Florentines with Vanilla Buttercream

Florentines with Vanilla Buttercream

Dansk udgave

This crispy caramel and nut cookie is a classic in most of Europe. They are really tasty and fairly sweet.

They are really easy to make, and you don’t have to be a baker to make them. The most difficult will be making the buttercream. The cookies will look really fancy, with little to no work. You can use most kind of nuts, and even add some candied cherries if you like.

Makes 9 

Ingredients:

Nuts:

• 50 g sliced almonds

• 50 g chopped hazelnuts

• 25 g pistachios

Caramel:

• 100 g butter, salted

• 100 g sugar

• 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

• 2 tablespoons whipping cream

• 1 tablespoon thick syrup

Vanilla buttercream:

• 2 tablespoons pasteurized egg whites

• 100 g confectionary sugar

• 150 g butter, salted and room temperature

• ½ teaspoon vanilla paste

Directions:

Preheat the oven for 350℉ (175℃).

Mix the ingredients for the caramel in a small saucepan. Gently heat the mixture until the butter and sugar are melted. Mix in the nuts, and remove from heat.

Scoop about a teaspoon of the mixture into 2 nonstick muffin pans. 

Bake the cookies for about 10-12 minutes until golden brown. Let the cookies cool for about 10 minutes in the pan. Gently remove the cookies from the pan. I used a knife to get them out. Let the cookies cool completely.

Buttercream:

Mix all the ingredients in a bowl, and whip the buttercream until thick and fluffy over a double boiler. I used a saucepan with very hot water, and placed my bowl on top of that. I didn't have it on the stove. It takes some time to get the buttercream nice and fluffy.

Pipe the buttercream on the bottom of half the cookies, top with the rest of the cookie, bottom side down, pressing lightly to adhere.

Serve with a nice cup of tea or coffee.

Enjoy!

The Danish version:

Florentinere

Ingredienser:

Nødder:

• 50 g mandelflager

• 50 g hasselnøddeflager

• 25 g hakkede rå pistacienødder

Karamel:

• 100 g saltet smør

• 100 g sukker

• 1 spsk hvedemel

• 2 spsk fløde

• 1 spsk mørk sirup

Vanillesmørcreme:

• 2 spsk pasteuriserede æggehvider

• 100 g flormelis

• 150 g smør, saltet og stuetemperatur

• ½ tsk vanille pasta eller kornene fra ¼ vanillestang

Fremgangsmåde:

Opvarm ovnen til 175℃.

Bland alle ingredienserne til karamellen i en lille gryde. Varm blandingen op indtil smør og sukker er smeltet. Bland nødderne i, og tag gryden af varmen.

Kom ca. en teskefuld af blandingen op i slip-let muffinforme, så det lige dækker bunden.

Bag kagerne i 10-12 minutter, indtil de er let gyldne. Køl kagerne af i 5-10 minutter inden de tages ud af formene. Lad kagerne køle helt af på en bagerist.

Smørcreme:

Bland alle ingredienserne i en skål og pisk smørcremen over vandbad, indtil den er let og luftig. Jeg satte skålen ovenpå en gryde med næsten kogende vand, uden at have varme under gryden, og jeg piskede med en en håndmikser.

Sprøjt smørcremen på undersiden af halvdelen af kagerne. Den anden halvdel lægges ovenpå dem med fyld, med bunden nedad.

Server kagerne med en god kop the eller kaffe.

Velbekomme!

Deep Fried Camembert

Deep Fried Camembert

I don't know the story about this dish. It might be French, but nevertheless it is very decadent and rich.

Picnic.

My parents have made deep fried camembert for me and my brother a few times. Oddly enough my brother loved it, even though he hates cheese. Well, he likes warm cheese on pizza, lasagne and in deep fried camembert. He is very weird, if you ask me...

My trip to Tomales Bay brought me to Marin French Cheese, where they made camembert, and to my surprise, they made a petit version, perfect for deep frying. We bought a bunch of small cheeses to bring with us home.

By the end of the day we opted for at small picnic by our hotel, instead of going out for dinner. I had brought some of my homemade bread and it paired perfect with the cheeses. There is nothing better than a quiet picnic with your loved one at sunset.

Serves 4.

Ingredients:

• 2-4 small camembert, with the rind on (I used petit camembert  from Marin French Cheese)
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup breadcrumbs, fresh, panko or regular
• oil, for frying
• 4 slices good bread, toasted
• blackcurrant jam 

Directions:

Put the breadcrumbs in a shallow bowl. Crack the eggs into another shallow bowl and whisk them together.

Dip each camembert into the egg, making sure to get it covered all over. Coat the cheeses with the breadcrumbs. Repeat with the rest of the camembert.

Heat the oil in a heavy bottomed saucepan until hot.

Gently drop two of the cheeses and fry until golden brown, turning once. Place the cheeses onto a piece of kitchen towel to remove excess oil.

Serve immediately on a slice of toasted bread with blackcurrant jam.

Enjoy!

Mazarin Cake

Mazarin Cake

Dansk Udgave

Mazarin cake is a classic Danish cake made with a pie crust, almond filling and dark chocolate on top. It first appeared in a cookbook in 1888, the time period (the 1800's) where the upperclass in Copenhagen started to go to patisseries. The Danish Patisseries was greatly influenced by German and Austrian ones. The cakes were named after royalty or historic figures, mostly French sounding names. This cake was named after The Italian cardinal Mazarin.

Even though Mazarin cake started off as a fancy cake, my first encounter with the cake was as a cheap store bought cake. A cake that you find in most supermarkets, kiosks and gas stations. The kind of cake you only buy, when you had no other options.

As I got older, working at a bakers shop, I got a new appreciation for the mazarin cake.  The Mazarin cake had a flaky pie crust, the filling tasted more like marzipan and the decoration was thoughtful and pretty. Suddenly the Mazarin cake was elevated to a delicious treat worth sinking you teeth into.

To this day I still love this cake, but I rarely make it, because my version calls for a lot of marzipan. Marzipan is an ingredient I love, but also one that I am very picky about. My favorite marzipan for eating raw is the one made by the Danish company “Summerbird," - btw they also make the best chocolate ever!  The marzipan I use for baking is "ren rå" (pure raw) from "Odense." 

The Mazarin cake can easily be made in advance, a couple of days even, but the fresher the cake, the crispier the crust will be. The original cake was decorated with dark chocolate and candied petals from violets, but I dressed it up a notch with fresh berries. 

I played a little with the crust. I have been looking for a crispy, flaky pie crust, but I haven't been completely satisfied with the ones I have tried previously. 

But this one is close to perfection. Crispy, flaky, buttery with some texture to it. Next time I want to make my strawberry tart, I'll use this crust. I know that it works perfectly when baking it with the cake-part in it. 

Makes two 8 inch cakes.

Ingredients:

Crust:

• 100 g almonds, grounded to flour
• 200 g all-purpose flour
• 150 g butter, cold and cut into small cubes
• 100 g confectionary sugar
• 1 egg
• ½ teaspoon vanilla paste

Filling:

• 300 g marzipan (almond pate)
• 200 g sugar
• 150 g butter
• 4 eggs

Topping:

• 100 g dark chokolate, use a good one like Valrhona
• 40 g blød nougat, optional (you can use 1 tablespoon  non-flavored vegetable oil in stead) 
• fresh brerries

Directions:

Crust:

Ground the almonds to a flour in a food processor. Add flour and sugar and mix it well. Add butter, egg and vanilla paste, and pulse until it almost come together as a  dough. Form the dough into two disks and refrigerate for a about 2 hours. The dough is more sticky than a normal pie crust.

Roll out each dough disks between 2 sheets of parchment paper. You need to have a bigger piece of dough than the pie pan you are using. Put the rolled dough into the freezer for a minimum of 30 minutes, to make the butter freeze up. This will prevent the crust from shrinking while baking.

Preheat the oven to 360℉ (180℃).

Take the dough out when you are ready with the filling. Let the dough settle a few minutes on the counter before putting it in the pan. Carefully place the dough into the pan, make sure to get it into the corners. Cut off any excess dough. Do not stretch the dough, this will course shrinking.

