Feeds:
Posts
Comments
Best Blueberry Muffin With Marcipan

Best Blueberry Muffin With Marcipan

The weather in Virginia is already turning really warm and it makes me want to make something with berries. Blueberries are one of those berries I always keep on hand in the freezer. Although you can easily make these muffins with fresh blueberries, I actually prefer to make blueberry muffins with frozen berries.

Finely grated Marcipan, finished dough, dust berries with flour and add to dough, quickly but gently fold in berries.

Finely grated Marcipan, finished dough, dust berries with flour and add to dough, quickly but gently fold in berries.

This is a wonderful muffin recipe, which you must try. I added a little grated Marcipan which I thought might possibly make the cake a little heavy, but it turned out perfectly light and added a wonderful subtle hint of almond. The muffins are bursting with blueberries and a light sprinkling of sugar gives it a crisp top, and as we all know the muffin top is the best part!

When using frozen berries, dough will become firm, that's okay, just pile it on.

When using frozen berries, dough will become firm, that’s okay, just pile it on.

Best Blueberry Muffins With Marcipan (makes 12 muffins)

Ingredients:

245 grams all-purpose flour (2 cups)

2 teaspoons baking powder

3/4 teaspoon salt

112 grams unsalted butter, at room temperature (1 stick or 1/2 cup)

205 grams sugar (1 cup)

2 large eggs, at room temperature

80 grams marcipan, grated (2.8 ounces)

1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon almond extract

1 deciliter milk (1/2 cup or 120 milliliter)

325 grams frozen whole blueberries (2 1/4 cup)

1 tablespoon flour, for sprinkling onto blueberries

extra sugar, for dusting

Directions:

Line muffin pan with paper liners and set aside. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).

Sift together flour, baking powder and salt, set aside.  In the bowl of an electrical mixer, beat together butter and sugar for 4 minutes until smooth. Add the eggs one at the time, beating well after each addition and scraping down sides as needed. Add grated marcipan, vanilla extract and almond extract, beat until well combined. Add flour and milk in three increments, mixing only until fully incorporated. Toss a small tablespoon of flour with the frozen blueberries, quickly stir berries to coat with flour. Add blueberries to dough and gently but quickly fold berries into dough. Dough at this point will become stiff due to the frozen berries. Scoop dough into prepared muffin tin, piling dough into little stacks. Sprinkle a little sugar on top of each dough pile. Bake for 30 minutes or until golden. Test for doneness using a toothpick, it should come out clean when inserted into center of muffin. Allow muffins to cool in pan for 10 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack if desired. Enjoy!

Best Blueberry Muffins With Marcipan

Best Blueberry Muffins With Marcipan

Source: adapted from Once Upon A Chef

Print Friendly and PDF

Smørrebrød with egg and tomato

Smørrebrød with egg and tomato

Here is a piece of smørrebrød (classic Danish open-faced sandwich) which I think is perfect for this time of year, Spring! It’s made with egg and tomato, my two favorite sandwich ingredients, but also with salad shrimp, cucumber and lumpfish caviar. This is so perfect for a beautiful spring day, eaten in the warm sun and enjoyed it with an ice cold beer (or your other favorite beverage). If you need a recipe to make your own Rugbrød (Rye bread), I have one with a sour dough starter and one without sour dough.

ÆggemadWeb

Making Smørrebrød with egg and tomato

Smørrebrød with Egg and Tomato (1 piece)

Ingredients:

1 piece of rye bread

butter, optional

boston lettuce

1 hard-boiled egg, sliced

salad shrimp, drained and patted a little dry

mayonnaise

1 small tomato

cucumber, sliced

lumpfish caviar

Directions:

Butter bread, if desired. Layer bread with lettuce, egg slices and shrimp. Add a generous amount of mayonnaise. Top with tomatoes and cucumber. Garnish with caviar. Enjoy with an ice cold beer.

Source: slightly adapted from danishsandwich.com

Print Friendly and PDF

Chocolate Almond Biscotti

Chocolate Almond Biscotti

Making Biscotti has been on my to-do-list for years now. I love Biscotti and buy them often at the store, but knowing now how delicious and easy they are to make, I’m gonna have to try making them again real soon. This particular Biscotti is meant to be softer than your standard Biscotti and it is a little piece of chocolate heaven. I love the fact that it is softer and I must confess, I had two in one setting.

