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četvrtak, 29.11.2007.

My work. My stars. My pride.

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Here I am, sittng at my computer desk, drinking some tea after a nice dinner I had, and now writing this post, at last.
As you alreay remember me writing and posting some pics of my colorfull stars, well, the time has come. After 2 weeks, long standing and making thousand of little stars, it is over. My stars are hanging (lets pray they last till Christmas!) and the other ones I did, are already sent to Frankfurt.
The day we made the window set up, I had so much to do and I was very stressed up. I got out of work around 8pm and when I looked up at the window, I forgot about it all. All of my concerns have faded away and I was comepletly hypnotized by this veiw. Since it was evening, the street was more-less dark, and then that window, full of light, reflected the street. Stunning. I was, and still am feeling very proud that I got the chance to make this for a place a like Demel who have a tradition of making those decorations from 1800!
So don't act like you're not impressed...hehehe..

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- 21:25 - Comments (8) - Isprintaj - #

ponedjeljak, 26.11.2007.

Design

I just wanted to inform you that I had a little...ehh..how should I say that..Something happened tonight and my whole layout design got messed up! Oh well, maybe that's a sign to make it even better! I was a bit desperate, so this is just a temporary design, I am already working on a new one...


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- 23:42 - Comments (2) - Isprintaj - #

Panacotta madness

So this was the situation: Sunday, lunch time, 10 people at my familly's apartment are invited for lunch. Speaking with Mrs. Groll, the main chef (she's a 70 year old woman, you would be surprised if you saw her - skinny and dressed up in latest fashion) who's one of THE best cooks besides my grandma's. She requested from me a panacotta. A coffee panacotta indeed. She loves coffee and I made it once for her, so there you go.
I was actually happy about that, because it's so easy to make and it was a perfect item to serve individually which I was very pleased about.

Everything went according the plan, except that I had one person who was diabetic so I had to make one panacotta with his special sugar. Just for your information, it didn't work!! I put I think 1 sheet of gelatine, and when I placed it on the plate, after a little while, it split in 3 sections. Odd. So be careful when you use that sugar...

As far as the rest, it was perfect. Last time I had a bit more gelatine, but this time it was just right.
Here is my version of coffee panacotta:

For 4 persons (150ml per person) :


Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket600ml liquid - I used half amount heavy cream, half milk, and 100ml espresso from that. It is up to you!
Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket3 sheets of gelatine
Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket1 vanilla bean (not necessary, but except taste it looks funky with the little specks on top, just as it was coffee)
Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at PhotobucketSugar - to taste. I honestly didn't have a scale so that's why, but I found it better that way ;)

Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at PhotobucketAs you see, ingredients are very simple and so is the process. Put all ingredients in a pot and make it very hot. If you use vanilla bean, turn off the heat, and leave for 15 minutes covered for aromas to develop.
Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at PhotobucketIn the meantime, soak the gelatine in enough cold water, for about 5 minutes, squeeze it, and before adding it to liquid, make sure it's hot enough for the gelatine to dissolve.
Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at PhotobucketStir a bit and when all the gelatine's dissolved, pour the liquid in ramekins which were previously spalshed with water. Let cool a bit and place in the fridge for at least 4 hours, but overnight is even better.
Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at PhotobucketWhen you're about to unmold the panacotta, separate the very top edge with a little knife, and then pour some boiling water in a bowl and immerse each ramekin at the time for a few seconds.
Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at PhotobucketFlip it out, I used a wet plastic spatula so it's easier to transfer to a plate. You can decorate it with a chocolate coffee bean and I also tempered some chocolate to make it more interesting ;)


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- 05:53 - Comments (6) - Isprintaj - #

četvrtak, 22.11.2007.

Demel's tea cookies

I wanted to share with you an example of tea cookie set (Teegebäck) here at Demel. Since Christmas is a month away, I am also into this whole cookie madness. There are billions of different cookies made each day, and everyone from the bakeshop is helping the Teegebäck station! Now for Christmas, there are 60 different sort of cookies made, but in total, there are 7 tons (each cookie weighs about 15 grams, just for your information) of them produced/year. Crazy.
I have to say, they all taste sooo good. I sneaked and had a few vanille kipferl today...mmmm....

