me, myself and my kitchen aid

chocolate rosewater mini cupcakes

2012-02-25T09:57:00.000-08:00

Steffi from Ohhh...Mhhh... has been asking bloggers to share their 3 main discoveries from the last months.

Number 1 is most definitely Pinterest. I'm totally hooked and I could spend ages on this site pinning and repinning awesome stuff. It's sort of my extended brain to memorize all the best fun stuff....like awsome, glittery, sparkly shoe clips, supercool tea pots, fabulous hairstyles, or the yummiest, prettiest cupcakes around.

Number 2 is 15cm long icing spatula. I got one in London in January and let me tell, it is freaking awsome. Frosting cupcakes has never been so easy or so much fun. At the moment it is definitely my favourite kitchen gadget.

Number 3 is that some London cupcake shops are not all they're cracked up to be. I've been so looking forward to visiting them and my fall thorugh the rabbit hole was not as smooth as Alice's. While the staff at the Hummingbird Bakery was super-friendly, their cupcakes were basically tasteless. Lola's cupcakes looked a bit expired with discoloured icing and the Primrose Bakery surprised with overly sweet cupcakes and a cupcake display that looked more like a storage room for boxes and note books. I was sorely disappointed and still hope I might come across a fanatstic cupcake store in London. If you know one, I'd be forever greatful :)

Now, what are YOUR 3 main discoveries? While you're thinking I propose to have one or maybe two of the chocolate rosewater cupcakes.

CHOCOLATE ROSEWATER MINI CUPCAKES

adapted from Cupcakes from the Primrose Bakery (cupcakes) and the Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook (frostings)

makes 40 mini cupcakes

you need 2 14-hole-mini muffin trays lined with 40 paper cases

ingredients:

110g soft butter

150g sugar

2 eggs

275g flour

a pinch of salt

1,5 teaspoons baking powder

120ml milk

1 teaspoon rosewater

directions:

Preheat oven to 160°C (320°F or Gas mark 4).

Cream butter and sugar for about 3 minutes, until very smooth. Add the eggs, one at a time, until well incorporated. Add flour, baking powder and salt together with the milk and rosewater. Mix until well combined.

Spoon batter into the prepared cases and bake for about 12 minutes.

Let cool on a wire rack.

For the rosewater buttercream:

Cream 40g soft butter, then add 125g icing sugar together with 1 tablespoon rosewater and red food colouring. Beat for about 5 minutes until very fluffy.

Pipe onto cupcakes.

For the chocolate buttercream:

Cream 50g soft butter. Add 20g cooca powder, together with 150 icing sugar and 20ml milk. Beat for 5 minutes until very fluffy. Pipe onto cupcakes.

The Baked Brownie

2012-02-04T11:36:00.000-08:00

Dear Mr. Grumpy,

I went to London and bought you a "Mr. Grumpy"-mug. You said you liked it but haven't used it - not even once - since you got it. What does that mean? Are you grumpy? I even got you teabags and chocolates with it. I'm confused.

Please use the cup so you won't forget that I love you, even when you're grumpy.

All my love,
Miss Chatterbox

P.S.: These are the most awesome brownies ever. So good that every slice eaten means you'll get asked for the recipe :)

The Baked Brownie

adapted from Baked: New Frontiers in Baking

makes 20-24 slices

you need a 23 x 30 cm baking pan, lined with greaseproof paper

ingredients:

11/4 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons cocoa powder, unsweetened
11 ounces dark chocolate
1 cup butter
1 teaspoon instant espresso powder
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
5 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla sugar

directions:

Preheat your oven to 175°C (350°F).

Melt the chocolate and butter in bowl over simmering water. Once everything is melted, add the espresso powder and both sugars. Stir until well combined and the mixture has room temperature (otherwise the eggs will scramble).

Add the eggs and vanilla sugar, stirring until combined. Add the flour, salt and cocoa powder and fold in with a spatula. Don't mix too long at this stage.

Pour into the prepared pan and bake for about 30 minutes.

Let cool on a wire rack, then cut into squares and dust with icing sugar.

This post is shared on: Sweet as Sugar Cookies, MomTrends Friday Food,

Espresso Cupcakes

2012-01-15T08:01:00.000-08:00

My boyfriend (who I like to call Mr. Grumpy because he sometimes is grumpy but pretends he's not....trust me, he IS!) is one of those people who spend an average 5 seconds on a phone call. Sort of like "hi, yeah, bye!".

He's even worse when it comes to text messages. He very, very rarely sends one and then only when he has no other choice. I've know him for more than 12 years now and he always, always sent text messages in perfect German. The other day at work I received one written in slang. And I was like "who is this and what did you do with my boyfriend?", double checked the sender (like 5 times) and spent the rest of the day rather confused.

When asked why he did it he was like "it would have sound odd in Standard German".
Err, ok.....

ESPRESSO CUPCAKES

makes 18 cupcakes

adapted from Cake Days

line 1x12 and 1x6 cupcake trays with paper cases

ingredients:

240ml milk

20g instant espresso powder

80g soft butter

220g sugar

240g flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 egg

directions:

Preheat oven 190°C (375°F or Gas mark 5).

Dissolve the espresso powder in the milk.

In a large bowl, beat the butter, sugar, flour, baking powder and salt on a low speed until it looks like breadcrumbs. Add the milk and eggs and mix until smooth. Bake for about 18-20 minutes.

Leave to cool on a wire rack.

For the frosting slightly warm 50ml milk and dissolve 16g instant espresso powder in it. In a large bowl mix together 500g icing sugar and 160g soft butter. Add the espresso-milk and mix on a high speed for about 5 minutes. Spread on the cupcakes and decorate with chocolate covered coffee beans or mini-merigues.

I shared this recipe on: Sweet as Sugar Cookies, Momtrends Friday Food,

whoopie pies

2012-01-08T07:58:00.000-08:00

Don't you just hate it when work gets in the way of life and all your carefully laid out plans go up in smoke? All the Christmas baking I had planned basically didn't happen so the first thing I made this year were whoopie pies. I've been ogling them for ages but never got around to making them, despite even buying a whoopie pie book :D

My New Year's resolution therefore was (is) to work less and spend more time with my life. And while I go and paint my life pink and sprinkle it with glitter you should go and make whoopie pies. They're super good, super easy and super cute!

CHOCOLATE WHOOPIE PIES with CREAM CHEESE FILLING

adapted from Ohhh... Mhhh...

makes 15 whoopie pies

line baking tray with grease proof paper

ingredients:

170g butter, at room temperature
150g sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla sugar
60ml buttermilk or sour cream
120ml strong coffee
230g flour
75g cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt

directions:

Preheat oven to 190°C (375°F).
Cream together butter, sugar and vanilla sugar. Add the egg.
Add flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda and cocoa powder, alternating with buttermilk and coffee.

Using a ice cream scoop (or tablespoon) place 8 heaps of dough on the baking tray. Not too close together, though, as they'll spread while baking.
Bake for 9-12 minutes, then let cool on a wire rack.

For the filling cream 30g butter, then add 50g cream cheese and 250g icing sugar, as well as 1 teaspoon vanilla sugar. Pipe or spread on one half of the pie, then put the second half on top. Dust with icing sugar.

mojito cupcakes

2011-12-03T01:15:00.000-08:00

OMG! I can't believe it's been more than a month since I last posted a recipe. I'm seriously wondering what I've been doing these past weesk except working too much? Not much, apparently...I didn't even bake that much and so far, I haven't made a single christmas cookie.

Masterplan for this weekend: make 15 different kinds of cookies. Well, er...yeah, that's the plan. Which means, I gotta go...or to say it in the words of the White Rabbit: "I'm late, I'm late, For a very important date. No time to say "Hello", "Goodbye". I'm late, I'm late, I'm late"

In the meantime, enjoy the mojito cupcakes (they are the awesomest cupcakes EVER)!

MOJITO CUPCAKES

adapted from Cake Days

makes 18 cupcakes

you need one 12 whole and one 6 whole muffin tray lined with paper cups

Ingredients:

200ml hhite rum (I used Bacardi or Cachaça)
300g sugar
80g butter, softened
240g flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons grated lime zest
2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
2 tablespoons finely chopped mint
2 large eggs
240ml ml milk
1 teaspoon vanilla sugar

directions:

Preheat oven to 170°C (350°F).

Put the rum and 60g of the sugar in a saucepan and boil. When reduced by half set aside to cool.

In a large bowl cream together butter, the rest of the sugar and vanilla sugar. Add the flour, baking powder, salt, baking soda, lemon and lime zest and the mint. Add milk, eggs and cooled white rum. Divide batter (which is a bit runny) between the muffin cases and bake for about 20 minutes.

Let cool on a wire rack.

When cooled, prepare the frosting:

For the frosting

120g butter
375g icing sugar
1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
1/2 teaspoon lime zest
4-6 teaspoons lime juice
4-6 teaspoons white rum

1tbsp caster sugar
mint leaves
straws
limes

Cream together butter, sugar and zests. Gradually add the lime juice and rum until your frosting has the desired texture. Make sure it's not too soft if you want to pipe it on the cupcakes.
Pipe a dollop of frosting on each cupcake, and decorate with brown sugar, mint leaves and straw and a piece of lime.

please vote :)

2011-10-21T02:16:00.000-07:00

My dear readers,

I'm taking part in a cupcake competition and I'd be really happy if you'd support me (and my cupcake) by voting for it. Mine is No.10 - Martha's spiced apple cupcake!
And here's the link (you'll have to scroll waaay down to get to the voting):
cupcake competition

Thanks so much, I really appreciate it! :)

cherry coke cupcakes

2011-10-17T08:31:00.000-07:00

Do you remember that song? The one Darren Hayes was singing so fast that you couldn't possibly sing along unless you underwent a weeklong training?

The words that were standing out to me in all this crazy singing were "chica cherry cola" and I must admit, that ever since then I've harboured an obsession with cherry coke. They don't even sell cherry coke here but I'm quite sure that it's absolutely fantastic :) So, of course it was only a matter of time until I started my project "cherry coke cupcakes". A cherry coke toast to Darren Hayes for the inspiration!

CHERRY COKE CUPCAKES

adapted from Nigella Lawson's How to be a domestic goddess

makes 24 cupcakes

line two muffin trays with paper cases

ingredients:

2 2/3 cups flour

1 cup sugar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

160g apple sauce

1 cup buttermilk

1 teaspoon vanilla sugar

1 cup butter

4 tablespoons cocoa powder

1 1/2 cups Coca Cola

directions:

Preheat oven to 175°C (350°F or Gas mark 4).

Put the coke, cocoa powder and butter in a small saucepan, heating gently, until the butter is dissolved.

Put the rest of the ingredients into a large bowl, then add the warm Coke-mix. Stir with a wooden spoon until everything is well incorporated, then divide batter between the muffin cases. Batter is very runny, so beware!

Bake for about 15 minutes, until a skewer inserted comes out clean.

Let cool on a wire rack.

For the frosting blend a jar (240g in total) of Amarena cherries. In a separate bowl cream 225g butter, then add the cherries and about 3-4 cups of icing sugar. Pipe on the cooled (!) cupcakes.

Melt some chocolate and put a bit on top of every swirl, then stick a gummi coke bottle and a gummi cherry into the chocolate.

This recipe is linked to: Muffin Monday, MomTrends Friday Food, Sweet as Sugar Cookies,

pumpkin cupcakes

2011-10-10T11:33:00.000-07:00

My boyfriend thinks I'm a very uncool-music person. He totally doesn't get my music. And I don't get his either, for that matter ;) I like Bryan Adams, he likes Metallica. I like the Dixie Chicks, he likes Kanye West. I like Jewel, he likes Nirvana. You see, we're on two completely different pages. It's like we're living on two different planets, music-wise. But, I suppose that's what Steve Jobs invented the iPod for :)

Oh, and it's pumpkin season, in case you hadn't noticed ;) That's why I made these cupcakes. They were a huge hit at work! And they're healthy, sort of :D

PUMPKIN CUPCAKES WITH CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

makes 12 cupcakes

adapted from bbcgoodfood

you need a muffin tray lined with paper cases

ingredients:

175ml sunflower oil
80g light brown sugar
240g apple sauce
1 teaspoon vanilla sugar
200g coarsely grated pumpkin
grated zest of 1 orange
2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
200g flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
a pinch of salt
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

directions:

Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F or Gas mark 4).

Put the oil, sugar, vanilla sugar and aple sauce in a large bowl and beat together until everything is well incorporated. Add the pumpkin and orange zest, together with the flour, cinnamon, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda. Mix together, then divide batter between paper cases.

Bake for about 25 minutes, then let cool on a wire rack.

For the frosting mix together 85g icing sugar with 200g cream cheese. Pipe on cupcakes and dust with cinnamon.

This recipe is linked to: Sweet as sugar cookies,

carrot-walnut-ginger cupcakes with lime cream cheese frosting

2011-10-08T01:09:00.000-07:00

How can get through life for like 30 years not knowing you're allergic to penicillin? Apparently, it's possible. And let me tell you, it's no fun. I spent the last 4 weeks in a sort of medication-induced daze because my whole body was itching like crazy. And by crazy, I mean absolutely un-f**king-believably wanna-rip-your-skin-off CRAZY.

So I totally needed these wonderful crunchy, juicy, healthy (haha!) cupcakes to calm my nerves.

CARROT-WALNUT-GINGER CUPCAKES

WITH LIME CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

makes 18 cupcakes

adapted from Leila Lindholm's A Piece of Cake

you need a 12-hole and a 6-hole muffin tray lined with paper cases

ingredients:

3 eggs

200g sugar

180g flour

1 teaspoon vanilla sugar

3 teaspoon baking powder

a pinch of salt

1,5 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground cardamom

2 teaspoons ground ginger

150ml sunflower oil

270g shredded carrots

100g walnuts, coarsely chopped

directions:

Preheat oven to 175°C.

Whisk eggs, vanilla sugar and sugar in a large bowl until light and creamy. Add flour, spices, salt and baking powder. Mix until incorporated. Add the oil, carrots and walnuts and divide batter evenly between the muffin cases.

Bake for about 15 minutes until a skewer inserted comes out clean. Let cool on a wire rack.

For the frosting cream together 60g soft butter, 300g icing sugar, 1 teaspoon vanilla sugar, zest of 1 lime and 100g cream cheese. Pipe on cupcakes.

This recipe is linked to: Tempt my Tummy Tuesdays,Sweet Temptations,Mom Trends Friday Food, Sweet as Sugar Cookies,

Martha's spiced apple cupcakes

2011-09-08T12:09:00.000-07:00

I'm a very straightforward person. So straightforward, in fact, that I sometimes leave people blinking heavily and gasping for air. If you have parsley stuck in your teeth, I'll tell you. If you are rude to me or someone else, I'll tell you. If you burn dinner and you ask me what I think, I'll tell you it's burned. I'm being honest. I'm stating facts. I'm not trying to offend you. Oh, and btw, it's rude to stare at my teeth when I have food stuck in them. Just tell me! :)

And I made applesauce-spice cupcakes the other day. They smell like Christmas, they taste like Christmas, and they look like autumn. Mmmmm....

MARTHA STEWART'S APPLESAUCE-SPICE CUPCAKES WITH

CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

adapted from Martha Stewart's Cupcakes and The Hummingbird Bakery's Cake Days

makes 24 yummy cupcakes

line 2 muffin trays with paper cases

ingredients:

2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
a pinch of ground cloves
1/2 cup butter, at room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups apple sauce
1 cup walnuts, roughly chopped

directions:

Preheat oven to 175°C (350°F or Gas mark 4).

In a large bowl cream together butter and sugar with an electric mixer. Add the eggs, one at a time. Then add the apple sauce. Mix until well combined. Add all the dry ingredients and stir. Divide between the 24 muffin cases and bake for about 20 minutes.
Let cool on a wire rack.

For the cream cheese frosting cream 100g butter with 600g icing sugar. Add 225g cold cream cheese. Stir until well combined. Spread on the cooled cupcakes.

If you want to make the apple decoration use red food colouring for the cream cheese, pretzel sticks for the stem and green fondant to make the leaves.

