Meet In Your Kitchen | Daniel Schreiber's Sourdough Waffles with Plum-Apple Jam
This post is part of my Meet in My Kitchen podcast: How did we get to where we are in life & what does food have to do with it
"Through food we connect with the world’s gift and also with the gift of the knowledge of other generations." - Daniel Schreiber
Daniel Schreiber writes books that touch a sensitive spot. He writes about his own experiences yet these are experiences that we all share in one way or the other. In his last three books - 'Nüchtern' (Sober), 'Zuhause' (Home), and 'Allein' (Alone) - he touches the fears we know but learned to sail around, he writes about his own life but reminds us of our own.
Every word he chooses says the truth, very direct, very blunt, you can feel that, and by this, in a way that is hard to describe, he creates a fragile beauty. It's the beauty of togetherness, that we are all in this together, that we're not alone, we're not the only one struggling, and that we can share our struggles and be open about them. It sounds almost too sweet but despite the pain that is present in his books, there is so much warmth. Like in real life.
It's like your favorite tea cup, it's cracked, it's chipped, you glued it back together, but when you feel its uneven surface drinking your tea in the morning, you don't think of the pain you felt when it broke. Each crack makes it even more familiar, makes it even more a part of yourself, your story, and who you are. You learn to love these cracks. Daniel manages to transport this feeling in his books. Each crack we have makes us the person who we are. It's a long and beautiful story of life, love, and learning, and yes, sometimes it also hurts.
"When I came to New York it was quite a depressive period for me but something happened at that time in connection with food that helped me a lot. I started cooking through the Larousse Gastronomique and practically cooked every evening. I went shopping to the market or supermarket every day to try out new recipes. That gave me a lot of strength." - Daniel Schreiber
And what does food have to do with it? Daniel's eyes start sparkling when he's talking about his mother's garden in a tiny village in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania) where he grew up. When he talks about picking fruit and vegetables and filling a bucket up to the rim with the harvest to take home to his kitchen in Berlin every time he visits his parents. His mother's cooking and recipes - some of which she keeps secret until today - laid the foundation for Daniel's love for cooking. A love that taught him that there's light even in the darkest of times - and he can choose to switch it on.
Food and literature were held up high in his family's house and became his companions on his own journey. Studying literature in Berlin and New York City put the young man in touch with buzzing metropolitan life and helped him shape his identity as a young man. His original academic dreams faded and instead he worked for newspapers and magazines. He wrote a celebrated Susan Sontag biography followed by three books, weaving his own experiences into a scientific, psychological, and philosophical context.
"Most of us have problems to say what we really want to say. Society and our families don’t educate us to really find an authentic relationship with ourselves. We have to fulfill certain roles, certain expectations, that we ourselves and society force upon us, economical and social expectations. And these internalized expectations and roles are in our way most of the time." - Daniel Schreiber
No matter how rocky his life got at times, no matter how far he drifted away, Daniel always searched for and found the way to the kitchen and with this, a way back to himself. Working as a private chef, cooking and catering for families and events in Manhattan and the Hamptons, strengthened his confidence as a cook and sparked his curiosity. Cooking through a vast collection of books, experimenting with recipes, turned Daniel into a person who knows the tastiest recipes for almost every dish you can think of.
His sourdough bread and waffles reach perfection in taste and texture, the homemade jam collection on his kitchen shelves can easily compete with a professional jam manufactory. Whatever he sets his mind on becomes his passion. His terrace looks like a dense green jungle speckled with colorful blossoms in all shapes and sizes - and he can tell you the name of every single plant there is in his green kingdom. He turns piles of wool into the favorite scarves, quilts, and sweaters of family and friends. And he puts words and letters together in ways that I want to read his books even when they force me to face my own fears.
Daniel shared two recipes with me that are perfect for an autumn brunch or cozy teatime: Sourdough waffles, crisp on the outside and spongy inside, crowned by dollops of crème fraîche and crimson colored jam made of dark plums and firm apples infused with star-anise and vanilla.
The podcast episode with Daniel Schreiber is in German. You can listen to the Meet in My Kitchen podcast on all common podcast platforms; there are English and German episodes. You can find all the blog posts about these podcast episodes including my guests’ recipes here on the blog under Meet in Your Kitchen.
Listen to the podcast episode with Daniel on:
Spotify / Apple / Deezer / Google / Amazon / Podimo
On Instagram you can follow the podcast @meetinmykitchenpodcast!
Sourdough Waffles with Plum-Apple Jamand Crème Fraîche
by Daniel Schreiber *
* The waffle recipe is adapted from a New York Times recipe and the jam recipe is adapted from a recipe by Christine Ferber.
