8/52 Banana Nutella Cake

Herbal tea. More herbal tea. And even more herbal tea.
About 4 litres a day for the whole week.

Because I've had a terrible cold, herbal tea was one of my main intakes this past week.
And occasionally this:

Come on, it's okay to need a little banana-nutella-soothing when you're sick, right?

Even though I feel better now, I still wanted to take the banana-nutella-combination to the next (hopefully yummier) level. 

Banana Nutella Cake

Adapted from Ruby

Banana cake:

125g (a little over 1/2 cup) butter, softened

125g (1 cup) powdered sugar

2 eggs

2 ripe bananas, mashed

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

2 tablespoon boiling milk

175g (1.4 cups) flour, sifted

1 teaspoon cinnamon

Nutella cake:

300 g (1 cup) nutella

2 eggs

100g (3/4 cup) flour, sifted

dash of milk

• Preheat oven to 180 °C (355°F).
• Mix together butter and sugar until pale yellow. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each. Add mashed bananas.
• Stir baking soda into boiling milk and add to batter. Fold in flour and cinnamon. Pour into prepared 22 cm (9 in) round baking pan.

• Mix all ingredients for nutella cake and pour on top of banana batter. Swirl the two layers together, if you wish.
• Bake 40-45 minutes. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes, remove from pan to cool completely.

My modifications:
I didn't swirl the two layers together. It just wasn't a swirly day today.

My round pan is a bit bigger so my cake only needed 30 minutes to bake.

Taste:

It's a yummy cake, no doubt about it. Just not as moist and banana-y like most banana breads, for example. But it is a cake and not a bread, so that might explain it...

What's your favorite fruit-chocolate combination for cakes?

7/52 Carrot-Almond Cake

Or: a visit to the ophthalmic emergency room.

I wanted to make a cake for friends who came to visit us over the weekend. And I thought a Carrot-Almond Cake might be a good idea. Sweet, moist, a little healthy.

And carrots are good for your eyes. Or at least that's what everybody thinks and says.

Read on and see why I think this might be wrong...

When I started preparing the carrots for this cake, my right eye started itching.

Then it started burning. And tearing.

I still continued to make the batter, photographing along the way. When I put the cake into the oven, I realized that my eye had swollen so that only half of it was visible. I will spare you more details but I had to go to the ophthalmic hospital to have somebody take a look at it.

And the cake? I had just put it into the oven. Too bad.
No cake for our visitors then. Just defrosted cupcakes.

My eye is fine again, thank you. It appeared to be an allergic reaction, the doctor said. I don't know to what though. I doubt it was the carrot's fault. So let's continue to believe that carrots are indeed good for your eyes. As should be eating this cake.

Carrot-Almond Cake

Adapted from Swedish Cakes and Cookies.

3 carrots (around 200 g/8 oz)

50 g (1/2 cup) almonds

2 eggs

200 ml (1 cup) sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla sugar or 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ginger

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

200 ml (1 cup) flour

100 ml (1/2 cup) corn oil

powdered sugar

• Peel the carrots and cut into small chunks or grate coarsely. Place in a food processor with the almonds and process until all is finely chopped. 

• Add eggs, sugar and vanilla and process for another 30 seconds. 

• Combine dry ingredients and add with the oil. Process until just combined.

• Pour into greased and floured baking pan.

• Bake on a low ove rack at 175 °C (350°F) for 45 minutes.

• Let cool in pan for about 10 minutes, remove and sift powdered sugar over it just before serving.

My modifications:

I don't own a food processor so I used my hand blender.

I used shaved almonds because I still had them in the pantry.

And sunflower oil instead of corn oil.

I added 50 g (1/3 cup) grated chocolate. Because chocolate tastes good in every cake.

My apologies for not being able to show you the finished cake. Or tell you how good it was. Because it did smell good after only 5 minutes in the oven.

Tell me your stories of unfinished cakes. Any emergency room visits after or while baking?

6/52 Red Velvet Heart Cake

It's that time of the year again.

♡ Hearts. Pink. Love. Red. ♡

Yes, Valentine's Day is coming up.

"I don't need a special day to tell my loved one how I feel", that's what a lot of people say.
And I agree. It would be sad to only express your feelings on that one day of the year.

But, I also think that it doesn't hurt to emphasize your love with a little something on February 14.
A handwritten love letter, for example. Or, Red Velvet Cake. Heart-shaped, of course.

P.S. Read this post all the way to the end to learn about those super-special white bits in the frosting that you can see above. 

Red Velvet Cake

Adapted from Joy of Baking

250 g (2 1/2 cups) sifted flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
114 g (1 stick) butter, at room temperature
300 g (1 1/2 cups) white sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
240 ml (1 cup) buttermilk
2 tablespoons liquid red food coloring
1 teaspoon white distilled vinegar
1 teaspoon baking soda

• Preheat oven to 175 °C (350°F). Butter two 23 cm (9 in) round cake pans and line bottom with parchment paper.

• Sift together flour, salt, and cocoa and set aside.

• In another bowl, mix the butter until soft. Add the sugar and beat until light. Add eggs one at a time and combine well. Add vanilla extract.

• In a glass or measuring cup, whisk buttermilk and red food coloring together.

• Alternately add flour mixture and red buttermilk to the butter mix, starting and ending with flour mix.

• Combine vinegar and baking soda in a small cup and allow to fizz. Quickly fold into cake batter.

• Divide batter evenly between both cake pans.

• Bake for 25-30 minutes. Let cool in pans for about 10 minutes, remove from pans and let cool completely.

My modifications:

I used my heart-shaped cake pan and since I only own one, I had to bake them one after the other.

I guess I am too shy when it comes to food coloring. I swear I used a lot already, but as you can see, my cakes did not turn out as red as they should have. I will use more coloring next time.... Don't want to end up with a Brown Velvet Cake again...

I did not make the frosting that is suggested on Joy of Baking. Just because I thought that cream cheese plus Mascarpone plus double cream was a bit heavy. So I turned to Joy the Baker again and used one of her frosting recipes.

Cream Cheese Frosting
Adapted from Joy the Baker

114 g (1 stick) butter, at room temperature

114 g (4 oz) cream cheese, at room temperature

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 tablespoon milk

300 g (3 cups) powdered sugar, sifted

liquid food coloring

• Beat cream cheese until smooth. Add butter and mix until combined. Add vanilla, milk and 200 g (2 cups) of powdered sugar and beat together. Add remaining powdered sugar. When combined, add food coloring.

• Pour half of the frosting on top of one of the cakes you made and spread evenly. Put the second cake on top and distribute the other half of the frosting on top and on the sides.

My modifications:
I used double the amount of butter and cream cheese (since my cake needed more than the cupcakes Joy frosted with the amount above) but I omitted the milk and only used 200 g (2 cups) of powdered sugar. I wanted a pink frosting so I used red food coloring.

The white parts you see in my frosting are pieces of butter. I couldn't wait until the butter was soft enough because it was getting late, the light was going away, I still needed to take pictures of the finished cake, and because I can be a bit impatient at times. There. Thanks for asking.

P.S. The lovely LOVE print seen on the pictures can be downloaded for free.

What's your take on Valentine's Day? 
Anything pink and heart-shaped you would like to share?

5/52 Peanut-Apple-Cupcakes

Winter has finally arrived. The snow has mostly melted but it is still very cold outside.
Eating healthy is always a good thing but even better when it's cold, right?

So let's assume that baking (or rather: eating) cupcakes with apples, fresh ginger and peanuts is healthy.
Because it is, isn't it?

Besides the health-aspect, I picked these cupcakes because the combination of peanuts and apples is hard to resist. Isn't apple jelly the best thing you can put on your peanut butter sandwich? I sure think so. (My mom won't even touch a peanut butter sandwich unless there's apple jelly on top...)

Oh, but before we start with the recipe, let's pretend you haven't read the title and introduction of this post. Because I made a little rebus or picture puzzle for you. 

I know it's a tough one but what did I bake this week?

 Congrats, well done! Peanut-Apple-Cupcakes it is!

Peanut-Apple-Cupcakes

Adapted from Cupcakes which my cousin-in-law Karmen gave me for Christmas

Makes 12 cupcakes:

vanilla pulp of one vanilla bean (or vanilla extract)

200 g (1.8 stick or 7 oz) butter, at room temperature

160 g (0.8 cup) sugar

4 eggs

200 g (1.6 cups) flour

2 heaped teaspoons baking powder

pinch of salt

2 apples, peeled and roughly grated

1 piece of fresh ginger (about 2 cm/0.8 in), peeled and finely grated

1 lime

Frosting: 

3 tablespoons peanuts

150 g (1.3 stick or 5.3 oz) butter, at room temperature

150 g (7 oz) cream cheese

2 tablespoons peanut butter

4 tablespoons powdered sugar

• Preheat oven to 180 °C (360°F).

• Mix together vanilla pulp, butter and sugar until creamy.

• Add eggs one at a time.

• In a separate bowl, mix flour, baking powder and salt. Sift over butter mixture and combine quickly.

• Mix apples and ginger with lime juice and zest. Fold into batter.

• Fill in prepared muffin pan and bake on middle rack for 25 minutes. Take out of pan after a couple of minutes to cool off completely.

• For the frosting, chop and roast peanuts. 

• Stir together butter, cream cheese, peanut butter and powdered sugar. 

• Top cupcakes with frosting and sprinkle with roasted peanuts.

