Blood Orange Upside-Down Cake

Blood Orange Upside-Down Cake

I found blood oranges, when I went shopping today. I was on point in getting ingredients for a good and healthy dinner, and then I came across the blood oranges. And I'm sure they screamed "buy me" and "lets bake a cake" at me. So what is a girl to do?

For the longest time I have been wanting to make an almond blood orange cake, so today was the day.

Makes one 9-inch cake.

Ingredients:

Oranges:

• 3 small blood oranges, sliced thinly
• 100 g sugar
• 120 ml water

Cake:

• 200 g butter, room temperature, salted
• 200 g sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
• 200 g almond flour
• 50 g all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 100 g creme fraiche or sour cream

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 325℉ (160℃). Line a 9-inch springform with parchment paper, and set aside.

Slice the oranges thinly with a sharp knife or on a mandolin. Heat water and sugar in a saucepan. When the sugar is dissolved place the orange slices in the syrup, and let them simmer for about 10-15 minutes until the peels get semi translucent. Remove the slices with a slotted spoon. Boil the syrup and reduce it to half. Let it cool.

Pour half the syrup in the prepared springform, and brush the parchment paper sides with the syrup. Place the orange slices in the springform, arranging them in a decorative manner. Set aside. Reserve the rest of the syrup to brush over the cake once baked.

Cake:

Cream the butter with the sugar until light and fluffy. Mix in one egg at a time. Stir in vanilla, flour, baking powder and creme fraiche, mix until just combined. Gently spoon the cake batter into the springform, trying not to break up the placement of the orange slices. 

Bake the cake for about 1 hour, until a cake tester comes out clean. 

Let the cake cool in the springform for 10 minutes. Carefully turn the cake out onto a cake stand. Gently remove the parchment paper. Brush the cake with the remainder of the syrup.

Serve the cake with a dollop of cream fraiche or whipped cream.

Enjoy!

Marieboller - Fastelavnsboller

Marieboller or marie buns is a fastelavn bun filled with vanilla custard. Fastelavn buns can come in many shapes and sizes. Some are baked with remounce and custard, some are filled with a a cream custard like this marie bun.

Fastelavn is a similar tradition as the American Halloween if you add some kind of piñata in the form of  barrel.  Children get dressed up, and go a kinda trick and treating in the early afternoon. You can read more about the Danish fastelavns traditions here.

Ingredients:

Vanilla custard:

• 3 egg yolks

• 2 tablespoons sugar

• 1 tablespoon cornstarch

• 2,5 dl milk

• 1 teaspoon vanilla paste

• heavy whipping cream, whippe

Pastry (piecrust): 

• 150 g cold butter, salted

• 250 g all-purpose flour

• 75 g confectionary sugar (powdered sugar)

• 1 egg

Cream puff (choux dough):

• 300 ml water

• 150 g butter, salted

• 175 g all-purpose flour

• 1 pinch salt

• 1 pinch baking powder

• 4 eggs

Sprinkles:

• confectionary sugar (powdered sugar)

Directions:

Vanilla custard:

Beat the egg yolks and sugar until pale in color. Whisk in the cornstarch and vanilla paste.

Heat the milk to a slow boil, set aside. 

While whisking vigorously drizzle the warm milk into the egg yolk mixture, just a tiny bit at a time at first. Once you’ve added about ¼ of the milk, you can add the rest in a thin steady stream, whisking constantly.

Pour the mixture back in the saucepan and reheat it over medium heat. Whisk constantly until it starts to boil and is thickened. Remove from heat and pour into a bowl.  Sprinkle with sugar or press some plastic wrap against the custard so it won't form a pudding skin. Chill the custard completely in the refrigerator.

When the custard is cold, whip the heavy whipping cream. Fold the whipped cream in the custard a little at a time till you get the desired taste and texture. 

Pastry (piecrust): 

Mix the butter in the flour and sugar in a stand mixer. Add the egg and mix just until the dough starts to lump together. Form the dough into a disc and wrap it in plastic wrap, and let it rest for about 30 minutes in the refrigerator.

Divide the dough in two, and roll each in a rectangle 8¼ x 11 inch (21x28 cm). Cut the rectangles into 12 squares each.

