Friday, August 21, 2009

Rum & Raisin rocks

Photobucket

I've had the obsession for a few years now. Never really know where it came from, but as soon as I see something with rum and raisins I have to have it! In holland, the traditional "ontbijtkoek" (a special spiced cake usually eaten as breakfast) has a variation with rum and raisins and I simply love it! When I saw a recipe called "rum bread" I immediately had to give it a try and, of course, add raisins.
When I read the recipe I felt like there was something wrong and when I made the recipe I realised I was right: the dough that you would get from making this looked like the sandcookies I used to make when I was little and nothing at all like the dough you need for a bread. Nevertheless, I went through all the steps and changed the recipe to make turn the dough into a real cookie-dough. I split the dough in half and baked tehe cookies I made from them seperately. The first set of cookies turned out a bit hard, the reason they are called rocks. The second set, which I baked a bit shorter, turned out softer and, personally, I liked those better. My family didn't seem to be bothered by the difference and I cought my mom eating near 10 of them in one day! Needless to say, they were gone in no time and a real succes!!

Photobucket

Ingredients:
375 gram flour
1 pinch of salt
1 package baking powder
150 grams (unsalted) butter
150 grams sugar
2 eggs
1 tablespoon rum essence, or real rum
1 cup raisins


1. Sift the flour, salt, sugar and baking powder through eachother. Mix the raisins in as well. Make a well in the middle of the mixture.
2. With and electric mixer mix the butter until it's soft. One by one, add the eggs and mix them in well before adding the next. Add the rum essence as last.
3. Poor this mixture into the well in the flour. First, use a fork or spoon to mix the two mixtures, later on kneed them into eachother.
4. Spread a baking sheet out over an oven rack and roll the dough into balls, splat them and place them on the baking sheet. Or, if you have more time, use a rolling pin to spread the dough out over a lightly floured surface. Use a cookie cutter to get shapes out of the dough and place these on the baking sheet.
5. Preheat the oven to 190 degrees Celsius or 370 degrees Fahrenheit. When the oven has preheated put the oven rack in and leave the cookies in the oven for about 10 minutes. When the cookies seem dry, take them out and leave them on the counter.

Photobucket

There you go! Your own Rum & Raisin rocks! If you want them to have the real crumbly "rock"-effect bake them a little longer until the surface gets a bit darker colour. Make sure to not leave them in too long! They happen to burn fast. I thought the cookies went really well with milk or tea!

Photobucket

Yoghurtbread

Somehow lately I've really been into baking breads. Don't really know why, but it's not a bad thing I hope! My mother still had one book about making breads so I wanted to give it a try. Unfortunately the recipe was very short and didn't make much sense at all and the ingredient-list was in such an awkward order that it just pissed me off. To make it even worse, the book had no pictures except for on the cover! But sicne I really wanted to give it a try, I made one of the breads that seemed interesting: Yoghurtbread.
Making this bread was very easy and didn't take all too much time like the buns I tried to make before. All the rising tends to take a lot of time, but this bread only needed to rise twice. I had to change the recipe and some of the ingredients to make it work out, but it turned into a really nice bread! It was gone in no time!

Photobucket

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons butter
125 ml milk
1 teaspoon sugar
125 ml yoghurt
1 egg
300 grams fine wheat flour
1 package instant yeast (7 grams)
1 teaspoon salt


1. Start off with melting the butter on a low fire or just in a microwave and let it cool.
2. Heat the milk on a low fire and add the sugar. Stir until all the sugar is dissolved.
3. Take the pan off the fire and add the butter to the milk. Mix it with a whisk (one of the rare times I didnt use my electric mixer, but feel free to use it).
4. When the butter is mixed in, add the yoghurt and whisk it again. When the yoghurt too is mixed in, seperate the egg and add the egg yolk to the mixture. Whisk again. Keep the egg white, you can use this later on.
5. In a large bowl, whisk the flour, yeast and salt. Make a well in the middle of the mixture.
6. Poor the milk-mixture into the well and with a fork or spoon mix it into the flour. When the mixture starts getting more thick, kneed it with the hands. Add more flour if needed. Kneed it for about 5 minutes and form it into a ball.
7. Use a bit of the egg or some butter to grease a bowl and put the dough ball into it. Cover the bowl with a damp cloth or towel and leave it in a warm place for an hour or until about double the size.
8. After that hour take the dough out of the bowl and start kneeding again, pushing the trapped air out. Shape the dough into a round ball again and put it on a baking sheet or greased oven rack. Cover it with the damp cloth or twoel again and leave it for half an hour.
9. Half an hour later, grease the top of the bread with the remaining egg or extra butter and preheat the oven at 190 degrees Celsius or 370 degrees Fahrenheit. When the oven has preheated, put the bread in the oven and leave it for about half an hour.
10. When a fork or foodpin comes out dry remove the bread from the oven and leave it to cool. After the cooling wrap it in plastic or aluminium fool so the bread doesn't dry out. It's ready to serve now!