For the plum-apple jam
Mind that the jam needs to sit overnight before you finish cooking it the next day.
Makes 6-7 small jars
680g / 1 1/2 pounds dark plums (Zwetschgen, Italian Prune Plums), cut in half and pitted (weight without pits: 500g / 18 ounces)
750g / 1 2/3 pounds firm, sour apples (Granny Smith, Golden Delicious, Idared), peeled, quartered, cored, cut crosswise into very thin slices (final weight: 500g / 18 ounces)
800g / 1 3/4 pounds granulated sugar
2 star-anise
1 vanilla pod, split in half
2 medium lemons, juice only
7 small jars with their lids, sterilized
The day before you want to cook the jam, combine all the ingredients in a tall, large pot and let it sit for 1 hour. Over high heat, stirring gently, bring the jam to a boil. When the jam starts bubbling and rising, immediately remove the pot from the heat, cover with a lid, and let it sit overnight.
The next day, place a saucer in the freezer. Remove the lid from the pot and bring the jam to a boil over high heat, stirring gently. Cook the jam for 10-15 minutes or until it thickens and reaches its setting point. To see if the jam reached its setting point either use a sugar thermometer, the temperature should be 105°C / 220°F, or place a small spoonful of jam on the chilled saucer that you kept in the freezer, wait 20-30 seconds then push the jam with your finger. The jam should wrinkle up. Remove and discard the vanilla pod and star-anise. Using a ladle, fill the jam into the sterilized jars, close them tightly with their lids, and store in a dark place.
For the sourdough waffles
For this waffle recipes, you make use of the sourdough starter that you usually discard every day when you refresh your sourdough starter. Just make sure that you take 240g / 1 cup sourdough starter aside before (!) you refresh your starter. Mind that you need to prepare the batter the night before you want to bake your waffles and finish it the next day.
Serves 2-4
240g / 1 cup sourdough starter that hasn't been refreshed (fed)
220g / 1 cup buttermilk
120g / 1 cup all-purpose flour (German flour type 550)
1 tablespoon light brown sugar or granulated sugar
1 vanilla pod, split and scraped, or 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg
60ml / 1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 teaspoon fine salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
The night before you want to bake the waffles, whisk together the sourdough starter, buttermilk, flour, sugar, and vanilla seeds in a large bowl until smooth. Cover with plastic wrap and let it sit at room temperature overnight.
The next day, when you're ready to bake the waffles, preheat a waffle iron (ideally a square Belgian waffle iron). Add the egg, olive oil, salt, and baking soda to the sourdough mixture and whisk to combine.
Pour a ladle of the batter into the hot waffle iron and bake until golden brown and crisp. Transfer the waffle to a cooling rack and let cool for a few minutes. Continue baking more waffles with the remaining batter.
For serving
Crème fraîche
Place a dollop of crème fraîche and a dollop of jam on a warm waffle and serve immediately.
Chunky Strawberry Jam
For my breakfast toast I like my jam chunky and fruity, thick, with skin, seeds and everything. I've never been a big fan of jellies, it's like something is missing, I need to feel those crunchy bites. Even blackberries, red or black currants, I always cook the whole fruit. When it comes to my favourite spread, sweet strawberries, I cut the fruit in half, it makes a very chunky jam, you can still taste and feel the berries.
In my family, we have always used jam sugar (also known as gelling or jelly sugar) when we make strawberry jam. It contains pectin made of apples and citrus fruits and you can also choose between three different types, either 3:1, 2:1 or 1:1. The numbers stand for the ratio between fruit and sugar, I prefer 2:1 which allows a less sweet jam, you only need 1 pound of sugar for 2 pounds of berries. I cook mine for 4 minutes to turn it into a concentrated fruit spread, I don't even need to test for the setting point. It works perfectly!
Since I was a child, I've always loved to cook jams. It was exciting, all those fruits to prepare, my mother would bring out her special tall jam pot and the long wooden spoon, both only came to use when it was jam time! The process of sterilizing the jars in boiling water and spirit felt like a science project to me. From my mother I also learnt to cover the jam in the jar with a circle cut out from thick plastic foil dunked in alcohol. It prevents the jam from molding and keeps it fresh for years!
Strawberry Jam
When you cook jam you should always use a tall pot to prevent the jam from boiling over. The fruits will be two to three times as high when they've reached boiling point! My pot is 24cm / 9.5" high and 20cm / 8" wide.
For 8 medium sized jars you need
strawberries, rinsed and cut in half (you can quarter the big ones), 2kg / 4 1/2 pounds
jam sugar (gelling or jelly sugar), 2:1 or 1:1, 1kg / 2 1/4 pounds
Sterilize the jars and lids in boiling water for 5 minutes. Dunk the rims of the jars in spirit and wash out the lids and the ladle (you will use to fill the jars) with the alcohol. If you can get a thick foil (thicker than cling film), cut out 8 circles roughly the size of the jars and put into the spirit as well.
