The Engadine nut cake is also called the Bündner nut cake and owes its name to its place of origin - Engadine, in the canton of Graubünden Switzerland. Historians point out that the recipe has been known since 1900.
The cake is made flat from shortcrust pastry filled with coarsely chopped walnuts in caramel. The most famous specialty of the canton, it belongs to traditional Swiss cuisine and is a significant export. The cake is very convenient for postal parcels and can be stored for up to 2 months in the refrigerator without losing its taste. It is exported all over the world and has long won the heart of the Catholic Vatican.
Absolutely all families in Switzerland have their own recipe with "raisins". This cake is a must in all restaurants and shops. Seeing the Swiss nut cake in the order table, I immediately decided to present you with a real recipe coming from first hand and from the place of origin of the cake itself, since I live in the canton where the recipe was created. I also want to show a little of the Alps, where the cake comes from. Here's like a short story, but now let's look at the recipe and the cake itself. All culinary inspiration and welcome your feedback!
Hearty pie from Switzerland January 9th, 2017
All with the beginning of the new working year!
How was New Year and Christmas celebrated? How were the holidays in general? Did you manage to meet everyone? How should you have rested?
For some reason I am sure that despite the fact that they have already ended, the whole January will still be slightly festive, a little relaxed and everyone will continue to invite each other to visit and "celebrate". There are many friends and relatives, everyone wants to talk, someone traveled these days, and someone did not arrive for some reason. As always. So you think, is it bad that we still have a reason to meet on the "old New Year", no matter how ridiculous all this may be? I used to look for my advantages in everything. And this too.
A friendly atmosphere and delicious homemade food is always a reason to meet. This is what creates a good mood. And they need to stock up for the whole year. It's true?
I didn’t have time to really congratulate you. But it’s not too late. So that's it. Let the current year be hearty, friendly and homely.
And as a gift, I have for you a very unusual recipe for a dish that I tried in Switzerland, and I really liked it because it is delicious and satisfying, very suitable for friendly gatherings at home. Sit on the couch, share experiences and remember trips and adventures with your friends and family, eat homemade pies and drink warming drinks. I propose to share these homemade recipes all January! Share your "cozy" recipes and throw off the links, suddenly I also want to cook something according to your recipes.
And today we have a cake from the canton of Valais, a region in Switzerland where one of the most popular ski resorts in Zermatt is located. The name of the pie is very funny - cholera, but the legend of origin is quite funny. During the period when residents were not allowed to take food out of the house, everything that people had at hand went into the pie - the food was mixed and baked in the dough. Many peoples have similar pies. But this cake is also interesting in combination. Onions, potatoes, cheese, pork (there are options without it) and apples. Apples in hot dishes are quite familiar to the Swiss. Think of Alpine pasta served with applesauce.
In general, the cake is very simple. I have already made 4 pies for the New Year holidays. You can safely use ready-made puff pastry purchased at the store for it. Just pay attention to the composition and try to choose the one with the least strange ingredients. Well, if you have ever made chopped dough, then you will not have any difficulties in preparing the dough for this cake. It is prepared quickly and does not require any special knowledge and skills. A little more preparation time.
Required:
2 small potatoes (100-120 g), cooked almost until tender
1 small apple (green varieties preferred), peeled
1 leek stalk (or 1 small onion)
100-150 g of grated cheese (for example, Emmental cheese, or better - raclette, it also comes from Valais, and we will talk about it soon)
50 g loin, brisket, cooked smoked bacon or bacon
salt and freshly ground pepper
a pinch of ground nutmeg
1 egg
for the test:
150 g wheat flour
1/2 tsp salt
50 g chilled butter (take 15 minutes before cooking to soften)
cold water
First, let's prepare the dough. Pour salt into the flour, add the butter in pieces and quickly mix with a mixer until crumbs form, pour in just enough cold water so that the dough just starts to stick together and a heterogeneous lump collects (about 30 ml I get water). Then collect the lump with your hands, compact it slightly until a ball forms, flatten it and put it in the refrigerator for half an hour to rest (covered with a lid or bag).
Meanwhile, we are preparing the filling. Chop the leek and fry in vegetable until soft (5-10 minutes, depending on the thickness and type of onion). All other ingredients are cut into cubes no more than 1 cm: potatoes, apple, brisket - then add to the onion, add salt, pepper, nutmeg and mix.
