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon) coconut oil
200 ml (4/5 cup) full fat coconut milk
200 ml (4/5 cup) oat cream (such as oatly)
2 tablespoons golden syrup (corn syrup or agave syrup will work fine)
75 g (1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons) sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
200 g (1.5 cups) toasted hazelnuts
100 g (3.5 oz) bittersweet chocolate

Melt coconut oil in a medium-size saucepan. Add coconut milk, oat cream, syrup, sugar, and salt. Cook over medium heat for 30 minutes, stirring from time to time.. The mixture should have been reduced by less than half with  a slightly gooey consistency. Stir in cinnamon and hazelnuts and pour over shortbread. Transfer to fridge and let cool until set. (about 1 hour).

Cut into squares of desired size. melt chocolate and drizzle over squares. They will keep refrigerated for 4-5 days.

When it comes to fast food in Germany, currywurst aka sausage with curry sauce is always on top of the list. The sausage used for currywurst is usually a bratwurst (“fry sausage”) which is cut up and smothered with a curry-ketchup mixture. Yes, that’s right: curry-ketchup mixture is what we call curry sauce here in Germany.

Bratwurst smothered in sauce.

I probably had one currywurst in my whole life and never missed it. But when I was a kid, I really loved curry ketchup. Me and my sister refused to eat regular ketchup, so my father always had to buy a large bottle of curry ketchup when he went grocery shopping. It was probably only because of the curry sauce/ketchup that I wanted to veganize currywurst. I know, I could just have grabbed a bottle of curry ketchup. For those, who are not familiar with the whole bratwurst/currywurst/currysauce obsession, here’s a recipe.

Bratwurst (makes 4 sausages)

144 g (1 cup) gluten powder (vital wheat gluten)
10 g (2 tablespoons) chickpea flour
25 g (4 tablespoons) yeast flakes
2 teaspoons dried marjoram
1 teaspoon granulated onion
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon salt
65 g (2.3 oz) smoked tofu
2 cloves garlic, minced
240 ml (1 cup) cold water

Preheat oven to 200°C (400°F). In a bowl, combine gluten, chickpea flour, yeast flakes, marjoram, granulated onion, black pepper, and salt. Mix well.

Mash tofu as finely as possible (or process into a paste using a food processor).

Add mashed tofu, garlic,and water to gluten mixture and knead until everything is well combined. Let rest for five minutes and knead again for 30 seconds.

Divide dough into four equal parts, form into logs (about 30 cm or 12 inches long) and tightly wrap in aluminium foil. Seal the edges by twisting the foil and bake for 25 minutes. Let cool completely before unwrapping.

Naked bratwurst

Currywurst (serves 4)

Heat a large pan and add 1 teaspoon of oil. Fry the sausages until brown and crispy. Meanwhile prepare the sauce in a small saucepan:

For the sauce:
250 g (1 cup) ketchup (use a sweet version)
60 ml (1/4 cup) water
1 tablespoon soy sauce
2 teaspoons mild curry powder
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

In a small saucepan, mix all the ingredients and cook sauce for 1 minute. Cut the sausages into bite size pieces and add to sauce. Stir and divide between four plates. Sprinkle with curry powder and serve with fries.

This bread is made from whole spelt flour and all-purpose flour. I used a 8 x 8 inch pan for it and this almost turned the loaf into a flat bread. It looks similar to focaccia. But this bread is a bit  thicker than the Italian flat bread. Also, both the olives and the rosemary are incorporated into the bread rather than used as a topping.

Already sliced

Olive-Rosemary Bread

250 g whole grain spelt flour
250 g all-purpose flour
10 g salt
10 g fresh yeast (or 3 g instant yeast)
330 g water
2 teaspoons dried rosemary
130 g black olives, pitted
1 teaspoon olive oil, for sprinkling
coarse sea salt, for sprinkling
fresh rosemary, for sprinkling

In a large bowl, combine flours, salt, yeast, water, and rosemary. Mix until a dough forms. Knead for ten minutes until the dough is elastic. Because of the spelt flour, it will probably still be a little bit sticky. Let rise in a warm place, for one hour.
Grease a 8 x 8 inch pan with olive oil.
Add the olives to the dough and knead until well incorporated. Press the dough into the pan, sprinkle with olive oil, salt, and rosemary. Let rise until doubled in size, about an hour. Meanwhile preheat oven to 200°C (400°F). Bake for 30 minutes, or until golden-brown. The bread should sound hollow when tapped.

