Frühling Financiers

Frühling kommt! That means 'spring is coming'. My German classes are slowly beginning to pay off, although I will admit that I used google translate just to make sure I had gotten that right. I guess confidence will come with time and a lot more practice. Anyway, the deep freeze seems to be over, thank goodness, and it's actually warm-ish out (when you have a deep freeze, anything over freezing is considered warm, but today it's actually 50º). I was beginning to think I'd never go outside again, that my pom-pom hat would be a wardrobe stable forever and that I'd never wear sandals again. Alas, I can feel the sun on my face, and it feels heavenly. The deep freeze seemed to have hit the blog as well, so my apologies if you were visiting in the hopes of finding some Haus warmth and goodies.

I've had this financier recipe on my 'to-bake' list ever since we got back from our trip to Paris. We went to the boulangeries to buy baguettes, but it's impossible to just by baguettes, so we often left with other goodies, like pain au chocolat, brioche, madeleines, and financiers. All weekend there were goodies spilling out of my purse and thankfully there were some delicious treats hidden in the bottom of my purse that I didn't discover until we were already back in Zürich on Sunday night. Hidden in that little brown bag were two madeleines and three financiers. I sampled both for breakfast on Monday, and although both were worthy of a return trip to Paris, the financier really caught my attention. The perfectly crisp exterior gave way to a moist and flavorful almond interior and I knew after the first bite that I had to find a worthy recipe that I could make at home.

Here are the authentic Parisian madeline and financier. I'm surprised they made it all the way back to Zürich. I think we were so stuffed after a weekend of delicacies and baguettes that by the time Sunday night came around we were unenthused by any baked goods.

Almond Financiers with Strawberries

Recipe adapted from Epicurious

* My one suggestion is to weigh the ingredients. A cup of almond flour is not an accurate measurement as some flours can be lighter or denser than others.

* I don't have financier molds so I used mini cupcake molds.

ingredients

- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter for buttering financier molds

- 1 cup (140g) finely ground almonds

- 1 2/3 cup (210g) confectioners sugar

- 1/2 cup (70g) all purpose flour

- pinch of salt

- 3/4 cup (185g) egg whites (5 to 6)

- 3/4 cup (185g/6oz) unsalted butter melted and cooled

- sliced strawberries for top

Preheat oven to 450ºF/230ºC

Using a pastry brush thoroughly butter the molds. Place the molds or cupcake tin in the freezer to resolidify the butter, which will make it easier to unmold the financiers.

In a large bowl combine the almonds, sugar, flour, and salt. Mix to blend. Add the egg whites, mixing until blended. Follow with the 3/4 cup butter and continue to stir/mix until incorporated. The mixture should be fairly thin and pourable.

Spoon the batter into the molds, filling them almost to the rim. Top each with a strawberry slice or two. Place the molds/cupcake tin on a baking sheet and place in the oven. Bake until the financiers just begin to rise (about 7 min) then reduce the heat to 400ºF/205ºC. Continue baking until the financiers are a light, delicate brown and begin to firm up (another 7 min). Turn off the oven heat and let the financiers rest in the oven until firm (another 7 minutes). Timing might be less depending on your mold/tin - just be sure to check for rise-browning. Mine were about 5-6 minutes instead of 7.

Remove the financiers from the oven and allow them to cool in their molds for 10 minutes. Enjoy for breakfast or with your afternoon coffee!

In our house these were a breakfast treat, but they would be great at any time of the day. These were so good, actually one of Zach's favorites, that I think I will keep them on a fairly steady rotation, and will certainly make a batch when we have guests.

Hopefully this post marks the end of the blog freeze. It's time to start browsing cookbooks and revisiting my 'to-bake' list. With spring approaching I'm feeling the need for a little less baking and a bit more spinach, so perhaps I'll finally get my act together and post some lunch/dinner recipes (always harder to photograph).

1º banana bread

You know how every once and awhile you just need to get something off your chest? Perhaps you call it whining, but I prefer to call it venting. Please excuse me while I vent for a few short little sentences. IT IS FREEZING. For the last week it hasn't been above 15º F. Today the low is 1º F, yes ONE degree. I'm sitting at our dinning room table, fully outfitted with a cashmere sweater, thick wool knee socks, a scarf and a blanket. I refuse to go outside. The last time I went outside I thought I'd lost my nose and toes to frostbite. And that was just from walking next door to German class, literally NEXT door. Okay, I'll stop venting and using capitals, but I just want you, my dear readers and friends, who live in The States and have been enjoying unseasonably warm weather, to know that while you frolic there are those of us who freeze.

