dear TI kindly invited me to be part of her ZWISCHENZEIT series

i don´t do lenten resolutions but i do eat so i tried to come up with something
and since the post is in German on her blog - here it is again in English

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unfortunately that rebus doesn´t make any sense to not German speakers

(buckwheat = book beer)

also i wouldn´t recommend making yourself a buckwheat bracelet

it doesn´t keep that well

but W would like to make it in gold

just kidding

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my sister thinks buckwheat tastes at the same time boring and interesting

so it needs strong companions

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the first loose recipe:

wash and cook buckwheat according to instructions

caramelize chestnuts and spring onions

slice a pear

get some yoghurt and dries berries

or anything else you like

eat it

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in case you´re in the mood for pancakes
i´d start like that:

80g buckwheat flour

80g spelt flour

1 tea spoon baking powder

sugar and salt as you like

150ml milk

2 apples roughly grated

mix everything and add more milk or flour to get right consistency

let sit for a while

bake pancakes

eat with ricotta mixed with brown sugar and vanilla

or maple sirup

also you can use buttermilk or water instead of milk (or even beer)

or add an egg or a pad of butter

switch the apples for pears or beets

do as you like

it´s about time to wish you all a very merry Christmas
and thank you for your kind support this year
you guys have been so amazing
we could not have wished for sweeter clients and readers
so here we want to say thank you looking as saesonal angelic as possible
(i´m sporting yet another fabulous sweater from my friends from 0941
W´s Christmas coloured affair was found in our late grandmothers closet)
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it was so nice to meet some of you at our Christmas market last week
we had so much fun
and since some of you really liked the baked goods

i thought i´d share the recipes

PANFORTE from Fräulein Text

(got a MERINGUE RING from her shop)

since i didn´t have everything on hand i just used all the dried fruits and nuts in my pantry

and it turned out just fine

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the Honey Cake was adapted from Jamie Oliver

(i posted a HONEY CAKE RECIPE not long ago but this one is so much better)

100 g butter

75 g dark sugar

25 g agave syrup

75 g honey

100 g molasses

zest of 1 orange

150 g spelt flour

spices as you like

10 pieces of candied ginger, chopped up

candied cherries - so very frivolous

2 eggs

heat butter with sugar, syrup, honey, molasses and orange zest

until melted

add spices, ginger and cherries to the flour - mix well

add the butter-sugar-mixture, followed by the eggs

in case the dough is too dry add a bit of milk

pour into a lined and greased baking tin

bake for 40 - 60 min at 160C

50 g cherry jam

25 g molasses

6 pieces of candied ginger, chopped up

heat everything and pour over the warm cake
(i´ll try a to bake as version of this without the eggs
as i type and i do hope it turns out al least edible)
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my TRUFFLE WOMEN over at MARLEEN´s blog
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so many pretty things
to make these days very merry
tiny ceramic hearts from PAULA - still waiting to be put up
a hot pay from ALESSANDRA
cushion covers from RIKE
and a whole stack of Christmas card, including a very special one from RITVA
thank you so much!!!
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also:
wedding bands for a Christmas wedding
and sweet potatoes with marshmallows
those made us almost sick and will not be made again

after reading Katherine Mansfield´s MISS BRILL

a honey cake became the saddest pastry out there to me

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"On her way home she usually bought a slice of honey cake at the baker's. 

It was her Sunday treat. 

Sometimes there was an almond in her slice, sometimes not. 

It made a great difference. 

If there was an almond it was like carrying home a tiny present - a surprise - 

something that might very well not have been there. 

She hurried on the almond Sundays and struck the match for the kettle in quite a dashing way. "

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Maira Kalman´s THE PRINCIPLES OF UNCERTAINTY made it a happy cake again

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"There is nothing illusory in this tiny heaven.

I am silent with gratitude.

I will go and bake a honey cake

and that´s all."

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the recipe is even included in her book

but since it was too sweet for me

i came up with my own version

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OLIVE OIL HONEY CAKE

2 eggs, beaten

add 100 ml honey + 60 ml olive oil

mix in 200g spelt flour + 1tsp baking soda + cinnamon and other spices as you like

add about 100ml very strong tea

until you have a fine dough

now you can put in some chopped up apples, nuts, raisins...

pour into a loaf pan - bottom lined (awesome trick)

i don´t recommend bundt pans

my cakes were to sticky to come out again in one piece

to make everybody´s Sunday an almond Sunday stud the cake tighly with almonds

bake about 45 min at 175 degrees celsius

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HONEY CAKE PENDANTS

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BEEKEEPERS QUILT

this one takes ages...

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and here´s an other treat for you:

i helped my sister and her boyfriend put up a blog

to show their work

GUT SEIN

(they´re lucky to be friends with a superb image editor as you can see

this is an underrated art)

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a nice ARTICLE about WSAKE in our local newspaper

Stella from KONGLOMERAT DESIGN invited me 

to contribute to her HELDENTARTE series

so here i present you:

HE LOVES ME, HE LOVES ME NOT - CAKE

(don´t worry - i´m very happily not in love

and didn´t desperately pluck thousands of daisy petals

to find out he doesn´t like me after all)

.

