Blackberry and Apple Pie

Glorious weather, food and friends, it was a perfect weekend! Last week, an old friend of mine from my days at university came to visit us and I was so excited as we hadn't seen each other in years! She moved to LA a long time ago where I've only visited her once but a year ago she decided to head over to Costa Rica together with her family, so we're even further apart from each other now. When she finally stood at the door with her two children, I couldn't believe it! It was such a strange feeling to meet the little ones who I only knew from pictures and skype, but they felt so familiar. This is such a weird thing about the internet, you can be so far away and still feel so close!

Before the young family arrived I decided to bake, not only a cake but a pie, the ultimate sweet comfort food. I needed to calm down and nothing beats a pie in a situation like that! The result was a thin layer of buttery short crust wrapped around a juicy filling of apples and blackberries. I've made many apple pies in my life but this was the first time that I tried this English classic with the dark berries. They add a sweet juiciness and melt together with the apples to a very unique composition. It reminds me a bit of plums or pears but it's still different, they create a new taste which is hard to describe.

The fruity filling was so full of red juices that I was a bit worried about the pastry. For no reason, the short crust didn't soak it all up or get too soggy, it was still crunchy. It was all good, even more so, it was delicious! Just the first piece which I cut off impatiently when the pie was still hot was a bit soft, it's best to let it sit for a while which is almost impossible as it smells too good!

Apple and Blackberry Pie

For a 20cm / 8" springform pan you need

For the filling

• sour baking apples (such as Boskoop), peeled, cored, quartered and thinly sliced, 600g / 21 ounces

• blackberries, 200g / 7 ounces

• granulated sugar 5 tablespoons

• ground cinnamon 1 teaspoon

• plain flour 2 tablespoons

For the pastry

• plain flour 260g / 9 ounces

• granulated sugar 1 teaspoon

• a pinch of salt

• ground cinnamon 1/4 teaspoon

• butter, cold, 70g / 2.5 ounces

• vegetable shortening, cold,  70g / 2.5 ounces

• cold water 1 tablespoon

For the glaze

• milk 3 tablespoons

• granulated sugar 1 heaping teaspoon

For the pastry, combine the dry ingredients. Cut the butter and vegetable shortening with a knife into the flour until there are just little, crumbly pieces left. Continue with your fingers and quickly work the buttery pieces into the flour until combined. Add the water, continue mixing with the hooks of your mixer until you have a crumbly mixture. Form 2 discs, dividing them roughly 2:1, wrap in cling film and put in the freezer for 10 minutes.

Set the oven to 200°C / 390°F (top / bottom heat).

Take the dough out of the freezer, put the smaller disc in the fridge and roll out the bigger one. Roll out a circle big enough to line the bottom and the sides of the springform pan, overlapping the rim about 1 cm / 1/2 ". Put the pan with the pastry in the fridge.

For the filling, combine the sugar and cinnamon and mix with the apples. Take out the pan with the pastry and fill with 1/3 of the apples, sprinkle with 1 tablespoon of flour and add half of the berries. Add another layer of apples, 1 tablespoon of flour and the remaining berries and apples on top. Roll out the remaining disc, a bit bigger than the springform pan and lay on top of the apples. Gently push the sides onto the bottom layer of pastry, sealing it by rolling it inwards. Brush the top with milk and sprinkle with sugar.

Bake the pie for 15 minutes, turn down the heat to 175°C / 350°F and bake for another 40 minutes or until the pie is golden on top. Take it out and let it sit for 10 minutes.

Raspberry Savarin or a giant Rum Baba

Giorgio's Cafe is a busy bistro in Malta on the Sliema promenade where I love to go for a morning espresso. It's right opposite Valletta and you can see the capital's majestic bastions right across Marsamxett Harbour. Just sitting there, enjoying my breakfast and watching people passing by is one of my favourite Saturday morning activities when I'm on the island. On that day of the week, lots of Maltese ladies meet at Giorgio's amongst a few business men for a little break and a snack in between their weekend shopping. Everybody is dressed up, the mood is chatty and you can see the season's latest sunglasses collections presented at every table. It's a wonderful Mediterranean scene, la dolce vita!

It wouldn't be one of my most beloved cafes on the island if there wasn't a culinary treat involved. In this case, it's Rum Baba, a little yeast cake soaked in syrupy liqueur topped with fresh fruits! It's sticky and sweet. The cake is so saturated in syrup that it feels like a soaking wet sponge when you cut off a piece. I've been wanting to make a lighter version of this sweet dish for years, in a bigger pan and with less syrup, in essence, a Savarin which is like a giant Rum Baba. The only difference between the two cakes is the size and the amount of syrup, apart from that, both use the same rich yeast dough which is similar to a brioche. Another recipe that I will share with you in the next few weeks!

I prefer to use less syrup as it's so sweet that it can easily become too dominant in this composition and you wouldn't be able to taste the cake anymore. To accompany my fruits, slightly tart, delicate raspberries, I used a liqueur also made of the red berries, a German Waldhimbeer Geist which is a traditional spirit made of wild raspberries. I cooked the liqueur with Riesling wine, sugar, lemon juice and water for a few minutes to turn it into an aromatic syrup. It wasn't just sweet, it was rich in flavours! Some Savarin and Rum Baba recipes add whipped cream, which is nice too but it takes away a bit of the fresh touch that the fruity cake has without it. For me, it depends on my mood and the weather, the colder it gets the more I like rich cakes. If it's a warm day I like my tea time treat light and fruity!

Raspberry Savarin Cake

For a 1 litre / 2 pint Savarin or Bundt pan you need

For the topping

• raspberries 125g / 4.5 ounces 

For the cake

• plain flour 210g / 7.5 ounces

• dry yeast 2 teaspoons

• granulated sugar 30g / 1 ounce

• a pinch of vanilla

• a pinch of salt

• milk, lukewarm, 80ml / 3 ounces

• butter, melted, 80g / 3 ounces

• organic eggs 2

In  a large bowl, combine the flour, yeast, vanilla, salt and sugar. Whisk the milk, melted butter and eggs, the temperature should be lukewarm! Add the liquid mixture to the dry ingredients and mix with your dough hooks for a few minutes until well combined, on high speed for the last minute. The dough will be thick but runny. Cover with a tea towel and let the dough rise in a 35°C / 95°F warm ( top / bottom heat, no fan!) oven for 45 minutes.

Butter the cake pan, dust with flour and fill the dough (best with 2 tablespoons) into the pan. Even out the top, cover with a tea towel and let it rise for 20 minutes in a warm place.

Set the oven to 200°C / 390°F (top/ bottom heat).

Bake the cake for 20 minutes or until golden on top. Check with a skewer, it should come out clean. Let the cake cool for a few minutes and take it out of the pan.

For the syrup

• white wine (preferably Riesling) 100ml / 3.5 ounces

• fruity schnaps (preferably raspberry) 60ml / 2 ounces

• freshly squeezed lemon juice 30ml / 1 ounce

• water 60ml / 2 ounces

• granulated sugar 100g / 3.5 ounces

In a sauce pan, mix the ingredients for the syrup, bring to the boil and cook down for 2 minutes. 

The Savarin

Pour the warm syrup into a pot or dish just big enough for the cake to fit in. Put the warm cake into the pot with the syrup (the soft, top side of the cake first). Gently turn the pot around a little to help the cake soak the syrup. After the syrup is completely soaked (after around 15-20 minutes), put a big plate on top of the pot and turn it around, carefully but quickly! Top with the fruits and serve with or without whipped cream, as you prefer.

Plum Cinnamon Crumble Cake

Here is the final of my crumble cake trilogy, the wonderful, Plum Cinnamon Crumble Cake! I started this series in winter, I began with my Apple Crumble, which was one of the first cake recipes on the blog, before I welcomed spring with my Rhubarb Crumble. I love all three of them, I think there is no other sweet recipe I've used more often in my life! These three fruits are my classics but you could easily replace them with gooseberries, peaches, pears or whatever comes into your mind and that fits to cinnamon (which is almost every fruit in my opinion). The base of this cake is spongy but strong enough to carry the juiciest of fruits.

My absolute highlight of this cake are the crumbles, the best buttery crumbles you can imagine! I know I'm repeating myself,  but if you find something so perfect in your kitchen you just can't talk about it enough. So, the next layer, the fruits, are as important. I use 2 pounds of fruity juiciness to balance out the two pastry layers of crumbles and the bottom. No matter what fruit you choose they always add a different feel to this cake. The rhubarb's sourness gives it a lighter touch and the plums and apples are perfect for a cosy Sunday afternoon cake in autumn. Relaxed on the sofa, with a cup of tea and a book in my hands, I can't think of a better cake!

Plum Cinnamon Crumble Cake

Prepare the dough for the base first, the plums afterwards and the crumbles at the end.

For a 26cm /10″ springform pan you need

• plums, cut in half, 1kg / 2 pounds

For the cake base

• butter 125g / 4.5 ounces

• granulated sugar 125g / 4.5 ounces

• a pinch of fresh vanilla

• organic eggs 3

• plain flour 250g / 9 ounces

• baking powder 2 teaspoons

• a pinch of salt

For the crumbles

• plain flour 200g / 7 ounces (you might need some more if the crumbles are too sticky)

• granulated sugar 125g / 4.5 ounces plus 2 teaspoons to sprinkle over the crumbles

• a pinch of vanilla

• ground cinnamon 2 teaspoons plus a pinch to sprinkle the crumbles

• butter, melted, 125g / 4.5 ounces (plus more if the crumbles are too fine)

Set the oven to 180°C / 355°F.

