My Wren Gingerbread Cake

a.k.a Swedish Mjuk Pepparkaka

Before I went away last week (Lyon report is coming) I managed to sort out the pictures from my favourite festive bake so far; the so simple and yet so delicate and moist Gingerbread Cake based on Swedish Christmas #Mjuk Pepparkaka (off course I made cookies as well, but I baked so many shapes and varieties that I wonder if I will be able to fit it in one post). 

At first I though that this cake would give me an excellent basic ground to build up a layered cake or do something different or more complicated and ultimately, more special, but as soon as the smell started coming out the oven, I started questioning that idea. When I bake something completely new, I tend to bake in smaller batches which gives me a chance to fix eventual mistakes, or like in this case, to taste it before deciding what to do next. 

 So we tried my little gingerbread muffins first and they were gone within minutes.  The verdict was obvious - this cake is very special, just the way it is! It just needed to be tszujed up for a photo opportunity. It's amazing what a bit of powdered sugar and old lace can do. Perfect! Now it not only tastes delicious, it looks it too:)

My Wren Gingerbread Cake

    Swedish Mjuk Pepparkaka

Makes 2 small (20 -22 cm cakes)

or 1 cake and 4 muffins

225 g light brown sugar

3 eggs at room temperature

225 g bread flour

12 g baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

10 g ground cinnamon

1 tsp ground ginger 

1/2 tsp ground cloves

1/2 tsp salt

200 g unsalted butter, melted

150 ml double cream room temperature

powdered sugar

Oven temperature 180C/350F

Lightly oil baking tins and sprinkle with flour to make a thin coat. 

Whip the brown sugar and eggs to a thick, foamy consistency .

Sift the dry ingredients together and add to the egg mixture.

Combine the melted butter and the double cream together and add to the batter slowly. Divide it between the tins (or muffin cases).

Bake for about 40 minutes or until the cakes springs back when pressed lightly. Leave them on a cake rack to cool down. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate. Put a template of your choice on the top before serving and generously sprinkle with powdered sugar.  

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Dressed up "Vanilice"

 #Festive cookies No2

And I am off to Lyon !!!

#Vanilice !!! -  the most loved and cherished Serbian cookies, the shortbread of the Balkans with as much variation as there are households. Ours is very old fashioned (and yet still the best for me) with ground walnuts and lard, tiny and sandwiched together with a spoonful of apricot jam.

 They came up in a very warm light hearted conversation with my husband's friend the other night when he took us into his grandmother's kitchen; in the time of preparation for the New Years Eve (Communism and Christmas didn't agree very well) when the cookies and all sorts of sweet and savoury treats were prepared well in advance and stored into neatly cleaned shoe boxes, lined with white paper and hidden in a far away corners or the grandma's larders.

I was curious whether there were some Google images of the cookies in a shoe box , since I didn't think of making my own on time and - Voila! There were few, but this one was spot on.

Picture Source

 Sometimes, they would be even layered, or boxed in order in which they would be served - cheapest and easiest to make ones on the top and usually available throughout the holidays, then the second layer (or box) given to the children only after dinner and then there were the special treats, often locked up in cupboards and reserved for the main meal and or guests only. 
I was very lucky though, my grandma preferred us to the guests :)

Although they look very cute in their everyday dresses, today, since this month's posts are a celebration related I am giving you a dressed up version of fancy apple shape cookies sandwiched together with apple butter sauce :)

Dressed Up "Vanilice"

#Festive cookies

The Main Recipe:

 100 g sugar

150 g lard

1 egg

100 g ground walnuts

300 g flour

Mix all the ingredients together, roll the pastry out until about 3 mm thick and using a cookie cutter of your choice ( the smaller the better) cut the cookies. Bake them at 180C for about 10-12 minutes, making sure they stay light in colour.

Let them cool and sandwich together with a small dollop of apricot jam. Sprinkle heavily with icing sugar and store into an air tight container.

Now, what I did differently:

I halved the pastry  and added a spoon of chocolate powder to one part, then kneaded it until smooth in appearance, then I attached the two parts together, with your rolling pin, as shown on the above picture. Cut the cookies out from the middle part, where the two pastries meet ( reattach them after that) then cut the centre part out of the every second one, if you wish. Bake, let them cool and sandwich together with some apple sauce.

Apple Sauce:

3 apples ( Bramley apples are good for this)

50 g sugar

50 g butter

Put all the ingredients into a pan, then cover with a lid. Place the pan on a low heat, stirring occasionally, for about 15 mins until the apples break down into a purée. Let it cool.

