Wednesday, October 26, 2011

gazelle Horns - Cornes de gazelles

 Years ago at the occasion of an invitation I ate for the first time this sort of a biscuit and felt immediatly in love with it.... But in my country it is not really known. Not so long ago I found it in on the menu of a teahouse and of course had to try it. But I was very disappointed. because it was not as delicious as I had it in my mind. So was it my memory who fooled me or was it just a bad quality ? So more than ever I wanted to find a recipe and much more difficult the ingredients to make it. In fact it is one ingredeinet that might be not so easy to find. Becaus to make those Gazelle Horns you need "Eau de fleurs d´orangers" - "Orange blossom water". I love the odour and the taste of orange blossoms. In France and especially in the south of France it is very common and used in different sweet treats or as fragrance in soaps, perfumed oils .... But it is not usual or even well known in my homecountry. First I discovered it in a deli in the center of the city. But for an incredible price and as you need quite a lot to get the Horns really tasty I resisted the temptation to buy it immediatly. As often by mere chance I met a lovely friend that I had not seen for quite a while. She is originary from Lebanon and therefore knows all those french-arab treats. So of course I had to ask her if she knows Gazelle Horns and where she gets all the ingredinets to cook tradtional meals from her country. And yippee she even had a easy to make - and as she told me tremendous delicious - recipe to bake those Horns. So first she gave me the recipe and  then the adress of a wholesale trade in my town where you  also can buy as a"normal" people. You may imagine that by the first occasion I had time, I went to this wholesale. I bought there olive oil, olives, falafellmix.. and of course also my "Eau de Fleurs d´orangers". And the best was for a more than fair price! The sky looking grey all the time, some rain falling...what else could one do than bake Gazelle  Horns? And really the recipe is easy, the taste is great and is for sure one of my favourite treat for the next time.

You need (for about 30 Gazelle Horns):
For the pastry:
- 200 g Wheat flour
- 80 g Melted butter
- 6 - 7 Tbsp. Eau de fleurs d´orangers
For the filling:
- 6 Tbsp. Eau de fleurs d´orangers
- 200 g finely ground and peeled Almonds (Almondflour)
- 70 g icing sugar
- 4 - 5 Tbsp. Eau de fleurs d´orangers
To finish:
- 50 ml Eau de fleurs d´orangers
- 150 g icing sugar
To prepare:
1. Mix together flour, melted butter and the blossom water until you get a smooth dough and let rest until you have finished the filling
2. Mix Almondflour, icingsugar and gradually add blossom water until you get a creamy consistency (a little bit like almond paste)
 
3. Roll the dough with a rolling pin as thin as possible and with a round cookie cutter  (I used one about 7 cm diameter) cut out rounds.


4. Form out of the Filling small rolls and place them on each dough round.
5. Then wrap the filling in the dough by folding  and then squeezing the edges tightly and sligthly curve them to get them in the shape of a horn

6. Place the Gazelle Horns on the oven tray armed with parchment paper and  bake in the preheated (180 C) oven for about 10 minutes (the Horns should stay pale)
7. To finish pour  Blossom water in a bowl and in another one the icing sugar. Soon after having taken out of the oven your horns, first dip them into the Blossom water and then roll them in the icing sugar. That way you will get a little bit crispy sugarcover.
Finally sit down, take a cup of tea and try the first bite of your Gazelle Horns....

Monday, October 17, 2011

5-Minute Appletart

If you ever had nightshifts in your life you know how vulnerable you feel the morning after. You also feel a strong need to do something good for you, to get into your cosiest cardigan, wear some warm socks.... and of course including something delectable treats for your breakfast or for later, after having slept a little bit... to enjoy a cup of tea with some fresh, homemade piece of a cake or a tart... This are the good moments in life! So on the way home this sunday, after having been on duty the whole saturday, I was thinking about what treat I could do without too much effort and satisfying nonetheless my need for something sweet and regarding the morning freshness giving a little warm feeling...
I remembered my puff pastry and lots of apples waiting... As I was not in the mood to spend too much time in the kitchen but strongly wanted my selfmade cake, I decided to make my 5-minute Appletart. Believe me you want need much more time, excluded of course the time to bake the tart. But meanwhile the tart bakes you can browse some journals and enjoy the odour coming out of your oven and filling your home, cuddle in your duvet and waiting for the tart coming out of the oven.... So you can imagine my sunday morning?
You need (for a tart of aprox. 20 cm):
- 1 ready to use roll of puff pastry (250 g)
- 500g sweet-sour apples
- 3 Tbsp. brown sugar
- 1 Tbsp. honey
To prepare:
1. Cut out of your puff pastry a circle in the size you want. I made a circle from about 20 cm
2. Put the puff pastry circle on your baking tray armed with parchment paper
3. Cut your apples in rather thick slices (i did not peel the apples) and put them on your pastrybase
4. Disperse the brown sugar on the apples
5. Put the tart in the lower part of your preheated oven (180 C) and bake for about 30 min.
6. Heat up the honey and brush over the apples with it to glaze them
 

And now relax and savour.... and enjoy a quite day...

Sunday, October 2, 2011

Lemoncream with summerberrie compote


Time is running... the last fresh berries coming from around the country in our supermarkets and on the farmers market. Fall is definitely here. The mornings are really fresh. In the afternoon we enjoy bright sunshine. So in fact you are ever wrong dressed and the first flu is here.... At the moment quite everybody is complaining about a little bit of a "running nose", some sore throat ... not much but on the other hand too much for not looking about somebody that could complainand pamper you  a little bit .... This lemoncream is definitely something for those days: full of vitamins ( is´nt it true :) and the best reason to enjoy a desert?), soft and sweet....
You need (serves about 6 but depending on the size of you serving glasses):
4 Gelatin sheets
2 organic lemons
3 large eggs
100g sugar
250 g cream
400 g of different berries (blueberries, raspberries...)
1 Tbsp. icing sugar
3 figs for decoration
To prepare:
1. Grate the lemon peel and squeeze them. Reserve the juice and the grated peel
2. Mix eggs and sugar together until foamy (takes about 3 minutes)
3. Soak the gelatine in cold water for some minutes
4. Heat up 5 Tbsp. of the lemonjuice, drain the gelatin and dissolve them in the lemonjuice
5. Toss together your egg-sugar cream with the gelatin-lemonjuice and fold in the graed lemonpeel
6. Whip you cream and fold in your lemoncream
7. Pour the cream in some glasses and chill in the fridge for some hours or over night.



8. For the compote put your berries together with the icing sugar and 2 tbsp. water in a pan and cook for 5 minutes. Let cool down and top the lemoncream with this compote and the halves of the fig just before serving

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