For the base, beat the butter, sugar and vanilla until fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time and continue mixing for a few minutes. Add the flour mixed with the baking powder and salt and continue mixing until well combined. Scrape the dough into a buttered springform pan and arrange the plums vertically in circles pushing them into the dough.

The crumbles need good preparation as you have to make sure that the mixture is neither too moist nor too dry. Have some extra flour and melted butter close at hand so that you can add some immediately if necessary.

Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl. Pour the melted butter on top and mix quickly with the hooks of your mixer, stop as soon as it crumbles. If the crumbles are too moist and sticky add a bit more flour (1-2 tablespoons). If they are too fine and don’t form bigger crumbles add more melted butter. Spread quickly on top of the plums. If you have bigger lumps of crumbles you may have to separate and spread them.

Mix 2 teaspoon of sugar with a pinch of cinnamon and sprinkle on top of the crumbles.

Bake in the oven for around 60 minutes or until golden brown on top. Check with a skewer, it should come out clean. Let the cake cool for at least 15 minutes.

You can serve the crumble cake with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

Caramelized Hazelnut, Eggnog and Vanilla Ice Cream Sundae

I'm not a regular client at ice cream shops but if I go there, this is my favourite sundae: vanilla ice cream topped with whipped cream, eggnog and caramelized hazelnuts! It's a sweet, voluptuous bomb, creamy and decadent! Some prefer a light and fruity ice cream composition, or with deep chocolaty flavours, but this one hits my weak spot. It's a bit like an ice cream version of my Frankfurter Kranz. This equally decadent German buttercream cake is also sprinkled with golden caramel nuts and I'm sure that each slice of it includes the same amount of calories as a bowl of this ice cream! And both are perfect Sunday treats!

When I was still at school, we used to meet at the local ice cream shop in the afternoon and I felt so grown up when I ordered my Krokant Becher, the German name for this sundae. This tiny shot of eggnog poured on top made all the difference and it made me feel so much older than I actually was. Apart from that I just loved its smooth and eggy taste, it melts in your mouth together with the vanilla, caramel and hazelnuts!

Caramelized Hazelnut, Eggnog and Vanilla Ice Cream Sundae

For 4 people you need

• vanilla ice cream 8-12 scoops

• whipping cream 200g / 7 ounces

• granulated sugar 1 tablespoon plus more to taste

• eggnog 2-4 shots, to taste

For the caramelized hazelnuts

• hazelnuts, finely chopped, 50g / 2 ounces

• sugar 25g / 1 ounce

• butter 1 tablespoon

In a large heavy pan, heat up the hazelnuts, sugar and butter on high-medium temperature and roast for around 5 minutes until golden brown and caramelized, stirring constantly. Take off the heat, spread on parchment paper and let it cool completely.

Whip the cream and add sugar to taste.

Divide the ice cream between 4 bowls and add a big tablespoonful of whipped cream on top of each. Pour the eggnog over the cream, sprinkle with caramelized hazelnuts and serve immediately.

My German Cheesecake with Red Currants

This cheesecake calls for Quark, the famous German cheese which is neither like ricotta, nor cottage cheese or fromage blanc although it's often compared to them. Quark is unique, it's soft, white and fresh with a slightly sour taste, it feels a bit more dry and thicker than yoghurt and although the texture is similar to ricotta it's less heavy. Quark is great for cheesecakes, strudel or Danish pastry or as a savory dip on dark bread, mixed with linseed oil and fresh radish or cucumber. I also use it for my Tzatziki although my Greek-German brother in law doesn't agree on that at all, but he still loves it when I make it for him! I will share that recipe with you next week, then you can judge yourself!

Back to the sweets, this recipe has been with me for as long as I can remember. My mother used to bake it for us, and I still eat it as passionately as I did then. This cake isn't as heavy as a New York cheesecake, the base is made of a crumbly shortcrust and the topping is fluffy, light and lemony. Sometimes I add raisins soaked in brandy but this has to wait for now, it will come later when it gets a bit colder. For now, I keep it fresh and add a few sweet and sour red currants on top.

I know that in some places of the world it's hard or almost impossible to get quark and although I try to write about recipes with ingredients that are easily accessible, there is no alternative for this fresh cheese. You can't use ricotta (at least I've never tried it with this recope) or cream cheese, you just get this fluffy cheesecake result when you use quark.

German Cheesecake with Red Currants

This recipe is measured for a 30cm / 12" springform pan. The one that I use is 26cm / 10", so I bake some of the leftover cheese filling in a small baking dish and scope it out with a spoon when it's still warm and fresh out of the oven, it's delicious! 

For the topping

• red currants, a big handful 

For the short crust base

• plain flour 250g / 9 ounces

• granulated sugar 50g / 2 ounces

• a pinch of salt

• cold butter 125g / 4.5 ounces

• organic egg 1

Combine the flour with the sugar and salt. Cut the butter into the flour with a knife until there are just little pieces of butter left. Continue with your fingers and work the butter into the flour until combined (there shouldn’t be any lumps of butter left). Add the egg and continue mixing with the hooks of your mixer until you have a crumbly mixture. Form a ball, wrap in cling film and put in the freezer for 10 minutes.

Set the oven to 200°C / 390°F top/ bottom heat.

Roll out the dough between cling film, big enough to come up 2/3 of the rim of the springform pan. Line the pan with the flat pastry, prick it with a fork and blind-bake in the hot oven for 10-12 minutes or until golden. 

For the cheese topping

• Quark (low fat) 750g / 26.5 ounces

• organic eggs 5

• cornstarch 80g / 3 ounces

• baking powder 1 teaspoon

• granulated sugar 150g / 5.5 ounces

• milk 125ml / 4.5 ounces

• zest of 1 lemon

• a pinch of fresh vanilla

Turn the oven down to 175°C / 350°F.

Beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt for a few seconds, add 50g of sugar and continue beating until stiff.

Mix the Quark, egg yolks, cornstarch, baking powder, 100g / 3.5 ounces of sugar, the vanilla and lemon zest until well combined and creamy. Mix in the milk and gently fold in the stiff egg whites with a wooden spoon.

Fill the cheese mixture in the springform pan on top of the baked short crust, if there's too much of it fill the remaining mixture into a separate baking dish. Bake for 60 minutes or until the top is golden brown. Let it cool in the springform for 10 minutes before you take it out. Serve warm or cold with red currants.

meet in your kitchen | Cristina's crunchy Gooseberry Crumble

It was mid July, a few days before I changed my Berlin kitchen for the one in the Mediterranean, when I got an unexpected  message from Cristina. She said she would be in Berlin for a few days and asked if I would like to bake together with her. She is a very close friend of my Maltese sister Emma, both of them love to bake and I have seen the two girls working on delicious cake and cookie creations quite a few times. Whenever I met Cristina in the kitchen we used to talk about German food as her mother is from the south of Germany and her cooking is influenced by both the Maltese and the German cuisine.

Emma and Cristina became friends on a film set a few years ago, they were booked for a few scenes in a big film production on the island and they bonded straight away. They are both exceptional beauties, so it didn't take too long for them to become well known models in Malta, and against all clichés, their friendship managed to survive this business.

I was happy that Cristina got in touch to meet for a baking session, a meet in your kitchen changed to a meet in my kitchen! We decided to go for a fruity crumble. She suggested an apple crumble but in the end we went for gooseberries, they are in season at the moment and she had never tried these tart little berries before. I bought very ripe red berries as they are less sour than the green ones, I didn't want to shock her too much with her first gooseberry experience! She loved them and they were a perfect addition to her cinnamony crumbles, juicy and fruity at the bottom and crunchy on top!

While we were baking and chatting in the kitchen, I asked her a few questions about her modeling, her studies and her recent travels to Marrakesh. Cristina just finished her bachelor of Science in Earth Systems, the past years of studying influenced her consciousness about environmental issues and affected her lifestyle strongly.

Cristina's Gooseberry Crumble

• gooseberries, cut in half or whole, 500g / 1 pound

• plain flour 300g / 10.5 ounces

• Demerara sugar 175g / 6 ounces plus 2 scant tablespoons for the berries

• butter, at room temperature, 200g / 7 ounces

• ground cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon

Set the oven to 180°C / 355°F and butter a 20cm / 8" baking dish.

Combine the flour and sugar, add the butter and mix with your fingers until you have a crumbly mixture.

Put the gooseberries in the baking dish and mix with 2 tablespoons of sugar mixed with the cinnamon. Spread the crumbles on top of the berries and bake for 45 minutes, turn the oven up to 200°C / 390°F and bake for further 15 minutes or until the crumbles are golden brown.

You live in Malta, your father is Maltese but your mother is from the south of Germany. How did these two cultures influence your life and personality?

I don't really feel closer to one or the other. Actually I do feel like I am properly half Maltese and half German. I feel inspired by both cultures, I tend to cook more Mediterranean when it comes to savory food. When we're in Germany I really enjoy how green it is and I spend more time outside in the countryside than I would in Malta.