If you are using an apple sauce instead of jam, you will not be able to keep them in a container for a long time, as they would go soft. Keep the sauce refrigerated, and the cookies in a covered container, until they are ready to be served.

P.S

I am off to Lyon for the Fete-des-Lumieres/Festival-of-Lights hoping to see some beautiful creations, get to know the old town centre and eat... a lot .. of amazing food.. and of course, bring some delicacies back, some pink pralines and papillote(s) maybe..

Until I take fresh set of pictures to share them with you, this is what I have been admiring for months. See you next week:)

Pictures form the previous festivals, courtesy of Telegraf 

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Cinnamon Winds

#Festive cookie No1

I have had so many cookie ideas come to mind and out of my oven lately, that I really don't have any other choice than to dedicate and turn the month of December into the month of #Festive cookies. I have some beautiful moulds that I have collected over time, some rollers that I am keen to try, techniques and flavours that had to be tested, some of them already accomplished, some waiting to be done. I don't know how many varieties I will be able to present you this month, but I am hoping that the very best of what I bake will keep coming and that you will enjoy them as much as I have:

This recipe looks familiar and at the first glance, there is nothing new here, not a big deal - the cinnamon /pastry combination. That's what I thought! But cinnamon sugar sandwiched between puff and the short pastry - opened a new door for the taste buds! You can make both pastries from scratch or buy them, or buy the puff pastry and make the short dough as I did.

Cinnamon Winds

#Festive Cookie 

For short dough:
200 g unsalted butter
90 g sugar
1/2 egg
5 gr vanilla sugar
210 gr bread flour

Mix all the ingredients except the flour into a well combined paste, then start adding the flour, small amount at the time, until you reach a smooth dough consistency. Cover and refrigerate for for at least 30 minutes. Make sure you don't over-mix it, as it will be difficult to roll out.

To form the cookies:
180 g puff pastry
180 g short pastry
1 beaten egg
cinnamon sugar (100 g caster sugar mixed with 1-2 tsp cinnamon)

Preheat the oven to 180C/350F.

Roll out both pastries to the same size -  to about 20 cm square, brush egg wash over the top of the puff pastry. Sprinkle cinnamon sugar over, then place the short dough on the top. Lightly roll over the top to seal the two doughs together.. Place in the refrigerator to firm up.

Using a pastry wheel or sharp knife cut 1 cm wide strips and roll into the wind shape leaving the end unattached.

Brush just a tad of water on an unlined baking pan and place the winds and press the ends lightly to attach them to the sheet.

Bake for about 10 - 12 minutes or until light golden in colour.

When cooled, store in a covered container for few days.

Adapted from The Advanced Professional Pastry Chef by B Friberg

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Apple Barrels

This is one of those, oh look, this is great, I can make it now recipes. It takes less than 50 minutes to take the first bite and make no mistake, that one is the best (while they are still warm, sticky and smell of spices). Utter joy on a misty, rainy day !

Apple Barrels

Makes 6

225g bread flour

1/2 yeast sachet

25 gr oatmeal

1 apple, peeled and chopped

1 tsp cinnamon or mixed spice

pinch of salt

1 tbsp milk powder

100 ml apple juice

20 ml oil

honey to glaze

Dissolve the yeast in a little bit of warm water. Mix all of the ingredients (except the honey) into a soft dough and divide into 7 pieces. Make 6 rounds and place them into a greased muffin tin, cover and leave to rise until double in size. From the rest of the dough make 6 thin ropes, shape them into spirals and place on  baking paper. Leave to rest for about 30 minutes. 

Preheat the oven to 180C/350F bake for 20 minutes. Spirals will take about 10 minutes to bake. 

Take the buns out, turn them upside down (flat side up), glaze with honey, place the spirals on the top and glaze again while still warm.

P.S Please notice my beautiful bun tin in the background, a present from a dear friend of mine :) It's so pretty, I  have to find a way to give it a starring role in one of my future posts.

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Prune and Cheshnut Bread

Our local Marks and Spenser bakery counter every so often puts out a tray with bite size samples of bread varieties, sometimes in combination with cheese, chutney or jam, for the customers to taste. So you can say that I had at least a bite of everything they make over the years and as a result, I became quite fond of their bakery (taking into consideration that we are talking about mass produced baked goods here). But having said that, nothing gave me a spark big enough to wake the desire to recreate it in my own kitchen - until I recently tried their Chestnut and Prune Bread. 

The search for a good recipe began as soon as I got back home, but many, although great recipes otherwise, were dismissed on glance only because I didn't want to use chestnut flour. Chesnuts are in season and I wanted to use that to my advantage and use them fresh rather then processed. I wasn't after a recipe that I could just copy either, I wanted a good basic recipe that I could play with.

As it often happens, I was about to give up for the time being, when I came across Bo Friberg's recipe. Perfect match! Had I followed his recipe exactly it would have produced a fluffier, a bit lighter texture that I wanted to avoid. I was after an old fashion, village style, rustic bread that may be dry but still delicious to eat or toast few days later.

I think that this is the tastiest bread that has thus far come out of my oven.

Prune and Chestnuts Bread

Sponge:

15 g fresh yeast

120 ml warm water

40 gr honey

115 g bread flour

Dough:

300 g roasted and shelled chestnuts

100 gr soft prunes, chopped

30 g unsalted butter

20 g fresh yeast

240 ml warm milk

170 g unsweetened chestnuts purée 

11 g salt

pinch of cinnamon

100 g whole wheat flour

390  bread flour

To make the sponge, combine all the ingredients to make a smooth mixture and let it rise until doubled in volume.

Chop roasted (it will take 10 to 15 minutes on 190 C/375F), shelled chestnuts into small pieces and sauté them on butter over medium heat until they feel soft to the touch. 

For the dough, dissolve the yeast in warm milk and let it rise, then add the purée, the sponge, the whole wheat flour, cinnamon and salt. Mix until combined.

If you are using the dough hook, start mixing and adding bread flour bit by bit, until you make a smooth elastic dough. Add the chestnuts and prunes and knead by hand until well incorporated. 

Cover and allow to rest until it has doubled in volume.

Divide into 2 equal pieces and form into a desired shape. I made one round loaf and one free form wreath, but much preferred the latter. It was a far more suitable shape for this kind of bread and tasted better!

Let proof again until doubled in size (and maybe a bit more than that).

Bake at 210 C/400F for about half an hour, or until the loaves feel light and sound hollow when tapped on the bottom. 

Let it cool for a while, grab some butter and plum jam, and don't care who's watching :)  

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Chestnut and Rum Kugelhopf #BundtBakers

#BundtBakers is a group of Bundt loving bakers who get together once a month to bake Bundts with a common ingredient or theme.  Follow our Pinterest board right here. Links are also updated each month on the BundtBakers home page.

We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient.

If you are a food blogger and would like to join us, just send Stacy an email with your blog URL to foodlustpeoplelove@gmail.com.

All recipes and photographs can be found on our individual blogs, on our Pinterest board, and the #BundtBakers homepage.

And don’t forget to take a peek at what other talented bakers have baked this month:

Thanks to our host, Lauren  from From Gate to Plate we were baking with booze this month. Rum still counts, doesn't it ?

• Anisette and Orange Bundt Cake by Samantha at Un Mordisco Un Pecado
• Apple Bundt Cake with Whiskey Salted Caramel by Lauren at From Gate to Plate
• Baba au Rhum by Terri at Love and Confections
• Banana Bourbon Bundt Cake by Linda at Brunch with Joy
• Champagne Soaked Cranberry Bundt Cake by Teri at The Freshman Cook
• Chestnut and Rum Kugelhopf by Jelena at A Kingdom for A Cake
• Chocolate Baileys Bundt Cake by Beatriz at I Love Bundt Cakes
• Chocolate Chambord Mini Bundt Cakes by Tara at Noshing With The Nolands
• Chocolate Guinness Bundt by Veronica at My Catholic Kitchen
• Chocolate Guinness Bundt Cake by Patricia at Patty’s Cake
• Chocolate Khalua Bundt Cake by Lauren at Sew You Think You Can Cook
• Chocolate Kahlua Bundt Cake with Kahula Glaze by Tanya at DessertStalking Blog
• Coffee Baileys Bundt Cake by Kathya at Basic N Delicious
• Gin and Tonic Bundt by Jane at Jane’s Adventures in Dinner
• Gingerbread Rum Bundt cake by Laura at Baking in Pyjamas
• Grand Marnier and Chocolate Chips Bundt Cake with Seville Orange Sauce by Anna at Media racion doble, Por Favor
• Grand Marnier and Tangerine Bundt Cake by Carola at En la cocina de Caro
• Irish Coffee Bundt Cake by Laura at The Spiced Life
• Kentucky Bourbon Cake by Cassie at Cassie’s Kitchen
• Lemon Rum Bundt by Catherine at Living the Gourmet
• London Porter Bundt with Lemon Glaze by Stacy at Food Lust People Love
• Peach Brandy Pound Cake by Renee at Magnolia Days
• Pomegranate and Chocolate with Rum Glaze by Rocio at Kidsandchic
• Pumpkin Spice Bundt Cake by Wendy at A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Rum Pudding Cake by Rebekah at Making Miracles
• Southern Sweet Potato, Bourbon, and Pecan Bundt by Margaret at Tea and Scones
• Spiced Apple Cider Bundt Cake with Bourbon Glaze by Tux at Brooklyn Homemaker
• Tangerine Screwdriver Mini Bundts by Kelly at Passion Kneaded

