May 1st
2006
Just returned last night from a culinary marathon and although we're just talking about a few days, they were jam packed with wonderful and exciting culinary treats. Which really made the bad weather we've had pretty much all last week much less important. And realizing it had little to no effect on our mood, it surprised us with a sudden temperature drop down to 3 degrees Celsius (37°F) and sleet on our way back home. Oh what fun...yeah right, anyway can we please skip spring and go straight to summer?
Which gave us a good excuse - like we needed one (did we ever?) - to have this sweet dish, definitely a childhood food memory and certainly one that has what it takes to become a another favorite wintry dish. Derrick over at An Obsession With Food is the host of this months edition of IMBB and came up with the fantastic theme "Give Us This Day Yesterday's Bread". So in the spirit of IMBB and I know we've missed out on a few real good ones, here is our contribution.
Although this dish is typically made out of stale bread rolls, we had bought brioche and deliberately left there on the counter getting totally dry over the last 72 hours...well, to some extend a perverted approach - but hey for a good cause, right?!
Not quite as much as a soufflé, but it does rise a bit in the oven, be sure to leave a bit of a rim so the melted butter on top won't run down the sides of the ramekin. Optionally, well for N. mandatory, whipped cream (or even a bit of vanilla ice cream) would also make a great topping - very yummy indeed!
Cut rolls/brioche in several thin slices (about 1cm/half an inch) and soak in the lukewarm milk for about 20-30 minutes. The milk usually is fully absorbed after 20 minutes.
Meanwhile add egg yolks, sugar and (soft) butter to a bowl and beat well until the mix becomes foamy and pale. Preheat oven to 200°C (390°F).
Fold in soaked brioche slices with the egg mixture, add chopped hazelnuts and lemon zest. Beat egg whites with a pinch of salt until stiff and fold in as well. Finally add cherries and fill buttered moulds/ramekins.
Add a little extra flake of butter or two on top each ramekin and bake for about 40 minutes until golden/brown'ish.
Note: In case it darkens too quickly, you may want to cover it up with some parchment paper/aluminum foil for the remaining time in the oven.
To serve: We usually have it with cinnamon cherry sauce. Simply add cherry juice and cinnamon sticks (2) to a pot and reduce to about a half volume or even one third.
O.
Kirschenmichel
Recipe source: inspired by "Semmelauflauf" from "Ich helf dir kochen", Hedwig Maria Studer, p.310
Prep time: 30min., baking: about 40min.
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Ingredients (serves 2-3):
3-4 (depending on size) brioche
200ml lukewarm milk
3 eggs, divided
25g butter (at room temperature)
35g sugar
a pinch of salt
20g chopped hazelnuts
lemon zest of 1/2 lemon
200g cherries (preserved, pitted)
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cherry sauce:
150ml cherry juice
optionally cinnamon sticks for the cherry sauce
extra butter for ramekins
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best served with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream
My, my that looks delicious, and the sauce really puts this treat over the top. I gather from the name of the recipe this dish is traditionally made with cherries, but have you ever made it with any other fruit? The brioche and custard sound like an ideal base for any number of possibilities -- some delicious summer berries spring immediately to mind.
It is very trying, it must be very good!
Sounds absolutely delicious! Definitely worth buying a loaf of brioche and let it go stale just for the sake of it:)
Super, dass Ihr auch immer mal wieder ältere Klassiker ausgrabt, bei meiner Mutter hieß ein ähnliches Gericht "Scheiterhaufen". Jetzt schwelge ich in Nostalgie und werde es bestimmt die nächsten Tage mal nachkochen. Sieht superlecker aus, danke fürs Erinnern und natürlich fürs Rezept!
The color of the cherry sauce is unreal...looks like a very warming treat for cold days. Hope the weather warms up for you soon!
An inventive use of Brioche if ever there was one. Looks delicious.
Wow, this looks so delicious and that cherry cinnamon sauce seems like the perfect touch!
~Dianka
Kirschmichl weckt auch bei mir Kindheitserinnerungen, schon aus Nostalgiegründen muss ich euer Rezept unbedingt nachkochen. Das BIld mit dem Kirschsaft ist übrigens wirklich gigantisch gut gelungen.
Just found your website and have to say it is pure eye candy! The food and everything else looks fantastic, thanks for sharing it :)
Actually this looks so tempting, I don't need bad weather to try your recipe! Thanks for sharing.
I am writing from Istanbul/Turkey. This is a very nice food blog, i like it. Your recipe and picture looks very yummmii. To bad, I'm in diet. I will wait a little. Thanks for sharing your wonderful receipes and münich of course. Meanwhile, do you have ever tried to bake "bienenstich"? It was one of my favorites when I was living in Germany.
Scheiterhaufen, Kirschenmichel, wie auch immer, lecker ist es! Wieder mal DANKE für die gute Idee, gab's schon viel zu lange nicht mehr bei uns.
that syrup looks deadly...literally.. reminds me of a story ;-)
That spoon shot is...words can not do it justice! The dessert looks too delicious
Hmhhhh - I can virtually smell it...!
What's the blueish bar you're presently showing in your header? I'm so curious! Not soap, no? Can't be... a type of chocolate I do not know?! Hmh.... If edible, verry interesting.
Well, you never know. I have recently seen quite a couple of shops selling soap which resembles pies and deserts (and nothing else but that). Yuk!
Rob, Not so far, but there are quite a few variations I could think of... Like you said, all kinds of berries or apples and peaches... well, as long as there is some whipped cream involved, I guess I'd love them all!
Anita, Thanks for your wishes on our weather front - they helped! We had sun over the last days and everybody's mood lit up instantly;)
Hi Olivia, No, I never attempted to make Bienenstich myself. I like them too, but it's not so easy to find a really good one. Maybe I should put it on my "to try" list...?
Ludmilla, It's colored white chocolate from Valrhona, which I bought from a local Chocolatier - just out of curiosity. The light blue color looks amazing as a coating for dark chocolate cakes... but you're right, I've also been deluded to believe it could be a super special soap form ;)
Gorgeous photos! I love the juice on the spoon...