Kugelhopf

Lately I have been trying hard to make time for my passion for baking, and I dusted off my cookbooks and found Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan.
The book opened up on Kugelhopf, and I remembered I have been meaning to try it long ago.

From Wikipedia: "A Gugelhupf or Kugelhupf is a southern German, Austrian, Swiss and Alsatian term for a type of cake. As with the Jewish dish kugel, the name "Gugelhupf" is related to the Middle High German word Kugel meaning "ball" or "globe". In Hungary, Croatia, and Serbia, it is called kuglof, in the Czech Republic it is called bábovka, and in Poland it is called babka. In Republic of Macedonia the cake is known as "куглоф".

In the book, and in many other references it is spelled Kugelhopf, but to say the least, I'd say pronunciation is quite irrelevant, what's relevant is how delicious the cake is, and well loved across the globe.

So, here we are, it took a whole morning, and I was finished late in the afternoon. Simple recipe, just so many steps for the dough to properly rise, but oh so well worth it. I have followed the recipe religiously, and it was a major success. Kids couldn't wait to try it, and we are now down to just a few crumbs, just enough to accompany my morning coffee.

The crust is not hard at all, but rather crunchy in a soft way, really delicious. I would love to add a zest of orange next time, and perhaps soak the raisins in rum. Definitely a recipe I am sticking with, thank you Dorie!

Chocolate Cream Pie

For upcoming Holidays, Martha Stewart has assembled a really nice magazine/publication "Holiday Sweets", and I got stuck on the page with this delicious Chocolate cream pie. I am so happy with the results, it's simple, elegant, and the cream is delicious. I am not normally a big fan of the meringue, but it just goes so well, and adds that magic touch.
The magazine is filled with beautiful creations, and I can't wait to try some more. It's very inspiring!
I had a little trouble with the lighting, so my pictures don't give it proper justice, you should see Martha's! Also, I have used regular wafers, and added melted chocolate to the crumb, the recipe calls for chocolate wafers, and they are much more dark, making the pie even better looking.

Happy Halloween!!!

Just popping by to say Happy Halloween to all my food lovers! Boo!

Inside this Witch’s cauldron is a chocolate hazelnut cake with chocolate filling. I am not a big fan of food colors, so I used just a bit for the fire effect, and a tint of green for the whipped cream stew. Gummy eyes were a perfect addition.

It’s been at least 6 months since I have baked something, and since I had a time to, and the kids wanted something spooky for the occasion. Haven’t tried it yet, but cake baked excellent, and just as soon as I can, I will share the recipe.
Thank you again for visiting, and all your wonderful comments! :)

Chocolate hazelnut cake

For the batter:
5 eggs
100g (3.5 oz) baking chocolate, melted
2 tbsp all purpose flour
1 tbsp baking powder
100g (3.5 oz) butter, unsalted
100g (3.5 oz) sugar
100g (3.5 oz) finely ground hazelnuts
2 tbsp vanilla sugar

Separate yolks from whites. Mix yolks with sugar, and vanilla sugar un till nice and creamy. Add hazelnuts, melted chocolate, and flour mixed with baking powder. Mix butter until creamy, and add it to the batter.
Mix egg whites until nice and stiff, and fold those in, and incorporate well, but don’t over mix.
Separate batter into 3 portions, and bake 3 separate layers in a 8 inch spring form pan. I haven’t separated it at all, but baked one cake, and then cut it into three layers.

I have used a recipe for cake layers from Podravka, and their very popular cooking site (in Croatian), Coolinarika. I didn’t make the filling from the recipe because it asks for some things not available to me. You can use pretty much any filling you like.

I have used this one:
2 packages of Chocolate pudding mix
(Like Dr.Oetker, or if not available use 6 Tbsp of corn starch , 1 tsp vanilla extract)
0.7l (about 23 oz) of milk
6 Tbsp of sugar
2 ticks, 16 tbsp of unsalted butter or margarine
100g (3.5 oz) baking chocolate, melted (or half of that if you have chocolate pudding)

Take some milk from the 0.7 l, a bit less than half a cup, and mix in pudding mixes with sugar (or corn starch, and vanilla extract). Put the remainder of milk to boil over medium heat, and then add pudding mix, reduce heat a bit, and mix well and fast, so not to get lumps.
Cool down completely, I usually put it in a fridge a bit, and then freezer, to speed up the process. Do cover the bowl, so you don’t get the “skin” on your pudding. When cold it will be very firm, don’t get alarmed, it should be.
Now cream the butter sticks and mix it with the pudding, mixing on high speed. Add melted chocolate, and mix in well. Spread evenly over cake layers, and a little bit all over the outside of the cake. Now you can top it with some nice chocolate glaze, or decorate any way you like.

Tiramisu - Light as Air

October 05, 2009:
Thank you so much for visiting, and your continued support, even in my absence!
I have taken on a career that requires a lot of work, and a lot of time, so I am still unable to return to the scene, and mix something up... I do, from time to time, check in to see what you all are doing, and I miss being part of your world actively.
Hope to return soon, at least on a monthly basis, till then, please enjoy Cafe Chocolada!
-Melita-

I have recently made this awesome light as air Tiramisu, based on a recipe from Masatera of “Recepti iz moje biljeznice” (Recipes from my notebook), and just slightly edited to what I had available here. It is not based on a traditionally used mascarpone cheese, but rather I have used Philadelphia whipped cream cheese, and got this luscious cream, which make you feel like you are eating sweet delicious air!

Tiramisu

2 packages of lady fingers, the soft kind
Strong coffee to soak them, but not over soak
1 pint of heavy whipping cream
1 packet whip it, whipped cream stabilizer
200g of Philadelphia whipped cream cheese
150g, or as much as you like, powdered sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
About 3 tbsp cocoa powder

Mix whipped cream, with powdered sugar, and whipped cream stabilizer until whipped, then add cream cheese, vanilla extract, and mix well. You may also add like 1 or 2 drops of yellow food color, but that is completely optional.

On a plate, rectangular or however you like, arrange a layer of lady fingers soaked gently in strong coffee (unsweetened), then spread half of the cream, then a layer of lady fingers again, and then rest of the cream, and spread that cream all over the sides too, if you wish. Dust with cocoa powder, and you are all set. Refrigerate for couple of hours, or put in a freezer for about half an hour, to serve sooner :)