Sourdough Rhubarb Kuchen

I have a passion for those delicious German cakes that consist of a base of rich bread dough, a lovely layer of fruit, and a sweet crunchy buttery topping.  I've made some delicious versions over the years - Nigella Lawson has a really good Apple and Blackberry Kuchen in Nigella Bites, for instance - but I'm so into making naturally leavened bread these days that I really wanted to create something with a sourdough base.  I was also curious to see if it was possible to make an enriched sourdough, using egg and milk in the dough.  I think it works very well - but here's my recipe - have a go and tell me what you think.


Ingredients
(these are the totals - check the recipe to see how much you need to use at each stage)


100g wheat sourdough starter (mine is made according to the instructions in Bread Matters by Andrew Whitley)
100g plain wholemeal flour
200g strong white flour
1egg
80g milk
3g salt
250g rhubarb
100g plain flour
75g butter
100g granulated sugar


Stage 1
First you need to wake up your sourdough starter.  Put 100g of starter in a bowl and add 50g of strong white flour and 50g of plain wholemeal flour and 60g of lukewarm water.  Cover and leave in a warm place for 3-4 hours.


Stage 2
Mix together 150g strong white flour, 50g wholemeal flour, 3g salt, 1 egg and 80g milk and knead until you have nice soft dough (7-8 minutes, or quicker in a mixer with a dough hook).  Then add all the leaven from the first stage and knead together until soft and elastic.  If the dough is very sticky after a couple of minutes kneading then add an extra spoonful of flour.  Now cover the bowl and leave the dough to rest and relax for an hour.


Stage 3
Whilst your dough is resting prepare your toppings.  Wash and slice 250g of rhubarb thinly (0.5cm slices) on the diagonal, then put aside.  In a small bowl rub together 100g plain white flour (or wholemeal if you prefer) and 75g butter until you have a lovely lumpy crumble-type mixure.  Stir in a generous 100g of sugar - granulated is fine here and gives a nice crunchy texture.  You do need quite a bit of sugar to counteract the sourness of the rhubarb - if you are using a sweeter fruit (dessert plums would be delicious for instance) then use less sugar.  Line a large baking tin or tray with baking parchment.  I use a roasting tin that measures 30x25cm that works really well - I push the dough right up to the edges.


Stage 4
Chuck your dough onto your prepared tray and press it out so you have a rectangular shape that measures around 30x25cm - it really helps to wet your hands first!  Cover the surface with rhubarb and then sprinkle your crumbly topping over the top.  Put the tray into a large carrier bag (making sure the bag is nowhere near your kuchen or you will have a very sticky incident) and leave for about 2 hours to rise and become puffy.  About 90 minutes into the rising time pre-heat your oven to gas mark 5/190C.


Stage 5
Bake for around 40 minutes until the bread base is cooked through and the crumble topping is golden brown.


Leave to cool and then slice into squares & store in an airtight tin.  This is delicious for breakfast and keeps well for 2 or 3 days.

Baking Day: Banana and Apple Bread

This week's bake - Banana and Apple Bread - is a recipe from the original Cranks Recipe Book. Cranks was the first ever vegetarian restaurant in the UK in the 1960s. I got this book in the early days of my vegetarian period (around 1990 I think) and it has served us very well since - even though I'm back to eating meat now. You can see from the picture that it is very well used - half the pages are falling out these days. There are some quite hard going meal ideas in here, but it has some excellent, very wholesome recipes, especially for baked treats. Favourites in this house include carrot cake, ginger and orange cake, sticky prune cake and bara brith.

Whilst I had the oven on for the bread yesterday I also made a loaf of bara brith - twin 1 has now demolished a fair proportion of it (it's his absolute favourite), but this is how it looked before he got his hands on it. Bara brith is a tradional Welsh recipe (bara brith means speckled bread) and appears to have 2 different styles - yeasted and unyeasted. I expect the yeasted style is more authentic, but the recipe in the Cranks book is an unyeasted one. Sultanas, raisins and currants are soaked overnight in tea (this is the traditional method) which plumps them up so they are lovely and juicy in the finished cake. The next day you add flour, an egg and some spice, and a little sugar (I don't usually bother) and bake for 40 minutes or so. The huge advantage of this recipe is that it contains no fat and you can make it with no added sugar - there aren't too many delicious cakes that you can say that for!

This week's bread is another no-added-sugar recipe. We make this very regularly - it's a good way of using up left over apple puree (a favourite pudding with the boys) and over-brown bananas.

Banana and Apple Bread

450g plain wholemeal flour (for a slightly less dense bread you can use half plain white flour)

7g dried yeast

150 ml lukewarm water

3 tbsp of apple puree (1 apple, chopped small and cooked in small pan with 1 tbsp of water until mushy)

25g sugar (optional - you can omit this entirely or use a tbsp of honey)

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cinnamon

4-5 gratings of whole nutmeg (or 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg)

50g sultanas

1 large (or 2 small) mashed bananas

grated rind of 1/2 lemon

In a large mixing bowl, mix together 100g of the flour, the yeast and the warm water and leave in a warm place until it rises and bubbles (see left). If you are using a food mixer, put the flour and water straight into your food mixer bowl as I've done here. While the ferment is rising, line a 1lb loaf tin (21cm long by 11cm across by 6cm deep) with baking parchment. You can use a bigger tin but your loaf will be flatter when it comes out of the oven.

