Toffee-Shortbread

No pictures today because I did not manage to take pictures -> lack of time and camera (The only usable camera in this household is my boyfriend's mobile phone, remember?).

But they were quite yummie, so I won't hesitate to share the recipe with you.

All you need is:

500 g butter
350 g flour
100 g sugar
1 egg
6 tbsp. maple syrup
400 g single cream
400 g dark chocolate


1. Knead 250 g butter, the flour, sugar and egg until it forms an even mass.

2. Fill into a rectangle baking tin (greased and floured) and bake for about 20-25 minutes on 175°C. Let it cool down.

3. Cook 250 g butter with maple syrup and cream until viscid. Put onto the shortbread. Let cool down.

4. Melt the chocolate and pour it all over the shortbread. Cut the cake into pieces.

That's about it :)

Jam

Today, again something different. For some time there is some preserving sugar in my cupboard, waiting for some fruit. Looking at my fruit basket, there were some oranges... Guess what happened next ;)

All you need is:


500 g peeled oranges (about three)
250 g preserving sugar (2:1)

Take the oranges and put them into a pot. Make sure the oranges are completely peeled, so that there is nothing white on them any more. Add the preserving sugar and mix. Wait for 3-4 hours and then cook it. It should cook for several minutes only (cf. instructions on the preserving sugar packet). Then, fill the mixture into a glass you can close airtight. I had to use two glasses, a larger one and a smaller one, although the smaller one was only half full. Close the glasses immediately and put them upside down for five minutes. Then, back to normal again and let the jam cool down. Once open, store them in the fridge. 

If you like your jam rather bitter, add some grated zest from the oranges.

Apple Tart

Yay, another cake. This time something simple, but yummie nevertheless.

6 apples
1 lime
3 tbsp. sugar
cinnamon and ground cloves to taste
2 eggs
150 ml milk
50 g flour

1 egg
60 g sugar
125 g butter
250 g flour

Skin and dice the apples (not too small). Put them into a pot, together with the juice of a lime and the sugar. Cook until the apples start to become soft. Then, add the spices. Mix the eggs and the milk until they form an even mass. When the apples have cooled down a bit, add the egg mixture and heat again. While heating, stir in the flour.  Let cool down again.

Now, put the ingredients for the dough into a bowl and mix them briefly, than go on kneading it with your hands. When everything is well combined, add water until the dough becomes smooth, without becoming sticky.

Spread the dough in a tart form, including the edge, than fill in the apple mixture. Bake on 180°C for about 45-60 minutes.

Theatre and stuff

I know, it seems I'm getting lazy, but I assure you, I do not have forgotten how to make cakes :) The next 'project' will be something with either apples or oranges... Maybe on Wednesday?

Well, at the moment I am pretty occupied with this:

designed by Thomas Michalski

What's this got to do with baking? Well, this is the reason for not baking this often at the moment. It's the theatre group I am part of. Here you see Prospera, surrounded by Ariel and Caliban. And no, I am neither of those ;)
For further information visit www.actorsnausea.com

Hope to post new cakes soon :)

Strawberry Charlotte

It was a friend's birthday and he had asked my for a cake. Well, who am I to deny that wish :)

What you need:

250 g lady's fingers
50 g butter

350 ml milk
2 sachets vanilla sugar
6 egg yolks
100 g sugar
2 sachets gelatine powder (equals 12 leafs, in total)
250 g strawberries (pureed)
125 g raspberries (pureed)
250 g mascarpone
400 g single cream
200 g raspberries
strawberries for decoration

First, cut ca. 1 cm from one side of the lady's fingers. Put the rim of a springform onto a plate and line it with the lady's fingers. Then, crumble the remaining lady's fingers and the cut off pieces and mix them with the melted butter. Fill the mixture into the form and push it gently onto the plate, so that it forms a base for the filling.

