Chocolate Birthday Cake with Berries

September 5, 2013 ~ Ann & Chris Demant ~ 3 Comments

Yesterday a friend of mine turned 30 and she asked if I could make her a cake. She did not have any preferences other than CHOCOLATE, so I went for a day wondering what to make. First I wanted to make a chocolate cake with strawberry mousse, but the strawberry season is long gone, meaning that the taste of the berries are gone. So instead I decided to make this chocolate cake covered in whipped cream with crushed chocolate meringue cookies. Making the cake made me totally peckish, but unfortunately we was unable to take part in her birthday – DAMN! But but but that only gives me a reason to make the cake once more 🙂

Ingredients (12 servings)

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 1/2 cups flour

1 1/8 cup sugar

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

1 1/2 sticks butter

2 large eggs, room temperature

1 tbsp. vanilla extract

1 cup sour cream

1/2 cup dark quality chocolate (70%)

2 cups cream

2 cups chocolate meringue cookies, crushed

20 strawberries

20 raspberries

1/4 cup dark quality chocolate (70%), chopped

Melt butter and sugar in a sauce pan. Stir to combine. When melted and combined, transfer to a mixing bowl and whisk at medium speed until cooled (takes 5-10 minutes).

In another bowl mix together cocoa powder, flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda.

When the butter and sugar mixture is cooled, add one egg at a time and whisk between each. Then add vanilla extract.

Shift in flour mixture in four batches, alternating with the sour cream, and whisk until just combined. Add the melted chocolate and gently fold it into the batter with a rubber spatula.

Add the batter to a springform pan and bake at 350F for 45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean in the middle of the cake. Let cool for 20 minutes before loosening the edges of the cake with a butter knife (but do not remove in from the springform). Let cool completely before removing the cake from the springform pan.

Slice the cake into 3 equally thick pieces. I do not have a tool to do it with, so I just use a piece of wire, which works very well.

Whisk the cream until it gets soft peaks. Then whisk a little bit more, but be careful not to over whisk and turn it into butter! It just needs to be thick enough to cover the cake without running off. Add the crushed chocolate meringue cookies when the whipped cream has reached the wanted consistency. Fold until combined.

Place the bottom of the three cake slices on a cake stand. Spread 1/2 cup of whipped cream onto the cake in an equally thick layer all the way around. Slice 10 strawberries and place them on top of the whipped cream. Sprinkle with half of the chopped chocolate.

Place the middle-slice of the cake on top and repeat the procedure, but replace the strawberries with half of the raspberries. Then top of the cake with the last slice.

Cover with the remaining whipped cream and decorate with berries. Serve with a good cup of coffee 🙂

Bon Appétit!

Ingredienser (12 stykker)

0.6 dl usødet kakaopulver

2.8 dl sukker

3.5 dl mel

1 tsk. bagepulver

1 tsk. natron

1 tsk. salt

172 g smør

2 store æg, stue temperatur

1 spsk vanille ekstrakt

2.5 dl creme fraiche

75 g mørk kvalitets chokolade (70%), smeltet

0.5 liter piskefløde

5 dl rutebiler, knuste

20 jordbær

20 hindbær

0.6 dl mørk kvalitets chokolade (70%), hakket

God fornøjelse venner 🙂

Triple Chocolate Cheese Cake

September 1, 2013November 25, 2013 ~ Ann & Chris Demant ~ 1 Comment

Friday was my last day as research assistant at University of Southern Denmark. I was employed at the university during my Master studies in public health and stayed as research assistant after I graduated in April 2012. It was three great years where I developed many skills – both professionally and personally, but now it is time to move on and try something new 🙂

During the three year I have put my colleagues through at least 50-75 different cake recipes (especially in the months before our wedding) so of cause it was expected of me to bring a cake on my last day. A favorite of my own is a traditional cheese cake, but I have always (since I learned to eat cheese cake) wanted to bake a chocolate cheese cake and now I wonder why I did not do that earlier in my baking career. It was nothing less than WONDERFUL!

