Category: Cakes/Cookies

Chocolate cupcakes with LOVELY vanilla frosting

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I have, for a while now, been wanting to try a frosting recipe I found at The Pioneerwoman cooks. The post was called: That’s the best frosting I’ve ever had, and that was enough to make me curious.

The frosting was absolutely lovely, but not that far from the Hummingbird Bakery version I normally make. It is buttery, but a bit less sweet than the HB one. In fact, it wasn’t the taste that was the best thing with making this frosting. No, it was that you don’t need icing sugar. Not using icing sugar means that my kitchen wasn’t covered in it when I had finished baking, and that made me very happy.

The frosting is actually very nice, and a girl at worked thought it was the best one she’d ever had. It is completely different to other frostings though it contains a roux. Try it, at least for the novelty.

You should’t eat frosting on it’s own (although you can), so I decided to try another Pioneerwoman recipe, that stretched to 12 cupcakes and one small round cake. The cake is very moist, thanks to the buttermilk, even a few days after it is made, but id didn’t taste enough of chocolate to be called chocolate cake in my opinion.

Chocolate cupcakes/cake, makes 12 +  a small round cake (ø 15 cm)

475 ml plain flour

475 ml caster sugar

1 pinch salt

4 tbsp cocoa

225 g butter

235 ml boiling water

120 ml buttermilk

1 tsp bicarb

1 tsp vanilla

Mix flour, sugar and salt in a bowl. Melt the butter in a sauce pan. Add the cocoa and the boiling water. Let it boil for 30 seconds, then turn off the heat. Mix with the flour mixture.

Lightly beat the eggs and mix with buttermilk, bicarb and vanilla. Incorporate into the cocoa mixture. Pour into cake cases and bake in 175 C for 20 minutes. Leave to cool completely.

Vanilla frosting, for12 cupcakes and one cake

5 tbsp plain flour

235 ml milk

1 tsp vanilla

235 g butter

235 ml caster sugar

Pour milk and flour into a saucepan, heat up and stir until the mixture is very thick. Add the vanilla. Leave to cool completely until moving on to the next step.

Cream sugar and butter. Add the roux and beat thoroughly to prevent lumps until it mixture has the consistency of heavy whipped cream. Decorate your cakes.

Spongecake with meringue, dulche de leche and honey comb

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I’ve had the fridge full with egg whites, as I mentioned before, and I wanted to use them up rather than throwing them away and decided to bake a cake for work. This would be a bit much for Christopher and myself to share…

The cake starts with a regular sponge as the base, which is covered with meringue, then a layer of dulche de leche, a layer of lightly whipped cream and honeycomb, and then the same again

Dulche de leche is easy to make, all you need is a can of condensed milk. Put it in a pan and cover it with boiling water, let it boil on medium heat for 2 hours. Top up with boiling water as the water disappears. Leave to cool, open the can and inside you have the loveliest toffee. If you cook the can for less time it will be paler and more runny, if you cook it for more than 2 hours it will be darker and thicker. I think the 2 hours one is perfect, but it is quite thick, so slightly runnier would make it easier to assemble the cake but it would taste less toffeey.

The cake was gorgeous (if I may say so myself) and the colleagues described it as decadent. It is definitely a cake I will make many times over.

Spongecake with meringue, dulche de leche and honey comb, 10 pieces

Sponge:

175 g self-raising flour

1 tsp baking powder

3 eggs

175 g caster sugar

175 g very soft butter

1 tsk vanilla

Sift the flour into a bowl. Add the other ingredients and beat it all together with an electric whisk. Divide between two rounf springforms covered in baking parchment.

Meringue:

5 egg whites

250 ml caster sugar

400 ml rice krispies

Beat the egg whites foamy. Add half the sugar and beat until stiff peaks. Add the rest of the sugar and continue beating until you can turn the bowl upside down without anything falling out. Fold the rice krispies into the meringue. Divide between the two springforms and spread it out onto the unbaked sponge. Bake in 150C for 35-40 mins. Leave to cool completely.

Filling:

1 can (397 g) dulche de leche

300 ml lightly whipped cream

honeycomb

Place one cake on a plate. Spread/place dollops of the dulche de leche on top. Spread half the cream on top. Sprinkle with honeycomb. Place the other cake on top and repeat the procedure. Serve straight away. 

