I needed a simple cake fast for a kids birthday party (we have way to many at this time of the year) and after realizing that I am out of flour I did a hazelnut cake that never fails. The recipe is an adoption from "Minnchen Haselnusstorte". I reduced the sugar and eggs which is hard to believe and increased the hazelnut content.
It is still a very very moist cake and you can add at least two layers without being a great pastry chef. For the layers you can use any kind of frosting you like. Easy ones would be whip cream or jam (raspberry is my personal favorite).
what you need:
400 g grounded hazelnuts
150 g turbine sugar
10 eggs
100g dark chocolate for frosting
as desired raspberry jam
some parchment paper
what you do:
- separate the eggs
- beat the egg whites until they are stiff
- mix in a large bowl the rest of the ingredients
- add the stiff egg white rather carefully, do not over mix, so the cake stays fluffy.
- grease a baking pan
- pour the batter in
- bake for 30-40 minutes at 380 Fahrenheit
- let it cool down
- cut the cake lengthwise in 1-2 layers
- add the desired creme or jam
- warm up the chocolate in a hot water bath or microwave
- place some parchment paper under the sides of the cake, to keep the plate clean and cover cake with chocolate
Guten Appetit!
Today was one of those really unfriendly days that was calling for some comfort food. It was banana pancake day!!!
When I was little we lived for a while in Nigeria and during this time we ate a lot of bananas in all kind of sizes and colors. Anyhow, my mother learned their to smush bananas in the pfannkuchen.
This is an easy meal to prepare. We eat them to breakfast, as dessert or as the main dish.
what you need (serving 4)
2 cups of whole wheat pastry flour
1 1/2 cups of milk
2 eggs
3 bananas
pinch of salt
maple syrup as desired
what you do:
- mix all the ingredients in a bowl. The batter should be on the runny side
- heat a lightly oiled
frying pan over medium high heat
- scoop the batter onto the
griddle, using approximately 1/2 cup for each pancake
- brown on both
sides and serve hot
- sweet with maple syrup as desired
These are my husbands favorite cookies. They are a bit tricky, but if you know what to watch out for you will be amazed!
you need (ca 80):
5 eggs
2 organic oranges
2 organic lemon
600g ground almond ( Trader Joes sells almond meal, which is perfect for this)
350g raw brown sugar
a pinch of nutmeg
2 tbs cinnamon
a pinch of salt
parchment paper ( or Oblaten, if you happen to bring them from Germany)
icing:
100g powdered sugar
lemon juice as needed
what you do:
- preheat the oven at 300° Fahrenheit
- mix the eggs, sugar and spices
- wash the oranges and lemon with hot water
- peel the skin and dice them
- add the diced peel and ground almonds
- keep on mixing
- when done use a couple of spoons to place a cookie on the parchment paper.
- the cookie should be flat (mine seldom are)
- bake for 12-15 minutes ( the trick is to get this right, the Lebkuchen should still be moist in the middle, if not it becomes very quick to hard, if you undercooked it you will notice when you taste it, in this case just put them back in the oven and bake a few more minutes)
- prep the icing mixing powdered sugar with lemon juice, be careful not to use too much juice, the icing should be white not transparent like the one I did.
Guten Appetit!
It is tradition in our family to make a gingerbread house for Christmas. Usually I am off the hook since my mom volunteers, but the last couple of years I have been on my own. I still use her recipe, however I am using whole wheat which brought me a raised eyebrow from my mother, but no one else noticed.
what you need:
500g honey
250g raw cane sugar (refined is traditional)
250g coconut oil
1000g whole wheat pastry flour
50g chocolate powder
3 eggs
2 tbsp rum (or rosewater)
10g cardamon
10g cinnamon
5g ground clove
10g baking soda
what you do:
- combine the honey, sugar and coconut oil in a large pot
- bring it to bubble over medium heat
- let it cool down
- add the other ingredients and mix well until you got an even dough
- refrigerate over night
- roll the dough out and cut out the cookies (stars and flowers are fun to decorate with icing)
- if you are doing a ginger bread house the thickness should be close to 1 cm
- bake for 15-20 minutes at 390 Fahrenheit (really depends on the size or your cookies)I tend to make big cookies and decorate the tree with it
It has been a couple of years since I actually wrote people for Christmas, and simultaneously I am getting less and less cards myself.
I swore to myself that I would get back on track this year and I ended up cutting a Mini Boden Catalog in little strips and gluing them on white cardboard. It was fun for an hour, which was enough to make 8 cards. It works even better with a glass of red wine!
I have been in the mood for Christmas cookies and started with some of my favorites.
These are super easy and so delicious! I have cut down 1/3 of the sugar, so if you like it sweet jam it up again.
you need:
3 egg whites
250 g ground hazelnuts
ca 30 whole hazelnuts for deco
100 g turbinado raw cane sugar
1/2 organic lemon (zest and juice)
1/2 tsp cinnamon (opt.)
parchment paper
- mix the ground hazelnuts with sugar, lemon juice, zest and cinnamon
- beat the egg whites until they are stiff and add carefully to the dry mix (do not over mix!)
- preheat the oven at 280 Fahrenheit (convection oven)
- lay out cookie sheet with parchment paper
- use a spoon full to make the cookies
- place one hazelnut on each cookie
- bake for 20-25 minutes
Guten Appetit!
