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.

American Style Chocolate Sponge

American style Chocolate sponge

Adapted from Buddy Valastro's (Cake Boss) original recipe

3 1/2 dl (100 ml) of cake flour (for every dl of normal flour you remove 1 Tbsp and add 1 Tbsp of cornstarch, sieved together a few times - in this case you remove 3 1/2 Tbsp's)

3 1/2 dl of sugar

115 grams of room-tempered butter

80 ml of cocoa butter

1 tsp baking soda(bicarbonate of soda)

1/4 of a tsp baking powder

Approximately 1 dl or 100 g of melted chocolate (I would use a darker one)

1 1/5 dl or 120 ml of hot water

4-5 eggs (depending on size) room-tempered

1 1/5 dl buttermilk (I would measure up just over 1 dl of normal full fat milk and add 10 ml of white vinegar, let stand until it looks split)

Start by prepping your ingredients. For me this makes the whole process enjoyable to have everything ready. Make your cake flour if you don't already have it at home, make your buttermilk, and melt your chocolate. Also prepare your tins. In this case use 2x 9" or 24 cm cake tins. I went ahead and did what you aren't supposed to... I messed with the sizes and used all different sizes since I didn't need 3x 24 cm cakes, but 1x 12 cm, 1x 15 cm and 1x 20 cm. I can't honestly say I recommend it, but it worked fine, I just had to keep an eye on them. When I did use this recipe with a 24 cm tin I STILL had to keep an eye on them as you don't want them to be overdone.

Right, so now you are ready to start.

Heat the oven to 175 Celsius or 350 Fahrenheit.

Add flour, sugar, butter, cocoa, baking powder and soda to the bowl of a tabletop mixer with the "K" attachment or aka paddle attachment, an electric handmixer would work brilliantly as well. If you are like me, not liking four everywhere and don't have a cover for your mixer than use a towel around it or start by kneading the butter into the rest so that it gets dispersed more evenly before turning your mixer to low. I usually mix until it has a sandy consistency, this usually takes approximately 1 min. If you have lumps that just wont disperse, stop the mixer and knead it with your fingers and then turn back on.

Turn off before adding the melted chocolate, mix until incorporated (maybe a min.) then pour in the hot water slowly while the motor is still going. Stop to scrape the sides and bottom with a rubber spatula. Then add one egg at a time waiting with the next one till the first is completely incorporated. Once they are all added once again stop and scrape sides with spatula, mix for a little while longer just to make sure (a min or so). With the mixer still on low-medium speed add the buttermilk or vinegar-milk and mix for a min or so to make sure it's all incorporated. I would once again scrape the sides and makes sure it's all mixed. 

Before you throw them in the oven, make sure the batter is at around 21-23 degrees Celsius. This will prevent it from crowning (the ugly mountain that can appear in the middle).

Bake for approximately 30 min. But for me it has always been more like 35-40. So I usually say CHECK on it at 30. The cake is supposed to feel springy to the touch, or a toothpick should come out clean after poked through the middle. 

Cool in the tins until COMPLETELY cool, I usually cover with a cloth to ensure they don't dry out in the process. when you turn them out you can sprinkle with sugar as to prevent sticking.

I want to reiterate, this is different than the original recipe, but  it is what has worked best for me! 

Good Luck!

J.