These quick and easy fruity truffles are delightful to share with loved ones over a cup of tea or coffee. Serve with aged Grand Tawny Port or Classic Muscat for the complete indulgent experience. Perfect to make as gifts for a special occasion like Easter, birthdays, Mother’s Day or Father’s Day.
We have a preference for dark chocolate, but feel free to substitute with milk chocolate or use dairy-free chocolate and cake to make them suitable for vegan diets.
Prep 20 mins Standing Time 1 hour Makes 24 Difficulty Easy
Ingredients
1 cup dried fruit, chopped
2 tbsp. orange zest, finely grated
1/4 cup fortified wine
125g dark chocolate, coarsely chopped
250g (2 cups) cake crumbs
1/2 cup desiccated coconut
Method
Put dried fruit in a bowl with some boiled water for 10-15 minutes then strain.
Mix fruit, orange zest and fortified wine of your choice.
Melt chocolate pieces using a double boiler or microwave in a glass bowl.
Add melted chocolate and cake crumbs to the fruit mixture and mix well.
Place coconut into a shallow bowl ready for coating truffles.
Roll mixture into small even balls with your hands, then roll each ball in coconut.
Rote Grutze is a beautiful grape dessert that reminds us of vintage and traditional events like the Barossa Vintage Festival. We are confessed dessert lovers and a bowl of these rich, flavourful little jewels is part of our German heritage.
It’s usually found only in Barossa homes during vintage using red grape varieties rich in colour like Mataro and Shiraz. You can use any grapes at hand or a blend of table grapes as we sometimes do later in the season. This food tradition was carried to Barossa settlements with its European settlers. Traditionally red berries were used in the dish, but the Barossa gave the dish it’s own regional stamp by using grapes. Think of this dish like a mulled wine jelly. Delicious!
Prep time 2 hours Cook time 15 mins
Ingredients
1kg bunches of late-picked shiraz grapes, washed
3 slices lemon, skin included
1 cinnamon stick
2 whole cloves
1/4 cup sugar
4 tablespoons Sago or Tapioca pearls*
Method
1. Pull the berries from the grape bunches, place in a saucepan with the lemon slices, cinnamon and cloves. Boil for ten minutes, then allow to sit for 45 minutes for skins to infuse colour; the juice should be a rich dark colour, like red wine. Strain through a sieve, squeezing as much juice as possible. At this point you can freeze the juice, ready for future batches of Rote Grutze.
2. Return the juice to the saucepan with the sugar then sprinkle the sago/tapioca pearls over the top. Allow to soak for several hours in juice to save cooking time.
3. Bring to a gentle boil, stirring gently for 15 minutes, or until the mixture thickens and the sago is clear. Keep heating time minimal to preserve juice colour.
4. Pour the Rote Grutze into a bowl and allow to set in the fridge.
5. Serve warm or cold with lashings of runny local cream. It will keep for several days in the refrigerator and the consistency will thicken over time.
Tip: your supermarket may not have Sago. Tapioca pearls are a perfect substitute
This quick and versatile sauce is more like a savoury compote. Excellent condiment for using figs, especially when you have had enough of sweet fig-based desserts. Serve as a sauce with roast lamb, baked fish, on pizza bases or like a relish. It’s just as good made with a full-bodied red wine or Port style wine.
Prep 10 mins Cook 25 mins
Ingredients
2 tbsp olive oil
500g brown onions, sliced thinly
1 cup fresh figs or 1 cup dried figs
1/4 cup wine (Liebichwein red wine or Tawny Port)
1 cup stock (chicken or vegetable)
1 tbsp Liebichwein Muscat Vinegar (balsamic vinegar can be substituted)
1 tbsp chopped rosemary or thyme (fresh or dried)
Salt & Pepper to taste
Method
Prepare sliced onions and cut figs into quarters if using fresh figs.
Heat olive oil in large frying pan. Add onions and sprinkle some salt. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until onions are golden, about 20 minutes.
Stir in figs, wine, stock, vinegar and herbs. Increase heat to high and simmer until sauce thickens, about 5 minutes.
Add salt and pepper taste.
Store in a sealed container in the fridge for 2-3 weeks. Alternatively, freeze in small portions until ready to use.