Then, cook the milk with the vanilla sugar and a pinch of salt. Meanwhile, mix the egg yolks with the sugar until the mixture gets a light yellow colour. When the milk has cooled down a little pour it very slowly into the egg mixture, while stirring constantly. Then, pour the mixture back into the pot and heat it, stirring constantly, until the mass gets a bit thicker. Meanwhile, soak the gelatine for some minutes. Then, stir the gelatine into the milk and let it dissolve. Then, add the pureed strawberries and raspberries and fold them under. Beat the mascarpone until fluffy and add the milk-mixture to it and stir mix with a spoon. Finally, beat the cream until stiff peak and fold under together with the raspberries. Leave the mixture in the fridge until it starts to jelly.

Then, fill it into the lady's fingers crust. Leave in the fridge for at least three hours. 

Now, feel free to decorate the cake with some strawberries.

Making of: Mascarpone Cream Cake

Can you guess why I like strategy meetings for diverse events to take place at my basement? Right, it makes an exquisite excuse for baking :)

This time we were eight persons only, so it was a 18cm cake 'only' because there was proper food before.

For the chocolate sponge you need:

3 eggs
100 g sugar
50 g ground almonds
50 g flour
25 g corn starch
1 tsp. baking powder
25 g cocoa powder

Preheat the oven to 190°C. Divide the eggs and beat the whites until stiff peak. Then, add the sugar and stir carefully. Do the same with the yolks. Mix all the remaining ingredients in a bowl and add it slowly to the egg mixture. Stir carefully until well combined.
Line the a 18cm baking pan with baking parchment. Only the bottom, not the sides! Fill in the mixture and put the tin into the oven for about 35 minutes. 

When the sponge is done and cooled down, cut it into two slices and soak them with some spoonfuls of amaretto and set it aside.

Now it is time for the mascarpone cream. What you need is:

150 g mascarpone
150 g curd cheese
1 egg
50 g sugar
3 leafs of gelatine (I used the corresponding amount of instant gelatine)

The original recipe requires, 250 g mascarpone, 250 g curd cheese, 4 eggs, 50 g sugar and 3 leafs of gelatine, but
1. There was way too much cream
2. it was too liquid, as you can see on the pictures

So, next time I will do it as stated above (in the 'what you need'-section).

First, mix the cheeses until they form an even mass. Then, add the egg and sugar and mix until well combined. Finally, stir in the no-heat-instant gelatine, or the soaked and dissolved gelatine, and leave in the fridge until beginning to set.

When the mass starts to become firm, spread some of it onto the first cake layer. Position the second layer onto it and cover the whole cake with the remaining cheese cream.

As a finish, decorate the cake with grated chocolate and raspberries.

Making of: Caramel Cheesecake

And yet another go at one of the Cheesecake Factory cheesecakes. This time I baked a small one (18cm), so if you want to bake a 26cm-cake, double the amount of each ingredient.

For the shell you need:

100 g flour
1 tbsp. sugar
50 g butter (cut into chunks)
1 egg
1 sachet vanilla sugar

I actually used some leftovers from another cake. But if you have to do it from scratch, simply put all the ingredients into a bowl and knead them until they form a dough.
Grease and flour a 18cm baking tin, fill in the dough, and flatten it with your hand until the whole bottom is covered.

Put the tin aside and make the filling. You will need:

500 g curd cheese
50 g sugar
1 sachet vanilla sugar
2 eggs
1 sachet caramel custard powder

Put the curd cheese into a bowl and stir it until it forms an even mass. Then, add the sugars, eggs and custard powder, mixing after each ingredient.
Fill the cheese mix into the baking tin. Preheat the oven to 175°C and bake the cake for about 35-50 minutes, checking now and then, whether it is done. If it becomes too dark too soon, cover the cake with a sheet of aluminium foil and go on baking until the cake is done.

Leave the cake to completely cool down. When it is, you can prepare the topping.

Caramel cream topping:
1 sachet caramel no-cooking custard powder (for about 400 ml milk)
300 ml milk
100 ml single cream

Mix everything with the electric mixer, until you get a puddingy mass.

Spread the mass onto the cake and it is ready. If you like, you can decorate the cake with whipped cream. I only sprinkled some minced almonds onto it.