Agbalumo Drink - Version 2

The large bottle of the agbalumo drink from yesterday's post didn't last long, so I decided to make more. I also thought if I could improve on it. Because I had read about using sugarcane instead of granulated sugar, I wanted to use it this time round.

Fresh sugarcane already peeled

The sugarcane cut into cubes

Sugarcane is not as sweet as regular sugar, so I was ready to use the lot, if necessary.




I also decided to use fresh ginger instead of ground and forget about the vanilla. And I wondered how it would turn out if I cut up the agbalumo really small and removing the seeds and then chopping it fine in my food processor!

Two finger lengths of fresh ginger

Ready to be pureed

The idea being to extract as much goodness from the fruit as possible!






So I started to process the fruit. But the machine was rattling and shaking in a terrible way. So I added some of the water used in the recipe. That was better but still not right. More water and medium speed for 3 minutes. Then I added some of the cubed sugarcane and the ginger and run the processor at full speed. It didn't chop the sugarcane at all, only the ginger. By now the motor was too hot to continue, so I poured the lot into a large pot and added the remaining water, forgetting the cardamom. Then I proceeded like before, bring it all to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes. After 10 minutes I tasted for sugar and found that it wasn't sweet at all, so I added 1 cup of sugar to the brew and finished the cooking process. While it was still simmering I noticed that the colour was  more translucent rather than opaque like the previous batch. Note to self: fresh ginger is preferable to ground ginger! Next came the cooling and draining as before.

The mushy fruit  and solid sugarcane

This was a serious lesson in what not to do when preparing agbalumo! DO NOT USE YOUR FOOD PROCESSOR!!! As I mentioned in the last post, the fruit has a certain gummyness. And it promptly deposited all of its gum onto the interior of the processor bowl. It took almost 3 days of hard labor to get rid of the stickiness, the last bit had to be removed with nail varnish remover! It was sticky like when you pull a label off a bottle, if you can picture what I mean!

Next: DO NOT USE SUGARCANE THE WAY I DID. It is a total waste of perfectly good sugarcane because it cannot release its sweetness that way. Only use it if you have someone who can juice it beforehand.

And do not forget the cardamom! 

But cutting it small and removing the seeds is my choice from now on because it does intensify the flavour. Otherwise use the recipe as before.

Better colour than previous

CHEERS!

I hope everyone had a good giggle! Till next time

Agbalumo Drink - Version 1

A couple of weeks ago my daughter sent me a picture of a glass of juice, unusual juice! Made from a fruit which is in season from November/December to March/April and usually just eaten as is. It is called agbalumo in Yoruba and udala (udara) in Igbo; in English it is White Star Apple, African Star Apple being a variation and finally the botanical name Chrysophyllum albidum. I had heard that this fruit is particularly good for diabetics (not me but my husband), but personally I don't like its texture and gummyness. But maybe a juice would be more palatable.

So last Sunday I went to a farmers market and saw beautiful ripe agbalumo and decided to buy some and try my hand at this juice.

Fresh Agbalumo

 

 The picture was on Kuluwaz Instagram page here , but no recipe. On to her blog next where there are fabulous recipes, but still no juice. You can find her blog here. So going back to the Instagram post I saw that the original recipe was obtained from kitchenbutterfly and used with some variations. So I headed over to that site, which is here, and found it immediately. Since I had more fruit than stated in the recipe I made my own adjustments.But first I had to find the recipe. 

 

Here is what I used:

14 ripe agbalumo, 2 l water, 1 1/2 cups sugar, 2 generous tsp ground ginger, 16 green cardamoms, seeds crushed in a small mortar and pods removed, 2 tsp vanilla extract.

How the drink is made:

Wash and cut up the fruit into smallish pieces, leaving the rather large seed in. Place in a rather large pot and add the water and remaining ingredients. Bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes. Turn off heat, open lid and allow to cool until warm. 

Line a colander with a draining cloth (cheesecloth or clean dishtowel) and place on a bowl or pot, large enough to take all the liquid.

The cooked fruit and spices draining

When most of the liquid has drained off take the ends of the cloth and twist together in a ball and squeeze out any remaining juice. Due to the nature of agbalumo the leftovers can be used like chewing gum, which children are very fond of!

Next decant the liquid into a suitable bottle and keep in the fridge until thoroughly chilled.

Ready to drink

Technically speaking it is not a juice because of the addition of water but a drink. A very tasty drink, sweet, sour and a little bitter. Truly enjoyable but because of the sugar not really suitable for diabetics.  

Gingerbread Cookies - Pfefferkuchen

Christmas is around the corner once again and so I want to share with you some recipes which after some tweaking here and there have become my favourites. Todays' recipe is meant for cookie cutters, stars, hearts etc. But if you have a gingerbread man cutter, all the better because the cookies are ideal for decorating with coloured icing. Or coating with melted baking chocolate or couverture. Both methods are great in temperate zones but here in the tropics any icing will just melt. Nevertheless the cookies are delicious!

First batch

And now for the recipe:
500 g wheat flour                                                          2 Tbsp water
1 tsp. baking powder                                                     1 medium egg
1 Tbsp bicarbonate of soda                                           2 Tbsp ground cinnamon
100 g sugar                                                                    2 Tbsp ground ginger
200 g golden syrup or molasses                                    1/2 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp vanilla extract                                                       1/2 tsp ground green cardamoms
125 g soft butter                                                            1/4 tsp freshly ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt                                                                                     

Ready for the oven

Method:
Mix all dry ingredients in a large bowl, including the spices. Then add the soft butter, syrup or
molasses, vanilla extract, water and egg. Mix with the dough hooks on your hand mixer, use a stand mixer or do it the old-fashioned way by hand. When dough is smooth wrap in clingfilm and chill for about an hour. Then cut dough into about 4 portions for easy handling.