What are your favourites from the Maltese and German cuisine?

From the Maltese cuisine, I love the typical Maltese Ftira bread with its filling (no fish). This is the food I really miss when I'm abroad, as the type of bread is so unique. From the German cuisine it would have to be the typical German dish called Milchreis.

What did you miss the most about Maltese food when you lived in Berlin? What did you discover here that you reallly enjoyed?

The Ftira. I love that in Germany, in Berlin in particular, there are little bakeries at every corner. I have a sweet tooth, so I love buying all kinds of pastries and cakes.

What was the first dish you cooked or baked on your own, what is your first cooking memory?

I don't remember, but my family makes quite a big deal about birthdays. Every year, we all bake a special birthday cake for each other and take time in finding the perfect cake to bake and also work a lot on the decoration and make sure each cake looks different from one we had already done.

What are your favourite places to buy and enjoy food in Malta?

I like places that promote fresh foods, preferably healthy ones also. The view and setting of the restaurant is also important. One of my favorite go to places for lunch, dinner or just any snack is Mint, in Sliema. They offer daily fresh options (and vegetarian ones too) and display their menu for the day in large refrigerators, so that people can see before hand what the food looks like. I recently also discovered the farmers market, where you can buy all sorts of local and fresh fruit and veg, straight from the farmer himself!

You've just finished your bachelor of Science in Earth Systems, can you explain what this is about? How did your studies effect your daily live and your environmental consciousness?

My course is an environmental based subject, which includes studying different branches of the environment, such as biodiversity, geology or hydrology. The course really changed how I think about a lot of things in our world. Apart from the obvious things such as being more environmentally aware, I am starting to reduce what I purchase, in terms of where things are produced, what I eat etc.

I know that you love to travel and you've just come back from Morocco, what were your strongest impressions? Did you make any new culinary discoveries?

Morocco was a wonderful place and very different to what I imagined. In the large cities, the people are not as conservative as you might think, and most citizens are super friendly. With regards to food, I felt that in the main cities such as Marrakesh, there was not much variation, particularly for vegetarian dishes. They mostly served couscous, vegetable tagine or omlettes. All meals however were always colourful in appearance  and accompanied by a mix of olives and flat bread.

Besides being at university during the past few years, you also became a successful model. What do you like and what do you dislike about this job?

I just do some modeling in Malta as a hobby, and an easy way to make money rather than a job.  Its fun to dress up for a while and play a different character, but I'm not someone that likes to spend time and money on clothes or new accessories. The industry also creates a large demand on animal trade, in particular furs or jewellery made from (for example) rhino horn. I am completely against this, and would refuse to model such items.

What or who inspired you to become an environmentalist?

The course I studied opened my eyes to the problems in our world, but I would say that it originated from my childhood. When I was young (and still now) our family outings always consited of a lot of outdoor activites, such as hikes or picnics in the countryside. When we visit Germany, we always go skiing in winter time and hike different mountains or cycle by lakes during summer time. The school I went to was also situated in a very green part of Malta and a lot of our activities consisted of interacting outside with the environment.  This really influenced me.

What did you choose to share on eat in my kitchen and why?

I chose an apple crumble, which Meike interestingly suggested to make a goosberry crumble since the fruit is now in season. I actually came up with this recipe with a friend of mine when we were living in Berlin. We tweaked it so that it would really be ours, and we found it so delicious from the first bite. The streusel, or crumble, is really crisp and just the right texture to complement the slightly softened and flavoured fruit underneath.

If you could choose one person to cook a meal for you, who and what would it be?

It would have to be Ina Garten from the cooking show Barefoot Contessa. I watch all of her cooking shows and have her recipe books.

You're going to have ten friends over for a spontaneous dinner, what will be on the table?

A nice quiche with grilled vegetables, pasta salad with vegetables and crunchy apples and a strawberry cheesecake.

What was your childhood's culinary favourite and what is it now?

My mother used to make pasta with sugar for us sometimes. When I have it now it just really reminds me of when I was younger. Something I would always have an appetite for now are my homemade brownies with nuts and white chocolate topping. Once I ate a whole portion in one day!

Do you prefer to cook on your own or together with others?

I like cooking with others if they know how to cook. It's not so much fun with people who don't really know how to cook or who are not really in the mood.

Which meals do you prefer, improvised or planned?

Improvised!

Which meal would you never cook again?

Once I cooked a chocolate coffee cake and I must have put too much coffee in. Since then the cake put me off coffee.

Thank you Cristina!

Espresso Ricotta Mousse with Ouzo and Bittersweet Chocolate

The past few weeks felt like living in ricotta heaven! If some places are called the land of milk and honey, Malta would be the land of ricotta and honey! Sweet and savory, you taste it in pies like Qassatat or Pastizzi, tarts, cakes like Cassata Siciliana or with pasta, there is an endless variety in the use of this delicious dairy product on the island. One might think that after a month of savoring all these delicacies I might need a break, but that's not the case at all. Now that I'm back home, I miss it already!

So, to ease my culinary longings, I came up with a dessert that satisfies my needs when I'm in the mood for ricotta, a coffee ricotta mousse with Ouzo, or Spuma di Ricotta al Caffè! It lifts you up like a Tiramisu, the espresso, sugar and anisette are the right kick after a long dinner. The ricotta makes it smooth and velvety and gives it a milky touch. I sprinkled some bittersweet chocolate on top, the perfect finish, visually and in flavours!

This dessert is perfect for a dinner with friends, it only takes a few minutes to whip the ingredients together. You can prepare the mousse either in advance and keep it in the fridge or eat it straight away if the ricotta is chilled enough like I did.

Espresso Ricotta Mousse with Ouzo and Bittersweet Chocolate

For 4 portions you need

• chilled ricotta, drained, 250g / 9 ounces

• instant espresso powder 1 1/2 teaspoons

• grainy espresso powder (for the espresso maker) 1 teaspoon

• granulated sugar 3 tablespoons

• Ouzo 2 tablespoons

• bittersweet chocolate, grated, 4 teaspoons, for topping

Whip the ingredients until well combined, add sugar to taste and fill the mousse in whiskey glasses. Serve immediately sprinkled with chocolate or keep in the fridge and add the chocolate just before serving.

meet in your kitchen | Arnold, the Beekeeper and Peaches filled with Honey Basil Ricotta

Last summer, I read Arnold Grech's name on a jar of golden Maltese honey for the first time. I had visited Antoine Vella, one of the last artisan weavers on the island who makes beautiful carpets with traditional patterns. He is one of Arnold's close friends and he had suffered from allergy problems for years. His friend, the beekeeper advised him to take a spoonful of honey collected from the area where he lives twice a day. Since that day the weaver has been cured and there is always a jar of honey to be found next to his weaving loom!

A year has passed and finally I find myself at Arnold Grech's house to talk about bee keeping. Everybody I asked recommended him to learn more about bees and the island's delicious honey! Malta is supposed to have its name derived from the Greek word for honey, meli, the ancient Greeks called the island Melite (meaning honey-sweet) and later, the Romans called it Melita. Malta has always been famous for its production of a unique honey due to its endemic species of bees, which also led to its nickname, the land of honey!

I looked forward to meeting Arnold and to listen to the man with 65 years of beekeeping experience, he is known to produce some of the island's best honeys! When we met the first time to drive up to one of his apiaries in the north, a pinched nerve got in our way and we had to change our plans. I interviewed Arnold at his bed-side as he couldn't move at all. We spoke for hours and I was fascinated by his stories, his knowledge and passion. He told me so much about his beloved bees that it was hard for me to wait until we could finally drive up to Mellieha where many of his colonies of bees live at the moment. One of the many stories which amused all of us when we imagined the scene was the mating of the bees. When the Queen leaves the hive to mate, she makes a shrill noise to inform the drones (the male bees) that she is ready. She leaves the hive, followed by hundreds of male bees, accelerating constantly until there is just one drone left which can keep up with her. She tests him further by speeding up a bit more to make sure that he's the right one. When her choice is made he's allowed to dock onto her!

So finally the day had come, Arnold felt much better and we met in his "honey kitchen", his apiary in Mellieha which looks like a place in heaven! It's right under the famous Red Tower which was built in 1649, the sparkling Mellieha bay lies to the east and the Ghadira Natural Reserve spreads to the south and west. I learnt so much about the bees, the colony's organization, the different honey flows and much more! Arnold keeps his bees in a few apiaries, he produces his own honey but he is also the island's main Queen (bee) breeder which he sells to other beekeepers. He makes various kinds of exquisite honey throughout the year and we didn't leave him without taking a couple of them home with us, Wild Thyme and Orange Blossom honey.

There is a high demand for Maltese honey, its unique taste and quality made it very popular, in and outside Malta. You should only buy the island's honey from trusted beekeepers as there isn't always Maltese honey in a jar when it's written on it. This is a  problem that occurs in every country that creates a high quality product with a limited production. If you're unsure about a certain honey's origin, just get in touch with Arnold who has been an agriculture consultant in Malta for decades and who knows Malta's honey producers and their production like no one else! When we went to Gozo, he told us to visit one of his students in Gozo, Joey Xuereb. He has a beautiful apiary right at the harbor in Mgarr and sells delicious honey as well!

