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Archive for the ‘Cake’ Category

Gitte’s DD – Ding Dong

Posted in Cake, Chocolate, Dessert, Frosting, tagged , , , , on July 27, 2015| 5 Comments »

Ding Dong

Ding Dong

These cakes taste a lot like the famous Ding Dong, minus the chocolate covering. I must admit that the cakes were taste tested repeatedly and that they passed the “delish” mark. The chocolate cake is soft and moist and the cream is a silky Marshmallow frosting. I also added a thin layer of jam and/or Nutella which turned out really good. The cakes are pretty easy to make. I would say the only tricky thing is when you go to punch out the cake rounds, make sure to press the cutter into the cake slowly, otherwise the cake edge will tear. Store cakes in refrigerator, but for best results, remove them from the refrigerator 20-30 minutes before serving. I know you’ll really enjoy these little tasty treats.

Ding Dong

Ding Dong

Chocolate Cake (makes one 17 x 11 inch sheet cake)(43 x 28 cm)

Ingredients:

2 cups flour (265 g or 9.3 oz)

2 cups sugar (425 g or 15 oz)

1/4 teaspoon salt

4 heaping tablespoons unsweetened cocoa (52 g or 1.8 oz)

2 sticks unsalted butter (224 g or 7.9 oz)

1 cup boiling water (236 ml or 8 fl oz)

1/2 cup buttermilk (118 ml or 4 fl oz)

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Marshmallow Frosting

Ingredients:

1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature (224 g or 7.9 oz)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

One 7 oz jar of marshmallow creme (198 g)

2 cups confectioners sugar, sifted (230 g)

2-4 tablespoons light cream

For assembly:

strawberry, apricot, raspberry jam or nutella

Maraschino Cherries

Directions:

To make the cake:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line a 17 x 11 inch (43 x 28 cm) baking pan with parchment paper and set aside.

In a mixing bowl combine flour, sugar and salt, set aside.

In a small saucepan melt butter. Add cocoa and stir until well blended. Heat water in microwave until boiling. Add water to butter mixture, bring to a boil and continue to boil for 30 seconds. Remove from heat. While mixing, pour hot butter mixture into flour, continue to mix until combined.

Combine buttermilk, beaten eggs, baking soda and vanilla. Pour buttermilk mixture into flour/butter mixture and stir until well combined.

Pour batter into prepared baking pan. Bake for 20 minutes. Allow to cool completely before assembling cakes.

To make frosting:

In a mixing bowl, beat butter until smooth. Beat in vanilla and marshmallow creme. With the mixer on low speed, gradually add confectioners sugar. Add cream and beat to combine. Scrape down sides of bowl. With mixer on high speed, beat creme for 3 to 5 minutes, until light and fluffy. If necessary, add more confectioner sugar or creme to get the right piping consistency.

To assemble cakes:

Use a cookie cutter of your choice (I used a mixture of 2 and 2 3/4 inch ovals [5 1/2 and 7 cm]). Once the cake has cooled completely, use your cookie cutter to punch out cake rounds. To avoid braking the cake edges, press cookie cutter into cake very slowly. Place half of cake rounds onto serving platter. Spread your favorite jam or nutella over cake and pipe frosting on top. Place second cake on top of frosting. Pipe a small amount of frosting on top of second cake and top with a cherry. Store in refrigerator. Remove from refrigerator 20-30 minutes before serving. Enjoy!

Source: Cake – Tasty Kitchen, Frosting – Joy of Baking

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Hasselnød Kage Med Nougatcreme – Hazelnut Cake With Nougat Cream

Posted in Cake, Danish, Dessert, Easter, Frosting, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on March 28, 2015| 18 Comments »

Hasselnød Kage Med Nougat Creme

Hasselnød Kage Med Nougat Creme

I just hosted a Danish dinner party for my Danish friends and since it is close to Easter I wanted to make a dessert with a seasonal feel to it. I came across this layered cake and not only does it look like a pretty Easter cake but it has all the good things in it that is popular in Danish baking; hazelnuts, Nougat and Marzipan, what’s not to like? As for the special ingredients, I buy Nougat and Marzipan online (I use Odense Ren Rå Marcipan), and the hazelnuts I found in a specialty grocery store.