Making Chocolate Almond Biscotti

Making Chocolate Almond Biscotti

Chocolate-Almond Biscotti (makes 15 Biscotti)

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour (270 grams)

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa (45 grams)

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature (85 grams)

1 cup sugar (215 grams)

2 large eggs, room temperature

1/2 cup blanched, chopped almonds (70 grams)

1/2 cup chocolate chips (85 grams)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C). Line baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.

In a medium bowl combine flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt, stir and set aside. In the bowl of an electrical mixer, cream butter and sugar until light and smooth, 3-5 minutes. Add eggs one at the time, mixing well in-between and scraping down sides as needed. Add flour in three increments, mixing to combine, dough will be firm. Stir in almonds and chocolate chips.

Place dough on baking sheet and shape into an approximately 12 x 4 inch flat log (30 x 10 cm). Bake for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and cool for 5 minutes.

Lower oven temperature to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C). Place Biscotti log onto a cutting board and with a sharp serrated knife, cut into 3/4 inch slices (2 cm). Place slices back onto baking sheet, cut side down, and bake for 8 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool. Enjoy with a cup of tea or coffee.

Source: adapted from Martha Stewart

Print Friendly and PDF

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

Print Friendly and PDF

Rugbrød uden Surdej

Rugbrød uden Surdej

Making and maintaining a Sourdough starter can be really overwhelming and intimidating to a lot of people, so I have been on the lookout for an alternative, and here it is. No Sourdough starter needed! However, it does need yeast, but the only thing you have to be aware of when using active dry yeast, is that the liquid temperature must be between 100-110 degrees F. If the temperature is above 110 degrees, you’ll kill the yeast. Do you have one of those small meat thermometers? Good, use it to check the liquid temperature. If you have a digital thermometer, even better.

Making Rugbrød dough

Making Rugbrød dough

Now you need a warm spot to allow the dough to rise and in the summertime that may not be a problem, but your house may not be very warm during the winter. To solve this problem I usually use my oven. It’s a small enclosed space and if you turn on the oven to 200 degrees for 30 seconds and then shut the heat off, it will be enough heat to turn the oven into a little warm space for the dough. But remember I said seconds, not minutes, and make sure you turn the oven OFF.

Dough rising in bowl x 2 hours. Dough rising in bread pans x 30 plus minutes.

Dough rising in bowl x 2 hours. Dough rising in bread pans x 30 plus minutes.

As for the outcome of this bread, I was really pleased with it. The bread turned out moist and super delicious, yet you have the wonderful chew of the seeds. A great bread without the hassle of making and maintaining a Sourdough starter. What’s not to like.

Rugbrød Uden Surdej – Rye Bread Without Sourdough (makes 2 loafs)

Ingredients:

250 g cracked rye (8.8 oz)

750 g dark rye flour (26.5 oz)

325 g whole wheat flour (11.5 oz)

7 dl warm water (23.7 fluid oz)

7 g active dry yeast (2 1/2 teaspoons)

2 dl buttermilk (6.7 fluid oz)

2 tablespoon dark syrup

1 1/2 tablespoon sea salt

50 g sunflower seeds (1.8 oz)

50 g flax seeds (1.8 oz)

50 g sesame seeds (1.8 oz)

Directions:

Spray two bread pans with baking spray, set aside. I used a Danish size 13 x 4 x 4 inch (33 x 10 x 10 cm) and an American size 9 x 6 x 3 inch (22 x 15 x 7 cm).

Place cracked rye into a bowl and pour some boiling water over, enough to cover. Let sit for 25 minutes, then pour into a sieve and allow to drain for 5-10 minutes.

Take a small amount of the 7 dl warm water, maybe 2 dl or so (6 fluid oz), place into a small dish and make sure the temperature is between 100-110 degrees F (37-43 degrees C). Sprinkle active dry yeast over water, give a quick little stir and allow to sit for 10-15 minutes.

To a large mixing bowl, add remaining warm water, yeast/water mixture, buttermilk, dark syrup and sea salt. Using the dough hook start mixing on medium-low speed. Add sunflower, flax and sesame seeds. Add drained cracked rye. Then add whole wheat flour and dark rye flour in 1/3 increments, scraping down sides as you go along. Once flour is fully incorporated, increase mixer speed to medium-high and mix for 6 minutes.