Roll the cooled dough between two pre-prepared sheets of parchment paper into a layer 3 mm thick and cut out a circle one and a half times larger than the diameter of the mold where the cake will be baked. I recommend using a uniform with high sides. Tall pies look better. But, in principle, any will do, just add the height of the bead to the radius of the bottom - when cutting. I also did takeaway forms. We remove the top paper, and transfer the circle to the form, turn it over, removing the second paper, carefully distribute the dough along the bottom and sides, as folds appear, straighten them evenly along the entire side part. It is not worth it to be too strong. This dough should not be ironed and crumpled too much, the less manipulation - the lighter and crisper it is. This also applies to kneading.
The bottom should be chopped with a fork over the entire surface, then put half of the filling, sprinkle the surface with half of the cheese, then the filling again and the remaining cheese. Collect a ball from the scraps of dough and roll it into a layer along the diameter of the mold. Grease the edges of the dough with an egg, place the second round of dough over the filling and pinch, folding the edges inward. Chop the top with a fork, grease the surface of the pie with an egg and send it to an oven preheated to 190 degrees for 30 minutes.
With this dough, the cake lasts well for several days, so you can prepare it in advance. If you don't like pork, simply eliminate it by proportionally increasing all the ingredients, or add the leftover beef from dinner. If you decide to do it with puff, please note: you do not need to roll it out, just cut out the circles, 1 package is enough for the pie. And don't forget to grease the pan with butter to make it easier to remove the dough.
In general, Swiss cuisine was the most popular with us on these New Year's holidays. We cooked resti, fondue, pie and bread. Whatever you say, Swiss cuisine is one of the most warming and satisfying. January will be "swiss made" for me. I'd like to convey to you my feelings from the Swiss winter, coziness and comfort. Graubunden soup and Engadin walnut pie are next.
PS Thank you all for your birthday greetings, and in the meantime I am studying my new computer, which I have dreamed of already, you will not believe it, probably for 15 years. For so long, my computer was updated and adapted, but over the past year I realized that it was time to part with it. Now I have joined the ranks of Yabloko. My husband didn’t even try to convince me, he just took and gave me a "poppy". I am slowly getting used to the fact that there is no need to wait until the necessary photos are loaded)
The Engadine nut cake is also called the Bündner nut cake and owes its name to its place of origin - Engadine, in the canton of Graubünden Switzerland. Historians point out that the recipe has been known since 1900.
The cake is made flat from shortcrust pastry filled with coarsely chopped walnuts in caramel. The most famous specialty of the canton, it belongs to traditional Swiss cuisine and is a significant export. The cake is very convenient for postal parcels and can be stored for up to 2 months in the refrigerator without losing its taste. It is exported all over the world and has long won the heart of the Catholic Vatican.
Absolutely all families in Switzerland have their own recipe with "raisins". This cake is a must in all restaurants and shops. Seeing the Swiss nut cake in the order table, I immediately decided to present you with a real recipe coming from first hand and from the place of origin of the cake itself, since I live in the canton where the recipe was created. I also want to show a little of the Alps, where the cake comes from. Here's like a short story, but now let's look at the recipe and the cake itself. All culinary inspiration and welcome your feedback!
A difficult recipe for Swiss nut pie of European cuisine step by step with a photo. Easy to cook at home in 1 hour 40 minutes. Contains only 262 kilocalories.
- Preparation time: 10 min
- Time for preparing: 1 hour 40 mins
- Calories: 262 kcal
- Servings: 8 servings
- Occasion: Dessert
- Complexity: Difficult recipe
- National cuisine: European cuisine
- Type of dish: Desserts and pastries
- We need: Oven
Ingredients for eight servings
- For the test
- Butter 160 g
- Wheat flour 300 g
- Sugar 130 g
- Cream 1 tbsp l.
- Salt 0.5 tsp
- Chicken eggs 1 pc.
- Filling
- Honey 1.5 tbsp. l.
- Almonds 25 g
- Walnuts 300 g
- Sugar 250 g
- Cream 200 ml
Step by step cooking
- To make the cake, take flour, egg, sugar, cream, honey, butter and nuts.
- Sift flour with a pinch of salt, then add sugar and chopped cold butter.
- Grind everything into crumbs with your hands or a mixer, add 1 egg and a tablespoon of cream.
- Gather the dough into a ball (do not knead the dough) and then divide into 2 parts. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 40-50 minutes.