Filling:

Mix the marzipan with sugar and butter until fully incorporated. Mix in one egg at a time. Fill the crusts half up with the marzipan filling. Smooth the filling out for an even baking.

Bake the cakes for about 30 minutes, until the cakes are golden brown. 

Let the cakes cool in the pans on a wire rack.

Topping:

Melt the chocolate (and blød nougst) and pour a thin layer on top of the cooled cake. Decorate with fresh berries and serve it with a nice cup or tea or coffee

Enjoy!

The danish version:

Mazarintærte

Ingredienser:

Tærtebund:

• 100 g mandler, malet til mel (i en foodprocessor)
• 200 g hvedemel
• 150 g smør, koldt og skåret i små tern
• 100 g flormelis
• 1 æg
• ½ tsk vanilla pasta eller kornene fra ½ vanilliestang

Mazarinmasse:

• 300 g marcipan (ren rå)
• 200 g sukker
• 150 g smør
• 4 æg

Topping:

• 100 g god mørk chokolade (jeg brugte Valrhona)
• 40 g blød nougat
• friske bær

Fremgangsmåde:

Tærtebund:

Kom mandlerne i en foodprocessor og mal dem til mel. Bland mel og sukker i. Tilsæt smør og vanille og pulse (kør foodprocessoren i få sekunder ad gangen) indtil dejen kun lige samler sig. Form dejen til to flade cirkler (hvis du laver runde tærter), pak dem ind i plastik film, og lad dem køle i ca. 2 timer. Dejen er mere klistret end en almindelig mørdej.

Rul dejen ud mellem to stykker bagepapir, lidt større end tærteformen du vil bruge. Læg den nu udrullede dej i fryseren i mindst 30 minutter, dette vil hindre at tærtebunden krymper, når den bages.

Opvarm ovnen til 180℃.

Tag dejen ud, når du har lavet mazarinmassen. Lad dejen hvile på køkkenbordet i få minutter, så den bliver lettere at få ned i formen. Læg dejen i tærteformen, og sørg for den kommer helt ud i hjørnerne, men pas på at du ikke strækker dejen, da det gør at tærtebunden trækker sig sammen ved bagningen.

Mazarinmasse:

Bland marcipan med sukker og smør intil du har en homogen masse. Bland eet æg i ad gangen, og sørg for det er helt blandet sammen, inden du tilsætter det næste. Fyld mazarinmassen i tærteformene. De skal fyldes ca halvt op. Glat massen ud med en paletkniv, så du får en fin glat overflade.

Bag kagen i ca 30 minutter indtil kagen er flot og mørk gylden. Køl kagen helt af før den pyntes.

Topping:

Smelt chokolade og nougat og kom et tyndt lag på kagen. Dekorer med friske bær.

Velbekomme!

Brunsviger cake

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Brunsviger

Happy 1 year Sweet•Sour•Savory

It has been a year already, it went by so fast. Looking back, I felt very exposed when I posted my very first post, like all eyes in the world would be on me. The fear dissipated, when reality set in. Nobody knew I was here, I had to work on getting people to find my blog.

I am very grateful to all the people that stops by, I'm really happy that you like my blog, and I hope you get inspiration for cooking and baking. I try to keep to my Danish roots in my cooking style, while learning and trying a lot of different cuisines.

Thank you for stopping by on my 1 year anniversary with Sweet•Sour•Savory

- o -

This cake is a traditional cake known from the island of Funen, or Fyn. I was once told that people from Funen eat this cake on top of a morning roll with butter - whereas the rest of the country eat this cake as a pastry or as a regular cake. 

During my lifetime, I've seen many different takes on the Brunsviger. Some think it's a cinnamon cake, some cakes lack filling and taste. This cake is all about the filling, otherwise it's just some brioche bread.

This recipe is not the old original from way back when. It's adapted from the different recipes I made through the years. A friend of mine told me that the secret to the best brunsviger is to add syrup to the filling. And I have to agree with her. This is by far the best brunsviger I have had in my life. 