Cream puff (choux dough):

Preheat the oven to 400℉ (200℃). Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.

Put water and butter in a medium saucepan and bring it to a boil over medium heat. In a bowl sift flour, baking powder and salt. When the butter is all melted add all the flour at once, and stir the mixture with a wooden spoon. Lower the heat and keep stirring until a dough is formed and it pulls away from the sides of the pan and is slightly shiny. 

Keep beating the dough with the wooden spoon until slightly cooled, about 2 minutes.  

Beat all the eggs in a bowl. Add a little of the beaten eggs, incorporating it thoroughly before adding more. Add the egg in small amounts until you have a thick paste but not runny at all.

Scoop the 24 dough ball onto 2 parchment paper lined baking sheet. If you have small tips on the puffs anyway, dab the tops of each puff with a fingertip dipped in water to smoothen the tops.

Brush the cream puffs with some egg whites, and place one of the pastry squares on top, pressing the corners onto the parchment paper. 

Bake the puffs for 18-20 minutes, until they are puffed up and golden brown.

DO NOT open the oven while baking cream puffs, it will cause them to deflate.

Let the puffs cool on a wire rack.

Cut the buns in half and fill it with prepared vanilla custard. Sprinkle with confectionary sugar and serve with a nice cup of coffee or tea. 

Enjoy!

Kaffebrød - Coffee Bread

Kaffebrød - Coffee Bread

Kaffebrød or coffee bread might be a forgotten cake. It might not get as mush recognition as a lot of other Danish cakes. But I really like them. The crispy bread with a sweet slightly chewy topping, is really good with a cup of tea or coffee. 

Makes 12-15.

Ingredients:

Bread:

• 25 g live yeast (2 teaspoons dry active yeast)
• 250 ml milk
• 500 g all-purpose flour
• 50 g butter, salted
• 50 g sugar 
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon cardamom 
• 1 egg

Topping:

• 300 g marzipan
• 300 g sugar
• 3 egg whites 
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour 
• ½ teaspoon baking powder 
• 1 teaspoon vanilla paste 

Directions:

Bread:

Heat the milk till a little more than finger warm. Let the butter melt in the warm milk.

Mix the sugar with the yeast, the mixture turns liquid. If using dry yeast, dissolve it in the milk.

Add all the ingredients to the bowl of a stand mixer. Knead the dough for about 7 minutes. 

Let the dough rise for about 40 minutes. Divide the dough in two, and roll each part Into a large flat bread using a rolling pin. Let the breads rise on a parchment lined baking sheet for about 20 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 400℉ (200℃).

Bake he bread for 15-18 minutes, until golden brown.

Let the breads cool before slicing in 1-inch (2.5 cm) thick slices. Place the slices cut-side up on a baking sheet. Toast the slices for 5-7 minutes until light golden brown. 

Topping:

Mix marzipan, sugar, vanilla and egg whites in a stand mixer till you have a soft paste. Mix in flour and baking powder. Now you should have a thick paste, that won't run off the bread slices. Put the paste into a piping bag, and cut off so you have a large hole, so you just need one fat line of topping to cover the bread slices. Pipe one line on top of the toasted bread slices. Bake the slices for another 10-15 minutes until golden brown.

Let the coffee bread cool before serving.

Enjoy!

Honey Hearts - Honningkagehjerter

Honey Hearts - Honningkagehjerter

December 5th. Second day of Christmas.

Honningkagehjerter or honey hearts, are a classic December or christmas treat. As a child I got at least one of these in my advent calendar during the month of December. Honey hearts are kinda like a gingerbread cookie, but more spongy. The chocolate adds some creaminess and sweetness. A honey heart is the taste of Christmas.

In Denmark it is the tradition to put a glossy picture of a Santa or an angel on the heart, which adds to the Christmas cheer.

You have to start up the pre-dough a little early, but the result is scrumptious, and well worth the effort. but if you want to take a shortcut make this Honey Cake instead, it's not the same thing, but a bit similar.

Makes 16-18 hearts.

