Pear and Raspberry Crumble

Hello and a happy sunday!

I have bought some pears last week and they seemed to have ripened overnight. So what to do??? One of my favorite combinations is pears and raspberries, and since I always have some of those sitting in the freezer, I thought a crumble it is. It is also a good opportunity to use up some white chocolate I have had in my storing cupboard since I made these white chocolate cookies.
I can't give exact measurements on this crumble, as I kind of make it just with rough judging.

I still try my best and tell you what I used:

For the crumble mixture:

• 2 tbsp of ground almonds
• 2 tbsp of oats (I used my porridge oats)
• 2 heaped tbsp of flour
• 3 tbsp brown sugar
• roughly 100 g cold cubed butter
• pinch of salt

For the fruits:

• 3 ripe but not over pears
• a large handful of frozen raspberries
• 20 g grated white chocolate
• 1 tbsp flour
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• optional: 1 tbsp caster sugar

And how to make it:

• first heat the oven to 175 °C (no fan)
• then make the crumble mixture: mix all the dry ingredients in a bowl together
• then, with you hands, rub the diced cold butter in there until you get a crumbly texture
• if too dry, add more butter, if too wet, add more flour
• then onto the fruit: peel and core the pears and cut into small pieces
• in a bowl mix with the lemon juice and the flour
• if your pears are rather sour, you can add some sugar here, I prefer however not to do that
• fill your pear mixture into the bottom of an oven proof dish
• top with a layer of frozen raspberries, then sprinkle with white chocolate (any chocolate will do)
• now evenly distribute your crumble mix, make sure to cover the fruit to the rim of the dish
• put in the oven and bake for 45 mins or until the top is golden brown and the fruit is bubbling
• and now serve up straight from the oven
• add some cream, ice cream, or vanilla sauce

I have mine pure as it is and I have to hold back not to finish the whole dish at once :-)

Have a lovely week everybody!

Bärentatzen

Hi there,

in the process of christmas baking, there are a few more recipes coming up soon. This one is fairly easy and not particularly made for X-Mas, but I thought I'd share nonetheless. I don't know, if there is an english name, so if any of you native english speakers recognise the cookies and have a name for them, pls let me know!










So, the few ingredients needed:

• 250 g butter (is essential here, no margarine!)
• 175 g caster sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp vanilla extract (oder ein Vanillezucker)
• 75 g blanched ground almonds
• 175 g all-purpose flour
• 175 g starch
• 150 g dark chocolate
• 150 g nougat

and how to make them:

• mix butter and sugar until creamy, then add the egg and the almonds
• mix flour and starch, add slowly to the butter mixture
• add vanilla extract
• get the dough into a piping bag and pipe out on grease-proof paper, shape should resemble the paw of a bear
• get in the pre-heated oven at 180 °C (fan) and bake for 8-10 mins.
• once cooled, find pairs that match and spread molten nougat on one bottom-side and top with the second one
• dip half in molten chocolate and let cool
• alternatively you can leave out the nougat and just dip them into the chocolates, both versions are scrummy (as Mary Berry would say...)

Enjoy!

Macaroons!!!! With Peanutbutter-Chocolate Ganache filling

My first real macaroons! They probably didn't turn out as pretty as they are in the shops, but I am a bit proud, they worked at all.

After reading up on macaroons for a while, I thought it was about time to get on it. With the Ganache in my hands, what better reason was there?

I decided for the french version, I am not so fond of making sugar syrup for the italian one.

Ingredients:

• 2 egg whites
• 30 g fine granuled caster sugar
• 140 g icing sugar
• 85 g of finely ground almonds (I used the ones with skin on, but I think it makes prettier macaroons, if you use the ones without skin)
• pinch of salt

And how I made them (I emphasise on "I" because I know there might be better ways!)

• whisk the egg whites whith a pinch of salt on a low speed until there are stiff peaks appearing
• without stopping to whisk, add the caster sugar bit by bit, so you receive a glossy texture
• in a food processor, bleng almonds and icing sugar into a very fine powder
• now with a spatula, fold in 1/4 of the almond mixture, when done, add another portion until everything is incorporated. You should have a soft but not liquid dough
• spoon mixture in a piping bag (I put mine in a glass, and fold over the end, so I have a support)
• pipe small circles of even size on a baking tray lined with grease proof paper (some people like to draw circles on the paper before piping out)
• now important: bang the tray on your work top, so the air bubbles come up
• let dry until there is a skin formed on the macaroons, this is important, otherwise they will crack (mine did, there wasn't enough skin formed because I was impatient). this might take 20 mins to up to an hour
• once dried enough, bake in a preheated oven at 150 °C (don't use a fan) for roughly 15 mins (check that they don't get browned and don't crack
• when ready, take out and let cool on a wire rack
• when completely cooled, fill with whatever filling you have in mind, I used the ganache described before!

Even though mine cracked - for a first attempt, I think they are very delicious. I surely will try to make a few other batches, different fillings and so on. I'll keep you posted!