Napoleonshatte - Napoleon Hats

Napoleonshatte - Napoleon Hats

Napoleon hats are a stable in the Danish Baker's Shops. The cake is made from shortcrust pastry with a filling of kransekage dough, then dipped in a good dark chocolate. Napoleon hats are one of the cakes I have to have when I'm visiting Denmark. They are really delicious, and to be honest, this homemade version with real marzipan is so much better than the ones you can buy at most baker's shops. 

The cake is named after the (funny) hat of the French General and Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte.  

Makes 16.

Ingredients:

Pastry:

• 300 g all-purpose flour

• 150 g butter, salted and room temperature

• 100 g confectionary sugar

• 1 egg

Filling:

• 250 g almond paste (I used ren rå marzipan from Odense)

• 100 g sugar

• 1 egg white

Dipped in:

250 g dark chocolate, tempered

Directions:

Pastry:

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.

On a floured surface roll the dough to about 1/10-inch (3mm) thickness. Cut out rounds about 3⅕-inch (8 cm) in diameter.

Preheat the oven to 400℉ (200℃).

Filling:

In the making

Beat the egg white with the sugar until combined, mix in the marzipan a little at a time. Divide the mixture into 16 balls. 

Place a ball unto the center of each pastry round. Fold three flaps of the circle up, pressing it into the marzipan ball, so it sticks. Use three finger to make it even. 

Bake the cakes for 8-10 minutes until golden brown. Let the cakes cool completely. Place the cooled cakes in the refrigerator until you are ready with the tempered chocolate.

Dip the bottom of the cake in tempered dark chocolate, scrape excess chocolate off the cake. Set the cake on its side with the chocolate pointing up, until the chocolate has set.

Serve the napoleon hats with a nice cup of tea or coffee.

Enjoy!

Just dipped in chocolate

Tivoli Cake

Tivoli Cake

The Tivoli cake is an old classic cake made the first time by Pastry chef Gert Sørensen for a gastronomical fair in 1923 at Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen Denmark.   

I have been wanting to make Tivoli cakes for a long time, but I have never found the right time before this week. I buckled under peer pressure ❤️ from a Facebook group for Danish women in the US. The Great Baking Show (Den store bagedyst) made a viewer competition, "who can make the best looking Tivoli cake?" And of cause I had to try.

Makes 10-12 cakes.

Ingredients:

Pastry:

• 300 g all-purpose flour
• 150 g butter, salted and room temperature
• 100 g confectionary sugar
• 1 egg

Jelly: 

• 6 tablespoons Red currant jelly (I used Smucker's)
• red food coloring (I use wilton red paste color)

Apple Sauce:

• 1 large apple, use an apple that are good for cooking: Granny Smith, Pippin, Gravenstein, Mcintosh, Jonathan, Jonagold, or Golden Delicious
• 40-50 g sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla paste
• 100 ml water
• lemon juice, to taste

Meringue:

• 125 g egg whites (from about 4 large eggs)
• 350 g confectionary sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla paste

Rum custard:

• 1 sheet gelatin (1 teaspoon non-flavored gelatin)
• 30 g confectionary sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla paste
• 60 g egg yolks (about 3-4)
• 50 ml dark rum
• 200 ml heavy whipping cream

Filling: 

• 400 ml heavy whipping cream

Directions:

Pastry:

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.

Preheat the oven to 360℉ (180℃)

On a floured surface roll the dough to about 1/10-inch (3mm) thickness. Cut out round about 2¾-inch (7 cm) in diameter. Grease 10-12 2-inch (5 cm) small pans. Place the pastry in the pans, making small pastry shells/cups. Bake the shells for about 10 minutes until the shells are golden brown. Let the shells cool completely.

Jelly: 

Mix the ingredients, and heat it over a bowl of very hot water (just after it has boiled). Now the jelly is melting somewhat, but with some lumps. Run the jelly through a sift, to get rid of the lumps. Let the jelly set in a small bowl in the refrigerator. Put the jelly in a pastry bag with a small round tip.

Apple Sauce:

Peel, core and dice the apple. Bring all the ingredients to a boil in a small saucepan, and let it simmer, under lid, for about 10 minutes until the apple is soft, and forms an apple sauce. Season the sauce with lemon juice. (If you use a sweet apple, you might not need all the sugar.)

Meringue: 

In the bowl for the stand mixer, beat egg whites until stiff peaks. Add the sugar gradually, a couple tablespoons at a time, while still beating the egg whites. Keep beating the egg whites/meringue until it becomes thick and glossy. 

Using a pastry bag with a large (18 mm) round tip, pipe large round dots, ⅔-inch (2 cm) high and 2⅓-inch (6 cm) wide.

Let the meringue dots dry for about 30 minutes before baking, this will prevent the meringue from cracking.

Preheat the oven to 255℉ (125℃).

Bake the meringues for about 25 minutes, you don't want the meringue to get any color. Let the meringues cool completely before handling.

Rum custard:

Let the gelatin bloom in cold water for about 30 minutes. (If using powder, follow the instructions on the package). 

Whisk egg yolks thick and pale with sugar and vanilla.

Whip the heavy whipping cream to soft peaks.  

Squeeze any excess water from the gelatin and melt it in the rum over a double boiler. (I just put boiling water in a large pot, and place a stainless steel bowl on top, with the gelatin and rum.) You want the rum/gelatin mixture to heat to 122℉ (50℃).

