* If you don’t have any buttermilk to hand, whisk 2 tablespoons of thick yogurt or quark into 420ml of milk as a substitute.
SUNDAY WAFFLES
SUNDAY WAFFLES
These waffles are rich, perfect for an indulgent Sunday breakfast. There is no egg in the mix, which means they are very crisp, and despite all the cream they somehow feel light.
MAKES 8–10 WAFFLES
200ml soured cream
200ml water
100ml double cream
100g unsalted butter, melted
200g plain flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
a pinch of fine sea salt
sunflower oil, for greasing the waffle maker
Mix the soured cream, water, double cream and melted butter together in a jug. Put all the dry ingredients into a large bowl and slowly pour in the liquid, beating constantly until a smooth batter is formed.
Brush the waffle iron with a little oil to prevent sticking, then pour in about a tablespoon of batter and cook until golden and crisp (around 2 minutes). Repeat until all the batter is used up, or store leftover batter in the fridge (for up to 2 days) and use as needed.
Serve with compotes, jams, syrups, yogurt, fruit, cream, butters, etc.
GROSSMUTTER’S OMELETTE
Grossmutter (my maternal great-grandmother, Opa’s mother) was old when I knew her, ancient I thought, being only a very young girl myself, and I remember her kitchen well for two things. One was the tin of Quality Street that used to sit on the top shelf. She would hook her walking stick around it to pull it down when we visited, letting us choose one, just one, before snapping the lid tightly back on. The other thing I remember her kitchen for is this omelette. She always served it on wooden boards with buttered rye bread on the side. Nostalgic as it may be, I serve it in exactly the same way.
This can easily be made as scrambled egg instead, which we often do – just agitate the eggs a little more when cooking.
SERVES 2
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh chives
4 eggs, lightly beaten with a fork, seasoned with fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
4 slices of Schwarzwälder Schinken (Black Forest ham), finely diced
Whisk the chives into the eggs. Heat the butter in a large, heavy-based frying pan. Once it’s bubbling, add the ham and sauté for a minute, then add the egg mixture to the pan. Cook over a high heat for about 20 seconds, then, using a fork, lift the edges of the omelette and bring them towards the centre, allowing the uncooked egg from the middle to pour out. Once the egg is set, fold the omelette to the side of the pan, cut in half and tip out gently on to plates or boards.
Serve immediately.
VARIATIONS:
You can use any ham or cooked sausage you fancy here, and spring onions are also good. If you have some boiled green vegetables left over, chop them finely and add them to the pan at the start of cooking.
HAZELNUT OMELETTE
HAZELNUT OMELETTE
Both pancakes and omelettes are popular interchangeable snacks in Germany, often whipped up for children and eaten spread with jam, rolled up and dusted with icing sugar.
The nutty flavour of this savoury omelette (or pancake, depending on your point of view) lends itself well to earthy greens and sharp cheeses. I favour goat’s cheese and wilted spinach enveloped in the warm fold, but it can be filled with anything – a fresh tomato and herb salad, for example, or some watercress and sliced pear with grated Cheddar.
SERVES 1 (MULTIPLY AS NEEDED)
1 egg, separated
80ml milk
25g (2 level tablespoons) plain flour
a knife tip of baking powder
50g ground hazelnuts
a pinch of fine sea salt
½ tablespoon unsalted butter
½ tablespoon sunflower oil
Whisk the egg white to soft peaks. Beat the milk, flour, baking powder, ground nuts, egg yolk and salt together until a smooth batter has formed. Carefully fold in the egg white, being careful not to knock out too much air.
Heat the butter and sunflower oil in a large, heavy-based frying pan. Once it’s bubbling, gently pour in the mixture and cook over a medium heat for 2 minutes on each side, until golden brown.
Slide the omelette on to a plate and place your chosen filling on one half. Fold the other half carefully over the top and eat immediately.
VARIATIONS:
Sweet version – Add ½ tablespoon vanilla sugar to the mix at the same time as the flour.
Almond version – Swap the hazelnuts for ground almonds.
Nut-free version – Omit the nuts and use 50g plain flour in total, and be a bit more generous with the baking powder. If you want to make this sweet, add 1 tablespoon vanilla sugar at the same time as the flour.
BAKED PANCAKE WITH RAISINS AND LEMON ZEST
BAKED PANCAKE
WITH RAISINS AND LEMON ZEST
Schmarren is one of my favourite suppers. In Germany this passes as a main meal, not dessert, because it is very filling and not particularly sweet in flavour (most of the sweetness comes from the addition of icing sugar at the end), but there is nothing to stop you making it for pudding. It takes 10 minutes to make from start to finish, and quite frankly, as a mother, I find this recipe a godsend.
It is peasant food at its best: filling, simple and comforting. Austro-Hungarian in origin and eaten widely throughout Bavaria and the whole of Germany, there are many variations. My preferred method is this one, where the cooking is finished off in the oven.
SERVES 2
2 tablespoons icing sugar
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
3 eggs, separated
180ml whole milk
90g plain flour
½ tablespoon vanilla sugar
¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
zest of ½ an unwaxed lemon
50g raisins
25g unsalted butter
1 tablespoon flaked almonds, toasted
Preheat the oven to 180°C/160°C fan/gas 4.
Mix the icing sugar and cinnamon together in a small bowl and set aside.
With a wooden spoon, beat the egg yolks, milk and flour together in a bowl until a smooth batter is formed. Add the vanilla sugar, salt, lemon zest and raisins and give a good stir.
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