Since I refuse to go outside I've had to limit my cooking to ingredients we have in our pantry, and on our countertop. Behold the rotting bananas! It didn't take long before they were mashed, mixed into a buttery dough, poured into a loaf pan, and baked with the company of chocolate chips, until moist and fragrant. In my world there is no such thing as banana bread without chocolate chips. The two go together. I always leave out any nuts that recipes call for and take it upon myself to substitute a healthy amount of chocolate chips. I've tried a variety of banana bread recipes in the past, but this one turned out especially well. Maybe the bananas were just ripe/rotten enough, or perhaps I baked it for the perfect amount of time, or maybe the cooking gods felt bad for me and my frozen toes and made me an offering of a perfect banana bread. Generally when I bake a cake, Zach and I can get through about half of it and then we get bored with it or we just feel like we've eaten too much cake, but with the banana bread we had to fight for the last piece, which wasn't really a fair fight since Zach wakes up earlier than I do and was able to eat it for breakfast. I'd make some again right this minute if the bananas on our counter were brown and mushy instead of yellow and hard.

The last time I posted I was complaining that it was grey and not snowing. HA! Well now it's sunny and there is snow on the ground, but it's absolutely frigid. I can't decide which is worse....grey and a bit warmer or sunny and freezing. Either way, both seem to call for bread with a dot or two of extra butter.

Banana Bread

adapted from Mark Bittman 'How to Cook Everything'

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

8 tablespoons / 1 stick / 113 g butter at room temperature

3/4 cup sugar

2 eggs

3 very ripe bananas, mashed with a fork until smooth

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2-1 cup chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350ºF/180ºC and grease a 9 x 5 inch loaf pan.

Mix the dry ingredients (flours, salt, baking powder) in a bowl

Cream the butter and sugar until light in color and fluffy in texture. Add in the eggs one at a time and then the mashed bananas, mixing until just incorporated.

Slowly add in the dry ingredients, mixing just enough to combine. Gently stir in the vanilla and chocolate chips.

Pour the batter into the loaf pan and bake for 45-60 minutes (mine took exactly 60) or until top is browned and cake tester inserted in the center comes out fairly clean. Because of the bananas, this bread will stay moister than most. Be careful not to over bake this bread. Cool on a wire wrack for 15 minutes and then flip the loaf out.

Now I have to figure out what I comb through our cupboards in search of edible dinner items. Hmmm. You can only eat so many gerkins.

If it's warm where you are (over 32ºF) please spend some time outside for all of us shivering in Switzerland.

snow scones

Scones with butter and raspberry jelly, or with bacon and eggs as Zach preferred, are the perfect snow-day breakfast, which is why it's too bad it wasn't snowing and there wasn't any snow on the ground when I made them. Bummer. I was hoping that the scones in the oven would send a signal to the snow that it was time to start falling, but nope, no snow. It's only snowed once this winter, and that was before Christmas. Of course that doesn't mean we've had blue sky and sunshine, no, it's been grey and cold for what feels like ever, a month-full of possible snow days, but still we wait. Thankfully the mountains aren't too far away, but they don't have fresh scones in the mountains, just pots and pots of Fondue, which I guess is it's own kind of wonderful.

These are a few of the pictures I took of our pre-Christmas snow day. This park is right near our apartment. We call it the 'meat-market' because in the summer it's crammed with all of the studly 20-somethings showing off their tans. I almost don't recognize it in the winter, it truly takes on an entirely different character, it's a bit bleak, but certainly peaceful.
Cream Scones - Martha Stewart.

- 2 cups all purpose flour

- 3 tablespoons sugar, plus more for sprinkling

- 1 tablespoon baking powder

- 1/2 teaspoon salt

- 6 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

- 1/3 cup heavy cream, plus more for brushing

- 2 large eggs, lightly beaten.

