Showing posts with label Christmas. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Christmas. Show all posts

Wednesday, 4 March 2020

Chocolate swirl cookies / Chocolate melting moments


Made these when we had guests over last Sunday. The biscuit / cookie recipe from Tin and Thyme was perfect and it was filled with chocolate butter cream instead.

Chocolate swirl cookies
credit :-
https://tinandthyme.uk/2016/09/chocolate-viennese-whirls/?fbclid=IwAR0ZMq9xPhfnw2QEDWZ5ClMdw3v38rbLQbbzZUa-HDpXEqvssUnqhIbh0Ps

Ingredients

Viennese Whirls

  • 200 g unsalted butter - softened
  • 75 icing sugar
  • 25 g cocoa powder
  • ½ tsp vanilla extract
  • 180 g plain flour (140g plain flour+40gm corn flour *will reduce corn flour the next round)
  • pinch salt
  • 1 tbsp milk





Wednesday, 30 December 2015

Holiday Baking : A dessert named "Lonci"

We first tasted this "cake" at my sister-in-law, and my husband loves it. So, he asked for the recipe from his sister. Nobody knows why the name "Lonci". We tried searching online with no result. For me, the looks is exactly like a Gerbeau slice, except for the fillings, of course.  I would say that the filling is too mild and the chocolate taste takes over. However, I do like the result of the pastry and this method of making butter cream intrigues me. Perhaps I'll test out the pastry and buttercream separately in other bakes in the future.

Lonci (Creamy Gerbeau Slice)



Ingredients


For pastry

400gm flour
1/2 sachet baking powder

120gm shortening (used goose fat)

120gm sugar (reduced to taste)

1 egg

sour cream , as needed (less than a cup)



For filling

200gm butter, softened

250gm powdered sugar (reduced according to my taste)

500ml milk

2 Tbsp sugar

4 heap Tbsp flour

flavourings :-

Rum

cocoa

1 tsp vanilla extract or 1 sachet vanilla sugarFor cocoa glazing

4 Tbsp water

8 Tbsp sugar

3 Tbsp cocoa powder

120gm butter

Method



For Pastry

  1. Mix together all ingredients in a bowl except for sour cream. Add sour cream gradually and knead until you have a smooth dough
  2. Divide dough into 3. Roll each dough out into a rectagular sheet and blind bake each sheet until golden brown in a meadium heat oven


For filling



  1. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy set aside.
  2. Cook milk, sugar and flour in sauce pan until it thickens. Place the thicken mixture onto cold water to cool. Stir the mixture continuously until cooled.
  3. Mix together buttercream (1) and milk mixture (2) . Divide this into 2 portions.
  4. One portion flavour with cocoa and rum ; while another portion add in vanilla extract or a sachet of vanilla sugar



For cocoa glazing

  1. Bring water and sugar into a boil and mix in cocoa powder. Remove from heat and add in butter and mix until well combine



Assembly

  1. Place 1 sheet of baked pastry onto serving dish, spread with all of cocoa flavour filling. Then place seconc sheet of baked pastry over it. Next spread vanilla flavoured filling over the pastry and place final baked pastry sheet on top.
  2. Finish off by pouring cocoa glazing while glazing is still warm . Let cake rest for at least a day before serving.


Monday, 21 December 2015

Holiday Baking : Chocolate coins

With the left over melted chocolate from Ischler cookies, I've decided make these chocolate coins. The inspiration came from Jamie Oliver's edible gifts for Christmas.

What I did.
1) Put a thin layer of melted chocolate (no less than 60% cocoa content) in cupcake cases. Mine was a bit too thick.
2) Sprinkle some finely chopped candied citrus fruit and toasted nuts onto chocolate.
3) Let it set in room temperature.
4) Once set, peel away the cupcake cases and store in jar. I keep the jar in the fridge.


Saturday, 19 December 2015

Holiday Baking : Buttermilk scones { kefires pogácsa }

Savoury scones are popular during family gatherings and parties over here. I'm glad that I finally tried my hand at making Hungarian scones which has more process than the English one.

