Dampfnudeln

If I would translate this blog title directly from German to English,

the English name of this dish would be "Steam Noodle". 

But that doesn't make sense at all.

I prefer to call them 

Sweet Yeast Dumplings here.

They're not baked like bread rolls.

They're not boiled like pasta or other dumplings.

They are cooked in a steamer insert 

over a pot of boiling water. 

These dumplings are a traditional dish from

Bavaria or Austria or Tirol.

They are sweet and fluffy and really filling. 

I would not eat these as a dessert,

we eat them as dinner on their own. 

Well... with vanilla sauce and poppy seed sugar. 

Not necessarily healthy. But GOOD.

And for us, they taste a bit like childhood!

Try them!

It takes a bit of time to make them,

but you won't be disappointed.

Ingredients:

50g unsalted butter (plus some more for greasing)

2tsp easy bake dry yeast

200ml lukewarm milk

4tbsp sugar

500g plain white flour

1 egg

1 pinch of salt

Melt the butter.

Mix yeast, milk and  sugar and leave in a rather warm place for a few minutes.

Add the flour.

 Mix.

Add egg and salt.

Mix.

Add butter.

Mix.

Knead the dough thoroughly until there are no lumps left. 

We want a smooth but rather firm yeast dough.

Form a ball, but it into a bowl, cover with a tea towel and leave in a 

rather warm place and give the yeast plenty of time to work

and leave the dough to rise.

Give it at least 2 hours.

Even more, if possible.

Knead again, form 10 little balls and put them on a baking tray.

Cover with the tea towel and leave to rise in a warm place for another 30 mins.

Grease a steamer insert with a bit of butter and put 5 of your dough balls into it.

Take a pot that fits the size of your steamer,

fill with a bit of water and bring it to the boil.

Put the steamer insert on the pot and cover with a lid.

Cook the dumplings in the steam for about 15 minutes. 

DO NOT LIFT THE LID!!!!

If you do so, the dumplings will collapse!

STAY AWAY FROM THE POT SO!!!

Tidy up your kitchen instead.

Fill the dishwasher.

Read my blog. 

Whatever.

Just, UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES lift that lid!

Thank you.

After 15 minutes of steaming, your dumplings will be ready.

Serve with vanilla custard or vanilla sauce

and poppy seed sugar.

Listen to German march music while eating

and pretend you are at the Oktoberfest in Munich. 

Have a bit of fun eating these!!!

Lena

Pear and Chocolate Cake

Today, we baked a cake.

 Because it was Sunday. Because it rained. Because I really like baking and cooking. 

We found the "regular" cake ingredients as well as pears and dark chocolate.

So we decided to make a "Birne Helene Kuchen". 

A Pear and Chocolate Cake.

Apparently, the fancy name for the combination of pear and chocolate and stuff is

Poire Belle Helene.

I googled that.

Poire belle Hélène ([pwaʁ bɛl elɛn]; German: Birne Helene) is a dessert made from pears poached in sugar syrup and served with vanilla ice cream, chocolate syrup, and crystallized violets. (source: wikipedia)

So there we went and baked. And it was really, really nice.

A not too sweet, very moist, brownie-like base with juicy pear pieces.

Fruity, caramelised pear slices on top.

Really fluffy. Really comforting. 

And really easy and quick to make. 

Ingredients:

100g dark chokolate

4 pears

3 ggs

125g unsalted butter

60g sugar

vanilla essence

salt

200g white spelt flour 

(plain white flour will do, too)

1 level tsp baking powder

75ml milk

icing sugar for dusting

Preheat oven to 175 degrees

(fan assisted to 160 degrees)

Carefully melt the chocolate.

Peel all pears and remove the cores.

Slice 3 pears, cut one into little cubes.

Generously whisk butter, eggs, sugar, vanilla and a pinch of salt.

Add flour and baking powder.

Mix.

Add the milk.

Mix.

Add the chocolate and pear cubes.

Mix.

Pour the mixture into a 20cm cake/sponge pan.

Put the pear slices on top and push them slightly into the dough.

Bake the cake for 50-60 mins. 

Leave to cool and dust with a bit of icing sugar.

Enjoy! 

Lena

Sunday, 28th Feb 2016

 

 We've started our Sunday with a baking session and made fluffy, buttery,

 croissant-like breakfast rolls.

 

 

They turned out great!

Really yum!

 

 

After a long breakfast feast,

we all got dressed and went outside

to get to know the new garden a bit better

and to do some outdoor spring cleaning.

 

 

We all got a bit hungry around lunch time,

so we had some defrosted apple crumble cake

and hot chocolate.

 

 

We ignored the mess in the kitchen and went outside again.

 

 

We found the first spring flowers and the garden toys

which hadn't been unpacked yet.

 

 

 

 

Alfie got bored of the garden after a while

and wanted to go for a walk in the field behind the house.

 

 

 

I started cutting the lawns after our little walk until it got too dark and cold.

 

 

 

Gerd bathed the kids while I tidied up the kitchen

and cooked a prawn curry.

 

And made a fancy dessert.

From a pack.

With whipped cream.

From a can.

 

 

Ta-daa!

 

I cleaned up the kitchen

and gift-wrapped this T-Shirt

I made for a friends' boy's 1st birthday.

 

 

The kids sleep

and Gerd and I spend the rest of the evening

together on the couch

before a new, busy week begins in the morning.

 

 

I hope your Sunday was as nice as ours!

 

Lena

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



No nap and a sick hen

Today, Alfie decided that he was a big boy.

And big boys don't nap.

 

Big boys play with toy cars instead.

 

 

 

And with toy cars storage boxes.

 

This was the first nap-free day in Alfie's life.

And it went quite well.

 

Later, he helped me to feed the hens.

 

And we discovered, that Henny,

the speckled hen in the picture,

has a sore leg.

She hobbles around the place,

the right leg held up. Most of the time.

Poor Henny!

We really hope, she'll be better, soon.

 

 

Alfie tried the

"I'll give her all the corn I have"-cure.

I'll let you know, if it worked.

 

Well... I kind of missed my midday-break today.

But the little man sleeps now.

And he went to bed not offering the tiniest bit of resistance.

 

Good boy, Alfie!

 

Maybe it's nap day again tomorrow.

Maybe not.

Klara gave up daytime naps at the same age.

Nothing would surprise me, so.

 

:-)

 

Lena

 

 

 

Fingerpaint Freakiness!

 

 

Today was the day for finger paint.

So the artist said.

 

 

No thanks... no brushes today!

 

They're called finger paints!

 

 

Not brush paints, you know?

 

 

 

 

Finished!

 

 

The artist has left.

 

Bath time!

 

Lena