To me it tasted like just an ordinary bread, but when it's still a bit warm it tastes wonderful with a bit of jam!! :)

Photobucket

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Marble cake

Note: I wanted to make this recipe myself again when I realised the recipe is faulty. Please refer to a more recent post Marbled Pound Cake for a correct recipe. I will update this post as soon as I remember where the recipe is from!

Photobucket

This is one of the few recipes that turned out great right away! Needless to say, this cake was gone in no time! This did mean, however, that I didn't get any time to make some proper pictures of the lovely cake! Something I will have to do the next time, and update this post. For the lovely shawnie and so you don't have to wait to try this recipe, I will share it before updating any pictures.
Its an easy recipe, but it does require a lot of bowls! And cleaning the handmixer every once in a while. I am really glad I have one that's for sure!!

Ingredients:
100 grams milk chocolate
1/2 cup (full cream) milk
1 1/2 cup flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (unsalted) butter, room temperature
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract


1. Double-boil (au bain-marie) the chocolate until it has melted. Make sure to stir occasionaly.
2. Take the pan with chocolate off the pan with hot water. Add a 1/4 cup of milk and stir it in. An electric mixer is handy for this. Set the mixture aside.
3. In a sepereate bowl, whisk the flour with the baking powder and salt. Put this aside as well.
4. In another bowl mix the sour cream and other 1/4 cup of milk together. Once again, set aside.
5. Cream the butter and sugar with the electric mixer until the mixture is light and fluffy.
6. Beat the eggs in one at a time. Make sure to mix well after every egg. Once all the eggs are mixed in, add the vanilla extract and mix again.
7. Add a few spoons of flour to the last mixture (with egg and butter). Mix with an electric mixer and then add a bit of the sour cream-mixture and mix again. Keep repeating this till all the flour and sour cream are mixed in.
8. Spoon half of the batter in a seperate bowl and add the chocolate-mixture and fold it in with a spoon.
9. Grease a cake tin (or two, like I needed) or a bread tin and poor in the two mixtures the way you like. It's nice to not do a half-half cake, but have the two batters somewhat swirl together.
10. Pre-heat the oven to 160 degrees Celsius or 320 degrees Fahrenheit. Bake the cake for about 50 minutes or until the cake looks dry and a fork or foodpin comes out dry. Take it out of the oven and leave it to cool. Enjoy your cake!

Cute baby buns & Cinnamon Spread

I think these little buns are so cute! I really enjoyed making them. They took less time rising and kneeding than the buns I've made before, which of course I totally didn't mind!
I tried making two different kinds of buns with the same dough. Not that the difference was that big: one had sugar on it and the other didn't. They both tasted very nice! I thought they had a bit of a sweet taste to it although I really don't know how that is possible since the recipe doesn't have any sugar in it. Perhaps it's because of the yeast or the flour I use.
Anyway, these buns were a real succes and I'll defenitely make them agian! I want to try making them with full wheat flour (if that is what you call it?).

Photobucket

Note:
The sprinkles I used are fine rock candy or rock sugar. If you can't find these in a shop and if you don't have sugar cubes either you can sprinkle a plate with sugar and sprinkle this with water. When it has dried the sugar will stick together around the water drops.

Ingredients:
300 grams (white) bread flour
50 grams (white) bread flour - seperate from the other flour
1 tablespoon caster sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon dried yeast
3 eggs
80 ml milk
75 grams butter
rock sugar or sugar crushed cubes


1. Sift the 300 grams flour into a big bowl and add the sugar, salt and yeast. Mix it well and make a well in the middle.
2. Melt the butter in a pan or microwave and leave it to cool before the next step.
3. Beat the eggs shortly until the mixture is yellow. A electric mixer is handy for this. Add the milk and mix again. Put one tablespoon of the mixture aside.
4. Stir the cooled butter into the egg&milk-mixture and poor it into the well you made in the flour-mixture.
5. Mix both mixtures together, a fork is handy for this, to form a smooth dough.
6. Knead the 50 grams flour (you will probably need all) into the dough, to make it less sticky. Use this flour to flour your surface and hands as well.
7. Knead for about 5-10 minutes. Add more flour if the dough is still too wet.
8. When done put the dough in a lightly greased bowl (use either butter or oil for this). Cover it up with a damp towel and leave it in a warm place to rest for 1 hour until doubled in size.