Buttermilk Scones
Makes : 40 pcs mini-scones
via Arany Tepsi

Ingredients
50gm Flour
1 tsp salt
25ml milk
15gm yeast
1/2 tsp sugar
1 small egg yolk
125gm margarine
75ml kefir (buttermilk)

For glazing
1 egg yolk

Preparation :-
1) Heat up milk in sauce pan until warm NOT hot. Once milk warm to touch, switch off the heat and pour our milk in a jar, put in the sugar and crumbled yeast. Let this mixture sit for 10 mins. to a activate the yeast.
2) Once yeast has been activated, place flour in a mixing bowl, sprinkle in the salt. Cut in the margarine, mix it until crumbly texture. Then make a well in the centre, pour in the yeast, egg yolk and kefir. Knead until just everything come together, do not over work it.
3) Place dough on a slightly bigger tray as the dough will grow as it rest. Let it rest in the fridge for 1 hour.
4) 30 mins. into resting time, start pre-heating the oven at 180°c.
5) After 1 hour, halved the dough and place the other half back in the fridge. Roll out dough on floured surface until 1.5cm thickness. Score the top of the dough in a criss-cross patent. Use a round cutter, cut out dough, place on lined baking tin. Give some space between each cut dough. Glaze with egg yolk.
6) Repeat rolling and cutting process again until dough is finish.
7) Bake in pre-heated oven for 20-25 mins.

Tuesday, 15 December 2015

Holiday Baking : Hungarian poppy seeds / walnuts rolls { Bejgli II }

Two thumbs up for this recipe! which by the way , will replace the one archived here before.  What I like about this version is the fluffy bread texture as you see below.
With the exorbitant price of walnuts, I've opted to only make the poppy seeds fillings. That being said, both fillings are equally good. For us and especially my mother-in-law, she prefers the poppy seeds type.

The recipe linked below makes 6 rolls; but the quantity I stated below have been adjusted to only 2 rolls. In fact, I could have made into 3 shorter rolls instead of 2 long ones.

Bejgli
source : Receptneked

makes 2 rolls

Ingredients
For the dough
130ml sour cream (20% fat)
83g goose fat
1 medium-size egg
2 Tbsp sugar
pinch salt
30gm fresh yeast
400gm flour

For the filling

200gm ground Poppy seeds
100gm Honey
100gm water
vanilla extract
bunch of raisins, soaked and drained
1 zest of lemon
2 Tbsp of apricot jam
sugar, to taste


For glazing
1 egg, seperated

Preparation
For the dough
1) In a bowl, mix together sour cream, goose fat, egg, sugar and salt.
2) In another bowl, put in the flour and crumble in the yeast. Then create a well in the centre, and pour in the sour cream mixture (1). Mix until all ingredients are combine.
3) On a floured surface, pour out the flour mixture and knead until you get a smooth dough.
4) Let the dough rest in covered bowl , in room temperature for 1 hour.

For the filling
1) Heat water until hot. Combine it with honey and mix well.
2) In a bowl, put the ground poppy seeds, lemon zest, apricot jam, vanilla extract , soaked and drain raisins. The pour in the honey-water mixture. Combine well. Check for sweetness, if needed add sugar to taste. I needed to add sugar in consideration of my MIL taste buds.
3) Divide filling into 2 portions. Set aside until assembly.

To finish
1) 30 mins. into proofing the dough, start pre-heating the oven at 180°c
2) Once dough is fully proof, pour out on floured work surface, and punch out the air from the dough.
3) Divide dough into 2 equal size.
4) Take the first dough, roll out into a rectangle shape. Size according to your preference.
5) Spread a portion of the filling onto the dough , leaving some space on the sides to prevent leakage.
6) Roll up the dough just like Swiss roll, but not too tight to leave room for the dough to grow and not burst.
7) Repeat the same for the next roll. Glaze each roll with only egg yolk. Then let it dry for about 15 mins. After 15 mins. glaze with egg white.  Use a knife or fork to prick the roll all the way to let out the steam during baking.
8) Bake in the pre-heated oven for 30-35 mins. until golden brown.

