Serves 6
Ingredients
450 g honey (16 ounces)
300 g sugar (10.5 ounces)
1½ tablespoons of cinnamon
1 pinch of clove powder
½ teaspoon of nutmeg
100 g (3.5 ounces) ground candied orange peel
100 g (3.5 ounces) ground candied lemon peel
200 g (7 ounces) ground almonds
Grind skin of one lemon
1 dl (0.4 cup) of kirsch
600g (21 ounces) flour
1½ teaspoon of baking powder
150 g (5 ounces) confectioner's sugar
3 to 5 tablespoons of kirsch or water
Directions
1. Put honey, sugar, cinnamon, clove powder and nut meg in a pan, heat up slowly, then remove from stove.
2. Add candied orange peel, candied lemon peel, almonds and grind skin of lemon, stir until mixed evenly.
3. Add kirsch, flour and baking powder, knead on a table to form a soft dough.
4. While the dough is still warm, roll it out on the back of two greased baking sheets approximately 5mm (0.2 inches) thick.
5. Let it rest for about 5 to 6 hours or over night in a dry place.
6. Bake for about 15 to 20 minutes in the center of the pre-heated oven at 220 °C (430 °F).
7. Mix confectioner's sugar and kirsch or water, frost dough immediately.
8. Cut off stale edges. Cut dough in small pieces (5 x 3 cm, 2 x 1.5 inches), take them off the baking sheets and let them cool.
Basler Brunsli
Ingredients
150 g (5 ounces) sugar
1 pinch of salt
250 g (9 ounces) grind almonds
¼ tea spoon cinnamon
1 pinch of clove powder
2 tablespoons of cocoa powder
2 tablespoons of flour
2 fresh white of egg (about 70 g (2.5 ounces))
100 g (3.5 ounces) bitter chocolate
2 tea spoons of kirsch
Directions
1. Mix sugar, salt, almonds, cinnamon, clove powder, cocoa powder and flour in a bowl.
2. Add white of egg and stir until ingredients are evenly distributed.
3. Cut chocolate in real small pieces, pour hot water over the chocolate, let rest for about 5 minutes, then pour off all water except about half a tablespoon, stir until even. Now immediately proceed with the next step.
4. Add melted chocolate from the previous step and the kirsch, knead to a soft dough.
5. Roll out dough on a flat surface (it may be slightly covered with sugar), approximately 10 mm (0.4 inches) thick. Put out different shapes and put them on a baking sheet covered with baking paper.
6. Let them rest for about 5 to 6 hours or over night in a dry place.
7. Bake for about 4 to 6 minutes in the center of the pre-heated oven at 250 °C (480 °F).
8. Let cool completely before serving.
Tarte à la raisinée
Makes six 10cm Ø tartlets or one 24cm Ø tart
Ingredients
300g (about) shortcrust pastry dough homemade or store bought
150g raisinée (vin cuit)
100g cream
1 egg yolk
2 eggs
Optional: 2 tablespoons sugar
Directions
1. Preheat the oven at 180°C.
2. Whisk the eggs and egg yolk in a bowl. Stir in the cream and then add the raisinée. Mix well, but not too much. It should not become foamy.
3. Cover with plastic wrap and put in the refrigerator for at least one hour.
4. While the raisinée mixture is in the fridge, roll the shortcrust pastry dough and place it in a 24cm diameter tin or in small tins, greased and floured or layered with parchment paper.
5. Do not poke holes in the shortcrust pastry!
6. The shortcrust pastry has to be prebaked (also called blind baked) which means that it will be baked before adding the filling. Prebaking is usually required when the filling takes little time to cook or does not require a high temperature.
7. To prebake your crust: place a piece of parchment paper on the crust; its size should be the same than your baking tin. Fill the tin with a layer of dry beans, lentils or uncooked rice. This will prevent it from puffing too much. Once cooled down, the beans (lentils or uncooked rice) can be stored in an airtight container and reused for a few more times.
8. Prebake the crust for about 20 minutes. Let it cool down completely and do not take it out of the tin.
9. Preheat the oven at 160°C.
10. Put the raisinée mixture in a saucepan and warm up on medium heat, stirring constantly. If you have a food thermometer, bring it to 80°. If you don’t, when it start to have a few small bubbles, that is time.
11. Keeping it in its tin, remove the beans from the crust and pour over the raisinée mixture.
12. Bake in the oven for about 20 minutes.
Swiss Apple Pie
Serves 6
Ingrédients
cups Apples (cubed)
1cup All purpose flour
1cup Sugar
1tsp Baking powder
2nos Eggs
1/2cup Walnuts
1tsp Vanilla extract
1/8tsp Salt
Directions
1. In a mixing bowl, whisk the eggs,sugar, vanilla,meanwhile mix the flour,baking powder and salt, add gradually to the wet ingredients until the get well mixed, add the apples,walnuts to the mixture,give a quick stir and pour the batter in a greased round mould..