Photobucket

9. Take the dough out of the bowl and put it onto a lightly floured surface. Knead again for about 5 minutes. Make sure to press the trapped air out. The dough will become more firm.
10. Divide the dough into 12 equal pieces (more or less for smaller or bigger buns) and roll them into little balls.
11. Use greaseproof paper or butter in either a muffin or bun-tin. For me a brownie "tin" worked just as well. Place the balls into the tin and cover them with a damp cloth. Leave for about 20-30 minutes.

Photobucket

12. Preheat the oven at 200 degrees Celsius or 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
13. While the oven is heating, brush the buns with the tablespoon of egg&milk-mixture you put aside. If wanted, sprinkle the sugar over the little buns.
14. Leave the buns in the oven for about 15 minutes until golden and risen. With a fork or foodpin check if the buns aren't wet from the inside. When done, take the buns out of the tin and place them onto a wire rack to cool.

You can serve these buns warm with some jam, but also leave them to cool for a lovely breakfast! One of the things I loved to do with these is cinnamon-butter.

Ingredients:
50 grams (unsalted) butter
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon


1. Just mix it together with a knife (or anything else) and spread it over the lovely buns you made. This spread is also very nice on pancakes!

Photobucket

I actually wonder what the buns would taste like if I didn't sprinkle sugar but cheese over them. I think I'll try this next time. I also want to try adding more sugar, a bit of nuts and almonds over the buns. Recipes that work out do inspire, don't they?

Monday, August 10, 2009

Blini's / Pancakes

Photobucket

After I tasted a simply delicious meal at a restaurant, I had to try making it myself. I tasted a rather large blini with salmon and a delicious, bit sour, cream. I happened to have the recipe for blini's myself, so I wanted to give it a shot. The first time I made them I thought they were a bit too thick, so I decided to improve it. Unforuntaley for me I forgot to buy salmon and any cream so I decided to eat them like american pancakes: just poor a bit of syrup over them and voila! It worked out pretty well!
I must say the pancakes are a bit heavy and taste a bit floury and to my surprise actually require three different kinds of flour! But a succes none the less!

Photobucket

Ingredients:
80 grams flour
70 grams boekweit flour
1 teaspoon selfrising flour
a pinch of salt
1 egg
200 ml milk
25 grams butter
Extra butter to grease


1. Sift the different kinds of flour and mix them together in a bowl. Add the salt and mix again. Make a little well in the centre of the flour-mixture.
2. In a seperate bowl whisk the egg shortly with an electric mixer (or whisk if you dont/cant use an electric one) until the mixture is yellow. Add the milk and the flour to the whisked egg and mix again.
3. Poor the egg-mixture into the well you made in the flour-mixture. With an electric mixer or fork, mix the two mixture together untill it forms a smooth thick liquid.
4. Put a frying pan or special blini-pan if you have one, on the middle fire with a bit of butter to grease it. Poor small amount of the mixture onto the pan with a spoon.
5. Wait for the top of the blini to turn a bit dry, or until little bubbles form on the top. Then turn the blini's over (with a spatula, is most handy). Bake the other side as well until golden brown. If the other side is not the colour you like it, turn over till both sides have a nice brown colour.

You will have to repeat step 4 and 5 until all the blini's are done. You might have to add a bit more butter every once in a while as well.
To keep the blini's warm you can simply put them on a plate and cover them with a lid of a pan or so.
When all blini's are done you can do whatever you want them! You could either eat them as little pancakes or put a bit of sour cream with kaviar on them. What I really like with these blini's is a creamy herb paste and some smoked salmon. Very simple, I might as well give you the recipe to it as well!

Ingredients:
2 blini's
Creamy herb paste [if you click on it, it gives you a link to the herb paste]
Smoked salmon


1. Start out with a blini and spread as much herb paste on it as you want. I prefer A LOT of it!
2. On top of the herb paste put a layer of smoked salmon. I like to make two layers, because the smoked salmon always comes in very thin portions.
3. On top of that comes a lot of herb paste again and then another blini. And there you have your own delicious blini!!

