Come in from the Cold
Orange cake with rum drizzle
Serves 6
Ingredients
1 large orange
1 lemon
100ml extra virgin olive oil
180g caster sugar
4 eggs
25g plain/all-purpose flour
150g ground almonds
2 tsp baking powder
For the drizzle
10 tbsp caster sugar
Freshly squeezed juice of 2 oranges
3 cloves
120ml rum
20cm loose-bottomed cake tin, greased and lined
Method
Put the whole orange and lemon in a pan and cover with water. Bring to the boil and simmer for 30 minutes until soft. Drain and allow to cool.
Halve the cooked fruit and remove the pips, then whiz them in a food processor until they form a purée.
Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/gas mark 4.
Beat the oil, sugar and eggs together until light and fluffy. Fold in the flour, almonds and baking powder, then add the puréed fruit. Pour into the prepared cake tin.
Bake for 45-50 minutes until golden and risen, and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
Meanwhile, make the drizzle. Melt the sugar with the orange juice in a small pan, then add the cloves, bring to the boil and bubble until it becomes syrupy. Add the rum.
Pierce the cake all over with a skewer and pour over half the drizzle while the cake is still warm.
Allow to cool, then serve with the rest of the drizzle.
Germknödel
Serves 10
Ingredients
500g strong white bread flour
1 tsp fine sea salt
3 tbsp caster sugar
30g fresh yeast (or two 7g sachets dried yeast)
250ml full-fat milk, warmed
35g butter, melted and cooled, plus extra melted butter, to brush
2 eggs, beaten
10 generous tsp plum jam
poppy seeds, to serve
For the vanilla sauce
500ml full-fat milk
2 tbsp cornflour/cornstarch
2 egg yolks
200g plus 2 tbsp caster sugar
2 tbsp vanilla extract
60g butter, melted
baking sheet, lightly greased
Method
Mix the flour with the salt and sugar in a large bowl. Mix the yeast with a couple of tablespoons of the warm milk and leave to stand for a few minutes until it starts to froth. Add this, along with the rest of the milk, the melted butter and the eggs, to the flour. Mix to form a soft dough.
Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead vigorously for 10 minutes. Put it back in the bowl (give it a quick wash first) and cover with a clean tea towel.
Leave to rise somewhere warm for an hour or so, until it has doubled in size.
Knock back/punch down your dough, then divide it into 10 pieces. Flatten each piece out on the work surface then dollop a spoonful of the jam into the centre. Bring the dough around the jam/jelly and seal well by pinching the edges together with your fingers.
Place on the prepared baking sheet and cover with the tea towel. Leave for 30 minutes to an hour, until doubled in size.
To make the sauce, heat the milk in a pan until almost boiling. Whisk the cornflour/ cornstarch, egg yolks, sugar and vanilla together in a bowl, then pour over the hot milk. Return to the pan and put over a low heat. Cook, stirring, until thick. Add the melted butter and keep warm while you steam the buns.
Bring a very large pan of water to the boil – you can use a bamboo steamer or a normal steamer lined with baking parchment, otherwise you can use the traditional Austrian method: brush a clean cotton tea towel with melted butter and put it over the pan, then secure in place with twine, making sure no cloth is exposed to the heat source. Put the dumplings, a few at a time, on top of the steamer. Cover with the steamer lid or a second large pan. Steam for 15 minutes.
Brush with a little melted butter and scatter with poppy seeds. Serve the dumplings with the vanilla sauce to smother the top.
Goulash soup
Serves 6
Ingredients
olive oil, to fry
100g smoked streaky/fatty bacon, finely chopped
1kg braising steak or beef shin, cut into 2.5cm chunks
2 heaped tbsp plain/ all-purpose flour
2 large onions, thinly sliced
2 red peppers, deseeded and sliced
3 garlic cloves, crushed
5 juniper berries, crushed
2 bay leaves
1 tbsp sweet smoked paprika
½ tbsp hot paprika
2 tsp caraway seeds
2 tbsp tomato purée
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
1.2 litres beef stock
300g waxy potatoes, cut into chunks
2 beetroot/beets, cut into chunks
Sea salt and ground black pepper
Freshly chopped parsley and sour cream, to serve
Method
Heat a good layer of olive oil in a flameproof casserole or large saucepan and fry the bacon over a medium heat until starting to colour. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside.
Dust the beef in the flour with plenty of seasoning, then brown in batches over a high heat in the same pan, adding more oil if necessary. Remove and set aside with the bacon.
Add a little more oil to the pan and add the onions and peppers. Fry for 10 minutes until softened and the onions start to colour. Add the garlic, juniper, bay and spices, and fry for a few minutes before adding the tomato purée, vinegar and stock.
Return the beef and bacon to the pan and season well. Bring to a simmer, then cover and cook for 2-2½ hours, until the beef is starting to become really tender. Add the potatoes and beetroot/beets to the pan and simmer, with the lid off, until the vegetables are tender.
Stir in the parsley and serve in large, warmed bowls with generous dollops of sour cream. Winter Cabin Cooking by Lizzie Kamenetzky, with photography by Nassima Rothacker, is published by Ryland Peters & Small, priced £19.99.