Taste-and-Treats on the West Coast

Tandy's challenge this week are cookies.:)  Seeing that I am not baking at the moment, I still wanted to post some of my dearest childhood memories. I grew up just outside Basel /Switzerland. The 2 months before Christmas was always a hectic baking time at our home. My granny went into overdrive to bake the traditional Swiss Christmas cookies in ginormous quantities. I have rewritten 3 of her most famous  recipes for this first posting and will do another 3 next time. I sourced the photographs of the internet.  Basler Leckerli (Basel cookies) These are the very famous bisquits which are sold all year round in Basel  here first the original recipe:)     Ingredients for two medium size baking sheets: 450 g honey 300 g sugar 1½ tbs  cinnamon 1 pinch of clove powder ½ tsp of nutmeg 100 g  chopped candied orange peel 100 g  chopped candied lemon peel 200 g  ground almonds Grind skin of one lemon 2 t...

I have tried over the years several different versions of carrot cake but this one beats all of them by a mile. This is so, so moist and full of taste. What gives it the extra taste is the crushed pineapple I add to it. To have it covered with the cream cheese topping is nice and rich and I always add grated lemon rind and juice of 1 lemon… however for a more “thinner” version.. and the way the Swiss do it is to just paint the top of the cake with a mix of icing sugar melted in lemon juice. This makes the top shiny and gives it just that extra bit of hmm m… without being too fattening . 1 1/2 heaped cups granulated sugar 1 cup canola or vegetable oil 3 eggs 2 cups all purpose flour 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon 1 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 4 or 5 large carrots shredded ½ can of crushed pineapple 1 cup chopped walnuts (or pecan) Cream Cheese Frosting: 250 g package cream cheese at room temperature 1 thick slice butter 3 tsp milk ...

 ( Almond Tart from Austria) What a great day with a bit of warmth and sunshine in Stellies ! Was out in the garden with my morning coffee and saw one of the many Sunbirds feeding on some Salvia which have not been cut down yet still. Been baking as well for my daughter who has a coffee shop in Hout Bay and seeing that they are feeling the “winter pinch” agreed to prop her up by supplying some cakes every week.. so here is one that is not often seen in Cape Town, except on the Slow Food Markets. The Austrian Linzertorte which is rather delicious and travels well as I have to schlep it from Stellies to Hout Bay. 250 g flour 250 sugar 250 ground almonds ( I use 2 packets ground and 1 packet chopped ones) ¼ tsp ground cloves 1 tsp cinnamon 2 Tbsp coco powder 1.5 tsp baking powder 250 g butter 2 eggs 50 ml Kirsch or Plum spirit (if you don’t have either use Brandy) 1 cup raspberry jam 1 egg yolk ( to paint pastry) Mix together all the dry ingredients. Melt t...

     Apart from the usual birthday cake made of chocolate,  this I believe is the best ever, as it appeals to everyone ! Many a recipes have been written on the Hummingbird ( just love that name !) – and I have tried a number of them.. This one after plenty trials and errors has come out tops. Heat the oven to 170 deg C In a big bowl  mix all the dry ingredients first: 3 cups all purpose flour 2 cups sugar 1 tsp salt 1 tsp bicarbonate soda 1 tsp cinnamon 100 g coconut 1 cup  roughly chopped pecan nuts ( I always chuck in a few more!) Then add the following: 3 beaten eggs Vanilla extract ( use the Nomu one - it’s the best – about 6 pumps) 1 ½  cups of Canola oil (better for the cholesterol) 1 can crushed pinapple 3 ripe bananas roughly chopped ( not mashed!) Stir everything evenly together and pour into a round cake tin. Bake for 1 hour. Do the fork check and if clean its done.. if not wait a bit. While the cake is baking prepare the icing ....