This recipe is linked to: A Well-Seasoned Life, From Mess Hall to Bistro, This week's cravings, Delectable Tuesday,
Tempt my Tummy Tuesday
Muffin Monday, Momtrends Friday Food, Sweet as Sugar Cookies,

facebook fanpage

2011-09-05T12:37:00.000-07:00

Finally, I got around to creating the facebook fansite for my blog. Come visit me over there and share some recipes or pictures or whatever baking secrets you still hide from me :)

peanut butter marble cake

2011-08-30T10:02:00.000-07:00

I have a new favourite word: it's crumpet. I came across it in a book where someone was eating them for breakfast so of course I had to google (ooohhh goooogle - hi Gerhild! :)) them because I had no idea what they were talking about.

Well, apparently I haven't eaten crumpets before, much less baked them. I hadn't even seen them before. But the word just sounds so nice and kind of sexy (well, am I'm crazy?) and they're made of yeast dough (which is a total bonus in my book) that I could say it all day long: crumpet, crumpet, CRUMPET! I could basically say it until your ears bleed. All. Day. Long. I want to bake them and eat them and keep saying crumpet. Crumpet. CRUMPET.

I have to look for a recipe. Like right now!

In the meantime enjoy this peanut butter marble cake. It's seriously heavenly! It's gooey and chocolate-y and it tastes exactly like Snickers. So you could basically call it Snickers cake. Try it, it's goooooood!

PEANUT BUTTER MARBLE CAKE

adapted from Basic baking

makes 14 slices

you need a 24cm round cake tin, greased

ingredients:

250g butter, at room temperature
200g peanut butter
300g sugar
5 eggs
230g flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
125ml milk
100g dark chocolate, melted
50g dark chocolate, chopped

directions:

Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F or Gas mark 4).
Cream together butter, peanut butter and sugar in a large bowl. Add the eggs, one at a time. Add the flour, baking powder and salt together with the milk and stir until everything is well incorporated. Put half of the batter in a separate bowl. Add the melted chocolate to one part, the chopped chocolate to the other.
Put spoonfuls of the batters (alternating) in the cake tin and use a fork to make swirls.
Bake for about 50-60 minutes until a skewer inserted comes out clean. Let cool on a wire rack, then dust with icing sugar.

lactose and fructose free* Brioche

2011-08-13T11:01:00.000-07:00

I collect cake tins and cupcake cases at an alarming rate. I have so many that I forget I bought them in the first place. I never come back from my holidays without a cake tin. When I saw this Brioche tin in Belgium in February (yes, the trip I brought tons of chocolate home with me) I knew I had to have it. I thought I'd make a Brioche straight away but until last week I basically didn't use it.
I love to eat slices of this slightly sweet yeast bread for breakfast, or lunch, or dinner or anytime inbetween. Since I can't eat the store bought one I made one that's lactose and fructose free*. And it's so yummy that I keep baking it.

LACTOSE AND FRUCTOSE FREE* BRIOCHE

you need a 15cm brioche tin, greased or a 20cm ring mould, greased

makes 10 slices

ingredients:

250g flour
50g lactose free butter, at room temperature
21g fresh yeast
50ml milk, tepid
1 teaspoon salt
30g + 1/2 tablespoon dextrose, separated
1 egg

directions:

Put the flour, egg, butter, salt and 30g dextrose in a large bowl.
In a small bowl mix together the milk, yeast and the rest of the dextrose until the yeast is completely dissolved. Let stand for about 10 minutes in a warm place. Add to the flour and knead together with an electric mixer for about 5 minutes. Note: the dough is rather sticky!
Put the bowl in a warm place and let rise for about 1 hour. Knead again to push out all the air and put it in the tin. Let it rise again for about 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 200°C (395°F or Gas mark 6). Bake on the second lowest shelf for about 15-20 minutes until a skewer inserted comes out clean.

* As always: this cake is, of course, not completely fructose free, because wheat contains very small amount of fructose. But since these amounts are so small, we can call it fructose-free! You can also subsitute wheat with spelt flour, which contains even less fructose.

Zebra Cake

2011-08-03T03:55:00.000-07:00

I fancy Bryan Adams. BIG time! He's lovely and his voice is beyond amazing. When I was 12 I wanted to marry him. When I was 16 I wanted to be a singer so I can record a song with him. When I was 25 I met him. We didn't get married, we didn't sing a song together. Now, I just want to be his WYG-girl. And maybe a rockstar in my next life? :D

Meanwhile I'll keep baking cakes. Like this zebra cake. It looks intricate but it's not. It's actually rather easy to make but it looks amazing and no one guessed how it was made :)

ZEBRA CAKE

adapted from Baking Bites

makes 12 slices

you need a 24cm round cake tin greased and dusted with flour

ingredients:

320g apple sauce
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup milk
1 cup oil
1 teaspoon vanilla sugar
5 drops bitter almond oil
2 cups flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 tablespoons cocoa powder
1-2 tablespoon cocoa powder

directions:

Preheat oven to 175°C (350°F or Gas mark 4).

Put the apple sauce, vanilla sugar and sugar in a large bowl and mix together (preferably with an electric mixer) until all the ingredients are well incorporated. Add the oil, milk and bitter almond oil together with the flour, salt and baking powder. Mix until all the ingredients are incorporated but be careful not to overmix it. Put half of the batter in a separate bowl. Mix together the remaining milk and cocoa powder. Add to one of the bowls and stir until well incorporated.

Now, take a tablespoon and put 3 tablespoons of the "yellow" batter in the centre of the cake tin. Let it spread a bit, then put 3 tablespoons "chocolate" batter in the centre of the yellow batter, letting it spread a bit. Keep doing this until no batter is left.

Bake for about 40 minutes until a skewer inserted in the centre of the cake comes out clean. Let cool on a wire rack and dust with powdered sugar.

This recipe is linked to:

coffee cake

2011-07-24T01:49:00.000-07:00

The other day we were invited over to dinner to our Indian friends and boy, can they cook. They served what was by far some of the best food I've ever had. And they made these wonderful, wonderful potatoes with turmeric and spices and potatoe dumplings and ever since I've eaten them I can't think of little else :) I've been looking through all my Indian cookbooks and surfing the net but I can't find the recipes. So, while I keep searching, have a slice of this wonderful, moist coffee cake.

COFFEE CAKE

adapted from the Hummingbird Bakery cookbook

makes 10 slices

you need a 13 x 23cm loaf tin, greased and dusted with flour

ingredients:

1 tablespoon instant espresso powder
85ml water
225g butter, at room temperature
4 eggs (for the egg-free version use 320g apple sauce)
225g flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cocoa powder

directions:

Preheat oven to 170°C (325°F or Gas mark 3).

Put the espresso powder and water in a saucepan and bring to boil. Let it boil until reduced by half, then let cool. Save one tablespoon of coffee essence for the frosting and pour the rest in a large bowl. Add the butter and sugar and stir until everything is well incorporated.
Add the eggs (or apple sauce), then beat in the flour, baking powder and cocoa. Stir until the mixture is light and fluffy.

Pour into the prepared tin and bake for about 30-40 minutes.
Let cool on a wire rack.

For the frosting put 220g sugar and 80g soft butter in a large bowl and stir until the mixture comes together. Add 25ml milk, 1 tablespoon vanilla sugar and the leftover tablespoon coffee essence and beat for about 5 minutes until the frosting is very fluffy. Cover the cake with frosting and sprinkle some chocolate shavings on top.

This recipe is linked to:

Oreo cupcakes

2011-07-03T11:41:00.000-07:00

Yummy, Yummy, Yummy, I got love in my tummy, and I feel like a-lovin you: Love, you're such a sweet thing, good enough to eat thing and that's just a-what I'm gonna do. (Ohio Express)

Perfection in a cupcake. Make them, you'll love them! :)

OREO CUPCAKES WITH OREO CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

adapted from Annie's Eats and Ohhh...Mhhh...

makes 12 cupcakes

you need a muffin tray lined with paper cases

ingredients:

1 box Oreos (16 pcs)
1 box mini Oreos
180g flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 egg
60g butter
200g sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla sugar
120 ml milk

directions:

Preheat oven to 175°C (350°F or Gas mark 4).

Half 12 Oreos. Remove one cookie (preferably with a sharp knife) and put the other half with the cream on top in the paper cases.Put 12 mini Oreos aside for decoration and chop the rest (I quartered them).

In a large bowl cream the butter vanila sugar and sugar for about 5 minutes until pale and fluffy. Add the egg. Add the baking powder, salt and flour together with the milk. Add the chopped Oreos and stir with a wooden spoon.
Divide the batter between the paper cases and bake for about 20 minutes. Let cool on a wire rack.

For the frosting stir together 400g icing sugar, 50g butter, 100g cream cheese and 1 teaspoon vanilla sugar. Cream with an electric mixer for about 5 minutes until very fluffy. Meanwhile finely grind the 12 remaining cookie halves and the 4 remaining Oreos. Add to the cream cheese mixture and stir until well incorporated. Put in a piping bag with a star nozzle and pipe on the cooles cupcakes. Put a mini Oreo on top of each cupcake.

This recipe is linked to:

Martha's strawberry cake

2011-06-28T12:34:00.000-07:00

I've been stalking this cake for two or three years now. Every summer I added it to my to-do-list but never got around to baking it. Baked strawberries tend to get mushy and odd looking so I always found some other way to use them and this cake is seriously fantastic. Finally, I found the guts to just bake it and boy, did I miss out on something over the last years. This cake is seriously fantastic.

Oh, and talking about stalking. Milow is seriously freaking me out. This song is so weird that I keep changing radio stations whenever it is on. I mean, seriously, why would you want your girlfriend to be so fat she won't fit through doors and has to stay in bed? Or keep her in a giant cage you can spend all day looking at her? Not to mention, paralyzed so she can never run away? Maybe it's just me, but this is right out weird.

MARTHA'S STRAWBERRY CAKE

adapted from www.marthastewart.com

makes 10-12 slices

you need a 24cm pie dish, greased and dusted with flour

ingredients:

6 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
1,5 cups flour
1,5 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
80g apple sauce
1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla sugar

1 pound strawberries, hulled and halved
2 tablespoons sugar

directions:

Preheat oven to 175°C (350°F or Gas mark 4).

Put the butter and sugar in a large bowl and cream for about 5 minutes with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add the apple sauce, milk and vanilla sugar. Stir until well incorporated. Mix in flower, baking powder and salt. Pour the batter into the prepared pie dish. Put the strawberries on top cut sides down. Sprinkle with the remaining sugar and bake for about 10 minutes. The reduce temperature to 160°C (320°F) and bake for another 60 minutes. Put on a wire rack to cool.

Nigella's chocolate (key) lime pie

2011-06-24T00:05:00.000-07:00

Nigella makes the most wonderful cakes. Rich and indulgent and always fabulously tasting. And for some reason her Key Lime Pie I made a long time ago is always the most popular cake on my blog. Which I don't understand completely because I think there are some waaaay more interesting cake :) I wonder what's so fascinating about that pie!
But, be that as it may, here's the latest competitor for the top spot: Nigella's chocolate (key) lime pie. May the best cake win :)
This is the second cake of the "birthday order", very easily made and the chocolate is a really nice touch!

Nigella's chocolate (key) lime pie

adapted from Nigella Lawson's Kitchen

you need a 24cm-pie dish

ingredients:

300g biscuits

15g cocoa powder
50g unsalted butter
50g good-quality dark chocolate

400g sweetened, condensed milk, chilled (!!!)
4 limes
250ml cream
1 square good-quality dark chocolate

directions:

Put the biscuits, cocoa powder, butter and chocolate in a food-processor and process until you get a damp, sandy consistency. Press into the base of the pie dish and also up the sides. Put in the fridge to chill while you prepare the filling.

Zest the limes, put the zest in an airtight container and store in the fridge until you serve the cake.

Juice the limes to get ~175ml lime juice. Put the juice together with the condensed milk and cream in a large bowl. Whisk with an electric mixer (balloon attachment) until the mixture gains in volume and is very thick (~5 minutes). Pour into the prepared pie crust and store in the fridge to let the cake set (preferably overnight).

When you're ready to serve the cake, grate the remaining chocolate and sprinkle over the cake together with the lime zest.

Devil's food cake

2011-06-09T10:23:00.000-07:00

Do you know what's seriously annoying? People who call and let it ring just once. Who hang up before you even realize your phone was ringing so you have to call them back. When not even worth a few cents phone costs why are you calling me in the first place? And you know what? I don't think I even want to speak with you anyway. And that's why I'm not calling you back. If you really want to speak with me, give me the chance to reach the phone. Otherwise don't bother calling again.
And since I seem to be in a devilish mood today, let me present to you one hell of a cake. It's last week's birthday cake, Nigella's Devil's food cake. Seriously good stuff, let me tell you!

DEVIL'S FOOD CAKE

adapted from Nigella's Kitchen

makes 10-12 pieces

you need two 20cm round cake tins, greased and lined with greaseproof paper

ingredients:

50g cocoa powder
100g soft brown sugar
250ml boiling water
125g butter, at room temperature
120g sugar
225g flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla sugar
160g apple sauce

directions:

Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F or Gas mark 4).

Put the cocoa powder and brown sugar in a bowl and add the boiling water. Stir well, then put aside.

In a large bowl cream together sugar and butter with an electric mixer until pale and fluffy. Add the vanilla sugar and apple sauce and stir until well incorporated. Add the flour, baking powder and baking soda together with the liquid cocoa. Stir until well incorporated, the divide between the two cake tins.
Bake for about 30 minutes. Remove the tins from the oven and let them cool on a wire rack. Turn out the cakes after about 15 minutes.

While the cakes are cooling, prepare the frosting. Put 125ml water, 30g soft brown sugar and 175g butter in a sauce pan and heat until boiling point. Add 300g chopped dark chocolate (50-70% cocoa solids) and stir until melted and glossy.
Put aside to let it set and stir every now and then. It takes between 1-4 hours (depending on the room temperature) to set. Once the frosting can be spread, put 1/3 on one of the cakes and put the second cake on top. Spread the rest of the frosting all around the cake.
Enjoy!

chocolate covered nutella pretzels

2011-05-29T12:55:00.000-07:00

Do you collect "perfect" cake recipes you plan to make when someone asks you to bake a special cake for them? And do you think you remember where they all are? Well I do, and I don't :)
I was asked to bake two cakes for tomorrow and well, I couldn't find the recipes I was looking for. I basically spent most of last week looking through all my cookbooks. And I have a LOT, which means they're now lying around everywhere. On the couch, under the couch, in the kitchen, on all the tables, chairs and on my nightstand. And you know what? When I started out I had two cakes in mind and in the course of the week I changed my mind like a hundred times and well, I ended up with the original idea :) The good things is though, that I came across recipes I didn't even remember I had :)
The cakes turned out lovely but they're a surprise for tomorrow so no pictures yet, but in the meantime, here's a yummy quickie for you!

CHOCOLATE COVERED NUTELLA PRETZELS

recipe from Amelia

makes about 70 pretzel sandwiches

you need a baking tray covered with greaseproof paper

ingredients:

1 large bag of salted mini pretzels
1 small jar of Nutella
320g dark chocolate
240g butter

directions:

Melt the chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl over simmering water. Spread some Nutella on a pretzel and sandwich it together with a second one. Repeat with all the pretzels. Then you can either dip them in the melted chocolate or use a brush to cover them with chocolate. Place them on the prepared baking tray and let the chocolate dry. Store in an airtight container!

Oreo stuffed chocolate chip cookies

2011-05-18T11:21:00.000-07:00

I suck at "angry birds". BIG TIME! I think I'm the worst angry birds player, ever. I'm hooked on the game though because I just can't believe how bad I play. I basically have to play every level (with some exceptions) like 30 or 40 times until I finally, finally kill all the pigs (mostly by accident, though). And, I must confess, it makes me a bit angry :) My BF thinks I'm hilarious and is utterly incredulous at my inability to play the game.
So tell me, are you just as bad at angry birds? And if not, please tell me how to improve my playing!

In the meantime, make these wonderful cookies from Picky Palate. They are enormous and they're yummy and they totally calm your nerves. Or, like my colleague said: "Doug Heffernan would marry you on the spot!" :)

OREO STUFFED CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

adapted from Picky Palate

makes 16 large cookies

line 3 baking trays with greaseproof paper

ingredients:

1 cup butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla sugar
3 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/4 cup chocolate chips (dark chocolate)
16 Oreo cookies

directions:

Preheat oven to 175°C (350°F or Gas mark 4).

