2016 Colmar, France in Christmas mood - part 1

Lovely and very, very crowded.

Trip to Brunico, Italy

Lovely both during the day and the night.

Trip to Szeghed, Hungary

Seemed to be a very sad provincial town.

Exotic cake - mango, banana, kiwi (with step-by-step photos)

Ingredients for the dough:

• 100 grams of butter
• 60 grams of almond powder
• 50 grams of sugar
• 50 grams of flour
• 40 grams of crushed walnuts
• 2 eggs

Ingredients for the mango filling:

• 450 grams of mango
• 250 grams of mascarpone cheese
• 4 spoons with sugar
• 5 grams of gelatin sheets
• 5 saffron threads
• a few cardamom seeds 

Ingredients for the banana filling

• 2 bananas
• 100 milliliters of milk
• 250 grams of condensed milk
• 4 grams of gelatin sheets

Ingredients for the kiwi filling:

• 3 kiwi
• 3 grams of gelatin sheets
• 2-3 spoons with condensed milk
• the juice from 1 orange

Prepare the dough:

Beat the eggs with the sugar for about 8 minutes.

Add the melted butter, the flour, the almond powder and the crushed walnuts and mix until well incorporated.

Put the dough in a tray and bake it at 180 Celsius degrees for 20-25 minutes or until ready.

Let it cool!

Prepare the mango filling:

Clean and mash the mango together with the saffron and the cardamom.

Hydrate the gelatin.

Put the mashed mango mixed with the sugar over a slow fire and let it boil for a few moments.

Add the gelatin while the mango is still warm and mix. Let it cool. Add the mascarpone cheese and mix.

Banana filling:

Warm the milk and add the hydrated gelatin. Clean and mash the bananas then poor the milk over the banana. Let it cool!

Add the condensed milk and mix well.

Kiwi filling:

Clean and mash the kiwi. Add the juice from the orange and let the kiwi simmer at slow fire for a few moments. Add the hydrated gelatin while still warm and mix.

Let it cool!

Add the sweetened condensed milk and mix.

Assembling the cake:

On a plate, add the dough layer at the bottom of a detachable circle, then add the banana filling and put it in the fridge to rest for an hour.

Take it out from the fridge and add the kiwi filling. Let it rest for another 30 minutes in the fridge.

Now take it out again and put the mango filling. Put it in the fridge for another hour.

When ready, take out the circle and cover the cake with some cream and candied orange peel.

Enjoy!

Trip to Lienz, Austria

A really small city center. Probably the best place in the area to do some shopping when on holidays in the region. Fortunately they do not close the shops between 12:30 and 15:30 as on the other side of the border in Italy.

The 2016 Brunico Christmas market at dusk

When the lights are on the Christmas market looks even better:

Mandarine and mango cake with blueberry glaze

Ingredients for the dacquoise (for the base layer):

• 100 grams of almond powder 
• 20 grams of sugar
• 3 egg whites
• 1 spoon with corn starch
• 1 teaspoon with powdered sugar

Ingredients for the mandarine and mango jelly:

• 3 mandarines
• 7 grams of gelatin sheets
• 1 mango
• 1 spoon sugar

Ingredients for the mandarine filling:

• 300 grams of fresh cream
• 3 mandarines
• 6 grams of gelatin sheets

Ingredients for the glaze:

• 400 grams of fresh or frozen blueberries
• 100 grams of fresh cream
• 30 grams of white chocolate
• 3 grams of gelatin sheets
• 2 spoons with sugar

Prepare the dacquoise:

Mix the almond powder with the corn starch and the powdered sugar.

Beat the egg whites with the sugar.

Mix the beaten egg whites with the almond/corn starch mixture.

Put the composition in a tray (24 cm diameter) and bake it at 180 degrees Celsius for 10-20 minutes or until done.

Prepare the jelly:

Clean the mango and cut it in small pieces. Add the juice from the 3 mandarines and the sugar and put it at slow fire. Let it simmer for a few minutes.

Mash the composition and add the hydrated gelatin sheets and mix until well incorporated.

Strain the composition and put the obtained syrup in an oven round tray covered with plastic wrap.

Put it in the fridge for 2 hours so that the liquid gelifies.

Prepare the filling:

Peel the mandarines and cut them in small pieces.

Beat 250 grams of the fresh cream with the sugar. Then incorporate the mandarine pieces.

Separately, over a slow fire, warm the remaining fresh cream, add the hydrated gelatin sheets and mix until well incorporated. Let it cool.

When cooled add it over the mandarine/fresh cream filling and mix.

Assembling the cake:

Add the dacquoise, then add the mandarine/mango jelly, then add the mandarine filling and put it in the fridge for 2 hours.

Prepare the glaze:

Mix the fresh/frozen blueberries with 2 spoons with sugar and let it simmer for 5-7 minutes over a slow fire.

Strain the syrup in another pot, put it over a slow fire and add the fresh cream and the white chocolate. Let the chocolate melt and mix slowly.

Remove from fire and while still warm add the hydrated gelatin sheets. Mix until well incorporated.

Strain the composition again and let it cool!

When cooled, take out the cake from the fridge and pour the glaze on top. Level the edges to cover everything. If needed, wait a few minutes then add another layer on the edges.

Enjoy!

2016 Christmas market, Brunico, Italy

Not so big, but with a good choice of food, drinks, gifts and souvenirs.