75 g spelt flour

25 g buckwheat flour

1 tbsp baking powder
1 pr salt
35 g brown sugar
100 g goat milk

mix the dry ingredients

add the milk

pour into a lined baking (20cm diameter) tin

bake for 12 min at 210 degree celsium

500 g rhubarb, cut in 1cm pieces

2 tbsp brown sugar

1 tbsp water

mix, pour on a baking tray

roast for 15 min at 175 degree celsium

let cool completely

spread on the cake

250 g goat cream cheese

2 tbsp brown sugar

rose water to your liking

mix and frost the cake

sprinkle with daisy petals

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violet season is over

but there are still some fragrant varieties in full bloom

and you don´t actually need the flowers in case you want to give this a try

the sirup does the trick

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THE TIREDNESS OF ROSABELL

by Katherine Mansfield

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her stories are unsettling

full of moodswings, lifes turned around in the blink of an eye

heavily scented with all kinds of flowers

slightly hysterical

they can make your heart break a little

so do watch out

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drenched in London rain

milliner Rosabell dreams not only of delectable feasts

she also imagines a completly different life like the ones her clients lead

full of gleaming fires, maids, cozy boudoirs

completed by a dashing suitor

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i felt so sorry for this hungry girl

wet and so exhausted she almost cried climbing up the stairs

comforting herself with beautiful stories

sleeping in this cold dull room

i wanted to bake something very luscious and extravagant for her

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something like a four (dreadful) flights high haselnut cake

spread with hazelnut-chocolate cream

coverd in a violet and anis scented goat cream cheese frosting

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and then i did something very unhealthy but utterly delicious

i put marshmallows and violet sirup in a cup of hot cocoa

made with chocolate, cocoa powder and goat milk

probably one of the craziest things i ever tasted

it could have come right from her dream

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read this and almost all of Katherine Mansfield´s stories HERE

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in case you want to bake this cake

here is the recipe for two layers only

it is really heavy and four layers are probably too much for real life

and in case you´re not intolerant to eggs

use any kind of cake batter with a bit of flour substituted with toasted ground hazelnuts

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140 g spelt flour

50 g slightly toasted ground hazelnuts

1 tsp baking powder

75 g sugar

125 ml butter milk

mix the dried ingredients and add the milk

incoporate until you´ve got a silken runny cake batter

fill into a lined baking tin - about 22 cm diameter

bake at 175 degree celsius for about 25 min

until a tooth pick comes out clean

cream about 400g cream cheese with a few tsp of sugar

blueberry juice for colouring, crushed anis seeds and as much violet sirup as you like

when the cake is cool take it out of the tin

half it with a thin sharp knife

spread each layer with some hazelnut chocolate cream

frost it with cream cheese mixture

i used a butter knife and sometimes my fingers

since i´m not a pastry chef at all

 and if you have some on hand sprinkle with edible violets

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thank you D for "lending" me your wonderful staircase

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now i need some ideas to use up all that leftover violet sirup

at the end of last year i thought of a project

involving all kinds of things i like

(besides making jewellery that is)

flowers, food, books

and somehow combining those things

so here is what i came up with

a picture essay on Last Night in Twisted River by John Irving

- my very own and clearly non- academic take on this novel -

full of bears, loggers, giant women, more or less likely weapons

impending mud season, deadly do-si-doing

all kinds of true and ever lasting love

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and who can´t help but fall in love with Ketchum

writing angry faxes

armed at all the times in case of "critters" and mad cowboys

dating a wrestling girl friend called Six-Pack-Pam

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with one of the main characters being a cook

there were lots of tempting recipes hidden in this book

including a fateful bit of honey in the pizza crust

but i opted for a pancake recipe

inspired by the loggers breakfast in the river driver town of Twisted River

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100 g spelt flour

50 g buckwheat flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tbsp cane sugar

pinch of salt

roasted chopped up almonds

250 ml milk

frozen blueberries

maple sirup

mix the flours, baking powder, sugar, salt and almonds in a bowl

pour in the milk

mix until well incorporated

let sit for a bit

heat up the blueberries until hot and sirupy

heat up a non stick pan

and laddle in the batter in small batches

to bake small fluffy pancakes

add more flour in case the batter is too runny or more milk in case it´s too firm

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somehow i can´t find an end when working on projects i love

so i though i just had to press publish and move on

but at first i want to thank W for being a perfectly patient and hungry assistant

Franz for his collection of fixed-blade knifes to choose from

NINA for the lovely tin box

and E for her insights even though i didn´t follow her advice

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i already have some more books in mind to work on

but i´d love to hear your recommendations

could also be a movie, poem, song...