Baked Alaska

Baked Alaska is one of my sister's favourite desserts. I don't blame her. It is, after all, the perfect combination of spongy cake, homemade ice cream and melt-in-your-mouth Italian meringue. Mmmmh...

And the even better news: It isn't very hard to make!

Here is the family recipe adapted from a Swiss culinary institute cookbook: "Pauli". 
(hence the weight, not volume... You'll need a scale for this one)





Baked Alaska
Prepare this at least 5 hours in advance- can be prepped (minus the baking) the day before.

Biscuit:

60g Sugar

2 Egg yolks

2 Egg whites

60 g Flour (replace with rice flour for gluten free & add 1/2 tsp of xanthan gum)

Line cakepan (22cm) with parchment paper and bake at 180C/350F.Leave in pan and let cool.

Strawberry mousse:

300g Strawberries

80g Sugar

1Tbsp Lemon juice

2 dl Whipping cream, whipped

Puree the strawberries, add the sugar (mix until dissolved). Whip the whipping cream. Gently fold in the whipcream. Pour on the biscuit. 

Meringuage:

3 Egg whites

150g Sugar

Whip eggs until stiff, then add the sugar and whip for another 30 seconds or until glossy. Gently place the meringuage on the strawberry mousse. Wrap with saran wrap and place in freezer for at least 2-5 hours.  

Baking the Alaska:

Preheat oven to broil. Bake the Alaska for 2 minutes, always keeping an eye on it! Important: Never completely close the oven when set on broil! Always have the oven opened a bit. I do this by placing a wooden spatula between the oven door and the oven. This gives an opening of about 1", which is perfect. 

Serve the Baked Alaska on a cooled platter. Voila!

Another (Swiss) Birthday

This Linzer Tart/Pie is a traditional Swiss pie made with an almond crust, filled with fresh raspberry jam and not to be forgotten- the traditional criss-cross topping with the almond crust.

One of the Swiss families in town has started a tradition of ordering Linzer Tarts from me twice every year. Not one, not two but usually three. And one even gets sent all the way to Vancouver for their son to be able to enjoy it with his family. I love knowing that I can share a little piece of Switzerland with fellow Swiss people. But even more so I love the fact that Canadians are starting to know what a Linzer Tart is!

Happy Birthday, Tobi!

Vegan Chocolate Cake

VEGAN CHOCOLATE CAKE (Paleo style)

This recipe has been adapted from its original version created by a great blogger, author and chef, Jane Barthelemy. www.janeshealthykitchen.com










1 1/2 cups cooked sweet potato (about 275 grams)
3tablespoons espresso
1/2 cup agave
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons chia seeds, ground fine
1/2 cup coconut butter, melted (in a double boiler)
1/4 cup coconut oil, melted (in a double boiler)

Dry ingredients:
Pinch of salt
1 1/2 cups almond flour
1/2 cup pure cocoa powder

Instructions
1. Cut a circle of parchment paper to line an 8-inch round pan or springform pan. Preheat oven to
350º F.
2. Peel the sweet potato, cut into cubes and place in a small saucepan with 1/2 inch of filtered water.
Bring it to a boil and then turn down to simmer for 8 to 10 minutes or until soft. Drain well. (Or use a
leftover sweet potato.)
3. Mash the sweet potato and put in a large bowl.
4. Add sweetener, espresso and vanilla extract and mix ingredients well.
5. Grind chia seeds finely in a hand-held coffee grinder or high-speed blender. Add to the mixture
and mix well. Add coconut butter and coconut oil and mix well again.
6.In a seperate bowl, add salt, sifted cacao and almonds. Add to the wet ingredients and mix the batter until well combined making sure not to over-mix.
7. Spoon batter into baking pan and spread smooth. Bake 35 minutes. Cool in the pan for at least 2
hours. It takes time for it to cool to room temperature, and then the cake will be firm. Remove to a
serving plate.
8. Serve with a nice blackberry coulis (and how about some coconut whipping cream, found on Jane's blog!)

Happy Easter!

