Spekulatius - Spelt Gingerbread Cookies

Speculoos Spekulatius, Speculoos or Speculaas. Popular in Belgium and the Netherlands, but also in the Rhineland and Westphalia. In Germany spekulatius are typical gingerbread Christmas cookies, and in Belgium, the Netherlands and Indonesia, as well as in former Dutch colony, they are eaten throughout the whole year.Its distinctive flavor spekulatius owe to cardamon, cloves and cinnamon. An important role is played by almonds to soften the spicy taste spicy. Sometimes, almonds flakes are on placed the bottom of the cookies.Cookies in bulk are cut by using a rectangular - wood or metal - matrix. The photos on cakes traditionally depict the story of Santa Claus, and today there are also motifs such as ships, farmhouses and windmills.Before World War II, production of gingerbread due to the high price of spices were expensive and only a part of society could enjoy their taste. Fortunately, today, all the ingredients - once called exotic - are generally available and we can all enjoy them.

 Ingredients for about 30 gingerbread:

250 g spelt flour*
 100 g butter at room temperature
 70 g brown sugar
 50 g ground almonds
 2 eggs, organic 
1 tsp lemon zest  (I used homemade)
1 tsp baking powder 
1/2 tsp cinnamon 
1/2 tsp nutmeg 
1/2 tsp cardamom 
1/2 tsp ground cloves 
1/2 tsp of ginger powder

Directions:

Combine all dry ingredients, in a large mixing bowl, next add all the rest and knead well. (you can use food processor). Then roll the dough in plastic foil and chill in the refrigerator for 3 - 4 hours. After the time sprinkle the flour over pastry board and roll out the dough on it. Molds of any patterns you like/have. Line the cookie sheet with a baking paper and lay cut-outs. Put into preheated to 180°C oven and bake for 15 minutes. Remove, wait a few minutes and then place on cooling rack. Spekulatius can be store up to a month.

* For healthy reason I used spelt flour

 The recipe was inspired by kochabar.de.

Elisenlebkuchen - the Original (flourless) Nuremberg Cookies

This original Nuremberg gingerbread cookies recipe is a top secret, and the one which will share with you today is very close to the original. Cookies are childishly easy to make, and at the same time healthy, if you reduce more than half of sugar, as I did, and of course replace it with a healthier substitute. Very helpful if using "Backoblaten". or if you like waffles, cakes or gingerbread pads. With spelt ones haven't come across yet, and for this recipe I used wheat, but it is such a small amount that almost imperceptible. These waffles are also made out of whole-wheat.
And what is the taste of Elisenlebkuchen? Perfect. Delicious. The best Christmas cookies I ever had. 
Will not write more, you have to try it yourself.
Elisenlebkuchen can be stored for several weeks in well tightly closed in a box.

Ingredients for 25 cookies:

300 g ground almonds
120 g brown, unrefined sugar
25 wheat waffles, I used 70 mm ones
4 eggs, organic
4 drops lemon oil

2 tbsp candied lemon peel, preferably homemade
1 tsp almond essence
1 (2 mm) rum essence oil
1 tsp nutmeg, freshly grated
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp cloves, minced

 
Additionally:

 
Lemon glaze:

 
50 g brown, unrefined sugar milled to powder
Juice of half large lemon
A few teaspoons of boiled water

 
Everything mix together and spread over half of cookies.

Chocolate glaze:

75 g dark chocolate, 85% or more
3 - 4 tsp maple syrup, genuine
A few teaspoons of boiled water

 
Melt the chocolate in a water bath or in oven. Add the syrup and water. Spread over other half of cookies.

Directions:

Beat the eggs until white, add sugar, reduce the speed, and add all remaining ingredients. Cover cookie sheet with a parchment paper and lay out pads. Each pad cover with a dough, flat/even it with a wet finger.
Cookies sheet place in a heated convection oven to 150°C with (175°C standard) and bake for 20 minutes. Dry cookies on a cooling rack.

Inspired by a recipe found in a German magazine.

Double Chocolate Spelt Chip Cookies

Personally, I don't bake a lot of cookies, (doesn't mean, that I don't like to eat them :), but recently I promised them to someone who usually gets them out of the box... For this very reason I baked something special, tasty, that will convince the person to not buy them from the box anymore. 
The home baked, from scratch cookies are the only ones worthy to add few calories from time to time ;).
 Presented today double chocolate spelt chip cookies are probably the best chocolate cookies we have ever eaten, crispy outside and slightly moist inside.

 Ingredients for approximately 16 -18 cookies:

 
250 g spelt flour
170 g butter at room temperature
85 g of brown, unrefined sugar
50 g dark chocolate chips
2 tsp pure cocoa
2 tsp pure vanilla essence
2 tsp tapioca*
1 egg, organic
1 tsp baking soda (preferably less than more)
1/2 tsp sea salt

 Directions:

Mix together flour, tapioca, baking soda and salt. In another dish, beat butter with sugar, then add vanilla and egg. Combine together dry and wet ingredients and mix in the chocolate chips. Place a baking parchment paper on baking sheet and spoon the dough on it. Preheat oven to 180°C, and bake for 10 to 12 minutes. Transfer them to drying rack and leave to cool.

