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INSTANT FOOD

Do you know what this is? These tiny almond-shaped seeds are the seeds of a type of cherry (Prunus mahaleb) that grows in the Mediterranean. Like the seeds of other stone fruits, these seeds, called mahleb, have a bitter almond like flavour (not unlike marzipan). Ground, mahleb is used to flavour different kinds of cakes and breads, e.g. Greek Tsoureki. I adore its flavour and have added it to brioches and other baked goods made with enriched dough, but also used it to flavour things like rice pudding or whipped cream (e.g. the recipes on my blog for a sumac drizzle cake with a mahleb whipped cream or the mahleb flavoured rice flour pudding with a cherry compote). Later this week I will share another recipe that uses this wonderful spice. If you are wondering where to buy mahleb, Turkish or Greek grocers might be your best bet. Otherwise you can order it online. @souschefuk sells both ground mahleb and whole seeds.

Shaping Stollen. When I first started baking stollen, it took me a few tries to get the hang of shaping stollen to give it its characteristic shape.* *In case you don’t know, stollen is supposed to look like little baby Jesus swaddled in a blanket. 1. There are at least a couple of different ways of shaping stollen. On the next few photos I will show you mine. 2. After the first proof, you add the dried and/or candied fruit and ground nuts to the dough and knead the dough until all of this is evenly distributed. 3. You then roll out the dough into a fat oval of about 3-4cm thickness. 4. You then use a rolling pin to continue flattening the centre of the oval, leaving a 2-3cm border intact on either side. Next you fold one of the sides towards the centre. 5. You then fold the second side on top of the first one. 6. Using the handle of a wooden spoon, press firmly down on the dough as shown. This helps ensure that the stollen will not come undone while baking in the oven.

Sneak peek at next week’s blog post: a recipe for homemade Stollen made with Turkish pistachios, drieg figs and apricots and plenty of cardamom, mahleb and saffron. By far one of my favourite creations over the last 12 months or so and I am so excited to share this with you next week. Since I first developed and tested this recipe last year I have made it a few more times so will update the recipe and notes with a few more tips and tricks. There will also be some nice new photos to go with the recipe!

Freshly ground Turkish pistachios from Antep. Love the vivid green colour and the almost savoury flavour. These were used to bake something really special this week which I will show you shortly.

Woah, we're half way there* Woah, livin' on a prayer Take my hand, we'll make it I swear Woah, livin' on a prayer… *A loaf of sourdough bread halfway through baking. This one is half strong white and half Øland wheat. 80% hydration. And after neglecting my starter in the fridge for weeks I was thrilled at how quickly it was back in fighting shape. Cannot wait to cut into this at breakfast tomorrow morning.

When you find a place in Brussels serving pasticiotti 😍.

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Dark Chocolate Brownies with Medjool Dates and Almond Butter
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Gibassier
Baking your own sourdough bread – tips and tricks and common mistakes to avoid

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olive oil gelato

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Italy, Recipes 4 Comments

April 13, 2013April 13, 2013

Olive oil gelato

While living in the centre of Rome has plenty of advantages (my walk to work takes me down the Spanish

read more Olive oil gelato

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