My modifications:

I didn't roast the peanuts and added them to the cupcake batter together with the apples and ginger. I just felt that there should be a bit of peanut flavor in the cupcakes as well, not just in the frosting. So I didn't sprinkle anything on the frosting.

I also just chopped the apples and ginger, as opposed to grating them. (And yes, only because I was too lazy...) But since I chopped them pretty finely, you are not biting on big chunks of apple or ginger when eating the cupcakes.

6 cupcakes went straight to the freezer, without frosting. So I only made half of the frosting for the remaining 6 cupcakes.

What is your favorite "healthy" baking recipe?

4/52 Buchteln

It's totally ridiculous. And I didn't expect it.
But already now, in week 4 of this baking journey, I needed a little cake-break.

But don't worry, I still baked something. Buchteln, to be more precise.

Actually, maybe not precise enough for all my English-speaking readers.

Since I was not able to find a translation for Buchteln, I will do my best to describe them to you:

Originally from the border triangle of Bohemia, Austria, and Bavaria. Yeast rolls. Dry and airy. Lightly sweet. Filled with plum butter. Or apricot jam. Or poppy seeds. Dusted with powdered sugar. Can be served with vanilla sauce.

I think you get the picture, right? If not, please read on and check out my pictures below.

I saw a recipe for Buchteln in a magazine recently and remembered that my husband talked about Buchteln a couple of times, telling me that his grandma in Croatia used to make them. I had never eaten them before today (similar sweet rolls, yes, but Buchteln, no) so I thought it was a good idea to make them. But then - and this makes me feel old - I totally forgot where I saw the recipe (I hope this happens to all of you as well... Please say yes...)! So I googled it and just chose a recipe that sounded good:

Buchteln

adapted from ARTE "Zu Tisch in..." (a TV series called "At the table in..."), that week it was Bohemia

For 16 pieces you need:
20 g (0.7 oz) fresh yeast
60 g (1/3 cup) sugar
350 g (2 3/4 cups) flour
200 ml (0.8 cup) milk, lukewarm
80 g (0.7 stick) butter, melted
2 egg yolks
1 tablespoon vanilla sugar
zest of 1 lemon
pinch of salt

For the filling:
300 g (10.5 oz) plum butter (jam) or
300 g (10.5 oz) apricot jam or
poppy seeds

For finishing:

20 g (1.5 tablespoons) butter for the pan 

50 g (3.5 tablespoons) butter, melted, for brushing the Buchteln 

50 g (6 tablespoons) powdered sugar

• Crumble yeast into a cup, add 100 ml of the lukewarm milk, stir. Add 50-100 g flour to make a starter dough. Covere and let rise for about 30-45 minutes or until surface is bubbly.

• Mix egg yolks, melted butter and remaining milk. Add starter dough to this mixture.

• Mix with all other (dry) ingredients and knead until smooth and shiny. Let rise another 60 minutes.

• Preheat oven to 230 °C (440°F).

• Form dough to a long roll and cut off 16 slices. Put a bit of jam on each slice, form ball around jam and put balls, seam down, on a buttered pan.

• Brush with melted butter and bake for 20 minutes until golden brown.

•  Let cool a bit before dusting with powdered sugar.

My modifications:

I didn't bother making a long roll and cutting off slices to form the balls, I just plucked off pieces from the dough and that worked really well. 

And as you can see, I filled half with plum butter and the other half with apricot jam. I personally like the apricot ones better, my husband the plum ones.

These taste very good when they are still a bit warm. Bake them fresh on a Sunday morning (let the dough rise in the fridge over night). Or for your next tea party. Or pretty much whenever you like. You can't go wrong with these.

Anything special that you like to bake for a nice Sunday breakfast?

3/52 Gâteau au Chocolat Fondant

Chocolate... Oh chocolate... Who doesn't love chocolate?
(I don't know anyone who doesn't but if I did, I wouldn't be very understanding towards them.)

Some days, chocolate cake can be even better than 'just' chocolate though. When having coffee with family and/or friends, for example. Or when celebrating someone or something. Like, a wedding.
At least that's when Molly Wizenberg, the creator of Orangette and writer of A homemade Life, made the chocolate cake that I'm about to introduce you to. And please be so kind and introduce yourself to Orangette if you haven't already. You won't be sorry, I promise!

In 'A Homemade Life', Molly saves this recipe for the last chapter of the book. The cake is actually called The winning hearts and minds cake or, our wedding cake. Just now, when looking up the recipe on her blog, I learned that Molly adapted and renamed it from Gâteau au Chocolat Fondant de Nathalie from the book Je veux du chocolat. Since I don't know Nathalie, I decided to just call it Gâteau au Chocolat Fondant.