Chocolate chip meringues with nuts

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As a food blogger I prefer to look for inspiration with other bloggers than the big recipe sites. Partly because the blogs are updated more frequently, but also because the blogs are more personal. It is like asking a friend for a recipe. If you know that a certain blog write about things you like, you know it is very probable that you will like the next post as well.

A blog I really treasure and that I would happily cook everything from, is Smitten Kitchen. Although Deb usually uses someone else’s recipes I like her selection of recipes because it is what I like too.

A few days ago I tried her mom’s recipe for meringues with chocolate and nuts because I have several beakers of eggwhites in the fridge. The meringues were not too sweet, and the dark chocolate and nuts contributed to that fact. Nice and crisp they disappeared quickly when I brought them to work the next day.

Chocolate chip meringues with nuts, makes 20

The original recipe is posted here at Smitten Kitchen. If you prefer European measurements you find them below.

2 egg whites, at room temperature
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp cream of tartar – I used baking powder though
1 tsp vanilla
175 ml caster sugar
175 g dark chocolate, chips or chopped
60 ml chopped nuts

Beat the egg whites foamy. Add the cream of tartar/baking powder, salt and vanilla. Beat until soft peaks occur. Add the sugar bit by bit and contnue to beat on high speed.  When stiff and glossy fold in the nuts and chocolate. Use a tablespoon to spoon the mixture on to baking parchment. Bake for 25 minutes in 150C. I baked two trays at the same time, swapping place after half the time. The meringues are done when they are slightly golden and crispy on the outside. Check that they are dry and crisp underneath and they are done. Store in an airtight container.  

Lemon curd squares

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For our Midsummer lunch, I made a strawberry gateau with lemon curd cream, which was really nice when we left the house. An hour and a half later when we got to our friend’s house it was rather melted (because of a heat wave and being in the underground), and therefore didn’t look its best, so I will give you the recipe and pictures next time I make it.

I ended up with some left over lemon curd after making the cake though, and as I try to avoid throwing food away, I wanted to use it up. The result was these chewy squares with lemon curd and crispy oats on top.

I brought some with me to work, and they disappeared fast, and I kept a few for dessert the next day and served them up in the simplest way possible; with a dollop of lightly whipped cream. Delicious!

Lemon curd, about 500 ml

100 g butter

2 eggs

200 ml caster sugar

1 1/2 lemon

Grate the peel and squeeze the juice from the lemons. Place in a saucepan with butter and half of the sugar. Bring to the boil and wait for the sugar to dissolve. Leave to cool.

Beat eggs and the rest of the sugar fluffy and pour it into the saucepan. Let it thicken on low heat while stirring, it must not boil. Leave to cool and keep in the fridge for about a week.

Lemon curd squares, makes 20

450 ml plain flour

150 ml caster sugar

150 g softened butter

1 tbsp baking powder

1 egg

200 ml lemon curd

Topping:

150 ml oats

100 ml caster sugar

1 tsp vanilla sugar

50 g softened butter

Beat sugar and butter creamy. Add egg, flour and baking powder. Spread out in a 20×30 cm baking tray. Spread the lemon curd on top. Mix butter, sugar and oats and sprinkle on top. Bake in 200C for about 15 mins. 

Brunch and Henley Royal Regatta

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In England some happenings are bigger than others. The Ascot’s, Goodwood and Henley Royal Regatta are a few of those, and so far I have only been to Henley.

Last year we had a picnic with friends there, but in the afternoon so many people arrived that we no longer could see the river although we were meters from it.

To avoid such nuisance we bought tickets to the Regatta enclosure, and this is (at least for us) the way forward. When we ventured out of the enclosure to look at the shops etc., it was too many prople everywhere.

Malin and Martin, Jess and Chris and us, started the dat with a brunch at our flat. We had champagne, scrambled eggs, smoked salmon, croissants, mini quiches, blueberry muffins, bread, ham and cheese and things. It was a lovely start to the day and we all enjoyed it. But then again, who does not enjoy champagne?!

To brighten up the train journey out of London we had some more bubbly, then we switched to Pimm’s at the regatta. I love events like these, when you sit by the river, watching fit men row, looking around at all the pretty (and some horrible ones) dresses, Panamas and stripy blazers.