I found the recipe in an old Taste of Home Magazine, and made a few changes to fit what I had in the pantry that day. In the recipe I have written ‘quality chocolate’, and definitely believe that you should go and buy the best chocolate that you can find when making this cake, as the taste of chocolate is as intense as it is. Personally I always use chocolate from Amedei due to the fabulous taste and the fact the it is both gluten free and without any additives. It might seem expensive, but I promise you that you will get what you pay for – the best chocolate in the world (several of the products has won the Golden Bean Award, so I am not kidding when I promise you the best chocolate in the world).

As a new service to our European/Danish readers, I have converted all measures to the metric system. This can be found in the bottom of the post.

Ingredients (16 servings)

2 cups graham cracker crumbs

1 tbsp. baking cocoa

2 tbsp. sugar

1/2 cup butter, melted

Filling

32 oz. cream cheese, room temperature

1 1/3 cups sugar

10 oz. dark quality chocolate (70%), melted and cooled

1/4 cup baking cocoa

4 eggs (lightly beaten), room temperature

Ganache

3.5 oz. dark quality chocolate (63%)

1/3 cup cream

1 tbsp. butter

Berries for decoration

Cover the outside of an 9-inch springform pan in a double layer tin foil.

In a small mixing bowl, combine graham crumbs, cocoa powder and 2 tbsp. sugar. Stir in the melted butter. Press onto bottom of prepared springform pan and bake for at 350F for 10 minutes. Let cool on a wire rack.

In a bowl, beat cream cheese and the remaining sugar until smooth. Beat in cooled chocolate and cocoa. Add eggs and beat until combined. Pour over the cooled crust.

Place springform pan in a large baking pan and add 1 inch of boiling water to larger pan.

Bake at 350F for 60 minutes or until center is just set and the top appears dull. Remove springform pan from water bath and remove the tin foil. Cool the cake on a wire rack for 10 minutes before you loosen the edges from pan with a knife. Let cool on the wire rack for one more hour. Refrigerate overnight.

Take the cake out of the fridge 2-3 hours before serving to make sure that it reaches room temperature (if the cake is served cooled it feels heavier and the taste of chocolate is not as intense as you want it to be).

For ganache, place chocolate in a small bowl together with cream and butter. Place over a saucepan with simmering water and let melt slowly. Stir occasionally until smooth. Cool to reach a spreading consistency.

Remove the cake from the springform pan and place on an appropriate cake stand. Spread ganache over cake just before serving.

Decorate with berries and serve with a good quality vanilla ice cream and a good glass of bubbles 🙂

On the picture below I have replaced the ganache with whipped cream which works just as well as the ganache 🙂

Bon Appétit!

Ingredients (16 servings):

5 dl graham cracker crumbs

1 tbsp. baking cocoa

2 tbsp. sugar

1 1/4 dl butter, melted

Filling

900 g cream cheese, room temperature

3.2 dl sugar

300 g dark quality chocolate (70%), melted and cooled

0.6 dl baking cocoa

4 eggs (lightly beaten), room temperature

Ganache

100 g dark quality chocolate (63%)

75 g cream

1 tbsp. butter

Berries for decoration

Mom’s Blackberry Jam

August 22, 2013September 29, 2013 ~ Ann & Chris Demant ~ Leave a comment

Every single year since I can remember, my parents have gathered blackberries to make jam for the rest of the year. This year I insisted on going with them on one of their trips, as I did when I was a child.

We went to one of their secret blackberry spots and within 40 minutes we had gathered 11.2 oz of delicious blackberries 🙂 As they has already been out twice within the last week (with a total gathering of 36 oz), I took home all the berries and began thinking of different way to use them. My parents made jam out of their HUGE portion and gave to the neighbor family who LOVE it (we have received several pictures of babies (and their parents) with jam all over the face).

As other people often have different and/or great ideas, I asked followers on our Facebook site and as expected they came with a dozen of great ideas. Besides this delicious jam recipe, I have decided to make blackberry vinegar, blackberry liqueur, blackberry vodka, blackberry ice cream and the rest went into the freezer for smoothies or cupcakes 🙂

Has anyone of you been on blackberry hunt this summer??

