Taste of Europe
Cookbook author Christa Battistone shares a different way to eat cake
There’s a different way to eat cake, and Christa Battistone wants you to know it.
North American cakes tend to be too sweet for this chef, who grew up in Germany, moved to this area in the 1970s and now lives in Baden.
For a while, she had her own bakery café, Krista’s Kaffee Haus, on King Street East in Kitchener.
She would often pop in at Café Mozart on Queen Street in downtown Kitchener for the cakes that would offer a taste of old Europe.
“When they closed (in 2005), I was devastated,” she said.
Now, Battistone makes magnificent cream and mousse cakes at home, using less sugar and more milk, eggs, fruit and nuts. The results are beautiful on the eyes, flavourful in the mouth and light in the belly.
“North Americans should know how to make these,” she thought. So she wrote a cookbook.
It’s called ’’Simply Delicious: Deliciously Simple” and gives simple instructions for home cooks.
There are familiar favourites like Black Forest Torte, which is three layers of chocolate cake sandwiched with brandied cherries and whipped cream.
But how about Hazelnut Bavarian Cream, Buttermilk Apricot Panna Cotta, Grapefruit Sour Milk, or Apple Cheese Streusel?
Making a cake and inviting people to enjoy it with you over a cup of coffee is a great way to socialize, she said.
“The feel-good hormones start to flow and your stage is set for insightful, friendly conversation.”
Many of the cakes in the book have a basic method and a couple of basic batters, she said. Once you master those, it’s easy to vary the flavours, fillings and decoration.
After the cake is baked, you cut it in half horizontally with dental floss (a time-honoured European tradition, ensuring a neat, clean cut!) to make two layers. You can use both layers or freeze one for a quick cake next time.
Then get ready for the layering on of mousses, often flavoured with puréed fruit; or custardbased Bavarian creams; or German buttercream, which is different from North American buttercream because it’s enriched with a milk-based, vanilla-flavoured pudding that’s beaten into the butter-sugar mixture.
That buttercream is used to cover one of Battistone’s personal favourites: Frankfurter Kranz, a Bundt cake made with ground hazelnuts and flavoured with orange juice. The cake is soaked with Amaretto liqueur and spread with apricot jam before it gets the blanket of German buttercream. Roasted almonds sprinkled on top provide that final crunchy touch.
Some other creations can be made extra special by layering a crisp cookie crust beneath the cake.
Battistone uses all natural ingredients, even going as far to colour her marzipan decorations on her vanilla yogurt Christmas cake with red beet powder and green chlorophyll instead of food colouring.
Battistone’s book includes many tips for success, including:
When whisking cream or egg whites, never bang the spoon or whisk on the bowl — “this is almost like an earthquake to the fragile bubbles and they escape.’’
Always rinse a pot with water before putting milk in it to heat; this prevents the sugars in the milk from sticking to the pot.
Warm eggs in hot water for best results before using in a cake batter.
Writing the book, which is illustrated by her photographer husband Robert, has “been a great adventure for me,” she said, and a chance to give something back to the adopted country she loves
“Simply Delicious: Deliciously Simple” is available at Words Worth Books in Waterloo and Ayres Bulk Food and Baking Supplies in Waterloo.
Battistone will be at Words Worth to sign books on Thursday, Nov. 8, at 7 p.m. She will be at Ayres Saturday, Nov. 24, from 1 to 3 p.m.