Banana Muffins

The more one knows about cooking, the more free one feels to experiment and create concoctions in the style of "the contents of my fridge". Thus today I mixed a batch of banana muffins and they turned out so delicious, that I decided to write down the recipe for further reference.

What I had were a  bunch of bananas, that according to husband were not very tasty, some open cup of yogurt and chocolate chips, and of course, flour, eggs, sunflower oil and other household staples.

 Ingredients:

• 1 average banana
• 1 egg
• 60 g sunflower oil
• 50 g sugar + a pinch of salt
• 100 g yogurt
• 200 g flour
• 8 g baking powder
• vanilla extract
• chocolate chips 

 Preparation:

Mash the banana, add the egg, the oil, the yogurt, the sugar and a pinch of salt and mix. Fold in the flour with the baking powder. Add the vanilla extract and stir in the chocolate chips. Distribute the batter into 12 muffin forms and bake in a preheated oven at 190C until golden.

The resulting muffins are very fluffy and the semi-sweetness (only 50 g sugar) allows the taste buds fully to appreciate the distinct banana taste and the bitter-sweet flavour of the chocolate chips, a classic and timeless combination.

Best enjoyed with a cup of freshly brewed hot coffee or tea. 

Cinnamon Biscuits

My new favourite biscuits - I've been making these regularly and the recipe is definitely a keeper. I tried it with melted butter and with a combination of butter and sunflower oil, but surprisingly, these are better with vegetable oil, IMHO.

Ingredients:

• 1 egg
• 60 g oil
• 75 g sugar
• 220 g flour
• 5 g baking powder
• pinch of salt 
• spices

Preparation:

Lightly beat the egg with the sugar, add the oil and the spices. I make my own mix of cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and aniseed and add about a teaspoon of that, but you can add as much or as little to taste. Mix in the flour with the baking powder and form a pliable, but not sticky dough. Separate the dough into twenty small balls and press each ball between your palms to form a cookie. You can put aside a tablespoon of the sugar and press each cookie into the sugar, to sugarcoat it. You can also improvise some design on top of the cookies, as I did with the help of a fork.

Bake in a warm oven at 180C until the cookies turn lightly brown. Serve cooled with coffee or tee.

I had an idea to use the same dough to make a pie crust, so I made a blackberry custard pie. It was really delicious and the dough is perfect for pie crust, but the cinnamon taste was a bit overwhelming, so probably vanilla or no spices next time.

Blueberry Cream Cake

The idea for this cake was inspired by the traditional German Kirsch-Schmand-Blechkuchen - layer cake with a cream filling, made with pudding and sour cream. I don't think I had ever met such a combination and I was very curious to try it. In the original recipe the fruit is cherries, usually from cans, but I used the blueberries that i picked on Mechit specifically with this cake in mind.

Instead of a butter cake layer, I chose to make a biscuit cheesecake base out of cracker biscuits and butter. My cream layer is custard, mixed with sour cream and the last layer is blueberries (no idea how much, all that I had managed to collect) and one packet of tortenguss - German fruit glaze, which I ordered from amazon.de.

Ingredients: 

Biscuit layer:

• 200 g cracker biscuits
• 100 g melted butter 

Cream layer:

• 2 eggs
• 100 g sugar
• 50 g flour
• 400 g milk
• 150 g sour cream  

Berry layer:

• blueberries
• 1 pack red tortenguss 
• 50 g sugar
• 220 g water 

Preparation:

This cake is made without baking, but you still have to cook the custard and the tortenguss. First prepare the biscuit layer - grind the biscuits, mix them with the butter, spread the buttery crumbs on the bottom of a cake form and press. Leave in the fridge for at least half an hour to cool and harden a little.

Meanwhile cook the custard - beat the eggs with the sugar, add the flour, stir, add the milk gradually, while stirring with a whisk. Bring to boil on a hot plate, while stirring constantly, until the custard is cooked. Leave to cool completely, covering the top with a stretch foil to avoid the formation of a crust.

Once the custard has cooled to room temperature, stir in the sour cream until smooth and homogeneous.

Spread the cream on top of the biscuit layer and leave in the fridge for at least half an hour.

Place the berries on top of the cream layer. Cook the red glaze according to the instructions. Cover the berries with the glaze and leave the cake in the fridge overnight.

The resulting cake is very light, creamy, with a fresh fruity taste, ideal with the morning coffee.

