IN SEASON
From sweet, sticky pastries and jammy, sugar-dusted doughnuts to an adult-friendly red wine dessert and an easy yet elegant cheeseboard addition, grapes prove their versatility this season.
From sweet pastries and sugar-dusted doughnuts to an adult-friendly red wine dessert, grapes prove their versatility.
Grape Pastries (Kolache)
Makes approx. 8 pieces
DOUGH
550g flour
20g fresh yeast 200ml lukewarm milk 60g sugar
80g butter
2 egg yolks
CRUMBLE
150g butter 275g flour 90g sugar
TOPPING
350g seedless grapes (red
or green)
30g sugar
20g vanilla sugar 250g mascarpone
30g corn starch
1 egg
3 tbsp lemon juice
ICING
2 tbsp lemon juice 125g icing sugar
Place the flour into a bowl. Make a well into the centre. Crumble the yeast and mix with half of the milk and 1 tsp of the sugar until smooth. Pour into the well and add some flour from the sides. Cover and leave to rise for 15 minutes. Add the remaining sugar and milk, butter, egg yolks and a pinch of salt. Using a hand mixer with a dough hook, knead into a smooth dough. Cover and leave to rise for about 1 hour until the dough has doubled in size.
Knead the dough vigorously once again. Divide into 8 equal pieces. On a floured surface, first shape the pieces into balls and then roll them out into 12 cm circles. Place on two baking trays lined with baking parchment. Cover and leave to rise for 15 minutes. Preheat the oven to 180°C (160° fan-forced). In the meantime, melt the butter for the crumble. Mix the flour and sugar and a generous pinch of salt. Add the melted butter and use a hand mixer with dough hooks to knead until crumbly. Rinse the grapes, pat dry and remove the stems, then set aside. For the topping, combine and whisk the remaining ingredients.
Spread the topping on top of the dough, then layer on the grapes and crumble. Bake each of the trays on the second shelf from the bottom for 15-20 minutes until golden brown. Allow to cool.
Mix the lemon juice and icing sugar with 1-2 tbsp of water until you get a thick, smooth icing. Pour the icing over the pastries and leave to dry before serving.
Brioche with Black Grape Compote
Makes 1 large brioche & approx. 600g compote
DOUGH
500g flour
30g fresh yeast
60g sugar
180ml lukewarm milk, plus 1
tbsp for glazing
150g butter
4 egg yolks, plus 1 for
glazing
GRAPE COMPOTE
400g black seedless
grapes
300ml black grape juice 2 tbsp lemon juice 40g cornstarch
30g sugar Grated zest of ½ lemon
Place the flour into a bowl. Make a well in the centre. Crumble in the yeast and mix with 1 tsp of the sugar, lukewarm milk and some flour from the sides to form a thin paste. Cover and leave to rise for 15 minutes. Melt the butter and leave to cool until lukewarm. Then, add to the thin paste with the remaining sugar, egg yolks and a good pinch of salt. Use a mixer with a dough hook and knead until the dough is smooth. Cover and leave to rise for 90 minutes, until the dough has roughly doubled in size.
Knead the dough thoroughly one more time. On a floured surface, roll out the dough into a 5mm thin square. Roll up the dough firmly, starting from the longer side. Cut into 1.5cm thick slices. Grease a tin (approx. 1.5L capacity) and dust with flour. Arrange the slices side by side around the edge of the tin. Place the remaining slices in the centre. Cover and leave to rise for 45 minutes.
Pre-heat the oven to 180°C (160° fan-forced). Whisk the remaining egg yolk and milk and brush the dough with the glaze. Bake on the second shelf from the bottom for approx. 40 minutes until golden. In case the top gets too dark, cover up with baking parchment after 30 minutes. Leave to cool.
For the grape compote, rinse the grapes, pat dry and remove the stems. Mix 1 tbsp of grape juice with the lemon juice and cornstarch until smooth. In a saucepan, bring the remaining grape juice with sugar and lemon zest to the boil. While stirring with a whisk, add the cornstarch mix to the boiling fluid. Bring to the boil. Add the grapes, and bring to the boil once again. Pour the compote into a bowl and leave to cool.
