November 25, 2015

47 | 52 Prinzenrolle

Do you ever buy cookies at the grocery store? 
Even if you love to bake, I am sure you do. At least every once in a while.

One of my husband's favorite store-bought cookie is 'Prinzenrolle' (which translates literally to 'Prince's roll').  It was apparently invented by Belgian baker de Beukelaer in 1870 and was originally called 'Le petit prince fourrée' (the small filled prince). It is now called 'Prinzenrolle' in German because it comes stacked in a roll. 35 millionen rolls go on sale in Germany every year.

So one night when the hubby was craving them but we didn't have any, I tried to make them.
(Yes, I know, I'm a good wife. I'm patting myself on the back as I'm writing this.)


Prinzenrolle
From woman.at

For the cookies
500 g (4 cups) flour
250 g (2 cups) powdered sugar
1 package vanilla sugar (or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract)
pinch of salt
250 g (1 cup plus 2 tablespoons) butter
2 eggs

For the filling

250 g (1/2 lb) dark chocolate
150 g (1/2 cup) Nutella
  • For the cookies, knead together flour, sugar, salt, butter, and eggs until you have a smooth dough. Wrap up and let cool in the fridge for 30 minutes.
  • Preheat oven to 160°C (320°F). 
  • Roll out dough on a floured surface (about 0.5 cm/0.2 in) and cut out rounds. Place on cookie sheet and bake for about 15 minutes. Let cool completely. 
  • For the filling, melt the chocolate over a bain marie. Add Nutella and stir to combine.
  • Put a bit of filling on one cookie and press second cookie on top.

My modifications:
The original recipe adds 4 tablespoons of Amaretto to the filling. I don't like it so I just left it out.

The taste:
Not like Prinzenrolle. But like a good, homemade chocolate-filled cookie.

What's your favorite cookie? Store-bought or homemade? Filled or not?

November 18, 2015

46 | 52 Coconut Buttermilk Cake

Coconut and buttermilk. Sounds like the perfect pair for a cake, right?

I thought so.

There was some buttermilk in the fridge that needed to be used up and I hadn't baked anything with coconut in such a long time, so this seemed to be the perfect recipe:


Coconut Buttermilk Cake

For the cake:

170 g (1 1/2 sticks) butter, room temperature
260 g (2 cups) flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
200 g (1 cup) sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 eggs
240 ml (1 cup) buttermilk
120 g (1 1/4 cups) shredded coconut 

For the glaze:
 
2 tablespoons buttermilk
25 g (1/4 cup) shredded coconut
130 g (1 cup) powdered sugar
  • Preheat oven to 175°C (350°F).
  • Combine flour, baking powder, and salt and set aside.
  • Beat together butter and sugar for 5 minutes. Add vanilla. Add eggs one at a time and mix well after each addition.
  • Add buttermilk and flour mix alternatingly. Fold in coconut.
  • Pour batter into prepared pan (loaf or bundt cake) and bake for about 60 minutes. Let cool.
  • Bake remaining shredded coconut for about 5-10 minutes in the oven until golden brown (be careful not to burn it). Let cool. 
  • For the glaze, whisk together powdered sugar and buttermilk. Drizzle over cake and sprinkle with toasted coconut.

My modifications:
None.

The taste:
Good! Very moist and 'milky'. And coconutty, of course.

What's your favorite coconut recipe?


November 11, 2015

45 | 52 Apple Cardamom Cake

My mom gave me some apples from her garden.
I thought it was only fair to bake them into something delicious. 

And so I did - thanks to this recipe and its very perfect combination of apples, cardamom, and cake.
So snuggle up with a cup of tea and a slice of this goodness and enjoy autumn!


Apple Cardamom Cake

For the filling:
2 apples, peeled, cored & diced
2 teaspoons cinnamon
2 tablespoons sugar

For the cake:
450 g (3 1/3 cups) flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 teaspoons cardamom
250 g (1 cup plus 2 tablespoons) butter, room temperature
380 g (1 3/4 cups) sugar 
4 eggs
1/2 tablespoon vanilla extract
250 ml (1 cup) milk
  • In a small bowl, combine apple pieces with cinnamon and sugar. Set aside.
  • Preheat oven to 175°C (350°F).
  • Combine flour, baking powder, salt, and cardamom.
  • Beat butter for about 3 minutes. Add sugar and vanilla. Whisk until light and fluffy.
  • Add one egg at a time, mix well after each addition. 
  • Add flour mix and milk alternatingly.
  • Fill half of a prepared bundt cake mold with batter. Sprinkle with apples. Repeat and top with remaining batter.
  • Bake for 55-60 minutes. Let cool and dust with powdered sugar, if you wish.
My modifications:
None.

The taste:
Warm, simple, autumnal, flavorful, comforting, honest, moist, delicious.

Do you like cardamom? Any cardamom recipes you would like to share?

November 4, 2015

44 | 52 Nutella Banana Bread

Thanks, cousin! 
Without you or Facebook I might not have stumbled upon this recipe. 

Don't bake this if you are afraid of sugar. Or if you don't like it sweet. 
Or worse - if you don't like Nutella.
But of course you wouldn't be here if that was the case. Right?


Nutella Banana Bread

4 bananas, ripe & mashed
227 g (1 cup) butter, room temperature
2 eggs
400 g (2 cups) sugar
510 g (4 cups) flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
120 ml (1/2 cup) water
2 teaspoons baking soda
280 g (1 cup) nutella
180 g (1 cup) chocolate chips
  • Preheat oven to 175°C (350°F).
  • Cream together butter, sugar, and eggs.
  • Add flour and salt. Mix until crumbly.
  • Dissolve baking soda in warm water and add to the crumbly mix.
  • Fold in mashed bananas and chocolate chips.
  • Pour half of the dough into two bread pans. Spread 1/4 cup of Nutella length down the middle of the dough in each pan. Fill up with the remaining dough and repeat the Nutella step, swirling it together with the dough using a knife.
  • Bake for 50-60 minutes. 

My modifications:
I only made half of the recipe because I only had 2 bananas... And I reduced the sugar to 150 g (3/4 cup) for half the recipe (=  300 g (1 1/2 cups) for the full recipe).

The taste:
It's yummy but very sweet (and I already reduced the sugar...). I was only able to eat it in very small portions (which is actually not such a bad thing, right?). I'm not sure yet if I would make it again though. But that shouldn't keep you - it's good!

Have you baked anything with Nutella? What was it and how did you like it?