Process hazelnuts, make meringue and fold in ground hazelnuts, bake

Process hazelnuts, make meringue and fold in ground hazelnuts, bake

A little note about hazelnuts. Hazelnut is a sweet nut with a dark brown skin covering which is bitter and if left on, it may leave unpleasant little left-over pieces in your mouth. So when hazelnuts are used for baking, you may want to remove this skin covering, although it is not absolutely necessary.

Melt Nougat in hot cream, cool, mix whipped cream with Nougat to make frosting

Melt Nougat in hot cream, cool, mix whipped cream with Nougat to make frosting

This is not a difficult cake to make, maybe a little time consuming, and it is one of the best layered cakes I have ever made (with the exception of my all-time favorite Othello layered cake of course). I think you will really love this cake!

Hazelnut Cake With Nougat Cream  (serves 12-14)

Ingredients:

For the cake:

100 g hazelnuts, out of shell (3.5 oz)

175 g Odense Marzipan (6.2 oz)

100 g confectioner sugar (3.5 oz)

30 g all-purpose flour (1 oz)

6 egg whites, room temperature

125 g sugar (4.4 oz)

For the frosting:

6 deciliter heavy whipping cream, divided into 2 and 4 deciliters (20.3 liquid ounces, divided into 6.8 and 13.5)

300 g soft Nougat (10.5 oz)

1 teaspoon instant coffee powder

1 tablespoon boiling water

Decorations:

Cadbury mini chocolate eggs

Directions:

To removed skin on hazelnuts: preheat oven to 325 degrees F (160 degrees C). Place hazelnuts on a baking sheet and roast in oven for 10-15 minutes until skin begins to crack and is golden. Remove from oven and wrap nuts in a clean dishtowel, let sit wrapped for 10 min. Using the towel, rub the nuts vigorously until the skin comes off. Set nuts aside.

Cut out two pieces of parchment paper to fit two 9 inch (23 cm) spring-form pans. Place parchment paper in bottom of pans and spray with baking spray, set aside.

Preheat oven to 280 degrees F (140 degrees C).

Place hazelnuts, marzipan, confectioners sugar and flour in a food processor and process until ground finely.

Beat egg whites until soft peaks, add sugar and whip until you have a thick meringue.

Add ground hazelnuts to meringue and gently fold-in until you have a homogeneous batter. Divide the batter equally between the two pans and bake for 1 hour. Allow cakes to cool in pans.

Place 2 deciliter whipping cream into a small saucepan and heat to just a simmer. Cut Nougat into pieces and add to hot cream, melt while stirring. Heat 1 tablespoon water in the microwave until boiling (10-15 seconds), add instant coffee and stir to resolve. Add coffee to Nougat mixture. Place Nougat in refrigerator to cool completely.

When ready to assemble cake, whip remaining 4 deciliter whipping cream until beaters start leaving traces in cream. Add cooled Nougat mixture and mix to combine. Place first cake onto serving platter. Spread a layer of Nougat cream over cake. Place second cake on top and spread remaining cream on top and down the sides of cake to cover. Decorate with chocolate eggs if desired. Continue to cool in refrigerator for 2-3 hours before serving. Enjoy!

Removing skin off hazelnuts

Removing skin off hazelnuts

Source: Odense Marcipan

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Magic Custard Cake

Posted in Cake, Dessert, tagged , , , , , , , , , on February 23, 2015| 4 Comments »

Magic Cake

Magic Custard Cake

If you are a custard lover like me, this cake is for you! When I first came across this cake, it was love at first sight and the recipe moved straight to the top of to-do-list. The magic with this cake is that when you’re making it, it seems a little impossible that this batter will ever turn into a delicious, silky cake. But it does. The cake is suppose to come out with three distinct layers. Well, mine really only came out with two layers, but I’m not complaining about it because it was still magical to me.

