Flavors from elsewhere

Your taste buds invite you to travel-6

Tyrolean chocolate and hazelnut cake.

Latest edition : 05 May 2021

Jessica Rabus is the young and smiling pastry chef at Relais & Châteaux Schwarzmatt in Badenweiler, a pretty spa town in Markgräflerland in Baden-Wurttemberg.

The hotel-spa is renowned for its refined cuisine and its magnificent buffet of pastries. In Germany, the afternoon coffee break, the “Kaffee-Kuchen” (coffee and cakes) is sacred.
While waiting to be able to taste it on site, Jessica Rabus shares a simple recipe to make.

 

Ingredients for a cake tin:

  • 200g butter
  • 250g sugar
  • 6 egg yolks
  • 250 gr ground hazelnuts and almonds
  • 125g flour
  • 4 g baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon of cinnamon
  • 1 pinch of salt
  • 6 egg whites
  • 250g grated chocolate
  • Possibly a bag of chocolate icing for pastry

Preperation :

Preheat the oven to 180°C (top and bottom heat)
Butter and flour the mold
Separate the egg whites from the yolks.
Whisk the butter, sugar and egg yolks to obtain a frothy mixture.
Add the ground hazelnuts and almonds.
Add cinnamon.
Mix the flour, the baking powder and the pinch of salt, sift the flour and integrate it into the dough.
Whip the egg whites until stiff and gently fold into the mixture, stirring well.
Add the grated chocolate and mix gently.
Place the dough in the pan and bake for about 70 minutes. Check for doneness by pricking the cake with the blade of a knife or a wooden skewer.
Unmold the cake as soon as it is cooked.
Let cool on rack.
For more indulgence: cover with chocolate icing.

 

Badenweiler, twinned with Vittel, is ideally located above the vineyards and below the peaks of the Black Forest. The region is renowned for its mild climate, its vineyards and its thermal waters. There are also the remains of remarkable Roman baths. Right next door, the Cassiopeia thermal baths are an invitation to well-being.

The Cassiopeia thermal baths open onto the park.
The remains of the Roman baths and the contemporary complex of the Cassiopeia baths.

The walk in the vast and magnificent park, overlooked by the ruins of an old castle, is a delight with its remarkable trees, its flowerbeds and viewpoints over the vineyards, the Rhine plain to the Vosges.

The ruins of Baden Castle overlook the park.
Works of art line the walking paths.
The Hildegard von Bingen medicinal herb garden enjoys a sunny location in the park.
View of the vineyard and the Rhine plain.

As soon as you leave the small town, the road climbs through fir forests. In the heart of the Black Forest, many hiking trails run through protected nature.

Many hiking trails start from the Kreuzweg pass above Badenweiler.
The Schwarzmatt hotel-restaurant, in a flowery setting.
Welcome in traditional dress and with a smile.
Rona Mast, owner of the family hotel and chef Oliver Mewes.

INFO

Relais & Châteaux Hotel Schwarzmatt
4* S, Mast-Bareiss family,
Schwarzmattstraße 6a
D-79410 Badenweiler,
Germany Tel +49 7632/8201-0.
https://schwarzmatt.de

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The fine gastronomy characterizes both the Schwarzmatt in Badenweiler and the Bareissin Baiersbronn. No wonder: Rona Mast-Bareiss is the niece ofHermann Bareiss in Baiersbronn.