Categories
foooood

raclette

last month we bought a raclette as a present for some friends. we were introduced to the raclette concept last year by a friend who lived in switzerland prior to moving to slovenia (it’s a typical swiss dish).

you need an electric table-top grill, which has small individual pans, where you make your dishes. you can use anything you want on it, but things like mushrooms, boiled potatoes, cold meats and cheese are customary. the food is put on the small pans and covered with cheese. you can also grill other things on top of it.

i think the best part about it is that it makes dinner really easy to have with friends. there’s something for everyone, and we can cook and eat dinner simultaneously, while chatting. all you have to do is set the table with everything you want – this way there isn’t one single person slaving away in the kitchen while the others are being entertained elsewhere. plus, melted cheese is like bacon… it makes everything better! :)

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foooood in germany

bonanza coffee heros


the sign outside states “don’t die before trying”, and so, try we did. and then it became a sort of ritual: every time we were nearby, the caffeine siren calling would divert us from our path straight into this tiny little coffee shop. well, the coffee and the cheesecake, if we’re being honest. it’s really good.




i don’t know enough about coffee to comment beyond “i like it” – so their fancy machine has little allure on a commoner like me.

but sometimes, good coffee has this quality of making time go slower while you sip. have you noticed? this is one of those coffees. you take a sip, taste the foam, close your eyes and feel all is well with the world. you take a bite of that cheesecake and let it melt in your tongue, slowly. yup, you don’t even notice the impatient baristas anymore. all is well. :)

bonanza is on oderberger straße, 35 near mauerpark.

Categories
foooood in germany

sweet berlin

imagine a market where the booths are all from local bakeries and chocolateries displaying their tiny bits of goodness… how could we resist such an invitation? so we’ve spent some time today cruising their stalls, picking morsels here and there, and then sampling them on some sunny church steps, along with friends. perfect afternoon in my book!


“kalter hund”, or cold dog, is apparently a typical german sweet made of chocolate and crackers. reminded me of our portuguese chocolate salami, with a higher cracker to chocolate ratio :)

other yummy things we’ve tried:


the minute i knew hudsons cakes was going to be in the fair, i knew i wanted a slice of their “chocolate lausitzer porter” cake. we had tried it before, and it stuck with us. it’s so good, moist but not too chocolatey… just perfect.

like they say around here, lecker! :)

Categories
foooood in sweden

kanelbullar recipe

while in sweden, i sent postcards featuring cinnamon rolls to a few friends abroad, singing their praises and deliciousness… one of these friends decided that some baking was in order, so we’ve rolled up our sleeves and baked up the most delicious batch of kanelbullar that have ever left my oven. they’re soft and moist and just perfect. every bite is a guaranteed moan! :)


i found the recipe at chez larssons, and the only tweak we did was to double the amount of cardamom (because we’re all cardamom junkies around here).

you’ll need:

for the dough:
100 grams of butter
5 decilitres of milk
50 grams of yeast
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 decilitres of Sugar
2 tsp ground cardamom
5.4 cups of wheat flour

for the filling:
100 grams of butter
1 decilitre of sugar
2 tsp cinnamon

for the top:
1 egg
pearl sugar

procedure:
melt the butter, add the milk and heat until finger warm (not too hot!). crumble the yeast into a bowl. add a little bit of the milk/butter mixture and stir until the yeast is dissolved. add the rest of the milk/butter mixture, salt, sugar and ground cardamom and 2/3 of the flour.

mix and add flour until the dough comes off the sides of the bowl. save a little bit of flour for later.

cover the dough with a tea towel and let it rise until double the size, about 35-40 minutes.

mix the dough for a few minutes in the bowl and then knead it on the flour dusted work top with the rest of the flour, until it doesn’t stick too much.

then divide the dough into two equal parts. use a rolling pin to flatten the two dough parts into 20×40 cm each. mix the filling ingredients in a small bowl and spread the butter/sugar/cinnamon filling on the dough.

fold dough in half length-wise, then cut and twist according to the photos on this post so that you make pretty little knots.

put the knots on a covered or greased baking sheet. let rise under a tea towel for 20 minutes. whisk the egg in a bowl and use a pastry brush to brush the egg onto the knots. sprinkle some pearl sugar on top.

place in the middle of a 250C oven for 8-10 minutes until gloriously brown.


you’ll be licking your hands too…

Categories
foooood in sweden

the chocolate kisses shop

flavoured marshmallow balls, covered in chocolate. sometimes, happiness is a really simple thing indeed! :)