Put the butter and sugars in a large bowl and cream with an electric mixer until pale and creamy. Add the eggs, one at a time.
Add the flour, salt, baking powder, vanilla sugar and chocolate chips. Stir until everything is incorporated.

Use an ice cream scoop and put one scoop of dough on top and one on the bottom of an Oreo cookie. Wrap the dough tightly around the cookie and place on a baking tray. Bake for about 12 minutes until golden brown.
Put on a wire rack to cool.

rhubarb and almond loaf

2011-05-08T03:37:00.000-07:00

I started a new job last week which is a lot more time consuming than my old one (and I love it!) but it doesn't leave me that much time for baking at the moment.
Therefore I've been making quick and easy recipes lately and here's one of my favourites.

RHUBARB AND ALMOND LOAF

adapted from Cake Days

makes 12 slices

you need a 23x13cm loaf tin, greased and dusted with flour

ingredients:

for the stewed rhubarb

3 long stalks of rhubarb, chopped into 2cm pieces
70g sugar
20g butter

Place the rhubarb together with the sugar and butter in a large saucepan, add 50ml water and cook on a medium heat until the rhubarb is soft. Set aside and let cool. You can also add some red food colouring to give the rhubarb a nice pink colour as the rhubarb looks rather washed out after coking.

for the cake

190g butter, at room temperature
140g flour
190g sugar
3 eggs
1 teaspoon baking powder
50g ground almonds
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/s teaspoon ground ginger
25ml milk

50g flaked almonds

directions:

Preheat your oven to 170°C (325°F or Gas mark 4).

Put the butter and sugar in a large bowl and cream with an electric mixer until pale and fluffy. Add the eggs and mix until well incorporated. Add the flour, baking powder, almonds, ginger and cinnamon together with the milk. Stir until everything is well oncorporated. Pour into the prepared tin.
Drain the rhubarb and put 100-150g of the rhubarb pieces on top of the dough. Sprinkle with the flaked almonds and bake for about 50 minutes.
Leave to cool in the tin for 10 minutes, then turn out the cake on a wire rack and let cool completely.

This recipe is linked to: Sweet as sugar cookies,

lactose and fructose free* chocolate cake

2011-04-30T00:43:00.000-07:00

I'm craving cake. I'm seriously craving cake. I could eat cake all day. For breakfast and lunch, for dinner and all the times in between. I don't need bread or meat, just give me cake. As you probably know, most of the time I can't be bothered to eat or even bake a cake for myself. But in the last 2 weeks I've been making and eating three - 3 - cakes. In my defense, one was a traditional Easter cake which I had to make (and I shared it with my bf), but the other one was sooo good I had to make it a second time!

Why this has to happen right before bikini season is beyond me! Is my body is punishing me for depriving him of cake the entire year? But he didn't ask for cake, so DUH!
I really, really, really have to stop eating cake or I'll have to run a few extra miles every day. Does anyone else have crazy cake cravings at this very inappropriate time? ;) And what do you do against them?

This cake is, as mentioned in the title, lactose and fructose free and it is seriously good. It's fluffy and juicy, chocolaty and remindes me a bit of brownies. You can also add the zest of one orange, if you can eat it!

LACTOSE AND FRUCTOSE FREE CHOCOLATE CAKE

adapted from "Fruktosearm genießen"

makes 10-12 slices

you need a greased 23 x 13cm loaf tin

ingredients:

125g lactose free butter
230g dextrose (the recipe originally called for 290g but then the cake was waaay too sweet for me)
3 eggs
250g flour
45g Dutch processed cocoa powder
2 tablespoons baking powder
150ml lactose free cream, milk or just water

directions:

Preheat oven to 170°C (325°F or Gas mark 3).
Put the butter and dextrose in a large bowl and beat with an eletric mixer until pale and creamy. Add teh eggs, one at a time. Add the flour, baking powder and cocoa, alternating with the cream.
Pour into the prepared tin and bake for about 50 minutes. Make sure you cover the cake with aluminium foil after about 30 minutes.
Let cool in the tin for about 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack.

This recipe is linked to: Sweet as sugar cookies,

* As always: this cake is, of course, not sompletely fructose free, because wheat and cocoa powder contain very small amount of fructose. But since these amounts are so small, we can call it fructose-free! You can also subsitute wheat with spelt flour, which contains even less fructose.

Easter parade

2011-04-23T09:54:00.000-07:00

This is what I've been up to this week:

Monday night I made a carrot cake from the Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook. It was fabulous and - as someone mentioned and which seems to be a good thing - you can't taste the carrots. I used this recipe for the cake, but used 240g apple sauce instead of the eggs! And for the cream cheese frosting I used only 1.5 amounts of this recipe instead of 2. With the remaining frosting I piped carrots on the cake (use green and orange food colouring).

I made sand cake Easter bunnies and lambs (which is an Easter tradition over here) and also some muffins with the same dough.

SAND CAKE

makes 1 lamb (1 litre), 1 bunny (0.5 litres) and 6 muffins

you need 2 greased Easter tins (see above), greased and a cupcake tray lined with paper cases

adapted from Basic baking

ingredients:

250g butter
5 eggs
150g sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla sugar
zest of 1-2 lemons
a pinch of salt
125g flour
125g corn starch
1 teaspoon baking powder

directions:

Preheat oven to 180°C (375°F or Gas mark 4).
Melt the butter in a pan over low heat.
In a large bowl, beat the eggs, sugar and vanilla sugar with an electric mixer until the mixture becomes very light and fluffy and has a lot more volume. Add the lemon zest and salt.
Add the flour, baking powder and corn starch, alternating with the butter.
Pour into the prepared tins and bake for about 50 minutes (lamb), 40 minutes (bunny) and 15-20 minutes (muffins).
Let cool on a wire rack.

And today I made these lovely, little sheep:

They are so cute and I just love them. The idea was from Dani's blog, the cupcakes are Martha Stewart's One-bowl Chocolate Cupcakes (makes 18) and the frosting was the above mentioned Hummingbird Bakery Cream Cheese frosting (see carrot cake).
For the decoration I used: chocolate covered cookie sticks for the legs, mini marshmallows and a chocolate egg for the face. The eyes were made with black and white icing.

HAPPY EASTER, EVERYONE!

This recipe is linked to: Sweet as Sugar Cookies, Seaside Simplicity, LambAround, Tempt my Tummy Tuesday

inked

2011-04-16T12:48:00.000-07:00

(Taken with my mobile, hence the not so good quality).

I love cupcakes.
I love tattoos.

And this is what happened on Thursday:

I absolutely LOVE my new cupcake tattoo. It's even better than I imagined it
to be and I'm so happy with it :)

And, guess what, in preparation for my tattoo I made some superfantastic cupcakes on Wednesday.
Chocolate chip cupcakes with cookie dough filling and frosting.

Cookie dough. Cookie dough. COOKIE DOUGH!

Can you believe it? Cookie dough inside a cupcake. Cookie dough as in "the best guilty pleasure ever"!
I loved eating cookie dough when I was little. I'm 31 years old now, I am an adult (sort of) and I still love eating it. It's a MUST for me when I bake cookies. And you know what? The cookie dough for these cupcakes is egg-free so you can totally eat the whole batch!
Everybody loved them, so I guess I'm not the only adult who loves cookie dough! :)

They are a bit time-consuming, but totally worth it. And believe me, their wonderful smell alone makes you weak in the knees!

CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE DOUGH CUPCAKES

adapted from Annie's eats

makes 30 cupcakes

you need 2x12 + 1x6 cupcake trays lined with paper cases

ingredients:

cupcakes:
340g butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups light brown sugar, packed
4 eggs
2 2/3 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
1 tablespoon vanilla sugar
1 cup dark chocolate (50-70% cooca solids), roughly chopped
filling:
4 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
6 tablespoons light brown sugar, packed
1 cup + 2 tablespoons flour
170g sweetened condensed milk
1 teaspoon vanilla sugar
1/4 cup chocolate jimmies

frosting:
340g butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
3 1/2 cups icing sugar
1 cup flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons milk
1 tablespoon vanilla sugar
1/2 cup chocolate jimmies

directions:

Preheat oven to 175°C (350°F or Gas mark 4).
For the cupcakes, put the butter, brown sugar and vanilla sugar and beat with an electric mixer until light and fluffy, around 5 minutes. Then add the eggs, one at a time.

In a separate bowl combine flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda. Add a bit of this mixture to the butter/sugar-mix, alternating with the milk, until everything is well incorporated. Add the chopped chocolate and stir in.
Using an ice cream scoop divide the batter evenly between the 30 paper cases. Bake for about 15 minutes.

Put on a wire rack to cool. Remove the cupcakes from the trays after 10 minutes and let cool completely.

Meanwhile prepare the filling. Put the butter, sugar and vanilla sugar in a bowl and cream with an electric mixer for about 3 minutes until fluffy. Add all the other ingredients and mix until everything is well incorporated. Cover the bowl with clingfilm and put in the fridge for at least one hour.

Make 30 pea-sized balls out of the cookie dough and bake in the preheated oven (180°C/350°F/Gas mark 4) for about 5 minutes. Keep and eye on them so they won't burn!

Once the cupcakes are cooled completely, cut out a cone-shaped piece out of the centre of each cupcake and fill with cookie dough. Press the cone-shaped piece back on the cupcake.

To make the frosting, cream the butter, brown sugar and vanilla sugar in a large bowl with an eletric mixer. Add the icing sugar and mix until smooth. Add the salt and flour, alternating with the milk. When everything is incorporated, add the chocolate jimmies.

Pipe the frosting on each cupcake and decorate each one with a tiny cookie!

This recipe is linked to: Sweet as sugar cookies, Little Brick Ranch,

everybody's darling - lemon poppy seed cupcakes

2011-04-13T00:43:00.000-07:00

When life gives you lemons, make lemon poppy seed cupcakes :)

My grandpa used to buy me poppy seed rolls when I was little. He died when I was only 3 years old but my love for poppy seeds (and him, of course) remained. To this day I love everything with poppy seeds and I could eat them by the spoonfull (not to be recommended, though, especially if you have to take a drug test!).

Well, a looooong time ago I made JO's lemon drizzle cake which was really good - poppy seeds and Jamie Oliver...hello? ;) - but not exactly a revelation compared to what I know now. The lemon poppy seed combo is absolutely lovely but the cake was rather dense and only when I tasted these fabulous cupcakes I realized how heavenly the combo really can be!
The cupcakes are fluffy and full of flavour and the frosting is just the extra kick for an absolutely divine experience. I usually bake a cake once, maaaybe twice, but usually only by request (a too many recipes, too little time sort of thing) and baking something regularly is practically unheard of. But, I keep making these over and over again because everone - absolutely everone - who tastes them goes crazy about them. They keep asking for more, not believing how divine the lemon poppy seed combo is. The ones in the picture were for a christening, hence the blue sugar almond on top!

Your taste buds will be sooo excited, trust me!

LEMON AND POPPY SEED CUPCAKES

adapted from Leila Lindholm's A Piece of Cake

makes ~ 18 cupcakes

you need 2 x 12-cupcake trays lined with paper cases

ingredients:

200g sugar
3 eggs
100ml milk
100g butter, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla sugar
200g flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
a pinch of salt
zest of 2 lemons
juice of 1 lemon
40g poppy seeds

frosting:

60g butter, at room temperature
300g icing sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla sugar
zest of 2 lemons
juice of 1/2 lemon
100g cream cheese

poppy seeds for sprinkling

directions:

Preheat oven to 175°C (350°F or Gas mark 4).

Put the eggs, sugar and vanilla sugar in a large bowl and beat with an electric mixer until very fluffy and pale (~3-5 minutes). Add the milk and butter together with the zest and lemon juice and mix until well combined. Add the flour, baking powder, salt and poppy seeds and mix until everything is incorporated.
Pour the dough into the prepared cupcake cases and bake for about 15-20 minutes.
Put the trays on a wire rack and remove cupcakes after about 10 minutes from the tins. Let cool completely.

For the frosting cream everthing together and pipe or spread on the cupcakes. Sprinkle some poppy seeds on top.

This recipe is linked to: Muffin Monday

Baileys & Chocolate Cheese Cake

2011-04-09T08:21:00.000-07:00

Do you know the odd transition phase between seasons? It confuses me (now that's something new for a change;)) and it collides with my baking-plans. I have lists, lots of lists, of what I want to bake. And one these lists are wintry, summery, spring-y and autumn-y recipes. Strawberry cake is definitely on the spring-list, while pumpkin pie is on the autumn-list because I don't like baking with ingredients that are out of season. Well, I'm sure you get my drift...
Anyways, now that spring (or summer, more like it) came crashing down on us with 27°C, basically overnight, I'm kind of lost. I still haven't worked off my winter-list but it's too soon for the spring-list. I mean, strawberries are not in season yet and you just get the greenish ones from Spain but it's also too late for spiced cakes. What to do? What to bake? Is this just confusing for me or does anyone feel the same? And it just doesn't work for me to leave an unfinished list lying around.
And while I was trying to decide what to do, it started raining (only for one day, mind you) but I used this as an excuse to squeeze in a wonderful Baileys cream cheese cake. Obviously very wintry, thanks to the Baileys, but, hey, it was raining and it looked really cold. What's a girl supposed to do? And, it was fantastic. Not too heavy and it had some crunchy chocolate bits on top! Mmm, I love crunchy chocolate bits. They're just that irresistable extra kick!
But, judging by the still warm weather, spring is definitely here and the good news is: rhubarb is finally in season. That means, I'll be making rhubarb cake on Saturday for a friend's birthday and I'll be hiding my winter-list somewhere I can't find it (probably among the Christmas cookies books) anytime soon.

BAILEYS & CHOCOLATE CHEESE CAKE

adapted from: Delicious magazine

makes 12 slices

you need a 24cm round cake tin, bottom lined with greaseproof paper

Ingredients:

200g oat cookies
100g butter

130g dark chocolate
750g cream cheese
250ml cream
100g icing sugar
75ml Baileys

Directions:

Melt the butter and half of the chocolate in a heatproof bowl over simering water. Meanwhile, finely grind the cookies and put them into a bowl. Add the melted chocolate and stir until everything is well combined.
Press the mixture into the base and put in the fridge.

Melt the rest of the chocolate.

Put the cream cheese, icing sugar and Baileys in a large bowl and cream until you get a smooth mixture. Whip the cream and gently add to the cream cheese. Pour onto the prepared cake base and smooth with a spoon or spatula. Then slowely drizzle the chocolate over the cream cheese and swirl it with the back of a spoon.

Put in the fridge overnight, then use a wet knife to loosen the cake from the side of the tin.

This recipe is linked to: Sweet as sugar cookies

Ultimate chocolate cake

2011-04-02T08:42:00.000-07:00

I have a problem with meeting people "at" a place. Because I don't know where "at" is. Do we meet inside or outside? At the main entrance or at the parking lot? Honestly, I have no idea. No matter who I arrange a meeting with, we end up meeting "at" some place. And whenever I try to get people to specify "at" they just say: "Oh, let's just meet there!". But, I also don't know where "there" is. It's just equally unspesific.
And I kind of always end up being 10 minutes early waiting for the other party in front of wherever we're meeting because I don't like running in and out checking everywhere if they're already there.

I find this very confusing. Does "at" have an immanent meaning that I just don't know yet? Or maybe I'm just weird? So tell me, where is "at" and how do I get there?

And while you're thinking about how best to explain the way, you could bake this lovely chocolate cake.

ULTIMATE CHOCOLATE CAKE

adapted from BBC GoodFood

makes 12-14 slices

you need a 20cm round cake tin, bottom lined with greaseproof paper and sides greased

ingredients:

200g dark chocolate (50-70% cocoa solids), roughly chopped
200g butter
1 tablespoon instant espresso powder
170g flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
13/4 teaspoon baking powder
a pinch of salt
200g soft brown sugar
200g caster sugar
25g cocoa powder
3 eggs
75 ml buttermilk

directions:

Preheat oven to 140°C (280°F or Gas mark 3).

Put the butter, chocolate, espresso powder and 125ml water in a medium pan. Gently heat until everything is melted and stir until well combined.
In a separate bowl mix the eggs with the buttermilk.
Put flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda in a large bowl, then pour in both the egg- and chocolate-mix. Stir until everything is well combined then pour into the prepared tin and bake for about 1,5 hours.
Put on a wire rack to cool.
Once the cake is cooled completely, cut horizontally into 3 layers.

