Brownies

After being absent for half a year, which I apologise for, now the dark time of the year comes and cooking and baking is coming back to me. Let me start with fabulous brownies with a decadent chocolate frosting on top.

So here are the ingredients:

• 175 g of brown sugar
• 100 g unsalted butter at room temperature
• 2 large eggs
• 75 g of plain flour
• 50 g of cocoa powder
• 1 tsp of baking powder
• 100 g of chocolate chips (I use a mixture of dark and white)
• for the frosting you'll need 120 g of milk or dark chocolate and 100 g of full-fat cream cheese

And how to prepare them:

• line a brownie tin with grease-proof paper
• cream the butter with the brown sugar and stir in one egg after the other
• sift in the flour, cocoa and baking powder and mix
• mix in the chocolate chips with a spatula and spread the mixture evenly in the baking tin
• use your hands (slightly wet) to push the sticky dough into the corners
• bake for 30 mins at 175 degC
• when finished let cool completely
• for the frosting melt the chocolate and let cool to luke warm before mixing with the cream cheese
• spread the mixture evenly over the cake and cut into 16 squares
• refrigerate for at least 1 h before serving

Enjoy! 

Flourless Deep Dark Chocolate Cookies

Yes, you read correctly, chocolate cookies again :-) You can't have enough of chocolate cookie recipes in my opinion! These fabulous little chocolate bombs are flour- and butterless, but they involve lots of sugar and chocolate.

I found the recipe over at Divine Baking. I can assure you, that you don't need a Kitchen Aid for this recipe, but I'd still like to have one... :-)



Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups dark chocolate, cut into rough chunks
• 3 large eggwhites at room temperature
• 2 cups icing sugar
• 3/4 cup of dark cocoa powder (not the sweetened one here!)
• 1 tbs corn starch
• pinch of salt

How to make it:

• mix 3/4 of a cup icing sugar with the cocoa and the corn starch, set aside
• melt 1 cup of the dark chocolate in a bowl and let cool to hand warm afterwards
• beat the egg whites with the salt until soft peaks appear, then, spoon by spoon add 1 cup of icing sugar until you have a proper meringue texture
• now slowly beat in the dry ingredients
• once the dark chocolate is cooled, fold it carefully under the egg mixture, followed by the rest of the chopped chocolate
• this is where I had problems following the original recipe: it says, that the dough stiffens upon addition of the chocolate
• this didn't happen in my case, however, I put the bowl into the fridge for 10 mins and voila, here we are, a proper dough you can roll into balls
• that is exactly what you do, take a tbs of dough and roll it into a ball shape
• now roll it in the remaining icing sugar and cover it thickly 
• place on a baking tray lined with grease-proof paper and bake until the surface is cracked (12-15 mins) at 175 °C
• now make sure the cookies cool completely before transfering them, they will remain soft and are easy to break
• Mine didn't last very long (I took them to work), so I have no idea, how long you can store them.. But that might not be an issue for you as well!

Enjoy :-)

Pear and Raspberry Crumble

Hello and a happy sunday!

I have bought some pears last week and they seemed to have ripened overnight. So what to do??? One of my favorite combinations is pears and raspberries, and since I always have some of those sitting in the freezer, I thought a crumble it is. It is also a good opportunity to use up some white chocolate I have had in my storing cupboard since I made these white chocolate cookies.
I can't give exact measurements on this crumble, as I kind of make it just with rough judging.

I still try my best and tell you what I used:

For the crumble mixture:

• 2 tbsp of ground almonds
• 2 tbsp of oats (I used my porridge oats)
• 2 heaped tbsp of flour
• 3 tbsp brown sugar
• roughly 100 g cold cubed butter
• pinch of salt

For the fruits:

• 3 ripe but not over pears
• a large handful of frozen raspberries
• 20 g grated white chocolate
• 1 tbsp flour
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• optional: 1 tbsp caster sugar

And how to make it:

• first heat the oven to 175 °C (no fan)
• then make the crumble mixture: mix all the dry ingredients in a bowl together
• then, with you hands, rub the diced cold butter in there until you get a crumbly texture
• if too dry, add more butter, if too wet, add more flour
• then onto the fruit: peel and core the pears and cut into small pieces
• in a bowl mix with the lemon juice and the flour
• if your pears are rather sour, you can add some sugar here, I prefer however not to do that
• fill your pear mixture into the bottom of an oven proof dish
• top with a layer of frozen raspberries, then sprinkle with white chocolate (any chocolate will do)
• now evenly distribute your crumble mix, make sure to cover the fruit to the rim of the dish
• put in the oven and bake for 45 mins or until the top is golden brown and the fruit is bubbling
• and now serve up straight from the oven
• add some cream, ice cream, or vanilla sauce

I have mine pure as it is and I have to hold back not to finish the whole dish at once :-)

Have a lovely week everybody!

White chocolate chip cookies

Hello there!

