Bavarian Cheese Spread

Bavarian Cheese Spread, also known as obatzter, obazda, obazde, obazd'n and obatzda, is a strong cheese spread made with ripe Camembert, cream cheese, butter, onions, spices and, of course, beer. It’s a classic Bavarian beer garden recipe, best enjoyed with a cold stein of Weissbier or indeed, your own favorite brew.

The original Obatzda recipe is credited to Katharina Eisenreich who was the innkeeper of the Bräustüberl Weihenstephan from 1920 -1958, a good long run. She served it to her guests as a light snack to accompany their morning beer and soon the idea spread, with many beer gardens creating their own special recipes. 

I'm just going to say that again to make sure you didn't skim by it: morning beer. Why don't we have a morning beer tradition? It sounds like a solid idea, at least on the weekend.

The recipe I’m sharing for this week’s Sunday FunDay Oktoberfest theme is purported to be that original Bavarian cheese spread recipe from the Bräustüberl Weihenstephan. I must confess that I had a certain reluctance to believe that a classic German cheese spread recipe would actually start with a French cheese. So I consulted an American friend who spent time in Germany growing up. Enough time that, in fact, she is fluent in German and is now a qualified German teacher. She kindly checked what she called the “German part of the web” and confirmed the recipe and added a bit more information. 

Bavarian Cheese Spread

Frau Eisenreich's Bavarian cheese spread does start with Camembert, the riper the better. The story there goes that it was created to use cheese that was reaching its use by date and was quite strong. Butter was added to make it milder. And to be authentic, obatzda must be mixed or kneaded together by hand. A side note that I found humorous: Apparently Germans call all cream cheese Philadelphia. 

Ingredients

8 3/4 oz or 250g Camembert cheese

1/3 cup or 70g butter

5 1/3 oz or 150g cream cheese, at room temperature.

4 1/4 oz or 120g onions, minced, plus extra sliced in rings to serve

1/4 teaspoon paprika, plus another pinch for garnish

1/4 teaspoon ground cumin

1 pinch each salt and pepper

7 tablespoons or 100ml Weißbier (weissbier/wheat beer)

Method

Cut the Camembert into small pieces with a sharp knife. This is easier when the Camembert is still chilled. Put it in a large mixing bowl and leave to come to room temperature.

Add butter, cream cheese, chopped onions, paprika, cumin, salt and pepper. 

Use your clean hands to thoroughly mix the ingredients together until you have a homogeneous paste. 

Use a rubber spatula to scrape the bowl, then add in the beer and mix again until all the beer is incorporated, using your hands or a wooden spoon. 

Cover the bowl with some cling film and refrigerate several hours or even till the next day to give the flavors time to combine.

Serve the Bavarian cheese spread sprinkled with a little paprika for garnish, along with brown bread or pretzels, slices of raw onion and, of course, beer. 

It’s Sunday FunDay and we are here to help you celebrate Oktoberfest whether that’s a thing in your neck of the woods or not! Check out all the German fare we are sharing below! 

• Bauernfrühstück (German Farmer’s Breakfast) from Sneha's Recipe
• Bavarian Cheese Spread from Food Lust People Love
• Beer Braised Steak from Palatable Pastime
• Beer Brats on Pretzel Rolls from Amy's Cooking Adventures
• Obatzda (Cheese Spread) from Making Miracles
• Oktoberfest Breakfast Casserole from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Sourdough Soft Pretzels from Karen's Kitchen Stories

We are a group of food bloggers who believe that Sunday should be a family fun day, so every Sunday we share recipes that will help you to enjoy your day. If you're a blogger interested in joining us, just visit our Facebook group and request to join.

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Chocolate Spider Web Bundt Cake #BundtBakers

This Chocolate Spider Web Bundt Cake is super chocolate-y with a tender, light crumb and just the right amount of sweetness. Made with almond flour, sour cream and brown Swerve, it’s keto and diabetic friendly. 