For the frosting:

Put 200g dark chocolate and 200ml cream in a pan and heat gently until the chocolate is melted. Stir until the mixture is smooth. If the frosting is too runny, let it sit for a while.

To assemble the cake spread a bit of ganache on a layer and put the next one on top. Repeat with the last layer then pour (or spread, depending on the texture) the rest of the frosting over the cake, letting it run down the sides.

For decoration roll out pink fondant and cut out flowers. When the flowers are dry put a small dollop of yellow icing in the middle of the flowers, then put on the cake.

This recipe is featured on:

inspiration...

2011-03-31T10:24:00.000-07:00

I'm still in Dublin visiting my sister (and YES, I did buy loads and loads of cupcakes cases, tins and other baking stuff), therefore I don't have a recipe for you, but, while looking through all her food magazines I came across a wonderful article by food writer Tessa Kiros (who has also publised some really, really beautiful cookbooks) and I thought I'd share a part of it with you because I find it so lovely and inspiring (my brain is already in jam-making gear). And she's right, I also do keep my jam for the winter months and I think then is when it tastes the best! What about you?

BTW, it was in the January 2005 issue of delicious magazine, so if you have it at home, look for the article. It's really wonderful.

And, I'll be back with a new recipe at the weekend!

"And now and then I notice the rows of jams on my clean white shelves in my kitchen, their peachy apricots and wild plum fuchsias. Now is when I saved them for, when I need a splash of colour against the silvery blue backdrop and silent silhouettes of January.
Now, in the middle of this calm stillness, is the time to write down our wishes and blow them out to a bigger world, past those trees that really did freeze up in the shape they were in when the wind blew, right out into that silver blue of January" (by Tessa Kiros)

Peanut Butter Swirl Brownies

2011-03-21T13:13:00.000-07:00

Don't you just love to bite into a perfectly baked brownie? When the chocolatey, fudgy cake sticks to your teeth and makes you feel like you just had a bite of heaven? And just imagine such a brownie improved with peanut butter swirls. And then, for ultimate perfection, topped off with pretzels! I mean, brownies, peanut butter and salty pretzels all rolled into one...can you even imagine such bliss? :)

The base was Martha Stewart's, adapted by Joy the Baker who added the pretzel part.

And you know what? I love Martha, Joy, brownies, peanut butter and any chocolate-pretzel combinations (thanks to Amelia). So this is, for now at least, my ultimate brownie recipe.

Try them and enjoy a very blissful bite of heaven. And, maybe, if you don't think about the calories, they won't go straight to your hips! :)

PEANUT BUTTER SWIRL BROWNIES

makes 20 small brownies

you need a 20x20cm cake tin, lined with greaseproof paper

adapted from Martha Stewart and Joy the Baker

ingredients:

8 tablespoons butter
3 ounces dark chocolate
3 ounces milk chocolate
2/3 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3 eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla sugar

20 small pretzels

for swirls:

4 tablespoons butter, melted
1/2 cup icing sugar
3/4 cup peanut butter
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla sugar

directions:

Preheat oven to 170°C (325°F or Gas mark 3).
Put the chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl and melt over simmering water.
Pour into a large bowl and add the sugars. Stir until well combined. Add the eggs and stir for about 3 minutes. Add the flour, salt and baking powder until well combined.

for swirls:

Put all the ingredients in a bowl and stir until smooth.

Pour half the brownie mix into the prepared pan, then add dollops of half the peanut butter mixture. Carefully pour the rest of the brownie mix into the pan and add dollops of the remaining peanut butter mix. Drag the backside of a knife (with the broad side) caredully through the mixture to create swirls. Put 20 pretzels on top and bake for about 40 minutes.

St. Paddy's Day

2011-03-19T11:18:00.000-07:00

A day late but after making close to 250 cupcakes during the last ten days and trying to get a hold of my cupcake pictures I'm kind of late with my posts - as you probably noticed.

My sister's living in Ireland, so in solidarity with her I had to make these super-gorgeous cupcakes :)
And, I mean, it's a holiday, even if not here, and therefore a really good reason to bake :)

I've been told they were really, really good and well, they're from Martha Stewart so it was to be expected, me thinks. I totally love her cupcakes book (don't you just want to bake your way through the whole book?) but some of her recipes make huge amounts, like 28 or 36 cupcakes. Who needs so many cupcakes of the same kind, I wonder? These recipes usually freak me out so I tend to make only half or one third of the recipe. Which is kind of complicated when you have to half 3 eggs or use one-third of 11/4 cups. I always end up making them off the top of my head and hey, they're Martha's, that totally works!

I made the whole batch this time, but, as you can see, NO shramrock sprinkles. I specially ordered them in Ireland and they sold the last box 2 days after I ordered and they called and were like: "Oops, we just sold the last box. We can't send you any." And I was like WHAT? I oredered two days ago. Nothing to be done so they sent me the green balls instead...I mean, they're cute and everything but they're NOT shamrock sprinkles. And, let me tell you, I tried a lot and I couldn't get shamrock sprinkles...anywhere. It's St. Paddy's Day, you should be able to get them everywhere. Anyways, the cupcakes were lovely so here's the recipe:

BROWN SUGAR POUND CAKES WITH BAILEYS FROSTING

makes 28 cupcakes

adapted from Martha Stewart's Cupcakes

you need 2x12 and 1x6 cupcake trays lined with paper cases

ingredients:

3 cups flour, sifted
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup softened butter
21/4 cups packed light-brown sugar
4 large eggs
3/2 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla sugar

directions:

Preheat oven to 165°C (325°F or Gas mark 3).

In a large bowl cream butter and both sugars until pale and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time.

Put the flour, baking powder and salt in a separate bowl and whisk together.

Add one third of the flour mixture to the butter, followed by a third of the buttermilk. Repeat with the remaining ingredients.

Divide batter among the cupcake cases and bake for about 20-25 minutes. They should be golden brown.

Put tins on wire racks and let cool for 10 minutes. Then remove the cupcakes from the tins and let them cool completely on the wire rack.

BAILEYS FROSTING

11/2 cups softened butter
1 pound icing sugar
4 tablespoons Baileys
1 teaspoon vanilla sugar

In a large bowl cream butter until smooth with an electic mixer on medium speed. Add the vanilla and icing sugar, about 1/2 cup at a time, and beat for about 5 minutes and then 10 seconds on high speed.
Add the Baileys and mix until everything is well combined.

Put the frosting in a piping bag and pipe generously on the cupcakes.

This recipe is featured on:

180 cupcakes later

2011-03-14T23:25:00.000-07:00

I've been quite busy last week with planning, baking and decoration about 180 cupcakes plus a batch of whoopie pies for a big party. They turned out real nice, but I forgot to take pictures. Right now I'm trying to get a hold of some pictures I can show you. I expect some today so I'll keep you posted (probably later today). Until then I'll be preparing myself (and my kitchen) for St. Paddy's Day baking! :)

lactose- & fructose-free* cinnamon scones

2011-03-05T06:25:00.000-08:00

Every once in a while I get a craving for something sweet & cakey. And, mostly, I can't be bothered
to make something for myself. While I absolutely enjoy baking for other people, I don't very much when I have to bake for myself. I need special sugar, butter and chocolate, no fruit, etc.etc. If you just subsitute "normal" sugar with dextrose in a recipe, the outcome is very odd. Mostly the cakes are very slick and squidgy (which I find a bit disgusting), they burn really easily and never taste as good as they should. All things considered, baking becomes a quite stressful event (which it ususally isn't - unless I set my kitchen in fire - and also shouldn't be).

Usually, I make these muffins (with slight variations each time) but a few months ago I got a recipe from my sister and this is da bomb...like for real. It makes about 10 yummy, simply perfect scones and they're done in no time at all. They have a subtle cinnamon flavour (which is always a plus in my book), are not too sweet and their texture and colour is just amazing.

Originally, they came with a sugar glaze but since I don't like the taste of "dextrose-glaze" I'm just eating them without it.

Oh, and make sure you have some (lactose free) whipped cream and jam at home to heap on your scones. Pure heaven, seriously!

There's even a company that makes jam that's low in fructose. And you know what? I ordered some last month. If you want their details, just let me know!

So, please join in the feast and make some for yourself. And if you're still not convinced: it's a recipe from Tyler Florence, who is, as I recently found out, kinda sexy - seriously...google him...you'll see what I mean ;)

And if you have some nice fructose-free recipes (cakes, sugar-glaze, etc.), please post as well... I'll be forever thankful :D

* Just a note on the side: these scones are, of course, not sompletely fructose free, because wheat and cinnamon contain very small amount of fructose. But since these amounts are so small, we can call them fructose-free! You can also subsitute wheat with spelt flour, which contains even less fructose.

LACTOSE- & FRUCTOSE-FREE* CINNAMON SCONES

makes about 10 scones

adapted from Tyler Florence's Real Kitchen

you need a baking tray lined with greaseproof paper

ingredients:

2 cups flour

3 tablespoons dextrose or rice syrup

1 tablespoon baking powder

cinnamon, to your liking (I used about 2 teaspoons)

1 cup lactose free cream or milk (less, if you're using rice syrup)

5 tablespoons lactose free butter, margarine or shortening

1/2 teaspoon salt

directions:

Preheat oven to 200°C (400°F or Gas mark 6).

Put all the ingredients in a bowl and mix with an handheld electric mixer until combined. Then use your

hands to knead and make sure everything is well incorporated. Put the dough on a lightly dusted surface, and roll out (I just used my hands) to 2 cm thickness. Cut into 10 pieces and put them on the baking tray.

Bake for about 15 minutes, but check regularly after 10 minutes so they won't burn.

Put on a wire rack to cool or eat immediately with jam and whipped cream. Or just the way they are.

Enjoy!

lemon curd (cup)cake(s)

2011-02-27T08:45:00.000-08:00

vs.

Something's not quite right with me...

I was on holidays in the Netherlands/Belgium this past week and this is what I came home with...

- the latest issue of delicious magazine
- a bag of macarons (which were not as good or as pretty as I remembered them from France)
- about 2 kgs of pralines, chocolate bars, candied oranges in chocolate and marrons glacés
- big boxes of chocolate and (pink, blue and white) sugar sprinkles and, my latest discovery, speculaas sprinkles (in the Netherlands they put all these sprinkles on buttered bread, therefore you get them in big boxes for very little money)
- 2 big loafs of ontbijtkoek
- marshmallow flavoured tea (for my sister)
- chewing gum flavoured tea (also for my sister)
- silver-coloured cupcake cases
- a big brioche mold (I'll be baking one in the not so distant future...so be prepared)

...the list didn't seem quite so long in my head. No wonder the bags were so heavy.

Oh, and I visited every chocolatier I could find in Bruges (such a lovely city). And I can totally recommend that. So many beautiful chocolates...mmmhhmmm!! Go there, you must not miss all this yumminess!

But, before I went to the Netherlands (and crazy, apparently) I tried to use up all the stuff still sitting in my fridge. I still had 5 eggs and 2 jars of insanely yummy M&S fair trade lemon curd, which I got in London last summer. Along with golden syrup, pink glitter sugar, a giant cupcake tin and a layer cake tin (from my sister)...uh-oh!

Lemon curd is generally unknown and unavailable here, that's why I bought it (excuses, excuses!). I didn't want to make it from scratch because I'm kind of worried about salmonella (despite using organic eggs). Do I have to be worried? Are they gone after cooking should they have been there in the first place? Do you have a good recipe?

Anyways, this is what I came up with: lemon curd cupcakes and Martha Stewart's lemon curd cake (which was kind of funny to assemble). Both were really yummy, but the cupcakes are less time-consuming.

LEMON CURD CUPCAKES

adapted from The Goddess's Kitchen (which is a lovely blog, btw.)

makes 12 cupcakes

you need a cupcake tin lined with 12 paper cases

ingredients:
200g flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
a pinch of salt
100g sugar
1 egg
75ml sunflower oil
150ml milk
1 teaspoon vanilla sugar
12 heaped teaspoons lemon curd

For the topping:12 teaspoons lemon curd
caster sugar

Directions:

Preheat oven to 190°C (375°F or Gas mark 5).

Put the flour, baking powder, salt and both sugars in a large bowl. In a separate bowl mix together the egg, oil and milk and add to the flour mixture. Beat with a balloon whisk until everything is well incorporated. Divide half of the batter between the 12 cupcake cases, add 1 teaspoon of lemon curd to each cupcake case, the top off with the remaining batter.
Bake for about 10-15 minutes. Remove from the oven and put on a wire rack to cool.

When cooled completely, spread one teaspoon of lemon curd on each cupcake a sprinkle with caster sugar.

1-2-3-4 LEMON CAKE

adapted from Martha Stewart

you need two greased 8-inch round cake tins

ingredients:

1 cup butter, softened
3 cups flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
11/4 cups buttermilk
1 teaspoons vanilla sugar
grated zest of 2 lemons

500-600 ml lemon curd
250 ml whipped cream, sweetened with 2 tablespoons sugar
chocolate sprinkles

directions:

Preheat oven to 180°C (370°F or Gas mark 4).
Put flour, salt baking powder and soda in a bowl.
Put the butter in a large bowl. Cream for about 2 minutes with an electric mixer, then add the sugars and beat for about 4 minutes. Add the 4 eggs and beat for about 5 minutes, until the batter stops being slick.
Gradually add the buttermilk, lemon zest and the flour mixture, until everything is well incorporated.
Divide the batter between the two tins and bake for about 35-45 minutes.
Put on a wire rack to cool, then slice each layer in half (horizontally).
To assemble the cake put one layer on a plate and spread one third of the lemon curd on it, to about 2cms within the edge. Repeat with the next to layers. Finish with the last layer but be very careful, the layers will start to slide around. I used a knitting needle to keep the cake in place. Make sure the layers are evenly assembled, then push the knitting needle in the middle of the take from the top to the bottom of the cake so that it sticks out on top. Leave in the fridge overnight and the cake will settle nicely and not slide around anymore. Eemove the needle before you add the whipped cream. Spread the whipped cream on top of the cake and sprinkle with chocolate jimmies.

Valentine's Day, part 1

2011-02-13T04:03:00.000-08:00

Ever since I was 14 years old I've been hooked on Jane Austen. And I was always convinced that I was a "Darcy-girl"...until I came across Captain Frederick Wentworth. Don't get me wrong, I love Darcy - most ardently ;) - but I'm totally, completely, irreversibly enamoured of Captain Wentworth. He may have been resentful and fallible, but he was also constant & upright, he was a man of integrity and worth. And he wrote the - in my opinion - most beautiful love letter ever. How can you not be enamoured of someone who writes such a letter? I even have part of it tattooed on my lower back.

But Rupert Penry-Jones as Captain Wentworth? I don't think so...don't get me wrong, he's lovely, but way, way, way too pretty. I mean, Captain Wentworth has been sailing the seas for years and years - without sunscreen I might add - and comes back looking like he just came from a trip to a Beauty Spa?

Sometimes I think it would have been lovely to have lived in Austen's time. I love the manners and courtesy, the language and clothes. It's a lovely thought to have someone kiss your hand or follow strict rules of courtship. And I could have lived without my iPod or iPhone, without my TV or computer. But could I have lived with being the property of my husband? Having basically no rights because I'm a woman? And to live without proper medication, a hairdryer and a washing machine?
Everything considered, I suppose life in Austen's time wouldn't have been half as much fun or romantic as I imagine it to be.

And you know what? Every now and then my boyfriend, whom I frequently accuse of being quite unromantic, does someting unexpected and romantic, like de-icing my car in the morning when he leaves for work and then I think, all is well the way it is, is it not? :)

I wish you all a happy Valentine's Day and I also have a recipe for you! Lovely heart-shaped chocolate cookies. And if you're looking for more Valentine's goodies, look here.

WHOLE WHEAT CHOCOLATE BROWN SUGAR COOKIES

found on Joy the Baker

yields 24 medium heartshaped cookies

you need 2 baking trays lined with greaseproof paper

ingredients:

1 cup whole wheat flour

1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons plain flour
1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 egg

pink sugar sprinkles

directions:

Put both sugars and butter in a large bowl and beat with an electric mixer until creamy and everything is well incorporated. Add the egg and beat for about 3 minutes until fluffy. Add the rest of the ingredients until incorporated. If necessary, use a spoon or spatula to incorporate for incorporating.
Wrap dough in clingfilm and put in the fridge for about 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F or Gas mark 4).
Roll out the dough on a lightly dusted work surface to 5mm thickness, sprinkle with pink sugar and place on the baking tray. Bake for about 10 minutes then put on a wire rack to let cool.

