49 | 52 Earl Grey Cake with Chocolate and Hazelnuts

Earl Grey tea. Such a classic, right? And so good!

So when I saw this recipe for Earl Grey cake, I had to try it (obviously).

It just sounded like the perfect cake for a cold fall day.

Tea, chocolate, and hazelnuts.

Earl Grey Cake with Chocolate and Hazelnuts

From Brigitte 24/2015

For the cake:

3 bags Earl Grey tea

250 g (1 cup plus 2 tablespoons) butter, softened

200 g  (1 cup) sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

pinch of salt

4 eggs

200 g (1 1/2 cups) flour

1 1/2 tablespoon cocoa powder

1 teaspoon baking powder

50 g (1.7 oz) hazelnuts, ground

50 g (1.7 oz) dark chocolate, finely chopped

50 g (1.7 oz) dried figs or dates, finely chopped

50 g (1.7 oz) whole hazelnuts, finely chopped

For the glaze:

70 g (1/3 cup) sugar

4 bags Earl Grey tea

50 g (1.7 oz) dark chocolate

1 tablespoon dark chocolate, coarsely chopped

1 tablespoon hazelnuts, coarsely chopped

1 teaspoon Earl Grey tea leaves (from the bag)

• For the cake, bring 180 ml (3/4 cup) water to a boil and add the 3 bags of tea. Let sit for 10 minutes. Remove tea bags.
• Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F).
• Beat together butter, sugar, cinnamon, and salt until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. 
• Sift in flour, cocoa, and baking powder. Add ground hazelnuts and 125 ml of the prepared tea.
• Add finely chopped chocolate, figs or dates, and nuts. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for about 45 minutes.
• Let cool for 10 minutes, remove from pan, and let cool completely.
• For the glaze, bring to a boil 100 ml (1/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons) water with the sugar and 4 tea bags. Let simmer for about 10 minutes. Remove tea bags, squeezing them well. 
• Stirring well, let the 50 g chocolate melt in the sirup. Let cool a bit and pour over cake, distributing it well. Sprinkle with chopped chocolate, hazelnuts, and tea leaves.

 

My modifications:

None.

The taste:

Like a chocolate cake. And a very dry one at that. With a teeny tiny hint of Earl Grey tea. If even. So all in all a big disappointment, I'm afraid.

Have you baked anything with tea yet? What and how was it?

48 | 52 Pecan Chocolate Whiskey Pie

I hope all of you who celebrate it had a lovely Thanksgiving!

According to what people posted on Instagram, it was the year of Pecan Pie.
Which is nothing new, I know.

But this year, I only saw Pecan Chocolate Whiskey Pies. Seriously though.
How can you people do this to me?

I mean, pecans PLUS chocolate PLUS whiskey? Yes, please!

So I had to make one, too. Without Thanksgiving. But that's alright.

Pecan Chocolate Whiskey Pie

From Joy the Baker

For the crust:

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

210 g (1 1/2 cup) flour

2 teaspoons sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

80 ml (1/3 cup) cold buttermilk

For the filling:

200 g (1 cup) sugar

250 ml (1 cup plus 2 tablespoons) molasses

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 tablespoons whiskey

75 g (1/3 cup) butter, melted

100 g (1 cup) pecans, chopped

85 g (3 ounces) dark chocolate, coarsely chopped

• For the crust, whisk together flour, sugar, and salt.  Add cold butter cubes and work the butter into the flour mix with your fingers. Add the buttermilk and knead together.
• On a lightly floured surface, knead the dough into a disk.  Wrap it in plastic wrap and put in the fridge for 1 hour. 
• Roll out the pie crust on a well floured surface - about 3mm / 1/8 in thick and about 30 cm / 12 in in diameter.  Transfer to a pie pan and trim the edge. Cover with plastic wrap and put it in the fridge for another 30 minutes (minimum; 3 hours max).
• Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F). 
• For the filling, whisk together sugar, molasses, salt, eggs, vanilla extract, whiskey, and melted butter until well combined.
• Sprinkle pecans and chocolate around the bottom of the pie. Pour filling over the chocolate and nuts.
• Bake for about 45 to 55 minutes (until it jiggles uniformly, not just in waves).  
• Let cool completely before refrigerating. 

 

My modifications:

None. (Using Irish whiskey instead of bourbon doesn't count, right?)

The taste:

Oh. My. Goodness. Thank you.

Thank you everybody for showing me all your delicious pictures and thereby making me want to try this pie. Thank you.

(I'm just trying to figure out how to turn this into candy. Because let's be honest here. Who needs a pie crust?)