Serving
It is better to let the roll sit for a day or two to enhance the taste even more. Just wrap the rolls in cling film and keep in a cool place.

Saturday, 15 March 2014

Gerbeaud Slice { ZserbĂł }

Yay, Another Hungarian classic cross-off my "to-bake" list! Like many things, something that seemed daunting was actually manageable and I would go as far as saying easy! Of course, I'm not saying I did a perfect job. I was a bit dry and crumbly. To suit my taste and my family's, this recipe still needs tweaking, but it is a very good base to work on.
Gerbeaud Walnut Slice ( ZserbĂł)
source : citromhab
step by step tutorial : aprosef


Ingredients
250g Flour
100g butter, room temperature
50g sugar + 1 sachet vanilla sugar
1 egg yolk
50ml Milk
10g fresh yeast (**I had no fresh; so, sub. with instant. Will lessen the quantity on next bake)
salt, a pinch

Filling
150g Ground walnuts
100g sugar (reduced to 70g)
1 sachet vanilla sugar
 200g apricot jam
+++ Lemon zest
Note :- I'll add some milk next time to the dry filling**

Chocolate icing
100g chocolate (used 1x60g bar)
1 Tbsp vegetable oil (not olive oil!)
+++ Rum

Ground walnuts to garnish

Method :-

1) Get ready the filling by mixing together ground walnuts, sugar, vanilla sugar and lemon zest +**.Set aside.
2) Start dough by bring milk to luke warm, add in instant yeast and a little sugar. Let it sit for 10 mins. until yeast mixture starts to foam/come alive.
3) Once yeast mixture is reading. In mixing bowl, mix together flour, sugar, salt. Then work in the butter until it resembles bread crumbs. Then add in the egg yolk and yeast mixture. Combine well and start to knead until smooth. Let it rest in a covered bowl for an hour.
4) 30 mins. into the dough resting time, start pre-heating the oven at 180°c.
5) Once dough full rest, divide it into 4. Start rolling out the 1 dough ball, enough to cover a 18cm round cake tin. Lay the rolled out dough into the the cake tin. Spread the apricot jam evenly and then sprinkle the walnut filling (1). Repeat this process for 3 layers and cover it with final rolled out dough. Pierce the layers with a knife all the way through to let any steam out when baking.
6) Bake for 30-35 mins. until golden brown.
7) Once the cake is cooled, start making the chocolate icing by melting chocolate by using double boiler or microwave (max 1min) and add in vegetable oil to loosen. Spread all over the cake and let it set in room temperature.


Note:-
It is best to let the cake sit over night to let the flavour melts together.

Saturday, 18 January 2014

Stained glass biscuits

Stained Glass Biscuits via   You too can cook  
 ** I have copy and paste the whole recipe for my easy reference. Please visit the link provided for detailed step-by-step

Ingredients 250gm All purpose flour 100gm Granulated sugar 100gm Unsalted butter, slightly cold 1 Egg 1/2 tsp Vanilla extract 2 Tbsp Milk , or as required 2 pinches Salt 1/2 tsp Baking powder Hard candies - As required (Different flavors and colors preferably) 

  • Take a mixing bowl add flour, salt, baking powder and sugar, whisk well using a hand whisk. 


  • Add butter and mix well to this flour mix and mix well using your fingers. 


  • Lightly beat egg using a spoon and add it to the mixture, mix well. If your dough is crumbly add milk and knead well to make a soft dough.



  • Now wrap the dough in a plastic wrap or just place in a bowl and cover with a lid, then let it rest in a refrigerator for half an hour or until the dough chills and is not soft. 
  • Then line a baking tray with parchment or butter paper and set aside. 
  • Now place the chilled dough on a rolling board (pastry board / chapati board) and roll it flat until it is thin. 


  • After rolling, cut into shapes using a cookie cutter. 


