Apple Cake

3/4 cup (95g) all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
Pinch of salt
4 large apples
2 large eggs
3/4 cup (170g) sugar
3 tablespoons dark rum
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
110g unsalted butter, melted and cooled

1) Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 180 degrees C. Generously butter an 8-inch springform pan.

2) Whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt together in small bowl. 

3) Peel the apples, cut them in half and remove the cores. Cut the apples into 1 - 2cm chunks. 

4) In a medium bowl, beat the eggs until foamy. Pour in the sugar and whisk to blend. Whisk in the rum and vanilla. Whisk in half the flour and when it is incorporated, add half the melted butter, followed by the rest of the flour and the remaining butter, mixing gently after each addition so that you have a smooth, rather thick batter. 

5) Switch to a rubber spatula and fold in the apples, turning the fruit so that it's coated with batter. Scrape the mix into the pan and poke it around a little with the spatula so that it's evenish. 

6) Slide the pan into the oven and bake for 50 to 60 minutes, or until the top of the cake is golden brown and a knife inserted deep into the center comes out clean; the cake may pull away from the sides of the pan. Transfer to a cooling rack and let rest for 5 minutes. 

Ricotta Gnocchi with Browned Butter Garlic Basil Sauce

Welcome back! I've been away for a long time but now I'm ready for baking/cooking and photographing my creations again! The summer was eventful and I have so many experiences to share with you. I will post some photos from my journey in my upcoming posts. 

Now be ready for an amazing gnocchi recipe! This is my favorite gnocchi recipe. They're incredibly easy to make, I think everything was ready in about half an hour. They are soft, airy and very light, the flavor is balanced perfectly. And OMG that browned butter sauce! BROWN BUTTER, it's an amazing thing, isn't it? I added some garlic and fresh basil to it as well. Believe me, you're going to love them. Just make them.

Ricotta Gnocchi

250g Ricotta
1 egg yolk
1/4 to 1/2 tsp fine sea salt
30g Parmigiano, freshly grated, extra for sprinkling
50-70 g all-purpose flour, extra for dusting the dough/board

1. Add Ricotta cheese, egg yolk, salt and freshly grated Parmigiano into a large bowl. Mix well with a spoon. Add the flour and stir in briefly, just until combined – the dough will still be sticky.

2. Generously flour a board, take a big tablespoon of the dough and scoop it onto the board. Dust with flour, before rolling it into a finger-thick roll. Cut it into little pillows.

3. Meanwhile bring a large pot of water to a boil, add a pinch of salt and reduce heat until the water bubbles lightly. Add the gnocchi and stir once, so they don’t stick to the bottom – then let cook until they start floating on top. Depending on their size this may take 2 to 4 minutes. Take out with a skimmer.

6. If you want to brown your gnocchi to make them crispy outside, place them in a non-stick pan (no oil needed) and let them brown nicely on both sides. Don't move them around too much. Once done, arrange them on a plate and drizzle the sauce over.



Brown Butter Sauce:
~60g butter
1 clove garlic
Handful of fresh basil, chopped

Melt the butter in a small skilet and let it brown for about 4-5 minutes. Shake the pan occasionally. Be careful not to burn them. When the butter is light brown - remowe from heat, add chopped garlic and basil. Drizzle over the gnocchi, sprinkle some parmesam and serve. (makes about two)

Quark Fritters

This quark fritters' recipe is an old recipe I've been using for years. The fritters are soft and airy. The batter is very easy to mix up as it requires no kneading, creaming, etc. I hope you'll enjoy these lovely fritters!

Quark Fritters

400g quark/cottage cheese/curd

3 eggs

6 tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon vanillin sugar

flour (~9 tablespoons)

oil for frying

1) Beat eggs with sugar and vanillin sugar. Add quark and mix everything well.

2) Start adding flour spoon by spoon. You can vary from 7 to 10 tablespoons. Start forming balls (~4cm diameter) with wet hands in order to avoid it sticking too much. The dough has to be sticky but it has to hold its shape when formed into a ball.

3) Preheat oil in a pot. Put a formed fritter into a tablespoon and carefully add it into oil. It has to start bubbling when you add a fritter. At first it sinks and if it rises into a surface after ~5-10 seconds, continue adding other fritters. Fry over a medium high heat until all sides are browned. If it browns too fast, reduce the heat to avoid underbaking of the insides.

4) When they're done, put them on a paper towel to drain. Dust generously with icing sugar. Cool before eating.

Enjoy!

Sticky Coconut Rolls

 

 

I've always been making the same cinnamon rolls but this time I decided to experiment with the filling. I love coconut desserts so rolls with coconut filling seemed divine to me. I wasn't wrong! They were super delicious, fluffy, soft, moist and sweet. I especially love the glaze which caramelizes when baking and makes the edges crispy. I called these "sticky", and they really are sticky rolls, but next time I think I will make more glaze :P.

