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

Green Goddess Chicken

Green Goddess Chicken

It is well known that if you marinate chicken in buttermilk, you will get the most juicy chicken. I have done that with the chicken nuggets earlier on.  So why not marinate chicken in the green Goddess dressing. 

Serves 4.

Ingredients:

• 200 ml green Goddess dressing

• 4-6 chicken thighs

• olive oil, for roasting

• 1 teaspoon salt

Directions:

Pour the dressing into a ziplock bag with the chicken thighs. Let the chicken marinate in the dressing for at least 6 hours or over night in the refrigerator.

Preheat the oven to 450℉ (235℃).

Remove the chicken from the marinade, shaking off the excess dressing, and place the chicken skin-side up on a rimmed baking sheet. Discard the marinade. Pad the liquid off the chicken skin with paper towel. Drizzle the chicken with olive oil and sprinkle with coarse salt. 

Roast the chicken for 30-45 minutes golden brown and cooked through.

Serve the chicken with a salad and use the dressing as a cold sauce.

Enjoy!

Green Goddess Dressing

Green Goddess Dressing

The delicious green dressing is believed to originate back to 1923 at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco. Where the executive chef Philip Roemer wanted to pay tribute to an actor and his play The Green Goddess.

This dressing is new to me, it must be my Danish hesitance that have made me miss out on this delicious dressing. But from now on I am going use it with my salads from time to time.  

I know this dressing is old school, but the tanginess from the buttermilk and the taste of herbs really pairs well with a green salad.

Ingredients:

• 180 ml (¾ cup) mayonnaise
• 180 ml (¾ cup) buttermilk
• 20 g (4 tablespoons) chopped fresh chives
• 15 g (¼ cup) fresh Italian parsley, chopped
• 3 tablespoons (about 5 g) fresh tarragon leaves, chopped
• 1 glove garlic
• 2 teaspoons anchovy paste
• 1 lemon, the juice from
• salt & pepper

Directions:

Combine all the ingredients in a blender, and blend the dressing until smooth. Season the dressing with salt and pepper. Serve the dressing with a pasta salad or a green salad.

Enjoy!

3-Grain Bread - Trekornsbrød

3-Grain Bread - Trekornsbrød

3-Grain bread is yet another Danish classic bread, from the start of "the health era."  This is still a white bread but with added healthy seeds and grains, (flaxseeds, wheat and rye). I have always liked 3-grain bread. The distinct taste of roasted sesame seeds with the nice baked crisp crust is really nice. And of cause the texture of the seeds and grains, this always makes my mouth happy.

Makes 2 big loafs.

Ingredients:

• 50 g compressed yeast (or 4 tablespoons dry yeast)
• 900 ml water
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 100 ml yoghurt
• 200 g whole wheat flour
• 75 g rolled rye
• 75 g wheat flakes 
• 150 g flax seeds
• 2½ teaspoons salt
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil, I used Bornholmsk rapskimolie (rapeseed oil)
• 1000 g all-purpose flour

Topping:

• egg wash, here a beaten egg
• sesame seeds

Directions:

Crumble the yeast into the water and stir to dissolve. Mix the rest of the ingredients, and knead the dough for 8-10 minutes on a stand mixer. Let the dough rise for 40 minutes, covered with a clean kitchen towel.

Pour the dough onto a lightly floured surface, and knead it lightly to deflate a bit. Divide the dough in 2, and form them into balls creating a taut smooth surface. 

Flip dough ball over so you have the seam on top. Fold the top ⅔ over, pressing the dough to adhere. Repeat a few times to make a log with good surface tension. Roll the log to the size of the baking sheet. Place the log/loaf on a parchment lined baking sheet, seam side down. Repeat with the second loaf. Let the breads rise, covered for another 30-40 minutes. 

Preheat the oven for 450℉ (235℃).

Brush the breads with egg wash, sprinkle with sesame seeds, and score the breads a few times across the bread, to help with the oven spring.

Place the breads in the oven, and just before closing the oven door, splash ¼ cup water in the bottom of the oven, and quickly close the door.

Bake the breads for 40-45 minutes until deep golden brown. 

Let the breads cool before slicing.

Enjoy! 

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.