Rachel Allen's peanut butter and white chocolate blondies

2011-02-11T05:49:00.000-08:00

A sure-fire way to tell I'm falling ill is when I can't be bothered to bake anything. Just the thought makes me cringe. This is very odd indeed because usually I'm a person who makes 20 different kinds of Christmas cookies in one day (I think my mom is still traumatised) and who'd get up at 3 in the morning to bake you something if you asked me to (although my boyfriend might punch you on the nose because our kitchen and sleeping room share a wall)!

Wednesday was such a day. I was feeling like crap and couldn't be bothered to do anything much less bake the intended cake. I spent the last 2 days watching reruns of SATC and Eureka and flicking through my new cupcake books.

But ta-da, I'm getting a lot better again. You know how I can tell? I whipped up these scrumptious blondies last night. I still had some peanut butter cream sitting in my fridge and I totally felt like using it! :)
And peanut butter is one of my favourite ingredients lately. All my life I 've been labouring under the misapprehension that peanut butter is disgustion (don't ask me why, I have NO idea!) and about a month ago I found out that it actually tastes absolutely divine. So divine in fact, that I'd like to roll around in it or rub it all over my body.

I'm weird, I know.

But you know what? I can't, cannot, CAN NOT eat peanut butter because I have fructose malabsorption! And the more I think about it the more I want to eat it, hence the rolling and rubbing! Full-fledged reactance, me thinks ;)

Anyways, try these...they're GOOD! I doubled the recipe and reduced the amount of sugar. You can halve the recipe again if you want and bake it in a 20 x 20cm cake tin. It'll make about 12 small pieces.

PEANUT BUTTER AND WHITE CHOCOLATE BLONDIES

adapted from Rachel Allen's Bake!

makes 24 smallish/medium pieces

you need a greased 40 x 20cm cake tin

ingredients:

250g plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
200g softened butter
300g crunchy peanut butter
250g light brown sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla sugar
150g white chocolate, chopped (not too small)

instructions:

Preheat oven to 170°C (325°F or Gas mark 3).
Put the butter and peanut butter in a large bowl and cream with an electrix mixer. Add the sugar, eggs and vanilla sugar and mix until everything is well combined. Then add the flour and baking powder together with the white chocolate and stir until everything is incorporated.
Spread the dough evenly into the cake tin and bake for about 25-30 minutes. The center should still be soft when you take ot out of the oven. Let cool in the tin on a wire rack then cut into 24 pieces.

Bake-a-thon: Raffaello cupcakes

2011-01-29T10:00:00.000-08:00

Wanted: warm weather, frilly summer dresses and ballet flats

Wanted: a pink beach cruiser...not that we have a beach or anything but the bike is really cute

Wanted: the motivation to get on said cruiser

Wanted: lying on a white sandy beach with a Coconut Daiquiri

Wanted: a perfect cupcake containing sweets (pralines or chocolate bars) of your (my!) choice...for a bake-a-thon!

So far I only managed the last one and it was quite easy, actually. For me the perfect cupcake has to have the distinct taste of the sweets used and it should scream "eat me" and you eat five although you know you shouldn't. I want it to be an "Alice in Wonderland cake" that she eats despite knowing it might do funny things to her.

"Soon her eye fell on a little glass box that was lying under the table: she opened it, and found in it a very small cake, on which the words “EAT ME” were beautifully marked in currants. “Well, I’ll eat it,” said Alice, “and if it makes me grow larger, I can reach the key; and if it makes me grow smaller, I can creep under the door: so either way I’ll get into the garden, and I don’t care which happens!”
She ate a little bit, and said anxiously to herself, “Which way? Which way?” holding her hand on the top of her head to feel which way it was growing; and she was quite surprised to find that she remained the same size. To be sure, this is what generally happens when one eats cake; but Alice had got so much into the way of expecting nothing but out-of-the-way things to happen, that it seemed quite dull and stupid for life to go on in the common way.
So she set to work, and very soon finished off the cake." (Lewis Carroll - Alice in Wonderland)

The only perfect combination I've encountered so far is the one I used and so far it's been a huge success with everyone. In most cases the chocolates used are much to sweet in the cupcake or they lose their distinct taste and it's basically just a waste of sweets and rather disappointing.

My cupcakes contain Raffellos (Ferrero Garden Coconut in the US) which have a lovely coconutty taste that's still there when they're baked. They're combined with kiwifruit instead of pineapples and topped off with a fluffy coconut frosting.

...but, I'm open to conviction so if you have a great cupcake recipe with chocolate bars or pralines that's just to die for, please let me know!
Until then, here's my recipe:

RAFFAELLO CUPCAKES

makes 12 cupcakes

you need a cupcake tray lined with muffin cases

adapted from "Muffins"

ingredients cupcake:

5 kiwifruit
200g flour
50g shredded coconut
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
80g applesauce
125g sugar
80ml (sunflower) oil
2 tablespoons rum
250g sour cream, yoghurt or buttermilk

ingredients frosting: (adapted from the Hummingbird Bakery cookbook)

80g soft butter
250g icing sugar
25ml coconut milk

instructions:

Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F or Gas mark 4).
Put the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and shredded coconut in a large bowl.
Peel the kiwifruit and cut into small pieces.
In a measuring jug mix the sour cream/buttermilk/yoghurt, applesauce, oil and rum. Add this mixture together with the kiwifruit pieces to the flour mixture and stir with a wooden spoon until well combined. Be careful not to overmix!

Divide half of the batter among the muffin cases, then put a Raffaello into every case and top off with the rest of the batter.
Bake for approximately 20-25 minutes. Put them on a wire rack for about 10 minutes then remove the cakes from the tray.

When they're cooled completely (!!), prepare the frosting. Put the butter and sugar in a bowl and beat with an electrix mixer until creamy. Add tghe coconut milk and beat for at least 5 minutes until light and fluffy. Spread the frosting on the cupcakes, decorate each on with a Raffaello and enjoy!

sorry...

2011-01-20T07:31:00.000-08:00

Sorry, guys, that I've been MIA (again)! Basically way too much work and other stuff going on around Christmas and New Year's.
Anyways, I'm back and I have an absolute TREAT for you! Super-tasty, super-gorgeous cupcakes! From the Hummingbird Bakery cookbook, of course - no intention to burn down the kitchen again! ;)

If you're looking for a chewy-chocolatey-base these are not for you. They don't contain any real chocolate, just cocoa powder and therefore taste like the chocolate cake my grandma (and I suppose most grandmas) used to make! A bit old-fashioned and very, very lovely! You can make either a vanilla or chocolate frosting. I went for vanilla because I wanted girly, pink cupcakes :)

If you're dentally challenged - and even if you're not-, beware of the golden sprinkles...they look very pretty but are really, really hard!

They're, as all the Hummingbird recipes so far, easily made!

CHOCOLATE CUPCAKES

adapted from the Hummingbird Bakery cookbook

makes 12

you need a cupcake tray lined with paper cases

ingredients:

100g flour
20g cocoa powder
140g sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
a pinch of salt
40g soft butter
120ml milk
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla sugar

Vanilla frosting:

250g icing sugar
80g soft butter
25ml milk
vanilla extract (amount to your liking)

instructions:

Preaheat oven to 170°C (325°F or Gas mark 3).

Put the flour, sugar, baking powder, cocoa powder, salt and butter in a bowl and mix with an electric mixer on a slow speed (important, otherwise you'll have the content of your bowl all over your kitchen). When you have a sandy consistency add the egg, milk and vanilla sugar and mix until well combined and your mixture has a smooth consistency.

Spoon the mixture in the paper cases and bake for about 20 minutes. Put them on a wire rack for about 10 minutes then remove the cakes from the tray.

Once they're cooled completely (!!) you can start making the frosting:

Put the sugar and butter in a bowl and beat with an electric mixer until you get a light and creamy mixture. Add the milk and vanilla extract and beat for at least 5 minutes until the frosting becomes very light and fluffy. Spread on the cupcakes and enjoy!

This recipe is featured on:

comfort food - chocolate cheescake

2010-11-28T07:13:00.000-08:00

Sometimes we're in need of comfort food and this cake is just the thing to eat when you're feeling blue. But beware, this cake will go directly to your hips so it's probably a good thing you can only eat small slices at a time.
And the best thing about it, the unbaked mixture tastes just like the chocolate yoghurt I loved when I was little :D
The recipe says 10-12 slices but we eventually got 16-18 pieces and there were only men involved in eating the cake! ;)

CHOCOLATE CHEESECAKE

adapted from the hummingbird bakery cookbook

you need a 24cm springform tin, greased and lined with greasproof paper
makes at least 16 slices

Ingredients:

900g cream cheese
180g sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla sugar
4 eggs
200g good quality dark chocolate, chopped

base:

200g butter cookies
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
150g butter, melted

Instructions:

Preheat you oven to 150°C (300°F or Gas mark 2).

Put the cookies in a food processor together with the cocoa powder. When they're finely ground, add the melted butter and mix until well incorporated. Pour into the cake tin and press firmly to the base. Put in the refrigerator until you're done with the topping.

Cream the creamcheese, sugar and vanilla sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer. Stir well until you get a smooth mixture, the add the eggs, one at a time. Turn to a hogh speed for a minute or two but make sure not to overmix otherwise the cream cheese will split. Melt the chocolate in a bowl over simmering water. Add 3 tablespoons of cream cheese mixture to the chocolate, stir well than pour the chocolate into the cream cheese mixture.
Pour into the prepared tin, then put this tin into a larger tin and fill two-thirds with water. Bake for about 40-50 minutes. Make sure you don't overbake the cake. It should still be wobbly in the centre when you take it out of the oven.
Remove the cake from the tin after about 30 minutes and store overnight in a cool place (refrigerator, balcony,...).

creepy, crawly spiders

2010-10-28T10:17:00.000-07:00

I saw these gorgeous spider-cookies in a magazine a few days ago and I KNEW I had to make them. I gave them to a very sweet, little boy who lives downstairs and he absolutely loved those spiders!

SPIDER COOKIES

makes 10 lovely spiders

adapted from Lecker.de

ingredients:

50g hazelnuts, roughly chopped
50g dark chocolate, roughly chopped
50g dark chocolate, melted
37g butter
1 teaspoon vanilla sugar
50g brown sugar
a pinch of salt
125g flour
a pinch of baking powder
1 egg

40 cookie sticks (preferably covered with chocolate), they should be about 12cm long

25g icing sugar
20 golden sugar pearls

instructions:

Preheat oven to 175°C (350°F or Gas mark 4).
Put the sugar, vanilla sugar and salt in a bowl. Melt the butter and add to the sugar. Mix until light and creamy (~5 minutes). Add the flour and baking powder, then add the melted chocolate. Stir in the chopped chocolate and hazelnuts and add the egg. Mix until everything is well incorporated.

Put 5 heaps of dough on a baking tray lined with greaseproof paper. Cut the cookie sticks in half and stick 4 halves on each side of a cookie. You can stick them in almost upright because they'll be lowering themselves while baking.

Bake for about 18 minutes, then repeat with the remaining 5 portions.

Let them cool on a wire rack, then mix the icing sugar with a teaspoon of water and pipe eyes and a cross (for an araneus) on the back of the spider.
Press a sugar pearl in the icing to finish the eyes and let the spiders dry.

burning down the house or the art of making yummy brownies

2010-10-04T12:31:00.000-07:00

In all my baking career (and it is considerably long) I've never before almost burned down the kitchen. There was a real fire and not just tiny, little sparks flying around, so it was actually a bit scary...although looing back at it it's kinda funny, especially since I now hear "what are you burning down now" every time I get close to the oven.
But let's start at the beginning...if I want to finish the hummingbird-challenge by the end of the year I seriously have to get going...but after baking loads of the hummingbird bakery recipes in a row I thought it was time for something different (first mistake). Note to self: don't stray from the hummingbird bakery cookbook. Wondering if I cast a spell on myself or something!?
The second mistake was to use Leila Lindholm's "A Piece of Cake" (sorry!). It's such a lovely, lovely book
and I've made some nice things out of it but my experience was that some of the recipes are missing ingredients or there's too much of an igredient (waaaay too much salt in the white bread) in them. I thought the Italian fig tart looked nice and it's still the time of the year for figs so I decided to make those. I used the cake tin suggested in the recipe and ended up with way too many figs. Crammed as many as I could in the dough and put it in the oven. After a few minutes I noticed a rather odd smell and saw that the cake dough - or rather the huge amount of butter in it - was bubbling over and dripping to the bottom of the oven. Tried to remove the butter at the bottom and put some aluminium foil in the oven. The next 30 minutes I spent sitting in the oven, changing the aluminium foil every few minutes because the bl**dy cake wouldn't stop bubbling over. 10 minutes before the cake was supposed to be done I burnt my finger trying to remove the foil from the bottom. While I was holding my finger under the cold water the butter at the bottom caught fire. Too shocked to do anything I called my boyfriend who luckily knows how to use fire extinguishers.
Well...the cake was ruined, obviously, and the cake tin has a rather black bottom now. Fortunately, nothing serious happened and the oven is still working :) But, jeez, a burning oven surely is a sight I won't forget anytime soon.
3 days later I was back in the kitchen, making something from the hummingbird bakery cookbook - obviously ;). I chose the frosted brownies and OMG they tasted good. I ate some of the tiny little pieces falling of the edges of the brownie and they tasted really, really lovely. Very chocolatey and dense and not too sweet (I reduced the amount of sugar by 100g). Frosted them the next morning with the chocolate cream cheese frosting - which in my opinion tastes exactly like the chocolate yoghurt I used to eat when I was little. They tasted lovely, they looked lovely and well, they didn't attempt to burn down the kitchen...what more can a girl ask for ;) Oh, and they're easily made too!

FROSTED BROWNIE

makes 12-16 portions

adapted from the hummingbird bakery cookbook

you need a 33 x 23 x 5 cm cake tin, lined with greaseproof paper

Ingredients:

5 eggs
400 g sugar
120 g flour (all purpose or light spelt)
100g cocoa powder
250 g melted butter
30g pecans, chopped
30 g dark chocolate chopped

For the frosting:

200 g icing sugar
75 g soft butter
30 g cocoa powder
175g cream cheese, cold

Preheat your oven to 170°C (325°F or Gas mark 3).
Put the sugar and eggs in a large bowl and - using an electric whisk - beat for about 3-5 minutes untill fluffy and light. Add the cocoa powder and flour and mix until well incorporated. Then add the melted butter and stir it in with a wooden spoon. Finally add the chocolate and nuts and mix with the wooden spoon until well incorporated.
Pour into the prepared tin and bake for about 30 minutes. The centre should still be soft!

Let it cool completely before frosting!

For the frosting put the butter, sugar and cocoa powder in a bowl and mix with the paddle attachment of your electrix mixer. If it's still too dusty, add 2 mocca-spoons of warm water. Put in the cream cheese and mix until well incorporated. Turn up your mixer to a higher speed and mix for about 5 minutes until the frosting gets fluffy.
Spread over the top of the muffin (beware of the brownie flakes!) and serve immediately or store in a cool place until eating!

peaches & cream cupcakes

2010-09-15T02:25:00.000-07:00

I don't like fruit. Well, actually, I've had an aversion for fruit all my life. Sometimes I ate strawberries or peaches but that was about it. The only way I

could be persuaded to eat it was when the fruit was:

a. mashed, without even the most miniscule pieces left

b. baked in a cake...but there was always the problem with the skins on the apricots or peaches...I had to remove those because they're really gross, especially when they're baked and coming lose.

So, the good thing about being fructose intolerant is that I can't eat fruit anymore. No one can guilt-trip me into eating fruit anymore which is kinda nice for a change.

Seldom, very seldom, I'm tempted to eat something fruity. Like these cupcakes. The moment I saw them in the book I knew they would be perfect. Well, I made them, stored them in an airtight container over night and when I opened it in the morning the first thing I heard myself say was: "OMG, they smell great!". These cupcakes have the most unbelievable smell...they seriously make your knees wobble! Luckily, I made them as a present so I had no chance to give in to temptation. But, believe me, if you want some fabulous cupcakes, these are the right ones!