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- 22:38 - Comments (5) - Isprintaj - #

utorak, 20.11.2007.

The imaginary world

This is an extraordinary cake Mr. Nitsche finished today. I was left speechless. This was for a group of archaelogists who were digging up some fossills....and yes, everything is edible (except the frame), the paper, the shellfish, the sand, little stones...

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...even the brush and the ruler....

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- 23:03 - Comments (7) - Isprintaj - #

ponedjeljak, 19.11.2007.

Krampus is on the way...

''Krampus'', an imaginary and ugly character which represents evil, is very traditional in this area, as well as in Croatia. Its symbol is usually a wooden ferule (I found this in the dictionary,hehe) and every year as a kid, on December 6th, I would wake up in the morning with anticipation whether I got sweets from St. Nicholas, or a ferule from Krampus! Yep, if you were naughty that year, we would say, Krampus will bring you a ferule!
Once I got both....
Here in Austria, Krampus is ''celebrated'' on December 5th, and St. Nicholas the next day to make it all nice and children happy again :)

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Our sweet dough ''Krampuses'' were made just as an example, and to mention that the face details are still missing.

So be ready...they are one the way...
....maybe even towards your home.....

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- 22:00 - Comments (3) - Isprintaj - #

petak, 16.11.2007.

Orange chocolate heaven

This is the first recipe I did from the chocolate book I wrote about few days ago. I think I am getting into a chocolate madness, not mentioning that I'm now every day where the chocolate production is, because there I have enough space to paint my stars. So chocolate, chocolate, chocolate, and honestly, it is nice now as the winter approches to enjoy the smell of it and...uhh...OF COURSE...constant tastings :))

This was a very interesting recipe to make and I have to be honest; I made it for my family here and they already had desserts prepared for that weekend, so since I made the biscuit (sponge) already, I put it in a freezer (not very happy about that).
Then the upcoming Monday they had some friends coming over and it was a perfect chance to take it out and finish it off! I was very impatient, so I didn't wait long enough till it got defrosted....You know what's coming up. I started cutting it in half and of course I made a mess. But there is always a solution ;) I put the whole layer, spread the filling, covered it with the rest of the streusel-like biscuit and made some chocolate decorations. For my photoshoot I made it in an individual portion for the sake of a good picture, because the cake was SO good and impossible to skip.

So guys, here is the recipe with a neat little photo, which surprisingly tured out exactly as the cake tasted :)) Now depends what you think of the photo of course...


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I used a 26cm round cake tin, greased and floured, but I prefer little individual portions like this so play with it, use what you like!

Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at PhotobucketFor the biscuit (sponge):

120g dark chocolate
150g butter, room temp
seeds from half of a vanilla bean ( you can use essence or extract)
7 egg whites
7 egg yolks
160g sugar
140g finely ground almonds
100g biscuit (sponge) crumbs ( I had some from the Sacher torte which I took from work, but you can use regular bread crumbs if you don't have that available)

Melt the chocolate on water bath and leave to cool. Whisk with butter, vanilla and yolks.
Whip the egg whites until medium/stiff peaks and add the sugar gradually.
Incorporate carefully into the butter mixture.
Combine the crumbs and almonds and fold in.
Bake for about 50 mins at 180°C.

Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at PhotobucketFor the filling:

100g Marzipan
4cl orange juice (freshly pressed if possible!)
2cl Contreau (or to taste as I did ;))
70g finely chopped Aranzini (candied orange zest)

Just knead all the ingredients together until you get a spreadable mixture. I didn't really measure the orange juice nor the Contreau and you don't have to either. Just add enough until it gets pliable and you decide whether you want more juice or booze :))

Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at PhotobucketTo assemble:

Cut the cake in half (or comepletly defrosted), spread the filling, cover the top with the other layer. Now, take some heated orange jam and spread it on the cake. Decorate with some chocolate curls, or make a chocolate glaze or design whatever you think it's best!
I had to make those chocolate drops since it was all....well....funky!

