Salzburger Nockerl

Aside from the apple studel, Topfenstrudel and Kaiserschmarrn, the Salzburger Nockerl is the most famous and legendary dessert of Austria. 

It is said that the "Nockerl" was invented by Salome Alt, the concubine of Salzburg's Prince Archbishop Wolf Dietrich von Raintenau in the early 17th century.  It is supposed to resemble the mountains of Salzburg.

We were in Austria in 1991.  The Trout found a guide who took him fly fishing in a most beautiful area of the country.  Unfortunately, the time was short as the mountain snows started melting in the late morning and the blue colored water washed down the mountain and into the streams and  the fishing was over. 

It was also before I realized that my paternal grandmother's ancestors came from an area of Austria called Spittal.  We were there.  But, it was many years later before I realized that my ancestors had also been there.  Such a missed opportunity.  I do remember the beautiful landscapes, the mountains, the food.  We must go back.  We must.

While in Austria, we dined beautifully on the typical food of the area.  This dessert, Salzburger Nockerl has always lingered on my mind.  I made it many years ago, shortly after returning from Austria, but it wasn't until this week that I remembered it.  All the ingredients were in the kitchen.  It just had to be.

You will find that this is a rather simple dessert, not too difficult to put together, but it does need to be served immediately after coming out of the oven.  It is light, very flavorful and puts on quite a show by itself. 

Salzburger Nockerl

serves 2 persons

6 egg whites (room temperature)
4 egg yolks
3 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons flour
1 whole lemon zest
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For a 10 inch oval skillet

1 oz. butter
2 tablespoons heavy cream
2 tablespoons raspberry jam

powdered sugar

Heat oven to 450 degrees

Instead of a skillet, I heated the butter, cream and raspberry jam in the microwave.  Then spread it into the bottom of a casserole dish.

Beat the egg whites until stiff and gradually add 3 tablespoons sugar while the mixer is running.  Then add the vanilla extract. 

Remove the mixing bowl and fold in by hand with a wire whisk the egg yolks, flour and lemon zest.  Mix as little as possible.

With spatula, form four individual peaks, one at a time (the mountains of Austria) and place into the casserole with the raspberry mixture.

Bake in a hot oven, 450 degrees for 9 to 10 minutes.  Nockerl should be soft in the center and browned on the top. 

Remove from the oven and sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve at once.

Some dessert and Eau de Vie

Dessert always seems to be a necessity when in Europe. No matter what country you are in, all restaurants go "all the way" when it comes to desserts. In fact, we have sort of come to a conclusion from our travels. The restaurants all have chefs who take great pride in their menus and the food brought to the table. It might just be us, but we have found that the chefs go totally artistic with their appetizers, a little more low key with the main course and then over the top with the desserts. So, therefore, we always try to eat dessert. We almost always order the fixed prise menu also. You have a choice of several appetizers, a choice of several main plates and then a course of either a cheese course or dessert. Well, come on, unless you are a true Frenchman, you choose dessert!! Right?

Above you see a very delightful tarte tartin with apples and raspberries. Yes, it tasted just as great as it looks. Wonderful with a cup of that dark coffee.

We bought the above dessert in a bakery and brought it home to eat. How beautiful is this? It is absolutely artistic. Cake, a cream filling, black currents and red raspberries. Oh my!! Would you believe we limited ourselves to one and shared this one? Honestly, we did, but it was difficult.

Even though these macarons were not bought in Paris, they were excellent. The Trout and I have a little joke between us. Several years ago, macarons were served with our after dinner coffee. After eating a heavy meal, I was not quite ready to dive into these tasty morsels. He asked me if I wanted them and I said no. He thought I really meant it. I meant, "not right now." In a moment they were gone, but not eaten by me. I sat there in disbelief. Yes, he felt bad, but he said they tasted good. So now, when in France, a few macarons are always purchased as a gift for me.

While staying in the Alsace region of France, we found that Eau de Vie was a very typical drink after dinner. We enjoyed it a lot. We drove to the village of Steige and came across the Nusbaumer distillery making the Eau de Vie. We had a small sample of several and decided to buy an assortment of 8 small bottles. The Quetsch is a very popular one and one of my favorites. Quetsch is the German/French word for plum, specifically the prune plum, the plum prunes are made out of. It was difficult not taking more home, but we were flying, so there are limits.

We have been home now several weeks, but writing this posting today, my heart is still in France, remembering these wonderful meals and especially the desserts.

