Christmas Chocolate Madeleines

It's almost Christmas time! Now you can bake loads of stuff but I like to keep it easy. Madeleines are slowly making their way back in to the home baking scene. They are really easy and always good. They originate from France and so is my recipe. Good luck and I wish you a very merry Christmas!  

Ingredients for 40 small madeleines:

- 200 grams of caster sugar

- 2 tsp of vanillasugar or 1 tsp vanilla essence 

- 4 eggs

- 250 grams of self-raising flour

- 2 tsp of full fat milk

- 125 grams of melted butter

- 100 grams of dark chocolate 

- powdered sugar to decorate (optional)

Method:

1. In order to make madeleines you'll need a baking tray for madeleines like the one in the picture.

2. Preheat your over up to 190 degrees. 

3. Mix the sugar, the vanilla en the eggs.

4. Sift the self-raising flour and mix it into the sugar and the eggs. If you have a kitchen aid or another machine it's quite simple to do it like this:

5. Melt the butter and mix it together with the milk in to the batter. Your batter should look like the picture below.

6. Chop the chocolate in to small pieces and mix in in to your batter by hand! You want the consistency of the chocolate chunks. 

7. Grease in your baking tray and fill them up to 3/4 with the batter. Place them in the oven for about 10 minutes until they are golden brown. Watch them closely because they bake really quickly! 

The perfect madeleine has a lump on the top. They say you can get the lump by opening your oven door swiftly when the sides of the madeleines are baked but when the centre is still soft. 

Let them cool down completely 

8. You can remove the madeleines by taking a sharp knife and to gently peel them of the baking tray.

9. Decorate the madeleines with a small amount of powdered sugar. Add some Christmas details for the full seasonal effect :)

Good luck and a very merry Christmas!

Student Apple Cake

Sadly it's getting colder...

But that means it's time for warm apple cakes and pies!

Here is my version of an easy cake with some liquor. 

It's for all ages because the alcohol will disappear during the baking and only the taste will remain, but you can always decide not to add alcohol.

Ingredients for one cake:

- 5 up to 7 small apples (sour!)

- 160 grams of butter

- 100 grams of sugar + 75 grams to cover the apples

- 2 tsp of vanilla sugar

- 3 eggs

- 200 grams of self-raising flour

- 3 tbsp of milk

- 3 tbsp of Apfelkorn

- 1/2 tbsp of cinnamon

- powdered sugar

Method:

1. Grease your baking tin and cover it with baking paper. Place the ring back on the tin and cut off the excess paper.

2. The apples will be wet so add some bread-crumbs!

3. Cut the apples in to small pieces. Mix up the 75 grams of sugar and the tablespoon of cinnamon. You can add more sugar if necessary. Mix the apples in the cinnamon and sugar and set them aside.

4. Mix the butter, the sugar and the vanilla sugar until it's soft. Add the eggs.

 

5. Add the self-raising flour. Your batter should be sticky and look like the picture below.

6. Cover up your baking tin with the batter, also the sides! Preheat your oven up to 150 degrees.

7. Add the Apfelkorn to the apples. Mix them shortly. Place the apples in the cake.

8. You can add some raisins or sugar candy.

9. Place the cake in the oven and bake for about 30 minutes. The nice thing is that the batter on the sides will melt over the apples. So all the gaps will be filled! Let the cake cool down completely. It's ok for the apples at the top to look dried. They will taste good!

10. Decorate your cake with some powdered sugar and you are finished!

Good luck!

Summer Chocolate Fruit Cake

Summertime! This lovely chocolate cake is fudge. It has a nice bite because of the melted chocolate and it is topped with a soft buttercream and berries!