Now add the rest of the ingredients (including, obviously, the rest of the flour!) and stir thoroughly, either with a wooden spoon, your hands, or the beater attachment on your mixer. You do not have to knead the dough - just ensure that the ingredients are thoroughly combined. If you are using a mixer then leave the sultanas out until near the end of the mixing process, so they don't get mushed up by the beater.

The dough should be quite wet and sticky - if it feels a little dry and is not sticking to your fingers, add more apple if you have some, or a tablespoon or 2 of water.

Transfer the dough to your prepared tin and smooth the top of the dough with wet hands. Put the tin inside a large polythene bag (a supermarket Bag for Life is, as usual, ideal for this) and leave in a warm place until the dough is teetering on the brink of rising over the edge of the tin (see right). Now's the time to put the oven on to pre-heat to 190C/Gas Mark 5. When your bread has risen, transfer the tin carefully to the oven and bake for about 35 minutes until the top of the loaf is golden brown and the bottom sounds hollow when you give it a tap. Remove from the tin straight away and leave to cool on a wire rack. This is delicious, still warm from the oven, with butter and honey. We also like to have it toasted for breakfast, with honey, marmalade or fruit butter. Twin 2 likes it with chocolate spread, but the rest of us are not convinced by that one!

Fruity oatbars - a yummy recipe with no added sugar

Long hard days in the garden - of which there are many at this time of the year - require something filling and sustaining as a snack. This recipe absolutely fits the bill - it's hearty, tasty, sweet & satisfying and wonderfully wholesome.

Filling
1/2 cup dried figs, chopped small and closely packed into the cup
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup currants
juice and rind of an orange (1/2 cup of orange juice is fine, or just use extra water)
1 cup boiling water
1/4 cup chopped almonds (optional)

Pastry
2 cups of rolled oats
2/3 cup whole wheat flour (doesn't seem to matter whether it's plain or SR)
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp nutmeg (a few scrapes of freshly ground)
90g butter (from the fridge - cut into lumps)
1/3 cup water
2 tbsp maple syrup (optional)

Preheat your oven to 180C/Gas 4. Grease and line an 8x8cm baking tray. Place all the filling ingredients (except the nuts) in a small pan a bring to a simmer. Simmer until the ingredients are very soft and well amalgamated (20-30 mins). Remove from the heat and stir in the nuts.

Place the dry pastry ingredients and butter in a food processor or mixer and pulse until the mixture looks like lumpy breadcrumbs. This is quite a buttery mixture - don't worry it it looks a bit claggy. You can do this stage in a bowl with your fingertips too. Then mix in the water.

Press a little more than half this mix into your tray then spread the fruit and nut mixture on top. Then sprinkle the rest of the pastry mix over the top and press into the fruit so it's quite firmly compacted (otherwise it's a very crumbly bar!). Drizzle the maple syrup over the top.

Bake for 20-25 minutes until the cake is lightly browned. Leave to cool from the tin, and then cut into 9-12 bars (depending on how greedy you feel). Enjoy!

Cook's Note
This is just as nice with other combinations of dried fruit - apricots and prunes can be substitued for the figs, but I think that the raisins and/or currants are necessary for that contrast of flavour.

Plum recipes

We were pushed to the limits with our plum harvest this year - we have jam, 3 different types of plum chutney & a freezer full of halved plums for future use (we like to have them for breakfast with thick Greek yogurt). And this is just from one quite small tree. It's probably one of the reasons why I am so late with this post!

It is now far too late for anything but the very last of the plums, but I have wanted to write up a couple of very successful jam recipes & our favourite plum cake recipe for a while, so while I have a moment, here they are, all ready for next year. Please excuse the imperial measurements - these 2 jam recipes are from an ancient cookery book (1954) called 'Cheerful Cookery' by Noel Chanter. My mum won it as a school prize in 1961 - not surprisingly for a cookery book of this vintage, the jam and chutney recipes are excellent.

Plum Jam I (for slightly under-ripe plums)
3lb slightly under-ripe plums
3lb sugar
1/2 pint water

Stone the plums by cutting them in half and pulling out the stone. Put them in a large pan, add the water and bring slowly to the boil. Crack a few of the stones and add the kernels to the fruit (this part is optional but adds a tasty hint of almond to the jam). Simmer for an hour until the fruit is well mashed, then add the sugar and boil for about 30 mins until the jam reaches its setting point. Pour into warm sterilized jars and you're done.


Plum Jam II (for ripe plums)
3lb ripe plums
3lb sugar
Stone the plums and then layer them in a large bowl with the sugar overnight. Crack some of the stones for the kernels & reserve until you are ready to make the jam. The next day put the plums, sugar and kernels into a large pan. Bring slowly to the boil, stirring and cook gently until it will sent when tested. Pour into warm sterilized jars.