Weekend is approaching and I was again in need of chocolate (Don't ask me why...). Cookies are a yummy treat and I usually don't make them as they will just dissappear into thin air shortly after backing...

These ones are definitely among my favorites. For the cups I use a 200 mL coffee mug.



Ingredients:

• 125 g unsalted butter at room temperature
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup caster sugar
• 1 vanilla sugar (or 1 tsp vanilla extract)
• 1 large egg or two small ones
• 1/3 cup unsweatened cocoa
• 1 cup flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• as much roughly chopped white chocolate as you like, I use 1 bar of 150 g

And how it works:

• heat the oven to 175 °C (no fan)
• beat the butter until soft, add both sugars and the vanilla and beat until fluffy
• next add the egg and stir well
• add the cocoa and mix, then sift in the flour, baking powder and salt, mix well
• now carefully fold in the chopped chocolate
• spoon out roughly one tbsp of dough onto a baking tray lined with grease-proof paper
• make sure to leave some space between the heaps
• now, with damp hands, pat the dough slightly down
• bake for 15-18 mins, not more, the cookies will first look slightly underdone, but they are good, believe me
• let cool on the tray for a bit and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely
• as a tip, the cookies are really good when still a bit warm!

Enjoy with a cup of tea or a cup of coffee!

Chocolate Cupcakes with Peanutbutter Frosting

Yay, it's Oscar night. And since I still have free time, I can watch it without feeling guilty and be completely overtired the next day. I am not sure I manage the whole show, but I will try my very best. Also, it is time to celebrate one of my favourite flavour combinations, so I will have something to snack on tonight :-)
It is chocolate and peanut butter and it is about time I came along with a new cupcake recipe.




Ingredients for the cupcakes:

• 125 g butter
• 125 g sugar
• 125 g flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 2 medium free range eggs
• 2 tbsp cocoa powder
• 1 tbsp vanilla sugar/vanilla extract
• 4 tbsp milk

And how to make them:

• beat the butter until creamy
• add sugar, flour, baking powder, vanilla, and cocoa and mix
• add the eggs, for extra fluffyness you can also separate the eggs and whip the eggwhites before carefully folding them in with the rest
• add the milk
• spoon into muffin tin (with muffin papers)
• bake in a preheated oven at 190 °C for 20-25 mins.

Now on to the frosting:

• I only give rough directions as I never measure it out...
• take 2 large tbsp of creamy peanut butter and equal amounts of butter and whip until soft and creamy
• add a pinch of salt
• now slowly add icing sugar while constant whipping until you have the consistency you are looking for
• then add a bit more icing sugar, so that it looks a bit too dry
• now add a little bit of milk and bring it back to a smooth paste
• that's it

Once the cupcakes are cooled, add the frosting in any style you like and top with some crushed peanuts. I use the roastes salted one to have a bit of contrast to the very sweet buttercream frosting. It's a bit like salted caramel. But you might as well use unsalted ones or leave them out completely.

And now, the winner is....

Cakes, Cakes, Cakes - Marmorkuchen/Marble Cake

After finishing my teaching job, I wanted to say thank you to my teaching colleagues. What could be better than a home-baked cake. For this occasion I wanted to get back to a standard cake here in Germany as I haven't baked one of those in ages: Marble cake!

I loved it as a child and it is so easy to do...

Ingredients:

• 3 medium eggs
• 150 g caster sugar
• 150 mL oil (rape seed is good here)
• 250 g flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 150g full fat yoghurt
• 2 tbsp cocoa powder

And how to do it:

• beat the egg and slowly add sugar
• after you have obtained a light texture, slowly add the oil while stirring
• next combine the flour, backing powder and yoghurt and add to the egg mixture
• now line the baking tin with grease-proof paper or grease the tin thoroughly
• add half of the batter, then add the cocoa to the rest and mix
• layer the dark batter on top of the light one and marble both carefully with a knife
• now bake in a pre-heated oven at 200 °C for 40-45 mins.
• once cooled, either dust with icing sugar or cover with a chocolate coat

I hope you enjoy this, simple and so good :-)

Bärentatzen

Hi there,

in the process of christmas baking, there are a few more recipes coming up soon. This one is fairly easy and not particularly made for X-Mas, but I thought I'd share nonetheless. I don't know, if there is an english name, so if any of you native english speakers recognise the cookies and have a name for them, pls let me know!










So, the few ingredients needed:

• 250 g butter (is essential here, no margarine!)
• 175 g caster sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp vanilla extract (oder ein Vanillezucker)
• 75 g blanched ground almonds
• 175 g all-purpose flour
• 175 g starch
• 150 g dark chocolate
• 150 g nougat

and how to make them:

• mix butter and sugar until creamy, then add the egg and the almonds
• mix flour and starch, add slowly to the butter mixture
• add vanilla extract
• get the dough into a piping bag and pipe out on grease-proof paper, shape should resemble the paw of a bear
• get in the pre-heated oven at 180 °C (fan) and bake for 8-10 mins.
• once cooled, find pairs that match and spread molten nougat on one bottom-side and top with the second one
• dip half in molten chocolate and let cool
• alternatively you can leave out the nougat and just dip them into the chocolates, both versions are scrummy (as Mary Berry would say...)