Gâteau au Chocolat Fondant

Adapted from Molly Weizenberg/Orangette (who adapted it from Je veux du chocolat)

200 g (7 ounces) dark chocolate (of excellent quality; I used 100 g mild and 100 g intensive 70% Lindt chocolate)

200 g (7 ounces) butter

250 g (1 1/3 cup) sugar

5 large eggs

1 tablespoon flour

• Preheat the oven to 190°C (375°F).
• Grease a round pan (∅ 20 cm/9 in) with butter. Line the bottom with baking parchment and grease the paper as well.

• Melt chopped chocolate and butter in a bowl over simmering water. Stir frequently to combine.
• When smooth, stir in the sugar. Set aside to cool off a bit.
• Stir in one egg at a time, mixing well after each.
• Add the flour and stir well.

• Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for 25 minutes.
• Let cool in pan for about 15 minutes, then remove from pan.

My modifications: Since I only own round pans that are bigger than 20 cm, I used a square one in that size.

Molly advises to check the cake after 20 minutes of baking when it should still be 'jiggly'. Check again every 2 minutes until it is only slightly jiggly, if at all. I took mine out after 24 minutes of baking, when I thought it had the correct 'jigglyness'...

According to Molly, this cake is even better when eaten the next day. Let's see about that!
﹛Update: It really is so much better the next day!﹜
﹛Update 2: And it is even better when eaten 2 days after baking it!﹜

It is also supposed to freeze well but needs 24 hours of defrosting at room temperature.

Are you a chocolate lover? 

Please share your favorite chocolates, chocolate recipes, or chocolate-related anecdotes, I would love to hear them!

2/52 Chocolate Orange Bundt Cake

I loooove the combination of chocolate and orange. And I love Joy the Baker.

So it makes total sense to try the Chocolate Orange Bundt Cake from Joy's website, right?
Glad you agree.

To me, chocolate and orange is a perfect combination for wintery days. But then again, it's a very summery combination as well. I guess it's that sweet freshness, or fresh sweetness, that is appealing year-round.

And that very 70s brown-orange color combo which immediately comes to mind when thinking about chocolate and oranges makes me feel all warm inside. Probably because it's the decade I was born in...

Chocolate Orange Bundt Cake

Adapted from Joy the Baker (who adapted it from - but didn't link to - the Gourmet Cookbook)

• 565 g (3 1/2 cups) flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 226 g (2 sticks or 1/2 pound) butter at room temperature
• 430 g (2 cups) sugar
• 4 large eggs, left at room temperature for 30 minutes
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 450 g (2 cups) sour cream
• 1/2 teaspoon orange extract
• zest of 1 large orange
• 4 tablespoons cocoa powder
• 100 g (1/2 cup) chocolate chips

My modifications:
To reduce my consumption of sugar just a little bit, I reduced it by 45 g (a little less than 1/4 cup) which means that I used 385 g (or about 1 3/4 cups).

Instead of orange extract, I used 100 ml (a little over 3 oz) Cinzano Orancio, an orange flavored Vermouth. Just because I wanted to try that.

My batter turned out a little too thick, so I added orange juice to both batters, 200 ml (a little over 6.5 oz) each. I figured that a little orange flavor wouldn't hurt the chocolate batter.

I used chocolate cubes instead of chips simply because you cannot buy chocolate chips in Switzerland or Germany (or I just haven't seen them...). It's either tiny cubes or so-called 'drops'. Not a huge difference when used for baking though...

• Preheat the oven to 175°C (350°F).  
• Combine sifted flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
• Beat together butter and sugar at medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes.  
• Add one egg at a time, beating well after each, then beat in vanilla.  
• At low speed, mix in half of the flour mixture until just blended.  Add sour cream, mixing until just combined, then add remaining flour mixture and mix until smooth.
• Divide the batter evenly into two bowls. Stir in orange extract and orange zest in one bowl, cocoa powder and chocolate chips in the other bowl.
• Pour the orange batter into the prepared Bundt pan. Pour the chocolate batter on top of the orange batter. Swirl together if you want to.

• Bake 45 minutes to 1 hour (depending on the 'wooden stick test').
• Remove from oven and let cool in the pan for about 30 minutes. Let it cool completely on a cooling rack, removed from the pan. 

Just like last week, I had to bake this cake a little longer: 80 minutes total. This might be due to two reasons: I think that the Bundt cake pan I used (a silicone one) is not perfect and requires longer baking. This happened to me before when using this pan, I am not even sure if I will use it again. Another reason might be that my oven is not heating accurately. I have never used an oven thermometer until now but will buy one tomorrow. Should be an inexpensive but important addition to my kitchen tools.

But back to the cake: the orange flavor was not as strong as I would have wanted it to be, so if I make it again, I will definitely use more orange zest/extract/juice.

What is your favorite combination of flavors? 

And what are your experiences with baking times & oven temperatures?