Cinnamon Rolls

Cinnamon rolls yay! I've been waiting so long to make these!

This is not the -sticky squished together all in one pan- kind of cinnamon roll, this is more the kind you would get in a bakery, crisp brown on the outside and warm and gooey on the inside.

Making them was so fun and the smell while they were baking was amazing. I won't go on and on, they're cinnamon rolls- simple as that. They are a classic and delicious.

Cinnamon Rolls:

Dough:

1 cup lukewarm milk

2 eggs

80 soft butter

4 ½ cups (630 gr) flour

1 tsp salt

½ cup sugar

2 ½ tsp (10 gr) dry yeast or 30 gr fresh yeast

Filling:

80 gr soft butter

1 cup (200 gr) brown sugar

2 tbsp cinnamon

1 egg + splash of milk for egg wash

Place all ingredients in a bowl of an electric mixer with dough hook and knead for about 3 minutes until you get a smooth and slightly sticky dough. Let rise until double in size, about two hours.

Place risen dough on floured surface and let rest for 10 minutes. Roll out dough to about 50 cm in length and 40 cm in width, spread butter evenly on dough. Mix brown sugar with cinnamon and sprinkle all over the buttered dough. Roll up dough into log and cut into 12 even pieces, place on baking sheet lined with parchment paper and let rise 30 minutes. Brush rolls gently with egg wash and bake in a preheated oven at 190°c for 15 minutes until golden brown.

Chocolate Mint Layer Cake

It's Nur's Birthday!!

Requested was chocolate mint for the cake, and who am I to disagree on that??

This is my first layer cake so I was pretty excited, I had to assemble the cake at the birthday dinner, so of course the writing and piping would have been a bit neater if they were done at home. Other than that I'm really happy with the cake and most important the birthday boy is too.

Chocolate frosting ingredients

Mint swiss meringue buttercream- My new favorite!

Frosting the cake

The open cake

Chocolate Mint Layer Cake:

For the cake and chocolate frosting I used this recipe from

Simply Recipes, I was really pleased with the results, but

here are a few more tips:

For the cake:

• I just don't own the same size pan three times so I used

aluminum pans, which saved me the effort of cleaning

three baking pans and was very useful when storing the

cakes before frosting.

• Instead of storing the cakes in the freezer I just kept them in the fridge until my frostings were ready.

• The recipe says to line each pan with parchment paper, I

buttered and floured my aluminum pans and the cakes

popped right out.

• One important step is to bake the cakes separate! I

tried to save time and bake them all at once in the oven and that didn't work at all.

For the frosting:

• Sift the sugar and cocoa, the frosting could end up grainy.

• I would definitely use less sugar, I used only a very small

amount of the frosting but if I would use it as a filling it

would've been too sweet.

• If you are planning to use the frosting only to cover the

cake thinly like I did, make half the amount- that will for sure be enough.

Swiss meringue buttercream:

4 egg whites

1 cup sugar

300 gr butter

1 tbsp peppermint extract

green food coloring

Pinch of salt

I want to give a big thanks to Cassie from How To Eat A

Cupcake for posting such a great tutorial (with video clip)

and a link to another helpful video on her blog about making

swiss meringue buttercream. It made the whole process clearand easy.

It was a huge help and now I have too fallen for this frostingand it's my absolute favorite!

For the tutorial of swiss meringue buttercream go HERE.

Irish Soda Bread

This is a funky lookin' kinda bread! Yeah I know it looks freaky... but it is the easiest bread I ever made. No yeast, just baking soda. The flavor is salty and a bit sour maybe...? It's good.

You can easily double the recipe and make two loaves or even add some kind of spice or seasoning. enjoy.

Irish Soda Bread:

2 cups flour

2 cups whole wheat flour

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

1 ½ cups buttermilk

Preheat oven to 220°c.