Lightly flour your work surface and start rolling out the dough to about 1/2 cm thickness or slightly thicker. Place shapes on lined baking trays and bake at 190 degrees Celsius (375 F) in preheated oven for 15 minutes.

Remove to cooling racks together with the baking paper and allow to cool. Initially the cookies will be quite soft but will get crisp by next day. Once they are completely cool, store them in airtight tin containers. I find that plastic containers are not as efficient in keeping cookies fresh.

On the cooling rack

If you wish to decorate your cookies, the next day will be best. This recipe yields about 90 cookies, depending on size and thickness.


I would love to hear from you if you decide to try these cookies!

Another Visit To Grandma's Christmas Kitchen

It is almost too late to do anymore  baking for Christmas, but this recipe is utterly worth it. This is a fairly thick chocolate Pfefferkuchen baked on a tray and finished with a sugar glaze. The spice mix is milder than given in the previous recipe, so you have variety!

 What you need:

750 g flour
125 g grated dark chocolate,
3 peppercorns, finely crushed
2.5 g ground cloves
2.5 g ground cardamom
7.5 g ground cinnamon
zest of 1 lemon
65 g ground almonds or hazelnuts
                   
                     ___________

340 g honey (or syrup)
200 - 250 g sugar
1/8 l water (125 ml)
65 g butter

                    ___________

2 eggs, beaten
8 g potash (1 1.2 tsp)
1 small glass of rum

                    ___________

How to make:

Sift flour into bowl and stir in all other dry ingredients. in a saucepan combine the honey, sugar, water and butter and bring to boil. Remove from heat and allow to cool for 5 minutes. Pour slowly into the flour mix, stirring vigorously. Or use a mixer with dough hooks, which our grandmothers did not possess! Make sure the dough is smooth and well blended. Allow to cool completely.

In the meantime soak the potash in about 3 tbsp of warm water. When dough is cool, strain the soaked potash through a fine sieve and sprinkle all over the dough, then add the beaten eggs and the rum. Knead dough to incorporate the new additions. The dough will be fairly soft at this stage, so placing it covered in the fridge for a few hours will help it to mature and make it easy to roll out.

Lightly butter your baking tray and dust with flour. Place dough on it and using a rolling pin roll out the dough to about finger thickness. Bake in a preheated oven at 180 - 200 degrees C. gas 4 or 5, for 30 minutes. Immediately after baking cut into pieces, squares or rectangles, as you wish and brush with a hot sugar glaze which is made in the following way: Boil 140 g sugar with 1/8 l of water until a drop forms a bead when placed on a plate. Remove from heat and brush on the glaze. Finally place the pieces on cooling racks. The glaze will turn white when dry. If you wish you can add coloured sugar sprinkles before the glaze dries.I was too impatient to take pictures, so the glaze you see is still fresh and hot!

Spicy!

After the last article I was asked what Lebkuchen spice is or rather what it is composed of. The professional bakers all have their own spice mix which is a well kept secret. Apart from that there are also regional differences, so the choice is not easy for the home baker. Ready-made spice mixes are now available but not in every part of the world. So I did some research and came up with my own version.

In order to get the best out of spices one should preferably buy whole spices instead of ground because they keep their flavour and aroma for a much longer time. Some spices like cinnamon and ginger are acceptable ground because generally they are used more frequently.

Another important factor is the ratio of each spice in relation to the others. Some spices are so strong in flavour that only a little is used in order not to overpower the rest.

Let me show you the spices I used:

From top to bottom on the left side:

ground cinnamon

ground ginger

whole cardamoms (only seeds are  used)

whole cloves

From top to bottom centre:

whole nutmeg

whole allspice (pimento)

who;e star anise

fennel seeds

From top to bottom on the right:

mace

ground coriander (I ran out of seeds)

ground pepper

Quantities for whole spices should at least be double of what is needed when ground. Remember to calculate well. I shall give you the amounts needed when ground to a fine powder.

cinnamon               2 Tbsp

ginger                     1/2 tsp

cardamoms

(seeds only)            1/2 tsp

cloves                      2 tsp

nutmeg                    1/4 tsp

allspice                    1/2 tsp

star anise                  1/2 tsp

fennel                       1/2 tsp

mace (blades)           a generous pinch

coriander                 1/2 tsp

pepper                      1/4 tsp.

The first five spices listed are essential to the mix, but adding the others will really enhance the complexity of flavours. But if you do not fancy a particular spice you can omit it or substitute for one with similar taste, e.g. fennel seeds for aniseed. 

To make up your batch of Lebkuchen spice put all the whole spices in a dry frying pan, after calculating and measuring,

 and fry on medium heat for 2 to 3 minutes, stirring constantly. Take off the heat and allow to cool. When cool place in spice grinder or coffee grinder and grind to a fine powder. If the quantity is too small to be processed properly add the already ground spices like cinnamon and ginger to help with the processing. 

I hope you enjoy making this, so you can create your own personalized Lebkuchen or Pfefferkuchen!