Sticky Coconut Rolls

 

55g sugar

½ tsp salt

50g butter

1 small egg

300g flour

1 ½ tsp instant yeast

¾ cup milk

¼ cup sugar

¼ tsp salt

70g butter

2 tbsp honey

100g desiccated coconut

¾ cup icing sugar

~2-3 tbsp milk

1. make the rolls: cream together the sugar, salt, and butter on medium-high speed in an electric mixer with a paddle attachment (or use a large metal spoon and mixing bowl and do it by hand). whip in the egg until smooth. add the flour, yeast, and milk.

2. mix on low speed (or stir by hand) until the dough forms a ball. switch to the dough hook and increase the speed to medium, mixing for approximately 10 minutes (or knead by hand for 12 to 15 minutes), or until the dough is silky and supple, tacky but not sticky. you may have to add a little flour or water while mixing to achieve this texture. lightly oil a large bowl and transfer the dough to the bowl, rolling it around to coat it with oil. cover the bowl with plastic wrap. let rise at room temperature for about 2 hours.

3. mist the counter with spray oil and transfer the dough to the counter. roll out the dough with a rolling pin, lightly dusting the top with flour to keep it from sticking to the pin, into a rectangle about 2/3 inch thick and 14 inches wide by 12 inches long for larger rolls, or 18 inches wide by 9 inches long for smaller rolls. Spread some of the glaze (see recipe below) and sprinkle the coconut over the surface of the dough and roll the dough up into a cigar-shaped log (starting at the long end). with the seam side down, cut the dough into 8 to 12 pieces each about 1 3/4 inches thick for larger rolls, or 12 to 16 pieces each 1 1/4 inch thick for smaller rolls.

4. make the glaze: in the bowl of an electric mixer, combine sugar, salt, and butter, at room temperature. cream together for 2 minutes on high speed with the paddle attachment. Add the honey. continue to cream for about 5 minutes, or until light and fluffy. Pour half of the glaze onto the bottom of your pan.

5. in your glazed pan, lay the pieces of dough on top of the glaze, spiral side up, spacing them about 1/2 inch apart. mist the dough with spray oil and cover loosely with plastic wrap or a food-grade plastic bag. let rise for 75 to 90 minutes, or until the pieces have grown into one another and nearly doubled. preheat the oven to 180 C (350 ) with a rack on the lowest shelf.

6. bake them for 20-30 minutes, or until golden brown. 

7. cool the rolls in the pan for 5 to 10 minutes. wait at least 20 minutes before serving.

8. Mix the icing sugar with milk and pour the glaze over the rolls.

Praline Bars

 

  

I had this recipe for years and I can't really tell where did it come from. Well, a few days ago I found it again in my wide recipe collection and decided to make them. I was pleased with the results! These bars are really  delicious. The bottom layer is a chewy brownie and the top layer reminds me of a cookie. The sides are crispy and, of course, the interior is chewy! 

P.s. Finally the good weather is here and I'm posting some of my photos!

PRALINE BARS

5 TB.(70g) unsalted butter
1/2 c. (115g) + 1 TB. Sugar
1/3 c. (40g) cocoa powder
pinch salt
1/2 t. vanilla extract
1 large cold egg
1/4 c. (30g) AP flour

Position rack in lower third of oven.  Preheat to 350° (180C).  Line bottom and sides of an 8″ (20cm) baking pan with foil, leaving an overhang on two opposite sides.

Combine butter, sugar, cocoa and salt in a medium heatproof bowl and set in a wide skillet of simmering water.  Stir from time to time until mixture is melted, smooth and fairly hot.  Remove from skillet and set aside briefly until mixture cools a bit.

Stir in vanilla and egg with a wooden spoon.  When batter is thick and shiny, add flour and stir until mixed in.  Then beat vigorously for 40 strokes.  Spread evenly in lined pan.

1/4 c. (30g) AP flour
1/4 tsp. baking soda
4 TB. (57g) butter, melted
1/4 c. + 2 TB. packed brown sugar
1/4 t. salt
1 large egg yolk
1/2 t. vanilla extract
1-1/2 c. coarsely chopped walnuts or pecans

Mix flour and baking powder together and set aside.

Combine melted butter, sugar and salt in a medium bowl.  Stir in egg yolk and vanilla. Then add flour mixture, followed by nuts.  Drop spoonfuls over the top of brownie batter.

Bake until edges of topping are well-browned, about 20-25 minutes (I baked them for 25 minutes but next time I'll try to bake them for 20 minutes to make them even chewier).  Cool completely in pan on a cooling rack.

Lift up ends of foil liner.  Cut now, or after refrigerating.