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."

Summer Field Rainbow Cake

It is my sister's 14th birthday!!!!!! As she is staying with me for a month, we had the chance to prepare her cake together! I had this vision before...with the grass, flowers and the butterflies.....that hides a rainbow cake underneath. I have to say it all turned out very well, but I am not truly happy with the cake sponge. I used curd cheese filling and white cake recipe-apparently it is really popular in the US (I never heard about that before). White cake usually used in rainbow cake recipe, as you should leave out the egg yolks, that creates a white sponge-so easier to colour. Anyway I share the recipe...maybe it is just my baking abilities....

I know the food colouring isn't the best for us...but you only have Birthday once a year!

Summer Field Rainbow Cake

Nyári Mezővel borított Szivárvány Torta

For the sponge

290gr plain flour

250g sugar

150g butter/fat

300ml milk

3 tsp baking powder

1tsp salt

1 tsp almond extract

5 egg whites

5 different food colouring

For the filling

150ml coconut milk

400g curd cheese

2 vanilla pod

60g dessicated coconut

85g cream cheese

100ml double cream

4 tbsp icing sugar

zest of 1 lemon

2 tbsp Amaretto

green food colouring

For the butterflies and flowers

50g Gum paste/Flower paste

food colouring of your choice

For the grass

80g dessicated coconut

green food colouring

Preheat the oven to 180C.

Mix the flour, sugar, butter,milk, baking powder, salt and almond extract. When it is all mixed add the egg whites and mix it again. Divide the mixture to 5 bowls and add the food colouring to each one. Line the cake tin with baking paper and bake each layer for 20 minutes or until the top springs back if you touch lightly with your fingertip.

In the meantime you can prepare the butterflies and flowers. Divide the flower paste to 3 parts. 

Colour two of them and roll them out on a flat surface. Using your butterfly and flower cutters cut out the shapes. Place the butterflies on a folded paper, so when they dry out and harden the wings will hold their shape.

For the cream mix together all the ingredients with an electric mixer.

You can start layering your cake. When all layers are covered with cream I added some green food colouring to the leftover, so when I cover the cake, the outside layer will be green (in case the dessicated coconut wouldn't cover all surface). 

For the grass simply put the dessicated coconut into a bowl and pour on top the green food colouring(as much as it turns the coconut to green) and start mixing with a silicon spoon to cover all shreds. When you are happy with the result, put the grass on top of the cream (the cream should stuck on the surface as it is wet).

Place on top the butterflies and the flowers....and you are ready. Keep the cake in the fridge.

And you can see the smile on her face when she blew out the candle.

Baked Cassava Cakes

For my birthday I got a small Thai baking book. I love it, although I have to google half of the ingredients....never mind it is always exciting to try something new. Only thing concerns me, that I can't evaluate the end result, as I never had an authentic Thai dessert. But I baked this one and first it was a bit weird as I compared to a "western" bake, but if you get your head around the fact that it isn't the usual texture...you going to love this. This bake doesn't contain any flour, therefore it is light, jellylike and you can consume even in the evening.

Baked Cassava Cake

Ok in case you don't know what cassava is:

"Cassava (Manihot esculenta), also called yuca, mogo, manioc, mandioca and kamoting kahoy, a woody shrub of the Euphorbiaceae (spurge family) native to South America, is extensively cultivated as an annual crop in tropical and subtropical regions for its ediblestarchy, tuberous root, a major source of carbohydrates. It differs from the similarly-spelledyucca, an unrelated fruit-bearing shrub in the Asparagaceae family. Cassava, when dried to a starchy, powdery (or pearly) extract is called tapioca, while its fermented, flaky version is named garri.

Cassava is the third-largest source of food carbohydrates in the tropics.Cassava is a major staple food in the developing world, providing a basic diet for around 500 million people." Wikipedia

Ingredients

1kg cassava(you can buy them in International Food stores)

75g sugar

120g freshly grated coconut

300ml warm water

2 vanilla pods (the recommended 1 tbsp pandanus essence, but I couldn't find it in any shop-now I sent my contact to Singapore, hopefully I can lay may hands on it soon)

100g dessicated coconut

Preheat the oven to 180C. Peel the cassava and grate into find strands with a grater. Wrap in a muslin cloth and squeeze dry. Set aside. (Ok I didn't have the time for that so I squeezed it with my hand...in the end I had 500g of cassava flesh, (the rest was the water and skin))

Combine the cassava, sugar, grated coconut, water fragrant essence or vanilla seeds and the dessicated coconut in a mixing bowl until well blended.

Transfer to a baking tray and bake in the oven for 40 minutes or until the inserted wooden skewer comes out clean. 