What is your favorite Thanksgiving pie?

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?

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

From The 36th Avenue

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? 

37 | 52 Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Bread

I might have told you before: I LOVE peanut butter.

I don't think I even have to mention chocolate....

And yes, overripe banana time it was again!

And I had a feeling I needed some kind of banana bread that was a bit different to the usual one. And then I stumbled upon this.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Bread

Adapted from Broma Bakery

80 g (1/3 cup) peanut butter

150 g (3/4 cup) sugar

2-3 ripe bananas, mashed

120 ml (1/2 cup) olive oil

2 eggs

65 g (1/2 cup) cocoa, unsweetened

1 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla

130 g (1 cup) flour

• Preheat oven to 175°C (350°F).
• Mix together peanut butter, sugar, mashed bananas, olive oil, and eggs. 
• Stir in cocoa, baking powder & soda, salt, and vanilla. Add flour last and mix until just combined.
• Pour batter into prepared loaf pan and bake for 50-60 minutes.

 

My modifications:

Since I only had crunchy peanut butter at home, that's what I used and it was very good.

I didn't put banana slices on top before baking. And I omitted the 'frosting'.

Otherwise - no changes to the original recipe.

The taste:

Good. But a bit on the dry side and a bit too dark chocolatey, for my taste.
So definitely a diffferent banana bread but not my favorite one.

What's your favorite banana bread? Would be cool if you shared the recipe!

31 | 52 Chocolate Chocolate Cake

I know it's still summer. And hot.

But come on. Chocolate cake is always a good idea.

And in this case it's not just chocolate.

But chocolate plus chocolate. Cake plus frosting.

Nothing less, nothing more. And oh so chocolatey good!

I feel like there's not even much more I could say to introduce this double chocolate yumminess.
So please just read on, go to your kitchen, and get to work! (No matter the temperature...)

 Please excuse the horrible iphone pictures...

Chocolate Chocolate Cake

From Smitten Kitchen (who calls it the 'i want chocolate cake' cake)

For the cake

85 g (6 tablespoons) butter, room temperature

145 g (3/4 cup) packed dark brown sugar

2 tablespoons granulated sugar

1 egg

1 egg yolk

175 ml (3/4 cup) buttermilk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

40 g (1/2 cup) cocoa powder, unsweetened

125 g (1 cup) flour

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

For the frosting

55 g (2 oz) dark chocolate, melted

180 g (1 1/2 cups) powdered sugar

115 g (1/2 cup) butter, room temperature

pinch of salt

1 tablespoon cream or whole milk

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

• Preheat oven to 175ºC (350ºF). 
• Beat together butter and sugars until fluffy. Add egg, yolk, and vanilla and beat until combined. Add the buttermilk and beat again until combined. 
• Sift flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into the butter mix and stir together until just combined.
• Pour batter into 20 x 20 cm / 8 x 8 in pan lined with parchment paper and bake for 25-35 minutes. Let cool completely.
• For the frosting, beat together buter, powdered sugar, and salt until fluffy. Add chocolate, milk, and vanilla and beat until combined plus one more minute to whip it more.
• Scoop frosting onto cooled cake and swirl around, if you wish. 
• Add sprinkles to increase joy even further.

 Proudly decorated by 7-year old Luisa.

My modifications:

I made double of the cake recipe because I made a bigger one. It was rectangular and I cut out a heart (for a friend's birthday).

Side note: I will never use a heart-shaped baking pan again but always cut it out of a rectangular - it works sooooo much better! Trust me on this one and give it a try - you won't be disappointed.

Other than that - no modifications.

The taste:

Oh my. Definitely one of the chocolate cake recipes to keep. And make over and over again. Especially with that frosting. You will feel guilty after the first bite - but who gives a damn...
YOLO, right?

What is your favorite chocolate cake recipe?

 

13 | 52 Easter Egg Cookies

There's still enough time to makes these for Easter!

Maybe you can even include them in your egg hunt!

(What do you mean, you don't do any egg hunting anymore?!)

Browsing through Easter recipes online, I found these two Easter Egg Cookie recipes and couldn't decide which one to make. 

Chocolate? Chocolate! Lemon? Lemon! Alright. Both then. 

It's Easter, after all. And if we can't eat them all, I'm sure the Easter Bunny will help us...

(Maybe I should start ironing my tea towels...)

