Bohemian Cake

Lots of eggs makes for lots of cause for concern, but it also makes a great cake, with a smooth, and silky filling. Thin slices is all you need to enjoy this rich cake, and it’s very presentable, and pretty. Only I don’t like thin slices; instead I have indulged, and dusted off my treadmill to make up for it. Dusting takes care of the extra calories --- my treadmill is actually out of order : )
For all of you adventurous souls out there. Enjoy!

Bohemian Cake

For the filling:
15 egg yolks
4 tbs corn starch
7 ½ dl milk
300g sugar
4 tsp vanilla sugar
200g unsalted butter or margarine (room temperature)
100g dark chocolate
2 dl heavy whipping cream
1 whipping cream stabilizer
Powdered sugar (to taste) to sweeten the whipping cream

For the cake layers:
15 egg whites
300g sugar
350g ground walnuts
3 tbs all purpose flour

To make the filling:
Cook 7 dl milk, sugar and vanilla sugar in a pan, until it starts boiling. Mix egg yolks, ½ dl of milk, and corn starch until well combined, and there are no lumps. Mix it into boiling milk, reduce heat, and stir quickly. Cook for few minutes until thick. Let it cool to room temperature.
When cooled mix in the butter until nice and silky. Divide into two, and add melted chocolate into one part. Let it cool for a while in the fridge until you make the cake layers.

To make the cake layers:
Preheat oven to 395° F. Mix egg whites and sugar on a high speed until stiff meringue forms. Add walnuts and flour, and combine, but don’t over mix. Divide into three, and bake three cake layers. Cool the layers before applying the filling. I have used 9” spring form pans.
　
To assemble:
Divide the two fillings into 2 parts each. Arrange in the following order: cake layer, one part vanilla filling spread evenly over the cake layer. Then place one part of the chocolate filling in a ziploc bag, make a hole in one corner, and squeeze over the vanilla filling evenly in a circular motion starting from the middle. Repeat with another cake layer, vanilla filling, then chocolate filling, then top with the last cake layer. Apply whipped cream all over the cake, and decorate as you wish.

Adapted from magazine “Gurman” with minor modifications.

Chocolate Charlotte with Bananas

Hello my dear food bloggers, followers, and friends. It’s been a while, and I’m very appreciative that a lot of you still visit, and ask about my whereabouts. I miss blogging, and discovering what you’ve made every day.
Except for working too much, not much is new with me. I’m still holding on to my 20s, which is proving harder every day, esp. first thing in the morning before I apply layers of makeup : )

Like many of you, I’m enjoying the serene winter scenery, minus the morning car troubles, and huge winter heating bills. I have a had a great Holiday season, with December 31st being my busiest work day, and for the first time in my adult life I fell asleep and woke up next year without my share of New Years Champagne.
My family petitioned yesterday that I reclaim my throne in the kitchen and finally make something homemade. Well, I cheated a little, but it’s almost completely home made.

I decided to go though the whole usual works of making them wait for dessert till I snap a few images to share with you. Hope you like it, and hope you are all having a great New Year!

Chocolate Charlotte with Bananas

1 package lady fingers
Some milk to soak the ladyfingers

Filling:
2 packs Dr. Oetker pudding (available at ethnic stores, Italian fruit markets, or Meijer if you have one)
3 1/3 cup milk
9 tbs sugar
1 stick unsalted butter or margarine, room temperature

Set 2,5 cups milk to boil. Use the remainder of milk to mix pudding powder and sugar, the add to boiling milk, reduce heat, and stir quickly for few minutes. Let cool to room temperature. Combine with butter (or margarine).

For the biscuit:
3 eggs
6 tbs sugar
0.5 dcl/ 1.7 oz milk
0.5 dcl/ 1.7 oz oil
7 tbs flour
2 tsp baking powder

Preheat oven to 400 °F. Mix eggs with sugar, add oil, milk, then flour mixed with baking powder. Bake until golden, and toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. I have used the 8” pan.

To assemble:
Line a glass bowl with clear plastic wrap. Dip lady fingers into lukewarm milk, but don’t soak them too much, just quickly, and arrange them around the bowl wall. Add 1/3 filling to the bottom, then add a layer of lady fingers on top of it (not soaked), then 1/3 of filling, then 2 whole bananas bent a little to make a circle, then remainder of the filling, and close it all up with a biscuit. Let cool in the fridge over night, then flip it onto a cake stand. Serve with whipped cream and enjoy.
Note: It is very important to have the pudding and the butter at the same temperature, or it won’t combine nicely. Mine was not so perfect because I was impatient, or shall I say the entire family was : )

Thumbprint Cookie Craze

It was just one of those days, when the weather is gorgeous, and you have all the time on your hands, and you crave sugar! Just had to make something quick, so I pulled out my "Baking from my home to yours" book by Dorie Greenspan, and landed my eyes on thumbprint cookies.

Actually never made them before, and it sounded like they would taste like vanilla crescents, which I LOVE! They do, with a bonus of fruity marmalade/jam.
I have more than enjoyed these cookies, and I have really gone crazy with varieties of jams/marmalades. Worked well with all of the flavors, though for my taste Red cornel aka European cornel, was just perfect.

Is there someone out there who never had these cookies? If yes, you better hurry up, it’s way to simple, and way too melt-in-your-mouth delicious to pass up!

Thumbprints for us big guys
From “Baking: From My Home To Yours” by Dorie Greenspan

1 3/4 cups finely ground hazelnuts
(I have used walnuts, almonds are fine too)
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flower
2 sticks (8 oz) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon pure almond extract
Confectioner’s sugar, for dusting
About 1 cup raspberry jam (or the jam or marmalade of your choice)

Position the racks to divide the oven into thirds and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment or silicone mats. Whisk together ground nuts and flour.

Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with the paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar together on medium speed until light and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the extracts and beat to blend. Reduce the mixer speed to low and gradually add the nut-flower mixture, mixing only until it is incorporated into the dough.

Working with a teaspoonful of dough at a time, roll the dough between your palms to form small balls and place the balls 2 inches apart on the baking sheets. Steadying each cookie with the thumb and forefinger of one hand, use the pinkie of your other hand (or the end of a wooden spoon) to poke a hole in the center of each cookie. Be careful not to go all the way down to the baking sheet.

Bake for 15 to 18 minutes, rotating the sheets from top to bottom and front to back at the midway point. The cookies should be only slightly colored–they may even look underdone, which is fine: they should not be overbaked. When the cookies are baked, remove the baking sheets from the oven and let the cookies rest on the sheets for 2 minutes before transferring them to cooling racks with a wide metal spatula and sifting confectioner’s sugar over them.
Repeat with the remaining dough, remembering to cool the baking sheets before baking the next batch.

Bring jam to a boil in a small saucepan over low heat, or bring to a boil in a microwave oven; remove from the heat. Fill the indentations of all the cookies with enough of the hot jam to come level with the tops. Cool to room temperature.
Enjoy! Share!

No Bake Butter Biscuits Cake

This cake is always on demand in my house, and it’s not just simple to make, but it’s really good. You can make it in so many variations, and flavors. There is simply no excuse not make this one. I can bake all day, making the most extravagant cake ever, but I know it will not be swept clean off the platter as quickly as this one. Makes my life easy :)

To make it you’ll need:

about 2 lb (more or less) butter biscuits (rectangular butter cookies, crunchy, see here)

2 (1.7 oz each) chocolate pudding powder (not the instant one)

2 ½ cups milk, for pudding

6 tbsp of sugar

2 tbsp (or more if you like sweeter) powdered, confectioners sugar

2 sticks butter or margarine, unsalted, room temperature
Whipped cream
2 cups (or as needed) milk, warm, to soak the biscuits

* If you don’t have chocolate pudding powder, for this recipe you can substitute with 2.7 oz corn starch, and 2-3 tbsp of cocoa powder (depends how chocolaty you want it).
* The pudding will be quite stiff, esp. when cooled to room temperature, but with butter added, it will be a very nice filling.

Make pudding by mixing pudding powder, sugar, and about a cup of lukewarm milk in a smaller bowl. Set the rest of the milk (1 ½ cup) to boil, reduce heat, then add the pudding mix, mix constantly, and cook for about a minute. Let it cool to room temperature, stirring often, so the skin wouldn’t form on the top.

With a mixer, on medium speed, mix pudding mix, and butter (or margarine), both at room temperature, until blended nicely. Add powdered sugar to sweeten it more, if desired.

Line the square deeper dish, or square baking pan, (the smaller, but deeper dish will make for a taller cake) with foil or plastic wrap, and start arranging butter biscuits on the bottom, soaked in warm milk for about 5-10 seconds each, soak several at the time. Don’t over soak the biscuits or the cake will be too moist, and it won’t cut nicely. The biscuits will get moisture from the butter cream too.

Layer like that, one layer biscuits, one layer butter cream (about as thick as the biscuits), until all buttercream is used, and biscuits are on the top. Cover top with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for few hours at least. Remove plastic wrap from top, place square platter over it, and flip the cake onto it. Top with lots of whipping cream, and chill some more. Cut, serve, share, enjoy!

This simple dessert is my entry to Magic Bullet To Go Giveaway, for which you can find details @ Fun and Food Cafe. You could win a Magic Bullet Food processor, and it's really simple.

Thank you for the invite Mansi!

Open wide :)