Put the fruits and sugar in a pot and bring to the boil, stirring with a long wooden spoon every now and then. When the boiling point is reached (you should see quite a few bubbles coming up), let the jam boil for 4 minutes, carefully stirring a couple times (without burning your hand, hence the long spoon!).
Take the pot of the heat and fill the prepared jars with the sterilized ladle almost to the top. Cover with the circles of foil and close tightly immediately. Let the jam sit for 1 day before you spread it on your first morning toast and store the jars in your pantry.
A Sweet Berliner - Our Family Feast
A long time ago, my family started a beautiful tradition. All my sisters, their children and friends of the family meet at my mother's house in the countryside to celebrate carnival. We listen to silly carnival music, the children dress up in funny costumes and we make huge amounts of a special traditional carnival pastry - the famous "Berliner". When the sweets are done, we fill them in my mother's large white bowls from Tuscany, place them on her long table and enjoy the fruits of our work, which usually goes on for hours. In general, I can't say that I'm too fond of the 5th season (the name given to carnival time in Germany) but the mood and the food at my mother's home makes me love it!
The sweet speciality we make looks a bit like a doughnut without a hole, it's made of yeast dough, filled with jam and deep fried in vegetable shortening. It has different names in different regions but where I come from, which is the center of carnival in West Germany, they are called "Berliners". Funnily enough, they are called "Pfannkuchen" in Berlin, which means pancakes. In the Swabian area in the South of Germany where my step father comes from, people call them "Fastnachtskuechle". I could continue endlessly with even more names "Krapfen", "Kreppel", seemingly every region wanted to give them a name of their own.
So we all gather in my mother's kitchen and each of us has a specific job to do in the making of our "Berliners" - which never changes. For years now, my job is to watch the sweets together with my step father while we fry them in a large cast iron pot. We have to turn them and dust them with sugar when they are done. My mother and sisters, on the other side of the kitchen, take care of the dough and filling the "Berliners". On my photos you can also see some free shaped sweets which are the bits and pieces of dough that are left after cutting out circles.
Carnival is still a month away (and I'm also not at my mother's house at the moment) but there is a reason I made my own "Berliners" at my home now. I was asked to participate in a blog tour with 13 other blogs from America and Australia and write about "Hearts At Home". My heart is always where good food is and that's at my home most of the time but also at carnival at my mother's together with my family. Our tradition, to meet at this time and to make this special food means a lot to me. I look forward to seeing my loved ones and spend a few wonderful, silly days together with them. That's where my heart is and that's home to me. Making "Berliners" without my family was still a fun experience. I was a bit worried that I wouldn't manage on my own but I did, and even more so it was surprisingly easy which makes me think about having this adventure more than just once a year!
Blueberry Jam Filled Berliner
I made 12 jam filled "Berliners" plus several free shaped sweets (without filling), all in all of 500g / 1 pound of flour. I melted 1kg / 2 pounds of vegetable shortening for deep frying in a large pot, enough to allow the sweets to float freely. My mother uses a much bigger pot and 3kg / 6 pounds of shortening but she starts off with 3kg / 6 pounds of flour as she has to feed more hungry people than I did.
plain flour 500g / 1 pound
dry yeast 1 package (for 500g / 1 pound of flour)
granulated sugar 3 tablespoons
vanilla sugar 1 package
salt scant 1 teaspoon
milk, lukewarm, 250ml
butter, melted and cooled down, 80g / 3 ounces
blueberry jam, around 200g / 7 ounces for the filling
egg white, mixed with a fork, 1-2 (to stick the discs of dough together)
vegetable shortening 1kg / 2 pounds for frying
For dusting
50g / 2 ounces of icing sugar sieved together with 3/4 teaspoon of cinnamon
Combine the dry ingredients, add the milk and butter and mix with your dough hooks for 5 minutes. Continue kneading and punching with your hands until you have an elastic dough ball. Put the dough back into the bowl, cover with a tea towel and let it rise in a 35°C / 95°F warm oven (top / bottom heat) for about an hour.
When the dough has doubled in size, take it out, punch it down and knead with your hands for 2 minutes. On a floured working surface, roll the dough out in batches and cut out 10cm / 4" circles (I used an old tea cup from my grandmother). Put the bits and pieces of dough which are between the circles aside as you will fry them as well (without filling).
Heat the shortening in a large pot on highest temperature.
