tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52948566158527370632024-03-05T23:26:26.555-08:00Cupcake TraineeA Swedish girl deep diving into the world of cake... and sharing the Swedish blog-world's recipes with the internationals.Cupcake Traineehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04927790581279683382noreply@blogger.comBlogger42125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5294856615852737063.post-3303035904046577052013-06-28T23:12:00.000-07:002013-06-28T23:12:00.891-07:00Chewy Maple Almondbutter CookiesChewy Maple Almondbutter Cookies - AMAZING!<br />
That's the short version. The longer version goes something like this..<br />
<br />
So I'm currently on vacation in the States and being the foodie that I am, I have to try as many things as possible, so I ended up with this Raw Maple Almondbutter that I planned on using on my morning oats, yoghurt etc. but it turned out that Raw Maple Almondbutter isn't near as exciting as it sounds. Compared to peanutbutter it is really bland actually. So what do I do? I can't just toss it, no way! So off to one of my foodie websites I went for inspiration and using a peanutbutter cookie recipe I created this one and who would have thought. Bland Raw Maple Almondbutter is actually not so bland in cookies. These cookies turned out so nice and chewy. Halfway between Maple Almondbutter cookie dough and Maple Almondbutter cookies. I like to say that, can you tell? So here they are: Chewy nommy Maple Almondbutter Cookies! <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFT418vBHuLzPHLeO87lXiksPrB3Z4BemuPM4ete5SBgLKVg7ggaN84KqyRNCR6iCg-THuRb1zA6bPu5l-a1QarFyMKJB-zzY1nFdgGuuebX1UZUB_wzEWwc3dN-gVBtcCImHjx-ee_g15/s1600/IMAG0264.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="191" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFT418vBHuLzPHLeO87lXiksPrB3Z4BemuPM4ete5SBgLKVg7ggaN84KqyRNCR6iCg-THuRb1zA6bPu5l-a1QarFyMKJB-zzY1nFdgGuuebX1UZUB_wzEWwc3dN-gVBtcCImHjx-ee_g15/s320/IMAG0264.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Chewy Maple Almondbutter Cookies</b><br />
0.4 Cup Raw Maple Almondbutter<br />
1/2 to 2/3 stick of butter(or about 75g)<br />
0.45 Cup White Granulated Sugar<br />
0.45 Cup Light Brown Sugar(Muscovado sugar)<br />
1 egg<br />
100g about chocolate(coarsly chopped or chocolate chips - I eyeballed it)<br />
1 Cup White All Purpose Flour<br />
2 tsp vanilla extract(imitation works just fine)<br />
1/2 tsp baking soda<br />
<br />
Whit a handmixer(or whatever you like to use) whisk butter, Raw Maple Almondbutter, Sugar and Light Brown sugar until soft and well incorporated.<br />
Add the egg and mix until incorporated.<br />
Add the chocolate, flour, vanilla and bakingsoda until just combined.<br />
Form the batter into 2-3 turds the length of your baking tray and flatten them to no more than 1/2 an inch thick.<br />
Bake at 400F for 8-10 minutes depending on how chewy you like them. They're done when the edges begin to brown.<br />
Let the long flat turds of cookies cool for a little while(but not cool completely) and then cut them crosswise like in the picture. Cupcake Traineehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04927790581279683382noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5294856615852737063.post-76640507551793063272013-06-10T14:55:00.001-07:002013-06-10T14:55:32.191-07:00Simple but Beautiful Cake Decoration<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
I have been making alot of cakes lately. First the graduation cakes, then another cake for a birthday. It was alot of work, but oh so fun. I really can sit all day and just fiddle with details. It's both stressful and relaxing at the same time. :p Here's a picture of the last cake that I made. It's a very simple and easy to make cake and cake decoration, but still pretty good looking if I may say so myself. ;p</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsgglPJGWlKQml68SHf-LoVVyxPqr2MB20P-xfx7-u-vZrYs_XIqXF0icbjn770Q47LUWczQa2zqAcC2skse9pUzGHSE9UUnEtHJsgNEoFQsdzcH2CbQ8npwNtky3tbVy_UUIld5-XcHRZ/s1600/IMAG0142.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="191" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsgglPJGWlKQml68SHf-LoVVyxPqr2MB20P-xfx7-u-vZrYs_XIqXF0icbjn770Q47LUWczQa2zqAcC2skse9pUzGHSE9UUnEtHJsgNEoFQsdzcH2CbQ8npwNtky3tbVy_UUIld5-XcHRZ/s320/IMAG0142.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
I really enjoyed having time to pay attention to the little details. Much different than producing several identical cake in a short time. Both is fun and rewarding in their own ways though.</div>
Cupcake Traineehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04927790581279683382noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5294856615852737063.post-72920292996846177452013-05-09T13:31:00.000-07:002013-05-09T13:31:41.859-07:00Zebra Tiger CakeZebra cake, or white tiger cake? I couldn't decide! Today was spent flavour testing for a future order. While I was making a cake anyway, I couldn't help but play around with the decoration as well.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8kJHsI8n3JwQKwclrfaecxEZzgkHhSPJPSqcvd0MGRVxcB3y73ICQFyapJhCSYBjF-QYwyCGCPMkSPOmiePCfyzOMG6an9B208zOBg3P9OuQx0S1okoSn_waqZpbIkXMe9h0HTOyy_rZC/s1600/IMAG2799.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="191" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8kJHsI8n3JwQKwclrfaecxEZzgkHhSPJPSqcvd0MGRVxcB3y73ICQFyapJhCSYBjF-QYwyCGCPMkSPOmiePCfyzOMG6an9B208zOBg3P9OuQx0S1okoSn_waqZpbIkXMe9h0HTOyy_rZC/s320/IMAG2799.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chocolate Blueberry Vanilla-custard Cake</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Isn't it just too adorable?<br />
<br />
The blueberry curd I used for this cake is <b>amazing</b>!<br />
<br />
225 g blueberries<br />
1 lemon(zest and juice of)<br />
2 dl sugar<br />
2 tbsp vanilla sugar(or 1 tbsp of vanilla extract?) <br />
50 g butter<br />
2 eggs<br />
<br />
Put the blueberries and lemon zest and juice in a pot and boil on medium-low for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.<br />
Strain the mixture through a sieve into a glass bowl. Use the back of a spoon to work it through. Toss the peels.<br />
Put the glass bowl over a simmering pot. Add sugar, vanilla, butter and eggs to the glass bowl and stir continuously for about 20-30 minutes or until the mixture is nice and thick.<br />
<br />
If you are unsure whether your curd is done or not, you can test by putting a small amount on a plate and put in the fridge for a few minutes before you check the consistency.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUqcMCvXotBYTCG6KnonZaCvIxFTTDaSf_TbnT_YioMES1s6aBZk7gO3qsoXc-rStEhn6U-Yt13_eXaDRf_xmIy2-EIIOYIy_DmqBClas1yQ_UHyEt9tgz1LdMTcTalUJVr6LPiub65ovZ/s1600/IMAG2808.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="191" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUqcMCvXotBYTCG6KnonZaCvIxFTTDaSf_TbnT_YioMES1s6aBZk7gO3qsoXc-rStEhn6U-Yt13_eXaDRf_xmIy2-EIIOYIy_DmqBClas1yQ_UHyEt9tgz1LdMTcTalUJVr6LPiub65ovZ/s320/IMAG2808.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />Cupcake Traineehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04927790581279683382noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5294856615852737063.post-17588707478307660232013-04-18T15:57:00.000-07:002013-04-18T15:57:00.159-07:00BiskviThis is a very interesting cookie/pastry. It's originally from france, but if you try to look it up there doesn't seem to be any english name for it and it seems alot of people outisde of Sweden have never heard of, or eaten a biskvi. This is crazy because they're delicious beyond imagination! The base cookie crispy yet sticky chewy like toffee, topped with delicious buttercream and finally dipped in chocolate. It's like someone took all the best things of the baking world and put in one cookie.<br />
<br />
Since this is a 3 step cookie I have mixed and matched my favorite recipes and created a completely awesome combo of chewy base, a light and fluffy french buttercream with the tiniest hint of salt and finally some dark chocolate on top.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfBqzbpkhJ5U4Nhv5OK1Whyvc71BdHA-DwHlloLTufRLK86kK0P8Og96ZHmSqGaFrWAbMuaq85FpGzD9kqQnqvgUHdTSDiNuPZWo4SlBZbbNdp6AnCaIgSP9WjbBS6AUYDmL1C_-IihmJY/s1600/IMAG2633.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="191" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfBqzbpkhJ5U4Nhv5OK1Whyvc71BdHA-DwHlloLTufRLK86kK0P8Og96ZHmSqGaFrWAbMuaq85FpGzD9kqQnqvgUHdTSDiNuPZWo4SlBZbbNdp6AnCaIgSP9WjbBS6AUYDmL1C_-IihmJY/s320/IMAG2633.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<b>Biskvier:</b><br />
<br />
<b>The Base:</b><br />
400 g almond paste<br />
200 g sugar<br />
100 g egg whites(keep the yolks)<br />
<br />
Preheat oven to 180C.<br />
