Quark Cake

How do you say Eischnee in English? A direct translation from German would make it egg snow, which is rather pretty. Unfortunately the idiomatic version in English is probably the less poetic beaten eggwhite. The reason for translating a German recipe is that James has been raving about Quark Cake since he came back from Germany. Quark is a German curd cheese, which is more sour than sour cream, but similar in texture. Since James is not normally a lover of cheesecakes, the quark version must have been pretty special. The difficult part about making this cheesecake is that quark is not readily available in Sydney.

One Austrian friend managed to find organic quark at a speciality deli, but the price was exorbitant. Luckily another friend is both a home cook and a native speaker of German. She has been missing quark, so before long she found some recipes for both the quark itself, and for Quark Cake. Knowing James, she didn’t translate them, since that would be denying him the opportunity to practise his German.

Having made some quark (I’ll post a method soon), all that remained was to choose a Quark Cake recipe. Since James had amnesia regarding all features of the cake he’d had (barring its yumminess), all options were open. Why not choose something out of the ordinary then – a baked cheesecake with beaten egg white? It sounded different, and the lemon zest and rum-soaked raisin flavours were appealing.

In a last-ditch attempt to reduce the saturated fat content of this recipe I used a sweet, gluten free version of Heidi’s Olive Oil Shortcrust for the pastry case. This crust is a little crunchy for a cheesecake, so feel free to substitute your favourite melt-in-the-mouth short crust recipe. After all, you can’t be good all the time.

This Quark Cake is soft, and well endowed with rum-soaked raisins. The lemon zest keeps it from being too sweet. The tang of quark makes the cake quite different from a cream cheese-based cheesecake, so it’s definitely worth making quark for it. It’s not too fiddly, and it’s a less time consuming way to get your quark fix than a trip to Germany!

Ingredients for the Quark Filling
fills a 22cm short crust pastry case
250g quark
130g castor sugar
2 eggs, separated
rind of half a lemon
50g butter (melted)
30g gluten free plain flour
80g raisins soaked in rum

Method for the Quark Filling
1. Preheat the oven to 160 degrees Celcius.
2. Separate the eggs.
3. Combine the yolks and half the sugar with the quark. Mix it thoroughly.
4. Add the lemon zest, then the melted butter and mix well.
5. Sift in the flour and combine.
6. Drain the raisins (which you’ve soaked in rum for at least an hour), and add them too. Ensure they are well drained or the alcohol could curdle the mixture.
7. Beat the egg whites with the other half of the sugar until stiff peaks form.
8. Add 1/4 of the egg white to the quark mixture and fold in.
9. Then fold in the remainder of the beaten egg whites.
10. Pour into a cooled pastry case (22cm diameter).
11. Bake at 160 degrees Celcius for ~45 min. When the cake is cooked the centre will spring back when lightly touched and a skewer will come out clean.

Ingredients for the Olive Oil Short Crust (gluten free)
alternatively blind bake your favourite short crust pastry in a 22cm tart tin
200g gluten free plain flour
50g brown rice flour
50g castor sugar
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 cup water

Method for the Olive Oil Short Crust (gluten free)
1. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celcius.
2. Combine the sifted flours and sugar with the olive oil.
3. Add the water very gradually until the dough comes together in a ball. You won’t need all the water, so add it only a little at a time.
4. Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured board until it is the right size for your 22cm tart tin. Loosen the pastry with a palette knife and roll it around your rolling pin while you transport it into the pan. If it cracks (and since it’s gluten free you’re a hero if it doesn’t), then poke it together with your fingers.
5. Prick the pastry with a fork and cover lightly with uncooked rice, then bake blind for ~25 mins at 200 degrees Celcius.

The Apprentice Restaurant

“I’m not coming with you! They’ll serve gluten free bread, and all the coeliacs will talk about their diagnosis.” That was James’ refusal when I invited him to the Coeliac Society dinner, and he gave it with certainty. Luckily not everyone shares his aversion to these events. When I invited the Personality Profiler she said she was willing to take the risk on the gluten free bread. After all it should only a small part of the four course meal. She was also excited by the opportunity to meet new people. For me the main attraction was trying out a new restaurant, which was The Apprentice at Sydney Institute of TAFE. Also, like any coeliac, I was overjoyed at the prospect of being able to eat a meal out without having to ask questions about which dishes would be gluten free.

At The Apprentice the menu for each night is designed by the student who is acting as head chef for the evening. They make the menu and recipes and the other apprentices act as their team for the evening. Our four course dinner was entirely gluten free, and the range of dishes had the coeliacs at the table chattering in excitement. Since the dishes were distributed randomly around the table lots of us made deals for swapping depending on what we were served.