You have to keep in mind though that the peaches are not mixed into the batter but rather put at the bottom of the cupcake case. That leads to a sort of peach-compote at the bottom, with a lovely, fluffy cake on top and topped off with a lovely vanilla frosting. This is the kind of cupcake you need a plate and a fork or spoon for. But, nevertheless, absolutely gorgeous!

Oh, and the recipe works and tastes so much better with fresh peaches!

PEACHES & CREAM CUPCAKES

adapted from the Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook

makes 12 cupcakes

you need a cupcake tray lined with paper cases

Ingredients:

120g flour
130g caster sugar
11/2 teaspoons baking powder
a pinch of salt
40g butter, softened
120ml milk
1 egg
1 tablespoon vanilla sugar
350g fresh, skinned peaches

1 quantity of Vanilla Frosting (see below)
2 tablespoons soft brown sugar

Instructions:

Preheat your oven to 170°C (325°F or Gas mark 3). Put the sugar, baking powder, flour, salt, vanilla sugar and butter in a large bowl and - using an electric mixer, preferably with a paddle attachment - mix on a slow speed. When you get a sandy consistency, add half of the milk and beat until it's just incorporated.
Add the egg to the remaining milk and whisk. Pour into the butter-mixture and beat until just incorporated. Mix for about 3 minutes.

Meanwhile cube your skinned peaches and evenly divide them between the paper cases. Spoon the batter on top and bake for about 20-25 minutes.
Leave the cupcakes in the tray for 10 more minutes, then put them on a wire rack to cool. Once they're cooled completely you can spoon the Vanilla Frosting on top.

For the frosting mix 80g soft butter with 250g icing sugar. Then gradually add 25ml milk and 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract. Mix at a high speed for about 5 minutes. The frosting will become very fluffy.

Spread the frosting on the cupcakes, sprinkle with brown sugar and enjoy!

double chocolate cookies

2010-09-05T10:48:00.000-07:00

I love (to-do)-lists and I LURVE crossing things off the list. Makes me feel very busy and accomplished :) It's such a great feeling to cross out things you've done, leaving less and less things on the list. Altough, I have to admit, the less I have on a list, the more anxious I get to make a new list! Just imagine going a few days without a list... ;)
Anyways, in January I started my bake-everything-in-the-hummingbird-bakery-cookbook and I'm right in the middle of trying to finish this project until next January. And of COURSE there's a list with all the recipes, the baked ones crossed of and linked to the recipe! It's a rather long list, containing 60 recipes (if I counted correctly) plus 3 frosting recipes. Didn't seem THAT much when I started but well, you can't eat cake every day now, can you!? Well, maybe you CAN, but I think you shouldn't...gaining weight, clogged arteries - highly likely judging by the amount of butter, eggs and sugar used in some of the recipes ;) - and all that...best you don't think about it while enjoying some of the hummingbird bakery goodies :) I've already made more things than are posted on this blog - they'll follow eventually - so they're crossed of but there's no link yet!

And at the very bottom you'll find the recipe for the absolutely fantastic, yummy, scrummy, double chocolate cookies. Beware, you really shouldn't make more than 6 cookies at a time because they spread enormously. Mine had a diameter of about 12 centimeters! They're totally worth making and really are by far the best chocolate cookies I've ever made! Seriously! Make sure you have someone with you when they're finished or you'll be eating them all by yourself...I'm not joking here. I gave mine away and she ate all the cookies, except for one that she'd given away, until the next day! So don't say I didn't tell you! :)

Well, here's the list:

~~Vanilla Cupcakes~~
~~Chocolate Cupcakes~~
~~Red Velvet Cupcakes~~
~~Lemon Cupcakes~~
Strawberry Cheesecake Cupcakes
~~Black Bottom Cupcakes~~
Lavender Cupcakes
~~Hazelnut and Chocolate Cupcakes~~
~~Coconut and Pineapple Cupcakes~~
Banana and Chocolate Cupcakes
Green Tea Cupcakes
~~Peaches and Cream Cupcakes~~
Pumpkin Cupcakes
~~Marshmallow Cupcakes~~
Ginger Cupcakes
~~Hummingbird Cake~~
Carrot Cake
Coconut Meringue Cake
~~Brooklyn Blackout Cake~~
Lemon & Poppy Seed Cake
~~Blueberry Cake~~
Coffee Cake
~~Spiced Pound Cake~~
Buttermilk Pound Loaf
Banana Loaf
Nutty Apple Loaf
~~Lemon Loaf~~
New York Cheesecake
~~Chocolate Cheesecake~~
Fridge-Set Banana Cheesecake
Lemon Meringue Pie
Pecan Pie
Key Lime Pie
Pumpkin Pie
Mississippi Mud Pie
~~Banana Cream Pie~~
~~Apple Pie~~
Blueberry Pie
~~Traditional Brownie~~
~~Frosted Brownie~~
~~Raspberry Cheescake Brownie~~
~~Blondie~~
Chocolate Fridge Cake Bars
Muesli Bars
Lemon Bars
Rocky Road Bars
Ham and Mushroom Muffins
Carrot and Courgette Muffins
Spinach and Cheese Muffins
~~Chocolate Muffins~~
~~Blueberry Muffins~~
~~Banana and Cinnamon Muffins~~
~~Maple and Pecan Muffins~~
~~Double Chocolate Cookies~~
~~Chocolate Chip Cookies~~
~~Peanut Butter Cookies~~
White Chocolate and Pecan Nut Cookies
Oat and Raisin Cookies
Sugar Cookies
Gingerbread Men

DOUBLE CHOCOLATE COOKIES

makes 12 large cookies

adapted from the hummingbird bakery cookbook

ingredients:

50g butter
450g dark chocolate
2 eggs
170g soft brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla sugar
85g flour (all purpose or light spelt)
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

instructions:

Preheat oven to 170°C (325°F or Gas mark 3).

Put half of the chocolate and the butter in a heatproof bowl and melt over simmering water.
Meanwhile roughly chop the remaining chocolate.

Put the sugar, vanilla sugar and eggs in a bowl and whisk together until well combined. Pour in the melted chocolate and mix until well incorporated.
Then add the flour, salt and baking powder in three steps and mix until well combined. Add the chopped chocolate and stir in with a wooden spoon.

Line a baking tray with greaseproof paper and put 6 equal amounts of dough on the tray. Bake the cookies for 10 to 15 minutes. They're done when the tops start to crack and cookies have a glossy look. Don't put them on a wire rack immediately but put them on your (heatproof) worksurface. Otherwise you cookies will fall apart.
Repeat with the remaining cookie dough. When the cookies are completely cooled put them in an airtight container.

Martha Stewart's jam cupcakes with chocolate frosting

2010-08-25T10:24:00.000-07:00

When I grow up, I wanna be Martha Stewart. Like for real, only without that whole prison-thing. She's like the perfect housewife and she seems like she's doing everything perfectly without even batting an eyelid. Impressive really, though a bit scary too...I mean, I think you can basically eat off her floor, not that I'd want that, because that would be gross even though it'd be Martha's floor, but still...since she's a super-housewife she also makes super cookbooks. Her "Cupcakes" book is one of my favourites. It has lovely pictures and even lovelier recipes. Tried a few and everyone loved them. So whenever I need cupcakes I turn to that book. You'll find a cupcake for every occasion, easy ones, fussy ones, georgeous ones, funny ones,...well, you get my drift.

Anyway, I tried the jam cupcakes out of the easy-section a while back because I needed some cupcakes real quick and I didn't have much time to spend in the kitchen. They were really easy to make and I filled them - twice - with homemade strawberry jam. The chocolate frosting is a fake one because it uses cocoa powder instead of real chocolate so all in all they're quickly done.

I filled them the night before I needed them and used a really sharp knife to cut out a cone shaped piece of the cupcake. You have to fill the hole with the jam and put the cutout piece back in again. If you - like I did - fill them a day in advance the cake is going to soak up all the jam so I had to take out the piece again the next morning to put in more jam. Be careful when doing so otherwise your cutout piece of cake will fall apart. This is also a very sticky matter!
The frosting was quickly done too but didn't taste enough like chocolate for my liking.

Well, although they are easily made and put together I wasn't really impressed with them and was kinda disappointed. I gave them away anyway and geez, let me tell you, the feedback was GREAT!

Everybody loved them and one girl even told me that they were so good she thought she'd start to cry...well, give them a try and see how many people you can make cry ;)

JAM CUPCAKES WITH CHOCOLATE FROSTING

adapted from Martha Stewart

makes 12 cupcakes

ingredients:

1 cup soft butter
1 1/2 cups flour (all purpose or light spelt)
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
3/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla sugar
1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons milk
1 cup icing sugar
1/4 cup cocoa powder, unsweetened
1/2 cup strawberry jam
chocolate sprinkles

instructions:

Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F or Gas mark 4). Line a muffin pan with paper cups.
Put the sugar and half of the butter in a bowl and beat with an electric mixer until fluffy and light. Add the eggs one at a time. In a separate bowl combine the flour, 3/4 teaspoon salt, half of the vanilla sugar and baking powder. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture in two parts, alternating with the milk (1(2 cup).
Divide the mixture among the 12 muffin cases and bake for approximately 20 minutes. Leave to cool in the muffin pan for about 10 minutes, then put on a wire rack to cool completely.

For the frosting mix together 1/4 teaspoon salt, the remaining half of the vanilla sugar, cocoa powder. In a separate bowl beat the rest of the butter until light and fluffy. Add the cocoa mixture and stir until everything is well incorporated. Add the vanilla sugar and beat with an electric mixer for about one minute.

Once the cupcakes are cooled, cut out a cone shaped piece from the top of the muffin (about 2 cms deep) and fill the holes with the jam. Carefully replace the coneshaped piece. You may want to repeat that procedure if you're letting them stand for a few hours before eating.
Spread the frosting on the cupcakes and dip them in chocolate sprinkles.

after the holidays - berry yoghurt pie

2010-08-08T00:23:00.000-07:00

I was on holidays - hence the lack of recipes over the last few weeks. I did bake some cakes though and here's the first one!

I love pies - which you already know, I guess. And what better pie to make in summer than a berry pie!? You can use any combination of berries you like. The more black-, blueberries or blackcurrant you use, the darker the filling gets. If you want a lovely light pink cake, just use strawberries and raspberries. You can also stick to just one kind of berries, which is also nice. You see - your options are sort of endless :) The yoghurt in the filling adds a refreshing touch to the cake. And people, this one is another easy peasy pie ;)

BERRY YOGHURT PIE

adapted from Basic baking!

You need a 26- or 28-cm pie dish.

For the crust:

130 g butter, cold

250 g flour (light spelt or all purpose)

75 g sugar

Quickly knead all the ingredients together. If the dough doesn't stick together, add some cold water, one teaspoon at a time. Be careful not to use too much water because that'll turn it into a sticky mess.

Put in the fridge for 1 hour.

For the filling:

700 g berries (any combination you prefer)

150 g sugar

250 g yoghurt

250 g quark or cream cheese

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 200°C (395°F or Gas mark 5). Put the prepared dough in the pie dish, and blind bake (greaseproof paper and baking beans) for about 25 minutes. Then remove the paper and beans and bake for another 5 minutes until it's golden brown. Leave on a wire rack to cool.

Wash and dice the berries. Add 50 g of the sugar and squash them. Mix the remaining sugar with the yoghurt and quark (or cream cheese) and add to the berries. Pour the mnixture into the pie dish and put in the fridge to set, preferably over night.

Decorate with berries or whipped cream.

Nigella's (Key) Lime Pie

2010-07-09T04:34:00.000-07:00

A LOT of the cakes I make go to my boyfriend's office. They love them and I'm happy to deliver :) Two of the guys in the office do not eat eggs and gelatin, hence I try to make them without these ingredients. Usually it's quite easy to adapt the recipes but for this key lime pie recipe I've seriously been searching high and low. And the solution was to be found in Nigella's "How to be a domestic goddess"!
This is an easy key lime pie without eggs or gelatin and it's really lovely.

(KEY) LIME PIE

Ingredients:

you need a 24cm pie dish

for the pie crust:

200g graham crackers or butter cookies
1/4 cup butter
1 teaspoon cacao powder

for the filling:

zest and juice of 4 limes
400g condensed milk
250ml cream

Put the crackers (or cookies) in a food processor, add the softened butter and mix until you get oily crumbs. Put them in the pie dish, lining the bottom and the sides. Put it in the fridge for at least an hour.

Put the condensed milk, cream, zest & juice of the limes in a large bowl and beat with an electric mixer for about 10 minutes. The mixture should become really thick and creamy. Pour into the prepared pie dish and let it set in the fridge, preferably over night.

The pie will not turn completely green. It gets a greenish tinge but if you want it really green you'd have to use food colouring!

strawberry pie

2010-06-20T13:11:00.000-07:00

Pies are fantastic. They have a crunchie, crumbly crust and inside there's some sweet fruit filling. They're simple to make, but the result is always gorgeous. You can use whatever fruit you like (I prefer apples, plums, peaches and cherries) and add some extra flavours (cinnamon, rosemary,...) and you can make them all year round and use whatever fruit is in season. You can make small or big ones, you can even fill them with chocolate, cream cheese or lemon curd...oh so many ways to make a lovely pie. I could go on forever, so do yourself a fovour and make one! :)
This is my first strawberry pie. Usually I'm not one for baking strawberries because they lose so much of their flavour when they're baked and they also lose so much water that you always end up with a wet mess. But this pie looked so nice in the picture (and it's a Martha Stewart recipe - they always work!) that I thought I'd give it a try. It smells really lovely, the strawberries didn't turn the whole pie into a wet mess (with a neat trick!) and well...it tastes real good, too :)

I used half the amount of the Hummingbird Bakery cookbook pie crust again...the one I didn't like in the beginning but after giving it a second try I decided it's quite good, actually. Just add a bit more water than stated and it turns out real nice!

STRAWBERRY PIE

adapted from Martha Stewart

you need a 24 cm pie dish, greased and preferably with a loose bottom

ingredients:

260g flour (light spelt or all purpose)
1/2 teaspoon salt
110g butter, chilled
6 tablespoons cold water

Put the flour, salt and butter in a bowl and mix until you get a sandy consistency. Add the water and mix until incorporated. Finally, use your hands and knead until you get a firm dough. Wrap in cling film and put in the fridge for about an hour.

1,5kg strawberries
1 cup brown caster sugar
1/3 cup corn starch (I used vanilla pudding starch)

2 tablespoons milk

sanding sugar

instructions:

Wash the strawberries, then hull and slice them into small pieces (1 cm). Put them in a bowl, add the sugar and leave for an hour.
Then drain the strawberries and disacard all the liquid. Add the starch and mix until the strawberries are coated with the starch.

Preheat the oven to 230°C (450°F or Gas mark 5).
Roll out half of the dough and place into the pie dish and put the strawberries in the pie dish. Roll out the second half of the dough and cut out shapes of the lid. Place the lid on the strawberries, pressing the edges firmly together. Cut of any excess dough and brush with the milk. Sprinkle sanding sugar on the lid and bake for about 25 mins.
Reduce heat to 200°C (400°F or Gas mark 4) and bake for another 30 minutes.
Put on a wire rack to cool.

world cup cream cheese cake

2010-06-18T12:18:00.000-07:00

I guess the football world cup in South Africa is another very good reason to make a cake. After all, acording to Coca Cola we all speak football! :)
This one doesn't require any baking and has a very refreshing taste. The inside of the cake is green, of course...it's a football cake, from the inside and the outside ;)

WORLD CUP CREAM CHEESE CAKE

adapted from philadelphia.de

you need a 24cm cake tin, base lined with grease proof paper

ingredients:

300 g nougat
150 g graham crackers, finely ground

250 g cream cheese
150 g sugar
2 tablespoons lemon juice
zest of one lemon
500 ml cream
1 packet of Götterspeise "Waldmeister" for 500 ml water --> prepared with 250 ml of water or 250 g JELL-O lime

cocoa powder for dusting

instructions:

Prepare the Götterspeise according to the instructions on the packet, pour into a soup bowl with a 20 cm diameter and leave for 2 hours to set or cut the JELL-O into small cubes.

