Monday, November 7, 2016

Marzipan Apple Cake

A lovely cake! Apples and marzipan.

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The marzipan apple cake from the new cookbook “Classic German Baking”.  The dough includes grated sweetened almond paste (marzipan), which brings the cake into a different level.
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Apple Marzipan Cake:
I made several changes to the original recipe, so I’ll write it up with my changes. I reduced the amount of marzipan, and it was still very sweet and ‘marzipan-y’'’. I also divided the batter into 2 spring cake pans, a 8 inch diameter and a 5 inch diameter spring pan, and omitted the apricot jam.
  • 4 medium apples, (1 3/4 pounds, 800g)
  • 1 organic untreated lemon, zested and juiced
  • 1 TB butter
  • 1 TB sugar
  • 100g  almond paste
  • 3/4 cup (150g) sugar
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 14 tablespoons (200g) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
  • 1 teaspoon almond extract
  • 4 large eggs, at room temperature
  • 1 cup, 3 tablespoons (150g) flour
  • 4 tablespoons cornstarch
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
1. Butter a 8 inch and a 5 inch springform pan (or a single 10 inch pan) .
2. Peel and core the apples. Divide the lemon juice into two separate bowls. Slice two of the peeled and cored apples into 1/2-inch slices (3 slices per quartered apple), and toss the apple slices in one bowl of lemon juice. Dice the other two apples into 1/3-inch (1cm) cubes. Toss in the other bowl of lemon juice.
3. On the stove top, heat a larger pan with 1TB butter, and 1 TB sugar, and once melted add in the diced apples and saute for 5 minutes. Let cool.
4. Preheat the oven to 350ºF (180ºC).
5. Using a grater with large holes, grate the almond paste into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Add the sugar and salt and mix until the almond paste is finely broken up.
6. Add the melted butter, almond extract, and lemon zest, and continue mixing until smooth. Add the eggs one at a time, stopping the mixer and scraping down the sides of the bowl after each addition.
7. Whisk together the flour, cornstarch and baking powder in a small bowl. Turn the standmixer to slow, and spoon in the dry ingredients into the almond batter mixture. Once done, stop the standmixer, and fold in the warm, diced apples by hand.
8. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Place the sliced apples in concentric circles on top of the batter, pressing them in very lightly.
9. Bake the cake until the top is golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 1 hour for the large spring pan, and 45-50 min for the smaller one.
9. Remove the cake from the oven. Let cool, and then run a knife around the inside of the cake pan to release the cake, and remove the sides of the cake pan.  Serve with cognac whipped cream or vanilla icecream.
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Sunday, September 11, 2016

Caterpillar Hill


On the way to Stonington, I stopped on Caterpillar Hill. It has the most breath-taking view of all of Maine.

The beautiful landscape of the many small inhabited and uninhabited islands of Penobscot Bay, sitting next to each other, to they can be reached by sail boat or kajaks. Such beauty.

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On my way to Stonington, I stopped by the 44 North Cafe Deer Isle store and roastery, in the old Deer isle high school building. Unfortunately they were closed.
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Swinging on ‘my’ swing.
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Sunday, August 28, 2016

House on a Ledge

There is no denying it: summer is over. Here are some photos from my last summer trip. Since it was so serene in Stonington, I went a second time.

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Penobscot Bay.
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Friday, August 12, 2016

“One’s art goes as far and as deep as one’s love goes.”

The heat has finally broken and there is a bit of rain here and there. This was an unusually long, hot and dry period for Maine, and for once I am relieved there is some rain.
The other day I headed down the coast, for a day of art. Rockland with the Farnsworth Museum and the Wyeth Center are my favorite museums in Maine, mostly because of Andrew Wyeth’s paintings that capture the essence of Maine so timelessly. The day was rounded out with another piece of art: Sushi at Suzuki in Rockland.
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Saturday, August 6, 2016

Island Time, Part 2

If you missed Part 1, you can find it here.
Not too far from Blue Hill, a big bridge that reminds me of the Golden Gate bridge leads to Little Deer Isle.
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From there, a short causeway got me onto Big Deer Isle.

The winding roads lead through a secluded, private world of lobster fisher families in a beautiful landscape. With Sunday afternoon there was a sleepy feeling in the air with empty streets, and people hidden in houses.

Stonington is a small village with a short stretch of main street. In recent years, it has added a new coffee shop, 44 North Coffee, and a handful of restaurants, Aragosta.

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