Lately

Posted on October 19, 2013 by Kristina

I haven’t posted one of these in ages so it’s going to be a bit longer ;)

[Above: Flawless autumn afternoons with the pony. | Below: At the exhibition “Salon der Angst“.]

[Above: Coffee Pirates is my new favourite place to while away time between uni lectures. | Below: Teatime at home.]

[Above: Lange Nacht der Museen (Long Night of the Museums) was spent at Demel, Schlumberger Sektkellerei and the Circus and Clown museum. Goodness. | Below: The last harvest of the season.]

[Above: Lazy mornings in bed. | Below: This year’s World Press Photo exhibition. Stunning, as always.]

This autumn I’m trying to make the most of all the things Vienna has to offer. There’s so much to do and see in this city.
Still, having time to myself for lazy mornings and relaxing afternoons will always be important to me and I just cannot deny myself these simple pleasures.

You can find me on Instagram if you’d like.

Zwetschkenkuchen (Plum Cake)

Posted on September 10, 2013 by Kristina

Let’s embrace the fact that there’s still a lot of seasonal fruit out there right now. Like plums. I love plums because you can do so many things with them. Cake, jam, compotes,…
So yes, needless to say that I was super, super happy when my neighbours brought us a basket full of them from their tree.

This is another really quick and easy recipe if you have a lot of plums but no idea what to do with them or no time to make something more elaborate. The added cinnamon gives it a slightly autumnal touch, which is sadly, very appropriate these days.

Ingredients
Plums (sliced in half or even quartered)
120g or 1/2 cup butter
150g or 2/3 cup finely granulated sugar
75g or 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
100g or 3 1/2 oz ground almonds
3 eggs
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
Butter to grease the pan (or baking parchment)

What to do
Pre-heat the oven to 180°C / 350°F.
Cut the plums in half (or quarters, however you prefer) and toss with the cinnamon. Leave to the side.
Cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one after the other. Mix together the flour, salt and baking powder. Stir in gently with a metal spoon. Fold in the ground almonds.
Pour the batter in an appropriate (and greased, or lined with baking parchment) tin. Place the plums on top.

Bake for 40-45 minutes until a skewer comes out clean.

Marillenkuchen (Apricot Cake)

Posted on July 8, 2013 by Kristina

Apricots are in season and this is kind of a tradition. We make cake every year and my gran makes enough jam to last me the entire year. So much goodness.
So when I was about to bake Coconut Cupcakes today my mum just raised an eyebrow at me and then nodded to the entire bucket full of apricots that was standing in the middle of our kitchen. Point taken, thank you very much.
This is the first recipe I found and one of the quickest, easiest recipes for dough I’ve ever made. Seriously.

Ingredients
200g butter (unsalted)
200g powdered sugar
200g all purpose flour
4 eggs
1 packet vanilla sugar
1 pinch of baking powder
300g apricots (pitted)

Butter to grease the form (or baking paper, if you prefer).

What to do
Melt the butter, let it cool for a while then mix with powdered sugar until smooth and white. Carefully add the eggs and vanilla sugar. Mix and then slowly add the flour and baking powder.
Pour the batter into a greased form (about as thick as one of your fingers) and put the sliced apricots on top.
Bake at 150°C until a skewer comes out clean.