Mix the almond paste with the sugar until incorporated. If you, like me, have a pretty weak mixer you might want to use your hands for this.<br />
Mix in the egg whites, just a little bit at a time until you get a good consistensy. This can be a little tricky. It has to be soft enough to be pipable but not so soft that it just leaves puddles on your baking tray. If you try to make a peak in the batter it should slowly sink back into the rest of the batter, but not all the way. There should still be some lines left.<br />
<br />
Pipe the batter onto baking trays, think 4 cm diameter coins.<br />
Leave plenty of room between each cookie because they will expand.<br />
Bake for about 12 minutes or until golden brown.<br />
If they sink too much in the middle, you either made them too big or they were not done.<br />
Cool the cookies on the tray and then stick the whole tray(or baking sheet) in the freezer. This way you can get them off the tray without ruining them.<br />
<br />
<b>The french buttercream:</b><br />
170 g sugar<br />
200 g water<br />
160 g egg yolks<br />
450 g butter(<b>not </b>unsalted)<br />
50-100 g dark chocolate <br />
<br />
Measure out your egg yolks and your butter.<br />
Put the sugar and water in a pot, preferably a wider one(it's quicker).<br />
Gently heat the sugar and water while stirring until all the sugar is dissolved.<br />
Continue to eat on medium without too much stirring until the syrup is at 106C(you can also test by putting some syrup between your thumb and index finger. If you get a string when you pull them apart then the syrup is ready).<br />
When the syrup is almost done, put the egg yolks in your mixer and whip until foamy.<br />
When the syrup is done, gently stream it into the egg yolks while the mixer is running. Avoid getting syrup on the side of the bowl. Mix until fully incorporated.<br />
Slowly add your butter in small blobs. It might look like the mixture is curdling, but be patient and it should come together. Mix well between each addition of butter.<br />
Carefully melt the chocolate in the microwave. Stop your kitchen robot, quickly dump the chocolate into the buttercream - make sure it doesnt hit the side of the bowl, and turn the machine back on. <br />
Whip until well incorporated and then stick it in the fridge for a while to help it set.<br />
<br />
<b>For the chocolate cover:</b><br />
400 g dark chocolate<br />
canola oil<br />
<br />
Assembly:<br />
Flip your cookies upside down and pipe a generous blob of buttercream on the bottom of each cookie.<br />
Stick the cookies in the freezer for about 10 minutes.<br />
<br />
Melt your chocolate on as low heat as your patience allows. If the chocolate is too thick for good dunkin add some canola oil. A few teaspoons to a tablespoon should do the trick.<br />
Dip the buttercream side of each cookie into the chocolate, making sure it fully covers the buttercream and the entire bottomside of the cookie, right up to the edge.<br />
Let any excess run off and leave on a tray or rack to set. <br />
<br />
And there you have it. Alot of steps and takes a while to finish, but I have never met anyone who hasn't been all over these things. If you're in need of some good therapy-time in the kitchen then these cookies are well orth the effort!Cupcake Traineehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04927790581279683382noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5294856615852737063.post-80065192872074313672013-04-11T15:12:00.000-07:002013-04-11T15:12:00.955-07:00Strawberry CheesecakeOk so I had to share this one too. This cheesecake was the best I can remember ever eating. Though, I don't eat cheesecake all that often. Usually not even once a year! It's not something I'm proud of but there you have it. A baker that fails at eating cake..<br />
<br />
This cheesecake had the perfect ooey gooey texture that just makes you want to eat more and more and more.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHPhQhMW63DEqEe0OSgr2Txb2yK_D1B39GrG3Owkp0hG0U_njCMwvRCHMkvgaoI3lf36gPu_qAgVSnM8waqxpv2AaOOC8nATYRMfmhr02owwzbDnnAcKWThNx0zQGU_mHOYV3CteX-hkN6/s1600/IMAG2524.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="191" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHPhQhMW63DEqEe0OSgr2Txb2yK_D1B39GrG3Owkp0hG0U_njCMwvRCHMkvgaoI3lf36gPu_qAgVSnM8waqxpv2AaOOC8nATYRMfmhr02owwzbDnnAcKWThNx0zQGU_mHOYV3CteX-hkN6/s320/IMAG2524.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
Double Strawberry Cheesecake:<br />
<br />
Crust:<br />
200g digestive cookies<br />
100g butter, melted<br />
<br />
Filling:<br />
700g full fat philadelphia<br />
1 tsp vanilla sugar(or extract)<br />
1 1/4 dl sugar<br />
3 eggs<br />
80g frozen strawberries, defrosted<br />
strawberry jam<br />
<br />
Blend or crush the digestive cookies and mix them with the melted butter.<br />
Press the mixture into a medium-small springform and chill for about 30 minutes.<br />
<br />
Preheat oven to 150C.<br />
Whip the philadelphia, vanilla and sugar until smooth.<br />
Add the eggs one at a time and don't forget to scrape down the bowl.<br />
Gently fold the defrosted berries into the mix.<br />
Put about half of the mix into your springform.<br />
Gently spread a layed of strawberry jam on top, not too thick.<br />
Add the other half of the cheesecake mix on top of the strawberry jam.<br />
Bake for about 35-40 minutes or until it's slithly browned in the middle and a little bit darker around the edges.<br />
<br />
If you don't want it to crack, wrap the bottom of the springform in aluminum and put it in a deep baking tray that you fill with water about half way up the side of the spring form. Bake it like this. <br />
<br />Cupcake Traineehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04927790581279683382noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5294856615852737063.post-82820284725982896872013-04-04T15:47:00.000-07:002013-04-04T15:47:00.952-07:00The Perfect Oatmeal CookieI've been on a hunt for these cookies for a long time. Ultimately I'm looking for the perfect subway cookie copycat recipe, but I came across these and they're nice and chewy and yummy AND so easy to make. Works for me!<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNjWxRsHj5XaMShawc-R1JDkeLhD3L_JZukRWLMzfQHoIjjasEHyw-ExeIufUg7jLyOtf8esykpWiQnoqyeYmXiCvmVf4THIB1d4hubpaL3m745anGiZYeekixZvBNgpRfiH3srJ7s5U55/s1600/IMAG2484.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="191" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNjWxRsHj5XaMShawc-R1JDkeLhD3L_JZukRWLMzfQHoIjjasEHyw-ExeIufUg7jLyOtf8esykpWiQnoqyeYmXiCvmVf4THIB1d4hubpaL3m745anGiZYeekixZvBNgpRfiH3srJ7s5U55/s320/IMAG2484.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
<b>Chewy Oatmeal Cookies: </b><br />
<br />
150g margarine<br />
1 1/2 dl sugar<br />
1 1/2 dl raisins<br />
3 dl oatmeal(not instant)<br />
1 1/2 dl flour<br />
1 tsp baking soda<br />
<br />
Mix all dry ingredients in a bowl.<br />
Add the butter and work it til you get a dough-like mix.<br />
Spoon out and roll each portion to a ball and flatten it on the tray.<br />
Bake at 175C until the cookies melt down a little and just start to brown around the edges - about 10 minutes, but do not over bake if you want them nice and chewy!Cupcake Traineehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04927790581279683382noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5294856615852737063.post-60381458897902430962013-03-28T15:18:00.000-07:002013-03-28T15:18:54.491-07:00Pumpkin CheesecakeI made this for my love on his birthday since he loves pumpkin pie and cheesecake and so pumpkin cheesecake wins any day in his book.<br />
<br />
I made another cheesecake a while back and to be honest I liked that one much better. This one was a little more creamy and less sticky-cheesecakey which is how I like it, but it had a good pumpkin flavour and my lover ate the whole thing almost by himself. It was his cake afterall! ;p<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXY5cLhKbyyL2l8-Q9ESTwYbxDwSCmyS2Qwdj6BBHupsF76rczQqxH7-ThB2W4QUFq7pxWwqnCz-N4Z85i7wt-8t2oSdyA9ZfgvzqinZ3fMfeFspaK0-WUzYw5ffAbQmsD1XLjIgFeMeYr/s1600/IMAG2630.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="191" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXY5cLhKbyyL2l8-Q9ESTwYbxDwSCmyS2Qwdj6BBHupsF76rczQqxH7-ThB2W4QUFq7pxWwqnCz-N4Z85i7wt-8t2oSdyA9ZfgvzqinZ3fMfeFspaK0-WUzYw5ffAbQmsD1XLjIgFeMeYr/s320/IMAG2630.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
Pumpkin Cheesecake:<br />
<br />
Crust:<br />
1 ½ cups digestive cookie crumbs<br />
1/3 cup margarine, melted<br />
1/4 cup sugar<br />
<br />
Mix all 3 ingredients in a bowl, then press it into a medium sized spring form pan.<br />
Bake at 175C for 8 minutes, dont let it brown. Cool while you make the filling.<br />
<br />
Filling:<br />
673 g philadelphia<br />
1 cup sugar<br />
1/4 cup lightly packed light brown sugar<br />
2 eggs<br />
1 small can pumpkin puree(420g)<br />
2/3 cup sweetened condensed milk<br />
2 tbsp corn starch<br />
1 1/4 tsp cinnamon<br />
1/2 tsp nutmeg<br />
<br />
Beat the cream cheese, sugar and brown sugar until fluffy. Beat in the eggs, pumpkin and condensed milk. Add corn starch, cinnamon and nutmeg and beat well until really mixed.<br />
Poor filling into crust and bake for 50-60 minutes until the edges are set but the center still jiggles slightly.<br />
Let the cake cool and stick in the fridge over night.<br />
<br />
If you dont want the cheesecake to crack while you bake it, cover the bottom of the springform in tinfoil and put in a deeper oven tray. Fill the tray with water so that it comes about halfway up the sides on the springform.Cupcake Traineehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04927790581279683382noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5294856615852737063.post-13485709232843137252012-11-21T15:25:00.000-08:002012-11-21T15:25:29.859-08:00The Cookie Monster CupcakesNoone who is interested in baking could possibly miss the cookie monster cupcakes that are all over the web. And why shouldn't they be? They're adorable, look professional and so easy to make, so I went to the store to pick up a few things needed, but to my surprise there were NO blue sprinkles or mint kisses or anything that could make eyes. So I created a monster...<br />
<br />
...behold cookie monster's girlfriend!<br />
<br />
I haven't come up with a good name for her yet, but isn't she pretty? ;)<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2pzxERHFrXfse7a-PiMSylbiK2_ux8q-iu2z3wCP6FFDWlKq1nDb2a3CUEbYY-wCoLS3L2fLShx6mGgzcZG7L5cIkH9DJWwlnREGL7l1t24FxehD_SyQJUEXKX2mhm0fF9PuuhMWhUSwU/s1600/IMAG2205.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2pzxERHFrXfse7a-PiMSylbiK2_ux8q-iu2z3wCP6FFDWlKq1nDb2a3CUEbYY-wCoLS3L2fLShx6mGgzcZG7L5cIkH9DJWwlnREGL7l1t24FxehD_SyQJUEXKX2mhm0fF9PuuhMWhUSwU/s320/IMAG2205.jpg" width="191" /></a></div>
<br />
I used a random good chocolate cupcake recipe that I had close by, covered them in pink vanilla butter cream, dunked in strawberry sprinkles and used white buttercream and non-stops for eyes. Simple. =)<br />
Cutting the chocolate cookie in half proved to turn out the best, and leaves you with chunks of broken cookies to snack on!Cupcake Traineehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04927790581279683382noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5294856615852737063.post-74808275994118894602012-11-14T07:40:00.000-08:002012-11-14T07:40:00.797-08:00Pumpkin pieSo I finally went around and made my first pumpkin pie. I've only had pumpkin pie once in my life so I was unsure how this would turn out, and what a normal pumpkin pie should look like when it's done and so on. I have to say that I'm pretty pleased with the results. It's been a long time since I <b>really</b> enjoyed one of my own pies this much.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOoQVglQBUwF635NruiwQAs_FcYbZlBauBpLxkw_b5VXqFsb033hnU78zmEBwYHNkjJtsjWAnud3duKj_yJsqL88M1-WxT1_lRkMyyfriTnFh7ff7kWCYOC-fk8MeXxN3fa_-UC0g0l0A4/s1600/IMAG2134.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="191" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOoQVglQBUwF635NruiwQAs_FcYbZlBauBpLxkw_b5VXqFsb033hnU78zmEBwYHNkjJtsjWAnud3duKj_yJsqL88M1-WxT1_lRkMyyfriTnFh7ff7kWCYOC-fk8MeXxN3fa_-UC0g0l0A4/s320/IMAG2134.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
Pie crust:<br />
3 dl flour<br />
200 gram butter<br />
3-4 tbsp water<br />
<br />
Mix flour and butter.<br />
Add water until good consistency.<br />
Wrap and store in fridge until it's time to roll.<br />
<br />
Pumpkin filling:<br />
750 gram pumpkin<br />
1/2 dl brown sugar<br />
1/2 dl sugar<br />
1/2 tsp salt<br />
1 tsp cinnamon<br />
1/2 tsp ginger<br />
1/2 tsp nutmeg<br />
2 eggs<br />
3 dl half & half<br />
<br />
Dig out the seeds and everything unwanted from the pumpkin, cut off the skin. Chop the meat into chunks. Try to make sure that you have about 750 gram of pumpkin chunks. Put the pumpkin in a pot and boil for about 20 minutes. Drain the water and puré the pumpkin meat.<br />
<br />
Mix pumpkin puré, brown sugar, sugar, salt, cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg in a bowl.<br />
Whisk together eggs and half&half then add it to the pumpkin mixture.<br />
<br />
Line a pie dish that is about 20 cm in diameter with pie dough, not too thick. Pour in the pumpkin pie filling.<br />
Bake for 15 minutes at 250 C then another 40-45 minutes on 200 C.<br />
<br />
If your pie, like mine, gets too much color towards the end - cover it with tinfoil but make sure that the tinfol does not touch the top of the pie or it might stick to it. I solved this by putting a rack in the oven and placing the tinfoil on that.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Cupcake Traineehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04927790581279683382noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5294856615852737063.post-20644464700064793532012-11-07T07:25:00.000-08:002012-11-07T07:25:26.718-08:00Day of the Mudcakes!Today is the day of the mudcakes, kladdkakans dag.<br />
<br />
I didn't know this until after I made this cake but now that I do I just have to share it with you.<br />
When I was testin out another type of cake in the kitchen I had some pie crust dough left over and I felt the need to get creative so I pulled out my little portion sized creme brulé cups and went for it.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijeZeSsimMPkdNKbGObE-dt1g2Y75j2trvG_Re0uNrjC67wBuQp4Md1EzvSO0HjZrNX2xfahtv-RHHKP4rgQmpxd_p6-8lLfWKRCI0v1bZDlfqcLPaivTDp7yGFbumBOdg_q76Bh4AqysT/s1600/IMAG2137.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="191" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijeZeSsimMPkdNKbGObE-dt1g2Y75j2trvG_Re0uNrjC67wBuQp4Md1EzvSO0HjZrNX2xfahtv-RHHKP4rgQmpxd_p6-8lLfWKRCI0v1bZDlfqcLPaivTDp7yGFbumBOdg_q76Bh4AqysT/s320/IMAG2137.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
Pie crust:<br />
1 dl flour<br />
70 gram butter<br />
1 tbsp water<br />
<br />
Mix flour and butter.<br />
Add water until you have a good consitency.<br />
Wrap and store in the fridge. <br />
<br />
Mud cake filling:<br />
1 dl sugar<br />
1 egg<br />
1/2 tsp vanilla sugar<br />
50 gram butter<br />
1/2 dl flour<br />
1 1/2 tbsp cocoa<br />
pinch of salt<br />
<br />
50 gram chopped dark chocolate<br />
<br />
Whisk together eggs, sugar and vanilla sugar until white and fluffy.<br />
Add flour, cocoa and salt and mix until combined. Add the butter.<br />
<br />
Chop the chocolate into fairly large chunks and set aside.<br />
<br />
Take your pie dough and line four small portion sized, oven safe cups. You will probably have some dough left over.<br />
Divide the chocolate batter between the four cups and sprinkle the chocolate chunks on top.<br />
<br />
Bake at 175 C for about 15 minutes. Let cool, preferably over night, before serving.Cupcake Traineehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04927790581279683382noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5294856615852737063.post-83557959961557180372012-06-17T11:47:00.003-07:002012-06-17T11:47:55.292-07:00Why complicate things? SugarpasteI've seen stores that sell special trays and tools for putting your cut out sugarpaste flowers and such on while they dry up and harden. Some people are clever enough to use empty egg cartons. That works well with larger flowers, but with the smaller ones it can be hard to get them back out without breaking them and the depth of the box can make the flower look odd - like the petals are out to get you!<br />
<br />
This time my solution was this: have you ever seen the really tiny cups, not the ones for mini cupcakes but the really really small ones? I always end up storing a box of them for years way back in my cupboard - there are just so many of them in one package! So i grabbed a few and flattened them out leaving just enough depth to make the perfectly curved sugarpaste flowers. No fuss. =)<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJfaCXcy44oBuMkakFecrcrt5ZfNhlQNPUowa3PP5qI4VyyMxu23Fq3qE-dVlQcuMRMblU04d-BEZPU1k94UTKZaJaMiW7Au5YMkSNPlDvHNsoiXyPpIw8m4jVW5twjOnSCUo9Icq0fHOv/s1600/IMAG0138.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="191" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJfaCXcy44oBuMkakFecrcrt5ZfNhlQNPUowa3PP5qI4VyyMxu23Fq3qE-dVlQcuMRMblU04d-BEZPU1k94UTKZaJaMiW7Au5YMkSNPlDvHNsoiXyPpIw8m4jVW5twjOnSCUo9Icq0fHOv/s320/IMAG0138.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />Cupcake Traineehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04927790581279683382noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5294856615852737063.post-38097212319911529032012-06-15T13:18:00.001-07:002012-06-15T13:18:37.631-07:00Swedish bakes: SemlaIn Sweden we have some strange traditions. Don't get me wrong, I love most of them, but alot of our traditions seem to have slowly faded and all that's left of it is the tradition to eat a certain food on a certain day. This baked goodie is one of those things that most people don't remember why we eat it, they just eat it.<br />