A very delightful Flan

Here the sugar has been carmelized and swirled around the pan.

After baking to a golden brown.

The sliced flan.

Somewhere back in the 1980's I came across a recipe from an acquaintance in the Newcomers' Club we belonged to. She willingly shared the recipe with me and it has become a favorite ever since.

A flan is a Spanish or Mexican dessert and I think every country has some sort of variation on this theme. I like this recipe because it tastes wonderful, is reliable and I have not found one person who did not like it. The flavoring that goes into it is up to you. Kahlua always seems perfect, but this time I used Cointreau. Creme de Cacao would also be great. Or, if you prefer, a good quality vanilla extract would be tasty also. The recipe comes together quickly, spends a night in the refrigerator and then is ready to serve when you are ready to eat it.

Flan

3 tablespoons sugar
3 oz. blanched almonds

1 can sweetened condensed milk such as Eagle Brand
1 1/2 cups heavy cream

3 whole eggs
2 teaspoons Kahlua, Grand Marnier or your choice

Heat sugar in an 8" cake pan with 1 1/2" sides on top of the stove until golden brown. Don't rush this. Put on your oven mitts and moved the sugar as it melts around to cover the entire bottom of the cake pan. Be aware that as this cools it hardens and then starts cracking. This is normal.

Chop almonds in a blender until fine. Add the condensed milk, cream, eggs and Kahlua or Grand Marnier. Blend 10 seconds. Pour into the flan pan on top of the hardened golden melted sugar that is now crack hard and set in a larger pan with 1" water. This will be like a water bath to help it bake evenly.

Bake for 45 minutes at 325 degrees. Cool, and then refrigerate overnight. To serve, run edge of knife around the pan. Place the serving plate upside down on top of the flan pan and flip over. Shake it down slowly onto the serving plate. The caramelized sugar will run down the sides. Cut in wedges. Easily 8 servings.

A very good repast

Saturday evening, we drove into the neighboring town of Philipsburg, Montana, for an early anniversary dinner. The Philipsburg Cafe has been a favorite spot of ours since we discovered it three years ago. Mike and Meredith left Boston and moved to Montana where he has put his fantastic cooking expertise to bring a fine dining experience to little P-burg.


You would have to travel many miles to get a meal of duck confit with polenta, sauteed squash and an orchid on the side. The Trout loved the duck, and I can attest it was very delicious. I had to try Mike's horseradish crusted prime rib, rare to medium rare --the only way to eat it :)--also with the polenta and squash. It was fantastic.

We had a beautiful salad before this entree, of fresh greens, blue cheese, carmelized walnuts, green apple slices, champagne vinaigrette and a good sprinkling of freshly ground pepper. Outstanding!
We normally don't order dessert, but it comes with the fixed price of $25. This was triple delight chocolate cake which was outstanding! Mike came out as we were eating dessert and we praised his efforts. He had to apologize for the dessert. He had wanted to make a raspberry coulis with it, but could not get to the store for the raspberries because he is also a volunteer fireman and duty called. What else can I say? I love this small town stuff. The coffee was freshly ground and we brought our own bottle of wine along. This turned out to be an excellent choice; Horse Heaven Hills Merlot, 2006. We will definitely be back this summer for his excellent dinners.

The finale...

And, the conclusion to this raspberry madness is......peach melba and ice cream!!!

Blueberry Cobbler for Dad

Father's Day started last night around here. The Trout grilled a perfect steak and we had a marvelous salad using the 1905 salad dressing we bought at the Columbia Restaurant in Ybor City. But the dessert--which is not common at our house--was the 'icing on the cake'.

My blogging friend, Mary, at "One Perfect Bite" always has the best recipes and we try 9 out of 10 and are always happy with the results. She gave the recipe for Blackberry Cobbler and it sounded wonderful. So, when I saw blueberries at the grocer this morning at a very good price, I knew I had to try it.

The Trout was very happy and said, "keep this recipe. I like the crunchy top." Mary said to follow the directions to a tee and I will admit, the topping sounded a little strange to me, but I followed orders as a good little soldier. No other cobbler recipes need be tried. This is the best and I can just imagine it will all sorts of fruit. I will admit that I forgot the buttermilk at the grocery store, but substituted one cup milk with 1 tablespoon vinegar which I let set for a few minutes. It worked just fine. As Mary says, throw away all other cobbler recipes and I have to agree 100%. After this, you need not look further.

Thank you, blogger friend, Mary, for making Father's Day weekend extra special around here.