Chestnut and Rum Kugelhopf

Oven temperature: 180C/350F

130 g sugar

130 g butter

3eggs

200 g flour

60 gr ground almonds

200 ml milk

150 ml double cream

200 g chestnut purée 

200 g freshly baked chopped chestnuts soaked in 2 tbsp rum

10 g vanilla sugar

12 g baking powder

1 tbs cinnamon

Mix the flour with  almonds, vanilla, baking powder and cinnamon, separately beat the butter with sugar and set aside. In a third bowl combine milk, double cream, chestnuts, rum and chestnut purée , then alternately add the flour and wet mixture. 

Preheat the oven, grease a bunt pan and pour the batter. Bake for 50 minutes, or until it passes the toothpick test.

Let it cool in the mould for 15 minutes then turn to a cooling rack.  The cake is very moist and will stay fresh stored in an air tight container or covered under a bell food cover. 

The recipe adapted form here

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Vegetable Dumplings

From the Bible of Serbian Cuisine

I was delighted to learn that Mimi from an excellent Serbian blog, Mimi's Kingdom has initiated a monthly cooking challenge (Patin petnaesti) based on one of the oldest and most popular ever Serbian cookbooks - Big National Cookbook (Veliki narodni kuvar) by Spasenija Pata Markovic (pictured below). It's had more than 20 reprints over the years and yet I never had a copy in my hands. It kind of lost popularity for awhile, only to become the best selling cookbook ever and chronically sold out.

The lady in question with a degree in food preparation and household organization from the prestigious Vienna School at the beginning of the 20th Century, entered history as one of the pioneers of emancipation of Serbian women, oddly enough by teaching them how to master the skills that were thought to be a core reason for the lack of emancipation and freedom - cooking and household running. But she knew better than that, she had a vision of a modernised Serbia where households are run by European standards by women with a great deal of knowledge about improved living conditions and about food and their nutritious value and in that spirit, she wrote the first cook and advice book in 1907. That was the base for what today many consider to be the Bible of Serbian cuisine.

When I read this recipe, the first though that came to my mind was that she would have given Julia Child a good run for her money if they had a chance to enter  #Professional Masterchef  together.

As you can expect from the recipe written at least 60 years ago, it's rich by today's standards of cooking, but it can also easily be adapted to those standards. This is the original recipe and I will leave it to you to decide what to do with it - if anything.. 

photo from "Novosti" archive 

Vegetable Dumplings

100 kohlrabi diced
1 large carrot diced
100 g petite pois
1 small potato cdiced
50 gr celery stick chopped
1 small yellow pepper chopped
70 g root celeriac diced
2 tbsp fat (oil, lard or butter)
salt, pepper
plus
3 slices stale bread. diced
small bunch of finely chopped parsley
cup of vegetable stock
2 eggs
50 ml milk
salt
8-10 tbsp flour

Cook all the vegetables over a low to medium heat. Stir and add small amounts of stock from time to time until the vegetables become soft. Fry the diced bread with a little oil and mix to combine well with the vegetables, add parsley.  In a separate bowl beat the eggs with milk, salt and flour until your dough is thick enough to be scooped with spoon and keep its form. Now add it into the vegetable mixture and combine. Add salt and pepper to your taste.

Bring a large pan of salted water to boil, form the dumplings by taking small amount of the mixture to the floured palms of your hands and roll into small balls.Cook for around 10 minutes (depends on size) then drain on kitchen towel or over cooling rack. Serve warm, poured with breadcrumbs lightly toasted on butter and sprinkled with grated cheese and herbs (parsley, chives..)

Instead of pouring it over I briefly dropped the dumplings into the pan with toasted breadcrumbs  and swirl them around which gave more solid and thicker coat of breadcrumbs.

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