Magic Custard Cake

Magic Custard Cake

A couple of notes for you. The batter will be thin like a crepe batter, don’t freak out, it’s OK, it’s suppose to be like that. Another thing to take note of, is the baking time. It will vary greatly from oven to oven and as you can see the range is pretty big, from 45-60 minutes. Mine took 45 minutes, so I would check on the cake at 40 minutes and then keep a close eye on it. The cake should be golden in color when finished and it will have a slight jiggle to it when you take it out of the oven. Finally, to speed up the cooling process you can place the cake in the refrigerator. I hope you enjoy this cake as much as we did.

Magic Custard Cake: makes one 8 x 8 inch cake

Ingredients:

113 gram unsalted butter (4 oz)

480 milliliter whole milk (2 cups or 16 fluid oz)

4 large eggs, separated and at room temperature

150 gram confectioner’s sugar (5.3 oz), sifted

1 tablespoon water

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

115 gram flour (4 oz), sifted

Directions:

Cut-to-fit and line two pieces of parchment paper into an 8 x 8 inch (20 x 20 cm) baking dish with the sides overhanging a little. Set pan aside.  Preheat oven to 325º F (162º C).

Melt butter, set aside to cool slightly. Warm milk to lukewarm, set aside. Beat egg whites to stiff peaks, set aside.

Add egg yolks and sifted confectioner’s sugar to a large bowl, beat until thick and pale yellow (2-3 min). Mix in water and vanilla extract. Pouring in a thin stream, add melted butter while mixing. Add sifted flour and mix until fully incorporated. At low speed, add the milk and beat until everything is well mixed together. Gently fold in the egg whites, 1/3 at a time, repeat until all egg whites are folded in.

Pour batter into prepared pan and bake in the middle of oven for 45-60 minutes or until the top is golden in color. Allow cake to cool completely before sprinkling with confectioner’s sugar and serving. Enjoy!

Source: adapted from White On Rice Couple

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Honninghjerter – Honey Hearts

Posted in Cake, Chocolate, Christmas, Cookies, Danish, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on November 3, 2014| 15 Comments »

Honninghjerte

Honninghjerte

Honninghjerter has a special place in my heart. I remember as a child always starring at the hearts in the store and it was a special occation when I was allowed to get one. The hearts are sold only at Christmas time and they are decorated with a glansbillede which were very popular in Denmark when I was growing up. All the girls in my class would collect glansbilleder and we would trade them with each other, so making these Honey Hearts brought back a lot of wonderful memories.

Making Pre-dough, melt honey and mix with flour, store dough for 1 month.
To break up Pre-dough, carefully chip dough into small pieces using the tip of your knife.

Honninghjerter is typically not a Christmas cookie or cake that you bake at home for Christmas, perhaps because it is a rather lengthy process to make them. It is only in the past few years that they have become popular to make and I have seen them on different Danish food blogs. What I found was a lack of description and direction on the details on how to make them. For example, what is the best way to break up the very hard Pre-dough and there were no descriptions anywhere of how big the hearts should be, when cut out. So this has really been a trail and error ordeal, but the hearts turned out wonderful and they tasted just like I remember them, like Christmas 😀

Mixing dough can be a rough ride, chop Pre-dough into small pieces to make mixing easier. Image #2 is dough after 3 minutes of mixing, image #3 is dough after 6 minutes of mixing. Dough will be very sticky.

Mixing dough can be a rough ride, chop Pre-dough into small pieces to make mixing easier. Image #2 is dough after 3 minutes of mixing, image #3 is dough after 6 minutes of mixing. Dough will be very sticky.