Ingredients

2 cups blackberries

1 1/4 cup sugar

1/2 lemon, juice

Place all the blackberries and the lemon juice in a saucepan. Let stand at medium heat for 10 minutes, stirring every other second minute so all berries get warm. It should end up looking like the picture below.

Add the sugar, combine and remove from the heat. Stir until the sugar has dissolved. It takes 5-7 minutes of constant stirring. Using a wooden spoon, you can feel when the sugar has dissolved. You can stop stirring when the ‘crunchy’ feeling of sugar is gone.

Transfer to a clean jar, close the lid and refrigerate immediately. Use within 3-4 weeks.

If you want it to last longer (if you make a large portion to last until next blackberry season), you can add a teaspoon of liquid preservatives just before you pour it into the jar.

Serve with pancakes, breakfast rolls, ice cream or use it when making sauces 🙂

Bon Appétit!

Ingredients

500 g blackberries

280 g sugar

1/2 lemon, juice

What to do on a rainy day macaroons

August 8, 2013September 29, 2013 ~ Ann & Chris Demant ~ Leave a comment

This summer has, contrary to the last 4-5 summers, been sunny and warm but today it has been cold and rainy. So what to do on a rainy summer day??

Well, I decided to bake some macaroons and ask out Facebook followers what they would like as filling. There were so many delicious suggestions and it was not easy to decide on one – so I decided on four different fillings 🙂 So I should probably say thanks to Martin, Kirsten, Kis and Pernille for their great suggestions 🙂

When making this macaroon recipe you will need a few basic tools:

A digital thermometer

An electric mixer

A rubber spatula

A pastry bag and

A 1/2-inch plain round tip

Without these, I doubt that you will succeed (but that shouldn’t keep you from trying if you have the drive) 🙂

Ingredients (60 macaroons)

1 1/8 cup almonds, blanched

1 3/5 cup confectioners sugar

7/8 cup granulated sugar

2 x 2 egg whites

1/3 cup water

Blend the almonds into fine almond flour in a hand blender or food processor. Then add confections sugar and blend again for at least 20-30 seconds. Shift into a mixing bowl. If there are anything left in the strainer, blend it further and shift again.

Take half of the egg whites and mix them into the blended almonds. mix until well combined and even.

In another bowl whisk the other half of the egg whites until they make soft peaks. Find a saucepan and add granulated sugar and water. Heat until the syrup reaches 230F, stir once in a while (use a digital thermometer). Pour the heated syrup slowly into the egg whites while whisking on medium-low speed. Be careful not to get burned on the sugar – it hurts like hell! When all the syrup has been added, turn up the volume of you mixer and whisk until the meringue has reached room temperature. It take about 10 minutes.

When your meringue has reached room temperature, add half to the almond mixture and mix well until combined. Then add the rest of the meringue and fold around – do not whisk, as this will ruin the batter! Fold until the batter is evenly combined and smooth.

Now it gets a bit tricky – the texture of the batter needs to soft, but not to soft. It still needs to keep the round shape when added to the baking paper, but it should be soft enough to prevent the macaroons from getting small tops. Did that make sense?

Transfer the batter to a pastry bag with a 1/2-inch plain round tip, and pipe 3/4-inch rounds 1 inch apart on a baking tray with baking paper. Turn the baking tray into the table top 8-10 times, to remove air bubbles from the macaroons.

Let the macaroons dry at room temperature for an hour. Bake at 300F for 13-14 minutes. Transfer the baking paper with the baked macaroons to a wire rack and let cool completely before filling or storing them.

Below there are 4 different fillings for your macaroons. Each filling recipe is for 20 macaroons.

Caramel:

1/2 cup sea salt caramel

Place the caramel in a piping bag and warm it with your hands until it is soft enough to be squeezed out onto the macaroons.

Coffee Liqueur Ganache:

1/2 cup Amedei Toscano White (or another good quality white chocolate)

1/8 cup cream

1/8 cup coffee liqueur

Place all three ingredients in a he alt proof blow and place over a pan of simmering water. Stir occasionally until melted and combined. Transfer to a piping bag and fridge until cooled completely. If the ganache get at bit to cold, you can warm it in your hands until it is soft enough to squeeze onto the macaroons.

Rum ganache:

1/2 cup Amedei Toscano Black (63%)

1/4 cup cream

4 tbsp. good quality rum

Black Currant and Liquerice Ganache:

1/2 cup Amedei Toscano White (or another good quality white chocolate)

1/4 cup cream

2 tbsp. freeze dried black currant powder

1/2 tsp. raw liquorice powder

Place all chocolate, cream and freeze dried powder in a he alt proof blow and place over a pan of simmering water. Stir occasionally until melted and combined. Transfer to a piping bag and fridge until cooled completely. If the ganache get at bit to cold, you can warm it in your hands until it is soft enough to squeeze onto the macaroons. Sprinkle the raw licorice powder on top of the ganache before putting on the top macaroon.

Bon Appétit!

Ingredients (60 macaroons)

200 gram almonds, blanched

200 gram confectioners sugar

200 gram granulated sugar

2 x 80 gram egg whites

0.8 dl water

Caramel:

4 tbsp. sea salt caramel

Coffee Liqueur Ganache:

80 g Amedei Toscano White (or another good quality white chocolate)

20 g cream

20 g coffee liqueur

Rum ganache:

80 g Amedei Toscano Black (63%)

30 g cream

4 tbsp. good quality rum

Black Currant and Liquerice Ganache:

80 g Amedei Toscano White (or another good quality white chocolate)

30 g cream

2 tbsp. freeze dried black currant powder

1/2 tsp. raw liquorice powder

Lime and Coco Milk Cupcakes

July 31, 2013September 29, 2013 ~ Ann & Chris Demant ~ 2 Comments

I am at the moment writing on a scientific article comparing two surgical techniques and such work definitely needs a cake or two 🙂 I’ve been working on the project for 7 month and are finally beginning to see the end of it!

Today the writing went well and I decided to reward myself with a cupcake experiment. The choice of lime and coco milk came from a quick look in our pantry, that among other things contained a lot of limes a single can of coco milk. Unfortunately the coco milk was a light version (only 8% fat) and the taste of coco was not as strong as I had wished, so next time, I will definitely use a full-fat version.

If your are not a fan of lime you can use lemon instead, but I will recommend that you try it with lime first as it is a perfect match for coco milk 🙂 Hope that you will love them as much as I already does.

Ingredients (16 cupcakes)

1 stick butter, room temperature

1 cup + 1 tbsp. granulated sugar

3 eggs, room temperature

1 tsp. vanilla extract

2 cups of flour

1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

1/2 cup coco milk

1 lime, zest and juice

Frosting

1 pound cream cheese, room temperature

1 lime, juice

4 tbsp. confectioners sugar

2 limes for decoration

Place butter and sugar in a mixing bowl and whisk until light and fluffy. scrape the sides of the bowl if necessary. Add the eggs one at time and whisk until incorporated. then add the vanilla extract.

Combined flour, baking powder and salt in another mixing bowl. Add the flour mixture to the butter and eggs mixture alternating with the coco milk, lime juice and zest. Scrape the sides of the bowl again, if necessary. Only whisk until the batter is combines. Over-whisking the batter might ruin the end result, as the fluffiness of the batter will disappear.

Line standard muffins tins with paper liners. Fill each paper line with 1 tbsp. of the batter and bake at 400F for approximately 16-18 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Frosting

Place all three ingredients in a mixing bowl and whisk until smooth and fluffy. Put the frosting in a piping bag with your favorite piping tip (this one is a 1/-inch round pipe) and decorate the cakes.

Cut the limes into thin slices and place slice on top of the frosting and press it slightly down.

Serve for afternoon coffee or as a dessert for girl night 🙂

Bon Appétit!

Ingredients (16 cupcakes)

113 g butter, room temperature

225 g granulated sugar

3 eggs, room temperature

1 tsp. vanilla extract

250 g flour

1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

1.25 dl coco milk

1 lime, zest and juice

Frosting:

450 g cream cheese, room temperature

1 lime, juice

4 tbsp. confectioners sugar

2 limes for decoration

Italian Ricotta Ice Cream with Chocolate and Roasted Almonds

July 13, 2013September 29, 2013 ~ Ann & Chris Demant ~ Leave a comment

Last night we were having guest for dinner and I had been speculating for days about what dessert to serve. Normally I would have baked a cake, as they are some of my greatest cake fans :-D, but it has been quite warm these past days so I wanted to make something more refreshing.

Then one evening when I turned on the TV, I turned passed a channel showing Italian women and their childhood recipes. One of the recipes was this ricotta ice cream with roasted almonds and chocolate and I immediately knew, what I was going to make 😀

It turned out to be great, but I must admit that it would have been better, had I made it on an ice cream machine – but that is still on the ‘to-buy-list’, so I will have to settle with the old freezer method for a while yet So if you have an ice cream machine, you should use that, but this method can be used as well!

Ingredients (8 servings)

1 cup ricotta cheese

1 cup cream

4 tbsp. cane sugar

1/2 cup almonds

1/2 cup quality chocolate 70%, preferably Amedei Toscano Black

20 cherries

20 strawberries

10 raspberries

Roast the almonds on a dry pan at medium heat for 5-10 minutes. Stir occasionally to avoid burning. The almonds a ready when you can begin to smell a nutty aroma in the kitchen. Set a side to cool down.

Chop the roasted almonds and the chocolate into medium sized chunks (or what ever you prefer).

Place ricotta cheese in a mixing bowl and stir with a rubber spatula until smooth. Add sugar and stir again until the sugar has dissolved – it takes a few minutes. Set aside.

Whisk the cream until it forms soft peaks. Be very careful not to over-whisk it, as it might ruin the end result.

Carefully turn the whipped cream into the ricotta and fold until evenly combined. Then add the chopped chocolate and almonds and fold again.

Cover a springform pan with plastic wrap and make sure that it covers the sides too.

Pour the ricotta cream into the form and cover with yet a layer of plastic wrap. Make sure that the plastic wrap lies down close to the ricotta mass and up the sides of the form.

Freeze for at least 12 hours before serving.

Take the ricotta ice cream out of the freezer approximately 10 minutes before serving. Remove both the form and the plastic wrap and place on a cake stand and decorate with cherries, strawberries and a few raspberries.

Serve with a glass of sparkling wine on a hot summer day or a cup of delicious Italian roast espresso on a cold winter day 🙂

Bon Appétit!

Ingredients (8 servings)

2.5 dl ricotta cheese

2.5 dl cream

4 tbsp. cane sugar

1.25 dl almonds

80 g quality chocolate 70%, preferably Amedei Toscano Black

20 cherries

20 cup strawberries

10 raspberries

Peach Cobbler

June 19, 2013September 29, 2013 ~ Ann & Chris Demant ~ Leave a comment

The weather here in Denmark are quite rainy today. Within the last two hours we have had both cloudbursts and thunder

So what to do on such a rainy and sad wednesday afternoon? Well, I went into the kitchen and the first thing catching my eyes were some delicious peaches and I decided to make peach cobblers – a great southern dessert that reminds me of the rainy days in Atlanta, GA 🙂

Hopefully Chris will get exited when he opens the front door, after a 10 hour drive from Norway, and smells the sweetness from the warm peaches together with a cup of hazelnut coffee.

Ingredients (4-6 servings)

8-10 peaches

3 tbsp. honey

1 lemon, zest

1 stick butter

1 cup flour

1/4 cup sugar

3 tbsp. apple juice

1/3 cup hazelnuts, chopped

1 cup sour cream/vanilla ice cream

Cut the peaches in half and remove the stone. Cut each half into 4 pieces and place in a mixing bowl with honey and lemon zest. Use your fingers mix. Transfer the peach mix to an ovenproof dish and bake at 300F for 10 minutes.

Chop the cold butter and mix it with sugar and flour. Mix until it look like small sand seeds. Assemble the dough with the cold apple juice and add the chopped hazelnuts. Crumble the dough out on top of the baked peaches and bake at 350F for additional 20-25 minutes or until crust is golden.

Serve warm with cold sour cream or vanilla ice cream 🙂

Bon Appétit!