Serve the brioche with grapes and butter.
“THE OLDER THE GRAPE, THE SWEETER THE WINE.” JANIS JOPLIN
Anise Rusks with Grape & Red Wine Sorbet
Makes approx. 16 rusk pieces & 4-6 portions of sorbet
ANISE RUSKS
500g flour
20g fresh yeast 260ml lukewarm milk 50g sugar
50g soft butter
TOPPING
100g soft butter 80g sugar
3 tsp anise seeds
SORBET
5 tbsp lemon juice 150ml red wine (merlot) 150g sugar
1kg black grapes (muscat)
Place the flour in a bowl. Crumble the yeast and dissolve in lukewarm milk. Add to the flour with sugar, butter and a good pinch of salt. Knead with a hand mixer and dough hook until you get a smooth dough. Cover and leave to rest for 1 hour, until the dough has doubled in size.
Knead the dough vigorously once again. Grease a loaf tin (approx. 1L capacity, 30cm long) with butter and dust with flour. Place the dough into the tin. Cover and leave to rise for 30 minutes. Heat the oven to 180°C (160°C fan-forced). Brush with the remaining milk (1 tbsp). Bake the dough on the second from bottom shelf for approx. 1 hour. Allow to cool a little and then remove from the tin and leave to rest for 1 day.
The next day, pre-heat the oven to 180°C (160°C fan-forced). Cut the bread into 1cm thick slices and place side by side on a baking tray. Spread with butter evenly. Mix the sugar and anise seed. Sprinkle evenly onto the butter. Bake on the middle shelf for 20 minutes. Turn off the oven, keep the oven door closed and leave the rusks to dry in the oven heat for 1 more hour. Then remove and allow to cool. before serving with sorbet or storing, dry, in an airtight container.
To make the sorbet, pour the lemon juice, wine and sugar into a saucepan. Bring to the boil and simmer for 4 minutes. Pour into a bowl and allow to cool.
Rinse the grapes thoroughly and pat dry. Remove the stems. Puree briefly with a blender, you want the juice to come out, but the seeds should not be crushed too finely. Pass through a sieve and catch the juice. Take 500ml of the juice from the grapes and mix with the wine syrup. Allow to cool in the fridge for at least 1 hour.
Freeze the sorbet mixture with an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions. If you do not have one, place the mixture in a container in the freezer. During the first 2 hours, puree every 30 minutes with a hand-held blender until smooth. Afterwards, puree the mixture once every hour (approx. 4 hours) until the mixture has a smooth consistency and the sorbet is frozen. Serve with anise rusks.
Grape Jam Filled Doughnuts (Berliners)
Makes approx. 12 pieces 500g flour 250ml milk
40g fresh yeast 50g sugar
60g butter
2 tbsp vanilla sugar 2 tsp grated lemon zest 4 egg yolks
1.5L deep-frying fat 200g black grape jam Icing sugar for tossing
Place the flour in a bowl. Make a well in the centre. Heat half the milk until lukewarm. Crumble the yeast and tip into the well with the lukewarm milk and 1 tsp of sugar. Mix with some flour from the sides. Cover up and leave to rise for 15 minutes.
Add the butter, a pinch of salt, the remaining sugar, vanilla sugar, lemon zest, egg yolks and remaining milk. Use the dough hook of a hand mixer and knead until dough is smooth. Cover and leave to prove for 45 minutes until dough has roughly doubled in size. Knead dough thoroughly once more. Divide into 12 equal pieces. Shape the pieces into smooth balls and lightly press down. Cover and leave to rise for 15 minutes.
Heat fat to 170°C in a wide and high pot or deep fryer. Deep-fry the dough in batches, 3-4 minutes on each side until golden brown. Then remove with a slotted ladle and let drip off well. Turn in icing sugar or sugar when still hot. Leave to cool on a cake rack. Put the grape jelly into a piping bag with a long nozzle. Pierce a hole into the doughnuts from the sides. Pipe the jelly into the centre and serve.