The Global Recipe Project Cookbook
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A cross between a pancake and an omelette, Pannekoeken (to the Dutch) or Pfannkuchen (to the Germans) makes a lovely breakfast no matter how you choose to pronounce it! Today we’re making this simple dish with cherries, for a sweet and cheerful twist. Continue reading
If there is any such thing as a perfect day, I may very well have stumbled upon it the day I first baked this cake. Last summer in northeast Germany, I enjoyed an early morning slice of warm Frühstückskuchen with a mug of strong, black coffee while watching my children play outside in the land of their great, great grandparents. For an American intent on reconnecting with her German ancestry, it was an amazing moment.
It’s time to bake another Frühstückskuchen and reminisce!
Bridge to Fehmarn Island
Ingredients (makes 1 9″ x 13″ cake)
2 cups grated carrot
1 cup peeled, chopped apple
3/4 cup real applesauce (no corn syrup)
1/4 cup canola oil
3 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon grated nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 cups white flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
Fehmarn Lighthouse (One of several, but the only one open to the public)
Directions
Step 1) Grease and flour a 9″ x 13″ cake pan.
Step 2) Combine carrots, apple, applesauce, oil, eggs, and sugar in a large bowl.
Step 3) Combine spices, baking powder, baking soda, and flours in a second large bowl.
Step 4) Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and stir until just combined.
Step 5) Spread batter into the pan and bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 40 minutes, or until a toothpick
inserted into the center comes out clean. Check after 35 minutes; do not overbake.
Step 6) Let cool slightly before cutting. Serve with fresh fruit and a sprinkle of confectioner’s sugar, if desired.
Roses bloomed everywhere on the island!
A full liter of dunkel bier and a half liter of weiss bier
Thus far on our European Food Tour, we’ve managed to avoid (most of) the touristy kitsch. Indulge me just this once. We were in Munich, we were hungry, and we did it… we followed the camera wielding masses into that most epic of bier halls, Hofbräuhaus. Simply put, it’s too old and too big NOT to visit! The history of Hofbräuhaus dates back to the 16th century, and is a long, fascinating story. The current building – “only” 117 years old – can seat a whopping 1,300 hungry and thirsty guests.
High, painted ceilings
Bavarian style oompah band
For me, the most fascinating thing about Hofbräuhaus is how, despite the hordes of tourists, the old bier hall is clearly beloved by locals. If you don’t believe me, check out the bier hall’s website. An impressive number of tables are reserved for regular guests, many of whom own their own bier steins and store them in one of the 454 lockers available on site! Possession of one of these lockers is considered a status symbol among regular guests.
Whether drinking from a fancy schmancy bier stein or a plain old glass mug, everyone can enjoy a hearty and delicious meal. I’ll leave you with a few photos while I pack my bags. Next stop: Austria!
Pork Knuckle
Bread dumplings in a mushroom cream sauce
Spaetzle (for Half-Pint!)
Apple strudel
Gift shop (Of course there’s a gift shop… just feel your way through the sea of blinding camera flashes, and you’ll find it eventually!)
German Kitchen Décor
I anticipated a few of our travel adventures before we stumbled upon them. For example, I imagined that decoding foreign train schedules would take a bit of practice (I was right). I imagined reading key words on restaurant menus and placing an order correctly would take a bit of luck (I was right). But cooking in the kitchens of our rented guest apartments? That, I imagined, would be a snap (I was very, very wrong).
I realized I was in for a bit of a challenge before I even set foot in a kitchen – I was still at the grocery store! For better or worse, I grew up with the wack-a-doodle American system of measurements. You know what I’m talking about… 16 ounces to a pound, 2 cups to a pint, 2 pints to a quart, 4 quarts to a gallon, etc.. It’s a ridiculous system, but it’s the system with which I am most familiar. I understand the metric system and use it in other contexts, but it’s akin to a non-native language, and takes me an extra second to sort out in my head.
Pretty dishes in our guest apartment
Here’s a scenario: an item costs 6 Euro 49 per kilogram, and the shop keeper is asking if I would like to make a selection. Hmm. Would I? Well, there are roughly 2.2 pounds per kilogram and $1.37 per Euro. Reasoning out that 6 Euro 49 per kilogram is about $4 per pound isn’t rocket science, but after thinking through the mental math for about 50 items, I was ready to just start chucking random items in my cart. Then I learn that the price shown is “per 100 grams.” I have no idea how much 100 grams of sausage (or cheese or whatever) looks like. Sure, I’ll take 100 grams. Oh. I guess I’ll take another 100 grams.