Making Honninghjerter is a very long process. If you want them ready for Christmas, you should make the Pre-dough around mid November. The Pre-dough should rest for 1 month but you can probably get away with less, if you get a late start. The Pre-dough will get very hard after a month of resting, and this is normal. I found the best way to break up the hard dough is by carefully inserting the tip of a sharp knife and twist the knife to break loose the dough. The smaller the pieces, the easier it will be to mix everything up later, so feel free to give the dough a quick chop after it’s broken up.

Dough will be very sticky, use plenty of flour for rolling.

Using a cookie cutter will save you time. My pre-baked hearts were 11 cm wide (4.3 inches) which were a little too big. Note: dough will spread out quite a bit during baking. When rolling the dough it will be very sticky, use plenty of flour for rolling.

As for the size of the hearts I didn’t know what size cookie cutter to buy, so I simply just cut a template out of paper and cut them out with a knife (which turned out to be very time consuming). My pre-baked hearts measured 11 cm wide (4.3 inch) but grew quite a bit during baking to 15 cm wide (5.9 inch). The hearts are suppose to be big but I thinks mine turned out jumbo 🙂 so I would recommend scaling them down a bit.

After baking the heart will be a little hard. They now need to rest with a moist towel in the refrigerator for 3-4 days. This is how I did it without the towel resting directly on the hearts.

After baking, the heart will be a little hard. They now need to rest with a moist towel in the refrigerator for 3-4 days. This is how I did it without the towel resting directly on the hearts.

Honninghjerter – Honey Hearts (makes 13 large)

Ingredients:

Pre-dough: (made 1 month ahead)

500 gram honey

500 gram all-purpose flour

Directions for Pre-dough:

Pour honey in a small cooking pot and heat to 40-50 degrees Celsius (104-122 degrees Fahrenheit). Combine warm honey and flour until a smooth mass, place into a container and seal with lid. Store container in a cool, dry place for a minimum of 1 month. The honey pre-dough will get very hard, which is alright. It will soften up again later in the recipe.

Honninghjerter dough:

2 egg yolks

10 gram hjortetaksalt

10 gram potaske

1 tablespoon water

Pre-dough, chopped into small pieces

5 gram ground cinnamon (approx 1 small tablespoon)

5 gram ground ginger (approx 1 small tablespoon)

5 gram ground cloves (approx 1 small tablespoon)

200 gram dark chocolate (for decorating)

Directions for Honninghjerter:

The Pre-dough will now be very hard. Take a sharp knife and carefully start chipping away at the hard dough. Put tip of knife into dough and give a twist to break up the dough little by little. Smaller pieces of honey dough will make your work easier later on, so if you have big chunks, chop them smaller.

Mix egg yolks with hjortetaksalt, set aside. Stir potaske into water until completely dissolved, set aside. Place pre-dough pieces into the bowl of a stand-mixer (the mixing can also be done by hand but will require a lot of muscle). Add egg mixture and potaske mixture to dough. Add cinnamon, ginger and ground cloves. Start mixer on low for 3 minutes, it will be a rough ride. Increase speed to high and mix for another 3 minutes, dough will now become smooth and very sticky.

Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius (350 degrees Fahrenheit). Line baking sheets with parchment paper and sprinkle paper lightly with flour, set aside.

Sprinkle a very generous layer of flour onto your work surface and scrap dough out onto floured surface (using a wooden spoon works really well for scraping out the sticky dough). Sprinkle more flour on top of dough and give a quick knead. Roll dough out to 4 mm thickness (0.15 inch), sprinkle more flour as needed. Press or cut out heart shapes, using a spatula, place hearts onto baking sheets leaving 5 cm  (2 inches) distance between hearts. Repeat rolling of scrap dough and cutting out hearts until dough is used up. Bake hearts for 8-10 minutes. Test for doneness by gently pressing a finger into center of heart, when done it should spring back and not leave a finger imprint.