Filled Chocolate Easter Egg Cookies

From Donna Hay

Cookies:

65 g (1/3 cup) butter, cold and in pieces

40 g (1/4 cup) powdered sugar

75 g (1/2 cup) flour

2 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch

1 tablespoon cocoa powder

1 1/4 egg yolk

white chocolate, melted, for decorating

Filling:

200 g (7 oz) dark chocolate, chopped

125 ml (1/2 cup) cream

• Preheat oven to 180ºC (355ºF). 
• Process all cookie ingredients (except for the white chocolate) in a food processor until a soft dough forms. Or - the way I do it - use your hands to knead all ingredients together until you have a soft dough. Wrap and put in the fridge for 30 minutes.
• Roll dough between two sheets of baking paper to about 3mm thick. Using your Easter egg cooie cutter, cut out cookies, place on cookie sheet (on baking paper) and bake for 8-10 minutes. Let cool.
• For the filling, melt chocolate and cream together in a small saucepan over low heat. Put in the fridge until cooled down. Spread a bit of filling on half of the cookies, making sandwiches with the other half.
• Melt white chocolate and decorate cookies to your taste.

My modifications:

None. Oh actually, yes. I only used 1 egg yolk. Because 1 1/4 egg yolks? Seriously???
And I only needed half of the filling...

The taste:

I haven't tasted them yet! Will update you asap!

Sunny Side Up - Lemony Easter Egg Cookies

From Chefkoch.de

For the cookies:

150 g (2/3 cup) butter, cold and in pieces

75 g (1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon) powdered sugar

1 tablespoon milk

150 g (1 1/4 cups) flour

75 g (1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon) cornstarch

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract or 1/2 sachet vanilla sugar

lemon peel of 1 lemon, grated

For the filling and glaze:

lemon curd

40 ml (3 1/2 tablespoons) fresh lemon juice

130 g (1 cup) powdered sugar

• Preheat oven to 180ºC (355ºF). 
• Process all cookie ingredients (except for the white chocolate) in a food processor until a soft dough forms. Or - the way I do it - use your hands to knead all ingredients together until you have a soft dough. Wrap and put in the fridge for 30 minutes.
• Roll dough between two sheets of baking paper to about 3mm thick. Using your Easter egg cooie cutter, cut out cookies (half of them with an additional small round hole in the lower half), place on cookie sheet (on baking paper) and bake for 8-10 minutes. Let cool.
• Make a simple glace from lemon juice and powdered sugar and put on the cookies with hole. Let dry. Put a blotch of lemon curd on the other half of the cookies and sandwich with glazed tops.

My modifications:

The original recipe used a different method of combining the ingredients for the dough and said to bake the cookies at 200ºC (390ºF). But that's it.

The taste:
Yummy! Very lemony. But I love that. Lemony is good.

What's your favorite baking recipe for Easter?

12 | 52 Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Cheesecake Bars

Phew. I mean. Could this name be any longer???

But it all boils down to this:

Peanut butter - yes, please! 

Chocolate Chip Cookie - always!

Cheesecake - yum!

Any more questions?

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Cheesecake Bars

From A Pinch of Yum

114 g (1 stick) butter, room temperature

100 g (1/2 cup) white sugar

70 g (1/3 cup) packed brown sugar

130 g (1/2 cup) peanut butter

1 egg

140 g (1 cup) flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teapsoon salt

50 g (1/2 cup) rolled oats

230 g (2 cups) chocolate chips

230 g (8 oz) cream cheese

70 g (1/3 cup) sugar

1 egg

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

• Preheat oven to 160°C (325°F).
• For the cookie dough, beat together butter, sugars, and peanut putter until smooth. 
• Add egg and beat to incorporate. In a small bowl, mix flour, baking soda, and salt, and slowly add it to the butter mix. Stir in oats and chocolate chips.
• For the cheesecake filling, cream together cream cheese, egg, sugar, and vanilla.
• Put half (or a bit more) of the cookie dough in your pan (square 22 cm / 9 in) and press to the bottom. Pour the filling on top of it. Crumble remaining cookie dough over the filling.
• Cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes. Remove foil and bake for another 20 minutes.
• Serve warm or cold. Store leftovers in the fridge.

My modifications:

I had to change some things because I didn't have everything at home.

I used 60 g coconut oil (1/2 cup) instead of the butter. I reduced the white sugar to 75 g (1/3 cup) in the dough and 55 g (1/4 cup) in the cheesecake filling. I only used 200 g of chocolate chips (and even that is quite a lot!). 

The taste:

What can I say. It's as finger lickin' good as you would think it is. Definitely a keeper!

And my cookie bottom and top even tasted a bit more like cookie dough (unbaked), which I love. But that might just be because of my modifications. 

