A very traditional cake found in my country, Switzerland, is a Carrot cake. Almost any pastry shop in Switzerland has this cake on display and it does not vary much in the presentation. Only once I was living abroad I found many different variation, especially in the US and Australia where they always schmier a frosting of cream cheese onto the cake, not found at all in good old Helvetia!

Being Swiss, sort of patriotic in regards to the Swiss “Ruebli chueche”, the rape of the same cake by American and Aussies and the many other variation of this delicious cake, I thought if there must be a frosting then at least do it right and use Quark cheese and Oranges. I love orange and carrot juice and why not combine this with quark and CH Carrot cake!

The full recipe can be downloaded at below link!

Swiss Carrot & Orange-Quark Cake

The holy month of Ramadan for Muslims is just two weeks away and already supermarket shelves are loaded with a huge variety of fresh, dried and stuffed dates. Saudi Arabia is likely the largest producer of dates, producing one of the finest varieties there is.

Like other fruit, dates are a seasonal product, therefore the supply of fresh delicious dates is always limited. Processed dates (Tamr) and dried dates are available all year round. Dates can be classified as soft, semi-soft and dry dates. Chewy dry dates keep longer and can be used for ‘survival food’ on long trips or on hiking.

Dates freeze extremely well, so you can put them in your freezer and enjoy them year round.

Dates are oval-cylindrical, 2.5-5 cm long, and 1.5-2.5 cm diameter. When dates are unripe, they come bright red to bright yellow in color, depending on the type of dates. Dates contain a single seed about 2-2.5 cm long and 5-7 mm thick.

Three main Cultivable Groups of date exist:

1. Soft like Khalas Qassim and Khalas Kharj
2. Soft or Semi-Dry like Ajwa , Anbara, Mabroom, and Barni
3. Dry like Ruthana, Nabtat Ali, Segae and Sukkari

The type of fruit depends on its nutrition, shape and taste. Dates ripen in four stages, which are known throughout the world by their Arabic names kimri (unripe), khalal (full-size, crunchy), rutab (ripe, soft), tamr (ripe, sun-dried). Dates come in the following four forms in the market:

1. Press Pack such as Khalas Qassim
2. Plain Dates when they are fresh
3. Dried Dates such as Sukkari
4. Date Paste such as Soft Date Paste