Austrian Walnut-Strawberry Torte

One of the very nicest things about life is the way we must regularly stop whatever it is we are doing and devote our attention to eating.

~Luciano Pavarotti and William Wright, Pavarotti, My Own Story

Its new year.. 2009 has officially unfolded itself. Like all true foodies, I begin this new year with 'sweet somethings'.
Thats the tradition in almost all Indian families..we call it "muh meetha karana". Loosely translated it means, 'sweetening the mouth'. Whenever there is a fresh start we celebrate it with sweetness...like I did when I started my blog. So in keeping with the tradition I made an Austrian torte.


A torte is a cake made with many eggs and usually ground nuts or even bread crumbs instead of or in addition to flour.Tortes are Central European in origin. The word torte is derived from the German word "torte", which was derived from the Italian word "torta", which was used to describe a round cake or bread.








I remember when I was a school going kid, my mum used to say that whatever I do on the first of January, I would keep doing that the entire year, so I studied well my favourite subject for sure, apart from having fun that is. I ofcourse was made to believe that then, but now it has stuck with me all these years. I still conciously try to do something nice , share smiles and have fun.
Hence, the torte comes as no surprise, given that I have never tried baking one ever. So something sweet and something different. (A good omen-probably I would be trying new and nice things this whole year!)









Austrian Walnut-Strawberry Torte

Ingredients-
For torte layers-
6 large eggs, separated
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
2 cups walnuts
1 cup fresh fine breadcrumbs
2 1/2 tablespoons your favourite brandy,(I used rum)
1/2 cup cocoa powder


For strawberry whipped cream-
1 cup heavy cream, well chilled
1 teaspoon strawberry essence
a pinch/dab of red food colouring
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon confectioners' sugar

a few strawberries, chopped- for layering

For icing- (optional)
1 1/2 slab of dark chocolate (70% cocoa), it should give you half cup liquid chocolate when melted
1 tbsp softened butter
1 tbsp whole milk
1 tbsp confectioners' sugar

Method-

In a bowl with an electric mixer, beat the egg yolks with 3/4 cup of granulated sugar until the mixture is doubled in volume and forms a ribbon when the beaters are lifted (about 5 minutes).

In a food processor or blender, pulse the walnuts with the remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar until ground fine.
(Although coarsely ground worked fine for me. Only it becomes a little difficult when it comes to slicing the cake, but I prefer the 'surprise' walnut chunks in my mouth!)

Add the walnuts, the bread crumbs , cocoa powder and the rum to the yolks and fold gently.

In another bowl, with clean beaters, beat the egg white just to stiff peaks.

Gently and gradually fold the whites into the yolk mixture.

Pour the batter in a greased 9" tin/mould and bake for 20-25 minutes in a 350°F oven, until the sides pull away from the pans and the tops spring back when pressed gently.
Cool on rack.

When cooled, slice the cake carefully in two halves to get two layers.
(Don't worry if the torte is a little crumbly, it is supposed to be that way.)


In a large, chilled bowl, stir together the cold heavy cream and the strawberry essence, food colouring and sugar. Beat until cream forms stiff peaks.

In a double boiler, melt the sugar, milk, butter and chocolate, till smooth and glossy.

NOW, place one half of the torte on your serving plate. Layer with the whipped cream.
Add the chopped strawberries next. Place the second layer of torte on top.
Pour the icing on top of the layered torte. Garnish with fresh sliced strawberry and dust with confectioners' sugar.

Feast all your five senses!! ;p

Heres' a little "interesting" something I read just recently while helping my sister on her school project work......

Before Luther there was no need for sugar in Europe, because there was an overproduction of honey. This traditional sweetener was a by-product of the apiaries, the main function of which was the production of wax for candles. This product was a monopoly of the Catholic monasteries and convents. Wherever these were closed or abolished, there emerged a market for something that, up to that time, had been a scarce luxury (that came originally from India): sugar. Coincidentally, the discovery and conquest of a New World in the tropics opened up the possibilities for the large scale production of sugar.It became the ideal component for the preservation of fruits.

Another by-product of the Protestant Reformation, due to the newly created scarcity of honey and widespread availability of sugar-cane, was obviously the large scale production of rum and other sugar-cane brandies like the Brazilian cachaça. Earlier brandies were mostly made of wine and, being quite expensive, were consumed only once in a while by aristocrats and the royalty.

This lovely dessert has often been the featured pastry at "Jause" --a lovely old German/Austrian custom of pausing in the afternoon for cake and coffee and conversation.

Cheers to 2009!

I send this over to Jugalbandi for Jai & Bee 's Click Jan '09- Red!

A REQUEST- Please vote for my 'Nut n Fruit Maalpua' here, if you liked it. Voting closes Jan 6th, 2009.

Quick and Easy French (Eggless) Dinner Rolls (MICROWAVE)

“There are people in the world so hungry, that God cannot appear to them except in the form of bread.”--Mahatma Gandhi

Bread baking is something new to me. Although I have made several Indian breads (leavened & unleavened) I have never really baked a loaf of regular white bread. It is a little ambitious, when it comes to yeast, patience and me…not quite a winning combination.


However, Usha (of VegInspirations) tagged me on baking for a noble cause. Two very good reasons to go ahead with my “Project Bread”.
One, it was my very first “tag”.
Second, it is for a great cause….to feed the multitudes in Africa who cannot afford the luxury of a piece of bread.