* Can replace with potato flour or corn starch

The recipe was inspired by a sweetkitchen.

Pumpkin - Coconut Cake from a Slow Cooker

Perfect pumpkin cake. Moist. Has an excellent taste, but topped with delicious caramel powers the taste 
and changes to an extra ordinary. I heartily recommend it.

Ingredients for a cake cooked in 3.5 liter slow cooker:

250 g mashed pumpkin,I used Hokkaido* 
120 g spelt flour 
100 g coconut butter 
60 g of brown sugar unrefined
 3 eggs, organic 
1 tsp cinnamon or pumpkin spice 
1/2 tsp baking powder, organic
 1/2 tsp baking soda, organic 
1/2 tsp sea salt

Caramel:

250 ml coconut milk 
2 tbsp maple syrup, real
 1 tsp vanilla extract
 Pinch of sea salt 

Directions:

Grease the slow cooker with coconut butter and set on the highest temperature. Combine the dry ingredients. Beat sugar, butter (3 minutes), add the eggs and little later, pumpkin puree. At the end, slowly add the flour and beat until all is smooth. Pour into slow cooker, cover, and cook for two hours. After this time, remove lid and allow the slow cooker be open for 10 minutes. Then, turn upside down to put the cake on the plate. From my experience I can add that is easier to remove the cake when is completely cooled. 
Usually I make it in the morning or even a night before.
Serve the cake with warm caramel poured over. 
Caramel prepare shortly before the cake is served. Place all ingredients in a saucepan and heat on medium heat until boiling. From time to time stirring occasionally so long until it thickens and turns darker (20 - 30 minutes). After this time, remove from the gas, allow to cool slightly use it. You can also pour the caramel into a glass container and store in the refrigerator up to one week.

* Fresh pumpkin (approx. 600 - 700 g), cut into quarters and cook steamed until tender, approx. 20 minutes.  
Allow to cool and blend to puree.

The recipe is inspiration by pilcookbooks.

Pumpkin - Coconut Pancakes

Season for low caloric pumpkin is opened. Pumpkins are not heroes of upcoming holiday which some celebrate, but most of all, it's a very valuable vegetable, rich in vitamin A, B1 B2, C and PP. Contains magnesium, iron, calcium and phosphorus, and is an excellent source of protein and fiber. The most nourishment pumpkins are the ones in deep, orange color (such as Hokkaido), because they have the most beta-carotene. Other crucial information is that cooked pumpkin does not lose its value, and the puree can be frozen and stored for several months.

Ingredients for approx. 60 pancakes:

500 ml coconut milk
200 g coconut flour
100 g spelt flour
300 g pumpkin puree*
3 eggs, organic
1.5 tsp baking powder, organic
1/8 tsp Bourbon vanilla, powdered
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 pinch of sea salt

Additional:

100 ml maple syrup, organic
50 g toasted coconut flakes
Oil for frying, I used the coconut oil

Directions:

All ingredients place in mixing bowl and mix well. Heat the pan, reduce heat, add a little oil and fry pancakes on both sides until golden brown. Serve topped with maple syrup and sprinkled with coconut flakes.

* I make my own puree form a Hokkaido pumpkin

Recipe was created in my head and comes from my heart 

Sugarless Pumpkin Cheesecake with an Orange Juice

Autumn. Time for another "pumpkin" recipe. What would you say for a cheesecake with pumpkin? The cheesecake (after many tries, the recipe is finally mastered) is light and delicate, despite its intense yellow color, which may indicate otherwise. The juice squeezed from fresh orange gives a pleasant sweet - sour flavor and breaks a little bland pumpkin. I serve the cheesecake with pomegranate, which in my opinion, perfectly fits into this dessert.

Ingredients for 24 cm/10 in cheesecake:

500 g homogenized cheese, like "Quark" *
 400 g pumpkin puree*
4 eggs, organic 
3 tbsp honey 
3 tbsp tapioca* 
1 tsp cinnamon
 Juice of one orange

Crust: 
200 g of almonds*, minced 
3 tablespoons butter

Ganache: 
75 grams of dark chocolate (85%+) 
1 - 2 tablespoons honey
Juice of one orange

In addition: 
1 pomegranate (optional)

Directions:

Lightly grease a springform. Mix almonds and butter until well combined. Place the mass (forming a crust) on the bottom of the springform. Set aside. Eggs, beat with an electric mixer until they are almost white. Add honey. Reduce speed, add cheese/quark, pumpkin puree, tapioca, cinnamon, and juice. Pour the mixture on the crust. Preheat oven to 160°C. Place the springform and bake for 35 - 40 minutes. Remove and cool down. Meanwhile, melt the chocolate. Place it in a small oven proof bowl. Bake in the heated to 150°C oven for 5 minutes. Remove, add honey and orange juice, mix well. Remove the cake from the springform, place on a serving plate. Top it with a ganache and sprinkle with fruit grant.