Enjoy this one!! And Oh, a good tip - Make it the day before you're planning on serving it! A lot better. Promise it's worth the wait and it even says in the book ;)

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- 22:52 - Comments (8) - Isprintaj - #

četvrtak, 15.11.2007.

My ''Christmas'' project

I guess I left you speechless with my last post :))
Here's a quick review of my current work that my Chef assigned me. I have to make 6 of those colorful stars (three small three big), believe it or not, it's for our Christmas show window! Everybody asked me if that's for Easter maybe?! I am sure it will look different when everything's finished, and you will see it yourselfs so you can give me some feedback ;)

What it comes down to is piping little stars in different colors with an egg white-sugar glaze. Beyond this, I have another 10 smaller stars (only in white color, thank God) which are for this special airline in Frankfurt, I am not 100% sure what's it called, but it's like THE top. I have to say I am very pleased that I am making those stars for them as well which will be used as a decoration for their buffet.
Soooo, the funniest (or not) part of the whole job was when I told my Chef that I have 4 more stars left to do, and he responded, '' Don't forget the back side!''.

Speechless.

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- 22:27 - Comments (4) - Isprintaj - #

srijeda, 14.11.2007.

It's a candy machine!!

Well, I guess it wasn't that easy to guess, but at least you tried! It is a hard-candy machine and it is so amazing to see that something like this is still being used. I had so much fun watching those candies being made!
So here two pics to make it more clear. Basically what is is sugar being cooked with aroma, colour, acidity, and something to prevent crystalization and then spreading it on the table, letting it cool down a bit (yes, you have to know the right moment!) and then very fast passing it through the candy-rolling machine! ;)

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- 19:39 - Comments (0) - Isprintaj - #

ponedjeljak, 12.11.2007.

This is a prehistorical....?

Yep, it is a prehistorical machine here at Demel, but it's in a great condition and I wonder if you have any ideas on what it is used for?! Let me see your imagination!
The one who guesses, gets the product ;)

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- 22:42 - Comments (7) - Isprintaj - #

subota, 10.11.2007.

Vanille kipferl

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As I posted that photo of vanilla kipferl (crescent) queen, I thought of making vanilla kipferl. It was just the right thing to do on this rainy and cold day, better to say freezing! Everything in the city is slowly getting decorated for Christmas and it will be magical, I simply cannot wait.
I was actually planning on going to Demel today, but then I didn't really feel like it + I had things I really wanted to do this weekend. I need to work and learn a bit more about my camera and I still have homework to finish for monday!
Oh, I bought the cd from the Backstreet boys :)) If you didn't know, I am their fan since I was 6 and their first record was the first one I bought, actually my dad bought it for me, hehe. THere are a some good songs, but it's different from their past albums. I need to listen to it a bit more...

Ok, I guees you're not that interested in the Backstreet boys, so I'll continue with my vanilla kipferl ;) Everything turned out nice, EXCEPT, that I peeled my almonds, got them ready and then remembered that I'm not at home and that I don't have a grinder here. Ahhhhh. Thank God I had the exact amount of ground almonds (with skin though) in the fridge and so I used that. Original vanille kipferl are made with peeled almonds, but this was very good as well. You should've been here while they were baking. Oh my, that was heavenly. That smell is just........

Sooo, here are my 2 pics and a recipe to go with! :))

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Vanille Kipferl
This recipe I got from Austrian recipes and I just added some of my ground vanilla pods in the dough.

210 grams flour
180 grams butter
50 grams powdered sugar
70 grams almonds, peeled and ground
2 egg yolks
60 grams powdered sugar
vanilla

Mix flour and butter together until it looks like breadcrumbs. Add sugar, almonds and egg yolks and knead quickly to a short pastry. Cool for 1/2 hour.