Previously kitchen confident, I found myself fumbling through scenario after scenario:
Spice Jars
After navigating the market, my adventures continued in the kitchen. Oven gauges are set in Celsius rather than Fahrenheit. Local recipes use units of mass rather than volume (a much more accurate, common sense approach, but unfamiliar nonetheless). Ovens are generally smaller, which is more energy efficient, but also alters familiar baking times. Stovetops are often electric and ceramic, requiring a gentler approach and a bit more patience than open gas flame. Navigating these differences, I managed to serve slices of “rare” cake and saw through a roast that was, er, “well” done.
I also made a few dishes – heck, more than a few dishes – that were pretty darn good. I will leave Germany with a few new cooking skills, a lot of great recipe ideas, and a healthy respect for the similarities AND the differences between German and American cooking cultures.
Next time on Crowded Earth Kitchen, I’ll share photos and stories from an iconic German dining establishment. Then, we’re off to Austria!
Spaetzle Dumplings with Mushrooms and Bacon
I woke up to a rainy day in the hills of Bavaria, and decided to fill the day cooking a few of the comfort foods I associate with Germany. Dumplings immediately came to mind. Of all the varieties of German dumplings, and there are many, I particularly adore spaetzle. These tiny, irregularly shaped dumplings are often served with a light gravy, or just butter with a dash of salt and pepper. Today’s recipe includes mushrooms and bacon, and is pretty delicious if I may say so myself! Before we get started, let’s do a few upper body warm-up stretches.
Bottom half of an enormous Maypole, as seen from my kitchen window
Top of the Maypole, photographed from a 4th floor window
At home, I have a little gadget for making spaetzel. To use it, I simply scoop some dumpling dough into the white bowl on top, and slide the bowl back and forth over the hole-punched tray underneath. Tiny drops of dough fall effortlessly into a pot of boiling water, and in just a few minutes, I have a delightful bowl of dumplings. So easy!
Spaetzle Maker Sitting on a Stockpot
Lacking my spaetzle maker, I used a strainer and the back of a soup ladle to accomplish the same task. It worked just fine, but the dough being quite elastic, it took quite a bit more effort than I anticipated! Don’t let that scare you off, just think of this recipe as the happy end of The Amazing Spaetzle Dumpling Workout!
Ingredients (makes 4 side dish servings)
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
8 slices bacon
8 ounces mushrooms, sliced bite size
Directions
1) Fill a large pot halfway full of water. Add a dash of salt and bring to a gentle boil.
2) Fry bacon in a separate pan. Remove bacon when crisp and set aside to drain on a paper towel. Add mushrooms to pan with bacon fat and allow to cook over low heat, stirring occasionally.
3) While bacon and mushrooms cook, mix together eggs, flour, milk, salt and pepper. Allow to rest for about 2 minutes.
4) Add half the dumpling dough to a strainer with holes about the size of a pencil eraser (a bit larger is OK, but NOT smaller!). Hold the strainer over the pot of boiling water with one hand, and use the other hand to rub the back of a soup ladle over the dough. Keep doing this until all the dough drops through the holes in the strainer. Your arms won’t fall off – it only feels that way!
5) When the dough drops into the pot, it will sink first and eventually float to the top. Dumplings are cooked through when they have floated on the top of the water for about 3 minutes. Scoop them out with a slotted spoon, set them in your serving bowl, and repeat the process with the other half of your dough.
6) By the time your dumplings are cooked, your mushrooms will be ready. Gently fold mushrooms and all pan drippings into the dumplings. Serve a scoop of spaetzle and mushrooms over a few leaves of romaine lettuce. Top with crumbled bacon, or serve bacon slices whole on the side. Enjoy!
Before arriving in Europe, my travel companions and I were aware of at least a few of the more common European perceptions of American dining habits. In mealtime settings, we have been careful to keep our voices a bit more quiet than we might at home, and we have been careful to not occupy too much table space. We have even been graced with a compliment or two about the good behavior of our pint size travel companions (offsetting that time one pint size darling threw a credit card clear across a restaurant into the dinner of a very surprised lady, but I digress…). Although we try to abide by the old “When in Rome” adage, our American accents can be detected from outer space, and have led to a few interesting exchanges.