I know a lot of people took up new hobbies or learned a new craft last year during lockdown. I’m a little slow on the uptake. A few weeks ago an amazing knitter friend offered to teach a small group of us to knit. More for the camaraderie than anything, I agreed. 

My first project, a rather chunky small blanket made with thick yarn and immense needles, isn’t going as well as I could hope but I am determined to persevere and finish it. If only to say that I didn’t give up. I am enjoying the company of friends much more!

Yesterday, my small group – we like to call ourselves Well-Knit because aside from the actually knitting together now, we’ve been friends for almost 50 years! – came over for dinner. I made a pot of Four-Alarm Texas chili and a big spinach salad. This delicious cake was the perfect dessert for all of our varied diets and dietary needs, not to mention being holiday appropriate for October. 

Chocolate Spider Web Bundt Cake 

Aside from the eggs, the only leavening in this cake is the baking soda so it’s essential that you use unsweetened natural cocoa powder and not Dutch processed. The reaction between the acid in the natural cocoa (and the sour cream) and the baking soda is what gives this cake lift. 

Ingredients

For the cake:

melted unsalted butter for pan

4 large eggs

2/3 cup, packed, or 133g brown Swerve or brown sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/2 cup or 120ml sour cream

2 cup or 226g almond flour

2/3 cup or 66g unsweetened cocoa powder (not Dutch processed), plus extra for pan

1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

For the icing spider web:

2 tablespoons pasteurized egg whites (1 large egg white)

1 teaspoon lemon juice

1 1/3 cups 166g powdered Swerve or powdered sugar

For decoration: one plastic spider

Method

Preheat oven to 350°F or 163°C. Liberally butter a six-cup Bundt pan and sprinkle it thoroughly with cocoa powder.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, brown Swerve and vanilla extract. (This was my first time using Swerve and I was amazed by how much it looked exactly like brown sugar. But zero-calorie and low-glycemic. What sorcery is this?)

In another bowl. Sift together the cocoa powder, baking soda and salt. I live in a humid climate and despite keeping the cocoa powder and baking soda in airtight containers, they still get lumpy. If your cocoa and baking soda are free-flowing and lump free, you can skip the sifting step and put them right in the bowl. 

Whisk the sour cream, almond flour and cocoa powder mix into the egg/Swerve mixture.

Spoon the thick batter into your prepared pan. 

Bake until center is set, and a toothpick inserted in it comes out clean, 40-45 minutes.

Cool the cake for about 10 minutes, then turn it out on to a wire rack until it cools completely. 

To make the icing for the spider web, mix all the ingredients together in a small bowl. Stir well until it’s completely smooth. If it seems too runny to apply with a piping bag, add another tablespoon or two of powdered Swerve or sugar. 

Using a piping bag with a #3 tip, make lines down the Bundt cake from the bottom up and down the inside.

Starting at the top, pipe curves between the lines to complete the spider web. 

Use a spoon or spatula to fill the bottom of the spider with icing and press it gently to the cake to adhere. Royal icing hardens when it dries and will hold the spider in place nicely.

Slice to serve!

It’s Bundt Baker time and since it’s October and All Hallow’s Eve is nigh, we are sharing Halloween cakes! Check out the links below. Many thanks to our host, Wendy of A Day in the Life on the Farm!

• Pat Y Co: Boo...Chocolate-Coconut and Pumpkin Marble Bundt
• Making Miracles: Chocolate Orange Swirled Bundt Cake 
• Food Lust People Love: Chocolate Spider Web Bundt Cake 
• Palatable Pastime: Dirt and Worms Bundt Cake 
• A Day in the Life on the Farm: Mini Pumpkin Bundts 
• Sneha’s Recipe: Monster Bundt Cake 
• Culinary Adventures with Camilla: No Bones About It Pumpkin Mini Bundts

#BundtBakers is a group of Bundt loving bakers who get together once a month to bake Bundts with a common ingredient or theme. You can see all of our lovely Bundts by following our Pinterest board. We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient. Updated links for all of our past events and more information about BundtBakers, can be found on our home page.