What's your favorite recipe with a long (or complicated) name?

10 | 52 Russischer Zupfkuchen / Russian Plucked Cake

A couple of weeks ago, pictures of 'Russian Plucked Cakes' seemed to pop up everywhere I looked. And the more pictures I saw, the more I knew I had to make it.

And don't be fooled. As far as I know, this so-called Russian cake is actually German.

Not that it matters much, right?

If you like a chocolate crust with a cheesecake-like filling, topped with plucked chocolate crust -
this cake is for you. 

Russischer Zupfkuchen

From Chefkoch.de

Crust and topping:

300 g (2 1/4 cups) flour

180 g (3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons) sugar

40 g (1/3 cup) cocoa powder, unsweetened

1 paket (1.5 tablespoons) baking powder

200 g (1 3/4 sticks) butter

2 eggs

Filling:

70 g (1/3 cup) butter, room temperature

500 g (1.1 lb) quark

200 g (7 oz) heavy cream

3 eggs

150 g (3/4 cup) sugar

1 paket vanilla sugar (or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract)

pinch of salt

• Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F).
• For the crust, combine flour, sugar, sifted cocoa powder, and baking powder in a big bowl. Add butter and eggs and knead well. Put about 1/4 of the dough away for the moment and use the other 3/4 to make the crust in a round springform pan (bottom and sides all the way up).
• For the filling, beat butter until creamy. Add all remaining ingredients and stir together well. Pour filling on top of the chocolate crust. Pluck pieces off the remaining crust dough and distribute on the filling.
• Bake for about 60 minutes. Let cool completely.

My modifications:

None.

The taste:

Very good. Because of the quark in the filling, it tastes like a traditional German cheesecake but a bit creamier. And needless to say but the chocolate on the bottom, sides, and top add to the overall yumminess.

What's you favorite Russian (real or not) recipe?

9 | 52 Nutty Dark Chocolate Brownies

Brownies. With lots of nuts.

When Joy the Baker posted this picture on Instagram, I knew I had to make them. 

I mean.... Brownies and lots of nuts! 

Come on! How could this not sound good to anyone?

(Sorry to all you allergy sufferers out there. I honestly feel for you.)

Nutty Dark Chocolate Brownies

From Joy the Baker

140 g (5 oz) bittersweet chocolate (chips)

60 g (2 oz) unsweetened chocolate

113 g (1/2 cup) butter

3 tablespoons cocoa powder, unsweetened

3 eggs

250 g (1 1/4 cups) light brown sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon coarse sea salt

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

130 g (1 cup) flour

1 small handful pecan halves, walnut halves, and hazelnuts

• Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F).
• Melt chocolate and butter in a bain-marie (or in your microwave, if you have one). Once completely melted, stir in cocoa powder.
• In a bowl, whisk together eggs and sugar. Whisk in vanilla. Add chocolate mix and stir to combine. Stir in salt, baking soda, and flour until combined. 
• Pour into prepared pan (20x20 cm/8x8 in) and sprinkle with nuts. Bake for 30-35 minutes until nuts are golden brown. Let cool before slicing.

My modifications:

I used half bittersweet chocolate, half 75% (not quite unsweetened) chocolate because that's what I had at home, and I reduced the sugar to 200 g (1 cup). Both worked well.

The taste:

So so so so good! Awesome brownie recipe and with those nuts - divine! Most definitely a keeper and one for the repertoire!

What's your favorite brownie recipe? Any (secret) ingredients or toppings?

7 | 52 Heart-filled Loaf Cake (based on Marble Cake)

I hope you had a nice Valentine's Day (if you 'celebrated' it at all...).

In case you are looking for a baking recipe for next V-Day (or any other day of the year) to show your love in the shape of a heart, baked inside a loaf cake, here it is:

Marble Cake (separated but filled with heart)

From Zucker Zimt & Liebe

Basic batter (you need two of these)

250 g (2.2 sticks of) butter, soft

4 eggs

150 g (3/4 cup) sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla sugar (or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract)

pinch of salt

300 g (2 1/4 cups) flour

4 teaspoons baking powder

For the chocolate cake:

3-4 tablespoons milk

For the 'white' cake:

2 tablespoons milk

For the chocolate batter add:

5 tablespoons cocoa powder, unsweetened

• Preheat oven to 180°C (360°F). 
• Cream together butter and eggs. Add sugar, vanilla (sugar), and salt.
• Combine flour, baking powder, cocoa (only for the chocolate cake) and sift into the butter-mix, alternating with the milk.
• Pour batter into prepared loaf pan and bake for about 60 minutes.
• Let cool completely, take out of the form, cut into big slices and use a cookie cutter to cut out the 'filling' for the final cake (in my case a heart).
• Prepare second batch of batter for the 'outside' cake (remember to use less milk to get a thicker batter). Pour a bit of batter onto the bottom of your loaf pan. Arrange cut-outs in a row, as tightly together as possible. Pour remaining batter around your 'filling' and bake for 60 minutes.
• Let cool and dust with powdered sugar or frosting of your choice.

