Semla Cake - Something new for shrove tuesday?

So it was my husbands birthday this week and this was something that kind of just snuck up on us(as it does). I had just finished the Baby Quilt Cake a couple days earlier and my cake making patience was spend for a while. 

While trying to make a decision on what kind of cake to make my husband for his birthday, Semlas were mentioned and then it hits me. it muuust be possible to make a cake out of semlas right? Like just making a larger bun or maybe two that you can stack? HMMmmmmm.......

Anyone who has not heard of a Semla, has to change that right now. Like NOW! You will LOVE it. In Sweden it's what we eat on shrove tuesday, and then we have a second day for pancakes ;-).. A Semla is a sweet cardamon bun cut in half, the insides of the bottom are scooped out and put in a bowl together with some cream and marsipan (or almond paste). you mix this together to make a lovely smooth filling which you fill the scooped out bit with. You then whip some cream, and put a generous dollop(love that word) on top and cover the whole thing with the top bit of the bun. The last touch is some powdered sugar sieved on top.

The traditional way of eating it according to my mom is to put it in a deep plate with some warm milk, but that has never appealed to me. Eating it straight is not just good enough, but TO DIE FOR. YUM!

So this is what I decided to do. A SEMLA CAKE.

I found this recipe on Recepten.se, but I have adapted it slightly - I thought it loked brilliant as it gave you the recipe to make your own almond paste (swedish almond paste is not the same as the British marsipan, though I'm sure it would still be yummy if you used it)

Semla Cake

the yummiest cake ever.

For The Bun:

100 g butter

3 dl milk (in my opinion full fat)

50 g fresh yeast or the equivalent in dry yeast

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp ground cardamon

1 dl sugar

1 egg

1/2 tsp hjorthornssalt or of you don't have that at home replace it with 1 tsp of baking powder

almost 1 liter of all purpose flour (not self raising)

Making your own Almond Paste Filling:

200 g almonds

1 1/2 dl milk

1 1/2 dl sugar

Using store-bought almond paste or marsipan:

400 g almond paste

Desired amount of cream(more for a smoother filling)

The scooped out crumbs

For topping and garnishing:

1 egg for eggwash

8 dl whipped cream

Powdered/icing sugar for sieving over
The scooped out crumbs

How to:

Buns:

Take out the egg so it becomes room tempered. Break the yeast into crumbs and place in a bowl. Melt the butter and pour in the milk stirring until it becomes 37 degrees Celsius (40 if using dry yeast). Pour a little of the mixture over the yeast at a time stirring to incorporate it as you go along. Add the salt, cardamon, sugar and egg. Add the hjorthornssalt/baking powder and the flour a little at a time working the dough, stretching the gluten as much as possible. A trick I use is to take a little ball and try stretching it out into a square/rectangle to se if it holds and that I can look through it like a really dirty window ;-).  That's when it's done. It's then time for the proofing. This is when you let the dough rest so that the yeast can do it's bit. In this case let it proof for about 30 min. 

You then put the dough on the work surface and do your best to deflate all the hard work that yeast has done ;-)... You pound that thing and stretch it like nobodies business! Then split the dough into 2 equal parts rolling them into balls and then gently spreading the balls into larger flat buns (they will rise up during proofing and in the oven).

Put the oven on 200 celsius or 175 for a fan oven. Place them on the baking sheet (I placed them on the same one as I do not have a fan oven, but otherwise place ether on 2 separate sheets). Proof for a further 30 min. Brush with the egg wash and bake in the middl elf the oven for 15-20 min until they have a nice color. Place under a kitchen towel on a cooling rack and wait until completely cool to start prepping the actual cake.

Making the filling from scratch:

Cut off the top of the buns (maybe 1/3 from the top), and scoop out the insides of the bottom parts.

Place almonds, varmed up milk, sugar and the crumbs from the inside of the buns in a mixer and run until its a nice smooth paste. Fill the insides of the bottom part with the paste. 

Making the filling with store bought almond paste or marsipan:

Cut off the top of the buns (maybe 1/3 from the top), and scoop out the insides of the bottom parts. In a bowl combine the almond paste, cream and the insides of the buns and mix smooth with an electric mixer.  Fill the insides of the bottom part with the paste. 

Garnishing:

Whip the cream and dollop (still love that word) or pipe the cream onto the filling of each of the layers. Now stack the two buns on top of each other take one of the lids (The second I would scoop out any left over filling and eat on the spot ;-)) and place on top ot the cream. Then sieve over the icing sugar.

Serve!