  • Then cut out some shapes, in the center using a smaller cookie cutter/mini moulds/any bottle caps. You can be creative here with the design and use your own ideas. (You can prick some holes using a skewer or toothpick or a straw on the cookies to hang it and use as decorators) 



  • Then transfer the cut out cookies carefully onto the lined baking trays. 
  • After transferring the cookies onto the lined baking tray, place the tray in refrigerator for 10 minutes. Meanwhile preheat the oven to 175°C (350 F) for 10 minutes. 
  • After chilling, remove the tray from refrigerator and slide the tray into the center rack of the preheated oven. 
  • Bake the cookies for 8 minutes at 175°C (350 F). (If your cookies are too thin then bake for 5-6 minutes)
  • Meanwhile, unwrap the candies, separate them color-wise into individual plastic bags or ziplock bags and crush the candies using the rolling pin or meat tenderizer, set them aside.
  • Now after 8 minutes, remove the cookie tray from the oven.
  • Spoon small amount of crushed candies onto the center of the cookies inside the cutout holes. Do not load too much.
  • Now slide the tray again into the oven and bake for another 5 minutes or just until the cookies start to brown on sides and the candies gets melted well. It will be bubbling at this stage. (If you take long to fill the cookies with candies then preheat the oven for 5 minutes before baking again)
  • Now remove the tray from the oven and set aside until the cookies cool down completely. When done gently remove the cookies from the parchment paper or butter paper. 
  • Then set the cookies aside for it to cool completely. Do not attempt to remove the cookies before they completely cool down. (Do the same with the rest of the dough and bake the cookies similarly)
  • Store in airtight containers, use as decorators or gift wrap them.

Sunday, 30 December 2012

Ischler Cookies

For this Christmas, I've written Ischler cookies in my baking list, thinking that I would use the recipe featured here before but then I came across this one from The Eccentric Cook . Hers look absolutely scrumptious, so I thought "why not give it a try?".
These turned out crumbly and nutty, just the way I (or we) like it! Since these cookies are better the longer you keep them, you could bake them few days before serving. Just keep in an air-tight container and store in a cool place.

Ischler Cookies
makes about 15 cookie sandwiches (or depending on the cutter you used)
source : http://theeccentriccook.blogspot.hu/2012/12/ischler-cookies.html




Ingredients

200 grams flour
100 grams ground walnut or almond meal
1/2 tsp salt
150 grams butter
50 grams sugar
1 lemon's zest
1 Tbsp rum

for the filling
fruit preserve of your choice

for the chocolate coat
180 grams chocolate
2 Tbsp oil

Process
For the linzer cookie dough, mix the flour, ground walnut, salt and sugar together. Cut the butter in it. Add in the lemon zest and the rum. You can use an electric mixer but I found that after a while you should switch to working with your hands. The dough will be very crumbly but after 5 minutes it will come together. Form the dough into a ball and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.

Dust a bread board or your counter with flour and roll the dough into about 1/2 cm. I didn't really know how thick 1/2 cm is in a dough form so I just trusted my eyes. It should look like this:

The dough will be very sticky so it will be a bit tricky to roll it out but sprinkle some flour on it and you'll be fine. It's essential for the dough to be this sticky, that's why it will have the perfect crumble to it. 

Preheat your oven to 170C or 350F.
Cut rounds in the dough with a cutter. My cutter was too small so I just used a glass :)
Once you cut all the holes, collect the remaining dough and roll it out again and cut the rounds the same way.
Place the cookies on a baking sheet and bake them for 12-13 minutes. They should have a very light color, don't wait until they brown because it will dry the cookies.

Chill the cookies for 10 minutes. Then take one cookie and spread a fruit preserve of your choice on it lightly.

Press the other side of the cookie on the preserve and repeat the same method with all the other cookies.

When you're done, melt the chocolate and oil over boiling water. Place the cookies on a cooling rack. Put a baking sheet or foil under it. Then pour the chocolate over the cookies.

The chocolate will need time to harden so it's advised not to touch for a couple of hours. Decorate the cookies with an almond or walnut on top! The cookies taste better after time so if you make this for a gathering, make it 1 day prior! 

Wednesday, 26 December 2012

Hungarian Fish Soup

Hungarian fish soup is a must during Christmas time; however, we love our fish soup, so I try to cook it as often as possible. The recipe that I am about to share might not be from scratch as most Hungarian would cook it, but this is how my late father-in-law did his. And this version is so easy that it is ready in just an hour!

