Daring Bakers: Povitica

For this month's Daring Bakers we made Povitica. You might have never heard of this before, at least I haven't. It's origin is from Eastern Europe and it is basically a yeast bread with a nut filling. It becomes its nice pattern from rolling and layering the dough with its filling. I made the suggested recipe provided, just changed the dry yeast to fresh yeast, since I like to use fresh yeast a lot better. The bread tasted really good, not to sweet, and moist enough that you didn't even have to spread anything on top.

The Daring Baker’s October 2011 challenge was Povitica, hosted by Jenni of The Gingered Whisk. Povitica is a traditional Eastern European Dessert Bread that is as lovely to look at as it is to eat!

Streusel Plum Tart with Yeast Dough

Plum Cake is my favorite early fall cake, so I was glad to see they were still available in the market last week, as we were already finished with picking all of our fruits a few weeks before. For baking, my favorite variety are Italian plums. They are more firm and also more tart than regular plums. They are perfect for a crumble cake, either with short crust or yeast dough.

This time I used a yeast dough and baked it in a tart form. Under the plums is a layer of crushed amarettini cookies, which prevent the dough from getting soggy and also give a great taste.

Apricot Tartlets

Seems like quite some time I haven't been here, but a lot has happened over the last month. We finally went on our honeymoon after 9 months of marriage. It was worth the wait, as we went half way around the world to Hawaii. My husband also got a new job, so we are in the process of moving to south Germany. Not much time for baking, but I already really miss it.

If you still have access to fresh apricots, these are some great little tartelettes. Otherwise you can also use canned apricots. Apricots always go well with almonds, here you have three different kinds, ground almonds on the crust, slivered almonds on top and some amaretto in the filling. I also put some wild peaches in the middle, but that is of course optional.

Blackberry-Hazelnut Muffins

Blackberries are usually in season later in summer. Now in September it already might be a little difficult to get them still, depending on where you are. We have had a lot of them in our garden this year, but the wild ones that you find in the forest or on some hiking trails are still my favorites. They are just so much sweeter.

These muffins are really easy to make. They are basically like a crumble with fruit in the middle. They are a little delicate to handle, because they are so crumbly. There is also a good amount of hazelnuts in there and some lime to give a little zing. If you want to make blackberry jam, you can also add some lime juice and zest. It is a very good combination altogether.

Blueberry Buttermilk Streusel Cake

Blueberries are a real treat in summer, and I think the best are the wild variety, as for most fruits. Luckily we found our spot for wild blueberries in the forest again this year. It is not the fastest or easiest fruit to pick, but it's worth the effort. People here used to do it with a big comb, but that method is not good for the blueberry shrubs as it takes off a lot of leaves, smaller branches, and unripe berries.

This cake is almost like a giant blueberry muffin, with a nice moist batter, made with buttermilk, and crunchy streusel on top. It tastes best on the day you make it, topped with freshly whipped cream. But you can store it under a cake dome for about 3 days, and it will still be good.