We’ve noticed, for example, that ketchup is offered with absolutely everything, and often with a knowing grin. Often, the only ketchup bottle in sight is the one placed on our table. I find it thoughtful, but curious. Our most curious dining experience was on the heels of a much more somber visit to the Holocaust Memorial in Berlin. Visiting the Holocaust Memorial and adjoining museum was a bit overwhelming.
After spending a few hours reading and reflecting on these sights we went for a walk through the neighboring district, home to the US Embassy. The high concentration of Americans working in this area has led, predictably, to a large number of restaurants with English menus and other American-friendly touches. We stopped by a promising looking café for lunch… and stepped right into a parody.
The booth in which we were seated was huge – I mean, it was enormous! The menu looked fabulous – on the first page, and the third page, and the tenth page. Beverage cups were large, and filled to the top with ice. Our waiter was very friendly and informal, stopped by our booth often, and delivered a giant bottle of (you guessed it) ketchup with our lightening fast meals. The most terrible – er, I mean most popular – of American pop music played in the background. We felt genuinely welcome, even as we found the microcosm of American dining quirks a bit unnerving. We left an American-size gratuity at the end of our intriguing meal.
I didn’t give differences in dining preferences across cultures much thought after that meal, at least not until I browsed through a grocery store. One of my pint size travel companions was the one who spotted the unfamiliar item. Holding the item up in the air, he asked…
“What in the World is American Sauce?”
Perhaps I’ve enjoyed a bit too much coffee this morning, but seriously folks, I’m all over the map – the dessert map, that is – when it comes to deciding which food adventures to share with you today. I’ve decided that I’m simply not going to decide. Instead, I’m going to indulge my sweet tooth and share a trio of German desserts… a foodie mosaic! I’ll let you decide what best captures your attention. Post a comment about your favorite photo below, and I’ll work on recreating the dish for a future post!
Thin layers of chocolate cake and chocolate mousse, all contained within a shell of chocolate genache. Yum!
Fresh apple slices baked atop a light vanilla cake, finished with a smattering of crumb topping. Delish!
A dense cheesecake layer is topped with a fluffy layer of cheesecake mousse in which tart glazed cherries are suspended. Yes, please!
Bockwurst is a popular German sausage made from finely ground veal and pork. It’s relatively hefty size and natural casing means that bockwurst must be cooked slowly to retain its appearance and flavor. As long as you keep that one detail in mind, preparing a meal of bockwurst, potatoes, and peppers is very, very simple (see instructions, below). It was a perfect meal to cap a day spent exploring The Bach House and surrounding area.
Sample of instruments played by Johann Sebastian Bach
Listening pods for visitors
Recreation of Bach’s facial features from a plaster cast of his exhumed skull (creepy but true)
Exterior of The Bach House (left) with adjoining gift shop and café (right)
Exterior statue of Johann Sebastian Bach
Classical music aficionados in large numbers trek into central Germany during the summer months to visit The Bach House. This well reputed museum displays a comprehensive collection of Johann Sebastian Bach’s musical instruments, hand written compositions, and furnishings from his home. Meandering from floor to floor and room to room, visitors are treated to the sounds of professional musicians performing Bach’s compositions on Bach’s own instruments – pretty cool. Visitors may also settle into comfortable listening pods, pictured above, to listen to a wide variety of Bach pieces performed by a vast array of musicians. While admittedly a bit macabre, visitors also have the, er, interesting opportunity to learn how Bach’s likeness was recreated by exhuming his body (seriously) and using his skull as a model. [The cost of fame? Yikes.]
Whether you are touring The Bach House or simply popping in a CD, here’s a solid German meal to enjoy while you listen!
Bockwurst with Potatoes and Peppers
Ingredients (serves 4)
4 medium size potatoes
4 bockwurst
1 small onion, sliced
3 bell peppers (different colors if possible), sliced
1 tablespoon butter
black pepper to taste
Directions
Step 1) Wash potatoes and cut into bite size chunks. Place in bottom of a nonstick pan. Place bockwurst on top of potatoes.
Step 2) Cover bockwurst and potatoes with cold water. Water should completely, but just barely, cover the bockwurst.
Step 3) Cover pot and heat on low until water is just about ready to boil. Don’t turn the heat too high – it should take about 30 minutes for the water to approach boiling. Be patient!