Preheat the oven to 400ºF and line a baking sheet with parchment paper

Sift the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. Cut the butter into the flour using your fingers to rub the butter into the flour, until the largest pieces are the size of peas

Using a fork whisk the cream with the eggs. Make a well in the flour mixture and pour in the egg/cream mixture. Stir lightly with a fork until just combined, making sure not to overmix.

Turn the dough out on to a lightly floured work surface and shape into a 4 x 8 inch rectangle that is about 3/4 inch high. Using a floured 2inch round cutter, cut out 8-10 rounds and transfer them to the lined baking sheet. Brush tops with cream and sprinkle with sugar. Bake until the scones are golden brown, about 16-20 minutes.
These scones are really wonderful. I highly recommend making them, especially if you have a snow day lurking in your future. Jelly is a must in my mind, but Zach would tell you bacon, but then again bacon is his favorite food, the bottom of his pyramid.

Here's wishing you some snow....and scones!

clementine yogurt cake

You know how it's almost harder to start things back up after you've been away from them for awhile? It just feels daunting. Like, how to recap and regroup on the past month? Maybe it's easier not to. Eager to get back to it I figured it was better if I didn't try and review the days of my absence, at least not yet, and that it was better to just start with today, specifically with the cake I made this morning. I was really in the mood for a breakfast cake, something to break the Kellogg's Red Berry cereal kick that I've been on for the last week. I searched for coffee cakes and morning cakes and buttermilk cakes, but finally settled on a plain and simple yogurt cake that I spiced up with a bit of clementine zest and juice. This cake references back to one of the first recipes I posted here, almost a year ago (happy almost birthday blog). Today's cake is a bit lighter, more cake-like and less poundcake-like. It is in good company with a mug of coffee and the morning paper. It's also in good company with the photos I took from our weekend in Grindelwald.

I haven't even been back a week, but we ready to get out of town for the weekend. Zürich in the winter can be a bit grey and chilly and although we love to nestle inside, we also love getting to the mountains. We planned our weekend on Friday over dinner and we were off Saturday morning shortly after breakfast. I should also mention that this cake is very simple, one of those pour-in-a-bowl-and-mix type of recipes. There's no creaming, or melting or whipping egg whites.

Clementine Yogurt Cake

adapted from Chocolate & Zucchini

- 2 eggs

- 1 cup whole milk plain yogurt

- 1 cup sugar

- 1/3 cup olive oil (or vegetable oil)

- 1 tsp vanilla (extract or powder)

- zest from 2 clementines

- juice from 1 clementine

- 2 cups all purpose flour

- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder

- 1/2 tsp baking soda

- good pinch of salt

Preheat the oven to 350ºF/180ºC and butter a 9" springform pan.

Mix the top ingredients (eggs, yogurt, sugar, oil, vanilla, zest, juice) lightly in a bowl until incorporated.

All at once add in the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt and mix until blended together, without over-mixing.

Pour the batter into the pan and bake for 30-35 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean. Let it cool for 10 minutes and then transfer to a wire wrack.

So there we go, over the hurdle of the first-post-back. Phew! It's good to be back in Zürich and on the blog. It's also nice to have a cake sitting in the kitchen again, it's been far too long. I'm already looking forward to breakfast tomorrow....and to dessert tonight!

chasing the light...and a little sugar

Let's set the scene. It is 4:30pm and night has fallen, already. The air is cold and your cheeks are red and ready for some time indoors, as is the rest of you, which has been chasing the light all day. You are tired. It is time to go home. Rest awaits you, and so does an apple-streusel cake that you baked earlier that morning while you were waiting for the grey and the fog to lift. It was easy to make and heck the apartment still smells like cinnamon when you walk in. Job well done; afternoon snack and cozy-seasonal-scented apartment all in one. Pat yourself on the back, put some tunes on, press the button on the espresso machine, cut a slice of cake, put your feet up, and relish the little perks of a cold fall night.

Check out the kitty in this photo....I caught him jumping for swallows that were flirting about in the leafy vines. Admittedly I'm jealous of his house, if this is indeed his house, all leafy and colorful.

I know I just recently posted another apple cake recipe, but I didn't really have an option when it came to baking this cake. I had to do it. Ali and Jess both made this cake within a week of one another, both raving about it's hearty, moist, deliciousness while cooing over their new babies. How can I resist new babies and apple-cake? I can't. Hence today's featured cake. And since I don't have a newborn to coo over I added a little extra sugar in the form of a pecan streusel filling.

