AMERICA'S FIRST AU PAIR PROGRAM

Ingredients

• 3 cups all purpose flour
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1 ½ sticks butter
• 1 egg
• 2 ½ cups milk

(This is the basic recipe for strudel dough. Use packaged strudel (puff pastry) or filo pastry instead. It requires a certain degree of skill and experience to make the dough.)

For the filling:

• ½ stick butter (melted)
• 2 pounds apples peeled and cut into little pieces
• ½ cup Raisins (if wanted)
• ¼ cup Sugar and 1 tablespoon cinnamon
• 1 cup sour cream

Instructions

1. Preheat oven at 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Put flour in a bowl and form a hole in the middle. Put salt, 1 stick butter (soft), the egg, and milk in the hole.
3. Mix it all together with your hands.
4. Put the dough on a surface that is covered with flour and knead it until it is even. Separate dough in 2 or 3 pieces and knead it again, form a smooth ball and melt ½ stick of butter. Spread melted butter over it and cover it with a kitchen towel. Let it stand for 30 minutes.
5. Cover a kitchen towel (cotton) with flour and roll the dough very thin on the towel. Mix sugar and cinnamon together. Spread some of the melted butter over it. After that spread sour cream on it, sprinkle it with the sugar-cinnamon mix. Put the apples on the dough in a 3-inch strip along the narrow end , leaving a 2-inch border. Put raisins if wanted on the rolled dough. Lift the ends of the kitchen towel using it to roll the dough carefully over the filling. Bring sides of dough to center and seal the ends.
6. Put the strudel carefully in a greased pan, the sealed opening on the underside. Brush top of the strudel with butter. Repeat the entire procedure for the second strudel.
7. Bake it for 45 to 60 minutes at 400 Degrees Fahrenheit until browned.

Tastes the best still warm with vanilla sauce or vanilla ice cream!
Guten Appetit!

Submitted by Au Pair Sandy, Massachusetts 2004

Ingredients

• 3 eggs
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 cups buttermilk
• 4 cups flour
• 1 Tbs baking powder

Instructions

1. Combine all ingredients.
2. Pour batter in a big pan.
3. Mix up: 2 cups of shredded coconut or almond and 1 cup sugar, and sprinkle mixture on top of batter
4. Bake 20 min at 390°F
5. Mix 3.6 ounces of melted butter and 8.9 ounces whipped cream. Spread this on the cake
6. Bake 5-7 min more.

Submitted by Mirjam L., German au pair, Massachusetts 2004

Mix together:

• 8,9 ounces flour
• 4,2 ounces sugar
• 2 Tsp vanilla sugar
• 1 Tsp baking powder/li>
• 3,6 ounces butter
• 1 egg

Instructions

1. Refrigerate the batter for 2 hours.
2. Bake the cookies for 10-15 minutes at 392°F.

Submitted by Mirjam L., German au pair, Massachusetts 2004

Oven: about 180° C/ 350° F (preheated)
Baking time: about 60 minutes

Ingredients

• 300 g/10 oz soft margarine or butter
• 275 g/ 10 oz sugar
• 2-3 drops vanilla essence in 1 tablespoon sugar
• 5-6 drops rum essence
• 1 pinch salt
• 5 medium eggs
• 375 g/ 13 oz plain (all purpose) flour
• 4 level teaspoons baking powder
• about 2 tablespoons milk
• 20 g/ 3/4 oz cocoa powder
• 20 g/ 3/4 oz sugar
• 1-2 tablespoons milk

1. Preheat the oven at the top and bottom. Grease the mould.
2. To make the cake mixture, stir the softened fat with a hand mixer with whisk until it becomes smooth and homogenous. Gradually add the sugar, vanilla sugar, rum flavouring and salt, and stir until the mixture thickens. Add 1 egg at a time, whisking each one for about 1/2 minute at the highest setting.
3. Mix together the flour and baking powder, sift and add to the fat and egg mixture in 2 stages, alternating with the milk, stirring briefly with a mixer set at the medium setting.
4. Spoon two-thirds of the cake mixture into the greased gugelhupf (bundt mold). Sift the cocoa powder and add to the rest of the cake mixture together with milk and sugar. Spoon the dark-coloured cake mixture on the top of the light-coloured cake mixture and drag a fork through the two layers in a spiral movement to create a marbled pattern. Put the gugelhupf on a shelf in the oven.
5. Leave the cake in the tin for 10 minutes after taking it out of the oven, then remove from the tin and leave on a rack to cool. Finally, dust with icing sugar.

Submitted by Ines Rudolf from Germany, au pair in Massachusetts, 20

Kids will especially like this recipe!
Ingredients for two servings:

Ingredients

• 2/3 cups rice
• 3 1/2 cups milk
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1/8 cup sugarr
• pinch salt

1. Heat up milk, vanilla, butter, sugar and salt.
2. Put in the rice and let it simmer. Keep stirring rice until it has a smooth texture. If needed, add a little milk.
3. Serve it warm with a little sugar and cinnamon on top. Fresh fruit is good, too.

Submitted by Anika , au pair in Illinois 2004

It’s called “Nussecken,” meaning (literally): “nut” and “squares.”

First, combine:

• 11 oz flour
• 6 oz margarine or butter
• 4 oz sugar
• 2 small eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 teaspoon baking soda

Mix the ingredients until dough is smooth and well blended.

Next, you will need:

• 7 oz margarine or butter
• 7 oz sugar
• 14 oz chopped hazelnuts and almonds
• 4 tablespoons water
• 1 teaspoon vanillasugar
• apricot jam

1. Melt margarine/butter with sugar, vanilla and water, and bring to a boil. Add hazelnuts and almonds, and let mixture cool down.
2. Preheat oven to 375° F.
3. Grease the bottom of a baking pan and pour in dough.
4. Put a (thin) layer of apricot jam (~ 5 tablespoons) on top of dough, then spread topping over it.
5. Bake for 30 min. or until golden brown.
6. After it cools down, cut it into squares, and then into triangles
7. Put melted chocolate on bottom and sides of the triangles

Enjoy!

Submitted by Johanna (Germany), Massachusetts 2004

Ingredients

• 5 lbs. potatoes
• 1 glass of pickled gherkin
• 1 small glass of mayonnaise
• 1 small onion
• 1/4 of a sour apple
• as you wish for decoration 2 eggs/ 1 tomato/ parsley

Instructions

1. Boil potatoes.
2. Mince pickles.
3. Boil eggs.
4. Peel potatoes.
5. Mince potatoes when cooler.
6. Put potatoes and pickles in a bowl.
7. Mince onion and apple, also in the bowl.
8. Mix mayonnaise in, not too much.
9. For decoration, quarter eggs and arrange with the tomato pieces.

TIP: let it stand for a few hours, the taste will be better.
Enjoy your self-made German potato salad!

Submitted by Claudia, German au pair in Massachusetts, 2004