My modifications:

I used butter instead of margarine (I just always do so I also changed that in the recipe above). Since my hubby likes chocolate cake, I made the outside cake chocolate. I colored the 'filling' cake with a bit of red food coloring to get a pink heart (even though I could have used more color, it came out very pastel...). Oh, and I only used half the recipes to make a small loaf.

The taste:

Okay. It could have been more dense or moist, for my taste. So next time I would try to find a more dense cake because I think it might make it easier with the cutting out, etc.

What did you bake for Valentine's Day?

49*52 Pumpkin Spice Brownies

I know, I know.

It's the second of advent and I should really be baking christmas cookies.

The thing is: I am so not in the christmas mood yet. But soon!

Until then - let's enjoy the autumnal taste of pumpkin spice again.

Paired with chocolate in the form of brownies.

Sound good? I think so.

Pumpkin Spice Brownies

Adapted from Sweet & Easy: Enie backt via Sixx

125 g (4.4 oz) dark chocolate

125 g (1.1 stick) butter

3 eggs

100 g (1/2 cup) sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

100 g (3/4 cup) flour

 pinch of salt

283 g (10 oz) Pumpkin Spice Candy Melts

• Preheat oven to 180°C (360°F).
• Melt chocolate and butter over a bain-marie.
• In a bowl, whisk together eggs, sugar, and vanilla.
• Add melted chocolate-butter.
• Fold in flour and salt until just combined. Add 140 g (5 oz) of candy melts.
• Pour into prepared pan and bake for 25-30 minutes. Let cool.
• Melt remaining candy melts and frost brownies with it.

My modifications:

I reduced the amount of sugar by 75 g because I knew that the candy melts will bring additional sweetness.

I also added the candy melts to the batter and as frosting.

The taste:

Sweet but very good in a pumpkin spice kind of way. I'm really glad that put off the cookie baking and made this today instead.

Do you have any great baking recipes using candy melts?

46*52 Chocolate Almond Cake

Coming back from holidays and getting back into the rhythm can be tough sometimes.

Especially when you are coming home to cold november weather.

But - to make the best of this situation - why don't we bake a Julia Child cake?

Because that's what I did. And it helped.

P.S. I really can't believe that this is the first Julia Child recipe I am making.

Shame on me.

Chocolate Almond Cake

From Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking via completely delicious

Cake:

113 g (4 oz) dark chocolate, chopped

2 tablespoons coffee (or rum)

113 g (1 stick) butter, room temperature

130 g (2/3 cup) sugar

3 eggs, separated

1 tablespoon sugar

pinch of salt

35 g (1/3 cup) almond meal

1/4 teaspoon almond extract

70 g (1/2 cup) flour, sifted

Icing:

60 g (2 oz) dark chocolate, chopped

2 tablespoons coffee (or rum)

85 g (3/4 stick) butter, room temperature

slivered almonds, for garnish

• Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F). Grease and flour a 20 cm (8 in) round cake pan.
• Melt chocolate with the coffee (or rum) over a bain-marie. Let cool.
• Beat butter and sugar until creamy. Add the egg yolks and beat until thick. Add the melted chocolate. Stir in almond extract and almond meal until just combined.
• Beat the egg whites and salt in a separate bowl, adding the tablespoon of sugar slowly, until stiff.
• Fold 1/4 of the egg whites into the batter. Add the remaining egg whites, alternating with the flour. Don't overmix but fold in gently.
• Pour batter into pan and bake about 25 minutes. The center should still be jiggly.
• Let cool for 10 minutes, take out of the pan and let cool completely.
• For the icing, combine chocolate and coffee (or rum) and melt over a bain-marie. 
• Add the butter a tablespoon at a time and beat it into the chocolate with a whisk.
• Let the icing cool a bit, spoon on top of the cake and spread evenly. Garnish with slivered almonds.

My modifications:

None.

Only the icing: I didn't read the recipe properly (oops) and melted the butter with the chocolate and coffee so my icing turned out much more liquid, of course. It's still okay but next time I would definitely make it as described in the recipe...