Place all the dry ingredients in a bowl (you can mix by hand or in a mixer). Add 1 cup of buttermilk so a firm ball of dough forms, add the rest of the buttermilk as needed (I added ¼ of a cup). Then knead dough for 5 minutes by hand (with mixer 2-3 minutes). Shape dough into round loaf and make 3 slashes (cuts) on top of the loaf.

Bake for 15 minutes, turn heat down to 180° and bake for another 30 minutes.

Coffee Walnut Cupcakes

These cupcakes were made for a birthday as the flavors requested were coffee and chocolate mint cupcakes, So I reached to my favorite (and only) cupcake book I have and found this recipe.

The cakes a real moist and soft and together with the frosting it was just perfect.

Coffee Walnut Cupcakes

(or: afternoon tea cupcakes)

coffee and walnut cakes (makes 24):

1 ½ cups self raising flour

1 tsp baking powder

200 gr softened butter

1 cup sugar

4 eggs

2 tsp vanilla extract

2 tbsp instant coffee granules\powder

¼ cup boiling water

1 ½ cups chopped walnuts

coffee frosting (makes 4 cups, enough for 24 cupcakes):

200 gr softened butter

½ cup milk

1 tbsp vanilla extract

8 cups icing sugar

2 tbsp of instant coffee dissolved in 1 tsp hot water

Cakes-

Preheat oven to 170°c. Line two 12-hole muffin trays with cupcake papers.

Sift together flour and baking powder.

In a separate bowl, cream butter for 1-2 minutes. Add half the sugar and beat for 2 minutes. Add the remaining sugar and beat a further 2 minutes or until the mixture is light and fluffy. Add egg one at a time, beating for1 minute after each addition. Add vanilla and beat until combined.

Add half the flour mixture to the creamed mixture and beat on low speed until combined. Dissolve coffee in the boiling water. Add to the cake mixture and beat until even color appears. Add remaining flour and beat until combined; do not over-beat as this will toughen the mixture. Fold in the chopped walnuts.

Spoon mixture into cupcake papers, filling each about ¾ full.

Bake for 18-20 minutes, remove cupcakes from trays immediately and cool on a wire rack for 30 minutes before frosting.

Frosting-

Cream the butter for 1-2 minutes. Add the milk, vanilla extract and half of the sifted icing sugar, and beat for at least 3 minutes or until the mixture is light and fully. Add the remaining icing sugar and beat for a further 3 minutes or until mixture is light and fluffy and of a spreadable consistency. Add extra milk if the mixture is too dry or extra icing sugar if the mixture is too wet.

Add the coffee to the buttercream and mix until you have an even color.

This frosting can be piped with a pastry bag but also applied with an offset spatula or knife.

Original from: Cupcake Cookbook

Whole Wheat Halla

Yet another Halla recipe, but this time it's whole wheat!

The same soft tender bread and dark chewy crust, the only thing different is that it's less sweet and has an earthy flavor whole wheat flour gives. The nice thing is that whole wheat breads are usually very dense, dark and strong- this on the other hand is light and airy.

Dough before and after rising

Looks exactly like regular halla, just a tad darker.

Whole Wheat Halla:

25 gr fresh yeast or 1 tbsp dry active yeast

¼ cup lukewarm water

1 tsp sugar

2 tbsp oil

2 tbsp sugar

1 egg (or two egg yolks)

250 gr regular flour

250 gr whole wheat flour

¾ cup warm water or milk

2 tsp salt

water and 1 egg for egg wash

Mix yeast and sugar in lukewarm water. Set aside for 10 minutes.

Sift flours into mixer bowl (with dough hook) and add yeast water, mix once.

Then add oil, sugar, egg, water/milk and salt and knead until dough is smooth and elastic (about 3-4 minutes). You might need to add 1 tbsp of water if dough looks too dry. Place dough in a bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let rise until double in size (about an hour).

After risen, braid the dough from 3 pieces (or more) or make buns, place in loaf pan or on baking tray, brush lightly with egg wash and let rise for another 45 minutes.