The whole loaf.

This entry was submitted to YeastSpotting.

Cheesecake with oatmeal crust and blueberry topping

I recently discovered a new German vegan food blog, which had two entries dedicated to cheesecake. Those recipes looked so good that I got an immediate cheesecake craving. I wanted to make one of those recipes, then I remembered that P. used to make us a wonderful cheesecake from one of my vegetarian cookbooks.  The original recipe calls for mascarpone, ricotta, and sour cream. It has a crust made from oats and cookies, and a blueberry topping. I had a look at the recipe again and found it easy to veganize.

American type vegan cheesecake recipes often call for vegan cream cheese and sourcream as a substitute for non-vegan cream cheese, while German type cheesecake recipes call for silken or firm tofu and soy creamer as a substitute for quark and cream.

Quark is a kind of soft cheese (or curd cheese) made without rennet, similar to cream cheese but with a thinner consistency. In Germany there are many different kinds of quark used for different kinds of purposes. It is used for baking and cooking, for spreads and desserts, sometimes even for ice cream. There are sweet quark varieties blended with fruits and sweeteners similar to yoghurt and there are the savoury kinds, blended with herbs and salt. They are used as spreads for sandwiches. Plain quark is used in baked goods and especially as a base for cheesecake.

Heldin’s recipe over at vegan-und-lecker calls for strained soy yoghurt as a substitute for quark. I thought this was a wonderful substitute for most kinds of soft dairy cheese. I used her method in my recipe and it worked out perfectly. So here it is, my first cheesecake.

Cheesecake with Oatmeal Crust and Blueberry Topping

For the filling:

175 grams (6.2 oz) “quark” made from 450 g (15.9 oz) soy yoghurt *
225 grams (7.9 oz.) Soyatoo topping cream
2 tablespoons coconut oil, melted
1 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice
zest of one small lemon
1/4 cup sugar
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon ground vanilla (or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract)

In a large bowl, combine strained soy yoghurt , soyatoo, coconut oil, lemon juice, and zest. Whisk to combine. Add remaining ingredients and whisk until no lumps remain. Set aside.

* I used homemade yoghurt. To make the quark, line a strainer with a double layer of cheesecloth. Pour the yoghurt into the cheesecloth. Now carefully gather the edges of the cheesecloth and press out as much liquid as you can. Then transfer the strained yoghurt to a small bowl and discard the liquid. Probably lots of the strained yoghurt will stick to the cheesecloth, try to scrape off as much as possible. If you don’t end up with 175 g of “quark”, that’s okay. Any amount between 150 g (5.3 oz) and 200 g (7 oz)  is fine. Just make sure to adjust the amount of soyatoo. If you combine “quark” and Soyatoo, they should weigh 400 g (14.1 oz) .

For the crust:

156 grams (1 cup) old fashioned oats
120 g (1 cup) light spelt flour
3 tablespoons sugar
60 ml (1/4 cup) coconut oil, melted
80 ml (1/3 cup) soy milk
1/4 teaspoon salt

Grease a 18 cm (7 inch) springform pan and set aside. Preheat oven to 160°C (325°F).

Mix all ingredients until well combined, form into a disk and evenly press into the pan until it lines bottom and sides. Pierce dough several times with a fork, and bake for 10 minutes. Remove from oven, but don’t turn off the heat.

Pour the cheesecake filling into the crust and bake for 60 minutes, until the filling has set completely and looks firm. It should have slightly browned and risen a bit. Let cool for 20 minutes before removing from pan. Let cool completely.

To make the topping:

120 g (2/3 cup) drained, canned blueberries
80 g (1/3 cup) blackthorn jam or blueberry jam

Assemble the blueberries on top of the cake. Heat jam in a small saucepan and pour over the blueberries. Let cool to room temperature. Chill for several hours (or over night) before serving.

Small but mighty

I love this bread. It is dense and chewy, mild and slightly sweet. Caraway and pumpkin seeds give a little extra favour. This bread is made with sourdough starter, because that’s the way a rye bread should be leavened.

Nutritious bread

I chose a relatively low amount of sourdough starter for a mild bread. I also added some sugar beet syrup for sweetness.

