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.
Swirly Peanut Butter Plum Buns and the blissful lesson of taking a break
I started writing a new book eleven months ago. Actually, eleven and a half months, it was Christmas Eve. The moment I decided to dive into this intense adventure again, I couldn't stop writing down one recipe after the other. It felt like the dishes had been inside my head, waiting impatiently to come out. And all this happened during Christmas 2017, my man thought I was crazy. At a time that's supposed to be calm and serene, surrounded by our sparkling Christmas tree and piles of cookies, listening peacefully to angelic carols, I stuck my head into my recipe notebooks and discussed undiscovered flavor combinations with my mother. By New Year's Day, I had an exaggeratedly long recipe list together and felt ready for a new book - and a holiday.
While I wrote my first book, Eat In My Kitchen, I often crossed my limits, I refused to respect them and felt totally squeezed out by the end of it. I didn't want to make the same mistake twice. So I asked for help and found the best kitchen assistant I could have asked for. He made the whole process of cooking and shooting a book far more smooth than I thought was even possible. He also took care of an impeccable playlist filling my kitchen with the most energizing tunes and making me dance around boxes of vegetables and bowls of cooked dishes. But most importantly, he taught me to take a break once in a while. We often went to a tiny coffee shop around the corner for an espresso and a chat to clear our heads. We started working on the book early February and since then I managed - more or less - to stick to this new ritual in my life: allowing myself to take a little break every day.
Sometimes, after an early morning cooking session followed by an extensive shopping tour for meat, fish, and vegetables, we'd get a bit more excessive and head over to a Berlin bakery famous for swirly buns. Whenever I felt tired and empty, a bite of their spongy cinnamon buns put me back on my feet and felt better than the most sumptuous meal in the world. That's the bliss that you can find in food - and in a break - it will always impress me how good it feels.
It's been a while since I cooked or baked for the blog, and for months now I had a flavor combination on my mind that I wanted to turn into a sweet treat and share: peanut butter and plums. We need to hurry, it's getting late, plum season reached its end, but you can still find some very ripe, sugary stone fruits at the markets. I decided to combine the duo with a recipe that Sofie Wochner from Marigold restaurant in Rome shared with me last summer. The Danish pastry chef treated me to the most wonderful, fragrant cinnamon buns in her kitchen, so I took her recipe for the yeast dough and turned it into Swirly Peanut Butter Plum Buns.
I will keep you posted about my new book, but it'll still take a lot of time until it comes out, as a book does when you want it to be a part of what you truly are. To be continued ...
Swirly Peanut Butter Plum Buns
Mind that the dough has to rise in the fridge overnight before you bake the buns.
Makes 10 swirly buns
For the dough
500g / 3 3/4 cups plus 1 tablespoon all purpose flour
75g / 1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon light brown sugar
1 (7-g / 1/4-ounce) envelope fast-acting yeast
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
255ml / 1 cup plus 1 tablespoon whole milk, lukewarm
1/2 beaten large egg (about 25 ml)
60g / 1/4 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature, divided into 6 portions
For the filling
250g / 1 cup creamy peanut butter
200g / 1 cup light brown sugar
300g / 2/3 pound pitted fresh dark plums
For the topping
1 large egg, beaten
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment, combine the flour, sugar, yeast, cinnamon, and salt. Add the lukewarm milk and 1/2 beaten egg and mix on medium speed for 10 minutes or until smooth. Let the dough rest for 15 minutes then continue mixing, adding the butter, 1 portion at a time, incorporating each portion of butter before adding the next one. Continue mixing on medium speed for another 3 minutes or until smooth. Transfer the dough to a clean bowl, cover, and let it rise in the fridge overnight.
Take the bowl out of the fridge and let the dough sit at room temperature for about 1 hour. Line a 24 x 18cm / 10 x 7 inch baking dish with parchment paper.
For the filling, combine the peanut butter and sugar. Cut the plums into small cubes.
Knead the dough for 30 seconds with your hands. Lightly dust a work surface and a rolling pin with flour then transfer the dough to the floured surface and, using the rolling pin, roll it into a 33 x 33cm / 13 x 13 inch square that's roughly 0.5cm / 1/4 inch thick. Spread the peanut butter mixture on top of the dough, leaving a 2cm / 3/4 inch border, then sprinkle the plums over the peanut butter, gently pushing them into the peanut butter. To fold the dough, divide it into 3 rectangles, don't cut the dough, just leave a thin mark on top of the peanut butter. Starting with the long side of one of the rectangles and dusting off excess flour, fold the first third of the dough up and over the middle third of the dough, then fold the other outer third of the dough up and place on top of the 2 layers of dough to end with 3 layers of dough. Using a very sharp knife, cut the layered dough into 10 slices.