Preheat oven to 200°c.

Bake for 10 minutes, then lower heat to 180°c and bake for another 30-35 minutes.

Souffle Cheesecake

This recipe uses a special technique of baking the cake for 10 minutes under very high heat and then taking the cake out of the oven and waiting for the oven heat to drop to 170°c, yes I said "taking the cake out of the oven"- believe me it works, this is done so the cake gets a nice baked color on top and doesn't come out all pale.

At first I didn't like the flavor of the cake at all, it tasted eggy and warm, but once it cooled down in the refrigerator it was quite nice. I'm more of the dense rich kind of cheesecake person, but I must say the cake was really light and airy- just like a souffle and it puffed up beautifully in the oven.

I am completely avoiding to mention the fact that I did not use the original crust of this recipe....I so very badly wanted to make an oreo cookie crust and was wondering why everyone who makes that crust uses it only with non-bake cheesecakes, so I played smart ass and went against the flow. I made my crust, baked the cake on it and was shocked! The crumbly crust turned into a wet, gooey oreo paste I was at loss of words except one "eeeeew" that came out.

Long story short- stick with the original crust (recipe below).

Souffle Cheesecake:

Crust (base):

100 gr cold butter

¼ cup sugar

pinch of salt

½ tsp vanilla extract

1 egg yolk

150 gr (1 cup+1 tbsp) flour

Souffle:

750 gr curd or quark cheese

1 cup sugar

1/3 cup flour

1/3 cup+1 tbsp cornflour (starch)

pinch of salt

zest of half a lemon

1 tsp vanilla extract

250 ml milk

5 eggs, separated

Base-

Preheat oven to 180°c.

Mix all the ingredients in a food processor or stand mixer, form into ball, wrap and cool for 30 minutes.

Roll out the dough ½ cm thick and press on the bottom of your baking pan (26 cm round pan), on top place a layer of aluminum foil and fill pan with dry beans or chickpeas, bake for 10 minutes then remove beans and foil and bake for another 5 minutes.

Souffle-

Preheat oven to 250°c.

In a large bowl hand whisk together cheese, ¼ of the sugar, cornflour, flour, salt, zest, extract, milk and yolks until well mixed and even.

In a stand mixer whisk egg whites until foamy then slowly add rest of the sugar (¾ cup) until mixture gets thick and shiny (like making meringue).

Fold the egg whites into the cheese mixture to get a smooth filling.

Pour the mixture over the baked crust and bake for 10 minutes, then take the cheesecake out of the oven and wait until oven heat drops down to 170°c, put cake back in the oven and bake for another 30 minutes.

The cake will look wobbly and undone and that's ok. Let cake cool at room temperature, the cake can be eaten warm or cold (I prefer cold).

*So the cake won't dry out while baking it is recommended to place a pan at the bottom of the oven with some water or ice cubes.

Man Cookies

I find there is always something weird about coming up with a recipe for a guy. Something about baked goods is so feminine that choosing flavors can get really challenging.

These cookies were for a birthday party of two friends (guy friends), I thought that alcohol would maybe make them manly...(??)

Anyways I typed "Irish Cream" in the food blog search cause thats what I had on hand, I stumbled upon a few recipes but this one appealed to me the most. the only thing I changed was the sugar ratio- don't ask me why I just felt like it. At the party itself it felt kinda weird offering cookies when everbody was playing it cool and drinking beer....

But I did it anyway and they really were a hit, either because drunk people are easy to impress or they actually were really good. I must admit that I don't consume alcohol in anyway, so maybe putting alcohol in cookies is my own way of getting drunk! Sort of....

Well these really were very good and keep their Bailey's flavor very well after baking, as for how they taste after a few days I can't say.

The addition of white chocolates works really good with the baileys flavor and doesn't over power it as dark chocolate might would have.