This bread takes some time to make, you have to prepare your starter and let it develop before you can start baking the bread. But believe my, the bread is worth the wait. Sourdough adds flavour and a bread leavened with sourdough keeps fresh longer than a yeast bread. Sourdough breads don’t get moldy as easily as yeast breads, too. And they are healthier (made with whole grains).

Rye is a wonderful grain, it has more minerals and fibre than wheat and a unique flavour. If you think that rye flour is a pain to work with because it sticks to your hands like crazy, here are two good tips: Use wet hands all the time and make the dough from partly flour and partly whole grains. The water will make kneading and forming easier, the grains change the structure of the dough and make it less sticky. I made a soaker from boiling water and rye chops. A soaker is always a great addition to a bread. Soaked grains and seeds trap additional moisture and keep the bread fresh.

100% Rye Sourdough Bread with Whole Grains (makes one loaf)

For the starter (approx 12-16 hours prior to baking):
40 g sourdough starter, preferably from rye
180 g rye flour*
200 g water
Mix together in a bowl, cover and let sit in a warm place. After 12-16 hours it should have risen and have a light, airy structure.
* I used German rye flour Type 1150. It resembles medium to dark rye flour. I suugest to use a mix of medium and dark rye, the darker the better.

For the soaker:
200 g rye chops (coarsly chopped rye grains, or cracked rye)
250 g boiling water
Combine rye and water and let sit for one hour. The water should be absorbed and the grains should be soft.

For the bread:
Active sourdough starter (see above)
soaker (see above)
200 g rye flour (see note above)
50 g pumpkin seeds
50 ml water
20 g sugar beet syrup or molasses
10 g salt
1/2 t caraway seeds

In a large bowl, combine starter, soaker, and remaining ingredients. Knead until everything is well combined. Rye flour is low in gluten so there is no need to knead for 10 minutes. 3-5 minutes are sufficient. Don’t forget to wet your hands all the time. It really makes a difference. Oh, and knead in your bowl. Don’t bother with a working surface.

Grease a loaf pan and dust with flour (or use parchment paper). Transfer the dough to the pan and level it. Let the dough rise for two hours in a warm place. A 100 % rye bread will never rise as much as a yeasted wheat bread and since sourdough is the only leavening here, it’ll take a bit longer. The dough won’t have doubled after two hours, but you should see a rise of about 2/3.

meanwhile, preheat the oven to 250°C [480°F]. bake the bread at this temperature for 10 minutes. Turn the heat down to 200°C [400°F] and bake for 35-40 more minutes. Remove from pan and let cool completely.

Let the dough rest another day before slicing it.

This bread was submitted to YeastSpotting.

I always thought I didn’t like carrot soup. I imagined it would be sweet and for a long time, sweet and savoury didn’t go together in my book. I am working on that, I promise, and I think it’s getting better. I don’t even know if a traditional carrot soup (what’s traditional anyway?) is sweet. Weird thoughts? Anyway, this one is not sweet. This carrot soup is creamy, spicy, fruity, and slightly sour. If you ask me, it is the perfect soup because it has such a complex flavour. It also has a wonderful colour to finally rout those winter ghosts out of the house. Maybe it works?

Finally, carrot soup!

Carrot-Coconut Soup with Lime ( 4 small servings)

1 tablespoon olive oil
2 large cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon finely diced ginger
450 grams (1 lb) carrots, sliced into rounds
720 ml (3 cups) water
3 dried or fresh kaffir lime leaves
1 teaspoon salt, or to taste
2 teaspoons granulated onion
1 tablespoon Panang curry paste (substitute red, green, or yellow curry paste)
60 ml (4 tablespoons) fresh lime juice
120 ml (1/2 cup) full fat coconut milk
black pepper to taste

In a medium large pot heat oil over medium heat. Add garlic and ginger and fry for 2-3 minutes. Add carrots, water, lime leaves, salt, granulated onion, and curry paste. Cook over medium to low heat for 15 minutes. Purée and stir in coconut milk and lime juice. Serve with brown rice and fresh cilantro.

Sundays are for cake, especially here in Germany. At 3 p.m. many families, couples, or friends sit around their table for cake and coffee. Here in Dresden it’s hard to find a place at a café  between 3 and 5 p.m. Especially at this time of the year, when everything is freezing outside and it’s still getting dark that early, sugar and caffeine is all I want  on some days.