Ingredients:

Dough: 

• 500 g all-purose flour
• 200 g butter (salted and room temperature)
• 50 g live yeast (or 4 teaspoons dry Yeast)
• 2 dl non-fat milk
• 2 eggs
• 50 g sugar
• a pinch of salt

Filling: 

• 200 g butter (salted)
• 450 g dark brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons thick syrup

Directions: 

Dough:

Heat the milk till finger warm and combine it with the yeast and half of the sugar. Let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes. 

In the meantime mix the flour and butter in a stand mixer, until the butter is fully mixed in. Add the sugar, milk/yeast mixture, salt and eggs to the flour. Mix until the dough is shiny and not to sticky. Add a little more flour if its necessary.

Place the dough in a buttered springform, I would use a bigger pan next time. The brunsviger came out to high for my taste. Let dough rise for 20 - 25 minutes. 

The dough

Ready for the oven.

Poke your fingers into the dough, to make holes for the filling to rest in. Make sure to make a lot of holes.

Filling:

Melt the butter in a saucepan add ⅔ of the brown sugar and the syrup, mix it well. Spread the filling over the dough, carefully not to get in between the dough and the pan. Sprinkle the rest of the brown sugar over the cake. 

Bake the cake for 20-25 minutes at 400°F.

Let the cake cool in the pan. 

Notes:

The brunsviger can be made in advance. It freezes well after adding the filling. Defrost in the counter and let it rise before baking.

If you like more filling make 1½ time the amount, for a more sticky cake.

 

Peach Galette with Liquorice Whipped Cream

Peach Galette

We finally got some peaches from our three. The squirrels have been eating all the peaches for the last 5 years. But for the first year the humans are victorious! Well, to be honest we shared the peaches, we got about 20 small peaches, the squirrels got the rest.

I wanted to make a peach pie, but didn't have enough, so I had to scale down. So I had to try to make the more rustic peach galette. And Oh Boy, it was good. I'm definitely going to make this again.

Ingredients:

Crust:

Makes enough for two large galettes

• 375 g (4 cups) sifted all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten
• 120 ml (½ cup) ice cold water
• 340 g cold salted butter, cut into small pieces
• ⅓ cup sliced almonds + extra sugar for sprinkling
• egg wash (1 egg + a few drops of water, beaten together)

Filling:

• 4 large peaches, sliced into slices
• 1½ tablespoons cornstarch
• 1 ½ tablespoons sugar
• 30 g marzipan
• ½ teaspoon vanilla paste
• fresh mint for garnish

Liquorice whipped cream:

• 250 ml heavy whipping cream
• 2 tablespoons fine raw liquorice powder

Directions:

Crust:

Add the flour, sugar and salt to a food processor and pulse just until combined. Add the cold butter pieces into the food processor and pulse until small coarse crumbs remain. Whisk mix  egg and water together. Drizzle the water/egg mixture over the flour and pulse again until the dough just comes together.

Divide the dough in two and wrap the dough disks separately in plastic wrap. Refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes. 

If you only make on galette, the dough will keep for about 5-7 days in the refrigerator, or you can freeze it.

After 30 minutes, preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Filling:

Add the sliced peaches to a bowl. Sprinkle the peaches with cornstarch, sugar and vanilla paste, and toss it all together and let the filling sit for about 10 minutes.

Remove one of the crusts from the fridge.

Roll one of the pie crusts into a ¼ inch thick disk. It's not important to shape the disk perfectly, you want it to look kinda rustic.

Place the dough on a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Spread the grated marzipan in the center, leaving a 2-inch+ border of crust. Layer the peaches on top and fold border of the crust over the peaches. Brush the crust with egg wash, and sprinkle the slivered almonds and some sugar on the crust, and press it into the crust. Bake the galette until the crust and almonds are golden, about 40 to 45 minutes. 

Liquorice whipped cream:

Whip the heavy whipping cream until soft peaks. Fold in the liquorice powder.

Sprinkle with fresh mint leaves on the galette before serving. Serve the galette with liquorice whipped cream or a small scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Peach Galette with Liquorice Whipped Cream

Enjoy!