Form to a roll of the thickness of a thumb. Cut into 1 centimeter pieces. Now roll each piece in your hand to a length of about 4-5 centimeters and give it the shape of a French croissant (but much smaller of course, and this shape is what we call "Kipferl").

Bake at 180 C for about 12 mins, it depends of your oven of course. They may not get any color, so don't wait until they're brown!

Mix the powdered sugar with vanilla and roll the Kipferl in the sugar mixture while they are still hot. But be careful, those Kipferl tend to break very easily.

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- 23:55 - Comments (5) - Isprintaj - #

petak, 09.11.2007.

Marzipan power

Yes, that was marzipan with a chocolate base for more stability. And yes, more importantly, it is Remy from Ratatouille! :))
When I saw this I got so excited! Someone wished it as a design for its bithday cake, how cute. I really heart Ratatouille and hands down, this animated film was a great job.
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This photo under Remy is the Vanilla Kipferl queen! Lets just say vanilla crescents are a classic here in Europe, you can find them anywhere, but they originated in Austria. Every household has thier own recipe; someone makes them with ground hazelnuts, some with walnuts, but they are originally made with peeled almonds. You should try making them one time and they really look as shown on the Vanilla crescent queen! Ignore the boobs though...
Both of the figures are masterpieces from Mr. Nitsche, who I told you about in the last post. Oh, and just to mention that this Vanilla queen is almost my height.

Today I was given a new job, and I couldn't wish for a better one! My Chef has given me a task to paint the stars for the Demel's Christmas show window. I will take some shots tomorrow just so you can see how cool it looks like and there is quite a bit of work with them. I have this weekend off, but I'm going to play with the stars for a bit tomorrow, when I get enough sleep of course!


Happy days! ;)

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- 19:39 - Comments (3) - Isprintaj - #

četvrtak, 08.11.2007.

Any guesses?

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- 20:56 - Comments (4) - Isprintaj - #

srijeda, 07.11.2007.

Chocolate, chocolate, and chocolate!!!

First of all, I have finally managed to finish 2000 of my almond-milk chocolate clusters. I really didn't have a problem making them, since I didn't do it all in one day, but THANK GOD IT'S DONE. Now I can switch to another subject...
And that would be chocolate..again! This book showed me Mr. Nitsche who is THE MAN at Demel. He has been working there for 30 years and he's on the decor station. He is a true artist, I will post tomorrow something he made recently and I am sure you'll know immediately what, actually who it is....

Anyways, this book totally hypnotized me. It is one of the best books I've seen so far. It is not printed anymore so he surprised me and made all these phone calls and a few days later I got one of the last examples. Recipes seem so delicious, I love the combinations and I just cannot choose which one should I do first! Mr. Nitsche thank you once again sooo much :)
I got all excited, because I got an idea....If you ever read Julie Powel's book Julie&Julia, you will know what I'm talking about. I want to make each recipe from all of those 230 heavenly written and photographed pages. Let me not forget to mention that it's not just recipes, there are some very interesting stories and facts about this beautiful thing called Chocolate.
By the way.....Who would buy me all that chocolate?!

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- 22:47 - Comments (3) - Isprintaj - #

ponedjeljak, 05.11.2007.

Sunset in my heart

My parents were here for almost a week as well as my ''second parents'', Hans and Annette from Germany. It was a beautiful couple of days we spent together and this picture was accidently taken by my dad, but it's excatly how this week ended. I enjoyed it a lot, but now it's time to move on and come back to reality again.
Sooooo, today was another lovely day at Demel, just the usual work, but I learn something every day and my german is...I have to admit...getting better and better :))

Driving through Austria we spotted this huge field with all kinds of pumpkins! I was like, dad!! Stop right there! Now that was a view. We bought a couple of small ones for soup and some for baking. Mmmmm, can't wait! I already have a fabulous creation in my head! Just you wait and see...


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- 20:23 - Comments (1) - Isprintaj - #