Coffee Cake

The Book People visited us today.........and that can only mean one thing: I bought yet another book. I had to try it straight away, so my first recipe from the Teatime Collection book is Coffee Cake. I love coffee and I always wanted to bake one of these....Yumm

Coffee Cake

For the sponge

175 g butter, softened

175 g light brown soft sugar

2 tbsp strong coffee

3 eggs lightly beaten

175 g self-raising flour

1 tsp baking powder

For the butter cream

110 g butter, softened

200 g icing sugar

2-3 tbsp strong coffee

80 g walnut chopped

To decorate

icing sugar

8 walnut halves

Preheat the oven to 180C. Grease two 20 cm sandwich tins and base line with non stick baking parchment.

Cream the butter and sugar together, add the coffee and beat in the eggs little by little, keeping the mixture stiff. Sift the flour and baking powder together then fold in.

Divide the mixture between the prepared tins and bake for 20-25 minutes until risen and the tops spring back when lightly pressed with a fingertip.

Allow to cool in the tins for a few minutes then turn out, peel away the paper and cool on a wire rack.

Make the butter cream by blending the butter, icing sugar and coffee together until smooth.

Take one cake and arrange wooden skewers/toothpicks over the top to mark out eight portions. Sieve icing sugar over the top and then remove the skewers. Pipe on eight butter cream rosettes and top each with a walnut piece.

Add the chopped walnuts to the remaining butter cream and spread over the second cake. Put the first cake on top of this.

Flódni / Apple, poppy seed and walnut pastry

Baked goods are quite popular in Hungary if it contains walnut, poppy seed or apple, never mind if all three are on the ingredient list. The other good thing about this pastry that you first have to assemble it and then bake it, so although it has 4 layers it doesn't require to bake 4 separate layers. The recipe also stated that you have to put in 300 ml white wine, but you can't really taste it in the end- I think it is more for the texture, consistency than for the taste.

Flódni / Apple, poppy seed and walnut pastry

 

For the pasty:

500 g plain flour

250 g butter on room temperature

100 g icing sugar

3 egg yolk

100 ml white wine

 

For the apple filling

800g sharp apple

2 tbsp honey

lemon to taste (approx. 1/2 - 1 lemon)

cinnamon and ground cloves to taste

 

For the poppy seed filling

200 g ground poppy seed

100 g sugar

50 g sultana / currant

100 ml white wine

 

For the walnut filling

120 g ground walnut

80 g chopped walnut

100 g sugar

50 g sultana / currant

100 ml white wine

 

egg wash

 

 

Preheat the oven to 170C and line a 19X25cm rectangle pan - leave the baking paper longer on the sides, so after baking you can lift out the pastry.

 

Rub the butter into the flour, add in the eggs, sugar and white wine. Form a dough then wrap it in cling film and rest it in the fridge until you prepare the fillings.

 

Peel  and core the apples then grate them. Add in the honey, lemon juice, cinnamon and cloves to taste.

 

Mix the grated poppy seed with the sugar and sultanas. Heat 100ml white wine to boiling point and pour it on top the poppy seed mix.

 

Mix the grated walnut with the chopped walnut sugar and sultanas. Heat 100ml white wine to boiling point and pour it on top the walnut mix.

 

Divide the pastry to 4 equal parts and on a floured surface and roll out  to the size of the pan. Put one pasty layer it into the tin and top it with the poppy seed filling.

 

Level the poppy seed filling and top it with another pastry layer, then walnut filling, pastry, apple filling and finish it off with a pastry layer. Prick the top of the pastry with a fork and brush it with egg wash.

 

 

Bake it in the oven for 60-70 minutes or until it has a nice golden colour.

When it is completely cooled, lift out from the pan (or if you manage to rip off all the baking sheet like me, just put a chopping board on top- turn it up side down, than another board on it and flip it back. It is quite a sturdy bake so it will keep its shape).

 

Slice it and serve it with icing sugar and a whole walnut piece for decoration if you like.



Ischler/Isler

I fancied some biscuits today and I wanted something "bad" for my waistline(I deserve some Sunday's treat). I haven't had Isler for a while, as you can't really find this in England. Isler is basically walnut/almond biscuit rounds sandwiched together with jam, and covered with chocolate. You can have these shortbread like biscuits in Hungarian patisseries all over the country. They are lush to eat and they can keep for a long time ....if you can resist.

Ischler/ Isler

Ingredients (makes 16)

200 g plain flour

150 g grated walnut/almond

200 g butter at room tempeature

2 egg yolk

100 g icing sugar

pinch of salt

approx 200 g apricot jam/seedless raspberry

200 g dark chocolate

50 g butter

Mix the flour, grated walnut, icing sugar in a big bowl then add the butter, egg yolks and the pinch of salt. Try to mix the dough as quickly as possible to avoid overworking it and melt the butter with your warm fingers. Shape a ball, cover it with cling film and place it to the fridge for at least an hour, but if you leave it to rest overnight that is even better.

Preheat the oven to 180 C. After resting, work the dough for a minute on a floured surface than roll it to 4-5 mm thick. With a 7-9 cm cookie cutter cut out rounds and place them on a baking paper covered baking sheet.

Bake them for 20-30 minutes or until they are golden. Leave them to cool completely. Sandwich two rounds with some apricot jam. Leave the biscuits for a few hours to harden, so the biscuit rounds won't slide on the jam when you are dipping them.

Place a bowl over a boiling water in a heavy based pan and put the chocolate in the bowl stirring until melted. Add the butter, which will give a nice shine to it. Decorate with half walnuts if you wish, but it isn't necessary.

Gundel Pancake/Gundel Palacsinta

This year the pancake day will be on the 12th of February. To celebrate this grand occasion, I made some pancakes in preparation, to have a practise run before the big day. Gundel Pancake is a traditional Hungarian pancake created and invented by Karoly Gundel. It is a pancake with ground walnuts, raisins and rum filling served flambéed dark chocolate sauce. It is quite heavy, I would be surprised if you could eat more than two even if you are a big guy. Due to traditions I included my dear friend, Kabi's kitchen pancake batter recipe.

Gundel Pancake / Gundel Palacsinta

For the Batter (makes about 20)

400g plain flour

3 tsp sugar

1 tsp salt

500ml milk

250ml sparkling water of soda water

4 eggs

sunflower oil

For the filling(for 4-7 pancakes)

4 tbsp rum

80 g of raisins

60 g grated walnut

65 g chopped walnut

150 ml double cream

50 g caster sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

For the chocolate sauce

80 g dark chocolate, chopped

100 ml single cream

2 egg yolks

1/2 tbsp butter

2 tbsp caster sugar

2 ek rum

Before you start the pancakes, put the raisins in a bow and pour the rum on top. Leave it to soak for 1 hour, or until you ready with the pancakes. As the rum won't cover the raisins, stir it time to time.

Sift the flour in a mixing bowl and add the salt and sugar. Make a well in the middle and add the eggs and the milk(add the milk in two portion mixing well in between). Mix it well, and slowly add the sparkling water until it reach the consistency  of thicker single cream. 

Stir it up before you start to make them. Heat up the pan until very hot with some oil and make the first batch of the pancakes. Poor the mixture in the middle of the pan, and with circular motion of your wrist spread it evenly. When the edges start to brown flip it with a plastic spatula or a flat wooden spoon. In order to get out of the kitchen before midnight use at least 2 frying pan/pancake pan...I usually do it with three and create a small production line.

Put the double cream in a heavy based pan, add the sugar and bring it to boil. When it reached boiling point add the chopped and the grated walnut, cinnamon and cook it for further 3 minutes. Turn off the heat and leave it to cool for a few minutes then add the rum soaked raisins and the rum if left any. Stir it well, and add some more rum, if you require so.

Place the chopped chocolate in a bowl over boiling water with the single cream and stir it until the chocolate is incorporated with the single cream. Take off from the heat and whisk in the egg yolks first then the butter and sugar. Return the bowl above the boiling water and reheat it.

Take one pancake fill it with the hot walnut filling and fold it in half then to another half, to get the typical quarter shape. Place one or two on the plate, pour on top the chocolate sauce. To flambé the pancakes, just pour some rum on top of the chocolate sauce than light it with a blow torch. Please be really careful and if you don't want flambéed Gudnel pancakes, just simply pour the rum into the chocolate sauce.

Apple Pie

We spent the weekend with our friends in Basingstoke and I promised to make some dessert. I would have been easy but I forgot my promise, up to the day before when I realised I need to bake something after work, that is suitable for a car drive there. This apple pie is easy to make and the dough doesn't need resting which means you can prepare the whole pie in 30-40 minutes. Perfect as an afternoon quick fix bake:)

Apple Pie

For the pastry:

500g plain flour

250g butter(at room temperature)

200g sugar

1tsp baking powder

4 eggs

1-3 tbsp soured cream

For the filling

1kg apple (pealed, grated)

3 tbsp semolina

150g walnut(grated or roughly chopped)

150g sugar

1/2 lemon

1tbsp cinnamon

egg wash for the top

icing sugar to serve

Place the flour and baking powder in a big bowl and rub in the soft butter. Add the sugar and eggs and work together to get a dough. The amount of soured cream you put in depends on the size of your eggs, temperature so on...so add as much soured cream as you need, to get a very soft, but not sticky dough. Kneed it for 2-3minutes then cover it and put it in the fridge until you prepare your filling.

Peel the apples and great them into a bowl. Pour off most of excess liquid you have after grating, because we don't want the soggy bottoms(you don't have to squeeze the apple to get rid off all moisture, just pour off the excess). Add the juice of the half lemon, semolina, sugar and the cinnamon. Taste the filling. if you think it isn't cinnamony enough then add some more. 