<br />
Originally the Semla was eaten before or during the fast that led up to Easter. Some believe that it was invented during that same period by the exception that you were allowed to eat white bread during the fast. According to some, the people cheted on their fast by hiding other goods inside the bread - where noone could see it!<br />
<br />
A semla is a piece of white bread(bread roll) cut open, filled with almond paste and whippd cream and dusted with powder sugar. This recipe contains spelt flour and a home made sugar free almonst paste with hazelnut. I made this during my low-GI period that I had earlier this spring and they turned out pretty good. Definitely more filling than the original.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9zYrHSi0Msfg7qg-EWnBZBjQwm4yIBCi_Cx1bSJFtDEjrR6Aedf4Ub68xpZCycZkQ-O5pJHlZtDx1h9KkD6AfKNijunztCp7sZ2qHFyv2UO-aQhWmVFL1mHrM4BxHy4nRrj__ChjtYO47/s1600/dinkelbullar-gi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="203" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9zYrHSi0Msfg7qg-EWnBZBjQwm4yIBCi_Cx1bSJFtDEjrR6Aedf4Ub68xpZCycZkQ-O5pJHlZtDx1h9KkD6AfKNijunztCp7sZ2qHFyv2UO-aQhWmVFL1mHrM4BxHy4nRrj__ChjtYO47/s320/dinkelbullar-gi.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<b>Semla - bread:</b><br />
50g fresh yeast<br />
3 dl milk<br />
2 tsp sweetener(+ 1 tbsp of sugar to feed the yeast if you want them fluffy)<br />
75 g butter<br />
1 egg<br />
7 dl spelt flour<br />
1 dl whole meal spelt flour<br />
1 tsp whole cardamom<br />
1 egg to coat the buns<br />
<br />
<b>How to:</b><br />
Pestle the cardamom seeds. Heat the mlk to 37C. Dissolve the yeast in the milk.<br />
Add sweetener(and sugar), butter, a lightly pre-whisked egg, flour and cardamom. Work the dough until it's got the chewing gum consistensy(about 5 min with a machine). Cover the bowl and let rest for 30-60 minutes until it's about doubled in size.<br />
Split in 16 pieces and shape to balls. Put them on trays, cover and let rise for another 30 min.<br />
Set the oven to 250C, coat the buns with a lightly whisked egg. Put the bread in the oven and lower the temperature to 225C. Let them bake for about 10 min. They're done when they feel light of sound hollow if you tap the bottom.<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>Almond hazelnut paste:</b><br />
2 dl whole almonds<br />
0.5 dl whole hazelnuts<br />
1 egg white<br />
1 dl sweetener<br />
<br />
<b>How to:</b><br />
Boil some water and drop the almonds in for about 10-30 seconds. Take them out and let them cool just a little bit before you peel them by squeezing one of the ends of the almonds.<br />
Put <b>all</b> ingredients in a mixer and blend until smooth. Scrape down if needed. Pack the paste in plastic and shape into a log. Keep in the fridge until you're ready to use it.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6_Hf7MpNU5BzZf3XiGZKLSgoKTKbh6F87RL0INZz186PJ7cJxHKGwSh_L4STNRbuFEBy6MJcAAkmc00R46a_fPf15p2emXFyfPsGiYThaORdI_IKk-T_KJ86nkL59vJvGx1ggMHRGk9MI/s1600/IMAG0473.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="191" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6_Hf7MpNU5BzZf3XiGZKLSgoKTKbh6F87RL0INZz186PJ7cJxHKGwSh_L4STNRbuFEBy6MJcAAkmc00R46a_fPf15p2emXFyfPsGiYThaORdI_IKk-T_KJ86nkL59vJvGx1ggMHRGk9MI/s320/IMAG0473.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<b>Assembling:</b><br />
Whipping cream<br />
sweetener(or sugar)<br />
powder sugar<br />
(milk)<br />
<br />
<b>How to: </b><br />
Cut a the top off the bread.<br />
With a fork, scrape out a small hole in the bottom half of the bread. Mix the scraped out bread crumbs with <b>some</b> of the almond paste. I added some milk to my almond-bread mix to make it softer and easier to work with. Take some of the mixture and lightly squish it down into the hole in the bread roll.<br />
Whip up some whipping cream and sweeten it, either with sweeteners or with sugar. Pipe(or just splat) some whipped cream onto the bottom of the bread roll. Put the small lid back on, preferrably at an angle and dust your piece of art with some powder sugar.Cupcake Traineehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04927790581279683382noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5294856615852737063.post-61765546460783114462012-06-14T15:05:00.000-07:002012-06-14T15:05:52.772-07:00It's that time: graduationThe summer is definitely here. Yup.<br />
Every day I hear cars honking and beeping randomly, loudly, happily. For people have graduated! It's hopefully one of the best days of their lives.<br />
<br />
One of my best friend's mom asked me to bake the cakes for one of her daughters that is graduating this semester. I must say that it was a great honor that they trusted me with this task, instead of turning to a professional bakery and so I was very nervous!<br />
<br />
I have covered and decorated cakes before but let's be honest; covering dozens of cakes in a professional kitchen with professional tools and machines is no match. This however took some more skills and patience, but I did it! And I must say that I'm fairly satisfied with the result and befinitely proud that I pulled it off.<br />
<br />
The request for flavours were chocolate, vanilla and strawberry and for the decoration to be like a traditional Swedish graduation cap. When the mom tasted the cake she said it was the best cake she's ever eaten - that really warmed my heart. I better save the recipes in case she asks me to do it again. :p <br />
<br />
Here's what they ended up looking like:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzCc7rtjOCMagfOZjaHMNXcVJQV0DEZjrgyvCpNId9pNZRoqgLosqb45s8LZ3rhRoRZ3B0yDQxihNZ6qjYY5csfwXy73DRLZICiriX5kyGr6eSw6_iQu1p4WA0rUx1VDWGFi8RW5_rHnJs/s1600/IMG_0541.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzCc7rtjOCMagfOZjaHMNXcVJQV0DEZjrgyvCpNId9pNZRoqgLosqb45s8LZ3rhRoRZ3B0yDQxihNZ6qjYY5csfwXy73DRLZICiriX5kyGr6eSw6_iQu1p4WA0rUx1VDWGFi8RW5_rHnJs/s320/IMG_0541.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />Cupcake Traineehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04927790581279683382noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5294856615852737063.post-84087718539978614892012-05-28T11:40:00.000-07:002012-05-28T11:41:30.404-07:00Lemon CurdSo, what took me so long you ask? Everybody else has already gone bonkers over lemon curd and it's deliciousness. I have no good answer to that question, but this weekend it finally happened... and the bowl was scraped and licked empty(not by me, I promise).<br />
<br />
The recipe couldn't have been more simple. I found one that required no separating of eggs and no moment-of-thruth-omg-hurry-! steps. I urge you to try.<br />
<br />
All you need is to buy<br />
2 eggs<br />
1,5 dl sugar<br />
2 lemons<br />
50 g butter<br />
<br />
and <br />
<br />
Put a pot with some water on the stove, set on medium heat to simmer.<br />
Zest the lemons. Squeeze the lemonjuice.<br />
Add eggs, sugar and lemonjuice to a heatproof(metal) bowl, beat it lightly.<br />
Put the heat proof bowl over the simmering pot of water and whisk continiously until it thickens(about 10 minutes), don't let it boil(it will curdle).<br />
When it's thickened enough, pull it off the heat and add the butter, small cubes at a time. stir until the butter has completely melted.<br />
Set to cool.<br />
<br />
Ta da!<br />
That was hard, wasn't it? I know, right?<br />
<br />
Here's a picture of my first ever lemon curd. Sadly my camera doesn't handle yellows very well.. but it still looks mouth-watering nummy!<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_GCbgpepmLhxmAvBV-qITIriGL3uKe6VXfBZxNUGIwSEUGK0oODoTbCsfVOAE-qA9NO75BV_YDKTa4VC2gImLnQMxBfYgN9HWN7dN2KkFK_5x9fDXbLUqstKmjs1CbEoWxc006oiroN5B/s1600/IMAG0891-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="191" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_GCbgpepmLhxmAvBV-qITIriGL3uKe6VXfBZxNUGIwSEUGK0oODoTbCsfVOAE-qA9NO75BV_YDKTa4VC2gImLnQMxBfYgN9HWN7dN2KkFK_5x9fDXbLUqstKmjs1CbEoWxc006oiroN5B/s320/IMAG0891-1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
Oh, oh, I almost forgot!<br />
If you make this you HAVE to try it with fresh, sweet strawberries. There's no two ways about it! It's amazing! <3Cupcake Traineehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04927790581279683382noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5294856615852737063.post-56095559966342405282011-11-27T10:48:00.000-08:002011-11-27T10:53:29.536-08:00Frozen Candy Cane Cake and other romancesWhat should we talk about today? There has been so much going on. I keep on baking every day, every week... and I'm loving it. This week I focused on baking different types of cakes in school. I've been making them from scratch starting one day by making the base for the cakes in masses and the next few days putting them all together. It has been great fun and to be honest I think I fall in love a little with each one of my cakes. They're all a piece of art in their own way and the ones that don't come out perfect still symbolize my path to becoming more experienced and a better cake crafter.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6103/6412795489_6ccafff44c.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="191" src="http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6103/6412795489_6ccafff44c.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
Anyway, on to something that might interest you a little more. This weekend was my mother's birthday and I ofcourse had the pleasure of baking the desserts for her party. She requested a rerun on the minty marshmallow fluff cake that I made this summer. She really likes that cake. It's like the smoothest textured icecream cake you've ever had and it's so easy to make. Nobody would ever know!<br />
<br />
<strong>Frozen Candy Cane Cake</strong><br />
For the crust:<br />
20 chocolate cookies/bisquits<br />
2 tablespoons cocoa<br />
<br />
For the icecream fluff:<br />
5 deciliters heavy cream<br />
1 jar of marshmallow fluff<br />
peppermint oil/essence/flavour<br />
red food coloring<br />
candy canes<br />
<br />
For the chocolate sauce:<br />
125 grams dark chocolate<br />
75 grams butter<br />
½ deciliter sugar<br />
½ deciliter light syrup<br />
salt<br />
½ deciliter water<br />
<br />
The crust:<br />
Melt the butter, put the cookies, butter and cocoa in a food processor and mix until it's all crumbs.<br />
Press into a springform, press some up on the sides if you wish, else just make the bottom a little thicker. Put in the freezer for now.<br />
<br />
The icecream fluff:<br />
Whip the cream until soft peaks form. <br />
Mix the marshmallow fluff with some of the whipped cream until it's loose enough to easily fold into the rest of the whipped cream. Do so. <br />
Add peppermint flavour to taste. Put about a third of the mixture in a separate bowl and save for later. <br />
Crush the candy canes with a pestle and mortar until fairly finely crushed. It's ok if there are some larger bits. <br />
Mix the crushed candy canes with the larger batch of fluff. Pour this mixture into the springform.<br />
<br />
Take the rest of the mixture and add a few drops of red food coloring until nice and pink. Drop blobs of this onto the cake. <br />
Use a knife to slightly swirl it around, mixing it with the rest of the fluff. <br />
Put back in the freezer for atleast 5 hours but it can be made well in advance.<br />
<br />
The chocolate sauce:<br />
Put all the ingredients for the sauce in a pot and bring to a boil. <br />
Stir until all chocolate has melted.<br />
Let the sauce simmer for about 10 minutes or until the sauce thickens and gets glossy.<br />
<br />
Personally mine never thickens while it's boiling but 10 minutes is usually good enough. You can make the sauce in advance as well and when it's time to serve just take the cake out of the freezer 5 minutes ahead of time and reheat the sauce in the microwave.<br />
<br />
This cake is so nummy if you put the warm sauce in the bottom of a plate and put a slice of cake on top of it. The flavours in the crust really comes out then. That's all for today. Next time I'll tell you about this really nummy buttercream that I used for the biskvies that I made for my mother's party as well.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEOJiKw2PaOWDxNUDqz8_xy1ybvcUbgARNwF_BfmCD6zHEYC6v-vahpyZe7-4uPjzFPAGrTLU4-aascznAr3H2IDPq76QCscZBIW6Hily3d-I6rehh8lwpBAPOOEDj2a4eLBdDoi3G6XTL/s1600/DSCN2742.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEOJiKw2PaOWDxNUDqz8_xy1ybvcUbgARNwF_BfmCD6zHEYC6v-vahpyZe7-4uPjzFPAGrTLU4-aascznAr3H2IDPq76QCscZBIW6Hily3d-I6rehh8lwpBAPOOEDj2a4eLBdDoi3G6XTL/s320/DSCN2742.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Cupcake Traineehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04927790581279683382noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5294856615852737063.post-86238385067025689712011-11-14T09:53:00.000-08:002011-11-14T09:53:02.580-08:00Pear Marmalade with HoneyI've been posting alot about my baking adventures lately but I hardly ever post any recipes. Originally I wasn't going to . I wanted this blog to be about my adventures and the things I've learned on my quest but let's face it. How mean isn't it to post about all these nummy things and not tell you how to make them? So I will slowly start adding my recipes as well. It's probably a good idea. That way I have everything gathered in one place and I wont lose my recipes or confuse them with each other.<br />
<br />
<b>Pear Marmalade with Honey</b><br />
1.5 kg Pears(peeled and cored)<br />
1 Lemon(0.75 dl lemon juice)<br />
25 g Ginger(fresh)<br />
500 g Jam Sugar(syltsocker)<br />
3 tablespoons Honey<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCZd5g9IT4FjEpk5FKSyO9LPYA0asGISvJVy55M4CEw2-Y6JQmHjACjvNUF3J0RebjXNK-ZC-7KqjdgxYXqCBfvWIi9lm0PHAdB2MVJV6wQ0pqOhpENqiUV9VBiaP5gp7mkCYB4u3NCzCM/s1600/IMAG1073.jpg" imageanchor="1" style=""><img border="0" height="240" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCZd5g9IT4FjEpk5FKSyO9LPYA0asGISvJVy55M4CEw2-Y6JQmHjACjvNUF3J0RebjXNK-ZC-7KqjdgxYXqCBfvWIi9lm0PHAdB2MVJV6wQ0pqOhpENqiUV9VBiaP5gp7mkCYB4u3NCzCM/s400/IMAG1073.jpg" /></a></div><br />
Afgter peeling and coreing the pears, cut them into small pieces and put them in a pot. <br />
Squeeze the lemon and pour this over the pears. <br />
Bring the pears to a boil then simmer on low heat for about 10 minutes(until the pears are soft and mushy).<br />
Peel the ginger and cut them julienne(or in small pieces).<br />
Add ginger, jam sugar and honey to the pot and let it boil strongly for at least 2 minutes.<br />
Put the pot aside and leave it for 5 minutes.<br />
After 5 minutes, skim the pot using a perforated ladle.<br />
Pour the marmalade into hot, sterilized jars.<br />
<br />
This marmalade is very sweet and it's hard to decide whether it's more like honey or more like marmalade. I made3 a second batch and reduced the jam sugar to about 425-450 gram and it turned out much better in my opinion.<br />
<br />
Now let's talk about methods. When I make jam and other perserves I prefer to use air tight glas jars. I start by cleaning them thoroughly. Even if they're already clean. It's very important to use very clean jars. I then pop them in the oven on a damp towel on a low heat(about 100C) for at least 20 minutes. <br />
Right before it's time to fill them I take them out of the oven and rinse the insides with a little bit of Sodium Benzoate dissolved in water.<br />
When the jars have been filled I immediately put the lid on, turn them upside down and leave them until cooled off completely.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjB7o8lS3HBmZfFgwsc_MqDq3dp9vP3oUYd9m-B7wSUfCadsckA69Wf401trCmWKBBZN0MWFAfOfQLkq0tr7F8Nkw3pupWCkj1cc_Ih1LaJwinrBPeeJznxqcwVs0zu7aoU7Qdpt-5OU_62/s1600/DSCN2863.JPG" imageanchor="1" style=""><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjB7o8lS3HBmZfFgwsc_MqDq3dp9vP3oUYd9m-B7wSUfCadsckA69Wf401trCmWKBBZN0MWFAfOfQLkq0tr7F8Nkw3pupWCkj1cc_Ih1LaJwinrBPeeJznxqcwVs0zu7aoU7Qdpt-5OU_62/s400/DSCN2863.JPG" /></a></div><br />
If you want to take things one step further you can also mix some Sodium Benzoate with a spoonfull of marmalade which you then mix with the rest of the marmalade.<br />
<br />
And if you don't want your marmalade to turn brown you might also consider adding some Ascorbic Acid to the marmalade.<br />
<br />
Both the Ascorbic Acid and the Sodium Benzoate can be bought in a regular grocery store. Usually near the baking supplies. Dosage for mixing it into jams and marmalades is usually found on the package. For the rinse I mix about half a teaspoon of Sodium Benzoate and half a litre of water.Cupcake Traineehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04927790581279683382noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5294856615852737063.post-75773361735447302382011-11-11T07:02:00.000-08:002011-11-14T08:07:15.683-08:00Glögg - a Swedish Christmas TraditionA few days ago(three to be exact) I started a project: to try to make my first glögg ever. Usually I just buy my glögg at the liqeur store. They have great varieties there. Some with raspberry, some with whiskey, vanilla. Every year there's a glögg of the year, a speciall flavor but a few days go I decided to make my own. It's not hard if you take a small shortcut and skip fermentation.<br />