One the many recipes I tried with Orange Blossom Honey are Peaches filled with Honey Ricotta and Basil - just divine! Fittingly, a bee decided to have a taste as soon as I served them in the garden!

Peaches filled with Honey Ricotta and Basil

For 4 people you need

• ripe peaches, cut in half and pitted, 4

• ricotta, drained, 250g / 9 ounces

• flowery honey, such as orange blossom, 2 tablespoons plus more to taste

• basil leaves, cut into thin slices, 8

Whisk the ricotta and honey, sweeten with honey to taste and fill a tablespoonful into each peach half. Sprinkle with the basil and, if you like, pour a little more honey on top.

When and how did you become a bee keeper?

I had to sit for a competitive Grammar School examination way back in 1950. I used to visit my uncle who was a bachelor, frequently. On hearing that I had to study hard for this examination, he told me that if I passed on my first attempt, he would give me a colony of bees. He had three colonies in his garden. Each one was housed in an Earthenware pottery jar. After successfully passing the exam, my uncle kept his word and put one of the three colonies of bees he had at my disposal. I used to go to his house so that together we see the bees. And from then on I never looked back.

How many colonies of bees do you keep and how often do you visit them?

The numbers of colonies of bees fluctuate from time to time. I am the main Queen (ed. queen bee) breeder of the Islands of Malta. I rear Apis mellifera ruttneri queen bees only, the Maltese honey bee. Today, there are many beekeepers who import Apis mellifera sicula from Sicily. Having ten months of sunshine and good weather, plus two months of mild winter, I take advantage and keep rearing Queen honey bees throughout the year. This is coupled with eight honey flows in a continuous honey season beginning from 1st September and finishing on the 31st of August the year after. The honey flows occur in October - carob trees, then in December asphodel. In January the bees forage on borage flowers and in February it's red clover. In March, we have white thistle and in April orange blossom. From the last week of May and all June it is wild thyme.The last honey flow would be eucalyptus in late August and September.At present I have 183 colonies and some 38 Virgin Queens in the mating period. This year I have already reared 600 Queen bees. More than half of my Queens are normally requeened after the second year. And some of my customers are understanding the tricks of lessening swarming in the apiary. In European countries this could be done after the third year, since they have a shorter period for honey flows.

You have called the bees "your drug", what about them fascinates you so much? What did you learn from them?

During the last 50 years (I've been keeping bees for the last 65 years) I've been studying beekeeping in Israel, England, Spain, Switzerland and Tunisia. I have won all these scholarships through CHIEME. I have also studied Apitherapy on a personal basis. Together with Prof. Walter Sheppard of the Washington State University, Prof. Maria Arias of Sao Paolo, Brazil, I carried a study (DNA) on the Maltese honey bee i.e. Apis mellifera ruttneri. We gave it the name of a German scientist who worked on many a DNA of honey bees. Today, I can say that I have studied a wide sphere of beekeeping in European and North African countries.

As I have already stated, our beekeeping season is stretched throughout the year. Nowadays, when a honey flow is nearing, I prepare to move a number of colonies of bees to the area. Already set with Supers on (where the honey nectar is stored), the only inspection takes place three days after moving them. Then, according to the progress of the flowering period, another inspection takes place fifteen days later. What fascinates me is the way they build the comb. From experience I know how to introduce new foundation in the right time. Bees do not produce beeswax if there is no honey flow on. You can also help the colony in increasing the amount of nectar collected.I do not use chemicals to treat Varroa jacobsoni (ed. a disease). Today we know that apart from Varroa jacobsoni there is Varroa destructor which is immune to certain chemicals. I use drone brood. A Queen, in her first year, does not lay drone eggs. By keeping a couple of old Queens, you can produce sets of unsealed drone brood which one can distribute to 1st year Queens. As usual, before the brood is sealed the varroa mite enters the cell to meet the larva. Both are sealed in. When the larvae are nearing to emerge from the thin cocoon (after 24 days), I take them off without bees and see the varroa is killed. Thus saving money and I get a better crop -organic.Another thing which really fascinates me, is the way they accept irregular spacing in Supers which I make and how they keep expanding on the same comb. Thirdly, I can create a situation in the brood chamber where the Queen increases her laying powers and arrives earlier in her top numbers of eggs (worker bees) by four to five weeks before the honey flow. This is done on a work phase of 28 weeks beginning from the 1st week in October to March. The end results in a peak of flying bees before the honey flow in April (orange blossom) and wild thyme (June). From the bees you have seen in Mellieha (ed. where Arnold keeps some of his colonies, in the north of Malta), I estimated that the crop is nearing 200 kg (400 pounds).

Could you give a short description of the cycle of a bees life and the inner workings of a colony?

The Queen bee is an egg laying machine. The drone supplies the goods when needed in case of a Virgin Queen. The worker bees do all the rest. The worker bee, in her first three days after emerging from the cocoon, cleans the empty cells preparing them for the Queen to lay. In the following three days, having developed a gland in its head, the bee prepares and feeds what is called the bee-milk. In the next three to five days, the worker bees will be supplying the Queen with royal jelly. After the 11th day, they can produce beeswax, through thin pockets beneath the abdomen. On the 16th day, they begin guard duties at the entrance of the hive. They begin practicing their way to and from the hive by making orientation flights until on the 21st day they begin foraging. These bees follow scouts which had left the hive before to find new pastures. When these scouts arrive home fully laden with nectar and pollen, they do not drop their goods in cells and leave the hive to bring back more. They begin going on a pattern on the comb challenging new foragers to follow. As these new recruits are identified they are given a taste of the goods. Then they keep following her to get more information, where the new source is situated, if this is in front or behind the hive, how far it is by means of the shaking of the abdomen and by using the sun as their compass to find their way back (ed. this is called the dancing of the honey bees).Search for "Dancing of the honey bees" on the internet to get a detailed scientific description of theses scouts and their way forward.

What is the biggest threat for bees today? What do you think we must change about how we treat our environment?

There are many factors which are threatening bees worldwide. In Malta, one factor is the rearing of undervalued Queen bees. Other beekeepers are importing Queen bees from Sicily which is a different race/ species from the Maltese one, with a different orientation.Beekeepers don't settle for bee's honey flows but need more. Stress takes over and the end result would be diseased due to stress. They are feeding bees early in the season whilst normally Queen bees are left to lay during the year, according to the honey flows. They also tend to keep the bees without medication when they need it, so they get weak and are attacked by stronger colonies robbing their honey and spreading diseases. In Malta, insecticides are controlled and spraying in fields is controlled too.

What are your favourites in the Maltese cuisine?

My favorite dishes are cooking rabbit in different ways and using honey to get a better blend and aroma. I also prefer to have white fleshed fish such as grouper and sea bass and tuna. Again cooking in different styles, especially steamed, I only use honey, sauces are optional. Spices are rare in my cooking.

What is your feeling about the state of home food culture in Malta today? What has changed over the past 5, 10 or 20 years?

Home cooking was the best as it was 20 or 30 years ago, I'm still doing it today. As a matter of fact you don't see me using milk, yoghurt and such items in my cooking. Plain and simple is the best.

What was the first dish you cooked or baked on your own, what is your first cooking memory?

I have been cooking since I was eleven. Being the elder child in a family of ten, you have to put your hands in to help. My first dish was fried pork and chips.

What are your favourite places to buy and enjoy food in Malta?

I am not a fan of eating out. But there is a time when I feel having a go at either Michael (Michael's in Valletta, he is called Il Re del Pesce), known for his exceptional cooking of fresh fish, or Il Gillieru, Tony Cremona, in St Paul's Bay.

If you could choose one person to cook a meal for you, who and what would it be?

I have already spoken about my choice, definitely it's Michael.

What was your childhood's culinary favourite and what is it now?

By time, you increase your experiences and add to your list. When I was a bachelor, I used to catch pilot fish and cook for another 20 or 30 bachelors. We used to meet in one's house and I would cook grilled pilot fish with a special tomato uncooked sauce - the Maltese way.

Thank you Arnold!

Joanna’s amazing Maltese Bread Pudding

Fruity, sticky and juicy, that's what comes to my mind when I think of Joanna Bonnici's Maltese Bread Pudding. I loved its richness, stuffed with sweet Mediterranean flavours, like tangerine and orange, the bread mixture enhanced by the aromas of nutmeg, vanilla, cinnamon, coconut and whiskey. I got hooked on it after the first bite and couldn't stop cutting piece after piece off this cakey juiciness!

When I met Joanna at her house a few days ago for the meet in your kitchen feature, I was so excited to see her, but I must admit that I had been looking forward to trying her famous pudding for days! Her kind and welcoming character, her big smile made me feel at home straight away. We sat down in her garden, enjoyed a cup of coffee and a slice of her pudding for breakfast and it felt like we had known each other for years! She made us feel so comfortable that, when I finished the first slice of this wonderful sweet, I didn't feel shy to ask for another one!

As I got home I shared another piece with my Maltese Mama Jenny, a true bread pudding connoisseur. We sat down together in her kitchen, prepared for our sweet tasting. Jenny could only agree, she said it was the best Maltese bread pudding that she had ever tasted!

