Late-night smell of roasting
The late-night smell of roasting in the apartment is one of things I genuinely look forward to at the end of a long day. I would even go so far as to say the smell helps me fall asleep, as it is soothing and homey. When I come home late at night, I always prepare breakfast for Emma. And most of the time, I make two portions at the same time because my chef, Marco Böhler, is always really happy when I bring him a bowl of muesli in the morning. Unlike me, Marco is always famished in the morning.
To make the muesli, I soak coarse flakes of spelt or five-grain overnight in milk or buttermilk. Then I heat the oven to 160 degrees, place some nuts on a baking sheet and roast them for 7 minutes until they are golden-brown and a delicious smell wafts through the apartment. Incidentally, the best taste and smell comes from whole almonds in their shells. When they are ready, I finely chop some of the nuts and add them to the mixture of muesli and milk to make it thicker.
I then coarsely chop the other half of the nuts and add them to the muesli mixture the next day with a little yoghurt or fruit purée – berries and vanilla in summer and coconut, pineapple or mango in winter. Personally, I’m quite happy with a cup of tea or coffee in the morning. My great joy is much more the fact that my muesli mixtures give my daughter (and my chef) the ideal start to the day.
Try this, for example: 200 g coarse oat flakes, 200 g fine oat flakes, 150 g almonds with their shells, coarsely chopped, 80 g almond flakes, 120 g sunflower seeds, 100 g maple syrup, 3 tbsp almond or sunflower oil, a pinch of salt, the pulp of 1 vanilla pod, a pinch of cinnamon powder, 200 g dried berries, 100 g dried cherries or raisins.
Mix the oat flakes, almonds and sunflower seeds together. Stir the maple syrup and oil with the seasoning and mix with the oat flake mixture in a large bowl. Place on two baking trays lined with baking paper and dry in the oven for 1 hour at 120°C on the hot air setting. Then add the dried fruit, mix through and dry for another 30 minutes. Leave to cool then store in an airtight container.