* The quark can be substituted with any cheese suitable for a cheesecake
* The best pumpkin puree is form Hokkaido pumpkin, you don't have to peel it off, just halved it, pick the seeds and cook until soft (about 20 minutes)
* I used unpeeled almonds 
* If you have no tapioca use potato flour

 Recipe was created in my head and comes from my heart

Chłodnik, the Polish Cold Soup

Today, I would like to introduce traditional, Polish cold soup 
- very appropriate to the weather outside (40+C°/100+ F°) - called "Chłodnik".

Originally Chłodnik is cooked on a veal broth whitened with a sour milk or butter milk and served with either veal or crayfish. I prefer vegetarian version and cook Chłodnik on a veggie broth. No matter how you cook the cold soup you should serve it with hard boiled eggs, cucumber, radish and garnish with herbs, e.g. dill, chives, parsley. Additionally you can add avocado and cooked potatoes. Such a rich soup makes a whole meal (lunch or dinner).

Ingredients for about 3 liters of soup:

1500 l of broth

1000 l kefir or with sour or butter milk

1 bunch of chard (with about 3 beets)

1 kg beets

Colored pepper fresh grounded

2 tbsp vinegar (fruit, rice)

1 - 2 long cucumbers

1 - 2 bunches radishes

1 - 2 avocado

Juice from one lemon

Hard boiled eggs (1 -2 per person)

Directions:

Wash chard and beets. Peel beats and cut into cubes, chard stems with leaves slice very finely. Cook beets in a broth for about 7 minutes, after add chard and cook another 4 minutes. Turn the heat off, add lemon juice and vinegar. Let it completely cool down. Pour kefir into the cold soup and mix. Ready. Serve with chopped cucumber, radish, eggs avocado and garnish with herbs.

Recipe inspired by "Kwestai Smaku".

(Spelt) Very Lazy Dumplings

Original name is lazy pierogi, but lazy dumplings is more appropriate name for them. Lazy dumplings for me, it's a childhood, and of course, the best ones were made by mom. Today's recipe comes from the provision of our neighbors, of whom a quarter-century ago, right after the wedding, we shared the house. My husband was working, I still was studding and therefore, every day we drove by train and public transportation from the beautiful suburb of Warsaw to the city center. The whole operation was taking nearly two hours one way. After coming back home it was not much time left to prepare dinner/supper. One evening my neighbor showed me 
how to make dumplings the express way.
Traditionally, lazy dumplings are topped with buttered breadcrumbs and sprinkled with sugar. I like them with homemade berry sauce and maple syrup.

Ingredients for ca. 50 - 60 dumplings: 

550 g white cheese*

200 g spelt flour 

3 eggs, organic, large

In addition: 

Maple syrup 

Homemade berry sauce

Directions:

Boil water in a large pot, add salt. In the meantime, beat the eggs, add cheese, then gradually add the flour. Well combine. Spoon to take the cake, lightly shaping it by moving the spoon on the side of the dish and gently thrown into the boiling water. Cook few minutes. Serve topped with maple syrup and fruits. Enjoy your meal.

* In Poland we distinguish white cheese and yellow cheese. The time of making white cheese is very short (few days) and is made from fresh milk. It's soft and it's consistency is crumbly or creamy. Outside of Poland I replace white cheese either with cottage or curd cheese and quark, it's not the same, but close enough.

Recipe was inspired by BZ.

Potato Pancakes with Fried Cheese

Most of the time I am making classical (traditional in Poland) potato pancakes, that my family loves. This time I wanted to make them different way. In the fridge I had a big chunk of Emmental, and thought, I may use it with the pancakes. However, I did not want to shred the cheese and mix with potatoes, because I was afraid that the taste will not be perceptible and I wanted it to be. I decided to fry cheese between two pancakes like a closed sandwich.
Pancakes came out delicious and nutritious. You can satisfy your hunger with smaller amount of them than with the classical ones.

Ingredients for approx. 45 -50 pancakes: 

1 kg potatoes, used organic 

300 g of cheese sliced into small pieces (~ 1.5 cm x 3 cm) 

5 tbsp spelt flour 

3 eggs, large, organic 

1 onion, small 

1 tsp sea salt 

Color pepper to taste 

Oil for frying (organic, canola)

Directions:

Peel the potatoes and shred on a fine grater. Add finely chopped onion, eggs, flour and spices, mix well. On the hot pan pour a little bit of oil and put a spoon (thin layer) of potato dough. After about a minute, when edges of the pancakes will become golden - brown place on them a slice of cheese. Cover with another thin layer of the dough and fry until golden brown. 

Recipe was created in my head and comes from my heart