Maltese Bread Pudding

Makes 1 large pudding

• stale rolls or panini, torn into bite sized chunks, 6 (about 500g / 17 1/2oz)

• fresh milk 1l / 4 1/4 cups

• mixed dried fruit 250g / 9 ounces

• orange, juice and zest, 1

• desiccated coconut 3 tablespoons

• dates, chopped, 100g / 3.5 ounces

• apricot jam or marmalade (or whatever there is in the pantry) 2 tablespoons

• granulated sugar 3 tablespoons

• cocoa powder 2 tablespoons

• a pinch of nutmeg

• a pinch of vanilla

• a pinch of cinnamon

• tangerine zest 1 teaspoon

• amaretto di Saronno (or whiskey) 2 tablespoons

Mix the milk, orange juice, vanilla, amaretto and marmalade. Combine the remaining ingredients in a large bowl and add the milk-orange mixture. Mix with your fingers and let it soak for an hour.

Set the oven to 180°C / 355°F and line a 23 x 28 x 4cm / 9 x 11 x 1 1/2" baking dish with parchment paper.

Fill the pudding mixture into the lined baking dish and bake in the oven until the top of the pudding is firm, just starting to be springy. Insert a skewer to check if the pudding is done. (Joanna does it by feeling, she can’t say the exact baking time, it also varies depending on the rolls, but it takes about 65-75 minutes for me when I bake it.)

May be served with warm custard or on its own with a cup of tea.

Kannoli filled with Lemon Ricotta

One of Msida's culinary highlights (at least for me) is Busy Bee Confectionery right at the Ta'Xbiex Sea Front and whenever I'm here it becomes my second home. I go there almost every day to stock up with sweet and savory pies, Pastizzi, Qassatat, Cassata Siciliana, chocolate cakes, Ottijiet cookies or cannoli (Kannoli in Maltese). Many of these delicacies are made with ricotta which has a special taste and texture in Malta. It's a bit crumbly, slightly sweet and perfect for fluffy fillings, either pure or flavoured as it mixes very well with all kinds of aromas. My ricotta consumption reaches its annual peak during summertime, luckily our lifestyle also involves lots of physical activities when we're here, so it balances out!

For years I've been buying Busy Bee's Kannoli which are one of the best on the island but I've been thinking about making my own for quite a while. A few days ago my Maltese sister Emma came to visit us and the time felt right to get this project started. Jenny gave me the metal tubes, which you need to fry the Kannoli rolls, as a birthday present and I had already come up with my recipe. I decided to go for a lemony ricotta filling made with lemon zest to give it a lighter, summery feeling. It was a success and we all loved it!

The next exciting step was making the pastry, the Kannoli horns. They have to be thin enough to become crisp but thick enough to carry the filling. The dough is very easy to prepare, I added Maltese Moscato wine instead of Marsala and a little cinnamon and cocoa powder which gives the rolls a nice taste and makes them a bit darker. The first two circles we rolled out were a bit too thick and took a bit longer to fry but the second batch was perfect! We wrapped the thin discs around the metal tubes and folded them twice at the top so that they wouldn't open. They need just 1-2 minutes in the hot oil to turn into the most beautiful, crisp Kannoli horns. We stuffed them with the lemony filling and dipped them into chopped hazelnuts as Busy Bee does -  the result was delicious!

Kannoli filled with Lemon Ricotta

You need Kannoli metal tubes to fry the pastry.

For 18 Kannoli you need

For the filling

• fresh ricotta, drained, 1kg / 2 pounds

• granulated sugar 120g / 4.5 ounces

• zest of 1 lemon

Whisk the ingredients for the filling, season to taste and put in the fridge. 

For the Kannoli horns

• plain flour 300g / 10.5 ounces

• granulated sugar 5 tablespoons

• salt 1/2 teaspoon

• ground cinnamon 1/4 teaspoon

• cocoa powder 1 1/2 teaspoons

• butter, at room temperature, 2 tablespoons

• organic egg yolk 1

• Moscato wine (or Marsala or red wine) 75ml / 2.5 ounces

• water 75ml / 2.5 ounces

Combine the dry ingredients and mix together with the butter, egg, wine and water to an elastic dough. Let it rest for 10 minutes. 

For the Kannoli

• vegetable oil for frying, about 1l / 2 pints

• hazelnuts, chopped, 200g / 7 ounces

In a large pot, heat the oil.

Roll out the dough on a floured surface very thinly and cut out 12cm / 5" discs. Wrap the discs around the Kannoli metal tubes, fold twice and seal well. When the oil is hot, fry the pastry for about 1-2 minutes until the Kannoli horns are golden brown (fry 2-3 horns at a time). Take them out carefully, put them on kitchen roll to remove excess oil and let them cool for 1-2 minutes before you remove the metal tubes.

Let the Kannoli cool completely before you fill them with the ricotta mixture and dip the ends into the chopped hazelnuts, serve immediately as they get soggy when they sit for a few hours. You can also keep the Kannoli horns in an airtight container and fill them just before serving.

Melon, Mint and Lemon

One of the great things about living in the Mediterranean in summer is that you can find fresh fruits, herbs and vegetables at every street corner. Farmers offer their harvest of the morning on little open vans, ripe tomatoes, zucchini, aubergines, the sweetest peaches, melons, grapes and the biggest bunches of basil I've ever seen in my life. They are so big that you have to hold them with both of your hands! These mobile shops are the social meeting points of each street or village. It's a beautiful scene of women buying their groceries for the next days, checking the quality of the offers, exchanging gossip and enjoying the fresh air before the heat takes over again.

My trusted vegetable man, Leli, comes to Msida twice a week, a humble man with beautiful eyes as blue as the Mediterranean sea! Unfortunately, I haven't managed to meet him yet. He comes to our village on Tuesday and Friday in the morning and I was busy driving around on the island on both days. Jenny told me that his face lit up with a big smile when she told him that we were soon to arrive! I asked her to buy some vegetables for me before I arrived and she bought me one of the sweetest melons that I have ever eaten. It was like honey, so juicy and ripe!

We enjoyed a couple slices before I threw a handful of mint leaves from Jenny's garden on top. Then I drizzled some fresh lemon juice over the yellow fruit, a tip a got from my Maltese auntie Sandra. It's perfectly refreshing on these days that push to almost 40°C (104°F) on the thermometer! All you need is a very ripe Galia melon - Bettiegh in Maltese - skinned and cut into slices, a handful of fresh mint leaves, the juice of half a lemon and the heat can come!

Cherry and Chocolate Muffins

After almost six weeks without baking any muffins it was time to pull out the tray again. I mentioned my excessive cherry shopping last week and this recipe is only one of the baking results that this led too. There was the Swabian Kirschenmichel and a couple other sweets that didn't even make it onto the blog, it was just too much cooking and baking to write about!

So here's one of my creations, muffins stuffed with chunky bittersweet chocolate and sweet dark cherries, unpitted to keep them firm and juicy. I find this combination is one of the best for muffins. Although I love them with blueberries or with my blood orange marmalade mixed into the dough, but the sweetness of the black fruits and the dark chocolate melted into the cakey sponginess is just too good! So good that I fill each mold with one third more of the dough than I usually do, more dough means bigger muffins!

Cherry and Chocolate Muffins

For a muffin tray with 12 molds you need

• fresh black cherries, unpitted or pitted, 250g/ 9 ounces

• bittersweet chocolate, roughly chopped, 100g / 3.5 ounces

• plain flour 320g / 11.5 ounces

• granulated sugar 100g / 3.5 ounces

• baking powder 3 leveled teaspoons

• baking soda 1/2 teaspoon

• salt 1/4 teaspoon

• milk 210ml / 7 ounces

• butter, melted, 120g / 4.5 ounces

• organic eggs 2

Set your oven to 190°C / 375°F (fan-assisted oven) and put paper baking cups into the 12 molds.

Combine the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Whisk the milk, melted butter and eggs in another bowl. Pour the liquid mixture into the dry mixture, stir with a wooden spoon until you have a lumpy dough. Gently fold in the cherries and chocolate. The more you mix it the more it will lose its light texture.

Fill the muffin tray and bake for 15 minutes or until golden.

Cantaloupe Melon in Pastis

I have a weak spot for pastis, chilled with two ice cubes and a shot of water and I also use it to refine my recipes. I mentioned yesterday that I love this liqueur, it's my favourite drink in bars and bistros. In summer it feels refreshing and in winter time I get a cosy feeling from the strong anise aroma. It's my drink, for years now!

A while ago I travelled along the Côte d'Azur in my car. One afternoon I was seduced by the sight of a lonely bay and decided to stop for a quick swim. I left all my luggage in the car (I was young and unexperienced in traveling) and went for a late afternoon swim. When I got back, the car was gone and I was left with the clothes on my body, a towel and my wallet. I was in a mess, it was the first time something was stolen from me so I did what lots of daughter's do in a situation like this and called my mother.

Crying and sobbing, I tried to explain the situation on the phone. I wasn't in a state for a proper conversation, I felt ashamed. My mother, who is quite a pragmatic character, told me to calm down, get everything organised at the police station and then head to the next decent looking bar and have a pastis. I obeyed, the drink worked and I chilled out! In the end, I even got my car back but the luggage was gone (mine, my boyfriend's bags were still there!). I found out that the thieves tend to take the cars to a quiet place to empty them, lesson learnt! I never left my luggage unattended in a car again but I also understood that any material loss is frustrating but not a tragedy!