Remove and set aside.

Cut the cassava cake into the desired shapes. Serve warm or at room temperature with coconut or vanilla ice cream.

Rhubarb and Vanilla Jam

This recipe is from the BBC good food channel. I quite like the idea to add something to the traditional jams so it will be something special. The recipe is great, but I slightly reduced the amount of sugar to use, as the vanilla makes the jam sweet anyway.

Rhubarb and Vanilla Jam

Ingredients
1.2kg rhubarb, weighted after trimming, cut into 3cm chunks
0.9kg jam sugar or granulated sugar and some pectin-according to the recommended amount on the product
2 vanilla pods, halved length ways
1 lemon juice

Put a small plate in the freezer. Put the rhubarb into your largest saucepan with the sugar and halved vanilla pods. Heat gently into, stirring, until all the sugar has dissolved, then squeeze in the lemon juice and increase the heat.

Boil for about 10minutes, skimming off the scum as you go ( the fruit should be soft). 

Test for setting point by spooning a little onto your chilled plate. After 1-2 minutes, push your finger through the jam-if the surface wrinkles it is ready. If not, keep cooking  for 2-minutes intervals, testing in between. 

Once the jam is ready, let it cool for about 15 minutes before ladling into warm sterilised jars and sealing. Will keep for 6months in a cool, dark place.

To sterilise your jars:
Wash your jars in hot, soapy water, then leave in a low oven to dry completely. Keep them warm. Alternatively, run the jars and lids thorough a hot dishwasher cycle, then let them dry.

Or like my mum did it: put your washed jars and lids into a massive saucepan filled with water and start boiling it, after 15minutes, just before filling take them out one by one. The jar should dry out within seconds as the remaining of the water evaporate immediately.

Chocolate cake with secret filling

I made this cake for my friend's birthday. Really I just wanted to try if I can create the secret filling effect or not, without the special tin. Clearly you don't need the tin as it is quite easy to do without it.

Chocolate cake with apricot and curd cheese filling

For the cake

175 g unsalted butter, softened

125 g soft light brown sugar

100 g caster sugar

2 large eggs, beaten

1 vanilla pod

175 g plain flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

50 g cocoa

75 ml buttermilk

75 ml boiling water

For the filling

150 g Curd Cheese/ Quark * more on this at the Tricks and Recommendations

1 vanilla pod

1 tinned apricot

150 ml double cream 

2 tbsp icing sugar

For the chocolate genache

125 ml double cream 

100 g dark chocolate (at least 60% cocoa solids)

15 g liquid glucose

25 g unsalted butter 

30 g dark chocolate for the shavings

For the sponge: preheat your oven to 180C.

Cream the butter with both of the sugars until pale and light. Gradually add the beaten eggs, mixing well between each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl from time to time.

Add the vanilla seeds.

Sift the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, cocoa into the mixture and mix until almost combined. Add the buttermilk and boiling water and continue to mix until smooth.

Divide the mixture between 2X20cm sandwich tins. Bake on the middle shelf of your reheated oven for about 20 minutes or until well risen and a wooden skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean. Leave the cakes to rest in the ins for 2 minutes and then ease out and leave to cool completely on a wire rack.

For the filling whip the double cream to soft peaks, add the curd cheese, icing sugar and vanilla seeds and mix it again.

1 cm form the rim of the cake (all around) make a 1 cm deep cut. Spoon out the excess middle part of the sponge, where the filling will go ( you can eat it with some extra filling if you have some leftovers:)). Spread the curd cheese filling to both hollow part until almost level. Add a layer of apricot to the bottom layer, then sandwich with the top layer.

For the ganache: Bring to boil the cream in a heavy based pan over medium heat. Take off the heat and add the chocolate and the liquid glucose and mix with a whisk to smooth cream. Add the butter gradually to the cream while whisking.

Pour the ganache on top of the cake and with a spatula spread it over the top and side of the cake.

For the top decoration either use a vegetable peeler to make shavings from a chocolate, scatter on top of the cake

or

if you want the long shavings as I did:

Melt the chocolate over boiling water in a a bowl. When it is melted, spread on a flat surface(ideally marble......jeah I know) or kitchen worktop, or any flat surface by a spatula in thin layer. Leave the chocolate to completely cool down and harden.

Ideally you would transfer your chocolate to the freezer for a few minutes to chill, unless you spread it on your work surface like me. When the chocolate is solid, using a long sharp knife start scraping the chocolate, placing the knife at an angle to the chocolate surface. Place the shavings on top of the cake and chill for a couple of hours.