The taste:

Very good! A soft, almost liquid center and a nice almond and chocolate taste.

Only the taste of the almond extract was a bit too strong so I will definitely use less next time. But other than that - very good!

Have you ever tried a Julia Child recipe? Which one(s) and how did it turn out?

44*52 Peanut Butter Chip Brownies

Chocolate and peanut butter. I mean, seriously. 

Brownies with peanut butter chips. Hell yeah.

No need to say more this week, right?

Peanut Butter Chip Brownies

Adapted from somewhere but I honestly don't know where anymore. It's a brownie recipe that I wrote down on a piece of paper a long time ago but never made until now, I just added the peanut butter chips.

114 g (1 stick) butter

227 g (8oz) dark chocolate

200 g (1 cup) sugar

3 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

110 g (3/4 cup) flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

180 g (1 cup) peanut butter chips

• Melt butter and chocolate in a bain-marie.
• In a bowl, whisk together sugar and eggs. Add vanilla. Add melted butter-chocolate.
• Fold in flour and salt until just combined. Then fold in the peanut butter chips.
• Pour into prepared brownie pan. Bake at 180°C (350°F) for 30-35 minutes.

My modifications:

Just added the peanut butter chips.

Next time I would probably reduce the sugar by half because it is pretty sweet.

The taste:

Heavenly. Addictive. Need I say more?

What is your favorite sweet combination?

40*52 (One of the best) Chocolate Cake(s)

It was my last week at job no1. And my birthday was coming up.

So I decided to make small cakes as a farewell gift and as a birthday cake advance.

Little did I know that I would pick a recipe that will now be my absolute goto chocolate cake recipe. Seriously - it is so easy, so quick, and so absolutely delish. Try it.

(One of the best) Chocolate Cake(s)

Adapted from Rachel Allen (via BBC)

250 g (9 oz) dark chocolate

210 g (7.5 oz) butter

250 g (9 oz) powdered sugar

5 eggs

75 g (2.5 oz) ground almonds

Glaze

200 g (7 oz) dark chocolate

50 ml (2 fl oz) milk

75 g (2.5 oz) butter

Whisky (optional)

• Preheat oven to 160°C (325°F).
• Melt chocolate, butter, and sugar in a bain-marie. Stir until melted, cool slightly. Beat in the eggs, then fold in ground almonds.
• Pour into prepared cake or springform pan and bake for about 45 minutes, until the center is just set. Let cool in pan.
• For the glaze, melt chocolate, milk, and butter in a bain-marie. Stir in whisky, if desired.
• Let cool until it thickened a bit, remove cake from pan, and pour glaze over top of cake.

My modifications:

I used only half of the ingredients (because I didn't have that much chocolate at hand and because I thought it would be enough for our small team) but I used 3 eggs.

I also used small paper cake pans because I think they are cute and perfect if you want to hand out cake as small presents. From half the amount of batter I got 6 small cakes which was the perfect amount for the occassion.

Oh, and I did bake these small cakes for 40 minutes because I just thought they didn't look done before.

Next time I would only leave it in the oven a bit longer (with the door open) when it's done because it did fall together a bit (like a soufflé).

The taste:

Oh. My. So so so good! Especially with the very moist center.

As I said - this will be my number 1 chocolate cake recipe from now on.

Have you found a recipe lately that will be your number 1 from now on?

39*52 Banana Chocolate Layer Cake

It was the hubby's birthday this week! Yay!

His usual birthday baking wish is Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte (Black Forest Cherry Cake) but this time he said that he had a yummy Banana Layer Cake once and that that would be an option as well.

So for the sake of variety, I started searching for a Banana Layer Cake recipe and decided to make this one:

Banana Chocolate Layer Cake 

Adapted from Chefkoch.de

100 g dark chocolate

600 g heavy cream

5 eggs

150 g sugar

5 tablespoon water, hot

100 g flour

50 g cocoa powder

5 bananas

200 g heavy sour cream

500 g vanilla yoghurt

3 sheets gelatine

• Melt chocolate in a bain-marie. Let cool a bit and add 200 g of the heavy cream. Stir well but carefully and not too much. Let cool in fridge.
• Separate the eggs. Beat egg whites with 50 g sugar until stiff. Beat egg yolks with remaining 100 g sugar and the hot water until foamy (about 5 minutes). Sieve flour and cocoa powder into egg yolk mix, combine carefully. Add beaten egg whites and fold in carefully. Pour into prepared springform pan and bake for 15-20 minutes at 200°C (390°F). Take out and let cool completely before cutting once horizontally.
• Combine heavy sour cream and yoghurt. Whip 200 g of the heavy cream and combine with yoghurt mix. Soak gelatine in cold water. Squeeze out excess water and warm over low heat until liquid. Add cream-yoghurt mix carefully and stir well.
• Whip the chocolate cream. Whip the last 200 g of heavy cream and combine with chocolate cream. Put in fridge again.
• Put one half of the cake into a cake ring. Peel bananas, cut in half lengthwise and arrange on cake bottom. Pour cream-yoghurt mix on top of bananas. Put second cake on top and press slightly. Distribute 2/3 of chocolate cream on top. Let cool.
• When taking away the cake ring, use remaining 1/3 of chocolate cream to cover the sides.