Over the years I found out that my beloved pastis has lots of potential in the kitchen, sweet and savory. Here's a fruity recipe which is a great summery alternative to an aperitif, sweet little balls of Cantaloupe melon in pastis! All you need is a ripe melon, either cut into cubes or scooped out with a melon baller (I found out about this strange name just a few days ago). You mix the fruit with pastis and water and pick them out of a whiskey glass with cocktail picks (or toothpicks).

Cantaloupe Melon in Pastis

This is a rough guideline which you can easily adapt to your taste.

For 4-6 people you need

• a ripe Cantaloupe melon

• pastis, chilled, to taste

For 12 balls of melon mix 1 1/2 shots of pastis with 1 1/2 shots of water and pour over the fruit. Put 6 fruity balls in a whiskey glass and fill just the bottom with the pastis/ water mixture. Serve with cocktail picks or wooden toothpicks.

You can either make it fresh and serve immediately or let the fruit soak for a few hours (which will increase their alcoholic impact), in which case you should keep it in the fridge.

This recipe focuses on the fruit rather than on the drink. You could also make a cocktail by adding just 2-3 balls of melon to a glass of 2cl of pastis filled with water and 1-2 ice cubes.

Red Currants with Cardamom Yoghurt

This is one of my summer highlights: five ingredients create this quick little feast, you’ll only need red currants, yoghurt, heavy cream, cardamom and a little sugar. As soon as I spot the little red berries at the farmers’ market nothing can stop me from buying them weekly. Their firm skin holds all the juices together that spread with the first bite and you never know if it will be more on the sweet or on the sour side, depending on each berry's ripeness. I like to mix them with a very creamy yoghurt, seasoned with cardamom and just a little sugar. The smooth milkiness balances out the tart fruit without distracting from its qualities. Instead of just using a rich yoghurt (high in tasty fat), I like to mix it with with sweetened heavy cream whipped with ground cardamom. It creates a thick and fluffy texture - and it tastes divine!

When I prepared my fruits and cream, a friend from Canada popped in my kitchen spontaneously. As soon as she saw the glowing red of the berries her attention moved away from me and towards the fruit. Feasts are there to share, so I handed her a bowl of my creamy yoghurt topped with red currants - she looked happy like a child in a candy store!

Red Currants with Cardamom Yoghurt

For 2-4 people you need

• heavy cream 200g / 3/4 cups plus 1 tablespoon

• granulated sugar 2 tablespoons, plus more to taste

• ground cardamom 1/4 teaspoon, plus more to taste

• yoghurt 450g / 1 pound

• red currants 450g / 1 pound

Whip the heavy cream, sugar and cardamom until thick and creamy. Gently fold into the yoghurt and season to taste with cardamom and sugar.

Serve the berries on top of the yoghurt.

Apricot Clafoutis

My Apricot Clafoutis is as easy to make as pancakes - and it's at least as addictive! It looks like a tart but the texture is more like a flan, it's not too sweet, light and fruity. I can imagine it as a wonderful dessert for a summer dinner, sitting outside in a garden and finishing the meal with a pretty French clafoutis.

We had a friend over and as soon as the clafoutis was out of the oven, we gathered in my kitchen and waited impatiently for it to cool down a bit. We cut this scrumptious little thing into pieces and it was nearly gone in 15 minutes! It's one of those sweet treats that you end up eating in one go without noticing. Our guest had never tried this French dish before and he looked quite taken by its taste - he was the first one who asked for a second piece!

Traditionally, a clafoutis is made with black unpitted cherries but I needed a cherry break as I ate far too many of them in the past few days. Apricots were my first choice, and I almost prefer them in this dish. I like how they blend in with the vanilla flavoured batter. They aren't as sweet as peaches or cherries which fits very well in this composition. I also left out the traditional icing sugar on top, all the flavours were so well balanced that I didn't feel the need to add more sweetness.

Apricot Clafoutis

For a 23cm /9" heavy pan or baking dish you need

• apricots, cut in half, 6

• plain flour 80g / 3 ounces

• granulated sugar 4 tablespoons

• a pinch of fresh vanilla

• a pinch of salt

• butter, melted, 30g / 1 ounce

• organic eggs 4

• milk 200ml/ 7 ounces

• brandy 3 tablespoons

• optionally: icing sugar for dusting

Set the oven to 190°C / 375°F (fan-assisted oven) and butter the pan generously.

Combine the dry ingredients. Whisk the milk, eggs, brandy and melted butter and pour into the dry mixture, mixing constantly until well combined.

Spread the apricots in the pan and pour the batter on top. Bake for 20 minutes, turn the oven down to 175°C / 350°F and bake for another 8 minutes or until the clafoutis is golden and set. Let it cool for 5 minutes, leave it in the pan or turn it around and sprinkle with icing sugar if you like, serve warm.

meet in your kitchen | Phia & Josh bake Mum's French Cake

This is the start of a new series of features on the blog - meet in your kitchen! I will be meeting artists, chefs - people with a great passion for what they do, in their kitchen, to cook or to bake while we talk about their culinary life, current projects and inspiration.

I'm very excited to start with two artists who I first saw live a couple years ago, Phia and Josh! Phia performed on a houseboat on a big lake outside Berlin and mesmerized me with her singing, her Kalimba and the loops she created during her show.

The two artists grew up in Melbourne and decided to move to Berlin three years ago to grow as artists and touch new musical ground. They soon found that their ideas worked well together and the time was ripe for a colaboration. Phia, the singer who plays the kalimba and Josh, the guitarist and producer understand and enhance each other and in a few months they will share their musical vision on the first Phia album!

Although the two are very busy in the studio at the moment they took some time out and invited me to their Berlin kitchen. They arrived in the city with little more than a suitcase and had to piece together everything from scratch. The furniture and every single pot, plate and mug has its own story, mostly coming from friends who moved back home or flea markets, a unique space full of soul and personal memories.

Phia's family is very passionate about cooking, both her parents love to be creative in the kitchen. She chose to share a very special recipe with me that she used to bake with her mother when she was a child, a recipe rich in young kitchen memories! It's Mum's French Cake, a spongy and fruity cake which is as delicious as it is quick and easy to bake, a perfect candidate for those spontaneous late night (or early morning) baking sessions! Phia covered the cake with apples, but plums are another of her favourites for this recipe.

Mum's French Cake

"I chose a really simple cake recipe that my mum taught me. I’m not the most confident baker but this one is so simple. Depending on how large you want the cake, you take 1-3 eggs and weigh them, then put in the same weight of flour, melted butter and sugar. Then choose whatever fruit you want to put on top. My mum actually brought the recipe home from a French class she was in when I was younger.  So the first time we made it we did it in French: “… deus oeufs ...” etc!"

For an 18cm / 7" springform pan you need

• apple, quartered and thinly sliced, 1

• organic eggs 2

weigh the eggs with their shells and measure the same weight of the following 3 ingredients:

• plain flour

• butter, melted

• granulated sugar

  plus

• baking powder 1 tablespoon

• a pinch of salt

Set the oven to 180°C / 355°F and butter the springform pan.

Combine the dry ingredients. Mix the eggs and butter for a few minutes till fluffy and add the dry mixture, mix until well combined. Pour the dough into the springform pan, arrange the apples in circles and bake for 25 minutes or until golden. Check with a skewer, it should come out clean. Serve warm!

You both grew up in Australia, what are your food memories? 

Josh: Australia is a fairly wealthy country with really good weather and at various times a great influx of immigrants from around the world (although not currently because of our extreme rightwing government). This has meant that food is in wide variety and really great quality. You could find Indian, Afghan, Vietnamese, Italian, Greek, Chinese, Turkish, Thai, African, Lebanese, Japanese and a lot more (as well as modern fusion) to a beautiful standard all within close proximity. Restaurants just don’t survive if they’re not doing it the way it’s done in the home country. I guess we’re spoilt in a culinary way. This standard or commitment to food is still lagging very much in Germany which I find surprising because there are a lot of people from around the world living there. I’m not saying it doesn’t exist but I still have not found a decent curry.

What effect did the move to Berlin have on your cooking?

Phia: I’ve become a lot more confident since moving here! Last year I became really bored with the recipes that I knew, so I bought a couple of cookbooks and made some new meals. My favourite was Yotam Ottolenghi’s “Plenty”, a vegetarian cookbook. He has this delicious soup made with chickpeas based on a Tuscan ribollita which I make a lot now.

What was the first dish you cooked on your own, what is your first cooking memory?

Josh: I started lifting weights after high school, trying to get buff. At the time I was known as “Mr. Vegetarian” because I was pretty big but still vegetarian. My memory of cooking by myself (that wasn’t frozen dim sims or pizza) was a taco filling that was packed with kidney beans and chickpeas for protein.

What are your favourite places to buy and enjoy food in Berlin? 

Phia:We are really spoiled for choice in our part of Neukölln. All of these are within walking distance of us:Favourite coffee: Five Elephant, a super nice place in ReichenbergerstrasseDelicious and cheap tapas: Gaston on WeserstrasseBest gelati: Fräulein Frost on PanierstrasseFresh fruit and veggies: the turkish market on Maybachufer

Josh: Everything Sophia has said plus ‘Il Casolare’ - excellent pizza and atmosphere by the canal.