We enjoyed the early evening best though. When the serious people started to leave and the party crowd had not yet arrived. It was quiter and we could sit front row watching the rowing.

When the enclosure closed, we walked over the bridge into the village and had a nice meal. We must have been very lucky, walking in the six of us and managed to get a table!

Back at the train station, it was mayhem. There had been an accident on the tracks and several hundred people were fighting over the few taxis. Jess managed to find us one, and waiting for it we escaped the chaos and had a drink in a pub.

It was a perfect day with nice, but not too warm, weather and I think everyone enjoyed themselves. Thanks guys!

Perfectly creamy scrambled eggs, serves six on a buffet

6-8 eggs

100 ml single cream

knob of butter

salt and pepper after taste

Heat up a teflon frying pan or sauté pan on medium heat. Add the butter. Beat the eggs with cream and season. Pour into the pan and lower the temperature. Stir the whole time with a wooden fork or a spatula, and watch the eggs slowly thicken. Remove from heat when a bit undercooked and keep stirring. Adjust the seasoning and serve.

Mini-quiches with Saint Agure and leek, 12 stycken

80 g softened butter

200 ml plain flour

1/3 beaten egg

100 g Saint Agure in cubes

10 cm leek, sliced

2 + 2/3 eggs (left over form the dough making)

300 ml cream

100 ml grated cheese

Mix butter, eggs and flour to a dough. Line 12 aluminium cases with it. Place blue cheese and leeks in the pastry cases. Sprinkle grated cheese on top. Mix eggs and cream, season with salt and pepper and divide between the cases. Bake in 200C for 20 minutes. Serve cold, luke warm och warm.

Blueberry muffins with almonds and lemon, makes 12

Oroginal Swedish recipe here. I made mine into larger muffins than the recipe suggests.

200 ml blueberries

125 g melted butter

150 g ground almonds

1 tbsp lemon zest

400 ml icing sugar

80 ml plain flour

5 eggwhites (about 160-170 ml)

Mix almonds, zest, icing sugar and flour in a bowl. Add the egg whites and mix. Add the melted butter and mix thoroughly. Place a few berries in each cake case, divide the mixture between the cake cases (fill them to 2/3). Bake in 200 C for about 15-20 minutes.  

Chocolate cupcakes with chocolate frosting

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It has almost become a tradition for me to bake something for the office on a Sunday. I love baking, and feel I have enough time on a Sunday to spend hours in the kitchen, and most people like a little Monday pick-me-up.

Two Sundays ago now I made chocolate cupcakes with chocolate frosting from The Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook, their first cookbook.

I want to learn how to decorate cakes, but one step at the time, this time I piped the frosting and decorated it with glitter or rice-paper roses, all edible, but not sure the roses tasted much.

Chocolate cupcakes, makes 12-14

100 g plain flour

20 g cocao

140 g caster sugar

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

a pinch of salt

40 g softened butter

120 ml whole milk

1 egg

1/4 tsp vanilla extract

Beat butter, cocao, sugar, baking powder and flour in a bowl until sandy. Mix milk, egg and vanilla extract in a bowl/jug and add that to the sandy mixture while whisking. Beat until fully combined. Fill cupcake cases to 2/3 and bake in 175 C for 20-25 mins. Leave to cool on a wire rack.

Chokladfrosting, enough for 14 cupcakes

300 g icing sugar

100 g softened butter

40 g cocao

40 ml whole milk

Beat sugar, cocao and butter in a bowl. Add the milk bit by bit and beat until the frosting is glossy. Pipe onto the completely cool cupcakes. 

Chewy chocolate chip cookies

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I was totally up for baking cookies on Sunday, I just had to decide which recipe to go for. And then I saw Anne’s latest post, clicked on the recipe and realised it was from the blog Smitten Kitchen which I adore (and I have loved every single recipe I have tried from it), so of course I was going to make these chewy chocolate chip cookies.

The cookies were easy to make, and they were exactly they way I had pictured them; chewy in the middle, crisp on the outside, the perfect taste of earthy cookie combines with both sweet and bitter chocolate. That was the only change I made to the recipe, substituting some of the dark chocolate for white. Yum, is all I have to say to that!