Melt the nougat in a heatproof bowl over simmering water. Add the ground crackers and stir together. Spread the mixture on the bottom of your cake tin and put in the fridge for 2 hours.
Place your Götterspeise in the middle of nougat bottom or put the JELL-O cubes onto the bottom. You should spread them within a 20 cm diameter so they won't touch the edges of the cake tin.

Whip the cream. Put the cream cheese, lemon juice & zest and sugar in a bowl and mix. Fold in the whipped cream and pour into the cake tin. Cover with cling film and put in the fridge for at least 3 hours.

Cut out the outlines of a football, put on the cake and dust with cocoa powder.

rhubarb cake

2010-06-06T06:28:00.000-07:00

Well, I think rhubarb is highly underrated. It tastes a bit sour and the colour is a bit nasty once you cook it, but with the right "add-ons" it turns into something quite heavenly. Like the cake I made last weekend. It takes some time to prepare it but it is totally worth the effort. The sourness of the cake is a perfect combo with the sweetness of the cake and the meringue.

RHUBARB CAKE

adapted from Lecker!

you need two 24 or 26-cm cake tin, greased

ingredients:

4 eggs
125 g butter, softened
125 g & 200 g icing sugar
a pinch of salt
3 tablespoons vanilla extract
150 g flour (all purpose or light spelt)
2 teaspoons baking powder
5 tablespoons milk
4 tablespoons sliced almonds

**

500 g rhubarb
5 tablespoons sugar
40 g vanilla pudding starch
400 ml cream

instructions:

Preheat oven to 175°C (350°F or Gas mark 2). Separate the eggs. Put the butter, 125 g sugar, the salt and one teaspoon of vanilla extract in a bowl and beat until creamy. Add the egg yolks, one at a time. Add the flour and baking powder together with the milk und stir until everything is incorporated. Divide between the two cake tins.
Put the egg whites in a clean bowl and beat stiff. Gradually add the sugar and beat until the sugar is dissolved. That may take up to 5 minutes. Spread the meringue on the batter already in the cake tins and spread the almond slices it. Bake for about 25 -30 minutes and put on a wire rack to cool completely.

Wash the rhubarb and cut into small pieces. Put in a large pan together with 100 ml water and 5 tablespoons sugar. Bring to the boil and cook for about 5 minutes. Meanwhile mix the starch with a bit of water so you won't get any lumps. Remove the rhubarb from the heat, stir in the starch and put back on the heat. Stiring constantly, cook for 1 minute. Let it cool completely (don't put it in the fridge yet), stiring every now and then.

Whip the cream together with 2 tablespoons of vanilla extract.

Remove just one of the cakes from the tin, leave the other one in the tin. Spread the rhubarb on the cake in the tin and put the whipped cream on top of it. Put the second cake on top of it and put it in the fridge for a few hours. Once it's set, you can remove the cake tin.

Chocca mocca caramel cake

2010-05-26T11:51:00.000-07:00

This is a really gorgeous cake. I recommend to make it WITH the frosting, otherwise it'll be too tart. But together with the sweetness of the frosting it's an absolutely perfect combo. I couldn't find any caramel bars therefore I used Mars bars. No probs at all, so I guess you can whatever bars with caramel you like!

CHOCCA MOCCA CARAMEL CAKE

adapted from BBC Good Food

you need a 20-cm cake tin, greased and bottom lined with greaseproof paper

Ingredients:

2 teaspoons instant coffee powder(espresso)
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
2 tablespoons hot water
175 g butter, softened
175 g sugar
2 eggs
2 tablespoons honey
200 g flour (all-purpose or light spelt)
2 pinches of salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
4 tablespoons milk
2 x 50 g chocolate caramel bars (I used Mars)

for the frosting:

2 x 50 g chocolate caramel bars(Mars again)
50 g butter
2 tablespoons milk
100 g icing sugar

brown mini-smarties for decoration

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F or Gas mark 4).
Put the cocoa and coffee powder in a small bowl, add the water and until the mix is smooth.
The put the butter, sugar, honey, salt, flour, baking powder, eggs, milk and the coffee/cocoa-paste in a large bowl and mix with an electric mixer. Cut the Mars bars into little pieces (not too little though) and add them to the mixture. Pour into the prepared tin and bake for about 40-60 minutes.

Let cool on a wire rack and meanwhile prepare the frosting. Put the Mars bars, butter and milk in a bowl and melt in a heatproof bowl over simmering water, stirring every now and then until everything is melted. Remove from the heat, stir in the sugar and stir until it is dissolved (that might take a while). Let it thicken a bit and the pour it over the cake. Sprinkle the smarties on top.

Swiss roll

2010-05-13T04:18:00.000-07:00

I love Swiss rolls. Always have. My parents used to make them with various fillings when I was little and they always tasted great, especially if you use homemade jam. They always remind me of the times when I was little and I guess that's why I still love them. They are also very quick and simple to make, which is a bonus as well, I guess.

SWISS ROLL

adapted from basic baking

you need a baking tray, lined with greaseproof paper

ingredients:

4 eggs

a pinch of salt

50 g sugar

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

2 egg yolks

125 g flour (all purpose or light spelt)

a pinch of baking powder

150 g of your favourite jam (preferably homemade, I used peach)

icing sugar for dusting

instructions:

Preheat oven to 200°C (395°F or Gas mark 6).

Separate the eggs and whisk the egg whites until they're beginning to get stiff. Then carefully add the salt, sugar and vanilla extract and whisk until stiff.

Gradually add the 6 egg yolks. Add the flour and baking powder and carefully fold in.

Spread the mixture evenly on your baking tray and bake for about 8-10 mins.

Meanwhile spread a moist kitchen towel on your work surface and sprinkle coarse sugar over. When the roll is baked, put it upside down on the kitchen towel. Carefully remove the greaseproof paper and roll up the dough together with the kitchen towel. Let it cool for about 30 minutes, then unroll it again and spread the jam over the dough. Then carefully roll it up again, without the kitchen towel and leave it to cool completely. Then cut of the edges on both sides so you get two neat edges and dust with icing sugar.

gluten free chocolate strawberry cake

2010-05-01T08:35:00.000-07:00

This cake was for a friend's birthday. She loves the sheepworld sheep, hence the decoration on the cake!
It was a simple chocolate cake, filled with strawberries, whipped cream and a white chocolate spread. The cake is gluten-free, because my friend's mother has coeliac disease and I thought it would be nice if she could eat some cake as well.
You can easily substitute the gluten-free flour with all-purpose flour.

GLUTEN-FREE CHOCOLATE STRAWBERRY CAKE

you need a 20 x 30cm cake tin, greased

adapted from chefkoch.de

ingredients:

200 g soft butter,
200 g sugar
200 g dark chocolate, chopped
120 g gluten free flour (I used buckwheat flour)
1/2 teaspoon baking powder (gluten-free)
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
4 eggs, separated

300 g strawberries

100 g white chocolate
100 ml cream

300 ml cream, whipped

instructions:

Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F or Gas mark 3).
Put the dark chocolate and butter into a heatproof bowl within a gently simmering saucepan of water and melt the mixture.
Meanwhile separate the eggs and whisk the egg whites until stiff.
Put the egg yolks, sugar and vanilla extract in a bowl and cream together with an electric mixer. Add the butter-chocolate mix, stiring constantly. Add the flour and baking powder and carefully fold in the egg whites.
Pour the mixture into the prepared cake tin and bake for about 40-50 minutes.
Take it out of the oven and leave it to cool on a wire rack. Then cut across the cake and prepare the filling:

Melt the white chocolate and cream in a heatproof bowl over simmering water and spread across the bottom of the cake.
Wash ans slice the strawberries and put on the chocolate spread.
Spread 1/3 of the whipped cream over the strawberries and put the top of the cake on it. Spread the rest of the whipped cream across the cake and decorate any way you like.

banana cream pie

2010-04-26T01:24:00.000-07:00

This is another lovely pie from the hummingbird bakery cookbook. The recipe is very simple and the pie smells and looks delicious. Unfortunately, this baking experience didn't go down without collateral damage. Since I couldn't get my hands on "dulce de leche", I decided to make the caramel for the pie filling from scratch. For reasons, unknown even to myself, I decided to scrape off the caramelized sugar that was sticking to the spoon. Unfortunately, that didn't work out quite the way I had planned it and therefore ended with hot caramel sticking to my finger. Let me tell you, it HURTS and my finger is now sporting an ENORMOUS blister.
Note to self: when making caramel, don't try anything remotely foolish or anything other than just stiring the caramel!
I finished the caramel with one hand in a large bowl of cold water and with the other stiring. Luckily, the pie turned out lovely otherwise it would have been a very nasty Sunday! ;)

BANANA CREAM PIE

adapted from the hummingbird bakery cookbook

for a 23-cm pie dish, greased or lined with greaseproof paper

ingredients pie crust:

260 g flour (all purpose or light spelt)
1/2 teaspoon salt
110 g butter
5 tablespoons cold water

Put the butter, flour and salt in a large bowl and beat with an electric mixer (paddle attachment) until you get a sandy consistency. Gradually add the water and knead until everything is well incorporated. Put in a cool place for about an hour.
Preheat the oven to 170°C (325°F or Gas mark 3).
Roll out the dough on a lightly dusted surface. Line the pie dish with the dough and put a sheet of greaseproof paper over it. Fill with baking beans and bake blind for about 20 minutes. Remove the baking beans and greaseproof paper and bake for another 20-30 minutes, until your pie crust has a nice golden colour.

ingredients filling:

for the caramel:

100 g sugar
2 tablespoons oil
2 tablespoons water
60 ml cream

Put the sugar, oil and water in a pan and stir at a high heat until the sugar has dissolved and has a nice golden-brown colour. Add the cream, stiring constantly, until the sugar has dissolved again. Let it boil for about 5 minutes, stiring constantly. Let it cool.

for the vanilla pudding:

400 ml milk
2 tablespoons sugar
40 g vanilla pudding starch

Put 350 ml milk and the sugar in a pot and bring to the boil. Meanwhile mix the remaining milk with the starch. Take the milk off the heat and stir in the starch, stiring constantly. Cook for one minute, stiring constantly, then pour in a bowl, cover with clingfilm and let it cool.

3 bananas, sliced
200 ml cream
cinnamon

How to put the pie together:

Spread your caramel over the base of the pie crust. Slice the 3 bananas and
arrange over the caramel. Stir the vanilla pudding so there will be no lumps and spread over the bananas. Finally whip the cream and top the pie with it, dusting it with cinnamon.
Store in a cool place (preferably the fridge).

This recipe is featured on:

Brooklyn Blackout Cake

2010-04-23T01:17:00.000-07:00

I was really busy the last few weeks so when I finally had time to bake something, I thought I'd make a cake that involves a lot of fuss! Well, turns out, the cake I chose is rather fuss-free. It's another one from the Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook, it tasted lovely but there are a few things to keep in mind.

When making the chocolate custard, you have to stir constantly, otherwise half of the custard will stick to the bottom of your pot. Also make sure that the cornflour mix for the custard has the consistency of glue, otherwise the custard won't be firm enough.
And one more thing...about half or two-thirds of the custard, depending on how much custard you like in a cake, were enough.

BROOKLYN BLACKOUT CAKE

adapted from the hummingbird bakery cookbook

you need three 20-cm cake tins, bottom lined with greaseproof paper

Ingredients cake:

100 g soft butter
260 g sugar
2 eggs
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
45 g cocoa powder
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
a pinch of salt
170 g flour (all-purpose or light spelt)
180 ml whole milk

Ingredients custard: (you'll need just half or two-thirds of this amount)

500 g caster sugar
1 tablespoon honey
125 g cocoa powder
200 g cornflour (I substituted it with vanilla pudding starch)
85 g cold butter
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 170°C (325°F or Gas mark 3).
Put the butter and sugar in a bowl and cream with an electric mixer until very light and soft. Add the eggs, one at a time, and mix until well incorporated. Set the mixer to a low speed, and add the cocoa powder, vanilla extract, salt,
baking powder and bicarbonate of soda until everything is well incorporated. Then add half of the flour and the milk, mix well and add the rest of the flour. Divide the batter between the three cake tins and bake for about 25 minutes.
Leave them to cool on a wire rack.

Meanwhile prepare the custard. Put the sugar, honey, cocoa powder with 600 ml water in a large pot and bring to the boil (medium heat). Mix the cornflour with 120-200 ml water (make sure the mixture has the consistency of thick glue!!). Pour into the pot, whisking constantly! Bring to the boil for a few minutes, making sure you're constantly whisking!! Let cool for a few minutes, then add the butter and vanilla extract. Pour in a large bowl, cover with cling film and let cool until the custard is very firm.

Slice a thin layer of one (or more) cakes and make fine crumbs in food processor.

Put one layer of the cake on a plate and spread one-quarter of the custard over it. Add the second layer and another quarter of the custard. Add the last layer and spread the remaining custard all over the cake (top and sides). The cover with the cake crumbs and store in a cool place.

walnut cake with vanilla buttercream frosting

2010-03-26T08:56:00.000-07:00

This year I started early with baking Easter goodies. This one was a present thus the rush! It is a lovely walnut cake decorated with sugar eggs and Easter cookies.

WALNUT CAKE WITH VANILLA BUTTERCREAM FROSTING

adapted from Rachel Allen

you need two 20-cm cake tins, lined with greaseproof paper, the sides buttered and dusted with flour

Ingredients:

200 g flour (all purpose or light spelt)
a pinch of salt
1 heaped teaspoon baking powder
100 g soft butter
2 eggs, separated
225 g sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla sugar
100 g walnuts, shelled and roughly chopped
100 ml milk

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F or Gas mark 4). Put the butter in a large bowl and cream until soft. Add the sugar and vanilla sugar and beat until it's fluffy and light. Add the egg yolks and then the chopped walnuts. Add the flour, baking powder, salt and milk (alternating!) until everything is well incorporated.
Beat the egg whites until they are stiff. Stir a quarter of the egg whites into the walnut mixture, then carefully fold in the rest of the egg whites.
Divide the mixture between the two cake tins and bake for about 20-30 minutes.
Put them on a wire rack and let them cool.

BUTTERCREAM FROSTING AND FILLING

100 g apricot jam (for the filling)

Beat 100 g soft butter in a bowl until soft, then add 200 g superfine sugar, 1 tablespoon vanilla sugar and 2 teaspoons hot water. Beat until everything is well incorporated.

Cut across both cakes so you have 4 cake halves. Sandwich them together with the jam, then spread the frosting across the cake.

Decorate any way you like or not at all. I used sugar eggs (they are like jelly beans) and Easter egg/bunny shaped sugar cookies (use your favourite recipe for those)!

JO's lemon drizzle cake

2010-03-20T09:49:00.000-07:00

I have a thing for Jamie Oliver...like, TOTALLY. I'm sort of obsessed with him and I love his recipes. It's like, whatever he cooks, I try too... and usually, it's really, really good :)

Here's one of my favourites...a perfect combo of lemon and poppy seeds :)

LEMON DRIZZLE CAKE

for a 20-cm springform cake tin, greased

adapted from Jamie Oliver

ingredients:

115 g butter, softened
115 g caster sugar
4 eggs
180 g ground almonds
30 g poppy seeds
zest and juice of 2 lemons
125g flour
1 teaspoon baking powder

for the lemon syrup:

100 g caster sugar
90 g lemon juice

for the lemon icing:

225 g icing sugar
zest and juice of 1 lemon

Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F or Gas mark 4).

Put the butter and the caster sugar in a bowl and beat until light and creamy. Add the eggs one by one, then add the almonds, poppy seeds, the lemon zest and juice, the flour and the baking powder. Pour the batter into the prepared tin and bake for approximately 40 minutes.

Put the sugar and lemon juice in a pan until the sugar in a pan and heat until the sugar has dissolved. While your cake is still warm, make lots of little holes in the top and pour your syrup over the cake.

Mix the icing sugar with the lemon zest and juice. When your cake is cooled completely, pour the icing over the cake.

bundt cake with yoghurt and ants

2010-03-13T02:21:00.000-08:00

Yesssss, you read correctly...the cake does indeed have ants in it, seriously! it's common to use the word ants for chocolate sprinkles over here, so no worries, no animals had to suffer for this cake! ;)
Since I'm quite busy at the moment I decided to make this cake because it's quickly made and tastes really good!
Make sure you use 200 or 250 g of yoghurt, otherwise you're gonna get a tiny little cake! If you use flavored yoghurt, reduce the sugar by a third, unless you want a really sweet cake! You could also use sour-cream or buttermilk instead of yoghurt.
This recipe has been in my family forever, I think. Since you can vary it a lot by using different chocolate sprinkles or flavored yoghurt, it's always been a favorite.

