Germany

Apparently German chocolate cake is not actually German. Sadly, my coconut frosting dreams were shattered by Bobby Flay one night while I was watching Throwdown. The true origin of the 'not-so-German' German chocolate cake is a rather disappointing tale so I'll leave it to those curious enough to Google it. Anyhow, we turned to the next most brilliant thing that actually hails from Germany - gingerbread. In my books any excuse is a good excuse to stock up on candy, so in the spirit of Christmas and German tradition, we made gingerbread houses. I found the recipe on Vegan Dad and it was incredibly simple. I can't really say these were part of the meal since they are still on display (although we snacked enough on everything and can assure they are super yummy) so the real menu starts here.

Menu:

Bretzels
Carrot Salad
Hot Potato Salad
Bavarian Sausages with Saurkraut & Fried Onions
Seitan Schnitzel
Black Forest Cake

My well-traveled friend, Nicole, has made me drool on many an occasion with her tales of all the pretzel stands in Germany that she could readily stuff her face at. So, bang, pretzels (or as the natives say "Bretzels") had to be made. We ate them warm and happily stuffed our faces too.

It just wouldn't feel German without some sort of slaw. I found so many tempting recipes for coleslaws but in the end chose the Carrot Salad for the citrus and fresh dill. It was sweet and tart and crisp and absolutely lovely. A potato salad was another must. I picked this up from my old personal trainer who was of German decent. He would talk about how great his mom's Warm Potato Salad was to the point where he would absolutely have to have it. The second our session was over he would be on his cell phone calling home about dinner. I purposely looked for the recipe that sounded the most like his mom's. I admit I used to think his cravings odd, but now not so much.

Yves makes a Bavarian sausage so I figured what better time to give them a try. I served them with sauteed onions and saurkraut. Not rocket science, but tasty. The Seitan Schnitzel was the real main - and the show stealer. I had never made my own seitan before so I was a bit terrified. I used a recipe from the Veganomicon but any seitan will do. It was much simpler than I expected and now I'm hooked. I think the matzo might be the secret to the delicious breading. It was perfectly crispy.

Mr. German and his misleading name were not going to keep me from having cake. Black Forrest Cake is actually German! Hurray! I know that there is a vegan whipped cream available out there, and that my cake could have been a little more authentic if I could have gotten my dirty little hands on some, but no such luck. I chose frosting as an alternative and no sweet tooth was left unsatisfied. Take that Samuel.

Bretzels

1 1/2 cup warm water
1 1/8 tsp active dry yeast
2 tbsp brown sugar
1 1/8 tsp salt
1 cup bread flour
3 cups regular flour
2 cups warm water
2 tbsp baking soda
coarse salt
4 tablespoons Earth Balance (melted)

1. Sprinkle yeast on lukewarm water in mixing bowl; stir to dissolve.
2. Add sugar, salt and stir to dissolve.
3. Add flour and knead dough until smooth and elastic. Let rise at least 1/2 hour.
4. While dough is rising, prepare a baking soda water bath with 2 cups warm water and 2 Tbsp baking soda. Stir often.
5. After dough has risen, pinch off bits of dough and roll into a long rope,about 1/2 inch or less thick, and shape.
6. Dip pretzel in soda solution and place on parchment lined baking sheet.
7. Allow pretzels to rise again.
8. Bake in 450 oven for about 10 minutes or until golden.
9. Brush with melted Earth balance and sprinkle with salt.
(recipe from cdkitchen)

Carrot Salad
1 lb fresh carrots
1/2 cup fresh squeezed orange juice
1 oz vegetable oil
1 1/2 oz white vinegar
2 tbsp chopped fresh dill
1 1/2 tbsp agave nectar
salt and pepper to taste

1. Peel and grate carrots.
2. Mix all ingredients together and let marinate for 1/2 hour at room temperature to let the flavors blend.
(adapted from Wikia)

Hot Potato Salad
5 slices Yves Canadian bacon, diced
2 tbsp olive oil
1 1/2 tbsp all-purpose flour
1 tbsp granulated sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp prepared mustard
1/2 cup cider vinegar
1/2 cup water
4 cups diced cooked potato

1. Heat oil in pan over medium heat.
2. Saute "bacon" until slightly crisp.
3. Blend in flour, sugar, salt and mustard.
4. Gradually add vinegar and water, stirring constantly until smooth.
5. Continue cooking over low heat, stirring, until thickened.
6. Add potato and heat through, gently stirring to mix.
(adapted from About.com)

Schnitzel

Breading:
1/2 cup flour (if using self-rising flour, omit baking powder)
1/2 tsp baking powder
2 tbsp egg replacer
5 tbsp water mixed together
1 cup unsalted matzo meal (or bread crumbs)

3 seitan cutlets
canola oil for frying

1. Mix flour and baking powder in one dish.
2. Mix egg replacer and water in a second dish.
3. Place matzo meal in a third dish.
4. Place a cutlet in the flour, coating it well.
5. Next dip it in the egg replacer mixture.
6. Coat both sides in matzo meal.
7. Pan fry each side in until golden brown.
(inspired by melbedggood.com)

Black Forest Cake
2 round 9 inch chocolate cakes (recipe below)
1/2 cup simple syrup (recipe below)
1 recipe vanilla frosting (I used Vegan Fluffy Buttercream from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World)
1 can cherry pie filling
8 candied cherries for decoration
Chocolate shavings

Chocolate cake:
2 cups sugar
6 heaping tbsp cocoa
1 tsp salt
2 tsp baking soda
3 cups flour
3/4 cup canola oil
2 tsp vanilla
2 tbsp vinegar
2 cups cold water

1. Preheat oven to 350
2. Grease and flour two 9-inch round cake pans
3. Mix dry ingredients in one bowl.
4. Mix wet ingredients in a second bowl
5. Add wet mixture to dry and mix until combined
6. Divide evenly into cake pans
7. Bake for 30 minutes or until done (use the toothpick test)

Simple Syrup:
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup sugar

1. In a medium saucepan combine sugar and water.
2. Bring to a boil, stirring, until sugar has dissolved. Allow to cool.

Assembly:
1. Once cooled, slice each cake in half so that you have four 9-inch layers (you will only need three)
2. Place one layer on the bottom and brush generously with simple syrup
3. Apply a very thin layer of frosting
4. Pipe a thick ring of frosting around the perimeter of the bottom layer to create a barrier
5. Fill the circle with cherry pie filling - not too much or it will leak.
6. Pipe a very thin layer of frosting over the cherry filling
7. Place second layer of cake on top, and brush generously with simple syrup
8. Apply a layer of frosting
9. Place third layer on top
10. Frost top and sides of cake
11. Pipe 8 rosettes around top of cake
12. Sprinkle center & bottom half of sides with chocolate shavings
13. Place a cherry on centre of each rosette