Category: Cakes/Cookies

Madeleines take 1

Published on by Hanna1 Comment

Before I moved to England I had never encountered madeleines, despite being on holiday in France, but since I moved here I enjoy them quite often. Of course I would like to make my own instead of buying them, that is much more satisfactory, so I have begun the quest of the perfect madeleines.

This first recipe I tried, is from a Swedish TV chef called Leila, and it is pretty good. The cakes are very tasty and moist but taste eggier than I think madeleines should, and less buttery. It could also do with a stronger vanilla flavour and I used less lemon zest than the recipe and I think that worked well.

So, pretty good but not perfect. The quest continues…

Madeleines, 12

75 g softened butter
75 ml granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla sugar
1 lemon, the zest
2 eggs
150 ml plain flour
1 tsp baking powder

Whip butter, sugars and lemon zest with an electric whisk until creamy. Pour in the eggs and stir.  Mix flour and baking powder and fold it into the batter. Grease the madeleine moulds and divide the batter. Bake in 175 degree oven for 10 minutes in the middle of the oven.

Peanut butter cookies

Published on by Hanna3 Comments

I’ve been longing to make peanut butter cookies for quite a while, and finally yesterday I had the whole day at home and I was baking away. I found this recipe on a Swedish blog called Söta saker (Sweet things) and they are really tasty. Brittle and with a deep peanut flavour.

Peanut butter cookies, 25 or so

275 ml plain flour

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp baking powder

100 ml granulated sugar

100 ml brown sugar

100 g softened butter

100 ml smooth peanutbutter

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla sugar

Mix sugars, butter, vanilla and peanut butter. Whisk in the egg. Mix the flour with baking powder and salt and add it to the batter, stir. Roll small balls of the mixture, put on a baking tray covered with baking parchment, flatten the balls slightly with a fork. Bake in 190-200 degrees for 8-10 minutes.

Lemon mousse roll

Published on by Hanna2 Comments

For my birthday my mother made this yummy cake! She makes it quite often as it is such a crowd pleaser and you can make it far in advance. I don’t know where the recipe originates from but it is cut out of a magazine a long time ago.

Lemon mousse roll, 12+ portions

For the cake:

4 eggs

200 ml granulated sugar

100 ml potato flour

1 1/4 tsp baking powder

For the mousse:

4 eggs

125 ml granulated sugar

1 1/4 lemons, juice from

3/4 lemon, peel from

8 gelatine sheets

400 ml whipping cream

Whisk egg and sugar together for the cake, when it is white and fluffy, pour in the potato flour and the baking powder mixed together. Line a large baking tray with edges with baking paper. Bake in 250 degrees for about 5 mins (200 degrees might be enough for a fan oven). Turn it onto a baking paper sprinkled with sugar and remove the paper that was in the oven. Leave to cool.

Separate the eggwhites and yolks for the mousse. Whip up the yolks with the sugar until light and fluffy, mix in the lemon juice and peel. Wet the gelatine in water, squeeze to remove excess water and melt it into 50 ml hot water over low heat. Pour it gently into the sugar mixture little by little while whisking. Whip the whites until hard foam and turn it gently into the sugar mixture. Whip the cream until firm and turn it gently into the mixture. Let it set a little. Spread the mousse onto the sponge, let it set a little in the fridge before rolling it up from the shorter side. Wrap in parchment paper and then put it in a large freezing bag and freeze it until you need it. Defrost it slightly before serving it, so that the sponge has defrosted but the mousse is still frozen in the middle. (If deep frozen defrost it for an hour before serving it). Pipe whipped cream on top and place berries on top and around it for decoration. We emptied passion fruits over the cream and had grapes on the side, but it works with any fruit or berries.

Gooseberry crumble

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I made this crumble the other day nad even though I’m not a huge fan of crumbles, I must say I liked this one. However, if making a crumble with gooseberry for example that melts in the oven, you need more crumble than I had, so I have changed the recipe and added more flour and sugar to make it less moist. It was still lovely but a bit too juicy.

Gooseberry crumble, 4 portions

400 g gooseberries, rinsed and ends removed

3 tbsp granulated sugar

200 ml plain flour

200 ml granulated sugar

200 ml ground almonds

100-150 g butter, at room temperature

Put the berries in a quiche dish, pour over 3 tbsp sugar. The make the crumble by mixing butter, almonds, flour and sugar. Pour over the berries. Bake in 175C for 20-30 minutes, until nice and golden. Serve with vanilla icecream or custard.

Quinoa crunch

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This is a slightly healthier cookie as it doesn’t contain wheat, quinoa also has a low GI (glycemic index). I was inspired by this recipe to make these.

Quinoa crunch, about 20 squares

50 grams butter

50 ml golden syryp

1/2 tsp vanilla sugar

150 ml quinoa puffs

Melt the butter, add the syrup and sugar and let it dissolve. Mix with the quinoa and spread out on a baking paper with a spatula. Form to one big thin oval cookie, make sure there are no holes in it. Bake in 175 centigrade oven for 12 minutes, leave to cool. When cool, cut into squares or break it up. Serve in an airtight container.

These can be enjoyed as any other cookie, or as a healthier option when the sugar cravings set in. Also suitable for people with celiac disease.

Tosca cake

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In Sweden we have an amazing book for baking called Sju sorters kakor, and I dare to say that nearly all households own a copy. My mother had to buy a new one a couple of years back as the other one was falling apart after using it so much. You can buy the English version of the book, Swedish cakes and cookies, here. This recipe is from that incredible book.

Tosca cake

Cake:

100 grams butter

2 eggs

200 ml plain flour

1 tsp baking powder

50 ml milk or cream

Topping:

100 grams butter

100 ml granulated sugar

2 tbsp plain flour

2 tbsp milk

100 grams chopped almonds

Butter a springform and cover the butter with breadcrumbs. Melt the butter for the cake and let it cool. Whisk egg and sugar fluffy and add the flour and baking powder mixed togeter, the butter and the liquid. Pour into the springform and bake for 20-25 minutes in 175 centigrade oven, at the bottom of the oven.

Meanwhile make the topping. Put all the ingredients in a pan, heat it up while stirring carefully until everything has blended together and thickened. Put the mixture on the cake and move it up to the middle of the oven. Bake for another 15 minutes or until it is golden and crispy.

Serve on its own or with whipped cream or custard. Or just with berries, like we did.

Brownie cupcakes

Published on by Hanna2 Comments

This is not really a brownie recipe, but I don’t know how else to describe them. They are moist, a bit gooey in the middle but crisp on the outside. Best way to find out is to make a batch!

Originally this recipe is for a springform, make sure to butter the tin and dust it with breadcrumbs or flour so the cake won’t stick to the tin. In Sweden we call this Kladdkaka.

Pimm's and brownie cupcakes with whipped cream. Only one word for that: yum!

20 Brownie cupcakes or one kladdkaka

300 ml granulated sugar

150 ml plain flour

4,5 tbsp cocao

1 tsp vanilla sugar

a pinch of salt

2 eggs

150 grams melted butter

Mix all the dry ingredients together, pour in the eggs and the butter and stir. Pour into cake cases. Bake in 200 centigrade oven for about 15 minutes. When cool, pipe some whipped cream on top and decorate with silver balls and strawberries. These keep for days (without the cream on top) in a plastic bag or cake tin.