Hungarian Fish Soup
Serves : 4-5 pax

Ingredients
1 whole carp, filleted or 3 frozen fillets of white wish (defrosted)
1 medium-size Onion, sliced or minced
1 medium-size tomato, quartered
1 Hungarian green pepper, halved
3 tsp of smoked paprika powder (spicy or sweet) - you can also mix, eg. 1/3 sweet + 2/3 spicy
1 ltr of water
fish paste concentrate,
fish stock cubes, to taste

To serve : Match stick pasta

Method
1) Sauté onion with some oil in a pot. When onion is soften, remove from heat and put in the smoked paprika. Stir it a bit , add a little cold water and return it to the stove, let it come to a boil.
2) When the liquid boils, you can add in the green pepper,  tomtato and salt. Cook until pepper and tomato are almost done. Then add in fish paste and fish stock cube and simmer further for 20 mins.
3) Add in the fish fillets and cook until done. Do not over cook fish.
4) Serve very hot with match stick pasta.

If you wish to try cooking the soup from scratch, this link may be helpful.

Sunday, 16 December 2012

Chocolate chips and raisins cookies

As much as I like chocolate chip cookies, I haven't tried baking them before this. Turns out, it is so easy to just bake it at home with just some basic pantry staples.


Chocolate chip & Raisins cookies

Ingredients :
100g butter (room temperature)
80g caster sugar
1 egg *
170g flour (sifted)
1/2 tsp baking soda (sifted)
1/8 tsp salt
170g choc chips
60g walnuts (chopped into small pieces)**

* I've used only left over egg white, as a result, the cookies weren't yellow in colour. 
** Replace walnuts with raisins (soaked in milk for one hour prior to baking, just drain milk before putting into cookie mixture)

Method:
1) Pre-heat oven to 180°c
2) Mix butter + sugar until fluffy.
3) Crack in egg and mix
4) Mix in flour, baking soda and salt.
5) Put in choc chips and walnuts, mix a bit.
6) Put a tsp full of dough onto the baking tray (with baking sheet on it) and bake for 10-15mins

Tuesday, 6 November 2012

Apricot Butter Biscuits


Apricot Butter Biscuits { Thumbprints cookies }
source : Orang Blossom Water

Ingredients
1 cup (226 g) butter, at room temperature
 
3/4 cup sugar **will lessen sugar the next time
2 large eggs yolks  
1 sachet vanilla sugar
2 cups all purpose flour  
1/2 tsp salt About 
1/2 cup apricot jam  
1/2 zest of lemon
 
Method :-  
In a large bowl, with an electric mixer on medium speed beat butter and sugar until smooth.  
Add egg yolks and vanilla and beat until well blended. 
Mix in the lemon zest Stir in flour and salt and beat just until dough comes together. Shape dough into 1 inch balls. 
Place about 1 inch apart on buttered or cooking parchment lined 12 by 15 inch baking sheets. 
Press your thumb gently into the center of each cookie to make an indentation.  
Bake cookies in a 325 °F (163 °C) oven until lightly browned, 18 to 20 minutes; if baking more than one pan at a time, switch pan positions halfway through baking. 
Let cookies cool on sheets for 5 minutes, then use a wide spatula to transfer to racks to cool completely. Spoon about 1/2 teaspoon jam into the center of each cooled cookie.

Saturday, 18 December 2010

Hungarian Walnut / Poppy Seeds Rolls { Bejgli }

The real thing doesn't look anything like what I took out from the oven haha!! My pastry was flaky unlike the traditional christmas treat. Whatever it is, I am happy with the taste! Also, surpsingly, I enjoyed the poppy seeds filling this time; which normally is not my first choice .

Recipe and detailed instructions here.
 

My notes:-
Poppy seed fillings, mix together:-
100g poppy seeds, grounded
50g honey
50g water, heat and add to honey before combing with other ingredients
a bunch of dried cranberries or raisins - soaked in water
some grated lemon peel

Mixture should not be too watery and should just be easily spread on dough