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!

Cupcake Christmas Tree

Do you need a quick christmas treat? These tiny cupcakes will do!

Ingredients:

- 50 grams self-raising flour

- 50 grams sugar

- 50 grams butter

- 1 egg

- 1/2 tablespoon milk

- a dash of vanilla extract

- cocoa powder

- red food coloring

- green food coloring

- decoration pearls

- bonbonliners

Method:

1. Make a christmas tree out of bonbonliners. This will give you a good idea of how many cupcakes you'll need from which color.
Start with making the cupcake batter by mixing the self-raising flour, the sugar, the butter, the milk, the egg and some vanilla.

2. Take two extra bowls for the coloring.
For the trunk of the tree will need a small amount of batter and the cocoa powder.The more cocoa powder the darker the trunk.
For the baubles you'll need batter for about 10 tiny cupcakes. Mix this with the red food coloring.
The remaining batter will be the tree. Color this green.

3. Bake the cupcakes for 10 minutes. Keep watching! Let them cool and press a pearl in the red cupcakes.
Place the cupcakes in to the correct order.

Happy Holidays!

Quick Chocolate Milk

Ingredients for one mug:

- 1 teaspoon cocoa powder

- 2 teaspoons sugar

- 180 grams milk

(whipped cream or marshmallows)

Method:

1. Mix the cocoa powder with the sugar.

2. Boil the milk and add it to the cocoa powder mixture. Keep on sturring until you have a nice cup of chocolate milk!

3. You can add some whipped cream or marshmallows.

Almond Cookies

Ingredients for 60 small or 30 large cookies:
- 375 grams flour
- 225 grams butter (room temperature)
- 225 grams sugar
- 1 big egg
- 1 teaspoon bakingpowder
- 2 teaspoons almond extract


Method:

1. Mix the flower and the bakingpowder.

 2. Mix the butter and the flour. Add the sugar, the egg and the almond extract to the flour.

3. Knead your dough until it looks like the picture below. Make a big ball and leave it in the fridge for an hour.

4. Dust your counter with some flour and roll out the dough. Cut out the cookies.

5. Preheat the oven up to 170 degrees and place the cookies in the oven. Bake the cookies for 10 minutes. The cookies should never be completely brown! Let the cookies cool.

6. You can make all types of cookies!