You live and work in Berlin at the moment, what are your upcoming projects?

Josh: The Phia album is still in full swing, still producing… we’ve mixed some of the tracks and still going over the editing and post-production stuff for quite a few of them. Final mixing should happen at the end of August. 

I’ve been producing some music for a few other artists too.

I’m also working on my own project ‘Josh The Cat’. I sing songs, tell stories, dance a little bit with my guitar. Influenced by Bowie, TuneYards and Radiohead but people say it’s sounds a bit like The Whitest Boy Alive with a loop pedal and I look like the guitarist from Incubus. I recently heard The Whitest Boy Alive have disbanded so maybe there is an opening for me.

What or who inspired you to become musicians?

Phia:I grew up in a household filled with music. My mum and my sister and I used to sing three part harmonies, I learnt piano, sung in lots of choirs and did musicals. It never occurred to me that I could be a professional musician though. At school I thought I would be a teacher, or a writer. After high school I made a spontaneous decision to enter a music university rather than the law degree I had been accepted into. I thought I’d complete a year and then go back to academia, but I stayed!

Why did you choose Berlin as the place to live and work?

Josh: I wanted to shake up my life a little. I’d played in a few different bands in Melbourne ranging from Synthpop, FreeJazz to Instrumental soundscape. It was either NYC, Tokyo or Berlin and Berlin won. It’s a great base for branching out, there’s a lot of creatives to bounce off and I find the East meets West, the old crashing into the new, inspiring.

You just finished recording your album, what were your biggest influences during the writing and recording process? 

Phia: The songs on the record definitely reflect the period of change of moving from Melbourne to Berlin. Some were written just before the move, and some after, and I think you can hear a continuous thread throughout the album of conflicted feelings change brings. The joy of expanding our experiences to the pull of homesickness. 

Our lifestyle has been so different since moving to Berlin. The people we’ve met, the places we’ve toured, even just day-to-day living in Neukölln and having the luxury of working on music. You can definitely hear that on the album.

What did you choose to share on eat in my kitchen and why?

Phia:I chose a really simple cake recipe that my mum taught me. I’m not the most confident baker but this one is so simple. Depending on how large you want the cake, you take 1-3 eggs and weigh them, then put in the same weight of flour, melted butter and sugar. Then choose whatever fruit you want to put on top. My mum actually brought the recipe home from a French class she was in when I was younger.  So the first time we made it we did it in French: “… deus oeufs ...” etc!

If you could choose one person to cook a meal for you, who and what would it be?

Phia: Merril Garbus from Tune-yards. I bet she’d have some killer recipes.

Josh: The RZA from Wu-Tang Clan comes to mind. It would be good to have a chat with him too.

You're going to have ten friends over for a spontaneous dinner, what will be on the table?

Phia:Definitely a big salad, maybe with orange and chickpeas, lots of wine, maybe some roast veggies or a baked dish.

Josh: Depends what is in the house. I find lentil soup very satisfying and hopefully the guests would too.

What was your childhood's culinary favourite and what is it now?

Phia: I wasn’t the most adventurous eater as a child so it was probably that Australian staple borrowed from our Italian immigrants - spaghetti bolognaise. Now I love eating new foods from the countries we go on tour. Last year I tried perogi in Poland for the first time, which was amazing.

Josh: My favorite food is Indian or Sri Lankan, I love the spices they use and the vivid flavours. Although I’m not vegetarian I prefer vegetarian food and this goes well for me with all the lentils, vegetables, chickpeas and the occasional paneer their food has. I don’t remember particularly liking food as a very young child but I guess I’ve liked any food from Asia since about the age of 12 or 13. I’ve always hated asparagus and it still makes me gag.

Do you prefer to cook on your own or together with others?

Phia: When I wasn’t so confident I needed to do it on my own, I didn’t like being watched! But now I love learning from others and it is fun to cook together.

Josh: I think someone who is good with food generally needs patience or at the very least a sensibility for how all the elements interact. I don’t really have that. Or perhaps my problem is that I usually try to ignore I’m hungry until I am absolutely ravenous and by that point I have no patience for preparing things properly. So cooking for myself comes out of necessity and cooking with others is probably more fun because it has probably been planned ahead. By others, I mean Sophia, who has good ideas generally, plans ahead and never allows herself to get so hungry as to become irrational and hasty as I do.

Which meals do you prefer, improvised or planned?

Phia: I’m definitely a meal planner - no improvising in the kitchen for me!

Josh: I would admit that conceptually a planned meal should work out the best but I haven’t properly tried that.

Which meal would you never cook again?

Josh: When I was at university I was known by my housemates for my signature dish: “bachelor’s special” which ingredients consisted of pretty much everything cooked in a saucepan served over some sort of carbohydrate. I think I’ll leave that one in the past.

Thank you Phia and Josh!

Here you can listen to Phia and Josh's music and find out when the album will be released: www.listentophia.com

Kirschenmichel, sweet Cherries in a Swabian Bread Pudding

Sweet, dark cherries bedded in an aromatic bread pudding spiced with cinnamon, cloves and Kirsch liqueur, that's the famous Swabian Kirschenplotzer also known as Kirschenmichel! It's a bit more firm and less soggy compared to other bread-based desserts, you can cut it like a cake but it still has the juicy texture that a good pudding should have.

I first found out about this cake through my step father. He grew up in the south of Germany, his mother and grandmother were specialists for traditional bread pudding. He taught me that unpitted cherries create the best result, this thankfully bypasses the pitting and so I enjoy the sweet fruits with all their juiciness. The bread you choose for the batter also has a big effect on the pudding's taste therefore you should always use the best buns you can get. Mine are from a Swabian bakery, tasty, sweet and spongy soft buns. You can use stale white left over bread but I prefer to bake the pudding with cakey buns which aren't too hard, they give it a nicer texture in my opinion. When it comes to the fruits I always buy fresh and not canned cherries. Preserved fruits work as well but their taste is watered down and not fresh enough, there's no crunchiness left.

There's one thing you should keep in mind when you take the first bite of this cake, mind the pits! I almost injured one of my cousins at one of our family gatherings when I forgot to tell her that I left out the pitting. Luckily, her teeth survived and everybody loved the cake. There is lots of spitting involved so you shouldn't serve this cake at a formal afternoon tea, keep it for friends you know well!

Kirschenmichel

For a 25cm / 10" springform pan you need

• sweet cherries, unpitted, rinsed, 1kg / 2 pounds

• hazelnuts, chopped, 60g / 2 ounces

• sweet soft buns, fresh or stale, cut into cubes, 175g / 6 ounces (around 3-4 buns)

• milk 350 ml / 12 ounces

• organic eggs 3

• a pinch of salt

• butter, soft, 100g / 3.5 ounces

• granulated sugar 120g / 4 ounces

• Kirsch liqueur 2 tablespoons

• plain flour 100g / 3.5 ounces

• baking powder 2 1/2 teaspoons

• ground cinnamon 2 1/2 teaspoons

• cloves, crushed, 4

• dry breadcrumbs to line the pan

Set the oven to 180°C / 355°F (fan-assisted oven), butter and line the springform pan with breadcrumbs.

Bring the milk to the boil, put the chopped bread in a big bowl and soak it in the milk for a few minutes.

Beat the egg whites and salt till stiff.

Mix the butter and sugar till fluffy, add the egg yolks and Kirsch liqueur and mix for 2 minutes till creamy. Stir in the soaked buns with a spoon and mix well.

Combine the flour, baking powder and spices and stir into the butter egg mixture with a wooden spoon. When it's well combined stir in the stiff egg whites. Add the cherries and nuts and pour into the springform pan.

Bake for 50 minutes or until golden brown. Check with a skewer, it should come out clean. Let the cake cool down for a few minutes.

You should keep the Kirschenmichel in the fridge but always serve it at room temperature!

A Perfect Raspberry and Blueberry Tart with Bavarian Cream

More than twenty years ago I spent a beautiful two weeks in the South of France together with my uncle's family. We stayed in a pink house in the hills of Grasse surrounded by a blossoming garden full of roses, jasmine and lavender. My room faced this fragrant oasis, a French picture book scene in white, blue, red and pink. I used to sit on my bed with the windows wide open, watching the curtains fly in the warm wind, mesmerized by the scent that caught all my senses. Grasse has been known as the "world's perfume capital" since the end of the 18th century. Thanks to its warm climate it is ideal for flower farming, this is where the best parfumeurs get trained to distinguish between thousands of scents. Although I didn't go there with any professional intentions I'm sure my sense of smell wasn't the same after this holiday!

This leads me to another sense, the sense of taste! My family is very passionate about food and so are my aunt and uncle. We went to amazing restaurants and kept the cooking in the house quite simple but nonetheless delicious. Salads, fruit, pasta but also quail and fish were on our table. One afternoon, we invited some friends to come over for tea and the lady who took care of the house offered to bake a fruit tart. Her creation was one of the prettiest I've ever seen and definitely one of the best I have ever eaten. It was very simple, a perfect short crust base topped with circles of four or five different berries, all sweet and ripened under the French sun. We all loved it!

I'm a big fan of these summer tarts, buttery short crust and fruit is just my kind of combination. This is a cake you can enjoy in the hottest temperatures when heavy cream cakes are already out of the question.

