Traditionally German: Bienenstich Cupcakes

Die deutsche Übersetzung findet ihr unter dem englischen Rezept!

Ok, maybe the "cupcake" part in "Bienenstich Cupcakes" is not quite "traditionally German" - but the rest most certainly is. ("Bienenstich" translates to "bee sting". Legend has it that two baker's apprentices threw bee hives at attackers who were trying to take over a town in the 15th century. The cake is said to have been baked in order to properly celebrate the prevention of the attack.)

My friend Sarah over at Café Mousebear/Krümelküche made the best vegan cupcake version of the Bienenstich I've ever eaten and finally shared the recipe. I made some slight changes to her recipe and here it is!

Ingredients for 12 cupcakes:

• 210g of flour (I used regular wheat flour)
• 110g of raw cane sugar
• 80g of canola oil
• 75ml of sparkling water 
• 100g of soy milk for the cupcake
• 250g of soy milk to the cream
• 1/2 a pack of baking powder (around 7g)
• a dash of salt
• 1 tea spoon of vanillin sugar (or a few drops of vanilla flavoring)
• 1/2 pack of vanilla custard powder
• 130g of margarine (I used Alsan)
• 100g of flaked almonds
• 2 table spoons of maple syrup or agave syrup

Traditional German Cuisine: Roulades!

Roulades with red cabbage, gravy, and potatoes

Roulades with fried napkin dumplings and "bacon" beans

Conventionally, Roulades in German cuisine are made from thinly sliced beef filled with onions, bacon, and pickles. They were served with potatoes (or mashed potatoes), lots and lots of gravy and usually cooked red cabbage. It's the type of dish that many people of my generation (you know, those millenials, generation Y, people born in the 80s) were fed as a special treat when they visited their grandma. The same was true for me. Roulades are a little like individual little roasts that each diner would cut up themselves on their plate instead of being served a slice of a big roast. 

I like roulades. But obviously I wouldn't want any cow or pig on my plate. The boyfriend likes this type of cooking (you may go as far as calling it comfort food because Rouladen are usually associated with the coziness of your grandma's living room, the woman who spoiled you rotten. Yeah, I know that's not true for everyone. But you get the point.) even more than I do, so he insisted we'd try this recipe by Jérôme Eckmeier, a chef who's made himself quite a name in the vegan scene in Germany. We made some slight changes and are convinced that our instructions will be much better than his. ^_^