Teddie's apple cake, adapted from the NYTimes

* cooks note - I followed Ali's lead and left the walnuts and raisins out, but then of course pretty much replaced them with the streusel filling. Just do what feels right. It will be good

- butter for greasing the pan

- 3 cups flour, plus more for dusting pan

- 1 1/2 cups vegetable oil

- 2 cups sugar

- 3 eggs

- 1 teaspoon salt

- 1 teaspoon cinnamon

- 1 teaspoon baking soda

- 1 teaspoon vanilla (I used about 1/4 tsp vanilla seeds, which are cheeper and easier to come by here in Zurich)

- 3 cups peeled and cored and thickly sliced tart apples

streusel filling (you might have extra, that's okay)

- 3/4 cup pecans, chopped

- 3 tablespoons brown sugar

- 1 teaspoon cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 350ºF/180ºC. Butter and flour a 9" tube pan.

Beat the oil and sugar with a mixer (fitted with a paddle attachment) while assembling the remaining ingredients. Add the eggs and beat until creamy, about 5 minutes

Sift together the flour, salt, cinnamon and baking soda. Stir into the batter. Add the vanilla and apples.

Make your streusel by combining the chopped pecans, brown sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl.

You are going to place the streusel filling in the middle of the cake so spoon about half of the dough into the tube pan. With a knife create a little well for your streusel filling. Sprinkle as much of the filling as will fit, making sure it doesn't touch the sides (it will burn). Cover with the remaining dough and smooth out with a spatula

Bake for an 1 hour and 15 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool in the pan before turning out. Serve at room temperature for breakfast or dessert.

I love this last photo. The trees were given a haircut, just enough so that the leaves hover over your head. And while you are wandering under the leaves you can have some water. I don't think I've mentioned them before, but there are a whole network of water fountains in the city which are completely safe to drink out of. I like to think of it as my own little Evian spring, right from the Alps.

fresh peach cake

It's hot. The basil on the terrace wilted and died just as I was thinking about making pesto. The thick haze is obscuring the Alps. I'm too sticky to move or even think about putting a bathing suit on. I hate sleeping on top of the sheets in a breezeless steamy room. Swiss toothpaste tastes funny.

Complaints are easy to come by when it's this hot out. I was getting ready go say goodbye to summer, but it's back with a vengeance. The steamy weather followed me across the Atlantic, delighting the Swiss who have been eagerly anticipating it's return, but upsetting me, a New Englander who had had her fill of heat and humidity and was excited for those cool fall breezes.

Somehow amidst the humidity and icky toothpaste I managed to find some comfort in a cake. Even the heat-pumping oven didn't bother me. The smell of peaches baking with cinnamon and sugar was so wonderful and lovely that I was too preoccupied daydreaming about lake houses surrounded by raspberry bushes and hydrangeas to worry myself over the kitchen's dramatically rising temperature.

As long as there is leftover cake to keep me calm I think I'll be able to make it through this heat wave. This cake is a keeper. One of the best I've made and I will certainly be making it again, and again, and again. And not just when it's hot, but whenever I can find peaches. This cake does double duty, working well with ice cream after dinner and perfectly with coffee for breakfast.

Our Swiss-family-Mayer adventure is slowly winding down (don't leave - come back). We spent this past weekend in Lugano soaking in the scenery and trying to avoid the heat by swimming and staying in the shade. Our hotel was right across from a little floating lido, which aside from providing us with swimming access, served up great food, drinks and shade. Without a question there was one cocktail that was really making itself known, the Aperol Spritz. It is made with prosecco and Aperol and has a distinctly orange color and tastes a bit like orange soda.

I had been thinking for a little while about what type of cake I should make for our guests. Blogging about food definitely increases the pressure to cook for friends/family when they come to visit. I had to make something. Something delicious and delightful, but also quick and easy so I didn't have to spend all day in the kitchen. I settled on this peach cake that I found in one of the Barefoot Contessa cookbooks.