This holiday will always remind me of this wonderful cake and the memories of the smell and the hills of Grasse will always inspire me to bake a tart. Today I gave it a raspberry and blueberry layer on top of a delicious Bavarian cream, fluffy, light and full of vanilla. The pastry is crisp and light but strong enough to carry the cream without getting soggy. This is a perfect tart to me - so good that I always bake two of them straight away!

Raspberry and Blueberry Tart with Bavarian Cream

For 2 tarts in 22cm / 9" tart pans you need

• blueberries 200g / 7 ounceras

• pberries 100g / 3.5 ounces 

For the short crust base

• plain flour 400g / 14 ounces (I use white spelt flour type 630 but you can use any other plain flour)

• granulated sugar 100g / 3.5 ounces

• salt 1/4 teaspoon

• butter 200g / 7 ounces

• organic egg yolks 3

• water 3 tablespoons

Combine the flour with the sugar and salt. Cut the butter with a knife into the flour until there are just little pieces of butter left. Continue with your fingers and work the butter into the flour until combined (there shouldn’t be any lumps of butter left). Add the egg and water and continue mixing with the hooks of your mixer until you have a crumbly mixture. Form 2 discs, wrap in cling film and put in the freezer for 15 minutes.

Set the oven to 200°C / 390°F top/ bottom heat.

Roll out the dough between cling film and line your tart pans with the flat pastry. Prick it with a fork and blind-bake in the hot oven for 20 minutes or until golden. Let the tarts cool completely before you take them out of their pans.

For the Bavarian cream

• organic egg 1

• organic egg yolks 2

• sugar 80g / 3 ounces

• a pinch of salt

• milk 250ml / 8.5 ounces

• vanilla bean, slit slightly, 1/2

• gelatin sheets 2

• heavy cream, whipped, 230g / 8 ounces

Soak the gelatin sheets in cold water for a few minutes.

Whisk the egg, egg yolks, sugar and salt till thick and fluffy.

In a sauce pan, bring the milk together with the vanilla bean to the boil. Take the vanilla bean out, scrape the seeds out of the bean into the milk. Whisk the egg mixture into the hot milk and put the pan back on a medium heat, stirring constantly. When the cream is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon (it will take around 5 minutes depending on the temperature) take it off the heat.

Squeeze the soaked galatin sheets into the egg mixture and crumble the sheets in. Whisk well, fill in a bowl and let it cool for a few minutes before you put it in the fridge to bring it to room temperature.

Gently fold in the whipped cream and cool in the fridge for 2 hours until the cream is set. 

The fruit tart

Divide the Bavarian cream between the 2 tarts and spread evenly. Garnish with the fruits and serve immediately or keep in the fridge.

The crust is best when it's fresh but we still enjoyed a couple pieces after the tart had been in the fridge.

Summer Strawberry Tiramisu

After a decade of eating nothing but tiramisu for dessert whenever I went to a restaurant I can call myself a true specialist when it comes to this famous Italian dessert. I love it passionately and although this phase of complete dedication ended many years ago I still order it sometimes when I see it on the menu. My sweet obsession wasn't limited to restaurants only, but crept into my own kitchen as well. I can't even count the recipes that I've tried until I came up with the one that is absolutely perfect to me. It is creamy, well balanced between mascarpone, eggs and sugar, the lady fingers dipped in espresso and liqueur for a second to avoid a soggy pastry layer. The right ratio between the coffee and alcohol is as important as the kind of spirit.  Brandy became my favourite over the years, no amaretto (too strong), no marsala or port (too sweet). I don't bake my own ladyfingers but I "invest" in good quality ones from Italy, that's where this recipe originates and they know best how to make the perfect biscuits for this dessert.

Funnily enough, I haven't shared my tiramisu recipe on the blog yet although I've been wanting to write about it for months (and I've  made it a couple time since I started eat in my kitchen). Today I won't even share my original recipe but the fruity summer version, my strawberry tiramisu! I promise, the classic one will come soon but for now it's all about the fruit. Delicious nonetheless, if you have a dinner party ahead of you and you're still looking for a dessert that you can prepare in advance, try this one. My guests always love it as much as I do!

Before I forget to mention it, the ladyfingers are dipped in a syrupy juice made of red wine, strawberry and sugar cooked for two minutes. It's fruity and sweet with a bit of a red wine aroma, not too much, just a hint.

Here’s the recipe for my classic tiramisu!

Strawberry Tiramisu

The tiramisu is best when it can sit for at least 10 hours.

For 8-10 people you need (in a round 25cm / 10" dish)

• strawberries 500g / 18 ounces (350g / 12.5 ounces sliced, 100g / 3.5 ounces cut in half for topping, 50g / 2 ounces finely chopped for the syrup)

• ladyfingers 300g / 10.5 ounces

• organic eggs 4

• mascarpone, at room temperature, 400g / 14 ounces

• sugar 60g / 2.5 ounces plus 40g / 1.5 ounces for the syrup

• red wine 160ml / 5.5 ounces

• a pinch of salt

In a sauce pan, bring the wine, 50g / 2 ounces of the strawberries and 40g / 1.5 ounces of the sugar to a boil and cook (open) for 2 minutes on a medium heat. Strain and pour in a deep plate and let the syrup cool.

Beat the egg whites and salt till stiff.

Whisk the mascarpone till creamy.

Mix the egg yolks and 60g / 2.5 ounces of the sugar till thick and creamy and add the mascarpone. Mix well until combined and gently fold in the egg whites.

Dip the ladyfingers' bottom side (unsugared) in the syrup, for 1 second, they will soak enough liquid to soften overnight. If you leave them in longer they become soggy. Lay out a tight layer of ladyfingers (sugared side down) in the dish. Gently cover with half of the mascarpone egg mixture and put the sliced strawberries on top, pushing them down carefully. Spread out another layer of syrup-dipped ladyfingers and cover with the remaining cream. Decorate the tiramisu with the strawberry halves, cover with cling film and keep in the fridge for at least 10 hours before serving.

Affogato - Vanilla Ice Cream in Espresso and a creamy Fruit Tart

We live quite a Roman lifestyle when the family meets at my mother's house. It's all about food, nice wine and at breakfast time we already start to talk about our plans for dinner. We all love to eat and to cook, so when we meet that's what it's about, enjoying life!

Caught in this enthusiasm for culinary pleasures it sometimes happens that we end up with two sweet breaks, three actually but I will leave out the Oeufs à la neige or île flottante which we had after dinner, a beautiful dessert of floating meringue on a warm vanilla sauce. It was amazing but I was too relaxed to get up and get the camera.

In the early afternoon we started with a sweet kick, a genius idea, we just dropped a spoonful of vanilla ice cream into our little cups filled with strong espresso, a wonderful Affogato. This was better than any iced coffee I ever had before, it's great! It was a warm day, we had spent lots of time in my mother's garden, she cleaned up her flower beds and then we went for a long walk in the forest. We walked over soft hills and green fields and after all that activity and a heavy dose of fresh air (which is always a shock on our lungs used to the city air) the vanilla ice cream in espresso was the right thing to put us back on our feet. I'm sure I will make this again for a dinner party!

The next spontaneous break involved fresh strawberries and short crust tarts which my mother had bought from her bakery. They were buttery and crumbly, we dolloped some vanilla whipped cream on top and my mother garnished them artfully with halves of strawberries - another break, another espresso and more happy faces!

You can use store bought tartlets or the ones I baked for my rhubarb meringue. If you prefer different fruit toppings, you could also top a few with blueberries or raspberries. Unfortunately, the gooseberries in my mother's garden weren't ripe enough yet, they would have turned it into my favourite fruit tart!

Strawberry Cream Tartlets

You will need round 10cm / 4″ tartlet pans.

For 10 tartlets you need

• plain flour 250g / 9 ounces

• sugar 80g / 3 ounces

• a pinch of salt

• a pinch of vanilla

• butter, cold, 160g / 5.5 ounces

• organic egg yolks 2

For the topping

• strawberries, cut in half, 40

• heavy cream 300g / 10.5 ounces

• a pinch of vanilla

• granulated sugar 1 1/2 tablespoons

Combine the flour with the salt, vanilla and sugar. Cut the butter with a knife into the flour until there are just little pieces of butter left. Continue with your fingers and work the butter into the flour until combined (there shouldn’t be any lumps of butter left). Add the egg yolks and continue mixing with the hooks of your mixer until you have a crumbly mixture. Form a thick disc, wrap in cling film and put in the freezer for 10 minutes.

Set your oven to 200°C / 390°F top / bottom heat. Butter the tartlet pans and dust with flour.

Roll out the dough about 3mm thick between cling film and cut out 10 12cm / 5″ circles. Line your tartlet pans with the pastry and prick with a fork. Blind-bake in the hot oven for 9 minutes or until golden. Take them out, let them cool for a couple minutes before you flip them over and let the tartlets cool off completely.

Whip the heavy cream with a pinch of fresh vanilla and 1 1/2 tablespoons of sugar (or more if you prefer it sweeter) till thick. Dollop a spoonful on each tartlet and top with 8 strawberry halves. Our strawberries were sweet enough but you could also dust them with icing sugar if you prefer it sweeter.