Bailey's Cookies:

115 gr (1/2 cup) butter, room temperature
¾ cup brown sugar, packed
¼ regular sugar

1 large egg
1/4 cup Bailey's liqueur
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
100 gr white chocolate, chopped

Preheat the oven to 180°.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, cream together butter and both sugars. Beat in egg, followed by the Bailey's and vanilla.
In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
Gradually incorporate the flour mixture into the butter mixture until no streaks of flour remain and stir in the white chocolate.
Form dough into 1 inch balls and place on baking sheet, leaving about 2 inches between cookies. Bake for 10-13 minutes, until light golden at the edges.
Cool on the baking sheet for 3-4 minutes, then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.
Makes 2 1/2 - 3 dozen.

Original from: Slashfood

Honey Whole Wheat Bread

This bread recipe was found on a German food blog called 1x umrühren bitte, I was looking for a whole wheat bread recipe where I could use this assortment of seeds I bought (see pic below).

It is really nice and firm, the addition of seeds was a great idea and it actually reminded me of German bread, the honey isn't noticeable as you would expect if the recipe is called "Honey Whole Wheat Bread" but it was tasty anyways.

Assortment of seeds, you could use nuts as well or leave it plain.

Dough before and after rising.

To make the seeds even more noticeable I mixed them with oats and sprinkled them both ontop of the bread and on the botton of the baking pan so they would stick to the base.

Honey Whole Wheat Bread:

340 ml warm water

3 tbsp honey

15 gr fresh yeast

250 gr flour

250 gr whole-wheat flour

55 gr old-fashioned oats

2 tbsp coarse salt

¼ (or more) assortment of seeds

to sprinkle on top and bottom:

¼ seeds

¼ oats

For the recipe in cups go here.

Combine water, yeast and honey. Set aside for 5 mins. In a large bowl, whisk both flours together with the yeast mixture. Add salt, oats and seeds. Knead for about 3-4 minutes with dough hook (10-15 by hand), until achieving a smooth and elastic dough.

Put the dough in an oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap. Let rise in warm place until doubled. (1-1.5 hours)

Preheat oven to 200C.

Turn the dough out and shape into a log. Sprinkle the bottom of the pan with half of the oat and seeds mixture, then place it into the prepared loaf pan and sprinkle the rest of the mixture on top of the log, lightly press. Cover with plastic wrap, let rise in warm place for another 30-45 minutes. Use a razor blade, slash the loaf down the center. Bake in the preheated oven for about 50-60 minutes or until baked through. Cool before serving.

Frozen Berries

This is such a simple but refreshing drink. Simply mix fresh or (in my case) frozen fruit with plain yogurt and a splash of milk. And it's totally low fat 'cause the yogurt is non fat and to sweeten I used "Just Like Sugar" which is natural sugar made of chicory root, it is slightly finer than regular granulated sugar and has a milder sweetness (without any after taste). Of course the kind of sweetener you use is completely up to you, honey could be an option or even regular sugar.

Frozen Berries Drink:

1 cup non-fat yogurt

1 cup frozen berries

a splash of milk

1 tbsp "just like sugar"

Place all the ingredients in a food processor/blender and mix until smooth, add milk to get a thinner consistency. If using fresh fruit you might want to add some ice, I personally don't like ice melting in my drinks and loosing flavor so i just cut up and freeze my fruit in advance, in that way the fruit is both the cooling and flavoring of your drink.

Butter Pecan

A little about these cookies:

Slice and bake cookies are cookies where the dough is prepared in advance and chilled until you’re ready to bake.

The cookies are simply sliced off the log of dough and go straight into the oven. These types of cookie doughs are wonderful because they can be made well in advance, and you don’t need to bake the whole batch at once, since you can simply slice off as many pieces as you want to serve (or eat yourself) at a time.