This recipe for plum cake is taken from another old cook book belonging to my godmother this time - 'The Living Book of Cakes, Breads and Gateaux' (1979). I remember 'Living' being a very housewifey mag that my mum used to bring home from trips to the supermarket in the 1970s along with the equally cake-packed 'Family Circle'. Looking at the intro now, I gather that this is a 2nd collection & I confess I would love to get my hands on the 1st volume - 'Cakes, Biscuits and Bakes'. As usual the recipes are annotated by my godmother which is an added bonus for me. I use this book a lot - at least once a week - it's a great collection of recipes.

German Plum Cake
This cake reminds me very much of cakes we have eaten many times in Germany with its thick top layer of fruit, but the bottom layer is not quite like the dense sponge layer that I remember - it has a more sandy texture which contrasts well with the juicy plums. It's definitely a dessert cake & is good with coffee.

175g plain flour
1/2 level tsp baking powder
1/2 level tsp salt
grated rind of 1/2 a lemon
50g castor sugar
85g butter
1 egg, beaten
a little milk
2 level tsp ground almonds
1kg of plums halved & stoned
2-3 level tbsp castor sugar for sprinkling

Preheat the oven to 200C/gas 6. Grease and base line a tin 20x25cm and at least 5cm deep. Sift the flour, baking poder and salt into a bowl. Add the lemon rind and sugar and then rub in the butter until the mixture looks like breadcrumbs. Mix to a fairly stiff dough with the egg. Gather the dough together and press evenly into the tin. Brush the dough with the milk and then sprinkle on the ground almonds. Cover the almonds closely with rows of halved plums, cut side up. Bake for about 30 mins, then sprinkle with sugar, cool slighly and serve. Cream (what else?) is an excellent accompaniment.

Now on to the blackberries!!

Whitsun & Whit Monday - Cakes & Ale

Yesterday was the feast of Whitsun, or Pentecost, commemorating the gift of the Holy Spirit that allowed everybody, of whatever culture, to understand each other and the Christian message. Given the traditional role of this Spirit as the comforter and advocate of christian communities, it's maybe no surprise that the old customs of Whit - which persisted in diluted form right into the twentieth century, all the way up to sedate church fetes - are about communities coming together to eat, drink and celebrate their communal life.

Cakes: this is another time of year (along with Mothers Day and Easter Day) that simnel cakes were made. The name 'simnel' basically means they were made with the best flour. We've all been enjoying one of our favourite seasonal cakes over the last couple of days. While beetroot's still around - not for too much longer - this cake is unusual, delicious and a real treat.

75 g cocoa
180 g plain flour (it's also very good with spelt flour)
2 teaspoons baking powder
250 g muscovado sugar
250 g cooked beetroot
3 large eggs
200 ml groundnut oil
Vanilla extract

Make the beetroot into a purée in a food processor. Keep whizzing it and add the eggs, and then the oil until fully mixed. Mix all the dry ingredients in a bowl and then add the beetroot purée to them. Transfer to a round cake tin (22cm diameter, one with a removable base is best) & bake at 180°C for about 40-45 minutes (in a non-fan oven - check after half an hour in a fan oven).

This is based on a recipe on the Abel & Cole website, sent in by one of their customers. We use muscovado rather than castor sugar as it makes it stickier and tones down the purple colour to make it less alarming for small children!

Ale: Whitsun was one of the major times of year for Church Ales, a late medieval development in England whereby a community could come together to celebrate and at the same time raise funds for the church, the focal point of local society. The growing popular enthusiasm for a rather dour and puritanical Protestantism (from the reign of Elizabeth I onwards) gradually put paid to this in England as church-sponsored immorality and licentiousness was condemned. Later, more staid, expressions of community on this day can be seen in the Whit Walks organised by local communities, mostly in the north, for Whit Monday.

It was not the end for the celebrations, though, even as the dominant morality separated activities into 'religious' and 'secular'. As Ronald Hutton points out, May always had the happy coincidence of warmer weather (allowing outside gatherings) and a hiatus between the 'heavy jobs' of ploughing & sowing, and hay-making. Most likely, this originally led to it being a good time to hold games and open-air drinking and eating. What happened when the connection with the church was broken was that the celebrations simply passed into more private and secular forms, rather than public and religious. Now there are only the odd remnants of these celebrations, as the holiday has declined. Whit Monday was in fact once a public holiday, but lost this status in the 1970s with the creation of the unmovable late Spring bank holiday on the last Monday of May, no longer dependent on Easter. Despite this, you might still hear some refer to it as the 'Whit holiday'.

Feeling that it was right to have some ale to go with (or after) the cake, I had a new beer, for me, from the Leek Brewing Company - an excellent strong (5%) golden ale called 'Double Sunset'. Very nice flowery, hoppy character to it, quite sweet despite this and easy to drink.