Preheat the oven to 180C. Line your baking tray with baking paper.

Divide the dough into two parts and on a floured surface roll it to 3-4 mm thickness. Lay the dough into the prepared tin and prick the surface with a fork. 

Sprinkle on the walnut to the dough(it has two function: it tastes really nice with the apple, and protects the dough from the juice of the apple, therefore making sure the bottom will be soft, but not under baked). Now lay your apple filling on top of the walnut layer then level it with your spoon. 

Cover it with the other half of the dough (roll it to the same thickness) and prick with a fork.

Cover the dough with egg wash and bake it in the oven for 35-40 minutes.

When it is ready slice it and serve it hot with some vanilla ice cream or at room temperature with some icing sugar on top.

Mini Vanilla "Croissants" With Nuts

So it is 8th of September: it is my Name Day. I know many of you are raising your eyebrows...but in Hungary we celebrate  Name Days as well as  Birthdays. To explain what it's all about I included a description from Wikipedia, but the main thing is: I was baking for my colleagues, but being a weekday I was looking for quick recipes. I baked Mini Vanilla "Croissant" With Nuts, Chocolate Beetroot Cake (I was given a big veg box  by my friend who is ordering from a farm....but they can't eat it all, and I had 8 beetroots to deal with) and Coconut  Balls With Cherry inside. These are all quick and simple recipes: mix it, bake it (you don't even have to bake the Coconut Balls) and done:)

 Mini Vanilla "Croissants" With Nuts

Ingredients (makes about 48)

300g plain flour

240g butter (at room temperature)

150g chopped mixed nut, or walnut, or hazelnut...any nut you like

90g icing sugar

1 vanilla pod

Some icing sugar mixed with vanilla sugar for dusting

Preheat the oven to 180C.

Mix all ingredients until it is well incorporated, you should get a slightly wet, sticky dough.

Wash your hands and start shaping little sticks(4-6cm in length), then bend both end to create the croissant shape.

Bake it for 15-25 minutes, until it is firm to touch. Remove from the oven and leave it to cool for 1-2 minutes so you can handle them. Roll each croissant in the icing sugar, to cover the top and the bottom surface as well.

This little croissant is soft but crunchy at the same time: a big hit at the workplace.

Hints and tips:

-you can also add some spices to the croissant to have slightly different taste: last time I added 1 tsp cinnamon to the dough and it was truly divine, but you can also try mixed spices

So about the name day:

"A name day is a tradition in many countries in Europe and Latin America that consists of celebrating the day of the year associated with one's given name.

The custom originated with the Greek Orthodox calendar of saints and Roman Catholic calendar of saints, where believers, named after a particular saint, would celebrate that saint's feast day. In many countries, however, there is no longer any explicit connection to Christianity. It remains more popular in Southern and Eastern (Catholic and Orthodox) rather than in Northern (predominantly Protestant) Europe.

Hungary

Name days (in Hungarian: névnap) in Hungary are very popular, often as much as a person's actual birthdate. A woman is typically given flowers on her name day by acquaintances, including in the workplace, and the price of flowers often rises around the dates of popular names because of demand. A bottle of alcohol is a common gift for men on their name day. Children frequently bring sweets to school to celebrate their name days. Name days are more often celebrated than birthdays in workplaces, presumably because it is simpler to know the date since most calendars contain a list of name days. You can also find the name day on daily newspapers by the date and on Hungarian websites. Some highly popular names have several name days; in that case, the person chooses on which day he or she wishes to celebrate. The list of the name days is, as usual in name day celebrating cultures, based on the traditional Catholic saints' feasts, but the link of the secular name days calendar to the Catholic calendar is not maintained any more. For example, even religious Catholic people named Gergely (Gregory) after Pope Gregory the Great still celebrate their name days on 12 March, although the Church moved the feast of that saint to 3 September in 1969."

Spiced Small Apple Loaf

This was the result of a last minute "cupboard" baking. I expected few friends for dinner and were too lazy for shopping. I had everything for this recipe and finally I managed to use my mini loaf tins. When it was ready and still warm, I served with some vanilla ice cream:) Moist and Delicious.

Spiced Small Apple Loaf

Ingredients:
3 eating apples
175g butter, at room temperature
200g caster sugar
2 eggs
210g plain flour
1tsp bicarbonate of soda
1tsp ground cinnamon
1 vanilla pod
60g chopped walnut
90g raisins

Preheat the oven to 180 °C and line 4 13X6cm mini loaf tins.

Peel and slice the apple into small pieces, then set aside.

With an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar together until blended. Add the eggs and continue beating until the mixture is creamy.

Shift together the flour, bicarbonate of soda and cinnamon. Fold the flour mixture into the egg mixture with the vanilla seeds. Stir in the apples, walnuts and raisins.

Pour into the tin and bake until the cake springs back when touched lightly, about 1 1/4 hours.

Let stand for 15 minutes, then unmould and transfer to a cooling rack.