Ingredients:

- a box of strawberries

- a box of blueberries

- a box of raspberries

- a box of blackberries

- 75 grams of dark chocolate

- 3 dl water

- 90 grams cocoa powder

- 250 grams self-raising flour

- 500 grams sugar

- a pinch of salt

- 10 grams vanilla sugar

- 3,5 dl buttermilk

- 130 grams sunflower oil

- 3 eggs

- 250 grams powdered sugar

- 175 ml milk

- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Method:

1. Boil the 3 dl of water. Solve the cocoa powder in it. Use good cocoa powder.

2. Keep on stirring until you see a chocolate paste. 

3. Mix in a bowl the self-raising flour, the sugar and the pinch of salt. When this is a good mixed powder, add the vanilla sugar, the buttermilk, the oil and the eggs.

4. Add the chocolate paste in to the batter.

5. Let the batter rest for an hour.

6. Preheat the oven up to 180 degrees. Bake the cake for an hour and let it cool.

7. Melt the dark chocolate au bien marie and cover the cool cake with it. Wait until the chocolate has solidified. 

8. Mix the powdered sugar, the milk and the vanilla into a moist paste. Cover the cake with the buttercream icing. It doesn't have to be neat. Just apply it, it will give your cake a way better look then when it's looking pretty.

9. Start by adding the blueberries and slowly fill up your cake.

Rainbow cupcakes

1. Pipe 2 rows of stars on your cupcake.

2. Place the candy between these 2 rows.

3. Pipe another row of stars.

4. Fold the candy into this third row.

5. Pipe one more row of stars to hide the third row.

Good luck!

American Pancakes

Ingredients:

- 3 eggs

- 125 grams self-raising flower (don't use regular flour!)

- 150 ml milk

- 1 teaspoon cinnamon

- 25 grams sugar

- butter

Method:

1. Split the eggs and whisk the 3 egg whites until they look like the picture below. Put them aside.

2. Mix the egg yolks, the milk, the cinnamon, the sugar and the self-raising flour.

3. Gently mix the egg whites into the egg yolk mixture. Your batter should be airy.

4. Melt some butter in a pan and bake small pancakes until they are golden brown like the picture below.

5. You want to see your pancake rise like the one below.

6. Don't bake your pancakes in a very hot pan! It will give you brown pancakes when the inside is still batter!

Serve the cupcakes with fruit or maple syrup.

Good luck!

Easy mascarpone frosting

Ingredients for the frosting of 10 cupcakes:
- 150 grams mascarpone
- 1 tbsp powdered sugar
- 1 vanilla bean

Method:

1. Mix the mascarpone with the powdered sugar. Check if you like the taste!

2. Take all the seeds from the vanilla bean and mix this with the mascarpone.

3. Now you can decorate your cupcakes or fill your cake!

Good luck!

Mothers Day Cake

Ingredients for the cake:
- 250 grams butter
- 250 grams sugar
- 250 grams self-raising flour
- 4 eggs
- 1 dash of milk
- 1 dash of vanilla extract
- 1 heart shaped cutter (the size should be smaller than your cake!)
- red or pink food coloring

Ingredients for the frosting and decoration:
- 125 grams powdered sugar
- 40 grams butter
- 40 ml milk
- 2/3 drops vanilla extract
- Heart shaped decoration
- chocolate sprinkles
- pink sanding sugar

Method:

1. Preheat your oven up to a 150 degrees and grease a baking tin.
Mix the eggs, the milk, the vanilla extract and the sugar. Add the flour and the butter.

2. Take about 6 tablespoons of the batter and color it pink or red. Put the colored batter into a baking tin and bake the cake for about 40 minutes and wait until the cake is completely cooled!

3. Cut your cake into slices and cut out the hearts with your heart shaped cookie cutter. The slice should be as thick as your cookie cutter. Crumble the remaining cake and set aside.

4. Take your baking tin again and grease it. Cover up the bottom with the white batter. Place the pink hearts on the batter. Make sure that they connect. Cover up the cake with the white batter and bake the cake for about 50 minutes. Let the cake cool completely.

5. Lets start with the frosting. Mix the powdered sugar with the butter and add the milk. Add the vanilla extract to the frosting. Take your pink or red cake crumbles and decorate the cake with it.

6. Add the rest of your decoration such as heart shaped sweets, chocolate sprinkles or pink sanding sugar.

Good luck and enjoy your Mothers Day!