My modifications:

None. 

The taste:

Definitely better after 2 days than on the same day as preparing it. It just wasn't sweet enough and therefore a bit bland first. But it definitely aged well.

We might still go back to Black Forest Cherry Cake next year...

What is your typical birthday cake?

25*52 Double Chocolate Mud Cake

Chocoholics. Are most of them women?

Maybe. But my husband is definitely one as well.

Whenever I let him decide what I should bake, he says "chocolate cake".

So, let's try another recipe for chocolate cake, shall we?

A friend of mine has made this a while ago and told me how awesome it was. Let's see if we agree.

Double Chocolate Mud Cake

Adapted from Basic Baking

Cake

300 g (1 1/3 cups) butter

300 g (0.67 lb) dark chocolate

5 eggs

5 tablespoons sugar

pinch of salt

150 g (1 cup + 2 tablespoons) flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

Filling and glaze

400 g (0.9 lb) heavy cream

400 g (0.9 lb) dark couverture chocolate

30 g (1/8 cup) butter

• Preheat oven to 160°C (320°F). Prepare springform pan but use cocoa powder instead of flour.
• Melt butter and dark chocolate for the cake dough. Whip eggs, sugar, and salt until foamy. Add flour and baking powder. Then add melted butter and chocolate. Pour into pan and bake for 35-45 minutes. Let cool completely (best over night).
• For the filling and glazing, melt cream and couverture chocolate. Divide into half and add butter to one half. Stir until melted. Let cool in the fridge over night.
• Cut cake in half lengthwise. Take top half off and set aside. Whip the chocolate cream half without the butter, then distribute evenly on the cake bottom half. Put top half on top, press slightly. Dress the outside of the cake with the cream-chocolate-butter glaze. Let cool for another 2 hours before serving.

My modifications:

None. I just wasn't really able to whip the cream-chocolate mix. So it wasn't very whipped but still pretty solid from all the chocolate.

The taste:

Expectations were pretty high. Maybe a bit too high?

Even though there is so much chocolate and butter in the cake, it tastes bland and dry, and has a very strange consistency. I really don't know if anything happened or if it's supposed to be like that, but I didn't really like it.

The filling and glaze taste alright but are not awesome either. 

This cakes just leaves me wondering. Wondering about how something so full of chocolate can actually be a big disappointment.

Maybe it turns out better when y'all make it? Who knows. Give it a try and let me know, okay?  
Has there been a recipe that disappointed you in the result? 

24*52 Apricot-Chocolate-Coconut-Crumble Pie

Fresh apricots. Yum. A big bowl of them were waiting to be eaten here.

But of course I rather turned them into some baked goodness.

I know I've been crumbling a lot on this blog but hey - you can never have enough crumbles in your life (at least not when they're the sweet, edible kind). Right?

 Apricot-Chocolate-Coconut-Crumble Pie

Adapted from Martha Stewart

Crust

1 pie crust (with 1 teaspoon sugar added)

Filling

35 (about 800 g or 1 3/4 lb) apricots

105 g (1/2 cup) sugar

55 g (1/2 cup) brown sugar

1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons cornstarch

60 g (1/3 cup) small chocolate chips

1/4 teaspoon salt

Crumbles

175 g (3/4 cup plus 3 tablespoons) flour

1/8 teaspoon salt

115 g (1 cup plus 2 tablespoons) shredded coconut

114 g (1 stick) butter, at room temperature and in pieces

80 g (1/4 cup plus 3 tablespoons) brown sugar

• Prepare pie crust. Leave refrigerated for at least one hour.
• Preheat oven to 190°C (375°F).
• Cut apricot into halves, remove stone and cut 3 wedges from each half. Combine with the remaining filling ingredients (works best if you use your hands). Pour into pie crust.
• Knead together all ingredients for the crumbles. Crumble over apricots. (It is a lot of crumble dough and the apricots were doming up so for me it worked best to press the crumbles onto the apricots to prevent everything from crumbling down.)
• Bake for about 1 hour on a lower oven rack. Place foil over top after 25-30 minutes to prevent the crumbles from getting burnt.
• Cool for at least 2 hours before serving.