* goodness! a friend brought it to my attention that I had forgotten flour in the list of ingredients. eeks. Sorry to those who tried to make this, I hope you picked up on this obmission.

recipe from adpated Ina Garten

- 1/4 lb (1 stick) butter at room temperature

- 1 1/2 cups sugar, divided

- 2 extra large eggs

- 1 cup creme fraiche (you can also use sour cream like Ina)

- 1 tsp vanilla extract

- 2 cups all-purpose flour

- 1 tsp baking soda

- 1 tsp baking powder

- 1/2 tsp kosher salt

- 2 tablespoons cinnamon (I upped the cinnamon from 1 tsp - make it to taste, I prefer more cinnamon)

- 4 ripe peaches, peeled, pitted and sliced.

- 1/2 chopped pecans (only if you like nuts)

Preheat the oven to 350ºF/190ºC. Grease a 9x9 baking dish.

Cream the butter and 1 cup sugar until light and fluffy. Turn the mixer to low and add the eggs, one at a time. Follow with the creme fraiche and vanilla, mixing until the batter is smooth. In a separate bowl mix the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Slowly add the flour mixture to the wet butter/sugar mixture and mix until just combined.

In a small bowl combine the 1/2 cup sugar and the cinnamon.

Spread half of the batter into your baking dish. Layer with half of the peach slices and sprinkle with 3/4 of the cinnamon-sugar mixture. Spoon the remaining batter onto of the peaches and smooth with a spatula. Top with the remaining peaches, cinnamon-sugar and pecans.

Bake the cake for 45-55 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean. Mine definitely took 55 minutes if not a bit longer to bake, so just keep on testing until it seems done. It will settle a bit when you take it out of the oven. Eat warm or cool.

Two pieces of cake to sandwich a restless night of sleep in a steamy apartment is a definite mood booster. I was almost tempted to make ice coffee with ice cream to accompany my breakfast piece, but then I remembered I have a slight lactose problem (really only with ice cream) and that probably wouldn't be a great way to start a day.

Today is my 87th day in Switzerland of my allowed 90, which means it's time to leave again. I head home tomorrow morning (day #88) and this time I'm not allowed to come back to Switzerland, not at least until I get my visa. I'm stuck. All of the paper work is in, we checked and double checked and called to triple check, so now we just have to wait, Zach here and me in the states.

It's going to busy rest of the week (a trip to Montana on Thursday) so if I don't make it back to the blog I know you'll understand! Visitors + travel are wonderful, but certainly not very blog friendly.

cinnamon swirl part 2

If I lived in this lighthouse-esq house and the mist was rolling in on an August morning, I think I'd have no choice but to make cinnamon-swirl rolls. The smell of baking cinnamon and sugar would hover downstairs until it slowly wafted up to the lone room under the small pyramid pitched roof. The breakfast table would be strewn with newspapers, coffee mugs, bowls of berries and cinnamon rolls, that is if there is actually enough room for a breakfast table in this house. But really, who needs a sitting area when you have a kitchen, so I think the couch would give way to a small farm table style table, which would likely take up the entire first floor, but that's okay with me.

These cinnamon swirl rolls were made from the leftover dough from last weeks cinnamon-swirl loaf. I decided to skip making another loaf and settled on single serving rolls.
I followed basically the same process, except after I sprinkled the rolled out dough with cinnamon-sugar I then proceeded to slice it into narrow strips and rolls those. I cut the mini rolls in half and placed each half in a buttered muffin pan. Once in the pan I let them sit for about an hour and a half or until they had doubled in size and roughly filled the pan. Bake at 375 for about 20 or so minutes (I actually didn't really time them...just check them until the tops are a bit hard to the touch then take them out and test)
I think this is a house that calls for cinnamon-sugar swirl french toast. The frisbees would fall to the ground and little kiddies would run towards the porch and into the green door and straight for the kitchen for their warm breakfast on a summer Saturday. Dreamy, no?These little rolls were delicious. A guilt free cousin to the cinnamon bun. Since it's made with bread dough and not buttery cake dough, it's light, but still just as tasty.
This is the home I sometimes dream about. We are ages away from ever buying a house, let alone a vacation house, but this one just speaks to me. I love the arched blue door and the wrap around paned windows. I imagine a big farm table behind the house for outdoor meals under the shade of the trees with dear friends and their cutie-pie kiddies.