Enjoy!

Peanutbutter-Chocolate Ganache

After a turbulent few days, I was desperately in need of some sweet treat. I stumbled over a "Sunday recipe" by Nigella Lawson, however, ot was sunday and I had no ice cream in the freezer.
So I decided to change her recipe slightly and make a ganache out of the sauce.








The Ingredients:

• 100 mL of whipping cream
• 100g of Crème double
• 2 big spoon full of creamy peanut butter
• 100 g good quality milk chocolate (or dark, if you prefer)
• 3 tbsp golden syrup/honey

And how to make it - very simple!

• break up the chocolate, put all ingredients in a sauce pan and bring together until completely molten
• whisk until smooth, if the mixture splits, whisk more
• let cool, ready to use!

So, now I was standing there with my yummy ganache, but what to do with it? First I thought, it would go perfectly well as a filling for a tarte. I will certainly try this at some point. However, I fancied something else, something really sweet... So, see in the next entry, what came up to my mind!

Chocolate Crinkle Cookies

Picture by F. Meier

This recipe comes from Franzi and I must say, the picture is making my mouth watering.. so, here the recipe:








Ingredients

• 4oz (125g) unsweetened chocolate, chopped
• 1/4 cup (60g) unsalted butter
• 1.5 cups (235g) all-purpose plain flour
• 1/2 cup (45g) Dutch-process cocoa powder
• 2 tbsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 4 large eggs
• 2 cups (500g) granulated sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract or half a vanilla bean
• 1.5 cups (280g) miniature semisweet plain chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup (60g) confectioner's icing sugar

And the Method:

• Place the chocolate and butter in the top of a double boiler placed over barely simmering water. Heat, stirring often, until the butter and chocolate melt. Remove from over the water and set aside to cool slightly. In a bowl, stir together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
• In a large bow, combine the eggs, granulated sugar, and vanilla. Beat until light in color and thick, about 3 minutes. Stir in the melted chocolate mixture until blended. Add the dry ingredients and beat until incorporated. Stir in the chocolate chips. Cover the bowl and refrigerate until the dough is firm enough to roll into balls, about 2 h.
• Preheat the oven to 165 degC. Line two rimless baking sheets with baking paper. Sift the icing sugar into a small bowl.
• To form each cookie, roll a rounded tbsp of dough between your palms into a 4 cm ball, and roll the ball in the icing sugar. PLace the cookies 7.5 cm apart on the prepared baking sheets.
• Bake the cookies, 1 sheet at a time, until the tops are puffed and crinkled and feel firm when lightly touched, 13-17 min. Let the cookies cook on the baking sheet for 5 min, then transfer the cookies to wire racks to cool completely.

I will try them asap, but I am sure they are as delicious as they look!

Chocolate Spread Cupcakes - Nussnougat Cupcakes

Here is another cupcake recipe which I just tried. It is very simple and quick, so give it a go!







 Ingredients:

• 100 g soft butter or margarine
• 120 g caster sugar
• 2 eggs
• 80 g plain flour
• 40 g ground almonds
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp cocoa powder
• 90 g chocolate spread (nutella does well here )


And how to make them:

• preheat oven to 170 degC
• stir butter and sugar until creamy
• add one egg after another and mix with an electric whisk
• mix flour, almonds, baking powder and cocoa and mix with the butter cream
• last add the chocolate spread
• distribute evenly between 12 paper cups and bake in a muffin tray for 20 mins.

• let cool completely
• for the frosting mix 150 g of cream cheese with 60 g of chocolate spread and distribute the mixture over the cool cupcakes

You can also use whipped cream or mascarpone cheese as topping. Since the cakes themselves are rather sweet, don't add too much sugar to the frosting. They are tasty enough even without any frosting.

Chocolate Snaps

Dark Chocolate Snaps with Pistacchios

To begin with, a really quick and lovely way of treating chocolate - chocolate snaps.
I love them in dark with chopped salted pistacchios topping, but I think any sort of chocolate and nut would work. How about milk chocolates with haselnuts or white chocolates with almonds?
This is how I make them:

• Melt 100 g of good quality chocolate over hot water. Don't stirr too much, otherwise it'll split and get grainy
• When melted, pour with a teaspoon small circles (I do about 2-3 cm in diameter) on grease proof paper
• Before cooled, top with chopped nuts
• Let cool well before eating, I usually put them in the freezer for 10 mins or so
• Keep in the fridge

Mine won't keep long though :-) I usually add some ground cardamom or some vanilla pods, depending on the chocolate, but this is to your own taste.
I hope all chocolate lovers will try and enjoy this simple recipe as much as I do.