Quickly pull and stretch each slice of dough then twist into a long spiral, close in a loose knot, and transfer to the prepared baking dish. It'll be massy, don't worry, you can sprinkle any peanut butter and plums that fall out on top of the buns once they are arranged in the baking dish. Cover the buns with a tea towel and let them rise in a warm place for 1 1/2 to 2 hours or until puffy.
Preheat the oven to 190°C / 375°F.
Brush the buns with the egg wash then bake for 25 minutes, cover the top with aluminum foil, and bake for another 10 minutes or until golden brown and firm. Rub the warm buns with 1 tablespoon of butter and let them cool for at least 20 minutes before serving.
Plum, Cinnamon & Buttermilk Muffins
More plums and more muffins!
On Wednesday, I mentioned my unstoppable appetite for plums. I turned the sweet and sour fruit into a caramelized topping for a rich cheese omelette and made a heavenly ciabatta sandwich. Today I turned them into muffins, fluffy muffins, refined with lots of cinnamon and pretty plums on top. I need my sweet dose of homemade cake at least once a week and there's no better day to indulge in this treat than on a Sunday. And if I don't have much time, I go for muffins. A batch of 12 is just enough for the two of us for breakfast and tea time, and the last nibbles are reserved for dessert.
I like to use German plums for baking, also known as Damson plums, but feel free to use Italian plums or any variety you can find. Apples, pears, or blueberry work just as well, I'd even give some late summer peaches or figs a go.More muffin inspiration:
Plum, Cinnamon & Buttermilk Muffins
Makes 12 muffins
plain flour 200g / 1 1/2 cups
granulated sugar 70g / 1/3 cup, plus 2 tablespoons for the topping
baking powder 2 1/2 teaspoons
baking soda 1/2 teaspoon
a pinch of salt
ground cinnamon 1 1/2 teaspoons, plus 1/2 teaspoon for the topping
buttermilk 190ml / 3/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon
butter, melted and cooled, 90g / 1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon
organic egg 1
large plums 8, cut into thin wedges
paper baking cups 12
Set the oven to 200°C / 400°F (preferably convection setting) and line the 12 molds of a muffin tray with paper baking cups.
In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.
For the topping, combine the sugar and cinnamon.
In a large bowl, whisk the buttermilk, melted butter, buttermilk, and egg, then pour into the flour mixture. Using a wooden spoon, stir until you have a lumpy dough, with a bit of flour left here and there. Keep in mind, the more you mix it, the more it will lose its light texture. Divide the dough between the muffin cups and arrange the plum wedges on top. For the topping, sprinkle with the cinnamon sugar and bake for about 15 minutes (slightly longer if using a conventional oven) or until the muffins are golden and firm on top. Let them cool for 1-2 minutes before you take them out of the tray.
French Yogurt Cake with Greengage Plums for a late summer Sunday
Piles of plums, peaches, and apricots fill my kitchen's countertops. Plates with tiny yellow mirabelles and slightly larger greengage plums make it look and smell like a farmers' market - the fruit flies are having a feast. Every season has its culinary highlights, but late summer is the most lavish time of the year. Figs and berries are at their peak, packed with sweet juices. The whole variety of stone fruits is ready to be picked from the trees, and early apples tease me with their sour quality, which is so perfect for baked treats. Sponge cakes, muffins, tarts, and pies are just waiting to be paired with one of these summer fruits - who needs whipped cream or butter cream frosting? Now is the time to stir some fruit into the dough and enjoy one of the best sweet combinations ever: cake and fruit.
Sunday is my favourite day to bake cake. I start the oven right after breakfast, which tends to end rather late. Not so much because I sleep in, it's more because I enjoy the luxury of not having to rush after a busy week. I take my time, lots of time.
Looking at the long tradition of baking in my life, there are two recipes that I use far more often than others, not only on Sundays. The first one is my fluffy German waffle recipe, it's a family weekend ritual, and the other one is a simple fruit cake. It may sound quite simple but there are a million possible variations of this treat: you can add white chocolate, cornstarch for a lighter texture, or put some crumble on top. Olive oil creates a warm flavour and a juicy texture, great for a cake but also for my fig and ricotta muffins.
Today I went for a classic French yogurt cake, which is usually enjoyed plain. However, my enthusiasm for fruit led to a juicy filling of greengage plums. They were supposed to become a topping, but gravity, in combination with a light sponge dough, had different plans and the fruit sunk. The dairy product is mixed with mild olive oil, no butter, and adds a subtle sour hint. The yellow-green plums make it sweet and fruity (red plums would work here as well), it's just right for my late summer Sunday.
French Yogurt Cake with Greengage Plums
Makes a 20cm / 8" cake
plain flour 230g / 1 3/4 cups
baking powder 2 1/2 teaspoons
fine sea salt 1/4 teaspoon
plain yogurt 155g / 2/3 cup
mild olive oil 155ml / 2/3 cup
organic eggs 3, lightly beaten
granulated sugar 200g / 1 cup, plus 2 teaspoons for the topping
zest of 1 medium lemon
greengage (or red plums), cut on 1 side and pitted, 500g / 18 ounces
Preheat the oven to 180°C / 350°F (preferably convection setting). Butter a 20cm / 8" springform pan.
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
Add the yogurt, olive oil, eggs, sugar, and lemon zest and mix with an electric mixer on low speed for about 1 minute, just until there's no trace of flour left and the dough is combined. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and arrange the greengage on top of the batter (vertically, see picture above). Sprinkle with the remaining 2 teaspoons of sugar and bake for about 60 minutes (slightly longer if using a conventional oven) or until golden brown on top. If you insert a skewer in the center of the cake, it should come out almost clean. Let the cake cool in the pan for a few minutes before serving.
Germknödel - Austrian Yeast Dumplings with Plums, Poppy Seeds & Vanilla Custard
Somewhere in the snowy mountains in northern Italy, is a tiny village that you can only reach through a dangerously narrow road. Winding up higher and higher, dark fir trees on one side and deep gorges on the other, it makes you pray with gratitude once you get to the village safely. I used to spend a lot of time there, skiing and walking through the woods, through knee-deep snow until I reached one of the cosy wooden huts that are luckily spread all over to offer the frozen wanderer a bit of warmth, rest, and food. The culinary treasures of this region - in South Tyrol - are outstanding and one of the best things you can give your body when the temperatures are freezing.
One of these treats actually originated in Austria but crossed the border and became a staple in the local cooking: wonderfully fluffy Germknödel. It's a yeast dough dumpling, usually filled with plum butter (thick and sticky plum jam) and topped with melted butter, poppy seeds, and icing sugar. It's one of those dishes that you can easily eat for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I used to enjoy it so often on the terrace of a very old hut, it had a breathtaking view over icy-white mountains, often framed in a sparkling blue sky. The chef used to serve it with thick vanilla custard instead of the melted butter and that's what I do in my kitchen as well. I also replace the plum jam with whole plums for a bit more fruitiness. The only difficult task I had to solve, was to decide how I would steam the dumplings (I don't have a steam cooker in my kitchen). You could also blanch them in water but the results aren't as nice. A quick phone call with my mother and my problem was solved. I did it the way my granny Lisa used to cook dumplings: on a cotton tea towel tightened with clothespins over a wide pot filled with simmering water - old-fashioned, cheap, and my Knödel were perfect. I could have steamed them one after the other to give them a pretty round shape, but I was impatient. I cooked all at once, up against each other, and broke their fluffiness apart when they were done. Warm, tender, and fragrant, you don't want to eat anything else ever again.
Germknödel
Makes 4 large dumplings
For the dumplings
plain flour 270g / 2 cups plus 1 heaping tablespoon
granulated sugar 25g / 2 tablespoons
ground cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon, plus more for the plums
fast-acting yeast, scant 2 teaspoons
fine sea salt 1/4 teaspoon
milk, at room temperature, 120ml / 1/2 cup
butter, melted and cooled, 40g / 3 tablespoons
organic egg 1
jarred plums, cut in half, 2
For the topping
ground poppy seeds 2-3 tablespoons
For the vanilla custard
whole milk 500 ml / 2 cups plus 2 tablespoons
organic egg yolks 4
granulated sugar 100 g / 1/2 cup
cornstarch 30 g / 1/4 cup
fine sea salt 1/8 teaspoon
vanilla pod, split lengthwise, 1
To steam the dumplings, you need a large, wide pot (mine is 24cm / 9 1/2" wide), a cotton or linen tea towel plus 4 clothespins to fix the towel, and a metal (or heat-resistant) bowl, large enough to cover the pot as a domed lid.
For the dumplings, combine the flour, sugar, cinnamon, yeast, and salt in a large bowl.
Whisk together the milk, butter, and the egg - the mixture should be lukewarm. Add to the dry mixture and mix with the dough hooks of an electric mixer for a few minutes or until well combined. Continue kneading with your hands for a few minutes until you have a soft and silky dough ball. Place the dough back in the bowl, cover with a tea towel, and let rise in a warm place, or preferably in a 35°C / 100°F warm oven, for about 70 minutes or until doubled in size.
Punch the dough down, take it out of the bowl, and knead for about 30 seconds. Divide the dough into 4 equal portions and use your hands to form each one into a 10cm / 4" disc. Lay 1 plum half in the middle of each dough disc and sprinkle with a little cinnamon. Fold the dough up and use your fingers to squeeze the dough together to close the dumplings and seal the plums tightly inside. Roll into balls with your hands and transfer the dumplings to a lightly floured baking dish or baking sheet. Cover with a tea towel and let rise in a warm place for about 20 minutes until puffy.
While the dumplings are rising, fill about 1/3 of the pot with water and bring to the boil. Take the pot off the heat and lay a cotton or linen tea towel over the pot (mind the hot steam). Fix the towel with clothespins at the handles so that the towel can hang in the pot without touching the water. Lay the dumplings - 4 at once or in batches, if you want to have round shaped single dumplings - onto the towel, they shouldn't touch the water. Cover with a tight fitting metal bowl (upside down) and transfer the pot back to the heat. Turn the heat down to a low simmer (medium to medium-low) and steam the dumplings for 20 minutes without lifting the top (!).
While the dumplings are cooking, make the custard: In a small bowl, whisk 4 tablespoons of the milk with the egg yolks, sugar, cornstarch, and salt until well combined. In a medium saucepan, bring the remaining milk and the vanilla pod to the boil. Take the vanilla out and scrape the seeds from the pod into the milk. Whisking constantly, add the egg yolk mixture to the hot milk and bring to a boil. Take the saucepan off the heat; continue whisking for 2 minutes and set aside.
After 20 minutes take the pot off the heat and the top off the dumplings - mind the hot steam. Carefully transfer the towel with the dumplings to a table, wait for about 2 minutes then use a knife to peel the dumplings off the towel. If you cooked all of them at once, break them into 4 pieces. Serve immediately with the warm vanilla custard, sprinkled with poppy seeds.
Plum Dumplings with Cinnamon Breadcrumb Butter - Swabian Zwetschgenknödel
Plums, potato dough, browned breadcrumb butter, sugar and cinnamon - this southern German sweet doesn't call for many ingredients but it puts them together in just the right way. The result is heavenly: sweet plum dumplings with browned breadcrumb butter and cinnamon sugar - or in German - Zwetschgenknödel!
My versatile Gnocchi dough makes another appearance for this recipe. For Friday's Bavarian beer roasted pork, I recommended savory potato dumplings with the same dough. For this traditional Swabian dish, I use it to wrap sweet and sour plums with a thin layer of the potato mixture to turn the blue fruits into sweet, fruity dumplings.
Whenever I make this recipe, I consider reducing the amount of butter and sugar for just a split second, but luckily I never do. This dish really needs all the lusciousness of its decadent topping. I learnt about these dumplings from my Swabian step father Uli and he taught me that a dessert is there to enjoy and not about counting calories. Every time we make the Knödel together in my mother's kitchen, he reminds us to keep the potato dough layer very thin, that's how he learnt to do it from his mother and grandmother. It's our job to form the dumplings but it's his to take care of the quality control, and he is a very picky instructor!
It can be a bit fiddly getting the little balls in shape, to make it a little bit easier you should use small plums like Damsons and keep your fingers moist while you're working with the dough.
Plum Dumplings with cinnamony Breadcrumb Butter - the Swabian Zwetschgenknoedel
For about 30 plum dumplings you need
small plums (like Damsons) 30 (about 800g / 2 pounds)
sugar cubes 30
Cut the plums open on one side, take out the seed and fill each fruit with a sugar cube, close the fruit as well as possible.