 My modifications:

I used my recipe for the crust. It's not very different from Martha Stewart's though.

I also added the chocolate chips to the filling because chocolate can't hurt.

I only baked it for 1 hour instead of 1 1/2 and that was totally enough.

The taste:

So very good! I like the chocolate in it but if you're sceptical you can also leave it out.

I expected to taste more of the coconut so maybe replacing a bit of the flour with more coconut would be an option but that's just an idea, so try at your own risk.

What's your favorite fruity pie?

19*52 Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cake

I heard Joy and Tracy mention this cake in one of their podcasts. And I had to try it.

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cake

Adapted from Shutterbean

225 g (8 oz) semisweet chocolate chips

1/2 teaspoon water or bourbon

2 tablespoons flour

100 g (1 cup) rolled oats

114 g (1 stick) butter

2 eggs

160 g (3/4 cup) sugar

250 g (1 1/4 cups) brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

210 g (1 1/2 cups) flour

Frosting

55 g (4 tablespoons) butter, room temperature

170 g (6 oz) cream cheese

125 g (1 cup) powdered sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• In a small bowl, mix chocolate chips with water (or bourbon) and 2 tablespoons flour. Set aside.
• Put oats and butter in a medium bowl and pour 300 ml (1 1/4 cups) boiling water over them. Stir and set aside for about 30 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 190°C (375°F)
• In a big bowl, whisk together eggs, sugars, salt, baking soda and powder, and cinnamon. Fold in oatmeal until well combined. Fold in flour and chocolate chips.
• Pour into prepared 23 x 33 cm (9 x 13 in) baking pan. Bake 25-45 minutes (see comment below) until toothpick comes out clean. Let cool.
• For the frosting, beat all ingredients together until smooth. Spread evenly over cooled cake. Refrigerate for about 15 minutes before serving. Store covered cake in the fridge for up to 3 days.

My modifications:

None. But I did use water (and not bourbon).

The original recipe says to bake the cake for 40-45 minutes. I did the toothpick test after 25 minutes because I already thought the top looked brown enough and it did come out clean so I took it out after 25 minutes. Just keep an eye on the cake and do the toothpick test when you feel it could be done. Adjust the baking time accordingly.

The taste:

It is good. But I have to say that the frosting is my favorite part. Maybe I will omit the cake next time. No, that's a bit too harsh. I guess I'm saying that I probably won't make the cake again but the frosting I definitely will.

Have you heard people talk about a recipe and then want to try it right afterwards?

18*52 Raspberry-Chocolate-Peanut Butter-Cookies

There's some real talk in order this week. It's about cookies. Ugly cookies.

How do you handle them? I'm serious - you will need to think about this before baking these cookies. Because they are ugly. But only from the outside.

After the first bite you will be completely hooked, despite their ugliness. They're irresistible.

So - without wanting to sound philosophical here - treat them well.
It's not their fault that they're ugly. Only judge what's inside. You get the idea...

Raspberry-Chocolate-Peanut Butter-Cookies

Adapted from Rumbly In My Tumbly

114 g (1 stick) butter, room temperature

65 g (1/2 cup) brown sugar

1 egg + 1 egg yolk

1 teaspoon vanilla

60 g (1/4 cup) sour cream

390 g (2 1/2 cups) flour

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

1/4 teaspoon salt

50 g (1/3 cup) chocolate chips

50 g (1/3 cup) peanut butter chips 

100 g (1 1/2 cups) raspberries

• Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F). 
• Mix butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla. Add sour cream and combine well. 
• Fold in dry ingredients until just combined. Add chocolate and peanut butter chips. 
• Carefully add raspberries - don't mix them in too much because you will do that with your hands when forming the cookies anyway.
• Using your hands, form balls (about the size of a golf ball), put them on your prepared cookie sheet and flatten a bit (they won't 'run' but stay the size and height you made).
• Bake for 10-15 minutes.

 no, they're not pretty to make either...

My modifications:

I replaced white chocolate chips with peanut butter chips.

I used fresh raspberries instead of raspberry jam.

The taste:

Oh. My. As I said - ugly but divine. And definitely best on the day you bake them. Very dangerous if you're by yourself. And you haven't told anyone that you're making these. Don't say I didn't warn you.

Is there any food that does not look good but tastes heavenly? Let us know which one comes to your mind.