BUNDT CAKE WITH YOGURT AND ANTS

you need a greased bundt-cake pan

ingredients:

1 cup yoghurt, sour-cream or buttermilk
2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup oil
2 eggs
16 g baking powder
1/2 - 1 cup chocolate sprinkles, depending on how chocolaty you want the cake...I use dark chocolate

instructions:

Preheat the oven to 170°C (325°F or Gas mark 3). Put all the ingredients in a bowl and mix together until well combined. Don't stir too long or you'll get a rubbery cake!!
Pour the dough in the pan and bake for approximately 45 minutes.
Done! :)

raisin bread rolls

2010-03-05T02:30:00.000-08:00

Due to my various food intolerances I tend to bake most of the bread I eat myself. I've been doing it for a while now and really got the hang of it after some experiments. Since making bread is also quite fun I make bread for others as well. The latest one was for my boyfriend, who, for some inexplicable reason, loves raisins. I mean, RAISINS? Like, what's so good about eating little black, withered grapes that are as chewy as the soles of your shoes? Anyone care to explain? ;)

Anyway, since he likes them so much, I made raisin bread rolls. The dough is really, and I mean REALLY, sticky but easily made nonetheless. And I have been told that they taste good as well!

If you're looking for bread with a crunchy crust that one's not for you. It's rather soft and falls apart easily when you're cutting it when fresh.

RAISIN BREAD ROLLS

makes 12 medium size rolls

you need a baking tray lined with grease-proof paper

adapted from Leila Lindholm

ingredients:

35 g butter

300 ml milk

70 g molasses

1 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon bread-spice-mix

50 g fresh yeast

100 g raisins

180 g wheat flour

240 g rye flour

instructions:

Put the butter, milk, molasses, salt and bread-spice-mix in a pan and heat until hand-warm and the butter is melted. Crumble in the yeast and stir until the yeast is dissolved.

Put the flour in a large bowl and add the yeast-mix. Knead until you get a soft dough. (The dough is very sticky so it'd be good to use an electric mixer.)

Put a kitchen towel over the bowl and let the dough rest for about 30 minutes.

Divide into 12 portions, make little balls and put them on the baking tray. Dust some rye flour over the rolls and cover them with the kitchen towel. Leave for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 225°C (425°F or Gas mark 7). Put the rolls (without the towel) in the oven and bake for about 10 minutes.

bee sting cake

2010-02-26T09:30:00.000-08:00

Since yeast is my new favourite ingredient, I decided to bake a bee sting cake. Bee sting cake is a typical German cake and dates back to 1474. It has a crunchy almond-sugar crust and a lemony vanilla pudding filling and it is absolutely YUMMY! :)

I've actually never made bee sting cake before because I always associated it with food poisoning. When I was little I read in a magazine about a woman who got food poisoning from a bee sting cake because the filling contained raw eggs. For whatever reason (well, I AM a little oversensitive over everything that has to do with bacteria and even carry a small bottle of disinfectant in my purse) that story got stuck in my head. But the other day I saw someone on TV making a similar cake and decided to give it a go. WITHOUT the raw eggs, for obvious reasons ;) ...and it turned out fantastic...really, really good. You should really give it a try. But beware, it's a whole lot of cake and it takes a while to prepare it but it's totally worth the effort :)

BEE STING CAKE

makes 16 rather large pieces

adapted from basic baking

ingredients dough:

150 ml hand-warm milk
500 g flour (all-purpose or light spelt)
100 g caster sugar
a pinch of salt
42 g fresh yeast
170 g butter

ingredients topping:

80 g butter
100 g caster sugar
100 g cream
200 g sliced almonds

ingredients filling:

500 ml vanilla pudding
2 teaspoons lemon zest
250 ml cream

instructions:

Put the flour, sugar and salt in a large bowl. Melt the butter. In a seperate bowl crumble the yeast in the milk and stir until dissolved. Leave to activate for about 15 minutes, the add to the flour mix. Add the melted butter and knead for 5 -10 minutes. The dough should be smooth and throw bubbles.
Put a kitchen towel over the bowl and let the dough rise for about an hour.

In the meantime put the sugar, butter and cream for the topping a pan and bring to the boil. Add the almonds and let cook for 5 minutes.

Prepare a baking tray and line it with greaseproof paper. Roll out the dough to the size of to the size of the baking tray and let it rise for another 15 minutes. Preheat oven to 200°C (400°F or Gas mark 6).

Spread the almond mix on top of the dough and bake for about 20 minutes. Let the cake cool for about 10 minutes, then divide into quarters.

When the cake is cooled completely, cut across each quarter and put the tops aside.

If you make the vanilla pudding from scratch, make sure it's completely cooled before preparing the filling. Add the lemon zest to the prepared pudding, whip the cream and fold in carefully.

Spread the filling over the four bottom quarters, the divide the four tops into quarters again and put on the according bottoms. This will make it easier to cut up the cake. Cool before serving.

cinnamon & cardamom buns

2010-02-20T00:58:00.000-08:00

I have to admit, I'm a total sucker for cinnamon buns. I love the combination of a perfect yeast dough with sugar and cinnamon....pure heaven :) Therefore I'm always making most of the bun recipes I come across. The one below is from Tessa Kiros. She's written some of the most beautiful cookbooks ever. My sister gave me "falling cloudberries" for Christmas a few years ago and ever since then this book is one of my favourites. It has great recipes, gorgeous pictures and the layout is so beautiful that it is an absolute treasure. One you keep on browsing through just because it's so lovely! :)

The buns actually take a while to make but they're good...like, REALLY good and they look lovely!

CINNAMON & CARDAMOM BUNS

makes about 35 buns

ingredients dough:

250 ml handwarm milk
100 g caster sugar
25 g fresh yeast
1 egg
125 g soft butter
2 tsp. ground cardamom
1 tsp. salt
650 g flour (all purpose or light spelt)

ingredients cinnamon butter:

2 tsp. ground cinnamon
50 g caster sugar
80 g soft butter
1 egg, beaten

1tbsp. sugar for sprinkling

instructions:

Put the milk and sugar in a large bowl. Crumble in the yeast and stir until the yeast is dissolved. Leave for about 15 minutes until the yeast begins to activate. Add the butter, egg, cardamom and salt and stir. Add the flour and mix until you have to use your hands. Knead the dough for about 5-10 minutes until it it's soft and smooth and is starting to make bubbles. Cover with a tea towel and leave for about 2 hours. It should double in size.

Mix the sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl and divide the butter in 4 portions.

Divide the dough in 4 portions and roll out each portion to a rectangle (approximately 30 x 25 cm) and about 3 mm thick. Spread each portion of butter on one of the rectangles and sprinkle each with about 3 teaspoons of the cinnamon sugar. Roll up each one tightly to make a long sausage.

To cut the dough, use a sharp knife and cut them diagonally. The base should be about 5 cm and the top out 2 cm. When cutting them diagonally, make alternating 'V' shapes.

Put the buns with the base down on a baking tray (lined with grease-proof paper), press down on the top of the bun until you're almost through to the baking tray.
Make sure you leave enough space between the buns because they're still gonna rise.

Brush with the beaten egg and sprinkle with the remaining sugar.

Leave the buns for half on hour, preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F, Gas mark 4). Put them in the oven and bake for about 20 minutes. They should be golden brown.

You can keep them in an airtight container for a few days or freeze them.

Oreo truffles

2010-02-14T06:42:00.000-08:00

After having shipped heart-shaped cookies to my family, I made some great Oreo truffles for my boyfriend yesterday. If you like Oreos, you really have to try these. They're are chocolaty but not too sweet and very easy to make!

I found the recipe on bakerella and adapted it slightly...

OREO TRUFFLES

makes about 23 truffles (diameter 3 cm)

ingredients:

16 Oreos

100 g cream-cheese

1 teaspoon vanilla sugar

200 g white chocolate coating, melted

Finely grind the cookies (including the white center) and put them in a bowl. Add the sugar and the cream-cheese and mix well. With wet fingers (otherwise they're gonna stick) make 23 truffles and put them on plate. Put in the fridge for about 2 hours.

Melt the chocolate coating and dip each truffle in it. Put them on grease-proof paper and let them dry in a cool place for about an hour.

You can now decorate them any way you like. Should you like to use sprinkles, use them before letting the chocolate harden.

Happy Valentine's Day, everyone!

Valentine's Day Cookies

2010-02-10T03:25:00.000-08:00

Isn't Valentine's Day a great opportunity to bake a lot of (heart-shaped) goodies...I already started preparing some cookies last night to send off to my family. They turned out real nice and looked quite adorable :)

VALENTINE'S DAY COOKIES

adapted from Deborah Gray

makes 18 big cookies

ingredients:

70 g soft butter
120 g granulated brown sugar
1 egg
200 g flour (all-purpose or light spelt)
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. baking powder
1 bag mini smarties

In a bowl cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg and mix until well incorporated. Using your hands, add the flour, cinnamon and baking powder and knead until everything is well incorporated. Put in the fridge for about an hour.

Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F or Gas mark 4) and line a baking tray with greaseproof paper. Roll out the dough on a floured surface approximately 5 millimeters thick. Cut out big hearts and transfer to a baking tray. Put the smarties on the cookies following the outline of the cookies to make hearts, applying a little pressure to make the smarties stick on the cookie.
Bake for about 12-15 minutes until golden brown.

caramel pie with walnuts

2010-02-06T09:03:00.000-08:00

Been busy the last few days therefore no posts last week. So here's last week's "cake of the week"...adapted from Leila Lindholm.
It's a gorgeous caramel pie that's not hard to make at all. Some people are afraid of making caramel but this recipe is really easy and basically foolproof :)

CARAMEL PIE WITH WALNUTS

for a 28-cm pie-dish

For the pie crust use your favourite crust, bake it and leave it to cool.

For the caramel:

500 ml cream
240 g sugar
40 g light brown sugar

200g + 2 tbsp honey
1 tbsp cacao powder

50 g butter
200 g shelled walnuts

Put the cream, sugar, honey and cacao powder in a pot a bring to the boil. Let it cook for approximately 60 minutes. Remove from the heat, add the butter and stir until well incorporated. Pour into the prepared pie crust and sprinkle with the walnuts.
Put in the refrigerator to cool.
Take the cake out of the refrigerator about an hour before serving. It's way easier to cut at room temperature.

chocolate-chili-muffins

2010-01-21T06:53:00.000-08:00

Since the chocolate muffins for my hummingbird project turned out great I thought I'd give them a nice, spicy twist and surprise my boyfriend with some "customized" muffins. He's totally into everything chili & spicy, especially the chocolate-chili combo, so I'm sure he's gonna love these little darlings as well :)

CHOCOLATE-CHILI-MUFFINS

adapted from "the hummingbird bakery cookbook"

makes 12 muffins

ingredients:

2 medium eggs
200 g sugar
130 g flour (all-purpose or light spelt)
50 g cacao powder
a pinch of salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon ground chili
160 ml milk with 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
160 g butter, melted
120 g dark chili chocolate, finely chopped

Preheat the oven to 170°C (300°F or Gas mark 2). Line a 12-hole cupcake tray with paper cases.

Put the eggs and sugar in a bowl and beat for about 3-5 minutes until the mixture is very pale. Sift the flour, baking powder, cacao powder and salt in a separate bowl and add the ground chili. Add the flour-mixture little by little to the eggs, together with the milk and vanilla extract. Don't forget to scrape the unmixed ingredients from the side of the bowl.
With a wooden spoon stir in the melted butter and add the chopped chocolate.

Spoon the mixture in the prepared paper cases and bake for approximately 30 minutes. A cake tester inserted in the centre of a muffin should come out clean. Let them cool in the tray for about 10 minutes, then transfer them to a wire cooling rack to cool completely.

apple pie

2010-01-19T07:38:00.000-08:00

I just finished this apple pie. It is part of my hummingbird project and since it smells so delicious, I thought I'd share the recipe. It's from the hummingbird bakery cookbook and I adapted it slightly.

The pie crust had a very odd texture and started to break when I tried to lift it so next time I'll try the one I usually use. I posted the recipe anyway, you some of you still want to try the original one!

APPLE PIE

for a 24-cm pie dish, greased or lined with greaseproof paper

for the pie crust:

520 g flour (all purpose or light spelt)
230 g butter
1/2 teaspoon salt
5-6 tablespoons cold water

Put the flour, butter and salt in a bowl and knead or mix until you get a sandy consistency. Add the cold water and knead until everything is well combined. Wrap in clingfilm and let the dough rest for about an hour (not in the fridge!).

for the filling:

5 huge Granny Smith apples, pealed and cored
150 g butter
3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
100 g caster sugar
100 g brown sugar
juice and zest of one lemon

1 egg, mixed with 1 tablespoon milk
2 tablespoons brown sugar

Preheat the oven to 170°C (300°F or Gas mark 2).
Slice the apples and mix with the lemon juice. Put the butter and cinnamon in a very big (!) saucepan and heat. When the butter is melted, add the apples and lemon zest and stir. Then add the caster and brown sugar and stir again until all the apples are well coated.
Cook the apples until they're soft (approximately 5 mins) and let them cool.

Roll out half of the dough, line the prepared pie dish with it and fill with the cooled apples. Brush the edge of the pie crust with the-egg wash. Roll out the second half of the dough and cover the pie dish. Press the edges together and trim them with a knife. Brush the whole pie with the egg wash and sprinkle with the remaining brown sugar.
Make 4 slits in the lid of the pie and bake for about 30-40 minutes.

mother's juicy hazelnut cake

2010-01-15T06:49:00.000-08:00

The weekend is almost here and that's a very good reason to bake a cake. I was looking for a fuss-free recipe because I didn't have much time this afternoon. Last night I came across the following recipe and decided to give it a try. The cake takes less than 10 minutes to prepare and the recipe is really simple and easy to make. Good, eh ;)

MOTHER'S JUICY HAZELNUT CAKE

adapted from Leila Lindholm

for a 23-cm/9-inch ring mold, bottom greased

2 medium eggs
200 g powdered sugar
100 g hazelnuts, finely ground
75 g flour (all-purpose or light spelt)
1 teaspoon baking powder
75 ml milk

for the chocolate glaze:

100 g dark chocolate
70 g butter
(I used a ready-made white/dark-chocolate mix)

Preheat oven to 150°C (300°F or Gas mark 2). Put the eggs and the sugar in a medium bowl and whisk for about 5 minutes until light and fluffy. Add the baking powder, flour and hazelnuts together with the milk and nix until well incorporated.
Pour the mixture in the prepared cake tin and bake for approximately 30 minutes. An inserted cake skewer should come out clean.
Let the cake cool.

Melt the chocolate and butter in a heat-proof bowl over simmering water. Stir until smooth and pour over the cake.

lactose & fructose free muffins

2010-01-14T05:01:00.000-08:00

I suffer from lactose, fructose and histamine intolerance so as you can imagine, no cakes for me. Unexpectedly, I can handle that rather well (the no-sugar policy, that is. The rest is a completely different story.) although every once in a while I get a ravenous appetite for cake :) And yay, I found a recipe that even I can eat ;) I adapted it and the outcome were these lovely muffins.

LACTOSE & FRUCTOSE FREE MUFFINS

adapted from the book "Fruktosearm genießen"

makes 12 muffins

125 g margarine (or lactose free butter)

150 g dextrose

a pinch of salt

2 eggs

250 g flour (all-purpose or light spelt)

120 mL sparkling water

6 drops rum extract (best follow the instructions on your extract because they seem to vary a lot)

8 grams baking powder

Preheat oven to 170°C or 325°F.

Mix the butter and dextrose until light and creamy. Add the salt, rum extract and eggs. Fold in the flour and baking powder together with the sparkling water.

Put paper cases in a 12-hole cupcake tray, spoon the mixture in the paper cases and bake for approximately 30 minutes. The muffins should be golden brown.

NOTE: You can substitute the rum extract with vanilla extract, lemon or orange zest!