Step 4) Just before the water boils (for example, when the surface of the water appears to vibrate, or very teeny tiny bubbles begin to appear on the edges of the pot), layer the onion and peppers on top of the bockwurst. Turn the heat OFF and LEAVE THE POT COVERED. Do not lift the cover for 20 minutes!
Step 5) Important – check the internal temperature of one bockwurst with a meat thermometer. The internal temperature should be at least 160 degrees F. If the temperature has not reached 160 degrees F, turn the heat back to low and cover the pot for another few minutes. Check the temperature again before serving.
Step 6) To serve, gently remove peppers, onions, and bockwurst from the pan. Drain most of the liquid off of the potatoes; leave just a little bit of water with the potatoes in the pot.
Step 7) Add butter and pepper to the potatoes and coarsely mash. Potatoes should be chunky; this is a rustic dish.
Step 8) Spread one scoop of potatoes on each serving plate and top with one bockwurst. Arrange onion and pepper slices on top of bockwurst. For added color, garnish with carrot shavings (optional). Enjoy!
Eisenach is a bustling town of approximately 40,000 people in the Thuringia region of central Germany. As the birthplace of composer Johann Sebastian Bach and nearest town to Wartburg Castle, Eisenach welcomes a significant number of tourists (mostly German) every year. Watching tour busses navigate the narrow, perilously steep roads near the town center is nerve wracking indeed!
Visitors can easily walk through Eisenach for hours perusing outdoor markets (see above), taking in museums, visiting churches, and enjoying fountains. During the summer months, Eisenach can get quite toasty warm. Air conditioning is not a common amenity, leaving sightseers to find other ways of cooling off. Thankfully, Eisenach cafes and restaurants take “Eis,” or ice cream, to whole new levels.
Crowded Earth Kitchen is sharing ideas instead of recipes for you today. Once you take a look at the photos from our ice cream adventures below, I don’t think you’ll mind. All you need are ice cream and toppings (fresh fruit is a must!) from your local market, and a little imagination. Have fun cooling off deliciously!
Traditional Spaghetti Eis: Vanilla ice cream piped in the shape of spaghetti noodles, topped with strawberry slices and coconut shavings
Chocolate Banana Spaghetti Eis
Amaretto Eis: Vanilla Spaghetti Eis topped with amaretti cookies, chopped walnuts, coconut shavings, and a drizzle of amaretto liqueur (sigh…)
Butterfly Eis for half-pint visitors
Semi-creepy clown eis for half-pint visitors and eccentric adults!
Bischofroda is a small village of less than 700 residents nestled in the Southwestern hills of Thuringia, right in the heart of Germany. While many Americans think of the Rhine River valley as “storybook Germany,” the Thuringia region seems even more special to me. The hills vary from gentle and rolling to steep and spectacular, with a surprise around every turn in the road. In high places, visitors can simply stand along the roadside and gaze down at village after red-roofed village adorning countless acres of farmland and forests.
Bischofroda is the sort of place that encourages its occasional visitors to slow down and relax. We enjoyed meandering through the village, exploring the grounds of the local church, and stepping aside on narrow cobbled roads every now and then to allow locals on horseback and tractors to pass. Returning to our guest house to enjoy a slow and simple dinner with a cold German bier was a great way to end the day.
German bier is so widely available, so inexpensive, and so varied, we may as well cook with it, too! What follows is an easy peasy recipe for fork-tender pork chops, braised in German bier, of course.
Ingredients (Serves 4)
8 thin-cut boneless pork chops
2 carrots, sliced into coins
1 onion, coarsely chopped
1/4 cup ketchup*
1 pint of your choice of German bier
*Yes, we’re using plain old ketchup. There’s no need to be precious about it – ketchup’s acidity helps to tenderize the pork, and the flavor blends well with bier. If you prefer to be all fancy pants, here’s what you do instead… first you’ll need to peel, seed, and finely chop two ripe, fleshy tomatoes. Cook them down over low heat for approximately 30 minutes, stirring frequently. Add one teaspoon of brown sugar and a pinch of salt. Voila, ketchup.
Directions
Step 1) Sear pork chops in frying pan over medium-high heat, approximately 30 seconds on each side. Sprinkle with coarse ground black pepper if desired.