Summer Fruit Filo Baskets

The thing is, these little baskets are quick and easy to make, definitely delicious and your guest will be stunned. I apologise for the quality of the photograph, but when I made them I wasn't intended to start a blog and publish them..

Filo pastry baskets filled with crème pâtissière and summer fruits

For the baskets

200g Filo Pastry- ready made from the shop

40g unsalted butter

muffin tin or ramekins

For the crème pâtissière

375ml full fat milk

38g cornflower

2vanilla pods

45g sugar

4egg yolks

45g sugar

38g butter

For the topping

200g strawberry

200g raspberry

50g dark chocolate

Preheat the oven to 180 °C. Lightly oil the muffin tins or your ramekins. Depending on the size of your form, cut the filo pastry into 15-18cm squares(or just like me cut into 4equal rectangle your filo pastry sheet), place one square/rectangle on the work surface, then brush with a little of the melted butter. 

Lay on the second square/rectangle at an angle and repeat the process with the third sheet as well. I used 3 layers to make sure it is strong enough for the amount of creme patisserie I will use, but you can use 4 layers just to be on the safe side. 

Press the assembled filo pastry into the oiled forms, pressing into the base to make a flat bottom and keep the edges pointing up. Continue making the cups in this way, then bake in the preheated oven for 10-15minutes or until crisp and golden. Leave to cool before removing the filo cups from the forms.

I did 8 of these baskets and kept the rest of the pastry in the freezer.

For the creme patissiere: In a heavy saucepan over low heat bring the milk, cornflower, the seeds and pods of vanilla and 30g sugar to the boil while whisking.

Meanwhile whisk the egg yolks with 30g sugar in a bowl. Continue whisking and slowly pour in the hot milk. Transfer back to the pan and whisk until just to the boil, then remove from heat.

Immediately place the whole saucepan into a bowl of iced water and remove the vanilla pods. Wile it chills, cut the butter at room temperature into pieces. Once the sauce has cooled, add the  butter pieces and briskly whisk them into the sauce until it is smooth and glossy. 

For the chocolate decoration, melt the chocolate in a bowl over a shimmering water, then leave it slightly to cool. Spoon it into a piping bag or a plastic bag and cut the corner to create a small hole. squeeze the chocolate onto a baking sheet to form the decoration. Leave it to harden in the fridge on a flat surface.

Cut the strawberry into pieces.

To assemble: spoon the room temperature creme patisserie into the filo pastry baskets, then arrange the fruit on top. Put them into the fridge until serving and put the chocolate decoration on at the last minute.

Raspberry Bownies

These brownies are soft and yummy...worth making them:)

Raspberry Brownies

Ingredients:

115g butter

85g plain flour

½ tsp baking powder

55g cocoa powder

2 eggs, lightly beaten

175g caster sugar

1 vanilla pod

½ tsp almond extract

150g raspberries

80g Plain Chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 180 °C. 
Grease a 28X18cm rectangular baking tin. 

Sift together the flour and baking powder. Place the  butter in a large saucepan over a medium heat and stir until melted. Remove from  the heat and add the cocoa, stirring until smooth. Beat in the eggs, sugar, vanilla seeds and almond extract. 

Fold in the flour mixture, raspberries and chocolate chips and pour into the tin.

Bake it in the preheated oven for 25-30 minutes, or until just firm to the touch. 
Leave to rest for 5 minutes, then remove from the tin and transfer it to a cooling rack.Cut into squares and sprinkle with some icing sugar on top to decorate.

Orange Biscuits

This is a stress free, very simple recipe. I wanted to have a great biscuit recipe that I can use with my biscuit press and easy to make after work. Then I found this Hungarian recipe. Easy to make, quick and the biscuits are great even after a week(I didn't have the chance yet to test it for any longer period:))

Orange Biscuits

For the biscuits

130g butter

130g sugar

1vanilla pod

2 tbs orange zest

2 tbs orange liqueur or orange juice

1 egg

250g plain flour

Preheat the oven to 180°C. 

Cream together the butter and the sugar until light and fluffy with a mixer.

Add the vanilla seeds, orange zest, orange liqueur/juice and egg and mix again.

Fold in the flour then spoon the mixture into the biscuit press and make the biscuits until you have paste left. 

Bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown.

Hint and tips:

I tried the biscuit press before with no luck. The secret to the biscuit press: you have to use ungreased baking paper, otherwise the mix won't stick on to it. I couldn't find any, as all modern baking papers are "non stick" therefore their coating prevents the baked goods to stick to it-exactly the opposite what you want in this case.

My trick is to put the baking sheets on a tray into the oven and bake them for 30 minutes on 180°C. After a while the non stick coating will disappear and your paper will be a bit stiff and matt-after this "treatment" your baking paper is ready to use with biscuit press.