<br />
Do you guys know what glögg is by the way? In case you don't; It's a Swedish version of eggnogg I suppose. It isn't anything like an egg nog but it is what we drink around christmas. Originally to keep warm during the cold winters. The word glögg comes from the word "glödga" which originally meant "to heat up". Glögg is, simplified, wine that has been spiced up with Christmas spices, sweetened and then heated up. I heat mine to about 55-58C.<br />
<br />
Some glögg can be overpowering if it's been spiced up with too much whiskey or sherry. The recipe that I found, however, had a perfect balance of spices and sweetness and eventhough it is quite potent the taste isn't overpowered with hard liqeur. I found the recipe on a Swedish blog called Kastrullresan and I find that place very inspiring. You can visit it here: http://www.kastrullresan.com/<br />
<br />
If you want to try a typical Swedish Christmas tradition, here is the recipe. Translated and everything. =)<br />
<br />
You'r going to need:<br />
15 cl of vodka or other pure, hard liqeur<br />
10 gram Cinnamon<br />
1 ½ gram Clove(about 20?)<br />
1 piece of dried Ginger<br />
2 gram crushed Cardamom<br />
½ Seville orange peel<br />
<br />
1 litre Red whine(any, cheap kind will do)<br />
2 deciliter Sugar<br />
1 teaspoon vanilla sugar<br />
<br />
Step one:<br />
Crush the cardamon<br />
Break up the cinnamon into smaller pieces<br />
Put the cinnamon, clove, ginger, cardamom and seville in a glass jar.<br />
Pour the liqeur on top and close the lid/cover.<br />
Leave this for about 3 days, less if you want a less Christmassy taste.<br />
<br />
Step two:<br />
After 3 days strain the liquid and put it in a pot. Add the wine, sugar and vanilla sugar and head slowly on low head. Don't let it boil or the alcohol will evaporate. Stirr once in a while until the sugars have dissolved completely. Done!<br />
<br />
The taste will improve even more if you leave this until the year after, in sealed bottles. But I suspect my glögg wont survive that long, sadly.<br />
<br />
Reheat the glögg before serving. In Sweden we serve it in small glasses and add raisins and blanched almonds. Enjoy!<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjL9etq2ED_48G_Slby5V4qGwBd8bBrK-QAECOxFNy2di58Z5t6V5zwb3V23Do1sVo1Q40Nedo3KNQ6G1bx7YbAmDyrthtkYEI_qIKX3lBV_LaYwO5_j4EY1kVST6kjYybxrg1rieM9788B/s1600/IMAG1318.jpg" imageanchor="1" style=""><img border="0" height="240" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjL9etq2ED_48G_Slby5V4qGwBd8bBrK-QAECOxFNy2di58Z5t6V5zwb3V23Do1sVo1Q40Nedo3KNQ6G1bx7YbAmDyrthtkYEI_qIKX3lBV_LaYwO5_j4EY1kVST6kjYybxrg1rieM9788B/s400/IMAG1318.jpg" /></a></div>Cupcake Traineehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04927790581279683382noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5294856615852737063.post-51391326400113074882011-11-08T00:42:00.000-08:002011-11-08T01:06:08.545-08:00Raspberry Mousse CakeIn Sweden we honor our dead once a year on all saints day by going to the graveyard, placing flowers and lighting candles. It's a nice oportunity to stop and just remember. In a stressful world as ours. It is so beautiful this time of the year when the light is fading and the memorial park is full of flowers and candles. It always leaves me in a spiritual mood..<br /><br />After a fairly cold evening at the graveyard we usually go home and have a nice dinner with family and relatives. Since our family is growing quite large I offered to help out by making desert. This time I decided on a wonderful combination of raspberry mousse on a chewy chocolate mudcake base. It looks professional, tastes wonderful and doesn't require too much effort. This was my first time making a mousse cake so I was a little bit worried about whether I could pull it off or not. Therefore I made a small batch a few days ahead to test the recipe. I made the small batch in large american cupcake liners. This also works great if you want to serve portion sizes. I could even peel the liners off leaving a small portion sized mousse cake. Cute.<br /><br />Anyway, this is what the actual cakes looked like. I topped them with some chocolate just because I had some melted chocolate left over from when I made the cookies and rather than wasting it I decided to use it to practice.<br /><br /><a href="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6047/6316479142_0a7da6aa4a.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 500px; height: 299px;" src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6047/6316479142_0a7da6aa4a.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a>Cupcake Traineehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04927790581279683382noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5294856615852737063.post-67646119976433772352011-11-06T15:09:00.000-08:002011-11-06T15:37:25.851-08:00One day a few weeks ago the neighbor came knocking on our door. He asked if we wanted pears off his pear tree before he threw them out. All we had to do was to go pick them. That is how I ended up with 17 kilos of very sweet and juicy pears. That was the perfect oportunity to make marmalade and jams. Spread out over the weeks I have been trying different recipes. It's not hard at all to make marmalade. Especially not if you use the special sugar with added pectin. It is a bit time consuimg though. Especially if you want to be thourough and sterilize jars and so on.<br /><br />After a few days spent in the kitchen peeling, dicing and boiling pears I ended up with quite the collection of jams as well as a few jars of pear sauce. There's pear marmalade with honey and ginger, pear marmalade with lemon and vanilla and pear marmalade with lemon, ginger and walnuts. They are all very nummy and so far we have opened a couple of jars of the honey marmalade - it's great with some brie white mold cheese. <br /><br /><a href="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6019/6314386805_db94f16970.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 500px; height: 375px;" src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6019/6314386805_db94f16970.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br />I even printed out some nice tags for the jars so that I don't forget whats in them.Cupcake Traineehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04927790581279683382noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5294856615852737063.post-1619218703334883682011-11-06T01:44:00.000-07:002011-11-06T01:17:46.966-08:00Sourdough Bread - My first HermanAs I mentioned in my last, rather messy post, I have been baking alot. I have learned so much over the past few weeks and I have gained some confidence in working with different types of dough. You might even say that I've lost some respect for dough which is making me more daring. =)<br /><br />This in turn has led to my first little baby steps into the world of sourdough. As you probably know the first thing you need to do when you want to play with sourdough is to make a sour dough base. A Herman - as many people would call it. This can be made in many different ways but the method that I used was based on raisin soaked in water and mixed with some different types of flour. This is then set to rest somewhere nice and warm for a few days while you feed him flour and water once in a while as well as shaking him twice a day. on the 5th day or so he should be bubbling rather vigorously. My Herman even bubbled over the icecream box that I was storing him in - making a huge mess of sourdough puke inside my cupboard. Bad Herman!<br /><br />Anyway, once the base is ready it can be used in all kinds of nummy breads using little or no yeast. Most recipes choose to use yeast anyway to secure the rising process and make it a little faster because sourdough needs to rise much longer than ordinary bread. Some for hours, some for DAYS!<br /><br />Here is the result of my very first sourdough bread. I am actually very satisfied with this bread. It is a very rustic looking bread that would look great next to that shabby chic cupcake black board(the one I never actually bought). This bread smelled so good and the crunchy crust and sort of half chewy texture completed the experience.<br /><br /><a href="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6059/6314360405_02c9ece69e.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 500px; height: 299px;" src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6059/6314360405_02c9ece69e.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br />I might actually suggest that this is the best bread I've ever eaten.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVpJXKLNAm0Bn_Imu0fyTbPC8EUgsoCKJZgGsnJ8hA7ymDc1GuCHQ7c7Rcxu_DAfl5uE1bpUCJ_GlrIl4qTNMrkT9jflOJBQoPDRrOF1QrqSmEuen37QO9uQXwdjV9bJCmT4rFmbztvwgR/s1600/IMAG1058.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVpJXKLNAm0Bn_Imu0fyTbPC8EUgsoCKJZgGsnJ8hA7ymDc1GuCHQ7c7Rcxu_DAfl5uE1bpUCJ_GlrIl4qTNMrkT9jflOJBQoPDRrOF1QrqSmEuen37QO9uQXwdjV9bJCmT4rFmbztvwgR/s400/IMAG1058.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5671805868818658498" /></a>Cupcake Traineehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04927790581279683382noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5294856615852737063.post-53112547625342049232011-11-05T15:25:00.000-07:002011-11-05T16:23:10.784-07:00Wiener BreadI know this place might seem quiet but boy have I been active. I have been baking more than, I think, ever before in my life and I feel great.<br /><br />A few weeks ago I started a new education with focus on baking and café life. Every day I spend about 4 hours in the bakery learning how to make different things, work different types of dough and braid using different techniques and I've been using my new skills while baking at home as well. Last weekend I spent almost an entire day playing with what we call wiener bread. It is what you would call a Danish in English as far as I know. The fun part is getting my hands on real bakery recipes - I am copying them all, or as many as I can at least. The only problem is that the recipes usually call for obscene amount of ingredients. One recipe used about 10 kilos of flour - after I HALVED the recipe. That's hardly something I would do at home. I would need to borrow the whole neighborhood's freezers to store all the bread that would give me.<br /><br />Anyway, here are some pictures of the Danishes that I made at home last week.<br /><br />This is the classic type of wiener bread that you will most likely find in a store or bakery shop.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6212/6314383977_0a69d2706c.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 500px; height: 375px;" src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6212/6314383977_0a69d2706c.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br />And here is my favorite. It doesn't have jam or vanilla custard filling like the ones in the picture above, but it is so moist and nummy, and a little less sweet. This braid that I made isn't very visually appealing because I made it a little too big. I probably could have made 4 braids instead of 2 with that amount of dough. Maybe next time.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6228/6314388295_d49aa36c23.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 500px; height: 375px;" src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6228/6314388295_d49aa36c23.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br />And here is the inside of my favorite braid. You can see all the layers of dough and how moist and gooey it is.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkN3o3R_J2FJaiFj-CQQb4C2ioPBZpuoRxaFLGkYvoeD4s6UZ5SteC5d8ZQizuEf0fhGNpBmacR8-i6XaT0O8LexNuG_38BqH66cLKNmckbHOnVhBRlfhBvlDZF7qRXTVgTURNIJCEqmo2/s1600/IMAG1219.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkN3o3R_J2FJaiFj-CQQb4C2ioPBZpuoRxaFLGkYvoeD4s6UZ5SteC5d8ZQizuEf0fhGNpBmacR8-i6XaT0O8LexNuG_38BqH66cLKNmckbHOnVhBRlfhBvlDZF7qRXTVgTURNIJCEqmo2/s400/IMAG1219.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5671655852324226722" /></a><br /><br />In case you have no idea what wiener bread is all about, this is how it's made: You start by making a dough that is similar to the ordinary sweet wheat based dough but you don't quite knead it as hard. It can be just a little bit sticky too. You then push your dough out into a big square and put a big block of margarine in the middle. Fold/pull in the edges over the butter to cover it, then beat it a little bit until the dough and butter is stuck together. You then grab your rolling pin and roll it out, gently, into a rectangle. Fold it in 3 parts, turn 45 degrees and let it rest for 5 minutes - possibly in the fridge depending on what kind of margarine you're using. Repeat the steps from rolling pin and on 2 more times and your basic wiener dough is ready to shape into whatever it is you're making.<br /><br />This method makes the dough very flaky as it bakes and very moist on the inside. Definitely worth the effort.<br /><br />As for the filling: For the classic style wiener bread you cut out squares of about, say 10 cm, and then you put a small dab of something called remons which is pretty similar to buttercream in the middle of the square. Take each corner and pull it to the center and squish it into the remons. This hole will later be filled with custard or raspberry jam or whatever the baker likes.<br /><br />There is so much more to talk about and I have so many other projects that I would like to discuss but I just got home from a party and I am exhausted. I hope to update the blog over the next few days to show some of my other baking adventures that I've had lately.Cupcake Traineehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04927790581279683382noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5294856615852737063.post-594747351465038572011-10-13T05:58:00.000-07:002011-10-13T07:14:46.297-07:00Competition and my go-to recipe for Lemon Meringue PieSo, I logged in at bloglovin.com - that is where I keep all my favorite blogs nowadays. They're so many now that I can't possibly keep track of them all on my own. Anyway, through bloglovin I found out that Smulan over at <a href="http://smulansbakblogg.blogspot.com/">Smulans Bakblogg</a> is holding a competition and the prize is three(3) Flame Boy Burners. The question she asks us is "What would you want to make if you owned a burner?".<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNY5EFzEHfR0o3Xyf8iNp_wwXqlOvFQ95VFLaj8PG3qPJ2Bo_i88u4vHHcEjXB6B9sAzML5yeoY755SpkdmyScPDNTsvIvH2E9lL3-C1ZAiQAEXDhy_4FMC258yHUnOfPOFmYWHwe4_9k-/s320/tavlingupplaga.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 169px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNY5EFzEHfR0o3Xyf8iNp_wwXqlOvFQ95VFLaj8PG3qPJ2Bo_i88u4vHHcEjXB6B9sAzML5yeoY755SpkdmyScPDNTsvIvH2E9lL3-C1ZAiQAEXDhy_4FMC258yHUnOfPOFmYWHwe4_9k-/s320/tavlingupplaga.JPG" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br /><br />Easy! The first thing that popped into my head was Lemon Meringue Pie.<br />If you remember; I have made lemon meringue pie several times and my favorite meringue to top the pie with is the meringue of all meringues(in my opinion at least): Italian meringue! <br /><br />Here's the catch tho. Italian meringue is gorgeous. The texture is amazing and I would eat the whole batch of it straight out of my mixing bowl if I could. But when you bake it in an oven, which you do to make the surface crisp and slightly brown, it changes. Don't get me wrong, it's still very good but that wow-factor fades slightly after cooking the meringue in an oven.<br /><br />My belief is that if I was to brown the meringue with a burner instead of using the oven, not only would it get a crispier surface, but it would also leave the center of the meringue at its original, super yummy state.<br /><br />Smulan also requests the recipe for whatever it is that I would like to make and if I win I would have to bake and show the results of it. =) Gladly!<br /><br />Here is my current go-to recipe for <strong>Lemon Meringue Pie</strong>.<br /><br /><strong>Pie Crust:</strong><br />260 grams of flour<br />0.5 tablespoon salt<br />110 grams of butter<br />a few tablespoons of water<br />(and an optional pinch or two of sugar)<br />---<br />Mix or whip all ingredients but the water on low until it has formed a slightly lumpy mess.<br />Add tablespoons of water, one at a time until you have a good and not too crumbly dough. I think I usually use 3 tablespoons of water. <br />Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and store in the fridge for about an hour.<br /><br />Place the dough between two baking sheets and roll it out fairly thin. Then place it in a pie dish(23 cm) and fit it. Cut off any excess dough.<br />Fill the crust with some dry peas and pre-bake at 175C for 10 min plus an extra 10 without the peas.<br />Remove from the oven and let it cool.<br /><br /><strong>The lemon filling:</strong><br />8 egg yolks<br />2 cans(about 800g) condensed milk<br />The zest and juice from 8 lemons<br />---<br />In a glass bowl add the yolks, condensed milk, lemon juice and lemon zest.