Sunday, August 9, 2009

Honey buns

I made these cute honey buns some time ago, but really have to share them! They weren't what I expected them to be. The sweet taste I imagined was not so much there, but they were still really worth it!
It was one of the first buns I have ever made, so I still have a lot of room to improve this recipe! I want to try making them sweeter, so it's a mission!
But for now I will just share this recipe with you, so you can experiment with it as well!
I made my recipe with plain white flour, but I think it would be exiting to try this recipe with full wheat flour. Another note: I used the bread machine for this one, but you can just kneed it by hand as well.

Photobucket

Ingredients:
300 grams bread flour
4 grams or 2/3 teaspoon salt
4 grams or 1 teaspoon instant yeast
1 egg
milk
45 grams honey
25 grams (unsalted) butter


1. Mix the flour, salt and yeast together and put these into the pan of the bread machine.
2. Beat the egg lightly and add enough milk to the beaten egg to make 200 grams.
3. Make a little whole into the flourmixture and poor the milk into it. Start the Dough function on the breadmachine. Wait until the dough forms a smooth dough. Check it after about 5 minutes or so. If the dough is still too wet add a tablespoon of bread flour.
3. Add the butter to it when the dough seems smooth. Let the breadmachine finish the first doughcycle of 20 minutes, then stop it, and start it again for another 10 minutes.
4. Now, to save yourself from kneeding by hand anyway, you will have to check if the dough is dry enough. You can add more flour, but make sure you add more yeast as well then.
5. Now take the dough out of the pan kneed it for a bit to feel if it is right and shape it into a bit round ball. Then place it in a lightly greased bowl and cover it with a (damp) cloth/towel or cling wrap. Let it rise in a warm place for about 60 - 90 minutes. It should be about double the volume.
6. Flour a working surface and remove the dough from the bowl. Lightly kneed it to press the air out. Then divide the dough into 9 equal portions (more or less if you want smaller or bigger buns) and shape them into little rounds.
7. Cover the buns with cling wrap or a towel, but make sure it can still breathe and the towel doesn't stick to the buns. Let it rest for about 10 minutes in a warm place.
8. Take each little dough ball and kneed them on a floured surface to press the air out. Then shape them into nice round balls. Do this by folding them inwards and then rolling and pressing them onto the worksurface. Place them seams side down on a greased (or bakingpaper-lined) baking tray. Leave them for 45 - 60 minutes covered loosely with cling wrap or towel.
9. Brush the top of the buns with a bit of milk (this is mostly to make them nice in colour and shiney). Bake them for 15-20 minutes in a preheated oven or until they are dry and goldenbrown in colour. If it brown too quickly you might want to cover it with aluminium foil.
10. Remove from the oven and let them cool on a wire rack.

Now you should have some lovely little buns! Ready to put whatever you want on them!

Cute honey cupcakes

Photobucket

I made these cute little cupcakes with sugar figures I found in the supermarket nearby. I couldn't resist them! I think they look really cute! I have to be honest and say the topping was a pre-packed one.. I baked more that day, and was too lazy to make some real good topping. It tasted nice though!
Anyway, for the recipe: it is very easy and very delicious! The things between (...) mean that it tastes better if you use that, but feel free to just change it into something less fat or the like..

Ingredients:
60 grams (unsalted) butter
50 grams sugar
4 tablespoons honey
80 ml (full fat) milk
1 egg
115 grams selfrising flour


1. Melt the butter in a pan above the fire. When the butter is melted take it off the fire and add the sugar and honey. Stir it with a handmixer. Make sure you do this quick after, or keep the pan on the fire.
2. Let it all cool down a bit and add the milk. Stir it with a handmixer.
3. Whisk the egg a bit, just a bit will be enough! Spoon this into the mixture.
4. Sift the flour and add this to the mixture as well. You can use either a spoon or the handmixer on the lowest setting (can you notice I cant live without my handmixer?)
5. Put the mixture in little cupcakeforms. You might find it handy to put the paper cupcakeforms in a silicone or metal cupcake-tray. That way they will keep the cupcake-shape. You can also poor it into a silicone or metal cupcake-tray right away though!
6. Preheat the oven to 170 Celsius or 340 degrees Fahrenheit before putting the cupcakes inside. Leave them in the oven for about 20 minutes or till they have risen, are dry from the inside (check this with a metal foodpin or fork) and have a goldenbrown colour. They will still have a wet look.
7. When they cooled down enough put the topping on. I added foodcolouring for the blue look. You could also just put jam on them, or chocolate paste or sprinkles or anything your creative mind can think of really!!

Photobucket

I made buns at the same time as these. They were from a pre-made package (you know, just add water and put it in the oven) but they were a total disaster. They turned out like cute little bricks.