Storing hearts: Allow hearts to cool completely. Using a pastry brush, remove excess flour from bottom of each heart. At this point the hearts will be quite hard and they now need to soften up for a couple of days in the refrigerator. Place hearts in a container with a moist clean towel. I did this by lining a box with plastic, place hearts inside box, then one of my cooling racks and then the moist towel. The rack just prevents the moist towel from resting directly on the hearts. Seal container and store in refrigerator for 3-4 days. After the four days, continue to store hearts in refrigerator in a regular contain, but without the moist towel. Hearts can last for over a month in refrigerator. Note: remove only the hearts that you need, brush with melted chocolate and enjoy the same day. Glædelig Jul and Merry Christmas.

Honninghjerte

Honninghjerte

Source: Claus Meyer

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Pumpkin Spice Bread

Posted in Autumn, Cake, Dessert, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on October 20, 2014| 2 Comments »

Pumpkin Spice Bread

Pumpkin Spice Bread

Fall is finally here, my favorite time of year. I love Autumn here in Virginia, the sun is still nice and warm but the air is cool and crisp and the sky is the most brilliant blue color. The trees are showing off their beautiful Fall foliage, Pumpkins are everywhere and the evenings are for hot apple cider. What’s not to like. And to really get us into the Autumn mood, here is a delicious, soft and moist Pumpkin Spice bread which I lightened up a little by substituting some of the oil with applesauce. I promise that you can’t tell it’s a little on the healthy side. The recipe makes two regular loaves (9 x 5 inch pan) or 1 regular and 2 mini loaves (7 x 2.5 inch pan) or maybe you could make 4 mini loaves to give to friends and family. The regular size loaves bake for 60-70 minutes and the mini loaves bake for about 25 to 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Happy baking!

Pumpkin Spice Bread

Pumpkin Spice Bread

Pumpkin Spice Bread (makes 2 loaves)

Ingredients:

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup applesauce

4 eggs, at room temperature

15 oz canned pumpkin

3 cups sugar

3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

1/2 teaspoon ground allspice

1/2 cup water

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray two 9×5 inch loaf pans with baking spray and set aside.

In a large bowl combine oil, applesauce, eggs, pumpkin and sugar, mix well to combine. In a second bowl combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and allspice. With the mixer set to slow speed, add dry ingredients to the pumpkin mixture, while alternating with the water, mix until combined.

Pour batter into prepared pans and bake for 60-70 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool in pans for 10 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely. Enjoy!

Source: adapted from Taste of Home

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Honningkage – Danish Honey Cake

Posted in Cake, Danish, Dessert, tagged , , , , , , on September 22, 2014| 4 Comments »

Honningkage

Honningkage

I bought a package of Dr. Oetker Honningkage spice mix which I have been wanting to try out for quite some time now. The cake turned out very delicious and it was super easy to make. It brought back childhood memories of a wonderful Honningkage that my mother used to make, I’ll have to ask her if she still has that recipe. The spice package is a mixture of cinnamon, cloves, ginger, allspice and baking soda so it is a really nice combination of spices. I topped the cake with a little glaze of confectioners sugar and water, which gave it a nice sweet contrast. So if you come across a package of Dr. Oetker Honningkage spice mix, give it a try, it’s really very easy to make and delicious. (Wow, that almost sounded like a commercial, it not though, just a personal recommedation 🙂 )

Honningkage – Honey Cake (makes 2 small or 1 large loaf)

Ingredients:

100 grams butter (or 3.5 oz)

1 1/2 deciliter sugar (or 145 grams or 5.1 oz)

1 deciliter honey (150 grams or 5.3 oz)

1 egg

1 deciliter buttermilk (4 liquid oz or 1/2 liquid cup)

4 deciliter all-purpose flour (235 grams or 8.2 oz)

1 package (15 grams) Dr. Oetker Honningkage spice

Directions:

Preheat oven to 150 degrees C (300 degrees F). Spray your baking pan of choice with baking spray and set aside. I used 2 small 7 x 2.5 x 1.8 inch pans (approx 17.5 x 6 x 4.5 cm). Melt butter, sugar and honey in a small saucepan, remove from heat and let it cool down a little. Beat egg and buttermilk together. Mix honningkage spice package in with the flour. Add honey mixture and flour to the buttermilk in alternating increments. Beat until incorporated, do not over-mix. Pour into baking pan and bake in center of oven for 50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into center of cake comes out clean. If desired you can serve cake with glasur (mix confectioners sugar with a small amount of cold water). Enjoy!

