Summer is officially here, and more and more farms open their pick your own berries fields. The berry season usually starts with strawberries, followed by redcurrants, blackcurrants and gooseberries, then blueberries and raspberries, and finally the blackberries. Picking your own is fun and a lot cheaper than buying at the market or supermarket. Yesterday we […]
Swiss desserts
Gebrannte Creme (Caramel Dessert)
Gebrannte Creme (lit. burned pudding) or Caramelcreme, a dessert based on caramel, is a popular dessert in Switzerland. It can be tricky to get the caramelising of the sugar right – dark enough so it tastes like caramel but not too dark which makes it taste bitter. There are many different recipes around; I’ve tried […]
Cherry Tart (Chriesiwähe)
I bake a lot of fruit tarts, in the colder months either with apples or with frozen fruit. One thing I dearly missed when we lived in London was the large selection of frozen fruit available in Switzerland. Here you can get frozen cherries, Zwetschgen (plums), rhubarb, apricots and various kinds of berries. My fruit […]
Pears With Chocolate Sauce (Schoggibirnen)
Schoggibirnen (steamed pears with chocolate sauce) was our typical Sunday lunch dessert when I was a child. Sunday lunch was always special, for once a week we ate at the dining table in the dining room instead of the kitchen, and we got to eat a dessert. Normally it was these chocolate pears or vanilla […]
Zurich Apple Fritters (Zürcher Öpfelchüechli)
If you’re visiting a Chilbi (funfair) in Switzerland, the Öpfelchüechli stall is a must to look out for. There’s nothing more comforting than a portion of warm, freshly deep-fried apple fritters coated in cinnamon sugar, ideally accompanied by warm, runny vanilla custard (Vanillesauce). It reminds me of the cold autumn and winter days at my […]
Vanilla sauce (Vanillesauce)
Vanillesauce (vanilla sauce), a liquidy form of custard, is used often in Swiss cooking, for example together with: Apple strudel (Apfelstrudel) Cherry bread pudding (Chriesiauflauf) Apple fritters (Öpfelchüechli) Steamed yeast dumplings (Dampfnudeln) Vanilla sauce is quick and easy to make from scratch which I usually do – it’s tastier than shop bought and not containing […]
Plum Tart (Zwetschgenwähe)
Zwetschgen are a special variety of plums. Different to the usual plums, they’re not round but oval and the colour and taste differs as well. In Switzerland they’re very popular – you can buy them frozen all year round and you can find delicious fresh ones during the Swiss Zwetschgen season from August to October. […]