Pour the rum into the egg mixture while whisking. Whisk half of the whipped cream into the egg mixture, and gently fold in the rest of the whipped cream.

Dip the top of the cooled meringue dots in the rum custard, place them on a baking sheet and let the custard set on the meringue in the refrigerator.

Building the cake:

Pipe a spiral on the dipped meringue, with the jelly.

Whip the cream to relatively stiff peaks, Be careful not to over-beat it, it will turn into butter. Transfer the whipped cream into a pastry bag with a large round tip (18 mm). 

Fill each pastry shell with about a tablespoon apple sauce. Pipe a large sphere/dollop of whipped cream on top of the applesauce, you want to cover the apple sauce and get some height to the cake. Place the meringue on top. 

Serve the cake as dessert or with a good cup of tea or coffee.

Enjoy!

The recipe is from Danish Televisions Den Store Bagedyst. 

Skagen Kakaosnitter - Cocoa Bites from Skagen

Skagen Kakaosnitter - Cocoa Bites from Skagen

These cocoa bites or bars, is a classic cake you will find at many baker's shops in Denmark. But they are really pretty easy to make, and the taste is so much better. I made these with the traditional raspberry jam, but I think a more tangy jam will work even better, with the sweet cake. 

The finished bars can be frozen, or will hold up for 3-5 days in an airtight container.

Makes 12-15 bars.

Ingredients:

Crust:

• 300 g all-purpose flour
• 150 g butter
• 125 g sugar
• 2 eggs
• ½ teaspoon vanilla paste

Layer:

• 3-5 tablespoons raspberry jam

Topping:

• 100 g melted butter
• 300 g sugar
• 4 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa
• 200 g shredded unsweetened coconut
• 3 eggs 
• ½ teaspoon vanilla paste
• 1 teaspoon espresso or strong coffee

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 435℉ (225℃). Line a 9x13-inch pan with parchment paper. You can use a larger pan, this will just make the cocoa bites thinner.

Crust:

Mix all the ingredients for the crust to a dough, form the dough to a flat square, wrap it in plastic wrap and let it rest in the refrigerator for 10 minutes. Roll the dough out to the size of your pan, and transfer in into the pan. Bake the crust for 5-10 minutes until light golden. Let the crust cool in the pan.

Topping:

Mix the topping while baking the crust. 

Spread a thin layer of jam on the cooled crust, and pour the topping on top, and spread it in a even layer, all the way to the edges. 

Bake the cake for another 15-20 minutes.

Slice the cake into small bars, with a sharp knife. 

Enjoy!

Rutebiler - Chocolate Meringues

Rutebiler - Chocolate Meringues

Rutebiler is a very light and airy cookie, kinda like a chocolate meringue, but rutebiler has a rising agent, and in my version you use whole eggs. Rutebiler are small crispy chocolate rectangles, with a hollow center. They will melt in your mouth with a sweet chocolaty taste, making you want another one.

We had rutebiler at birthdays, as light cookies. Well, my mom had a bad experience with meringues and rutebiler at birthday parties. At one of my brothers birthdays the boys had a big food fight with meringues, and I remember my mom cursing a lot while cleaning up the sticky mess from carpet and furniture in the living room. That was the end of meringues at birthday parties in my family. 

Makes about 100. 

Ingredients:

• 750 g confectionary sugar (powder sugar)
• 2 eggs
• 2½ tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1¼ teaspoon Ammonium bicarbonate (baker's ammonia)

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350℉ (175℃).

Line baking sheets with baking paper.

Crown cookie press attachment

Sift the dry ingredients together, and mix them in the eggs. The batter will be kinda thick paste, a little on the dry side.  Run the dough through a cookie press or meat grinder with cookie attachment, that looks like a crown. Each cake should be about 5 cm (2-inches) long, place them about 2-inches apart, because the cookies will expand. Bake the cakes in the center of the oven for 6-8 minutes. These cookies are light and airy, with a hollow center.

Keep the cookies in an airtight container.

Enjoy!

Romkugler - Danish Rum Balls

Romkugler - Danish Rum Balls

This is an all-time classic Danish cake. It is actually made from leftover cake, and has been a cheap cake at most baker shops. Now I do not believe that rum balls are cheap cheap anymore, most baker shops make these from cakes baked solely to be used in the rum balls.

My version is made with good chocolate, marzipan and almonds to elevate the classic rum balls. You can use real rum, when making these, but you get more flavor by using an extract.

Makes about 50 small balls.

Ingredients:

• 500 g leftover cake, chocolate cake, brownies and pound cakes will work
• 50 g marzipan, grated
• 50 g sliced almonds, toasted on a dry skillet till fragrant
• 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder, I use Valrhona
• 75 g melted dark chocolate, I use Valrhona 
• 1-2 tablespoons raspberry jam
• 4 teaspoons Rum Extract

Coating:

• 300 g dark chocolate, I use Valrhona 
• chocolate sprinkles

Directions:

Mix all the ingredients in a stand mixer using the paddle attachment until you have a soft dough. Roll the dough into small balls, and let them cool for about 30 minutes before coating.

Temper the chocolate, and set up a station for coating. Put the sprinkles in a medium bowl. Place a piece of parchment paper on the counter for the coated rum balls.

Coat the balls with chocolate, and roll them in the sprinkles right away. 

Enjoy!

You can also roll the dough into a log, cover it with marzipan, cut into small logs and dip the ends in tempered chocolate. Now you have Træstammer or truffle logs.