Source: adapted from Dr. Oetker Honningkage spice package

Honningkage Spice Package

Honningkage Spice Package

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Almost Flourless Chocolate Cake

Posted in Cake, Chocolate, tagged , , , , on September 8, 2014| 5 Comments »

Almost Flourless Chocolate Cake

Almost Flourless Chocolate Cake

You don’t need a special occasion to make this cake although it is timeless, elegant and oh-so decadent, and it’s sure to take care of any severe chocolate craving which may be possessing you. This cake is very simple to make however, it does need to be made a day in advance of serving it.  I actually view that as a big plus, that way you don’t have to fiddle around with it on the day your guests are coming. I chose to serve this wonderful cake with a small scoop of Vanilla Bean Ice Cream to offset the sweetness of the cake. You could also simply choose some whipped cream or Crème Fraîche on the side. If you venture out and make this cake, I hope you enjoy it!

Making Almost Flourless Chocolate Cake

Making Almost Flourless Chocolate Cake

Almost Flourless Chocolate Cake (serves 8-10)

Ingredients:

200 gram dark chocolate (7 oz) (I used 70% Lindt dark chocolate)

200 gram unsalted butter (7 oz)

200 gram sugar (7 oz)

5 eggs

1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

Directions:

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C (350 degrees F).

Spray a 22 cm (~ 8.5 inch) springform pan lightly with baking spray. Place a round cut-to-fit piece of parchment paper in the bottom of the pan and lightly spray parchment paper with baking spray, set aside.

Using a warm water bath (a bowl set over a pan of almost simmering water, do not let the bottom of the bowl touch the water) melt the butter and chopped chocolate over gentle heat. Once the chocolate mixture is smooth, remove from heat and allow to cool a little. Add sugar to chocolate mixture and stir thoroughly. Add the eggs on at a time, mixing well after each addition but without beating too much air into the mixture. Fold in the flour.

Pour chocolate mixture into prepared pan and bake for 22-26 minutes. Cake should be slightly wobbly in the middle when you take it out. Allow cake to cool completely before removing it from the pan. Store cake overnight in a cool place, covered with foil.

Serve with a small scoop of Vanilla Ice Cream, Whipped Cream or a dollop of Crème Fraîche. Enjoy!

Source: Trish Deseine’s,  I Want Chocolate

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Gulerodskage Med Flødeost – Danish Carrot Cake With Cream Cheese Frosting

Posted in Cake, Danish, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on March 31, 2014| 12 Comments »

Gulerodskage

Gulerodskage

And so this is how the story goes. I was suppose to have been born in April and my mother was going to name me April, but I decided to come early and surprise everyone. I arrived on March 31st, just shy of being an Aprils fool 🙂 and my mother no longer wanted to name me April, but had no other name picked out for me. So she let my siblings (Jonna, Benny and John) pick out a name for me and I believe it was my oldest brother John who came up with my name…Gitte. Tak John, det er jo et dejligt navn. Happy birthday to me 😀

Gulerodskage med flødeost glasur

Gulerodskage med flødeost glasur

This year my birthday cake is a delicious Carrot Cake from Claus Meyer’s book Meyers Kager. The cake is not overly sweet which is nicely offset by the tart and sweet cream cheese frosting. I did have a wee bit of trouble with the temperature and baking time. I think Claus Meyer may be baking with a convection oven and so the cake actually baked a lot faster than anticipated. The original baking time called for 75 minutes but the cake was done after 60 minutes. I also had to cover the cake with foil after the first 45 minutes to prevent further browning but all ended well and the cake got great reviews. This cake is definitely a keeper.