For the topping
butter 100g / 3.5 ounces
dry breadcrumbs 50g / 2 ounces
granulated sugar 50g / 2 ounces
ground cinnamon 1 teaspoon
Combine the sugar and cinnamon.
In a sauce pan, melt the butter with the breadcrumbs. Cook the mixture for a few minutes on medium-high temperature until golden brown. Don't let it burn or it will taste bitter.
For the potato dough
potatoes, cut into cubes, 450g / 16 ounces
butter 30g / 1 ounce
organic egg yolks 2
plain flour 120g / 4.5 ounces
salt 1/2 teaspoon
Cook the the potatoes in salted water until soft (around 15 minutes), drain them when they are done. Press the drained, warm potatoes through a potato ricer and mix immediately with the butter and egg yolks. Let the mixture cool completely before you continue with the next step!
With a spoon (or your hands), mix the cold potato mixture with the flour and salt until combined.
The plum dumplings
Your fingers should be wet while you're forming the dumplings, so keep a little bowl of water right next to you.
In a large pot, bring lots of water with 1/2 teaspoon of salt to the boil.
With a tablespoon, take a walnut sized ball of the potato dough. Shape a flat ball and lay it flat in the palm of your moistened hand, pushing down the middle with the thumb of your other hand. Lay the plum (cut side down) into the center of the dough and gently start pushing and rolling up the dough until the whole fruit is covered with a thin layer (the blue of the plums will be just visible in some places, see my second to last picture). If the dough starts tearing, take a little bit more to cover the fruits. Place the dumplings on a grid until you're done with all of them (when you take the dumplings off the grid you might have to even out the grid's mark with your fingers).
Poach the dumplings in batches in the hot but not boiling water (simmering) for about 8-10 minutes or until they start to float on the surface. Take the dumplings out with a slotted ladle and let them drain on a grid for a few seconds.
Put the cooked dumplings into a large bowl or onto a plate, pour over the warm browned breadcrumb butter and sprinkle the cinnamon sugar on top.
Spicy deep purple Plum Chutney
I'm running out of time! There are still so many plum recipes I want to write about but the local blue fruits are almost at the end of their season. This recipe is one of my classic preserves, a spicy deep purple plum chutney.
I prepare my chutneys all year round so that my pantry is always filled with plums, rhubarb and apples. I try a few others once in a while but these three are my standards, the ones that I can't, or don't want to, live without. I have special combinations with each of them and the plum chutney is my favourite for cold roasts or hard mountain cheese. The one that I cook with apples is the strongest of all and it can take even the ripest French camembert!
When I wrote about one of my early sandwiches, a hearty homemade mountain bun stuffed with ham, cheese and plum chutney, I got so many requests for this chutney. I felt a bit bad as I wrote about it in December not thinking that it would take another eight months for plums to be in season again. So here it is, get started and enjoy with whatever comes into your mind. That's great about chutneys, they taste so strong but they work so well in all kinds of unusual combinations!
Spicy Plum Chutney
For a 1 l / 2 pint jar and one small jar you need
ripe plums, pitted and quartered, 1kg / 2 1/4 pounds
sour apples, peeled, cored and roughly chopped, 3 (around 300g / 10.5 ounces)
small red onions, roughly chopped, 3
apple cider vinegar 350ml / 12 ounces
balsamic vinegar 50ml / 2 ounces
granulated sugar 200g /7 ounces
garlic, chopped, 1 big clove
fresh ginger, grated, 1 heaping tablespoon
fresh red hot chili pepper, without seeds, finely chopped, 1
small dried red chili peppers 2-3
ground turmeric 1/4 teaspoon
ground cinnamon 1 teaspoon
black peppercorns, ground in a mortar, 1/2 teaspoon
star anise, ground in a mortar, 3 single pieces
cloves, ground in the mortar, 20
fennel seeds, ground in a mortar, 1 teaspoon
spirit to sterilise the rims of the jars
Sterilise the jars in boiling water for 5 minutes.
In a large pot, bring all the ingredients to the boil. Cook the chutney (slightly bubbling) without a lid for about an hour on medium temperature until it thickens. After 30 minutes, check the spiciness, either take out the dried chilies or leave them in till the end if you prefer it more hot, but take them out before you fill the chutney into the jars.
