blitzkuchen mit apfeln

Austrian Apple Cake 


4 - 6 granny smith apples, (or whatever apples you have on hand)

2 lemons, juiced

3 tablespoons of sugar

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3 tablespoons butter, at room temperature


3/4 cup castor sugar

2 egg yolks

1 tablespoon lemon juice and  lemon zest

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 1/2 cups flour

3/4 cup milk

1 tablespoon rum

1 teaspoon butter to grease cake pan or use baking paper

1 teaspoon brown rice oil, any vegetable oil will do

icing sugar


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Peel apples, cut in half and core. Cut 1/2 inch slits lengthwise, make sure not to cut all the way through the apple. Place in a bowl, sprinkle with the 3 tablespoons of sugar and a little lemon juice. Make sure to reserve at least 1 tablespoon of lemon juice.  Set aside.


Cream butter and sugar together, beat in one egg yolk at a rime, gradually add lemon juice and zest.
In a separate bowl, sift flour and baking powder together. Gradually fold into batter. I use a dough scraper to gently incorporate the mix, moving the bowl around as I go. Being careful to not to overwork the flour.
Blend in milk and rum.

In a small bowl beat egg whites till stiff and fold into batter.
grease and flour a springform tin, pour in batter and top with apple halves.
Brush apples with oil.

*Bake in a preheated oven at 180 deg c for 35 to 40 minutes.

Remove from oven, dust with icing sugar.

This recipe has been in my family ever since I can remember. Both my mum and her sister made this recipe and both where different. My mum added sultana's to the batter, her sister added vanilla sugar to her batter. Both where delicious!

Fresh Eggs

The joy of finding fresh eggs every day is like Easter all year round.

Meet one of our hens, Grizelda and her bodyguard Dodger. Both found dumped near our place, now living a very sweet life!

 

Bottled artichokes

I can't express just how excited I have been over our artichoke harvest this year. We just finished our last artichoke cook up last night. This year we had so many that Pig was able to bottle our excess. Here are the step by step procedure to preparing and bottling artichokes.

Prepare your work station: Before beginning make sure you have a large pot filled with water and at least two halved lemons added. A bowl for scraps and a chopping board and small paring knife.
Pull off the outer leaves of the artichoke to reveal the soft pink and yellow hues of the young inner leaves. Trim the steam to about an inch and strip off the outer parts of the stem.

Cut about an inch off the top of the artichoke. Then slice in half.

If need be remove the soft thistle starting to form near the stem of the artichoke center.

Place prepared artichokes in the water with the lemon halves, to stop them browning.

In another pot prepare the water and vinegar and wine. Add the artichokes and bring to the boil. Turn down the heat and allow to simmer for several minutes until the artichokes are cooked but still firm. Place the artichokes into sterilized jars
Place jars in cold water and bring to the boil. Boil rapidly for 7 minutes. Jars can be left to cool in the water or taken out and left to cool on a cake rack.
Bottled artichoke