Chewy chocolate chip cookies, makes 25

170 g  butter

300 g flour

1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1/2 tsp salt

210 g brown sugar

100 g sugar

1 egg yolk

1 egg

1 tbsp vanilla extract

100 g white chocolate, chopped

70 g dark chocolate, chopped

Melt the butter. Mix flour with bicarb and salt in a bowl. Stir together both sugars with the melted butter. Beat in the egg, the egg yolk and the vanilla extract, until the mixture turns light and fluffy. Stir in the flour mixture, and finally the chocolate.

Scoop cookies onto a lined baking sheet, and leave plenty of space for them to spread out (I baked 6 cookies at the time.) Bake at 165°C for 12 minutes.

Rhubarb cupcakes with cream cheese frosting

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On Sunday it was typical British weather with heavy rain and grey dull skies, so what is a girl to do when she doesn’t want to go out and get wet? She puts on her pinney of course and starts baking and spreading the lovely scent of cupcakes in the flat, and a cloud of dusty icing sugar… I have yet to learn how to make frosting without leaving the kitchen looking like it has snowed in there…

I brought these cupcakes to the office on Monday and they diappeared extremely quick, even the boys loved them and asked for the recipe! The recipe for the cake is from the Swedish blog Mumsfillibaba and the frosting is courtesy of a Swedish TV chef called Leila (but I made 1,5 batches).

Rhubarb cupcakes with cream cheese frosting, makes 18

Cake:

125 g softened butter
200 ml caster sugar
2 eggs
150 ml milk
450 ml plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 rhubarb stem, sliced

Frosting:

90 g softened butter
750 ml icing sugar
(1,5 tsp vanilla sugar)
1,5 tbsp lemon juice (I used rhubarb purée instead)
150 g Philadelphia cheese

Place 2-3 rhubarb pieces in each cupcake case. Beat butter and sugar white and creamy. Add one egg at the time. Mix in the other ingredients and divide between the cake cases. Fill them to 2/3. Bake in 175C for 10-15 minutes. Leave to cool on a wire rack.

Beat butter, icing sugar and liquid creamy with an electric whisk. Add the cream cheese and beat until glossy. Decorate the cupcakes when cooled completely.  

Ambrosia cake

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I sometimes feel that the classic cakes are forgotten among all the cupcakes and macarons nowadays. Don’t get me wrong, I love a good cupcake and adore perfect chewy macarons, but let’s not forget the other great cakes.

This Ambrosia cake is a simple but very moist classic cake (at least in Sweden). I made it for work and it dissappeared very quickly. The combination of sugary icing and bitter citrus peel is a great touch and who ever thought of that was very clever.

This is a simple, classic beauty, perfect to end a dinner party or have with tea when the older generations are stopping by.

The recipe is from Swedish Cakes and Cookies.

Ambrosia cake, serves 8

2 eggs

150 ml caster sugar

150 ml plain flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

125 g melted butter, leave to cool

Icing:

300 ml icing sugar

2-3 tbsp water

mixed peel

Grease a springform and cover with breadcrumbs. Beat eggs and sugar white and fluffy. Add flour, baking powder and butter. Pour into the spring form. Bake in a low oven, 150 C for 25-30 minutes. Let cool completely before icing. Sprinkle the mixed peel on top.

And a little dessert…

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The vegan dessert I had planned was almond biscuits with rose water buttercream wedged in between. But that didn’t happen.

Apparently it is very difficult to make a vegan buttercream that involves rose water. Ifailed. Three times.

So I had to come up with plan B. Said almond biscuits fresh strawberries, perfectly ripe mango and a splosh of rose water on the fruit. Nice too, but not what I had in mind.

Oh well, shit happens sometimes, and the best you can do is to make it work with what you’ve got.

Almond discs with sesame and cadamom, makes 25

100 g ground almonds

3 tbsp sesame seeds

100 ml caster sugar

100 g margarine

2 tbsp plain flour

1 tbsp soy milk

1 tsp ground cardamom

Melt the maragine in a sauce pan, add the other ingredients. Cook for a few minutes while stirring, until you have an even batter. Place dollops of teaspoon size onto a baking sheet, with plenty of space in between. Bake for 6 mins, 175C, leave to cool on a flat surface, then store in an airtight container.