2. Bake for 30minutes or until a skewer inserted comes out clean.
3. Let cool and enjoy with chocolate sauce with a scoop of vanilla ice-cream.
Bircher Müesli
Ingredients
5 tablespoons thick cut organic oats
1.5 dl orange juice
200g yogurt (cow or soy milk)
1 apple
juice of a lemon
1 banana
1 cup berries
1 teaspoon coarsely chopped nuts
1 teaspoon dry fruits
2 tablespoons honey or 1 tablespoon agave nectar
1 dl cream (skimmed or full cream)
Directions
1. Put the oats in a big bowl. Pour the orange juice over it. Keep aside for 1 hour.
2. Stir in the yogurt and combine well. Cover and refrigerate overnight or for at least 6 hours.
3. After that time, peel and grate the apple and slice the banana. Pour the lemon juice over them and combine well.
4. Slice the other fruits or cut them in bite-size pieces.
5. Add the grated apple, sliced banana, sliced berries, dry fruits and nuts to the yogurt-oat mixture. Combine well.
6. You may want to whisk in 1 dl of cream and sweeten your Bircher with some honey or agave nectar.
7. Sprinkle some coarsely chopped nuts on top of it and serve.
Magenbrot
Makes about 80 pieces
Ingredients
250 g (9 ounces) honey
250 g (9 ounces) sugar
3 tablespoon water
100 g (3.5 ounces) butter cookies (for example "Petit Beurres")
550 g (19.5 ounces) wheat
2 tablespoon cocoa powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon powder
1 teaspoon ginger bread spices
1 pinch of cloves powder
Half of a lemon
125 g (4.5 ounces) candied orange peel
1 or 2 teaspoon baking soda
1 dl (3.5 fluid ounces) milk
Directions
Prepare the dough the night before you bake:
1. Mix honey, sugar and water in a bowl.
2. Put bowl in a pan with water and heat up until the mixture is about 60°C (140°F) warm.
3. Grind cookies
4. Mix cookies, wheat, cocoa powder, cinnamon powder, ginger bread spices and candied orange peel in a bowl.
5. Rub off some paring of the lemon into the bowl.
6. Mix baking soda into milk.
7. Put milk (6.) and honey mixture (1.) into bowl with cookies (4.).
8. Mix everything well to a dough.
9. Briefly knead the dough.
10. Leave the dough over night at a cool place but do not put it into the refrigerator.
The next day :
1. Heat the oven up to 200°C (400°F).
2. Cut the dough in four pieces of the same size.
3. Make roles of about 2 cm (1 inch) diameter.
4. Put a baking paper on a baking sheet (also known as baking tray) and place the four roles of dough on it. Make sure there is enough room between the roles.
5. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes in the middle of the oven.
6. Let the dough cool off
7. Cut the roles slightly angular in pieces of about 2 cm (1 inch).
Schwabenbrötli
(Swabia cookies)
Ingredients
150 g (5.3 ounces) margarine
250 g (9 ounces) sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
1 pinch of salt
250 g (9 ounces) grind almonds
250 g (9 ounces) flour
Directions
1. Put margarine into bowl and stir until soft.
2. Add sugar and eggs and stir until foamy.
3. Add cinnamon, salt, almonds and flour; knead to form a dough.
4. Roll out dough on a flat surface, approximately 3 mm (0.1 inches) thick. Put out shapes and brush with milk or egg.
5. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes at 180°C (355°F) in the middle of the pre-heated stove.
Variation
You may add some rubbed off lemon skin.
Chräbel
Serves 8
Ingredients
4 eggs
450 g (16 ounces) confectioner's sugar
1 pinch of salt
1½ tablespoons of anise
1 tablespoon of kirsch
550..600 g (19..21 ounces) flour
Directions
1. Put eggs, confectioner's sugar, salt, anise and kirsch in a bowl and stir about 5 minutes until well mixed.
2. Add flour and mix into a dough.
3. Form rolls of about 1.5 cm (0.6 inches) diameter and cut in pieces of about 5 cm (2 inches) length. Cut in each piece about 3 times slightly angular and bend them slightly.
4. Slightly grease baking sheets and put the rolls onto it to dry. Do not use baking paper sheets. Do not move the pieces. Let them dry for 24 to 48 hours at room temperature. Make sure there is no draught.
5. Bake them for about 25 minutes in the lower part of the pre-heated stove at 140°C (285°F). Keep the door of the stove a bit open. Let the cookies cool down and remove them from the baking sheet with a scraper.
Variations
Instead of forming rolls, you may roll out dough on a flat surface, approximately 1 cm (0.4 inches) thick. Put out shapes and treat them as described above.
Use models to create forms, then treat them as described above.