Here at Lemonaste we are taking our first steps into video and film making, and what better place to start than at the German Travel Show held in London in early February.

The theme for Germany tourism this year is the great outdoors, with dozens of spectacular gardens being opened to the public including the Grossedlitz baroque garden in Saxony, southern German and the imposing Weesenstein Castle gardens also in Saxony. Check out www.schloesserland-sachsen.de for more about Saxon gardens and castles.

At the show we interviewed Julia Bradbury, the British TV presenter and long distance walker who earlier had filmed the popular BBC series ‘German Wanderlust’ about her travels across the country by foot.

See LemonasteTV’s Youtube interview with Julia HERE … (and yes, we need to work on the sound quality!)

Also at the show, state owned wine distributor Bremer Ratskeller led a tasting of white, red and sparkling wines. So, we gathered round and tasted several wines, pairing red wine with Gummi bears (tip: drink the wine first) and rich, dark chocolate from Bremen-based producers Hachez (better than Gummi bears, to be honest) and chilli outperforming the salted variety!

Also there was food writer Lindy Wildsmith who lent her palate to a tasting of Weissbier from Erdinger brewery based just outside Munich. This ‘white bier’ is matured in the bottle and pours a cloudy, golden colour with a slightly sweet aroma, citrusy with a hint of clove. Good to drink with fish, chicken, salads and even pudding.

See the video of the wine tasting and Lindy’s beer tasting HERE …

Finally, one of Julia’s favourite German foods is Schneeballeisen, or snowballs … so here’s recipe for this sweet, doughy snack from bavaria.by.

FRÄNKISCHE SCHNEEBALLEN

These ‘snowballs’ are a southern German specialty and particular popular in the town of Rothenburg ob der Tauber. Made with shortcrust pastry and filled with treats such as marzipan and can be covered with chocolate and nuts. Once made for special occasions particularly weddings, the cakes are now widely available from bakeries across Germany, and can be made at home, although you’ll probably need a mould known as a Schneeballeisen.

20 egg yolks
7 tsp icing sugar
7 tsp cream
4 tsp damson schnapps
500 g plain flour
Butter/oil to deep fry
Icing sugar to drench

Heat the butter oil in a deep fat fryer to 180 °C (test: if you hold a wooden spoon in the fat bubbles will rise).

Mix all ingredients to a dough and roll out into circles approximately dessert plate sized and 3mm thick.

Leave to rest briefly.

Using a pastry wheel cut strips 1-1.5 cm wide but not right to the edges of the circle. Using the handle of a wooden spoon lift every second strip.

Lift the pastry circle and put it into a utensil made especially for this purpose known as a Schneeballeisen.

Bake the cakes in hot fat until they are golden brown.

Drench in sifted icing sugar.

(Recipe and image courtesy bavaria.by)