Ingredients:

Pre-dough:

• 450 g honey

• 450 g all-purpose flour

Cake-dough:

• 900 g pre-dough, shredded

• 2 egg yolks

• 10 g potaske (Potassium carbonate (K₂CO₃))

• 5 g ground cinnamon

• 5 g ground ginger

• 2½ g ground ground cloves

• 2½ g ground allspice

• 1 tablespoon orange zest, grated

• 1 tablespoon water

Topping:

200 g good dark chocolate, tempered

glossy pictures or icing and sprinkles

Directions:

Pre-dough:

Pour honey in a small cooking saucepan and heat to 104-122℉ (40-50℃). Pour the warm honey into the flour and knead it until you have a smooth mixture. I did that in my stand mixer. Place the mixture in an airtight container, and place it in a cool dry place for about 4-6 weeks. The pre-dough will turn very hard. 

Cake-dough: 

Preheat the oven to 350℉ (180℃). Line 3-4 bakings sheets with parchment paper, sprayed with baking spray and lightly floured. Set aside.

Mix the egg yolks with the potaske and set aside. Shred the hard pre-dough into you bowl for the stand mixer. Mix in the egg yolks, spices and zest. Start with your mixer on low for about 3 minutes. Then increase the speed to high and keep mixing for another 3 minutes. You end up with a smooth but somewhat sticky dough. If your dough seems to dry add a little water. 

Scrape the dough out on a work surface sprinkled with good layer of flour. Sprinkle more flour on top of dough and roll dough out to about ⅕-inch (5 mm) thickness. Make sure to keep flouring your dough, so the dough doesn't stick. Using a heart-shaped cookie cutter, cut out hearts placing them on the prepared baking sheets, spacing them with about 2-inches. Keep rolling the dough and cutting out hearts until all the dough is used up.

Bake hearts for 8-10 minutes. The hearts will be done when the cookie spring back when you gently press a finger in the center of the cookies. You don't want the cookies to deflate. 

Let the hearts cool completely on a wire rack. The hearts will be crispy at this point. So to soften them up store the cookies in the refrigerator in an airtight container, with a damp towel for 3-4 days. (Place the towel, so it won't touch the hearts.) As is the hearts will keep for weeks in the refrigerator.

When ready to eat, cover the hearts with tempered chocolate. Place a glossy picture centered on the heart. Or decorate with icing and sprinkles.

Enjoy!

Gingerbread Loaf

Gingerbread Loaf

Today is the first Sunday in Advent - only 3 Sundays more until Christmas.

Gingerbread anything tells you christmas is coming. If you missed the pumpkin-train with everything pumpkin leading up to the gingerbread and peppermint in everything, the christmas or December celebrations are here. 

I do really love this time of year. The lights, the decorating, the cookie baking, It makes me happy. Well, somewhat stressful but happy.

Starbucks and most other coffeeshops sell these lovely gingerbread loafs during this season, and they taste so good with a warm cup of coffee. So I kick off my christmas/December celebration with my version of the coffeeshops Gingerbread loaf, a flavorful dark cake with a sweet but tangy frosting on top. 

Makes 1 (9-inch) loaf.

Ingredients:

• 75 g brown sugar

• 113 g (1 stick) butter, salted and room temperature

• 2 eggs

• 2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste

• 120 ml molasses (mørk sirup)

• 225 g all-purpose flour

• 1 teaspoon baking soda

• 2 teaspoons ground ginger

• ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg

• ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

• ¼ teaspoon ground allspice

• 1 pinch ground cloves

• 120 ml (½ cup) buttermilk

Frosting:

• 225 g cream cheese

• 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste

• ½ teaspoon orange juice

• 225 g confectionary sugar (powder sugar)

Sprinkle:

• Candied ginger

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350℉ (180℃). Grease a 9-inch loaf pan, and set aside.

Mix together the dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, allspice, cloves and nutmeg) in a medium bowl, set aside.

Cream the butter with the brown sugar, until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well between the addition. Mix in the vanilla and molasses. Fold in alternately dry ingredients and milk. 

Pour the batter into the prepared pan, and bake it in the oven for about 45 minutes until a cake tester comes out clean.

Let the cake cool in the pan. When cooled, mix the frosting, and frost the cake. Decorate the cake with candied ginger and serve it with a good cup of coffee.

Enjoy!