White chocolate-coconut cream filled "red" velvet cake

This cake is one of my favourite. I love strawberries... you may noticed that already:), it is easy to make and if you keep it in the fridge it will be delicious for days. This is the cake than I mentioned before, when I realised the supermarket food colourings not good enough. You can see the results yourself, it is rather brown than red, but since then I recreated the sponge with my new colouring and it is really red.

White chocolate-coconut cream filled "red" velvet cake

For the sponge
23cm cake tin 
350g softened butter
350g caster sugar
6 eggs
1 vanilla
330g plain flour
20g cocoa powder
15g baking powder
red food colouring * more on this topic in the Tricks and Recommendations 

For the cream
200ml double cream
1dream topping
150g white chocolate
100g dessicated coconut
200g cream cheese

For the filling 
600g strawberries

Preheat the oven to 180°C. Put the butter and the sugar into a large bowl and beat together until light and fluffy. Gradually  beat in the eggs, vanilla and half of the flour to prevent the mixture from curdling. Add the remaining flour, cocoa powder and baking powder and give it a final beat to mix together. Add the food colouring and mix well.  Put the mixture in a prepared tin and bake it for 1 hr 15minutes, but check after 1hour. If the skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean, than it is ready. Leave to cool in the tin for 5 minutes than put it onto a cooling rack. Leave to cool completely.

Whip the double cream  with the dream topping to stiff peaks then add the melted white chocolate, dessicated coconut and the cram cheese. Mix it again.

Divide the sponge to 3 equal part with a cake leveller and spread the bottom layer with the white chocolate cream. Arrange 1/3 of the strawberries on it and put some cream on top so the next sponge layer will stuck to it . Carry on until you have cream and sponge layer left. Keep it in the fridge, after a day or so the sponge will soften a bit and will be even more delicious than before.

Last week I baked the same cake for my birthday to take it to the office. I "think" they liked it and due to the rectangle shape it was easier to cut and divide to equal parts.

Lemon Magic

This is a really quick and refreshing dessert almost allays served at warm summer days when you need something light and not too sweet.

For 6 individual portions:
5dl soured cream 
3 lemons
2 tbs icing sugar
1 vanilla
10-15 pieces of lady fingers
3dl double cream

In one bowl mix the soured cream with the icing sugar and 2.5 lemon zest and its juice.
In the other bowl whip the double cream until stiff peaks then mix the contents of the two bowls.
Layer the cream and the lady fingers and put it into the fridge for at least 24 hours. 
Serve chilled with the sliced, half lemon for decoration.

Hints and tips
-if you don't have time for the 24 hours chilling, dip the lady fingers into some milk just before layering. It really should be a quick dip for 4-5 second to start the softening process. If you leave the lady finger in the milk for too long, it will fell apart and it will release milk later on when your desserts already assembled....and you don't want that.
If you use the "milking" method, 3-4 hours resting in the refrigerator will be sufficient.
-As usual please taste the cream, as somebody like sour desserts more than others, if this is the case add another lemon to the cream...
  

White chocolate crème brûlée

So I have an agreement with my husband....I can keep buying baking stuff until I use them. Well, I had my purple blow torch for ages without doing anything with it...and what better thing to use it on than a Creme Brulee.

White chocolate Creme Brulee

for 6 servings:
175g fresh raspberries
100g caster sugar
5 medium egg yolks
600ml double cream
1 vanilla bean
175g white chocolate copped
6 tbsp demerara sugar

Rinse lightly the raspberries, then leave to dry on absorbent kitchen paper. Once dry, divide the raspberries evenly between 6 150ml  ramekins or individual dishes(you can leave some on side for the decoration).

Whisk the caster sugar and egg yolks in a large bowl until very thick. Pour the cream into a heavy-based saucepan, place over a medium-high heat and bring to the boil. Remove from the heat and gradually whisk into the egg mixture, then whisk in the vanilla essence.

Place the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water and cook for about 15-20 minutes, stirring frequently, or until thick and the custard coats the back of a wooden spoon.

Remove the bowl from the heat, add the copped white chocolate and stir until melted and well blended. Pour over the raspberries in the ramekins and leave to cool. Cover with cling film and chill in the refrigerator for 6hours or until firm.

Preheat the grill (or use a blow torch).  Remove the ramekins from the refrigerator and sprinkle 1 tablespoon of the demerara sugar over each, ensuring that the custard is completely covered.

Cook under the preheated grill for 5-6 minutes, or until the sugar has melted and began to caramelise.(I prefer the blow torch as you can control the carmallization). Remove from the grill, leave to cool slightly, then chill again in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour. Serve immediately.