I have been doing social service for as long as I can remember..and I still do. Teaching poor children, co-ordinating with NGOs to re-build schools for children of sex workers’ and drug addicts, teaching dance to orphans and organizing charity shows etc. I was an active member of the Corporate Social Responsibility Committee in HSBC. God’s work still continues...
But never have I done something in the virtual world that will in turn,help in the real world. It amazes how my one act here can touch a life , miles away from me.


Breadline Africa is a registered charity in South Africa that is seeking to put an end to poverty in South Africa and further afield in Africa. Their aim is to break the cycle of poverty and help communities to achieve long term self-sustainability. Breadline Africa was founded in 1993 by social workers and communities in South Africa with minded colleagues in Europe, (who were well placed to source out donations). They are geared to help fund small ground level projects in Africa which are most likely to succeed with financial help.


It launched the Worldwide Blogger Baker Bake-Off Challenge aiming at raising $ 1 M in funds. This bake-off gives us baking bloggers the power to make a difference in this world. What do we do? Bake bread. Give Dough. Feed Africa. Vals says, "You can sign up for the campaign, make a donation, upload your bread recipes and document your culinary adventures in the media center to spread the word. You don't have to donate money but simply just mention the campaign and create awareness."


The following is quoted from the Breadline Africa Bake-Off site:

On 15 October, we launched The Breadline Africa Worldwide Blogger Bake Off.The Blogger Bake Off is an online campaign that challenges bloggers to get involved by baking bread, and then acting by donating to end poverty. And then, challenge their readers and five other bloggers to do the same.

With the money raised, we will be supporting grass roots community projects aimed at ending poverty and hunger in Africa. We’ll be placing container kitchens, vegetable gardens and more in poor communities, sending emergency food relief where needed and helping these poor communities to help themselves.

Quick and Easy French (Eggless) Dinner Rolls (MICROWAVE)

Ingredients-
1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
2 tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp active dry yeast
2 tbsp oil
1 cup warm water (not hot)

Method-
In a large bowl, seive together the whole wheat and all purpose flour.
In a separate bowl take warm water, add the yeast, sugar and salt and oil.

Tip:The yeast should release bubbles when warm water is added. This is a sign of good yeast.The water should not be too hot, as it will kill the yeast instead.

Now, make a well in the centre of the heap of flour, and add the warm mixture slowly.
Knead it well to form a soft pliable dough.Cover the dough in a slightly greased bowl with a cling wrap or moist kitchen towel, for about 2 hrs./ till it doubles in volume.
Then punch the dough back and knead it for another 10 mins. Rest covered again, for an hour.
Punch again after an hour and knead well.

Now, divide the dough into equal sized balls. Using your hands roll each ball of dough to form a long cylindrical (almost snake like) rope.Then, from one end of the long dough rope, keep rolling towards the other end. Twist and seal the loose end to look like rolled buns.

Arrange on baking tray, close to each other. Let rest (covered) for 30 mins.Bake on medium high setting in the microwave for 8 minutes.

Serve with jam, butter, cheese or your favourite dip or curry.

Note: The microwave doesn't brown the tops, like a conventional oven. However they look pretty and have a great texture. Soft and tasty!

The rules for bloggers are outlined below:
1.If you are tagged, copy and paste the rules into your post.
2.Bake bread, do something you wouldn’t normally do, and blog about it. Upload your picture and recipe.
3.Give dough, donate to Breadline Africa and help us end poverty.
4.Tag five bloggers, and ping us so we know you’ve done so.
5.The person who raises the most funds will get to name a Breadline Africa community kitchen and win $500 Amazon Vouchers. There are also three minor prizes of $250 Amazon vouchers for people who receive the most votes in the following categories:
Most Unusual Recipe; Most Nutritious Recipe and Most Traditional Recipe.

I in turn tag Sudeshna, Maria, Arundhuti, Anudivya and Sangeeth.

I send this recipie to Lore.

I send this to Vandana (Cooking Up Something Nice)'s Baking For Beginners' event, beacuse some of us out there also want to use the MW for quick baking. :)

Chives' Shrimp Balls

Its such a beautiful evening! But don't want to go out alone. Hubby's at work. Called him up to see if he can make it early just today. Surprisingly he said he could. (just 20 mins earlier...which by the way is quite a bit, by the standard) I am elated! All those home makers/wives would agree how exhilerating it is to see your better half come home earlier than usual. In any case, since "a happy wife makes a happy life" (courtesy- According to Jim. His 19 point cohesive theory about men); I decided I would make something special for my hubby. His all time favourites are shrimps. So gave a twist to this shrimp dish....creative cooking! Its finger licking delicious.

Chives' Shrimp Balls

Ingredients-

4 tbsp finely chopped chives

2 tsp soy sauce

1 tsp white vinegar

1 tsp sherry

3 tbsp all purpose flour

2 tbsp bread crumbs

salt to taste

1 finely chopped green chilli

water (enough to make a dough like consistency-not too wet, nor too dry)

10 tiger prawns(cleaned, deveined and slightly sauteed)
oil for deep frying

Method-

In a large bowl, mix all the ingredients except oil and shrimps.

The mixture should be of dough like consistency. Divide the mixture into 10 equal sized ping pong balls.

Now wet your hand a little,pick one dough ball and flatten it in the middle, forming a depression in the middle with your thumb.Now place one shrimp in the middle and bring the sides of the dough to cover the shrimp. Roll.

The dough-mixture ball will cover the shrimp and the shrimp would not be seen. Repeat with all the shrimps.

Now in a pan, heat enough cooking oil to deep fry the shrimp balls. Deep fry. Drain on kitchen paper.

Serve hot with tea/coffee or just munch it!