<br />Mix very carefully until it's all well blended. I like to think of it as if I'm folding flavouring into a meringue batter. Don't overmix it or the chemical reaction will be broken and the mixture wont thicken as it should.<br />Pour the mixture into the pie crust and bake at 150C for 20-30 minutes.<br />It's ready when it's soft in the middle but doesn't wobble when you move it.<br /><br /><strong>The Italian meringue:</strong><br />6 egg whites<br />330 grams of granulated sugar<br />1 teaspoon of vanilla extract/essence<br />water<br />---<br />Pour the sugar into a small saucepan and add just enough water to cover the sugar.<br />Bring to a boil on medium heat.<br />Put the egg whites in your mixing bowl(I REALLY suggest a stand mixer for this) and whisk until it's slightly foamy - not thick like a meringue just until it begins to foam. Turn off the machine and leave it until the syrup is ready.<br />Let the syrup continue to boil until it passes the soft ball stage. When this happens, turn your mixer back on and set it to medium speed.<br />Slowly stream the syrup into your egg whites.<br />When all the syrup is in the egg whites, switch the mixer to high and let it work for about 10-15 minutes.<br />Swtich to medium and mix for a minute or so until the meringue has reduced a little in fluffiness.<br /><br />Now you can spoon the meringue over your pie and put it back in the oven at 150C for about 20 minutes or until the meringue has gotten a nice color(this is where I would use the burner instead!).<br /><br />Oh, and the pie is best served after it's completely cooled so either prepare it in the morning or the evening before and don't forget to make sure that the meringue completely seals the pie. There should be no gaps between the meringue and the pie dish or the meringue will shrink.<br /><br />If you are worried about raw egg whites, don't! The awesome thing with Italian meringue is that as you are adding the syrup the egg whites are cooked by the heat of the syrup. That's why I think the burner would be great because the maringue doesn't need to be actually cooked in the oven. It's basically sent in there just to get some color and surface.Cupcake Traineehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04927790581279683382noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5294856615852737063.post-90725299359225858842011-10-11T12:48:00.000-07:002011-10-11T13:09:17.622-07:00LeftoversAfter Making the Hello Kitty cake I had quite a bit of leftovers. There was some After Either fluff, a whole lot of pear mousse and HEAPS of buttercream still in the fridge. At the same time my mother saw the cake and was drooling over it but never got to taste it because it was for my friend whose birthday was coming up. So I decided to whip up another batch of chocolate sponge and make some small replicas of the cake that I made for my friend. I did this by taking a round cookie cutter and taking out as many small rounds as I could from the chocolate sponge that I made. The result was three small, very tall cakes. They sort of remind me of the Mad Hatter's hat because they are so tall that they each ended up a little bit crooked. Just like the hat. =)<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJNPV0KjODzphNmsphWgEQt669f1WkjDU1lJHTdYG_AklOZ9F9RsnSTigwbvJ5dfqovk6rczwQLVvRNIqgR4VJ9vBNpYoua_dKOAcJmlEunzoVIcd_CP8iZC7Ed8rrvVXkhoZlaNLfIC75/s1600/IMAG1043.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJNPV0KjODzphNmsphWgEQt669f1WkjDU1lJHTdYG_AklOZ9F9RsnSTigwbvJ5dfqovk6rczwQLVvRNIqgR4VJ9vBNpYoua_dKOAcJmlEunzoVIcd_CP8iZC7Ed8rrvVXkhoZlaNLfIC75/s400/IMAG1043.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5662326749816524498" /></a><br /><br />After butchering my chocolate sponge cake with the cookie cutter to the point where I couldn't get any more round pieces out of it I was left with a mess of crumbs and chunks of chocolate cake. I didn't feel like eating it all and I didn't feel like throwing it out so I did what every caker or cupcaker would have done: I made cake pops! Or cake balls in this case because I don't have any pop-sticks. <br /><br />I crumbled the cake with my fingers and then meassured the ammount, lightly pressed into a deciliter measure. I had 2½ DL of crumbs and I added about 1½ DL of the huge lump of buttercream that I had lying in the fridge. Then I just mashed it together to a paste with a spoon and set it to rest in the fridge while I melted some chocolate. Then I formed the paste into small cake balls and rolled them in the melted chocolate and TA DA! Cake balls.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYodNP5WEOwAbMjts4WAUGZEWHsbIyu1YDhIhsTcuKxHcKZ-oI6btjB4Pj9oVZCHA9rhI-Xh82RYIA5vsbeb9hJ-lDMa7xfaBSsrTZ4hR4ArRI8Rpb1_DkH8fCBpCO_uiIPUZR6nil88nH/s1600/IMAG1051.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYodNP5WEOwAbMjts4WAUGZEWHsbIyu1YDhIhsTcuKxHcKZ-oI6btjB4Pj9oVZCHA9rhI-Xh82RYIA5vsbeb9hJ-lDMa7xfaBSsrTZ4hR4ArRI8Rpb1_DkH8fCBpCO_uiIPUZR6nil88nH/s400/IMAG1051.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5662328660565117554" /></a>Cupcake Traineehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04927790581279683382noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5294856615852737063.post-19835733674171365052011-10-10T12:04:00.001-07:002011-10-12T04:26:31.660-07:00My first cakeLast weekend I prepared my first ever REAL cake. Not the simple ones that I usually make with a store bought base, whipcream and strawberries. Nope, this was an all home made cake which started with a home made chocolate sponge which I split in three and filled. For the first layer I prepared an After Eight fluff and for the second layer I made a pear mousse. This was my first time making a mousse using gelatin by the way. I then made a huge batch of buttercream which I used to frost and decorate the cake with. All decorations are made of buttercream and they are my first every attempt aswell. My first time decorating with roses, my first buttercream painting etc. I'm not entirely satisfied with it but it's not too bad either. =)<br /><br /><div style="margin: 0 0 10px 0; padding: 0; font-size: 0.8em; line-height: 1.6em;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/cupcaketrainee/6231203343/" title="Hello Kitty Cake"><img src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6116/6231203343_3b6581f0f1.jpg" alt="Hello Kitty Cake by Cupcake Trainee" /></a><br/><span style="margin: 0;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/cupcaketrainee/6231203343/">Hello Kitty Cake</a>, a photo by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/cupcaketrainee/">Cupcake Trainee</a> on Flickr.</span></div><br /><br /><a href="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6045/6231203353_40244c948d.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 500px; height: 375px;" src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6045/6231203353_40244c948d.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a>Cupcake Traineehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04927790581279683382noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5294856615852737063.post-21703065435135897082011-10-05T05:24:00.000-07:002011-10-05T05:35:26.245-07:00Memories from the pastWhat a weird thing to say, really. Ofcourse memories are from the past, how else would they be memories? They can't be from the future.<br /><br />Anyway today I made some bread. They are sort of based on a danish bread dough - the one where you squish butter into it and then fold it in three before rolling it out and repeating those steps a few times. These breadrolls smell and taste great but what's more - they bring back memories from a bakery by my grandmothers apartment. They had breadrolls that were square and with cheese on top and they were.. not quite flaky but the bread was in several layers inside and you could split the breadrolls with your hands if you wanted to. The bread wasn't very fluffy but with all the layers inside it - they still werent very dense.<br /><br />Does anyone recognize this description? I would love to either find a bakery or a recipe for these bread rolls! Leave a comment if you think you can help me. =) Please<br /><br />These are what I made today. Not quite the same but still very good.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-2PqDJQeme_FqFOsoElk1PxIKYjCXuXUMhHtDuSbAxiHUKM87fzV_tH-LOmV8j6LqQRbfA4JEcyiqpM2bm54Cl0LWvNlUnLg2Km59TXOKLaODaGxk_f6JF6v-ksjI4ZZyaPl47nBxFr8F/s1600/IMAG0988.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-2PqDJQeme_FqFOsoElk1PxIKYjCXuXUMhHtDuSbAxiHUKM87fzV_tH-LOmV8j6LqQRbfA4JEcyiqpM2bm54Cl0LWvNlUnLg2Km59TXOKLaODaGxk_f6JF6v-ksjI4ZZyaPl47nBxFr8F/s400/IMAG0988.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5659985547755850690" /></a>Cupcake Traineehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04927790581279683382noreply@blogger.com0