Dip the rim of the sterilised jars in spirit and wash out the lids with the alcohol as well. Fill your jars with the chutney and close well immediately.
You can eat the chutney right away but I prefer to let it sit for at least 3 weeks. You should keep an open jar in the fridge (mine stays fresh for months) and the closed jars in your pantry.
Red Onion and Plum Tarte Tatin with Chèvre
My Tarte Tatin goes savory! Caramelized red onions, sweet and sour plums, aromatic thyme and chèvre replace the apples which I usually choose for this tart, and it's great. This is the taste of late summer!
At the moment I can't get enough of the combination of sweet, fruity and savory flavours. I've always been a big fan of it but I'm a bit obsessed with it right now (so much that my boyfriend already asked for a break). I mix mirabelles, plums, peaches, grapes or figs with saltimbocca, coarse sausages and chicken and I barely eat my cheese without one of my plum, rhubarb or apple chutneys (I will share my plum chutney recipe soon).
I love August and September in northern Europe, the transition to autumn. The light is magical and it's the time to harvest all those wonderful fruits, to cook them and turn them into delicious dishes and colourful jams and chutneys for the colder months. That makes it so much easier to let go of summer!
Red Onion and Plum Tarte Tatin with Chèvre
For the tart you need a 21cm / 8″ Tarte Tatin dish or frying pan which is ovenproof.
mild and soft chèvre 150g / 5.5 ounces, for serving
For the topping
medium sized red onions, cut into 8 wedges each, 4
plums, quartered, 4-6
butter 2 tablespoons
olive oil 1 tablespoon
sugar 1 1/2 tablespoons
balsamic vinegar 1 tablespoon
thyme sprigs 6
salt and pepper
For the shortcrust
plain flour 130g / 4.5 ounces
butter, cold, 75g / 3 ounces
egg yolk 1
salt 1/8 teaspoon
cold water 1 1/2 tablespoons
For the shortcrust, combine the flour 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 quickly work the butter into the flour until combined. Add the egg yolk and the water, continue mixing with the hooks of your mixer until you have a crumbly mixture. Form a disc, wrap in cling film and put in the freezer for 10 minutes.
Set the oven to 200°C / 390°F.
In a pan (or Tarte Tatin dish), heat the butter with the sugar and oil until it starts to caramelize. Add the onions, arrange them in a circle and cook them for 7 minutes on medium heat. Turn them gently and cook them for another 7 minutes. Mind that they don't burn, they should become golden brown. Tuck the plum wedges in between the onions and cook for 2 minutes. Take the pan off the heat and sprinkle with salt, pepper and thyme.
Roll out the dough, big enough to cover the pan and lay it on top of the onions tucking the edges down the sides. Bake in the oven for 12 minutes or until golden brown. When the tart is done, place a large heat resistant plate on top and turn the pan carefully upside down, keep in mind that it’s very hot!
Serve the Tarte Tatin with a big slice of chèvre.
Oats and Plums
As a child I loved oats with cocoa powder and milk - the famous porridge. I loved it so much that I had to have a bowl of this every day. I think that was the beginning of my love for food; food, which I prepare for myself. It might sound like a rather simple start to the culinary wonders of life. But I must have been around 5 years old when I cultivated this daily routine of going to the kitchen, preparing my bowl with oats, unsweetened dark cocoa powder, sugar and fresh milk. Always in the same bowl. It felt like a very special treat for myself, a pure moment of pleasure, eating with relish.
This intuitive routine which I created just for myself made me realise that I need these recurring moments of simple pleasure and enjoyment - a treat, just me and my food. This never changed, my approach to food is still totally intuitive. Since those days I discovered so much (I don't concentrate on oats anymore) but I still feel the same satisfaction in the happy moments with my food, every day.
This morning I found a bag with puréed plums in my freezer which I had prepared originally for spontaneous ice cream ideas in winter (it makes such a wonderful ice cream when mixed with yoghurt). It was a very cold morning and I felt a bit nostalgic. I needed a bowl of steaming porridge and decided to sweeten it with my (warmed up) freezer-discovery. I took out a pan, cooked a bowl of oats together with milk until it bubbled and poured the warm plum sauce on top. I had made the plum purée from 300g / 10.5 ounces of plums mixed with a few tablespoons of sugar and some cinnamon.
So simple yet so delicious!