Take one disc of dough, drop a teaspoon of jam in the middle and brush the edge with egg white. Put a second disc on top, sealing well by pushing with your fingers along the outline twice to make sure that they won't open in the hot fat.
To check the temperature of the fat, put a piece of dough inside, carefully as it's very hot! Turn it with wooden spatulas or spoons, it should be done within a few seconds. The "Berliners" might take a few seconds longer. They will become a bit dark, that's normal, but they shouldn't burn, so adjust the temperature if necessary. Keep in mind that if it's too low the inside won't cook through. I always cut the first "Berliner" in half when I think it's done to see if I have to change the setting.When you take them out, let them cool for a few seconds before you dust them with your cinnamon icing sugar.
Sunset in a Jar - Blood Orange Marmalade
This red is just stunning. It's like the brightest red sunset caught in a jar! I'm hooked on blood oranges, I have them all the time, as a snack or as fresh juice. They are so sweet and juicy at the moment that I much prefer them to normal oranges or tangerines even. I buy huge bags of the Italian ones, now that they are in season, organic with thin skin, and I think I could live off them (for now).
All good but I want to bring some variety in, therefore I decide to put them in a jar and made some blood orange marmalade. I've never made it before but so far my marmalade recipe worked very well with Seville oranges and tangerines, so why not with blood oranges (I wrote about my tangerine marmalade in December)? It worked, and more than that, the result is amazing! This marmalade is so sweet, yet slightly bitter, it's just right! I spread it on a slice of white English bread, impatiently, it just finished cooking, and I couldn't stop smiling.
Blood Orange Marmalade
For 3-4 medium sized jam jars you need
organic blood oranges, rinsed, 1200g / 2 1/2 pounds
granulated sugar 600g / 1 1/4 pounds
juice and seeds of 2 lemons
spirit to sterilise the rims of the jars
Sterilise the 4 jam jars in boiling water for 5 minutes.
Fill a large pan with water and bring to the boil. Cook the oranges for 25 minutes or until soft (mine needed 25 minutes but they were small with thin skin). Take them out and keep some of the water.
Quarter the cooked oranges (don’t peel them, you use the whole orange!), take out their seeds and put them aside (you will need them). Cut the lemons in half and keep their seeds as well. In a small pan, heat up some of the blood orange cooking water (it should come up to 2cm / 3/4"), add the lemon seeds and orange seeds and let them cook for 5 minutes.
Shred the quartered oranges in a food processor for a few seconds. Put them in a large pan, add the sugar, the lemon juice and the water used to boil the seeds. Bring to the boil gently (the sugar has to dissolve first) and boil for 18-20 minutes.
Dip the rim of your jars in the spirit and wash out the lids of the jars with the alcohol as well. Fill your jars with the marmalade and close well immediately.
Sicilian Memories with my Tangerine Jam
Last year I went to Sicily for the first time in my life. We stayed at a beautiful farm close to Noto located in soft hills between lemon, orange and tangerine trees. Every morning we got the most delicious breakfast served under pine trees with the old city of Noto in the distance. Freshly baked cakes, fruit, white bread fried in olive oil together with oregano (from the farm as well, the best oregano in the world!), it was heaven!
One of my many breakfast discoveries was a jam which looked like the golden sun and tasted so sweet and refreshing, with a hint of sourness and bitterness. Just divine! This jam was made of tangerines and I think I must have emptied jars of it during our holiday. As soon as I got home and tangerines were available I made my own! This year, I have to refill my pantry with my Sicilian jam.
Sicilian Tangerine Jam
For 4 medium sized jam jars you need
organic tangerines, rinsed, 1200g / 2 1/2 pounds
sugar 600g / 1 1/4 pounds
juice and seeds of 2 lemons
spirit to sterilise the rims of the jars
Sterilise the 4 jam jars in boiling water for 5 minutes.
Fill a large pan with water and bring to the boil. Put the tangerines in the water and let them boil for 20 minutes. Take the tangerines out and keep some of the water.
Quarter the cooked tangerines (don't peel them, you use the whole tangerine!), take out their seeds and put them aside. Cut the lemons in half and keep their seeds as well. Heat up some of the tangerine cooking water in a small pan (it should come up to 2cm / 3/4"), add the lemon and tangerine seeds and let them cook for 5 minutes.
Shred the quartered tangerines in a food processor for a few seconds. Put them in a large pan, add the sugar, the lemon juice and the water used to boil the seeds. Bring to the boil gently (the sugar has to dissolve first) and boil everything for 18-20 minutes.
Dip the rim of your jars in the spirit and wash out the lids of the jars with the alcohol as well. Fill your jars with the jam and close well immediately.
Let the jars cool off and enjoy their amazing color - and the taste after a day or two as the jam has to sit a bit!