Ingredients (4-6 servings)

8-10 peaches

3 tbsp. honey

1 lemon, zest

113 g butter

2.5 dl flour

55 g sugar

3 tbsp. apple juice

0.8 dl hazelnuts, chopped

2.5 sour cream/vanilla ice cream

Cold Buttermilk Soup

June 18, 2013September 29, 2013 ~ Ann & Chris Demant ~ Leave a comment

I don’t know the origins of cold buttermilk soup, but I know that the Danes eat quite a lot of it during the summer months. It can be bought pre-fabricated in different variations i all supermarkets. I love it just as much as everyone else, and thinks that it is the perfect summer dessert, but what I don’t understand is, why people buy pre-fabricated products when it only takes 5 minutes to make your own. And then you know what’s in it, instead of all the additives in the bought one.

It is best when served immediately, and as it only takes a few minutes to make it should be possilbe for everyone 🙂 Hope that you will enjoy it as much as I do!

If you would like soup to more creamy, you can replace one third or half of the buttermilk with yoghurt or soured whole milk, just remember to add more sugar too 🙂

Ingredients (4 servings)

4 egg yolks, pasteurized

4 tbsp. sugar

2 tsp. vanilla sugar

1/2 lemon, juice

4 cups butter milk

12 strawberries, sliced

Place egg yolks, sugar and vanilla sugar in a bowl and whisk until thick and light and all the sugar has dissolved.

Slowly add the buttermilk while whisking. Add lemon juice and whisk for a few seconds to combine.

Serve immediately with sliced strawberries 🙂

Bon Appétit!

Ingredients (4 servings)

4 egg yolks, pasteurized

4 tbsp. sugar

2 tsp. vanilla sugar

1/2 lemon, juice

1 liter butter milk

12 strawberries, sliced

World Class Chocolate Cupcakes with berries

May 27, 2013September 29, 2013 ~ Ann & Chris Demant ~ 1 Comment

This past saturday I was invited to s bachelorette party but was prevented due to other activities that day. It was asked if anyone could bring a cake for the afternoon coffee and even though I has other plans for that day, I volunteered. I decided to make these cupcakes filled with Amedei Toscano White and raspberries, as I find it to be the perfect summer cupcake and we truly need to see some summer here in Scandinavia soon!!

The bride to bee, was very happy with the cakes and so was my mother who got a few too (and she doesn’t even like white chocolate and strawberries), so it will definitely not be the last time I make them 🙂

Ingredients (14 cupcakes)

Cupcakes

1 stick butter, room temperature

1 cup + 1 tbsp. granulated sugar

3 eggs, room temperature

1 tsp. vanilla extract

2 cups of flour

11/2 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

1/4 cup buttermilk

1 lemon, zest

1/2 cup white quality chocolate, chopped

1 cup raspberries, frozen

Frosting

1 pound cream cheese, room temperature

1/5 cup confectioners sugar

1 tsp. vanilla extract

Decoration

14 strawberries

28 raspberries, fresh

28 blueberries, fresh

combined flour, baking powder and salt in another mixing bowl. Add the flour mixture to the butter and eggs mixture alternating with the buttermilk. Scrape the sides of the bowl again, if necessary.

Add the lemon zest and the chopped white chocolate, and fold until evenly combined. When I want you to fold and not whisk, it is to make sure that the batter keeps the fluffy consistency it got in the last step. If you over-whisk, you’ll risk to loos the fluffiness and the cupcakes will get heavy.

Line standard muffins tins with paper liners. Fill each paper line with 1 tsp. of the batter. divide the frozen raspberries in the middle of the batter. Then divide the remaining batter on top of the raspberries and bake at 400F for approximately 18 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Frosting

Place all three ingredients in a mixing bowl and whisk until smooth and fluffy. Put the frosting in a piping bag with your favorite piping tip (this one is Wilton M1) and decorate the cakes.

To finish of the cakes, decorate with one strawberry and two raspberries and blueberries. Serve in the afternoon with a great cup of coffee or as a dessert with a glass of sparkling wine.

Bon Appétit!

