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Monday, February 22, 2016

Birthday mohnkuchen; and birthday pasta cake

 It was S's birthday yesterday. I had decided weeks ago upon his cake: mohnkuchen. I'd bought the poppy seeds even longer ago, in Germany, and had been meaning to make mohnkuchen ever since. Seems like I make cakes less and less often... But birthday cakes are essential!

I used the same recipe as before, without veganising it this time. I made it the day before, and it was delicious on the day and he loved it. BUT it was the ugliest cake ever. I mean, black poppy seeds don't make for the most beautiful cake to start with, but on top of that the mohn mixture rose up in a wall all around the edges like crazy. This didn't happen before and I don't understand why it happened this time. Perhaps I didn't put the streusel mixture thick enough on top? Anyway, I trimmed that bit back down so it didn't look quite as bizarre, and it tasted great. It meant it was a bit more sunken in the middle and the mohn layer wasn't quite as thick as it should have been, but it held together well and I can't really complain.

We had a good day - a good balance of making plans and being spontaneous, and being lucky. Cake and presents for breakfast; bus over to the sauna, some sunny sauna action; up to Papirøen for good food (the best pizza place has gone completely vegetarian, including many vegan options - wahoo!); bus back in time for S to watch Dortmund, who won, and it started raining as soon as we got back... While S watched football and then spoke to his mum, I decided to cap his day off by making his this spaghetti pie for his dinner - I had seen the recipe a few weeks back and it had his name written all over - pasta, cheese, crispy pasta, more cheese... This was a perfect opportunity to make it!

butter for greasing springform
8 oz broccoli rabe, chopped into few-inch segments
1 lb dried spaghetti
1 1/2 cups milk
3 large eggs, lightly beaten
2-3 tsp ground black pepper
2 tsp coarse salt
8 oz aged pecorino cheese, grated, divided
8 oz fontina cheese, grated, divided

Heat oven to 425F (220C, 200C fan). Butter a 9 in springform baking tin and wrap the outside tightly in foil. Set aside.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add broccoli to the pot and boil for 1-2 min, until just tender. Fish out with a large slotted spoon and drain well. Set aside.

Add spaghetti to boiling water and cook until 2 min short of done (i.e. very al dente) as the spaghetti will continue cooking in the oven. Drain well and let cool slightly.

Wring all extra moisture out of the broccoli and blot on paper towels to remove as much moisture as possible. Chop into very small pieces.

In a large bowl, whisk eggs and milk together with salt and pepper. Stir in all but 1/2 cup of each cheese and chopped broccoli. Add spaghetti and toss to coat.

Pour mixture into prepared tin and sprinkle remaining cheese on top. Bake for 50+ min (mine took more like an hour and a half), until the top is brown and there is no runny egg in the centre. If the top browns before the center is set, cover with foil for the remaining cooking time.

Cut around the springform ring to loosen, then remove ring. Run a spatula underneath the pie to loosen the base and slide onto a serving plate. Cut into wedges.


The mixture only just fits in the tin, but doesn't rise up so that's OK. It is huge, and very filling, so definitely serves many people or makes lots of leftovers. It took ages to cook: definitely not something to make in a rush or when hungry! It also messed up the springform quite a lot. I won't be making this often but it had a lot of impact for a special occasion for a pasta lover! He was pretty excited!
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