This slice and bake is a butter pecan cookie. The dough is basically a shortbread dough, with a lot of butter and no leavening. It turns out cookies that are slightly crisp, very buttery and almost seem to melt in your mouth. The cookies actually taste like browned butter, since they are very buttery and have a really rich nuttiness from the toasted pecans that are mixed into the dough. They’re very simple, but very flavorful.

These really are rich and VERY buttery, don't skip toasting the pecans!!

At first I thought that the dough was a bit too salty, but after baking it was perfectly balanced.

I ate way too many myself (oh, the guilt!) so be sure you have people to share these with.

Butter Pecan Slice and Bake Cookies

225 gr butter, room temperature
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
2/3 cup toasted pecans, chopped

In a large bowl, cream together butter and brown sugar. Mix in vanilla extract, flour and salt, mixing just until no streaks of flour remain. Stir in pecans to evenly distribute.
Form dough into a ball and place on a sheet of wax paper. Using your hands, shape the dough into a log about 2 inches across or a little less. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for about 2 hours, or in the freezer until you’re ready to use it (it will last a couple of weeks).
Preheat oven to 180c.
Slice dough into slices that are no more than ¾ cm (1/4-inch) thick (I had some thicker ones and they were great), allowing the dough to soften slightly before slicing if you are using frozen dough. Arrange on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Cookies will not spread very much, so you don’t need to leave too much room between them.

Bake for 12-15 minutes, until cookies are lightly browned around the edges.
Cool on sheet for 2-3 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Makes about 3 dozen.

Original from: Baking Bites

Sweet Halla Bread

The smell of fresh Halla is amazing and fills up your home, it is one of my favorite breads to eat especially for breakfast. It is sweet, soft and has a dark chewy crust. Halla is also known to make the best french toast. The possibilities with this dough are really endless, you could fill it and make any kind of shape you want, from one big loaf to several mini buns or braided from 3, 4 or 5 pieces- endless.

I however got to enjoy exactly one slice of it. After I let it cool and packed it neatly and a plastic bag so it would keep nice and fresh for dinner, to my surprise all I got when I came home was a plastic bag ripped to shreds and my poor baking pan scratched up and thrown in the corner, my dog however was happy to see me and had not an inch of shame on his face....story of my life.

Proofing the yeast: Mix water, yeast and 1 tsp of sugar, set aside for about 10 minutes.

After 10 minutes the mixture should have a thick bubbly surface, that ensures your yeast is active and ready to go.

In a bowl of a stand mixer (with hook attachment) place sifted flour and yeast mixture, mix just so the absorbs the yeast mixture, then add butter, sugar, egg and milk. Add the salt after dough has come together. Knead on medium speed for 5 minutes. The dough should be smooth and very elastic. Form the dough into a ball and place it in an oiled bowl, cover and let rise until double in size, about an hour.

After dough has risen, knead it once or twice and divide into 3 pieces or more depending on the kind of braiding method you'll use. You could also make little buns out of this dough but I would recommend putting the buns all in one pan and separate them after baking, the dough is very soft and will flatten out without the support of a baking pan.

After shaping or braiding the pieces place the loaf into a baking pan, brush with egg wash (1 egg mixed with 1 tbsp water) and sprinkle on a topping if you like (sesame, poppyseeds..etc.). Let rise for another 45 minutes.

Bake the Halla in a preheated oven 190°c, for 30 minutes. The Halla loaf should be dark brown on top and make a dim sound when tapping on it with your finger.

Fluffy Halla!

Halla (Challa):

25 gr fresh yeast (or 1 tbsp dry active yeast)

¼ cup lukewarm water

1 tsp sugar

60 gr soft butter

4 tbsp sugar

2 eggs

500 gr flour, sifted

¾ cup lukewarm milk

½ tsp salt

I used an 30x10 cm loaf pan, which as you can see in the first pictures was a tad too small, so any bigger than that should work.

Keeps for up to 3 days at room temperature and wrapped airtight. But could also easily be presliced and frozen.