Traditional German Streuselkuchen is a family favourite! This cake has a sweet yeast dough base and is topped with fresh or preserved fruit and a crunchy sweet crumble. It brings back so many good memories of Barossa afternoon teas and family gatherings. In summer we use mulberries, plums or apricots while in autumn we use pears, apples or grapes.
Prep 2 hours Bake 20 mins Makes one large cake 45 x 30cm
Yeast:
2 teaspoons yeast
1 teaspoon sugar
1 cup milk warmed
1 teaspoon plain flour
Cake:
700g (1 lb) plain flour
Pinch salt
70g (2 oz) butter
85g (3 oz) sugar
1 egg, slightly beaten
1 cup sultanas or currants
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
Milk for glazing
3 cups of thinly sliced fresh fruit or whole berries (optional)
Streusel Topping:
2 cups plain flour
1 cup sugar
1 cup butter
Sprinkle ground cinnamon
Directions
Place yeast in a small bowl, add sugar and warm milk, plain flour, mix cover and stand in a warm place until the mixture turns frothy (takes around 15 minutes).
Start making cake dough by sifting flour into a bowl, add pinch of salt. Rub butter and sugar into flour (flavourings may be added here).
Add beaten egg to yeast mixture. Mix in the flour a cup at a time. Once the dough is too thick to mix, use hands to mix it and knead gently for a minute to a soft dough.
Spread dough approx. 2cm thick onto a large oven tray. Brush cake top with milk to help streusel stick.
Place seasonal sliced fruit or whole berries on top.
To make streusel, rub sugar and softened butter into flour and cinnamon. Press with your fingers to make crumb consistency.
Sprinkle streusel over the whole cake. Cover and keep in a warm place. Let the cake rise for an hour or until double in thickness.
Bake at 200C for 15-20 minutes or until edges of cake are golden brown.
While the first Liebichwein sparkling wine project began as simply producing a wine for the family, it is now available as a limited release. We are over the moon with this Lovely Sparkling wine!
You may be asking, why have we made a sparkling and why has it taken us so long?
It’s no secret that Janet’s favourite wine style is fizz and our whole family enjoy sharing bubbles with friends and family.Ron has been experimenting with growing a variety of Pinot Noir clones and making the odd dry red which he’s been pretty happy with, but he was up for a new challenge. A trip to the Champagne region in 2014 was the inspiration needed for Ron to explore the realm of Traditional Method sparkling.
We knew we needed help with this project so we enlisted the support of Sean and Sue Delaney of Sinclair’s Gully and Simon Greenleaf who make fine wines in the Adelaide Hills. They all encouraged us to have a go and were willing to share their tips and provide access to their equipment. Excitedly, we embarked on the collaboration.
The Lovely Sparkling story started early in vintage 2014 when we handpicked our own Pinot Noir destined to be the sparkling base wine. This was then blended with fresher Pinot base wine from vintage 2016 to build complexity. In late 2017, we arranged a few rounds of dedicated tasting trials to get the balance of body and sweetness just right. The wine is hand-disgorged, dosaged, capped and labelled to order. We decided to use our own Ruby Fortified Grenache for dosage to add sweetness and a pink hue.
The next steps were to think of a suitable name and package. We chose the name ‘Lovely’ for a number of reasons. Our family name Liebich is very close to the German word ‘lieblich’ which means ‘lovely’, the Barossa Valley maintains strong German heritage, and of course the wine is pretty lovely to look at, sip and savour.
Taste Notes Inspired by love and heritage, this blushing beauty offers tantalising strawberry and toasted brioche aromas leading to a lively palate that finishes dry to semi-dry. Simply lovely!
Quantities and strictly limited as each bottle is disgorged and labelled by hand.
A magical spot where you feel on top of the world.
This view is high up in the Barossa Ranges between Steingarten Road and Trial Hill Road. The ‘Steingarten’ (meaning stone garden) vineyard was planted in the 1960’s by the Gramp family who were inspired by the narrow vineyards planted on stoney ground in areas of Northern Germany.
To see for yourself, ask in cellar door for directions and you’ll be blown away (quite literally in winter) in only a few minutes drive from our cellar door.
A magical spot where you feel on top of the world.