Orange Cake Pops

Halloween is not a big thing over here, but I quite like all holidays and the decorations that go along with it..never mind that it is always a good excuse to get to bake fun things, different little treats, especially for the kiddies! These orange flavoured pops or cake lollies were pretty quick and straight forward to make, but decorating and the details can be a little time consuming. All in all, they are fun to make!

Hello or Hallo!:)

Cake Pops (40 pcs, big batch!)

sponge cake (4eggs, equal amount of sugar and flour + 1tsp baking powder, optional orange food colouring.)
200grams cream cheese, orange flavour (or natural cream cheese + grated orange zest)
white chocolate
liquorice sauce (hard topping)  or black candy melts
wooden skewers/lollipop sticks
sprinkles

1. Bake your sponge in a cake tin or an oven tray at 175degrees until a skewer comes out clean. Let the sponge cool completely.
2. Crumble the sponge into a bowl and add the cream cheese. Mix together thoroughly.
3. Take about a tablespoon of the dough for each cake pop and roll into firm balls. Put them on a tray and place in the refrigerator to cool.
4. While the cake pops are cooling melt the white chocolate (and candy melts).
5. Start the decorating by sticking a skewer into each dough ball, then dipping  them in your choice of coating.
6. Add sprinkles, sweets or other details before the coating has a chance to fully set. 
7. Keep the finished cake pops in the fridge.

Tuck in!

My intention was initially to just bake orange cake pops, both flavour and colour wise, coated in white chocolate and sprinkles. Then I remembered a pair of lovely sugar doctors and their brilliant idea using hard liquorice topping...so I thought I'd give it a go and let me tell you something, it was a really easy and fuss free product to use for this purpose! I will most certainly keep it in my store cupboard from now on!:)

Hope you like and Happy Halloween!
          

Giant Chocolate Cupcakes

These giant chocolate cupcakes were meant to be more or less standard size..but I just so happened to overfill the paper cases and ended up with rather large cupcakes! I took the cupcakes to my friend's house along with the Star Cake and the Lemon cups.

Cupcakes with Philadelphia Frosting (12 large or 18 standard ones) 

150grams butter (softened)
2dl caster sugar
3 eggs
2dl plain flour
0,5dl cocoa powder (the good quality kind)
1,5tsp baking powder (1tsp is sufficient)
1tsp vanilla sugar or vanilla powder


Frosting

250grams philadelphia cream cheese (full fat)
200ml whipping cream
1dl icing sugar
(2tbsp custard powder for a firmer frosting)

1. Beat the butter and sugars until smooth and shiny. Add one egg at a time, making sure the batter is mixed properly after each added egg.
2. Sift the flour and baking powder together in a bowl, then fold it into the egg and sugar mixture.
3. Line a muffin tray with some paper cases and divide the batter evenly into each hole.
4. Bake at 175degrees for 20mins (depending on oven). Let the cupcakes cool on a rack.
5. Once the cupcakes have cool completely. Make the frosting.
6. Using an electric whisk, whip the cream cheese, cream and icing sugar until fluffy. Sift the custard powder into the cream mix while whisking, this will draw some of the moisture out and make the frosting hold its shape a bit better.
7. Pipe the frosting onto the cupcakes and decorate to your own liking.

 

For presentation purpose, my friend had this quirky (quirky in a good way!) cupcake/muffin stand for the cupcakes.

Mini Lemon Cups

These Mini Lemon Cups are actually a by-product of the Star Cake I made for Sunday's get-together. The recipe for the mousse normally makes plenty to fill a larger cake, so there was a little bit left over. My little niece gave me some mini silicone cupcake moulds as a gift and they were ideal for making these tiny treats. These bite-size cheesecake like cups are perfect as a little sweet side with coffee or other hot drinks, when you don't want to have too much of the good stuff!

Little Lovelies!

  

By chance I had this little box that was perfect for transporting these mini cakes. The box originally had some porcelain tealight holders in it!

