21 | 52 Egg on Toast from the oven

This week's post will be short and sweet.

Well, not sweet, actually.

It's another perfect recipe for breakfast or brunch.

It's quick, easy, filling, and most people will like it.

It's not a new invention but I still think it deserves to be here as a week's baking recipe :)

Egg on Toast from the oven

1 slice of toast, American style

2 slices of dry-cured ham

1 egg

cheese, grated

• Preheat oven to 200ºC (390ºF).
• Place toast on baking sheet. 
• Arrange ham on top of it.
• Crack egg open over ham.
• Sprinkle with desired amount of cheese.
• Bake for about 10 minutes.

My modifications:

None because no specific recipe was used.

The taste:

Solidly good. I mean - toast, ham, egg, and cheese - what more can you say.

What's your favorite breakfast bake?

20 | 52 Salmon Asparagus Quiche

It's definitely time for another savory recipe!

And there is (or at least: should be) always time for quiche!

This week's Salmon Asparagus Quiche is very quick and easy.

It's great to impress guests (or just yourself).

And you can make it a day (or two) in advance because it's perfect served cold.

Salmon Asparagus Quiche

Adapted from my mom's Tuna Quiche recipe which she got from a lady about 25 years ago...

For the crust:

150 g (1 1/3 stick) butter, cold

200 ml (3/4 cup) flour

3 tablespoon cold water

For the filling:

250 g (9 oz) salmon filets

200 g (7 oz) heavy cream

200 g (7 oz) cream cheese with herbs or horseradish

2 eggs

200 g (7 oz) green asparagus

salt and pepper

dill, fresh or frozen

• For the crust: knead together all ingredients. Works best using your hands.
• Distribute evenly in quiche or pie baking dish. Also easiest when just using your fingers - no rolling pin needed. Also: no prior greasing of the pan needed because there is so much butter in the crust itself.
• Cool in fridge until filling is ready.
• For the filling, whisk together heavy cream, cream cheese, and eggs. Salt and pepper to taste.
• Cut the raw salmon filets into smaller cubes. If you're using the really thin green asparagus (works best for this recipe), wash the stems and cut into 3 cm/1 in long pieces, and set aside. If you are using the thicker asparagus, peel, cut into 3 cm/1 in long pieces, and cook in boiling water for about 5 minutes. Drain and let cool.
• Take your quiche crust out of the fridge, distribute salmon pieces on it evenly. Top with asparagus pieces. Pour cream-egg mixture over it. Sprinkle with dill (don't be afraid to use a lot).
• Bake at 225ºC (430ºF) for 35 minutes. Serve at room temperature or cold (which I like better). Keeps in the fridge for 3 days.

My modifications:

I made the crust with half white and half whole wheat flour. It was really good and I will definitely make it like this again.

The taste:

I didn't use enough salt but other than that: great! I served it for brunch and it was a hit with my guests (at least they said they really liked it...) :)

What's your favorite quiche recipe?

19 | 52 Lime Cake with Coconut

It's summer!

Well, not really. But the weather sure does suggest it!

And what's not to love about high temperatures. 

(Well, yes, a couple of things. But let's focus on the - literally - bright side, shall we?)

Limes and coconuts. There's few things that scream SUMMER right into your face than these.

So let's bake them into a cake:

Lime Cake with Coconut

From Living at Home

375 g ( 2 3/4 cups) flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

2 teaspoons vanilla (or 2 packets vanilla sugar)

8 tablespoons coconut, shredded

salt

2 limes (zest of 1 lime and juice of 2 limes)

200 g (1 3/4 sticks) butter, room temperature

300 g (1 1/2 cups) sugar

6 eggs

200 ml (3/4 cups plus 2 tablespoons) Batida de Coco (coconut liqueur) or coconut cream

200 g (1 1/2 cups) powdered sugar

shredded coconut, for sprinkling

• Preheat oven to 180ºC (355ºF).
• In a bowl, combine flour, baking powder, shredded coconut and a pinch of salt.
• In a second bowl, beat together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time.
• Add coconut liqueur or cream and beat together.
• Add flour mix, vanilla, and 2 tablespoons of lime juice and beat for another minute. Add lime zest.
• Pour batter into prepared loaf pan (about 30 x 10 cm / 12 x 4 in) and bake on second lowest rack for 50-60 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool and take out of pan.
• Combine powdered sugar with 4-5 tablespoons of lime juice. Glaze cake and sprinkle with shredded coconut.

My modifications:

I used half whole-grain flour and a bit less sugar (250 g instead of 300 g) which both worked very well. I made the non-alcoholic version and put a bit of the coconut cream into the glaze as well.

The taste:

Very good. Very moist and spongy. Could be a bit more limey and coconutty for my taste. But it is very good and summery.

What are your favorite summer flavors combined in a cake?

18 | 52 Strawberry Hazelnut Layer Cake

More strawberries?

Yes, please!

That's exactly why I changed this week's featured recipe to strawberries.

From blackberries. Even though blackberries are pretty awesome, too.

Strawberry Hazelnut Layer Cake

Adapted from Artful Desperado

For the cake:

100 g (3/4 cup) roasted hazelnuts, finely ground after roasting (skins removed)

270 g (2 1/4 cups) flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

210 g (15 tablespoons) soft butter

4 large eggs

40 g (1/3 cup) sugar

80 ml (1/3 cup) maple syrup

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

zest of 1 lemon

For the mascarpone cream:

225g (1 cup) mascarpone cheese, soft

240 ml (1 cup) heavy cream

1 tablespoon powdered sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

And of course:

about 500g (1 pound) fresh strawberries (or other berries of your choice)

• Preheat the oven to 175ºC (350ºF).
• For the cake, beat together butter, sugar, and eggs (don't worry if it looks a bit separated). Add remaining cake ingredients and mix until just combined.
• Pour batter into one (or two) small, greased springform pans (20cm / 8in diameter) and bake for about 25-35 minutes. (If you devided the batter into two pans, it will be baked through quicker than if you just use one. But I think you knew that.) Let cool.
• For the mascarpone cream, mix all ingredients together until thick with nice peaks. 
• Before layering the cake, make sure that you even out any curved cake tops (by cutting the curve off). If you used only one springform pan, cut the cake in the middle horizontally to get two cakes for layering.
• Now, layer as following: cake, mascarpone cream, berries, mascarpone cream, cake, mascarpone cream, berries.

My modifications:

Strawberries instead of blackberries. Regular flour instead of spelt flour. Regular sugar instead of superfine sugar (in the cake).

I also didn't mash some of the berries to put inbetween mascarpone and whole berries.

The taste:

Well. How should I say this.

The cake didn't go well together with the mascarpone cream and the berries. I know, hard to imagine but true.

Also, the cake was waaaaaay too dense. And I neither overmixed it nor overbaked it.

So, all in all it was edible (of course) but I would not make it again. Shame, isn't it?

Have you ever baked something that didn't really work combination-wise?