Scrape down sides of bowl, cover with a clean, dry tea towel and place in a warm location to rise for 2 hours. Divide the dough equally between the two prepared bread pans (approx 3/4 full). Place back into warm location, cover with  tea towel and allow to rise to the rim of the bread pan, approx 30-50 minutes. Before baking, pierce the dough with a thin skewer 15-20 times. Brush top of dough with an oil/water mixture and bake in a 400 degrees F preheated oven for 1 hour 15 minutes. If your bread begins to brown too fast, place a loose piece of foil over pan and finish baking. After baking allow bread to cool to a slightly warm temperature. Place bread inside a plastic bag. The condensation inside the bag will help soften the hard outer crust. Once completely cooled, remove the bread from the moist bag, wipe the bag dry before placing the bread back into the bag. The bread is now ready for slicing or freezing. Enjoy!

Source: adapted from Klappeklappekage

Print Friendly and PDF

Homemade Bounty Bars

Homemade Bounty Bars

In Denmark you can buy Bounty candy bars which is a coconut filling covered in chocolate. Essentially it’s like a Mounds or Almond Joy candy bar. Since my husband and I are both big coconut lovers, we have been dragging these chocolate bars across the Atlantic ocean for years. But guess what, you can make them yourself and they are so easy to make. Not to mention, they taste just like a Bounty bar. So now we can stop dragging them back to the US and we’ll have more room in our luggage for my Danish liquorice.

Homemade Bounty Bars with cracker base

Homemade Bounty Bars with cracker base

I made a little variant here from the traditional Bounty bar because Joe suggested that he would like a little crunch to the bars, so I added a Graham cracker base which turned out really good. The only disadvantage to the addition of a cracker base, is that the base do get soft with 2 days. So if you are planning on having them around the house for a week or so, then I would leave out the crackers.

Bounty Bars

Ingredients:

240 g (8.5 oz) unsweetened coconut, fine shred

396 g (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk

300 g (10.6 oz) chocolate, melting wafers

4-5 sheets graham crackers (optional)

Directions:

In a bowl, combine coconut and sweetened condensed milk. Stir to combine.

If you are not using graham crackers: simply just take a small amount of coconut mixture and shape into a rectangle (mine were 6 x 2.5 x 1.5 cm or approx 2.5 x 1 x .5 inches) or whichever shape your heart desires. Place in refrigerator and chill for 2 hours.

If you are using the graham crackers: they come in sheets with four crackers. Using a serrated knife, gently saw the sheets into crackers at the perforated line. Take a small amount of coconut mixture, place on top of cracker and shape to fit the cracker. Repeat with remaining coconut and crackers. Place in refrigerator and chill for 2 hours.

Melt chocolate wafers either over a water-bath or in the microwave (10 second increments). Once melted, place each bar on a fork and holding it over the bowl, pour a spoonful of melted chocolate over, making sure sides are coated. Then dip the fork with the bar still on top of it, into the melted chocolate to coat the bottom. Slide the bar off the fork onto a baking sheet and allow to set. Enjoy!

Source: adapted from Madling

Print Friendly and PDF

Magic Custard Cake

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

Print Friendly and PDF

Kærnemælksuppe

Kærnemælksuppe

Kærnemælksuppe is an old-fashioned Danish soup which I had forgotten all about, until the topic came up on a Facebook page. I have very fond memories of this soup which I absolutely love and I think we typically had it as a dessert although I think we may also have had it for dinner. Reading some of the comments online about Kærnemælksuppe, it appear that a lot of people don’t like this soup, maybe it’s an acquired taste? In any case, buttermilk is a special tasting dairy product, it’s tart. But with the combination of sweet vanilla pudding, a little extra sugar which is optional and raisins, the heated buttermilk becomes down-right delicious, at least to me.

Kærnemælksuppe – Warm Buttermilk Soup (makes 2 servings)

Ingredients:

16 fl. oz buttermilk (470 ml)

4 tablespoons vanilla flavored instant pudding (Jell-O for example)

1 tablespoon sugar (optional for extra sweetness)

a handful raisins

Directions:

Mix 1/2 of the buttermilk with pudding powder and sugar (optional), using a hand-mixer beat until it starts to thicken. Pour remaining 1/2 of buttermilk into a small saucepan and turn heat to medium. Add thickened buttermilk/pudding mixture and raisins to saucepan, stirring occasionally bring to a simmer. Serve hot and Enjoy!