Making Gulerodskage

Making Gulerodskage

Ingredients for the cake:

75 g hazelnuts (2.6 oz), chopped

200 g unsalted butter (7 oz), room temperature

250 g sugar (8.8 oz), divided into two portions of 125 g each (4.4 oz)

6 large eggs

200 g shredded carrots (7 oz)

200 g almond flour (7 oz)

50 g all-purpose flour (1.7 oz)

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

50 g golden raisins (1.7 oz)

Ingredients for the frosting:

400 g cream cheese (14 oz)

115 g unsalted butter (4 oz), room temperature

225 g confectioners sugar (7.9 oz)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C (~350 degrees F). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and spread the chopped hazelnut out onto the baking sheet. Toast in oven for 5 minutes, remove from oven and let cool.

Lower oven temperature to 175 degrees C (~345 degrees F). Grease a 22 cm (~8 inch) spring-form pan with butter, add a couple of tablespoons of sugar, shake and turn the pan to coat sides and bottom with sugar, discard excess sugar, set pan aside.

Separate eggs into yolks and egg whites, set aside. Beat butter and half of the sugar (125 g or 4.4 oz) until white and creamy. Add egg yolks to butter mixture one at the time, continue to beat until well incorporated. Add shredded carrots and almond flour to butter mixture. Sift together all-purpose flour, baking powder and cinnamon, add to butter mixture and beat until incorporated. Add toasted hazelnuts and raisins, mix only until incorporated. Set mixture aside.

In a large clean, dry bowl add egg whites and using clean, dry beaters, beat egg whites until soft peaks start to form. While continuing to beat, add remaining half of sugar (125 g or 4.4oz) and beat until you have stiff, shiny peaks.

Using a spatula add a small amount of whipped egg whites to dough mixture, stir until combined. Add remaining whipped egg whites in half increments and gently fold the whites into the dough. When all incorporated pour mixture into prepared spring-form. Bake in the middle of oven for 55-60 minutes or until golden and a toothpick inserted into the center of cake comes out clean. (Note: I loosely covered the cake with foil to prevent further browning after the first 45 minutes of baking). Allow cake to cool completely on a baking rack before applying the frosting.

To make frosting:

Add cream cheese, butter and confectioners sugar to a bowl and beat until smooth and silky. Spread frosting onto cooled cake and serve. Enjoy!

Source: slightly adapted from Meyers Kager

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Æblekage – Apple Cake

Posted in Autumn, Cake, Danish, Dessert, tagged , , , , , , , on October 21, 2013| 20 Comments »

Delicious Æblekage

Delicious Æblekage

I am really enjoying this wonderful Fall weather we are having here in Virginia Beach. It’s raining, as I am typing up this blog post and I love the sound of rain drumming on the roof. What goes perfectly with a day like this? Danish Æblekage (Apple Cake) of course. And this cake is a perfectly wonderful, super delicious cake. It’s easy to make and it will fill your house with the aroma of baking apples and cinnamon. Bring on the season 🙂

Add apples, sprinkle with cinnamon sugar, pour batter, add more apples, sprinkle with cinnamon sugar and bake.

Add apples, sprinkle with cinnamon sugar, pour batter, add more apples, sprinkle with cinnamon sugar and bake.

I had to do a few minor adjustments to this cake. The original recipe called for a 28 cm (11 inch) spring-form pan which I did not have, so I used my 23 cm (9 inch) pan instead. The cake piled up nice and high but I had to adjust the baking time to make sure it was baked through. I also placed a piece of foil loosely over the cake the last 10 minutes of baking to prevent it from browning any further. It turned out fabulous.