Strawberry Cheesecake

Gaby had been sending me pictures of the strawberry cheesecakes she made lately for various occasions, making my mouth water, so in the end I asked her for the recipe and made a strawberry cheesecake myself. Mine is a lighter version of the original and it was a great success with husband and son, so I'm writing down the recipe, as I improvised it yesterday:

INGREDIENTS:

For the biscuit layer 

• 150 g biscuits
• 75 g melted butter 

For the cheese cream layer 

• 100 g cheese cream
• 400 g sour cream
• 50 g milk 
• 120 g sugar
• 2 eggs
• a pinch of salt

For the strawberry layer 

• 500 g strawberries
• 1 pack red cake glaze
• 30 g sugar
• 200 g water 

PREPARATION:

Grind the biscuits, stir in the melted butter and transfer the biscuit mixture into a cake form. Compact the biscuit layer with the bottom of a glass and leave to cool in the fridge for a few minutes.

Meanwhile prepare the batter for the cheese cream layer. Pour it over the biscuit layer and place the cake form in a preheated oven and bake at 175C for one hour. After the cake is baked, leave it to cool completely for a couple of  hours. 

Cut the strawberries into slices and arrange them tile-like on top of the cake. Prepare the cake glaze - mix the powder glaze with the sugar, add the water and cook on the hot plate until it thickens. Leave it to rest for one minute, then spread it on top of the strawberries with the help of a silicon brush. 

Leave the cake to cool in the fridge for a couple of hours or overnight. Serve with coffee and enjoy!

Coconut Biscuits

I can't claim, that these are the perfect coconut biscuits, but they are pretty close, if that ideal biscuit exists at all. I came up with the recipe last night on a whim and the first batch were by midday today polished, so I made another batch, with a few improvements.

Ingredients: 

• 40 g coconut oil
• 60 g sugar
• 20 g coconut shreddings
• 1 egg
• 100 g flour
• 5 g baking powder
• 1 lemon zest
  

Preparation:

There  isn't really much to it - melt the coconut oil, add the sugar, the shredded coconut, the lemon zest, the egg, the flour and the baking powder. The resulting batter is sticky, but because of the high content of oil, very easy to form into small balls. Place them on a baking tray, leaving enough space between each ball and bake for 25 min in a preheated oven at 180C.

The resulting biscuits are flat, very crunchy, aromatic, not too sweet. They can be eaten as they are or as a biscuit sandwich with jam in between. I find them perfect for coffee, but they go well as a desert with a glass of desert wine as well :)

Easter Bread

Most countries, which celebrate Easter, have their versions of sweet Easter bread. In Bulgaria it is called kozunak and the recipes are probably as many as the households :) Over the years I've tried at least a dozen recipes, last year I even took pictures and planned a posting, but never came down to writing it.

Today I improvised with a recipe and a form and I am quite happy with the result, so I am writing it down to have it on the blog:

Ingredients:

• flour 300 g
• 6 g fresh yeast
• 1 egg
• 70 g water
• 90 g milk
• 30 g sugar + 20 g brown sugar for dusting
• 30 g olive oil or melted butter
• 100 g mixed dried tropical fruit

Preparation:

Prepare the dough as usual, this time I used my mixer. Leave it to rise covered in a warm place for an hour or so. Then divide the dough in four parts, spread each part, place your filling, roll and twist. Pleat the four pieces to form a round bread. Place in a baking form and leave to rest for an hour. 

Once the bread has rested and increased its volume, brush with egg-wash and dust with brown sugar. Bake for 35-40 min at 180C in a preheated oven.

This recipe is low on sugar and butter, as I've been trying to keep our consumption of processed sugar to a minimum, but it is still quite tasty and delicious. I intend to experiment further with proportions, so I envision a lot of Easter bread baking in our house :)

My husband eats kozunak with milk, but I love it with my morning coffee. Can't wait for morning to come and to have another piece of Easter bread with my hot coffee, while I do my Duolingo German lessons.

Easy Olive Baguette

It's been a couple of years now, that we almost don't buy bread at home - I prefer to make it myself. This gives me the freedom to experiment with various types of flour, recipes, forms and additives. Today's recipe is one of the variations of my usual bread recipe, but with a twist - literal and figurative :)

Ingredients:

• 300 g all purpose flour
• 200 g lukewarm water
• 7 g fresh yeast or 3 g dry yeast
• salt, sugar or honey, oregano
• two tbsp olive oil
• pitted olives

Preparation:

Activate the yeast with some of the water and the honey. I add a small teaspoon of honey in the water and stir, until the honey and the yeast have dissolved. In a bowl measure the flour, add salt and oregano, mix. Add the yeast and the rest of the water, mix everything well and thorough, until the entire flour is absorbed. At this stage I do not add the olive oil. 

Leave the dough covered to rest and rise for 30-45 min in a warm place (I put my bowl in the oven with the light on). When the dough has doubled, add the olive oil and fold the dough a dozen times, then leave again to rise for at least an hour.

When the dough has doubled again, spread it on a floured surface, cover it with the olives, cut into small pieces, then cut the dough into four and form four baguettes. I made mine by rolling the ends toward the center and enclosing the olives inside, then I twisted the roll a few times.