A moist and tender cake. Nice to look at, easy to make.

Marble Bundt Cake

Preheat the oven to 160°C (325°F). Grease a 23-cm (9-inch) Bundt pan with
margarine and dust it with all-purpose flour. Set aside.

135 g (1/2 cup + 1 1/2 T) margarine, at room temperature
250 g (2 1/4 cup) sugar, divided
1/2 t ground vanilla (or 1 t vanilla extract)

2 T ground flax seeds
6 T hot water
1/2 c applesauce, divided

240 ml (1 cup) soy milk
400 g flour (3 1/4 cup)
1 T baking powder
1/4 t salt

25 g unsweetened baking chocolate, melted
2 T cocoa powder

Cream together margarine, half the sugar, and vanilla. Beat until light and fluffy.

Combine flax and water, stir and add 6 T applesauce. Add beat sugar/margarine mixture, remaining sugar and soy milk. Beat until everything is incorporated.

Sift in flour, baking powder, and salt and stir until all ingredients are combined and no lumps remain.

Pour 2/3 of batter into pan. Mix remaining batter with melted chocolate, cocoa powder and remaining applesauce. Pour into the pan as well. Stir with a fork to draw swirls through the batter. Bake for 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Let cool for at least 20 minutes before removing from pan. Let cool completely before serving.

Combine 1 t powdered sugar with 1 t of cocoa powder and sift over the cake. Cut into slices.

I started a vegan food blog in German, which is called “Seitansbraten“. I’m about to transfer my German entries to that site. There’s not much going on yet, hopefully I’ll be able to move all my German entries over there soon. Visit me over there!

Jerusalem artichoke soup with cauliflower

This soup is another quick, easy, and comforting winter dish. Its colour reflects the dominant colours this winter: white and grey. Yes, I’m complaining a bit about the weather and I’m waiting for spring. The chilies look like spring, don’t they?

Jerusalem artichoke and Cauliflower Soup (serves 2)

[German version of this recipe here ~ Deutsche Version des Rezepts hier]

1 t olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
170 g Jerusalem artichoke, peeled and chopped (4 bulbs)
150 g cauliflower, chopped
2 cups vegetable broth
2 T semolina
2 t fresh thyme
1 small red chili, chopped
juice of 1/2 small lemon
salt and pepper to taste

In a medium-size pot heat olive oil. Add onion and garlic and fry for 2 minutes. Add remaining ingredients and cook for 10-12 minutes, until the vegetables are soft. Purée and serve immediately.

…with more bread. I know, but I can’t help myself. There’s nothing better than a fresh slice of bread. Call me carb queen.

Crispy and still warm

This bread is  slightly dark, has a crispy crust, and it’s smoky. No, I didn’t burn it, I added smoked spelt and chipotle powder.

I have written on this blog about grünkern before: unripe, smoked, and then dried spelt berries. Grünkern is not available outside of Germany I guess, but apparently you can get something very similar in many countries. It is called freekeh, farik, or green wheat and is basically the same as grünkern only that it is made from unripe wheat berries. You can buy it at Middle Eastern stores or  online and grind it into flour yourself, if you have the possibility. Of course you can substitute whatever flour you have on hand (wheat and spelt is best) and add a little more chipotle powder to the dough for similar results.

Grünkern. Grün means green.

Smoked Spelt and Chipotle Bread

100 g smoked spelt, ground into flour*
400 g German Type 1050 wheat flour**
350 g water
10 g fresh yeast or 3 g instant dry yeast (1 t)
10 g salt
1 t chipotle powder (1 1/2 if omitting the smoked spelt. Substitute mild smoked paprika, if you think it might get too spicy.)

* Use whole wheat or whole spelt flour instead
** This is similar to first clear flour (but first clear flour has a higher gluten content), use first clear flour or 50% whole wheat and 50 % bread flour instead.

Instructions: Combine all ingredients in a large bowl, knead for ten minutes until the gluten is well developed and the dough isn’t sticky anymore. Add more flour or water, if necessary. Cover and let rise for one hour or until doubled in size. Preheat the oven to 250°C (480°F). Shape the dough and let rise for 45-60 min, or until doubled in size again. Brush with water and sprinkle with spelt or corn meal. Transfer to oven, reduce temperature to 200°C (400°F) and bake for 45 minutes, or until nicely browned.