We started the meal with bread and butter, which is an unusual pleasure for a group of coeliacs. The gluten free bread was nothing special though, and it had the odd hole in it despite its density. The personality profiler called it “interesting” and another non-coeliac at our table shook her head and said “potato flour”. Gluten free bread isn’t something you’d eat if you weren’t on a special diet, but for a coeliac bread is a special treat.

A shot glass of pea soup with an accompanying smoked trout salad was a nicely presented appetiser. The pea soup was beautifully smooth and creamy, and it seemed easier to appreciate the texture of this soup than in the usual pea and ham combination. The smoked trout and avocado salad was lemony and delicious.

I was very excited to get the salt and pepper squid for entree, since this dish is rarely gluten free at a regular restaurant. The squid was served with chilli jam and a wedge of lime, but was not as tender as you would hope for.

The Personality Profiler’s entree was outstanding however, with perfectly soft gnocchi in a spicy chorizo sauce.

For the mains we came to an agreement for a swap. I was happy with anything but the pork belly, and the Personality Profiler was willing to try anything but the salmon. Murphy’s law prevailed and we both received the dish we didn’t want – lucky we’d arranged to swap! A quick taste test revealed that the pork was very moist and fatty, which is probably a good thing if you like pork belly.

The salmon was served with a cheesy mash and an orange sauce, which was not only orange flavoured, but an amazing orange colour aswell. The salmon had a crispy skin which was decorated with sweet pieces of fruit. The fruit and fish combination was lovely, and the cheesiness of the mash was offset by refreshing green choy sum.

After the main course our waiter swept the table with a golden ruler. Only one person at our table had experienced this before, and said that he’d seen the same cleaning job performed with a spoon. It made the ruler seem like a miracle of efficiency! The wait staff were being marked on their performance on the night, and we filled in feedback sheets for them at the end of the evening.

The gluten free dessert options were a particularly poignant pleasure to an audience of coeliacs. Finding a gluten free main of grilled meat or fish is a simple exercise compared to finding a gluten free dessert. Eyeing the list of desserts on this menu everyone was in raptures. We wouldn’t be eating half-hearted fruit salad or icecream tonight!

The Personality Profiler had a stroke of brilliance and suggested we go halves, so we could taste both desserts. The sticky date pudding was served with caramel sauce and Baileys icecream. The flavour of Baileys was strong and creamy, and the coffee and caramel combination was very nice.

The grapefruit and cardamon creme brulee had a magnificently crackable toffee top. Inside the citrus flavour contrasted pleasantly with the creamy custard. The pistachio biscuit served on the side was extremely crisp and light, as if it was made with eggwhite, and it’s lightness contrasted well with the rich custard.

For twenty seven dollars this four course meal was a steal. It was clear that professionalism and care had gone into every step from the menu to the plating. Happily The Apprentice Restaurant is open to the public and serves a similar fixed menu to the one we had at the Coeliac Society dinner.

This diverse menu would have impressed me ordinarily, but the fact that it was entirely gluten free made it truly special. It is a rare pleasure for a coeliac to eat with perfect peace of mind, and not having to choose the boring option was pure pleasure. James was right though – get any group of coeliacs together and the topic of their diagnosis does come up.

The Apprentice Restaurant
Level 7, Building E
TAFE NSW Sydney Institute, Ultimo College
Harris Street
Ultimo NSW

Ratings (out of 5 snorts)

Price	5 snorts
Taste	4 snorts
Service	4 snorts
Atmosphere	4 snorts

Hummingbird Slice

“Summer is a State of Mind” read the slogan on an icecream advertisement in Edinburgh. It still makes us laugh, because the few days of “summer” we experienced in Edinburgh were a lot like Sydney in winter. The sentiment is understandeable though. As we wind down to the solstice, and our longest, darkest night, I find myself longing for a taste of summer. Eating an icecream at the beach, even when the wind is icy, can let you pretend for a moment that the seasons have changed. Even summer in a can is better than no summer at all, so a recipe calling for crushed pineapple simply calls out to be baked.

Hummingbird slice is a colourful name for a fruity cake. With crushed pineapple, banana and grated carrot, the version in this month’s Donna Hay magazine sounded beautifully moist. If you want to create a gluten free cake, recipes with lots of moisture are best. Cakes that don’t rely on flour for their texture also turn out well gluten free. Being full of fruit for moisture and texture the hummingbird slice sounded like the perfect candidate for a gluten free cake.

The hummingbird cake is similar to a carrot cake, with pleasant hints of pineapple, and some cinnamon for fragrance. For the gluten free version I used a combination of almond meal and a commercial gluten free flour blend, which worked out quite well. When James said, “How did you get this to taste so un-gf?” I knew I’d be making this one again.