Æblekage – Apple Cake

Ingredients:

250 gram butter (8.8 ounces), room temperature

250 gram sugar (8.8 ounces)

4 large eggs, room temperature

250 gram flour (8.8 ounces)

1 teaspoon baking powder

4 teaspoons vanilla sugar

6 large red apples

5 tablespoons sugar

3 teaspoon cinnamon

Directions:

Line a 9 inch (23 centimeter) spring-form pan with parchment paper and set aside.

Peel and core apples, cut into quarters and then slices, set aside. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C).

In a large bowl beat butter and sugar until thick and smooth. Add eggs one at the time, beating well after each addition. Add baking powder and vanilla sugar to flour. With mixer on low speed, add flour mixture to wet ingredients and mix only until combined.

Stir together the 5 tablespoons of sugar with the cinnamon, set aside. Line bottom of baking pan with 1/2 of the apples, sprinkle with 1/2 of the sugar/cinnamon mixture. Pour batter over apples and smooth batter to edges of pan. Add remaining apples on top on the batter. Sprinkle remaining sugar/cinnamon mixture on top of apples.

Bake cake for 1 hour and 25 minutes or until set in the center. I placed a piece of tinfoil loosely over top surface of cake for the last 10 minutes to prevent further browning. Let cake cool completely on a baking rack. Serve with a dollop with whipped cream or ice cream. Enjoy!

Source: adapted from Beretninger fra et autentisk landbrug

Sweet apples

Sweet apples

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Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

Posted in Autumn, Cake, Chocolate, Muffins, Other, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on October 6, 2013| 6 Comments »

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

The sweltering Virginia summer heat is finally over (for the most part) and Fall has officially arrived. This is my favorite time of year, when the air become crisp, instead of moist, and the temperature cools into the 70s and 80s. This time of year, Virginia displays some of the most brilliant blue skies and if your lucky enough to take a trip into the mountains, the Autumn colors are simply amazing. And lets not forget about Pumpkin…pumpkin pie, pumpkin bread, pumpkin pancakes, pumpkin cookies and I could go on and on. This is pumpkin season! So I couldn’t wait any longer, I just had to make something with pumpkin and so here are some delicious pumpkin muffins. They have chocolate chips in them, which my husband is happy as a clam about. Me on the other hand, think the chocolate chips take away from the wonderful pumpkin flavor. So if you are a pumpkin lover, like myself, you may want to consider substituting the chocolate chips for some chopped walnuts or pecans. Or if your loved one is a chocolate-chippaholic then the chocolate chips will be perfect 😉

On another note, I wanted to share these videos with you. A couple of weeks ago, Joe and I went on a weekend getaway to Ocean City, Maryland to visit with family. On one evening, we had seen a fox in the dunes below the fourth floor condo we were staying at and when I got up at dawn to capture the sunrise with my camera, I was able to film a family of three foxes playing with one another. It was a magical moment to watch them play while the sun was rising. I never imagined that foxes would be living by the beach.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins (makes 12 muffins)

Ingredients:

195 grams all-purpose flour (1 1/2 cups)

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon salt

113 grams unsalted butter (1/2 cup) (at room temperature)

200 grams sugar (1 cup)

2 large eggs (at room temperature)

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

180 milliliter solid packed canned pumpkin puree (3/4 cup)

175 grams semisweet chocolate chips (1 cup)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 177 degrees C (350 degrees F). Place baking rack in the middle of oven. Line 12 muffin cups with paper liners and set aside.

In a large bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, spices and salt, set dry ingredients aside.

Using your stand-mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or using a hand mixer, cream the butter and sugar until smooth and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, making sure to beat well after each addition. Beat in vanilla extract. Make sure to scrape down sides of bowl as you go along. With the mixer on low speed, alternately add sifted dry ingredients and pumpkin puree. Fold in chocolate chips.

Fill muffin cups evenly with batter. Place in the middle of oven and bake for 18 – 22 minutes, or until firm to the touch and a toothpick inserted in the center of muffin comes out clean. Place on wire rack to cool.

Source: Joy of Baking

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