- At this time, we will deal with the filling. Pour sugar into the pan and put on medium heat, it will begin to melt and brown - you cannot interfere, just shake the pan as it were. The lower the heat, the softer the caramel will be.
- Add the warmed cream in a thin stream and immediately stir intensively, otherwise the cream will be taken as a stone, since it is cold and it will be difficult to dissolve it. Cook over medium heat for about 5-8 minutes. If the cream is not very fat, then you will need 2 times more time.
- Pour nuts into a saucepan and mix well.
- Immediately add a full spoonful of honey and remove the pan from the heat, mix. Let us cool down, but not completely.
- 1/1, leave part of the dough from one ball on the side. Roll out the remaining dough on parchment, on which then put on a detachable form. Form a side from the deferred part and put it in a mold, pressing it tightly against the side (which should be lubricated with a small amount of oil).
- Place the filling on top of the dough. Roll the remaining dough into a layer and cut out the stars with a mold (in the original version, the filling is simply covered with the second part of the dough). Place the stars tightly to each other.
- Bake in a preheated oven to 180 ° C for about 50-55 minutes. Then immediately remove from the mold so that the leaked caramel does not stick and cool on the wire rack. Bon Appetit!
Christmas and New Year's baking is one of the ancient traditions. In Russia, the pie was a symbol of wealth, thriftiness and abundance. Without it, the table was meager and empty. Having a pie on the Christmas table was considered a guarantee of well-being. And so that this “prosperity” would go to each member of the family, the hostesses, in addition to the filling, put a coin, an almond nut, a pepper pod or a button - “for luck”. Those who receive such a surprise will be accompanied by happiness and good luck in the coming year.
The origin of the word "pie" is interesting: earlier in Russia wheat was called "pyro", and bread baked from wheat was called "pyrog", which meant holiday bread. As you know, the Slavs put their whole souls into the "creation" of such bread. In poor families, they put buttons and copper stones in the pies so that they could eat slowly. Today, pie is one of the national dishes that has come down to us from ancient times.
But what about other countries? In the UK, North America, Central Europe and Scandinavia, times are changing, but traditions remain unwavering.
At Christmas in Switzerland, it is customary to put almonds in a Christmas cake. The lucky one who gets his teeth on almonds will receive new profits in the New Year.
In Great Britain, a handful of 5 almonds is considered a symbol of great happiness, good health, longevity, great abundance and wealth. Why are nuts so often used? The fact is that in pagan antiquity the nut was a symbol of fertility, life and prosperity. Traditionally, these symbols are associated with love, marriage and childbirth. Therefore, adding nuts to the cake, they called on such a simple "magic" for wealth and love. It is worth adding: if the nut was empty and dry, it was a harbinger of poverty and misfortune. If complete - well-being and success in all endeavors. In general, Christmas is one of the favorite sweet holidays.
Since the 16th century, pies in the shape of Christ's manger have been baked in England from minced meat. They taste pretty sweet. According to the folk traditions of Northern England, on each holiday (and there are 12 of them in total) it is necessary to eat one such meat pie - this will attract good luck for all 12 months of the coming year.
The Germans bake a deliciously delicious crisst-stollen fruitcake that resembles the shape of Jesus Christ in infancy wrapped in diapers. When they are treated to such a cupcake, it is advisable to eat it all, not to leave it and not to let anyone finish it after themselves. You will assume that a person who eats a piece of cake for someone will take his happiness and good luck.
In Italy, at Christmas, you can taste the traditional Veronese pandoro - a golden star-shaped cake that showed the way for the Magi to the baby Jesus. Legend says: if you don't finish the cake, you will lose weight and "leave your health." According to ancient legends, several coins, carefully wrapped in parchment, are still hidden in English Christmas puddings.
The Danes put 1 walnut or 1 almond into rice pudding, as they say "the happiest." Whoever gets it gets an extra generous Christmas present. And, of course, any hostess will note the main advantage of Christmas, and any baking in general: pies, cookies and muffins can be prepared in advance and served to guests throughout the Christmas holidays, which last quite a long time: from early December to early January. By the way, no matter how the Eastern Slavs' table etiquette changes, whatever the calendar customs and ceremonies in the countries of foreign Europe and whatever is served at Christmas for the festive table, the main thing is to share this magical meal with relatives and friends in a narrow family circle, when outside the window is snow and frost, and around - the warmth of the hearth and the expectation of the holiday!