I quite enjoyed these myself and I will definitely make them again, but next time around I might add some kind of base perhaps made of crushed ginger snaps or digestive biscuits. For Christmas it would taste great with gingerbread biscuits and some cardamom!

    

Multicolour Star Cake

A friend of mine was hosting a Silver Jungle party for the first time and she kindly asked me if I was willing to bake a cake and some cupcakes for the evening, in accordance with the theme, naturally. I had never heard of the company or their children's clothes, but after a bit of Googling I was a lot wiser! They seem to be all about a clean image with nice bright colours as well as mellow ones. Their garments are comfy and practical for kids to wear. One of the current patterns they feature is the star/stars, so that's what we decided to do for the decoration of the cake.

For the cake I baked a 3 egg sponge in a 20cm cake tin. This time the filling was a fresh and zesty homemade lemon mousse. I assembled the cake in the tin in which I baked it, making two layers of filling. I refrigerated it overnight to allow the mousse to set properly. The next day I coated the cake with butter cream entirely before covering it with fondant. The stars are also made out of ready to roll fondant. Fondant is available to buy in different colours ready to use, but I normally use Wilton's gel colours to tint the white mass. This way I get the shade I want each time and nothing goes to waste. I feel it is easier to have white fondant at home, and then just colour as much as you need one time, instead of having opened packages lying around and going off, only to be thrown away.

Lemon mousse (enough for two layers 22-24cm)

400grams cream cheese
250ml whipping cream
zest of one lemon
juice of one lemon
1dl caster/icing sugar
7 leaves of gelatine

1. Place the gelatine leaves to soften in a bowl with plenty of cold water.
2. Beat the cream cheese together with the sugar and lemon zest, until the sugar is dissolved and the mixture is smooth.
3. In another bowl whip the cream with and electric whisk until it's fluffy and shiny. (gently, making sure not to over whip it.)
4. Heat up the lemon juice. Remove the softened gelatine leaves and give them a good squeeze, then dissolve in the hot juice.
5. Slowly in a thin string, pour the gelatinous juice into the cream cheese, lightly whisking.
6. Finally fold the whipped cream into the cream cheese until fully incorporated. The mousse is done!
7. Use as a filling for cakes or in various desserts, such as trifles or set cheesecakes.        


Basic Butter Cream (enough to cover two 22cm cakes)

250grams butter (softened)
500grams icing sugar, sifted
1-2tbsp boiling water (can be substituted for milk)
vanilla sugar (optional)

Beat the softened butter until smooth. Add half of the icing sugar and continue beating. At this point add some of the liquid if the butter cream seems dry. (you might not need to add the full 2tbsp of water/milk). Finally add the rest of the sifted icing sugar and keep beating until the mixture is soft, pale and frothy. 

Nothing pleases me more than the fact that my friend was super happy with both the flavour and the look of the cake! Absolutely chuffed to bits about that, more over I had a great Sunday evening spending time with a bunch of lovely ladies.:)
     

Yellow Angry Bird Vol.2

This little angry fellow flew off to brighten up a sweet boy's 9th birthday! The cake is a sponge cake with two layers of mango mousse. I assembled the cake in a glass bowl to achieve the desired shape. Before covering it with fondant, I coated the cake with some butter cream to avoid the moisture within the cake from coming in contact with the fondant.

Where them piggies at?!

The sponge base was a 4 egg basic sugar sponge. I used the good old way of measuring equal amounts of eggs, sugar and flour in glasses of the same size. Then adding 1tsp of baking powder to the flour. I baked it for 25-30mins at 175degrees in a 24cm cake tin.

The filling is a favourite of mine:

Mango mousse

250grams mango (I had frozen mango pieces)
200grams cream cheese
0,5dl caster sugar
2,5dl whipping cream (+2tbsp sugar)
8 leaves of gelatine

As I mentioned I assembled the cake in a bowl layering the mousse with the sponge cake, leaving it to set in the fridge over night to make sure the mousse is firm enough to withstand the weight of the fondant and decorations/details.