Step 2) Push pork chops aside and place onions and carrots evenly around bottom of the frying pan. Place seared pork chops on top of onions and carrots. Drizzle ketchup over pork chops, and pour bier over everything.
Step 3) Place lid on frying pan and simmer on low for 30 minutes or until pork chops are fork tender. Enjoy!
Oberkrämer is a sleepy community of just over 10,000 residents in Brandenburg, approximately 25 miles Northwest of Berlin. It has the feel of an American suburb, with an independently owned, hexagon-shaped doner kebap stand instead of a drive-thru fast food franchise, and the logically well connected mass transportation access one expects to find near Germany’s capital city.
Like most communities within commutable distance from a major metropolis, Oberkrämer offers several affordable markets for convenient grocery shopping. I have to smile at how the produce section of each of these markets prominently features kohlrabi, a largely overlooked vegetable in the US. Germany grows more kohlrabi – and consumes more kohlrabi – than any other country in the world. My very German grandfather loves kohlrabi, and connecting with my German heritage is the reason I find myself here, so there you have it – we’re cooking up kohlrabi for dinner… but with what?
Cabanossi sausage! If you haven’t tried Cabanossi sausage before, you’re in for a treat. A mild, smoked sausage readily available throughout Germany as well as parts of the US, Cabanossi is seasoned with paprika and cured (like salami). Cabanossi is considered more versatile than salami, in that it is commonly enjoyed both hot (baked, roasted, or grilled) and cold (on charcuterie plates and in sandwiches). Today, we’re baking Cabanossi along with kohlrabi, potatoes, and a few mushrooms (optional) for a hearty, one dish dinner.
Ingredients (makes 4 main dish servings)
4 Cabanossi sausages (150 grams each)
3 large potatoes
1 large kohlrabi, leafy green top still attached
12 mushrooms
2 tablespoons butter
salt and pepper
Directions
Step 1) Grease a large baking dish liberally with 2 tablespoons of butter. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Step 2) Wash potatoes and cut into bite size chunks. Arrange potato pieces in a single layer on the bottom of the baking dish, skin side down. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place in 400 degree oven for 15 minutes to par-bake (mostly, but not entirely, cook through).
Step 3) While potatoes are baking, cut leafy green top off of the kohlrabi bulb. Discard stems, and cut greens into 1 inch strips. Set aside. Peel kohlrabi bulb (the bottom) with a potato peeler, and cut the peeled bulb into bite size chunks. Set aside.
Step 4) Cut mushrooms into quarters. Set aside. Cut each Cabanossi sausage into three pieces. Set aside.
Step 5) Remove potatoes from oven. Arrange quartered mushrooms around the edges of the baking dish, and top mushrooms with kohlrabi greens. Arrange kohlrabi chunks in the center of the dish, and top everything with sausage.
Step 6) Place dish back in oven for another 15 minutes. Remove from oven and serve while hot. Guten appetit!
When asked to name a German food, schnitzel is the first thing to pop into the minds of many people. Schnitzel is simply a boneless cut of meat which has been pounded thin with a meat mallet for tenderizing, breaded, and fried. Pork schnitzel is quite common throughout Germany, although any meat may be used (I enjoy the less common chicken schnitzel, myself). In German restaurants, it is sometimes possible to hear a faint “thump, thump” from the kitchen, which is schnitzel being prepared for the next round of diners!
Landkirchen is a small town in Fehmarn, Germany and is popular with tourists. Most of the tourists themselves are from other parts of Germany, which bodes well for food offerings. Schnitzel abounds – plain schnitzel and schnitzel with toppings, schnitzel with potato salad and schnitzel with pommes, schnitzel on paper plates and schnitzel all fancied up. Crowded Earth Kitchen sampled the schnitzels throughout Landkirchen by dining where the tables were most full, and where diners were visiting with staff (a hopeful sign that the diners were either locals or returning guests). We were not disappointed. Here are a few photos for you – pick your favorite in the poll below, and Crowded Earth Kitchen will work to recreate the recipe for you!
Seafood Schnitzel with Pommes
Jaeger Schnitzel with Kartoffelsalat
Hawaiian Schnitzel with Pommes
Which recipe would you like to see Crowded Earth Kitchen recreate?