And ENJOOOOOOOY!

J.

Ellie's 3rd Birthday - Minnie Mouse Cake

First of all... Excuse the quality of my photos... These were taken before my elevated awareness of the importance of good photos...

Ok. So I know this entry is a little late. Ellie is almost 5 and this is her 3rd birthday cake and 

decorations.

We were living in Darwen, near Manchester in Lancashire England at the time and I finally had a kitchen that was big enough and had enough work surface to make a proper dessert table. My first actually! 

The dessert table included:

The Cake

Salty Caramel filled Cookie Dough Balls

Make-your-own-Mickey Sugar Cookies

RiceKrispieTreat-pops

Chocolate Covered Oreos decorated like little mickeys

Buttercream covered Sugar Cookies

Rockpops (homemade)

Watermellon-Pops

Chocolate Mousse in shot glasses

Caramel Popcorn

Jelly filled Orange Slices

Anyone who is an avid Pinterest user will recognize a lot of the ideas ;-)... Let's just say that this was the beginning of my relationship with that wonderful world of Pinterest. A relationship that has just continued to blossom ;-)...

<3

Also I want to add that the kids DID have dinner before they got to dig into the deserts, but they STILL managed to get through most of it! Was mightily impressed... though their parents did help too ;-)..

If anyone is interested in the recipes and how to's, and I'll se if I can throw together a tutorial!

Enjoy!

J.

Salted Dulce de Leche (from scratch)

SALTED DULCE DE LECHE 

(from scratch)

-Easily the best dulce de leche I have ever had

2-3 hours to make, so plan ahead!

1 liter full-fat milk

3-3 1/2 dl Sugar

1 vanilla bean split open and scraped

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

Add first 3 ingredients(including vanilla pod) to a tall saucepan and bring to a simmer. Once the sugar has dissolved add baking soda and salt and stir. Reduce heat to low to keep the mixture at a small simmer. Stir occasionally or it can simmer over.

 Once the mixture starts to brown (maybe after an hour) remove the pod. Continue to cook. When it starts to thicken use a spoon to taste it, at this point I usually add some extra salt as I like it with a bit of a punch, but it is completely up to you and your tastebuds. Continue to cook till reduced, and thickened to a pudding consistency. It will also have a caramel color, quite dark. It will get thicker once cooled, but I usually pull a spoon through and if doesn't immediately close back up again it's good(hope you get what I'm saying).

Pour into a jar to cool.

Recommended usage: cake filling, with ice-cream, banoffee pie... possibilities are endless!

ENJOY!

J.

Lemon Glaze Cake.

I got this recipe from the Hummingbird bakery cookbook, though I did adjust it slightly as the original recipe required poppy seeds that I did not have at home. And either way I feel they only get stuck in my teeth!

We were going over to our neighbors house. My neighbors also happen to be my brother and his wife. We were going to bring a dessert. SO. Having quite a few lemons that needed using I set to making this wonderful cake. It is perfectly fluffy and moist and sweet and tart at the same time! 

Ingredients
85g unsalted butter
245g caster sugar
grated zest of 1 1/2 lemons
165ml whole milk
235g plain flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 a teaspoon of salt
3 egg whites
Lemon Syrup
juice and zest of 1 lemon
50g caster sugar
100 ml water
Lemon Glaze
Juice of 1 lemon
250g icing sugar

1. Preheat your oven to 170c
2. Beat the butter, sugar and lemon zest together in a large bowl.
3. Slowly add the milk and beat well (don’t worry if it looks slightly split at this stage).
4. In a separate bowl sieve the flour, baking powder and salt. Add this to the butter mixture in 3 stages, beating well after each addition.
5. Beat the egg whites in a separate bowl until they form stiff peaks.
6. Fold this gently into the cake mixture.  DO NOT overmix!
7. Pour into mould (that has been buttered and floured) and bake for 30 - 35 mins until golden and the sponge bounces back when gently pressed.
8. While the cake is baking, make the lemon syrup by adding the sugar, lemon zest, juice and water in a saucepan and gently boil it until it has reduced by half and it's a thin syrup.
9. When the cake is cooked remove from the oven and spoon over the syrup while it is still in the tin and still hot.  
10. Leave to cool in tin for 10 minutes.
11. Turn out onto a wire rack.
12. Make the icing whilst the cake is cooling by mixing the icing sugar and lemon juice together until smooth and glossy. You want it to be thick but still runnable.
13. Once the cake has cooled, spoon over the glaze and let it run down the sides of the cake.

Enjoy.
-J.