I will be adding step by step recipes of different mousse fillings that I frequently like using, both as fillings and for set cakes/cheesecakes. I am hoping to get this done asap... :) 

If all goes well, tomorrow there will be one if not two small sweet treats for you guys! Good night peeps! :)

Double Chocolate & Chili Muffins

I was supposed to make these on Monday...but well, having the children running around and a ton of other things to do, in the end I got down to baking them yesterday. The muffins did not taste as strongly of chili as I would have liked, but I will definitely be braver next time and put at least a whole red chili in the batter! My intention was to bake them for the kids, so I went a little easy on the spice.

 

Double chocolate & chili muffins (12pcs)

90grams butter
50grams good quality dark chocolate (minimum 70%)
80grams white chocolate chopped or white chocolate chips
2 eggs (room temperature)
100grams raw cane sugar
100grams plain flour
20grams cocoa powder (again high quality!)
1tsp baking powder
1tsp vanilla sugar
half a red chili, finely chopped or ground to a paste

1. Preheat the oven to 175degrees. Melt the butter and dark chocolate together in a saucepan and set a side to cool slightly. Add the finely chopped chili/chili paste to the melted butter/chocolate.  
2. Whisk the eggs, cane sugar and vanilla sugar until frothy and pale. Continue whisking on a lower setting and pour in the melted butter/chocolate/chili mix.
3. Add all the dry ingredients in a separate bowl and sift twice. Put the chopped white chocolate/chips in with the dry ingredients. (this will prevent the bits of chocolate from sinking to the bottom of the bowl once added to the batter)
4. Fold the dry ingredients into the batter, but do not over beat at this point. Just make sure all ingredients are incorporated well.
5. Line your muffin tray with paper cases and divide the batter evenly into 12. (if using a standard 12 hole muffin tray.)
6. Bake for about 20mins. (depending on the oven)

Quick to make, yet utterly delicious!

Friday's Lunch

A simple salad was on the menu for lunch today. It's half-term for the boys, so they had some hot dogs as a special treat, while I got to fix me a little something with eggs and bacon...two things that my dear husband dislikes from the very bottom of his heart! (I know, strange man!;))

Avocado, Bacon & Egg Salad

arugula (Rucola, Rocket)
lambs lettuce (maché, vuonankaali)
avocado (make sure it is ripe)
boiled egg
streaky bacon (or pancetta if you like)
lemon infused olive oil
balsamic vinegar
squeeze of lemon juice
freshly ground black pepper

I made just the one serving, so use as much as you like of the ingredients depending on how many mouths there are to feed.
This is a very simple tossed salad, normally I would add some nuts, cheese, onions, tomatoes, cucumber, chicken, fish, grapes..the list goes on...(you probably get my drift, throw in anything you fancy :))

I quite enjoyed that!

 Have a good weekend y'all! :)

Succulent Carrot Cake

The carrot theme continues! I had heaps of grated carrot left over from baking that carrot bread the day before, so I did what I normally do with carrot. Make cake! The whole family loves it and as a mid-week treat, I don't usually frost it..keeping it a little more simple, healthy and most of all less messy when the children tuck in.

 
Carrot cake 

4 eggs
1cup rapeseed oil
2cups sugar
1,5cups wholegrain wheat flour
1cup ground almonds
2tsp bicarb. of soda
2tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
cinnamon to taste
3cups finely grated carrot

(normally I would add loads of chopped pecans, but this time I had none, so I substituted some of the flour for ground almonds instead.)

1. Preheat oven to 175degrees. Line a rectangular oven tray or two bread loaves with some parchment.
2. Whisk the eggs and sugar until pale. Continue whisking at a lower speed and slowly pour in the vegetable oil and then the grated carrot.
3. Mix the flour, ground almond, salt, cinnamon, soda and baking powder together in a bowl. (if using chopped nuts, add them to the dry ingredients at this point.)
4. Fold the flour mix into the batter and make sure to give it a thorough mix.
5. Pour the whole thing into the prepared tin and bake for 45-50mins, depending on the thickness of the cake. (if baking two higher loaves, they may need some extra time to bake. When a skewer comes out clean, the cake is done.)

The cake can be stored at room temperature for up to a week...though in our house, it gets eaten in a matter of days! (well, probably within 48hours!) :)



(1cup = 2,4dl) 

Carrot bread - Morotsbröd

This is a very wholesome bread with plenty of goodness from grated carrots, oat bran and rye flakes. I opted to bake four smaller baguette like loaves, but one could easily make two bigger ones and slice them up into pieces for serving (or freezing for that matter). This recipe gives quite a compact, dense bread that holds its shape and doesn't crumble. The carrot adds moisture to the bread and keeps it from drying out. Tastes fantastic and can be enjoyed at any time -  for breakfast, in the afternoon with a cup of tea or just straight out of the oven with lashings of butter!

Hard to resist!

Carrot bread (4 small or 2 big loaves)

5dl water (warm ~42degrees)
1 sachet dry yeast
2dl oat bran
1dl rye flakes
1tbsp honey
1tbsp dark syrup/treacle
2tbsp extra virgin olive oil (EVOO hahaa! :)) 

5dl finely grated carrot
10dl wholegrain flour
(5dl wholegrain wheat flour, 3dl graham flour, 1dl rye flour, 1dl barley flour)
1tsp salt

+2dl water mixed with 1tbsp dark syrup/treacle to brush the loaves with.

1. Heat up the water in a big bowl and add the oat bran, rye flakes, dry yeast, honey, oil and syrup and give it a good whisk until blended together. Cover with cling film or a tea towel and let it sit 15-20mins until the mixture starts bubbling up.
2. Continue making the dough, first adding the grated carrots into the yeast mixture and then the flour and salt as you go along. Knead the dough until nice and pliable. Cover the bowl with a tea towel and let it prove in a warm place 30-60mins.

Rise and shine!

3. Divide the dough into four pieces and knead each piece of dough properly. Shape them into baguette type loaves and place on baking trays lined with parchment. Let the loaves prove another 20-30mins covered with a tea towel.
4. While the bread is resting, preheat the oven to 200degrees.
5. Brush the loaves with a little of the water and syrup solution before baking for 30mins until the crust turns golden.  
(6. Finally, for a slightly softer crust, brush the breads with some of the water/syrup mix when they are still hot.)

Nothing like fresh homemade bread!

     

 

Lingonberry pie with almond

This pie really surprised me! It was far more delicious than I expected. I have always liked lingonberries, but seriously this pie in its simplicity was so good! It has a nice crumbly texture and isn't too sweet either. This slightly sour crumble type pie surely tickled my taste buds! Best served with some custard of course...:)

Lingonberry pie

150grams butter
1,5dl sugar
1tsp vanilla sugar
1 egg
3dl wholegrain wheat flour
0,5dl potato starch (corn starch is fine as well)
1tsp baking powder
100grams ground almonds

filling

200gr lingonberries
2tbsp potato starch
4tbsp dark muscovado sugar

1. Line a 24cm round cake tin with some parchment paper. Beat the soft butter with the sugar and the vanilla sugar until pale and creamy. Add the egg and keep mixing until the batter is smooth.
2. Mix together the wholegrain flour, baking powder and potato starch and fold it into the batter with a spatula.
3. Take 1dl of the batter and mix the ground almonds into it. This is the topping for the pie.
4. Press the rest of the batter into the prepared cake tin. Mix together the lingonberries, potato starch and muscovado sugar and pour onto the cake batter.
5. Crumble the topping over the berries and bake at 200degrees for 30mins until golden and crispy.

Comforting on a rainy day!

 Tastes great with some custard or a scoop of vanilla ice cream!