Hummingbird Slice
Adapted from Donna Hay Magazine Issue 45

Ingredients
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup olive oil
2 eggs
1/2 cup canned crushed pineapple (drained)
1 banana (mashed)
1 cup grated carrot
1/2 cup almond meal
1/2 cup gluten free plain flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 cup desiccated coconut

Method
Preheat oven to 160 degrees celcius.
Put sugar, oil and eggs in a bowl and combine
Add pineapple, banana and carrot and mix again.
Then add almond meal, sifted gluten free flour, baking powder, bicarb-soda, cinnamon and coconut and mix well.
Pour the mixture into a lined 20 by 30 cm lamington pan.
Bake for approximately 40 mins, or until it springs back when you touch it.

Campsie Food Festival

Often when you take too many photos of someone preparing food it makes them uncomfortable. They usually ask you what you’re doing in a suspicious tone of voice. Occasionally though, you get a positive responses to your interest. Recently when I was taking a lot of photos I was given a business card in case I wanted more information. Charlie Yan, fruit carver, obviously wasn’t shy about performing in public. He put on a good show, and drew a crowd of spectators even though he was competing with all sorts of other entertainment.

In addition to fruit carving, the Campsie Food Festival featured cooking demonstrations and food from around the world. There was a Vietnamese cooking demonstration for adults and fruit skewer making sessions for kids. The children were given little aprons to wear while they threaded an assortment of brightly coloured fruit pieces onto satay sticks. Funnily, most of them never completed an entire skewer. They found the fruit too tempting and ate it long before their skewers were finished. It was wonderful watching their faces as they concentrated on the job of threading the fruit, not to mention their pleasure in eating it.

The crowds on Beamish Street didn’t reach their peak until after midday, so in the morning it was possible to get close enough to the stalls to watch the food being prepared. There were pans of boiling oil for preparing spiral shaped potatoes on sticks and barbeques crowded with satay sticks and sausages. Hungarian pastries, Dutch profiterjes and French crepes competed with Indonesian casava cakes and red bean cakes for the attention of sweet-toothed customers.

A Chinese marching band dressed in rather outlandish costumes came down the road playing their drums. There was also a South American pan pipe band. My favourite entertainment was the food preparation and demonstrations though. The ladies rolling out Turkish Gözleme were great to watch as they rolled and filled the pastries with spinach and fetta. Served piping hot with a squeeze of lemon the gözleme attracted a long queue at lunchtime.

My favourite act was definitely the fruit carving though. It’s just amazing to watch. As well as the colourful watermelons I was impressed with the Queensland Blue pumpkins. They’re so hard to cut up just for eating that it must be quite a feat to carve roses into them. Maybe you need strength as well as artistic talent to carve fruit – or a very sharp knife at least.

The Campsie Food Festival is an annual event run by the City of Canterbury Council. In 2009 the festival was held on June 6th.

Beamish St
Campsie
NSW

The Lone Eater

So my parents (with whom I live) are going walking for two weeks in Kakadu, leaving me on my sweet little lonesome. This means that for two weeks I’m going to be cooking for myself and myself alone most of the time, which could be something of a problem. You see, everything I make ends up being huge. Remember Arwen’s post about that recipe book of meals for fifty? Yeah, don’t need that, practically everything I cook would feed fifty by itself, or at best only need to be doubled.

Now, I could just cook a few giant meals, and then refrigerate/freeze them and alternate nights eating them, but that could get super boring since it’d take me all of the two weeks to eat 3 dishes. Alternatively, I could end up getting bored of cooking every night since this is a whole lot of effort and find myself subsisting on mi goreng and dying of malnutrition on the 13th day. However, I thought that perhaps I could make this an opportunity to expand my recipe base.

So this is my challenge for you- recipes for one that are perfect for the lazy cook. To make it interesting, I’ll suggest a list of veges and herbs I have growing that are ready to be eaten (there are others that aren’t) and see what you come up with. It’s best if they’re things you personally cook on a regular basis, the recipes you know essentially by heart. If you have to think about it too long, it’s not lazy enough

Vegetables- Zucchinis, carrots, lettuce, green capsicums (tiny ones), lemons, oranges.

Herbs- basil, mint, bay, rosemary, garlic chives, lemongrass, marjoram, thyme, kaffir lime, parsely (although I don’t like it much).

Points for low on meat (since I’m cheap), points for using the suggested plants, double points if I don’t have to go down to the shops (so using things you’d expect me to have round the house like pasta, rice, eggs, basic sauces etc).

With any luck, there’ll be a bunch of lazy recipes at the end that everyone can use, so don’t forget to check back through the comments and see what’s there!