Easter has got to be one of my very favourite holidays! The fresh feeling of spring in the air, everyone bathing in the long awaited sunshine combined with an easter brunch, what more could anyone ask for!? Not to mention the adorable crocuses and paper whites peeking out of the ground!

The night before, Julia and I got together and dyed eggs. First, we wanted to try to dye them with natural food colouring, which did not work out as well as we thought. Ju' once again saved the day (Easter, really.) and told me about how she used to dye eggs with her mother at home. They used to use onion peels, boiled in water, as the colouring for the eggs. We did that and let the eggs sit in the water over night. They turned out so beautifully!

Egg dyeing ideas and tips:

-use beeswax to draw on the eggs before dyeing

-avoid using chemicals-i.e. food colouring as they leach through the eggshell!

-use beets (red), onion peels(brown), turmeric(yellow), spinach (green) instead

-use vegetable oil to polish the eggs just before serving

I very much miss my family and home country around Easter time. It was therefore so,so nice to get together with friends to celebrate spring and to eat lots of Lindt Chocolate eggs.

Thanks to my parents, who found an amazing Swiss chocolatier in Armstrong, B.C., I got to eat a very Swiss Easter bunny this year! Actually, it was a hen, but hey, it was the real deal and that's all that mattered. They even make dog easter "bunnies"! ...I certainly appreciate Swiss chocolatiers immigrating to Canada, come on over anytime! :) (Welcome to Canada!)

Here's the link: http://www.wix.com/chocolatesweety/chocoliro_sample

European Swiss Easter Brunch Menu:

-Zopf bunnies

-Dyed Easter eggs

-"Russenzopf Rolls" (looks like a cinnamon bun. It's a sweet, yeasted dough with a moist almond filling, glazed with a lemony icing sugar glaze)

-Cheese!

-Muesli

-Espresso& Green Tea from France

Finally!

Ok, so I promised some pictures of my new Kitchen... And you've waited long enough! Here they are :-)

A big HUGE thank-you to my lovely man who has worked so hard to make all of this happen!

At first, I thought the room was a bit too small to have a kitchen in as it is super narrow but very long. And even though I'm only able to have one side of counter space, it worked out so well! I never expected a modern kitchen like this! Yay!

We restored an old cabined for the sink and reused a double sink from a friend. The fan and the cabinet you see in the picture above are both used. So nice to be able to re-use and yet to have it look so, so good!

Happy Baking!

Renovations

Big news!

Café Mélange is getting a new home. A beautiful kitchen renovated by my love in our home. We put in flooring, trim, restored an old cabinet into a kitchen-sink cabinet, made counter tops, bought a very amazing range, and painted all four walls (and much, much more...).

And in the midst of all of this, I am always thinking and creating new recipes that one day maybe you'll be able to taste.

'Tis the Season for Shortbread

Here's a shortbread recipe with a twist...It's simply a Swiss version of shortbread.

Raspberry jam is my favourite filling but hey, the sky's the limit! ...Dust them with a little icing sugar and enjoy!

Wee Shortbread..."Spitzbuben"

Makes approx. 50 cookies

250 g Butter

Beat until soft peaks form.

125g Icing sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 pinch salt

Add to butter and stir until mixture turns a light colour.

1 Egg white, lightly whipped

Add to mixture.

350g Flour

Add to create the dough. Cover with a towel and refrigerate for 1 hr.

Take dough out of fridge and let sit for 30 minutes. With a rolling pin, work dough between two sheets of saran wrap (until approx 2mm thick). Use cookie cutters with a 4-5cm diameter. For half of the batch, use smaller cookie cutters, such as a small heart, to cut out a wee hole. This will be the top “lid” of the cookies. Put on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and refrigerate for 15 minutes.

Preheat oven to 200C and bake cookies for 6-8 minutes.

Filling:

250 ml Jam or Jelly of your choice

Warm in a pan and whisk until smooth. Spread on flat side of cookies and use a second cookie for the top.

Recipe by Café Mélange

Ps: Come by the Kootenay Coop to try some traditional Swiss Christmas Cookies! We're serving Brunsli and Zimtsterne and starting next week, we'll also have some Kirsch truffes!