30*52 Bacon Gugelhopf

For some people, bacon is the answer to everything.

I'm not one of them. Please don't be mad.

But when my hubby (very randomly) mentioned wanting a typical Alsatian bacon gugelhopf, I thought I would make it for him.

Bacon Gugelhopf

Adapted from kochbar.de

500 g flour

1 cube (42 g) fresh yeast

250 ml milk, room temperature

160 g butter, room temperature

1 egg

1 1/2 tablespoon sugar

1 teaspoon salt

150 g walnuts

250 g bacon, in cubes

• Dissolve yeast in 100 ml milk. Put flour into a mixing bowl, make a small dent in the middle and fill with yeast-milk. Cover for about 15 minutes until yeast-milk starts to bubble.
• Add remaining milk, butter, egg, sugar, and salt and knead to a smooth dough. Cover and let rise for another 30 minutes.
• Chop walnuts roughly. Fry bacon in a pan, strain and drain off fat (but keep it!), let cool.
• Add nuts and bacon, plus a bit of the bacon fat to the dough and knead once more. Put dough into prepared gugelhopf pan and bake at 200°C (390°F) in the bottom half of the oven for 40-50 minutes.

My modifications:

I just now realized that I only used half of the yeast - oh my... And you know what? It is totally fine. In fact, I think I would only use half a cube next time as well.

I didn't pan-fry the walnuts because I just couldn't be bothered (and I don't think it usually makes such a difference anyway).

I don't own a gugelhopf pan anymore. I used to have a silicone one but nothing turned out well when I used it so I threw it away. Using the wreath part of a round springform pan is totally fine as well, it's just technically not a gugelhopf anymore but I guess a 'regular' cake.

The taste:

As I said, I'm not the biggest bacon person. But this is so good!

It is very moist, which I love, and the walnuts are so yummy! I can imagine that this would be great with walnuts and dried tomatoes (no bacon then). Or hazelnuts and dried apricots! Oh yes, I will definitely try both of those ideas!

Have you ever accidentally used the wrong amount of ingredients and it turned out really bad because of it?

23*52 Banana-Peanut Butter-Bacon Bread (or: A tribute to Elvis)

Brace yourselves. This post will reveal how my mind works sometimes.

From overripe bananas to Elvis.

I hope you can handle it.

"Could turn those overripe bananas into a banana bread. Haven't made one in a while.

Ooh, and add some of those yummy peanut butter chips.

Wait - bananas and peanut butter. Elvis. Let's add bacon.

Let's google banana peanut butter bacon bread."

And this is what I found:

Banana-Peanut Butter-Bacon Bread

Adapted from How Sweet It Is

10 slices bacon, chopped

360 g (2 1/2 cups) flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1 egg

120 g (2/3 cup) loosely packed brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

113 g (1/2 cup) butter, melted

85 g (1/3 cup) peanut butter

4 tablespoons bacon 'oil' from cooking the bacon

4 ripe bananas, mashed

80 ml (1/3 cup) milk

45 g (1/4 cup) peanut butter chips

• Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F).
• Cook bacon in a skillet. When crispy, remove from skillet and let drain on paper towel. Leave the bacon 'oil' in the skillet for later.
• In a bowl, mix flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon.
• Whisk together egg and sugar until smooth. Add vanilla extract, butter, peanut butter, and bacon 'oil'. Then add banana mash and milk and mix until combined. Add dry ingredients. Fold in bacon and peanut butter chips.
• Pour batter into a prepared loaf pan. Bake for 40-50 minutes. Let cool completely before cutting.

My modifications:

I added the peanut butter chips. And I had to use regular bacon (not thick cut) because you just don't get thick cut in Switzerland or Germany. And I used peanut puree which is just peanuts with no sugar or anything else added.

The taste:

You can't taste the bacon as much as I hoped you would. Maybe I would use a bit more next time (but not too much more). And I think I would try using just 2 cups of flour to make it bit more moist. It's not really dry but could still use a little less flour, I think. But it sure is very yummy!

Have you ever baked or cooked anything that is associated with a celebrity?

9/52 B-O-C-C Scones

I'm so glad that I named this blog 52 cakes *or* a bake a week.

That way, baking something other than cake is totally appropriate. Right?

So let's bake something savory this week.

With Bacon (or not - totally up to you). Spring Onions. Cheese. Chili.

I added this recipe to my baking board on Pinterest for a long time now and I am happy that I finally made it to present it to you now:

B-O-C-C Scones

Adapted from spoon fork bacon

Makes 12 regular or 36 mini scones

310 g (2 cups) flour

2 tablespoons sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

50 g (1/2 cup) cold butter, in small cubes

4 strips bacon, fried and crumbled

60 g (2/3 cup) cheese, in very small sticks or cubes

2 spring onions, thinly sliced

1 red chili, seeds removed and thinly sliced

120 g (1/2 cup) buttermilk

50 g (1/4 cup) cream

• Sift together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
• Add cold butter cubes and knead quickly until mixture is mealy again.
• Add bacon, cheese, onions, and chili and combine.
• Fold in buttermilk and mix until combined to a dough.
• Cool dough in fridge for about 30 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 190 °C (375°F).
• Roll the dough out to about 1 cm (1/2 in) thick and cut out circles of about 7 cm (3 in) for regular scones or 2 cm (1 in) for mini scones.
• Put on lined baking sheet and brush tops with a bit of cream.
• Bake for 20-25 minutes (regular size) or 15-20 minutes (mini size) or until the tops start to brown.

Enjoy these straight from the oven, they are so good when still steaming hot. But stored in an airtight container, they still taste delicious the next day - I just tried it to make sure...

My modifications:

The above recipe (and its name) is already modified to how I made it but there are only two small differences to the original recipe anyway:

I used Cheddar cheese, cut into tiny sticks, instead of grated Gruyere cheese.

And I added the chili because I do like it hot. (Yes, it sounds funny, but it's true...)

The taste:

Just delicious!

Perfect fingerfood for a party. Or a brunch buffet. Or any occasion, really.

And they are so easy and quick to make. 

What are your favorite savory baking recipes?