Source: My Danish Kitchen

Print Friendly and PDF

Key Lime Pie

Key Lime Pie

Key lime pie is one of my husband’s favorite desserts and I have been wanting to make this pie for the longest time. And since we are now, well through the holidays and with the anticipation of Spring (yes, I know it’s still a little far off) this particular pie says spring to me. It is tart and sweet, and it has a real freshness about it and it makes me fall in love with the sunshine all over again.

Making Graham Cracker Crust

Making Graham Cracker Crust

Now this is a Key Lime Pie, short of actually having any Key Limes in it. Key Limes, which is associated with the Florida Keys, was nowhere to be found around here, so my delicious Key Lime pie is made with plain-old Limes and it’s still taste fantastic to me.

Making Pie Filling

Making Pie Filling

Key Lime Pie (makes 1 pie)

Ingredients:

Graham cracker crust:

125 grams Graham crackers (4.4 oz or 8 1/2 sheets)

30 grams sugar (2 tablespoons)

85 grams unsalted butter, melted (3 oz or 6 tablespoons)

Pie filling:

3 large egg yolks, at room temperature

395 grams sweetened condensed milk (14 oz can)

2 teaspoons lime zest (approx. regular 1 lime)

120 milliliter lime juice (4 fluid oz or 1/2 cup) (approx. 2 1/2 regular limes)

Pie topping:

240 milliliter cold heavy whipping cream (8 fluid oz or 1 cup)

30 grams sugar (2 tablespoons)

1 handful sweetened coconut

Directions:

Graham cracker crust: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C). Spray or butter a 9 inch (23 cm) pie dish. Place butter into small saucepan and melt over low heat. Place Graham crackers in a food processor and process into fine crumbs. (If you do not have a food processor, place crackers into a sealed plastic bag and break-up crackers by beating them with a rolling pin). Add sugar to crumbs and pulse to combine. While food processor is running, pour melted butter into crumbs. Place moist cracker crumbs into pie dish, press crackers up along side of dish and then out over the bottom of dish. Bake in oven for 10 minutes or until set and golden. Remove from oven and set aside.

Pie filling: Beat egg yolks until thickened and pale yellow (3 min). Gradually add sweetened condensed milk and continue beating until light and fluffy (3-5 min). Scrape down sides and add lime zest and lime juice, beat until fully incorporated. Pour filling into pie crust and bake for 10-15 minutes or until filling is set. Allow to cool down to room temperature and then refrigerate for several hours or overnight.

Pie topping: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C). Place coconut in a single layer on a small baking sheet and toast for 4-10 minutes, keeping a close eye on them. Remove toasted coconut from oven and set aside.

Beat whipping cream and sugar until cream is starting to thicken (almost stiff peaks). Place mounds of whipped cream onto pie filling and top with toasted coconut. Can be stored in refrigerator for a few days. Enjoy!

Key Lime Pie without topping

Key Lime Pie without topping

Source: slightly adapted from Joy of Baking

Print Friendly and PDF

Varm Chokolade Med Amaretto

Varm Chokolade Med Amaretto

When the weather turns cold there is nothing like a nice cup of hot chocolate to keep you warm. These days I like mine with a shot of Amaretto, just to warm my bones a little more. Adding Amaretto is of course completely optional, but chocolate and Amaretto is a pair made in heaven.

Homemade hot chocolate is not overly sweet, as the store-bought kind, and I love a dollop of whipped cream on top for extra creaminess. Or if you are serving it for children, marshmallows would be a lot more fun. 🙂 Stay warm out there.

Hot Chocolate With Amaretto (Makes 2 large servings)

Ingredients:

5 deciliter (or 16.9 fluid oz) milk

75 gram (or 2.6 oz) dark chocolate 60 %

2 shots Amaretto

whipping cream, optional, for topping

Directions:

If you want a dollop of whipped cream on top of your hot chocolate, whip then cream and set aside.

Chop chocolate finely. Heat milk to 85 degrees C (185 degrees F) which is hot, but not simmering. Remove from heat and add chopped chocolate. Stir until chocolate is dissolved. Add Amaretto and stir. Pour into serving glass and top with a dollop of whipped cream if desired, serve immediately or store hot chocolate in a thermos for later. Enjoy

Hot Chocolate With Amaretto

Hot Chocolate With Amaretto

Source: My Danish Kitchen

Print Friendly and PDF

%d bloggers like this: