Anne's Kitchen What's cooking?!

My life is quite a rollercoaster at the moment, but a fun one! September has always been an exciting month: it’s my birthday, the end of summer (I love autumn) and the start of a new school year. But after having spent my whole life in education, it came as quite a shock that this circle of annual renewal was suddenly over.

Don’t you find it hard to break with that new beginning routine once you have a job? September becomes just another month, without the novelty of new stuff to learn, new teachers and new people. Well, I’ve decided to take action! I’ve signed up for classes again! I found a little place that teaches interesting cookery classes and I got all excited when I found out they were offering cake decorating classes and Japanese cookery lessons. Hell, sign me up!

Those who know me are aware of the fact that I have an obsession with all things Japanese, and those who read my blog – well – you probably have gathered by now that cakes are my best friends. So, these classes are damn well perfect for me!

Now, whilst I know that my cakes always look pretty yummy, I am well aware of the fact that they’re pretty plain. I don’t do intricate marzipan flowers, crazy icings or colourful rainbow creations.

I actually don’t want to change that. I’m a purist when it comes to cakes – no sparkling glitter, crazy sugar shapes or marzipan kitsch will ever make it onto my cakes (unless it’s a client order. Client? No clients  yet – so no need to worry about that).

So why take that cake decorating course? Because I want to learn the skills. I’m fascinated by discovering professional culinary techniques, finding out how things work and unveiling the mysteries that surround food. Call me nuts, but I’d much rather spend a day watching over the shoulder of a chef than attending a music festival.

Anyway, enough ramblings, here’s this week’s recipe. A childhood favourite of mine: a “Marmerkuch” (in Luxembourgish) or “Marble Cake”. It gets its funky pattern by layering a chocolate and a vanilla dough, then giving it a minor stir and you get the mable effect. I’ve added chocolate chips and almond shavings to the separate doughs, so that there’s a bit of a texture play at work. I hope you like them. They sure look very pretty.

Happy September and may you all enjoy your new start of the new ‘school’ year! ★

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I know my metamorphosis into a British person has by now been fully complete. Why? I queue, I say ‘excuse me’, ‘sorry’ and ‘oh dear’ all the time – and I constantly talk about the weather.

Well the latter can be excused, considering that it’s been raining non stop for the past 48 hours! Proper rain, proper cold autumn rain. Seriously, I feel like living in an eternal October. It’s horrible, saddening and plain bad for your mood!

But it has one good thing: it’s cool enough to turn the oven on without melting in August. Yipee!

My oven becomes my ally in the fight against weather-related moodiness. Together we create the loveliest cakes, sweet smelling cinnamon crumbles, deep flavoured chocolate brownies and, this time around, tangy orange drizzle teacakes.

I’ve always been a fan of simple lemon and orange cakes. The flavours blend in perfectly with a sweet buttery cake and, topped with a tangy icing, they have the ability to properly excite your tastebuds: sweet, sour, buttery, rich, moist – heaven.

These cakes are extremely moist and their texture is pretty dense. You may think they’re not fully baked when you cut them in half, but as long as there are no runny dough spots left, it is actually done.

Make sure to eat them on the day they’re made – so they still have their crispiness outside. Shouldn’t be a problem: I took a batch of these over to a friends’ brunch and they were gone within minutes. ★

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So, it’s August and by now you’ve pretty much had all the classic ice cream flavours out there.

You’ve indulged in some creamy vanilla ice cream with real vanilla beans, had some super chocolaty chocolate scoops and devoured some tangy raspberry sorbet so cold and crisp it gave you a momentary brain freeze. You probably have tried some frozen yoghurt with berries and oreo cookies and played with the thought of trying some more obscure and dubious creations (anyone for bright blue bubble gum taste? No, thought so!). And you definitely have had all there is to try at your local Italian gelateria.

But what now? What do you do when all the ice cream flavours available have been explored and conquered? Been there done that, oh ice cream world, what can you offer next?!

Well, here’s the answer! Try a nougat glacé! The French desert may still be able to excite your discerning tastebuds.

Let me introduce you to your new favourite ice cream alternative. Indulgently creamy, laced with a succulent taste of honey and crunchy explosions of almonds. Add to it the chewiness of nougat and you have a new ice cream star. I should start writing the Marks and Spencer ads, right?!

Nougat glacé is a classic French desert, but strangely not well known in the UK. Go to a French restaurant and you’ll be guaranteed to find the usual suspects: crême brulée, tarte tatin and mousse au chocolat. A real pity nougat glacé isn’t a more prominent guest on our menus. But hey, what’s not yet may well be one day in the future. And it all starts here.

Now, to spice the recipe up and make it my own, I decided to substitute the nougat with Turkish delight. It works just as well, but you can play with flavours like rose and pistachio.

You can boost the recipe even more by adding a dash of alcohol. Soak the orange peel in Grand Marnier, cover and leave to rest for a few hours before adding to the recipe. Delightful. ★

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