20 June 2010

Ich Backe Gerne

Since I realized how many baking supplies I have, I've been baking up a storm in an effort to get rid of them. (Okay, I baked a lot before too, but now I'm doing it mainly based on already-bought ingredients.)

  • I made raisin coconut cookies and gave them to my friend's law firm.
  • I made raisin coconut cake and gave it to my friends Sylvia, Dietmar, and Kristin.
  • I made pizza dough.
  • I made coconut cream cake that was just as bad as the first attempt two years ago except that I spooned out as much liquid as I could (I must have written the recipe down wrong. Sister Weber?)
  • I made cream puff cake and lemon cake for Liv's baptism (the lemon cake was so weird--next time I'll use less flour and eggs and more baking powder).
  • I learned how to make eclairs (but I haven't tried it myself yet).
  • I gave Mike corn bread.
  • I made kipferl cookies.
  • I made a chocolate mud cake and topped it with whipped cream and one cherry.
  • I threw together some fabulous chocolate chip cookies.
  • My poor roommates. They smell all the baking but haven't been able to enjoy many of the benefits. I did make some cookies which I shared with them.

For Elisa and Sammy's Jugendweihe (something a little like a coming out party), I made:
  • corn bread
  • orange rolls
  • apple pie
  • rhubarb strawberry pie
  • rainbow jello
  • plum cake
Baking isn't the only thing I've been playing around with. I made my very first lentil soup (and actually liked it) and I made some delicious hummus and Indian flat bread.

But what I'm most proud of so far is my very first attempts at rhubarb strawberry pie. Rhubarb gets eaten a lot more in Germany, and when a friend offered me some, I jumped at the opportunity. It. was. luscious. See the proof:

My first Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

I made my own pie crusts and then found and adjusted a recipe online for the filling:
  • 3 cups rhubarb stalks cut into 1/2 inch pieces. Trim outside stringy layer of large rhubarb stalks; make sure to trim away any and discard of the leaves which are poisonous; trim ends.
  • 1 cup strawberries, stemmed and sliced (I used a lot more than that because one cup wasn't enough to fill the pie.)
  • 1 cup sugar (I used a bit less.)
  • 3 Tablespoons of quick cooking tapioca (I used cornstarch.)
  • 1/4 teaspoon of salt
  • 1 teaspoon of grated orange peel (I have no idea how much ended up in the pie, but probably more than that.)

4 comments:

  1. My Mom's rhubarb pie has always been my favorite pie since a child. Unfortunately rhubarb is pretty pricey here. Good job with all the baking though - looks like it's time to open up your own bakery.

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