Ingredients (14 cupcakes)

Cupcakes

113 g butter, room temperature

225 g granulated sugar

3 eggs, room temperature

1 tsp. vanilla extract

500 g flour

1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

0.5 dl buttermilk

1 lemon, zest

80 g white quality chocolate, chopped

20 raspberries, frozen

Frosting

450 g cream cheese, room temperature

25 g confectioners sugar

1 tsp. vanilla extract

Decoration

14 strawberries

28 raspberries, fresh

28 blueberries, fresh

Chocolate Turtle Cupcakes

May 12, 2013September 29, 2013 ~ Ann & Chris Demant ~ Leave a comment

As I wrote in the last post, it is Mother’s Day today. For my own mother I made baked rhubarbs with vanilla cream – delicious!

These cupcakes was for my best friend mother. I have known the family since 1986 and they have always been as a second family to me, so I decided to bake a cake for the woman who always made me grilled cheese and who’s door has always been open to me – thank you Connie.

Hope that we will have many more Christmas’ together 🙂

Ingredients (12 cupcakes)

Cupcakes

1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1/3 warm water

1 1/4 cup sugar

1 cups flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. salt

1 sticks butter

2 eggs, room temperature

1 tbsp. vanilla extract

1/2 cup sour cream

1/2 cup dark quality chocolate (70%)

24 mini chocolate turtles (Toms)

Swiss Meringue Buttercream (24 servings)

1 cup sugar

5 large egg whites

1/4 tsp. salt

1 tbsp. vanilla extract

1 pound butter, room temperature (preferably organic)

Decoration

24 rasberries

12 spearmint leafs.

Cupcakes

Melt butter and sugar in a sauce pan. Stir to combine. When melted and combined, transfer to a mixing bowl and whisk at medium speed until cooled.

In another bowl mix together cocoa powder, flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda.

When the butter and sugar mixture is cooled, add one egg at a time and whisk between each. Then add vanilla extract.

Shift in flour mixture in four batches, alternating with the sour cream, and warm water and whisk until just combined.

Melt the chocolate in a heat proof bowl, over a pan with simmering water. Add the melted chocolate to the batter and stir to combine.

Line standard muffins tins with paper liners. Fill each paper line with 1 tsp. of the chocolate batter. Then chop 1 chocolate turtle at at time and lie in the middle of the batter. Then add another tsp. of the chocolate batter. Make sure that the chopped turtle is fully covered with the chocolate batter.

Bake at 350F for 18-20 minutes. Halfway through, turn the muffin tin 180 degrees, to secure that the cupcakes are baked evenly. Transfer tins to wire racks and let cool for 10 minutes before turning cupcakes onto racks to cool completely.

Buttercream

Place sugar, salt and egg whites in a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water. Stir until the sugar has dissolved. Transfer to a mixing bowl and whisk at medium speed until the meringue has reached room temperature.

Cut the butter into small cubes and add a few cubes at a time to the meringue while whisking. Whisk until the buttercream is smooth and creamy – it takes 5-10 minutes.

Decorate the cupcakes with buttercream and top it of with a chocolate turtle, 2 raspberries and a spearmint leaf.

Bon Appétit!

Ingredients (12 cupcakes)

Cupcakes

0.8 dl unsweetened cocoa powder

0.8 dl warm water

280 g cup sugar

2.5 dl flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. salt

113 g butter

2 eggs, room temperature

1 tbsp. vanilla extract

2.5 dl sour cream

0.8 g dark quality chocolate (70%)

24 mini chocolate turtles (Toms)

Swiss Meringue Buttercream (24 servings)

225 g sugar

5 large egg whites

1/4 tsp. salt

1 tbsp. vanilla extract

450 g butter, room temperature (preferably organic)

Decoration

24 rasberries

12 spearmint leafs

Food on Demant

by Ann & Chris Demant

dessert

Chocolate Birthday Cake with Berries

Triple Chocolate Cheese Cake

Mom’s Blackberry Jam

What to do on a rainy day macaroons

Lime and Coco Milk Cupcakes

Italian Ricotta Ice Cream with Chocolate and Roasted Almonds

Peach Cobbler

Cold Buttermilk Soup

World Class Chocolate Cupcakes with berries

Chocolate Turtle Cupcakes