Sometimes called Gommer Cholera, from the region of Goms, in the canton of Valais (Wallis), or alternatively Walliser Cholera, this savoury pie has an odd name, which is by no means dangerous. The name has a number of differing origin stories. The story most closely associated with the name dates back to 1830 when a cholera epidemic broke out in the Valais. People stayed at home rather than venture out and risk infection, and the […]
A nusszopf, or nussstollen, (once known as the Russenzopf or “Russian zopf”) is a Swiss nut bread made with enriched dough. A zopf is the classic Swiss braided bread, which is similar to a Challah. The nusszopf is basically a Babka made using Zopf dough, which still doesn’t really explain its original name – the classic babka originated in the Jewish communities of Poland and Ukraine. Basically make a dough, roll it out, cover it […]
Chäschüechli is the Swiss-German term for Käsekuchen. A chüechli is a small cake or tart, and these are filled with cheese (Chäs). They are similar to small quiches. The recipe below uses Emmentaler and Appenzeller, but you can use any combination of hard Swiss cheeses – Tilsiter, Gruyere. There are a number of additions, perhaps some fresh herbs, or spring onions. There really isn’t much of a backstory to these cheese tarts. In all likelihood […]
Is it a gugelhopf or a gugelhupf or perhaps a kugelhupf? This is a classic Swiss cake – baked for afternoon tea. A traditional gugelhupf has a relatively dry consistency as it is a tea cake meant to be served with a coffee (or tea if you like). The dryness may be due in part to the unique shape of a gugelhopf pan – the fact that heat circulates on both the outside and the […]
This is a simple Swiss cake, the sort you would quickly put together for an afternoon tea. It’s basically a mix-in-one-bowl kind of batter, baked in a loaf pan – perfect for starter bakers. Now many of these European loafs are baked using long loaf pans, typically 8×27×7cm in size (3.2×10.6×2.75 inches). This cake uses buttermilk, and instead of having to buy fresh buttermilk, it’s actually easier to buy it in powdered form – that […]
As an example of translating a recipe, let’s consider the following recipe from the classic Swiss cookbook Koch Buch by Elisabeth Fülscher (1966). This is a phenomenal book where recipes are really succinct, often only accompanied by a small hand drawn pictures to the side. There are generally few photographs (this recipe actually has a picture). Pictures are often quite helpful in deciphering what a recipe should look like. Without one in baking one always […]
Cookbooks exist in many languages, some of which are never translated into English, which means translating a recipe if you want to actually cook or bake it. The type of non-English cookbooks I most often turn to are Swiss ones written in German. Although most people living in the German-speaking cantons speak some form of Swiss-German, written material is always in German. But how does one translate a baking recipe from a cookbook, especially an […]
Sometimes baking recipes change over time, be it because ingredients change, or methods of baking, or just to offer a healthier alternative. The question is, do they really need to be modified? Here is an original recipe for Totenbeinchen (Dead Legs) from Koch Buch by Elisabeth Fülscher (1966 edition). The format of these recipes is extremely brief. The recipe produces 60-80 pieces, out of the ca. 900g of dough. Below is a copy of the […]
This simple recipe is for Schümli, which are bite-size meringues. Schümli is the Swiss-German word for what in German you might say Schäumchen, which means foamy. They are easy to make, and the flavourings are easy to experiment with. This recipe uses lemon zest, however it’s just as easy to use cocoa powder (30g), matcha powder, or vanilla bean paste. You could even colour them with beet powder for a natural red-ish colour. These meringues […]
This is a bit of a hybrid bake – it has the form of a cake, but in reality it is a pastry crust, filled with apples – yet it has all the flavours of an apple streusel. The cake contains baking apples, (Crispin, Granny Smith), but for those that like a softer apple, try a Pink Lady, Gala, or even a Golden Delicious. I N G R E D I E N T S […]
despite the snow 