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Savory Craquelin Pastry Roast Salmon

The topping on this Savory Craquelin Pastry Roast Salmon is a great way to add flavor and also make sure roast salmon doesn’t dry out in the oven. It's flavored with garlic, thyme, smoked sea salt flakes, aleppo pepper and just a sprinkle of nutmeg. 

If you’ve seen my recipe for pineapple buns, you are already familiar with what craquelin pastry is, although to be fair, I never called it that. That thin topping I added to the buns - the one that baked up crunchy and shiny - is a craquelin. Indeed typically craquelin pastry is sweet. And it’s usually baked on a bread or pastry of some kind. 

The word itself is French, naturalment, and translates to “cracker.” I presume the topping was so named because it is crunchy like a cracker when baked, although I must warn you that that does not hold true when you bake it on top of fish.  It gets a little crunchy but certainly not cracker crisp!

Since craquelin pastry is usually sweet I was intrigued when I saw the recipe for savory craquelin in delicious. magazine and couldn’t wait to try it. Was it good? Suffice to say, I'll be making this again! The topping was flavorful and delightful and the salmon below was tasty and cooked to perfection.

Savory Craquelin Pastry Roast Salmon

As mentioned above, this recipe was adapted from one in the UK magazine delicious. March 2021 issue but you can also find it online. You can mix the craquelin by hand but it’s much easier to get it nice and smooth with an electric mixer and I promise you want it nice and smooth. 

Ingredients

4 salmon fillets, about 1.5 lbs or 800g altogether, at room temperature

Juice of 1/2 lemon, plus wedges for serving

For the craquelin pastry topping:

2 slightly rounded tablespoons unsalted butter (about 30g), at room temperature

1/2 teaspoon demerara sugar

1 teaspoon smoked sea salt flakes (I used Maldon.)

Sprinkle freshly grated nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon pul biber (aleppo pepper) or substitute 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper, plus extra to serve, if you like

1 fat clove garlic, crushed and minced

2 sprigs fresh thyme, leaves picked off and chopped, plus extra sprigs to serve

3 tablespoons plain flour

Method

Preheat your oven to 425°F or 218°C and prepare your baking pan by lining it with baking parchment.

Use electric beaters to make the craquelin pastry topping by creaming the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add in the salt, nutmeg, pul biber, garlic, thyme and flour.

Beat again until it’s thoroughly combined and spreadable.

Put the salmon on the lined baking pan, skin-side down. Dry the tops thoroughly with a paper towel. If the fish is wet, it’s a challenge to get the craquelin to stick and spread. 

Divide the craquelin dough between the salmon fillets. Spread each over the top of the fish using the back of a spoon. 

Pop the pan in your preheated oven and bake for 15 minutes. Finish it off under the broiler for 1-2 minutes or until the top is golden and the fish is just cooked through.

Sprinkle the fillets with the lemon juice, then add an extra sprig of thyme to each and a pinch more aleppo pepper or cayenne, if desired. 

Enjoy!

It's the second Friday of the month so that means it's time for my Fish Friday Foodie friends to share recipes with you. Our theme today is Salmon Chanted Evening 🤣   but feel free to make these for lunch as well! Many thanks to our host, Sue of Palatable Pastime for the fun theme name and all her behind the scenes work! 

• Chili Glazed Salmon from Karen’s Kitchen Stories
• Creamy Garlic Butter Salmon from Making Miracles
• Salmon Burgers With Cocktail Sauce from Sneha’s Recipe
• Salmon with Lemon Caper Butter from Palatable Pastime
• Savory Craquelin Roast Salmon from Food Lust People Love
• Smoked Salmon Pasta from A Day in the Life on the Farm

Would you like to join Fish Friday Foodies? We post and share new seafood/fish recipes on the third Friday of the month. To join our group please email Wendy at wendyklik1517 (at) gmail.com. Visit our Facebook page and Pinterest page for more wonderful fish and seafood recipe ideas.

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