Petersdorf is one of the larger towns on Fehmarn island, large being a relative term (the entire island is home to approximately 12,000 people). During my stay on Fehmarn, the Aldi store in Petersdorf is where I did most of my shopping – Aldi prices are quite low, and while Aldi stores aren’t exactly aesthetically pleasing, they still offer a more pleasant shopping experience that The Store With A W That Shall Not Be Named. Say what you will about Aldi, the fact that the company has managed to keep the behemoth W out of Germany is worthy of respect.
Shopping at Aldi takes some getting used to. Aldi is able to offer very low prices because their business model dictates that an average Aldi store stock only about 1,500 different items. That may sound like a lot, but it’s less than five percent – and in some cases less than one percent – of the inventory at many American supermarkets.
I didn’t take much notice of the limited inventory at Aldi until I tried to bake. I could find granulated white sugar, but not confectioner’s sugar (a challenge when making frosting). I could find baking powder, but not cream of tartar (a challenge when making meringues). I also could not find molasses, and I tend to bake with a lot of molasses.
So, I changed my tack. I went on a baking scavenger hunt, searching for interesting ingredients and thinking of ways to use them. Voila! I stumbled upon a big jar of sauerkirschen, or sour cherries. The best part was, the jar was priced at less than half of what I knew these lovely little fruits would cost back home. So, today we are making sauerkirchkuchen, a very simple cherry cake. Enjoy!
Ingredients (makes an 8″ square cake)
1 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup sugar
3 tablespoons butter
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
2 cups sour cherries (pitted, drained if jarred)
Directions
Step 1) Grease an 8″ square cake pan or a glass pie dish; set aside. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Step 2) Combine flour, salt, baking powder, and sugar. Cut butter into dry mixture using a pastry cutter or two forks. Continue cutting butter into mixture until all butter pieces are smaller than peas.
Step 3) Add egg and milk to flour and butter mixture; combine with a fork. Batter should be thick, like biscuit dough.
Step 4) Spread batter into bottom of pan. Top with cherries. If desired, drizzle tops of cherries with 1-2 tablespoons of cherry juice and/or 1 teaspoon of white sugar.
Step 5) Bake in 350 degree oven for 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the dough (pick a spot not covered by a cherry) comes out clean. Check after 35 minutes.
Let cool slightly before enjoying. This makes a wonderful breakfast kuchen served with coffee, or a wonderful dessert served with ice cream!
Dänschendorf is a picturesque little farming community on Fehmarn, a German island in the Baltic Sea. A bridge connects Fehmarn to mainland Germany, making the island easily accessible for vacationers seeking sun and sand during the summer months. Visitors flock to the beaches, which are entirely natural except for one “tourist beach” on one corner of the island, where fine grained sand is trucked in (bah, that’s no fun). On many beaches, visitors can rent mini-cabanas for the afternoon or for the entire season. They’re a novelty, pretty comfortable, and offer the advantage of protecting sunbathers from fierce winds that blow from the West and sometimes feel like they might carry you right across the sea, East to Lithuania! Fehmarn is also an easy afternoon cruise away from both Denmark and Sweden, thanks to an active (and inexpensive, if traveling on foot) ferry line.
Considering the island’s northern latitude, it is not surprising that the German food in the region is flavored with a Scandinavian influence. I was pleased, but not surprised, to find fresh red currants at a small Dänschendorf market.
Red currants or Johannisbeeren are small, round berries, translucent red in color and fragile due to their very thin skins. Pop one in your mouth and you’ll find these berries are startlingly tart, almost like cranberries. I find the taste refreshing, but my travel companions were not as impressed. They are, however, quite impressed by the Eis (ice cream) stands dotting the island, so I knew just what to do with these happy little berries.
Red Currant Sorbet is super easy to make – a perfect treat for vacationers and travelers to prepare in a rented apartment, because it requires few ingredients and very little equipment. If you can’t find fresh red currants in your area, try this recipe with raspberries and cut the sugar in half.
Ingredients (makes 4 large or 6 small servings)
4 cups fresh red currants
2/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup dry (trocken) red table wine
1/4 teaspoon fresh lemon zest, optional
Directions
Step 1) Puree red currants, sugar, water, and wine all together until smooth.
Step 2) Pour mixture into a shallow glass pan, and place in freezer.
Step 3) Every thirty minutes, stir the mixture gently.
Step 4) Sorbet will be ready to scoop and serve after 2 – 3 hours, depending upon your freezer temperature. Enjoy!
