Sunday 20 March 2011

Baking a Christmas Cake in Early Spring

One month ago I baked a Bouche de Noel. I promised Jen to post the Making-Of, hereit is. It was the last cake I baked with some inventive tools before the food processor moved in. Yay!Chestnuts, cream and butter ...
... turn into a puree:

Walnuts will be grated:
This little machine is fun to work with! Finding it was quite a project.

Egg yolks and whites seperated and beaten
Meanwhile I prepare the grill, bought during the Chrismas season, perfect for letting anything baked cool down.
This pan was bought shortly after I baked the first Bouche de Noel and I realised it would be much more convenient to have a pan in the exact size of the cake.
The cake before rolling it up
After baking the dough gets rolled up and sits until it cools down a bit.
While the cake cools down, I melt the chocolate
... and blend sugar and butter for the coating of the Bouche.

While the chocolate melts, I wander through the appartment.
Ah, the Muji hairbands, you should see them, too.
And my sea-mud-soap-pagoda. The only way to let it dry properly without turning the bathroom into a muddy mess.

The finished Bouche:
The cake is ready to be droven to its final destination at my sisters birthday party.

Glad I did not need more dishes:
Even though I took the right chocolate (70%) I would still say the coating is too thick and sweet. I might reduce it the next time. My relatives don't agree with me.

On my way home:
Due to transportation of the cake I did not go by bike but took the car.
A bit of nighttime in Vienna.
After all the sugar I felt like eating some veggies. Non sweet dish.
Like this:
Chicken soup getting ready for its 4 hours trip in the pot

Or this:
The brown stuff in the pot is meant to be brown and not burnt: caramelised onions.

... but veggies are another story, to be continues another time.

Now I have to get down on the floor, doing my abdomen-exercises because I am getting hungry and once I did the exercise after eating and that was not a good idea. I felt really nauseous afterwards. Apropos nauseous: I loved the episode of Arrested Development where Liza Minelli feels nauseous. Who ever felt nauseous can tell, she acted great!

Since this posting started with Jen I will close it with Jen. She inspired me to make these yesterday:
You have to believe me, we did NOT bite the chocolate in half:
It was a zig-zag-knife that caused the pattern of the theeth.

Right now a Gugelhupf is resting in the warm oven (50°C) and waits to be baked. I forgot one step, where you knead the dough after it rose the first time. I am quite curious how it will turn out. Have a fun sunday!

EDIT 2 hrs later:
excersise is done and the Chicken Soup is already served:
slurp slurp

dish: vintage Arabia

10 comments:

  1. I am in awe of the buche de noel...you have created a beautiful treat.

    What a lovely post today Paula...there's a lot going on in your kitchen and I see that we both share the love of making home made soups!

    Happy cooking!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hello Hostess! I just edited the posting, you can see the steaming chicken soup. I am happy to read you like this posting, I had a good time creating it.

    My father, who had a cooking and baking mother but married a woman who leaves the oven cold, is always so happy when he sees how I inherited his mother's genes and continue the family traditon in the kitchen.

    It is probably no secret to you when I tell you the herbs I put in the soup (you can also see them on the first photo) only made their way to my window shelf because a certain Mr. Oliver's recommended to do so. hehe.

    ReplyDelete
  3. oh my paula that cake looks so delicious. yum.

    xo

    ReplyDelete
  4. Oh wow! Haven't you been on quite the cooking frenzy!

    Both look amazing and I think I have just successfully put on 5 kilos just reading this post!

    xxx

    ReplyDelete
  5. Everything looks beautiful!

    ReplyDelete
  6. What wonderful cooking! So heartening, just to read.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Oh My! the cake looks so yummy... Y-U-M-M-Y!

    ReplyDelete
  8. ahhhh I love it! The cake looks amazing! And I'm so glad you made the peanut butter cups. I haven't replied to your comments, but I'm hope your going to post about your brioche. I'm so jealous, sounds like your japanese friend loved it.

    ReplyDelete
  9. janet, your comment means a lot, I mean the cake was not vegan ...

    StylishShoeGirl, I was happy to hand over doggy bags to my guests. Now even friend B's father enjoyed the Peanut Butter Cup. :-)

    WB, Lisa,
    I love taking photos of beautiful food. And knowing that other appreciate the posting makes me enjoy it even more. Thank you for reading and commenting.

    Maria, wait, there is more to come!

    Jen, I delivered a peanut butter cup to my mum who has been in the hospital since last week. She loved it so much! She instantly texted me when she tried it (I was already back at home). The next posting will be on the brioche. nom nom nom.

    ReplyDelete
  10. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete