Enjoying the food in Munich, Germany

Recently, we were lucky to be able to visit the beautiful city of Munich, Germany and took in a visit to Legoland. The Munich part was for the adults in the family and the Legoland part was to convince the younger members of the family to wander around a city for a couple of days. Nothing like a good old-fashioned bribe of a near-future visit to a fun place to get the kids to not whine about their tired legs and about how we’ve already seen two churches and why do we have to see another one! Aside from the architecture, one of the great things to do in Munich is eat (you thought I was going to say “Go to the Oktoberfest and drink like a fish, didn’t you!). Well, the Oktoberfest wasn’t on, and with a couple of kids in tow, fish-drinking is not the done thing, so we went to eat.  One of the delicious sides that you can get everywhere is red cabbage stewed with apples; a dish that brought back many good memories from when I used to live in Heidelberg many years ago. To make sure that I hadn’t forgotten anything, I also made myself eat large helpings of fabulous cakes and pastries.  Of course, it was only in the name of research and something I would never normally do…..

Red cabbage everywhere!

While wiping pretzel crumbs off our faces, before moving onto a beer hall to eat large amounts of meat with sides of red cabbage, potatoes and sauerkraut, we stopped to watch the show of the Glockenspiel in the tower of the town-hall on Marianplatz.  At certain times of the day a whole procession of figures cavort around to the tune of the chiming bells: knights, dancers and wedding guests all take a turn to spin in and out of sight of the crowds watching below. The different scenes show events that marked Munich’s history.  It’s worth reading about before you see it (um, which I didn’t do) so that you can really appreciate the show.

Must-buys when you go to Munich

After stuffing ourselves, we went window-shopping and decided that maybe the traditional dirndls and lederhosen weren’t quite for us.  Though it would certainly make us into talking-points if we wore them back in the French village where we live.  It maybe better just to stick to recreating the red cabbage and apple side dish and leave the dirndl wearing to the Bavarian experts.

Just a note for slicing the red cabbage: if you have a mandoline slicer, it’s actually very quick to shred.  Chopping it by hand will take quite a long time, unless you are an expert knife-wielder.

This cabbage goes exceptional well with brined turkey!

By Lisa Watson

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Stewed red cabbage with apple

Stewed red cabbage and apple is a typical South German side dish. It's good enough to eat by itself!

Course Side Dish

Cuisine German

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time 2 hours hours 15 minutes minutes

Total Time 2 hours hours 15 minutes minutes

Servings 6 people

Ingredients

• 1 Red Cabbage
• 50 g Butter 2 Tbsp
• 1 Onion
• 2 Apples
• 1/2 lemon juice
• 2 Tbsp Red Wine Vinegar
• 150 ml Red Wine 1 cup
• 150 ml Vegetable Broth 1 cup
• 1 tsp Sugar
• 2 Bay leaves
• 4 Cloves
• 3 Juniper Berries
• 1 Tbsp Flour
• 1 Tbsp Redcurrant Jam optional
• Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

• Slice the cabbage into thin strips. I used a mandoline slicer for this.
• Chop the onion finely. Peel, core and chop the apples.
• Melt the butter in a large heavy-bottomed pot. Sauté and onions and apple until the onion becomes translucent.
• Add the cabbage and lemon juice. Stir.
• Sprinkle with 1 - 2 tsp salt, then add the vinegar, wine, broth, bay leaves, cloves, juniper berries and sugar.
• Cover and simmer on a low heat for 1 1/2 - 2 hours, stirring every 10 -15 minutes.
• Mix the flour with a little water in a cup to make a runny paste. Add this mixture to the cabbage and stir in to thicken the sauce.
• Add the redcurrant jam, if using.
• Taste and season with more salt if needed.
• The cabbage can be made a few days in advance and kept refrigerated until needed.

The no-fat apple cake discovery

My parents-in-law were over from Italy in the weekend, and while they were here, for my pleasure (and soon to be for yours!), my mother-in-law showed me how to make this deceptively healthy cake called torta di mele.  I say deceptively healthy as after all, it is a cake, and with cakes, you can only go so far along the healthy route, but it does have an advantage that it has no fat in it.  That’s right folks: no butter and no oil!  It is basically cooked apple held together with a tiny bit of cake, rather than a cake with a bit of apple in it.  Don’t for a minute think, “But I want something richer and more dessert-like”!  This cake tastes rich and will satisfy your craving for something sweet, while also satisfying that whole “eat more fruit” thing that those do-gooder people (like mothers and doctors) always keep insisting on.

Cookbooks with strange names

My mother-in-law, the famous Bianca from the fabulous recipe “Carote di Bianca“, told me that she got this recipe for torta di mele (apple cake) in 1975 from a cookbook in a weekly series called “Jolly della Buona Cucina“…….which I figure is old enough to make it a classic.  Before you start imagining that the word “jolly” was used to make you think of laughing, fat chefs, in Italian it is the name used for the Joker in a pack of cards, so the title actually does makes sense! To “play the Jolly” is to make the winning move, so this cake therefore is a winner!

It’s all about the apples

As you can see from the photos above, there is actually very little “dough” in the torta di mele and LOTS of apple.  So, don’t panic when you make it, as it is supposed to be like that!  Don’t worry, as it will all turn out well in the end. It is a very moist cake, and depending on the type of apples you use, the moistness and the sweetness can vary.  For this cake I used a mixture of Granny Smith and Fuji apples.  If you have very sweet apples, you may want to drop the amount of sugar a little.  If you have very juicy apples, well, then you’re lucky! 🙂 Bianca said that she often uses Golden Delicious apples to make the cake, and so doesn’t sprinkle sugar on top as they are very sweet already.

So, all I can say before I finish up is: This cake is totally worth making!

NOTE:

I would like to add here that a few people have been trying this recipe with mixed results.  A few said that the cake took over an hour to cook and it seemed that the batter didn’t set.  I think if your apples are too juicy, the cake will be very wet and seem as if it isn’t cooked.  I remade it, using only Golden Delicious apples, and it came out perfectly, so I can tell you for sure that they are perfect for the cake.  Using these apples, this cake took 45 minutes to cook in a fan oven at 160°C.  When I made it with a mixture of Granny Smith and Fuji apples, it took 55 minutes to cook at the same temperature.

For a different kind of apple cake, try this recipe. It is for an apricot cake but I’ve substituted the apricots for apples very successfully.

By Lisa Watson

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Italian fat-free apple cake

This cake tastes rich and will satisfy your craving for something sweet, even though it has no butter or oil in it.  Find the recipe on Italian Kiwi!

Course cake, Dessert, sweet

Cuisine Italian

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 45 minutes minutes

Total Time 55 minutes minutes

Servings 1 cake

Ingredients

• 150 g Flour 1 1/4 cups
• 100 g White sugar 6 Tbsp
• 1 sachet 3 tsp Baking powder
• 1 Egg
• 175 ml Milk 3/4 cup
• 1 kg Apples 2 lbs
• Salt a pinch

Instructions

• Butter a 25cm diameter cake tin, then sprinkle breadcrumbs on the bottom.  Shake the tin so that the crumbs cover the bottom and sides, then tip the excess out.
• Heat the oven to 160°C.
• While the oven is heating, mix the flour sugar and salt together.
• Dissolve the baking powder in the milk, then mix it into the dry ingredients.
• Mix in the egg.
• Peel and chop up the apples into small chunks.  My mother-in-law cut them into eighths and then sliced each eighth into chunks.  You can cut them however you like!
• Mix the apples in with the dough until all the apples are coated.
• Tip the mixture into the cake tin, then sprinkle 1 tablespoon of sugar over the top.
• Bake for 45 - 60 minutes until the top is golden brown.
• Leave in the tin for 5 - 10 minutes to cool before turning out.

Notes

I would like to add here that a few people have been trying this recipe with mixed results.  A few said that the cake took over an hour to cook and it seemed that the batter didn't set.  I think if your apples are too juicy, the cake will be very wet and seem as if it isn't cooked.  I remade it, using only Golden Delicious apples, and it came out perfectly, so I can tell you for sure that they are perfect for the cake.  Using these apples, this cake took 45 minutes to cook in a fan oven at 160°C.  When I made it with a mixture of Granny Smith and Fuji apples, it took 55 minutes to cook at the same temperature.