Cover the baguettes and leave them for the last time to rise. This recipe has no kneading, you need only time and patience. Once the baguettes have doubled again after an hour, brush them generously with olive oil and put the tray in a preheated oven at 250C for 15 min. I put a metal container with water at the bottom of the oven to get a crispy crust. After the 15 min are over, turn the oven temperature to 200C and bake for another 10 min.

These baguettes are so delicious, that you can snack with them directly like buns, or enjoy them with feta cheese, vegetable spreads or any other way you enjoy your bread.

Hasenfrühstück

Ever since I started learning German, I've been interested in German cuisine and in trying traditional German recipes. As Easter is not that far away, various Easter recipes and paraphernalia began popping in my feed. Among them was this carrot and apple marmalade, called "Hasenfrühstück" or Rabbit's breakfast, which is typical, it seems, for German speaking countries, to be prepared at home for Easter.

As we love making home-made jams and carrots and apples are a staple in our home, especially in winter, I was quick to jump to the suggestion. 

There are plenty of variations on the recipe, as is the case of any recipe, so here are the proportions and the procedures that I chose for my carrot-apple-marmalade:

Ingredients:

• two big apples, cored and peeled, 500 g
• 700 g carrots
• 500 g sugar
• 200 g carrot and apple juice, store-bought
• juice from half-lemon
• half-teaspoon of apple pectin
  

Preparation:

Cut the apples and carrots into pieces (but better grate or chop in the chopper), cover with the juice of half a lemon, add 500 g sugar and 200 g juice (best would be fresh orange juice). Stir, heat up, turn the plate off and leave the mixture to stew and soften. Once the carrots and apples are soft enough, blend with an immersion blender. Even better, if the carrots and apples were grated in advance - we skipped that step, but experience showed that it the effort was recommendable.

As I was not sure, whether the pectin in the apples would be enough to thicken the marmalade, I added half a teaspoon of apple pectin. Alternatively, you might want to boil the jam a bit longer, until you get the desired texture.

Once the marmalade is ready, pour it hot into clean glass containers, close them tight and turn them over, until they cool. Store them in a cool and dark place.

Serve the marmalade with croissants or bagels and coffee and enjoy :) 

The taste is definitely carroty and might not be for everyone, but we liked it - it is fresh and different. Next year I would add more sour taste, to neutralize the sweetness - freshly squeezed orange juice instead of the carrot-apple juice and more freshly squeezed lemon juice - in hindsight I would have added the entire lemon squeeze - apples, carrots and citrus go really well together!

Easy Stollen

Stollen is a traditional German Christmas cake, which husband loves dearly. I had tried making it before, but found it too time-consuming and the result - underwhelming. However, last December we came upon a simplified recipe, which we liked very much and I've probably made already a dozen of these.

With every attempt I've moved slightly away from the original, so probably my version is now hardly a stollen, but who cares - it is delicious, we love it and I'd like to have it on the blog, so that I wouldn't loose the recipe.

Ingredients:

• 250 g flour
• 7 g fresh yeast
• 70 g warm milk
• 50 g melted butter
• 30 g sugar
  
• 1 egg
• 200 g dried fruit
• 25 g rum
• a pinch of salt and spices (cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, star anise)
  

Preparation:

Put all the dry fruit in a bowl, add the rum, cover and let them sit for a few hours, preferably over night,  so that the fruit can soak up the rum.

Warm the milk and add the fresh yeast and the sugar in it. Melt the butter. Add the milk with the activated yeast, the melted butter, the egg and the spices and mix. Knead the dough until elastic and leave it to rest for a couple of hours in a warm space. In winter I put it covered in my oven with the light on.

Once the dough has doubled its size, it is time to add the dry fruit, which has soaked up the rum. Mix and knead thoroughly and leave to rest for another hour or two.

Spread the dough on a surface and flatten it into a rectangle. Fold one third of the rectangle, then fold the second third on top and press, giving the dough the traditional stollen form. I used to bake the stollen in free form on a baking tin, but lately I prefer to put it in a rectangular cake form and bake it like that. I know, it is not as per tradition, but it is easier to cut in slices.

 

Leave the stollen to rest for a final half an hour, preheat the oven at 180 C and bake until ready, for about 40 min.

Once the stollen is out of the oven, you can brush it with melted butter and cover it with powdered sugar. That is the traditional way and we do it sometimes, but frankly, I prefer it without the added sugar and usually skip the last step. 

Around Christmas I used to put candied orange and lemon peel and other Christmasy goodies in the dough, but lately it is only dried fruit of various sorts, these here are raisins, plums, dates and cranberries, a favourite combination of mine, which combines sweetness, sourness and flavour.