The Lake House minus the house

 It was Exberliner's article that first got my attention of this place but what really got me intrigued was of course a picture a friend posted on Facebook. If her intention was to make one jealous of her whereabouts, it worked, since I was working inside behind a computer on what was the best, if not perfect summers day.

Regardless, Fabrizio and I finally set out to the lake with bikes and backpacks, taking the S2 all the way to Bernau and then google mapsing our way through small town streets and beautifully thick, dense forest. You know that feeling when you haven't seen the sea in ages, and you drive over a mountain and WHAM, there's the big blue stuff. Well, thats kind of the same thing I was experiencing when I first spotted some specks of blue peering through the trees. A small ride further and we were sitting on a small beach costing us 3 Euros , a small price to pay for the ridiculously clear blue green waters filled with small fish. We dove off the wooden pier, backstroked along the lake and nibbled on icy cold chocolate ice creams, in what seemed like the typical summers day.

An easy peasy trip back home, by biking to the Wandlitzsee Bahnhof and taking the regional train to Karow, and then the S2 back into the city, its a small slice of summers solitude barely an hours distance.

Not my Ouma's Milk Tart

Since living in Europe, I'v always somewhat dreaded baking because this meant I had to face my nightmare of using a gas oven. I can barely light the oven without covering my face in the case of it blowing up, so that pretty much gives you an idea of just how terrible I am. After letting my boyfriend light it for me the first several times, and then watching me do it several times more, I faced the fact that this was how I was going to have to bake for all of eternity. Well, at least just whilst living in Berlin.

The real work began when I started testing out tons of recipes and noting down which gas level they work best at. I can shamelessly admit that it's not an inherited recipe from my “Ouma”, but instead an adapted version of Shades of Cinnamon's recipe. 

PASTRY CRUST

125g butter

½ cup sugar

1 egg

2 cups flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

pinch of salt

MILK TART FILLING

4½ cups milk

3 eggs

2½ Tablespoons cornflour

2½ Tablespoons flour

1 cup sugar

pinch of salt

14g Dr Oetker vanilla sugar

2 Tablespoons ground cinnamon

METHOD FOR PASTRY

1. Beat the butter and sugar until light and creamy. Add the egg and beat well.

2. Add the flour, baking powder and salt and beat until a fine breadcrumb consistency. Then using your hands to form the crumbly mixture into a firm dough.

3 Press into a 23x3cm deep round pie dish, pushing the pastry up the sides so that it is even all over. This quantity is the perfect amount for this size pie dish if you like a thick pastry base. I however used slightly less for a thinner base (and nibbled on the small leftover dough while the crust was baking). 

4. Once the pastry is evenly distributed, prick it with a fork all over the base, place a sheet of baking paper on top of the dough and spread a small bag of uncooked beans on the base. This will allow the dough to remain flat to allow more filling for later. 

5. Place the dish in the oven and bake for about 15 mins. Once the dough has cooked slightly, remove the beans and baking paper and continue to bake till an almost golden brown . I had to watch mine closely to make sure it didn't burn, but left them in for almost 45 minutes. The longer the pastry bakes, the crisper it will become, although with a gas oven,  found I could never be quite as precise as I would like to.

METHOD FOR FILLING

1. Place the milk in a large saucepan and bring to the boil gently , stirring continuously to make sure the bottom doesn't burn.

2. Beat eggs in a bowl and add the sugar, flour, cornflour, vanilla sugar and salt, mixing well.

3. Once the milk has come to the boil, pour it into the egg and flour mixture and stir well.

4..Return this to the stove and whisk gently but constantly until the mixture thickens. You don’t want any lumps in your filling so be prepared to stand over this mixture until it has boiled and thickened properly.

5. Pour into cooked crust and lightly sift or sprinkle cinnamon on top of the custard like filling

Allow to cool on a shelf until it is room temperature and then transfer the tart to the fridge.

Image and Illustration: Tara Deacon
Recipe adapted from Shades of Cinnamon: www.shadesofcinnamon.com