Russicher Zupfkuchen

This is one of the europe’s popular cake. It is a combination of shortcrust pastry and cheesecake.. can you imagine it??
If you’re a chocolate lover or cheesecake lover.. or both of them, then this one is for you
If you do it right, you will get a moist cheesecake in a chocolate cake

Please don’t ask me why is the name like the title. It is funny because this cake in Russia is called “nimjetzki kuchn”, German’s Cake, and in Germany, it is called Russian Cake

There are some variations about this recipe, this one I took from Dr. Oetker’s baking book. I think the options are up to your creativity

Some people use cherry in the filling, some use Rum or Kirschwasser, or almond extract, but mine is just based on the vanilla taste, use the vanilla pod if possible to have a great kick
Some recipes ask for maizena/ corn starch but other doesn’t require it, some ask for hard peak egg whites and so on..

Try it and be surprise to the result but be careful with the calorie in it It is kicking butt, i am telling you hehehe

Ingredients:
For the crust:
375 g flour
40 g cocoa powder (if possible, use the 80% one but don’t bother if you can’t it, any cocoa powder will do)
200 g butter or margarine (you can reduce the amount for a lighter version)
150-200 g caster sugar
1 medium egg
3 level teaspoons baking powder
3 drops vanilla essence

for the filling:
250 gr melted butter or margarine (reduced it if you want)
500 gr curd cheese (you can use any kind of curd cheese, i used quark)
200 gr caster sugar
3 drops vanilla essence or any essence you want to use
3 medium eggs
40 gr custard powder, vanilla flavour or corn starch plus 1 or 2 egg yolks (for those in Germany, use Vanillepuddingpulver)

Directions:
To make the dough, mix together the flour with the cocoa powder and baking powder, sift into a mixing bowl and add the rest of the ingredients. Stir with a hand mixer with kneading hook, first briefly at the lowest setting then at the highest setting until the dough is formed. Or use fork or food processor to combine them. Then roll it into a ball, warp with clingfilm and refrigerate for about 30 minutes.

while waiting for the dough, start making the filling by combining all the filling ingredients, mix it with balloon whisk or spoon until well corporated.

Heat the oven at the top and bottom about 180°C (350°F) and grease the base of the 26 cm springform tin. (I used glass based form because it is handy and i do not need to transfer it to another plate)

Roll out the dough and line the base of the springform tin, leave some for topping then roll the rest into a long cylinder, place it round the dough base, pressing lightly against the springform tin ring to form an edge 2 cm / 3/4 in high. (Mine was 3,5 cm high because I used more filling)

Pour the filling mixture into the tin, smooth the surface flat. Tear and scatter the rest of the crust dough on top of it. Bake it for about 50-65 minutes.

Note:
1. For the filling, I used 750 gr of quark instead of 500 gr like the recipe asked for because I think it looks nicer when the filling is ‘fuller’ You can use cream cheese, mascarpone or any other curd cheese type as you like.

2. The baking time is vary so do your own judgement whether the cake is done or not yet. This is a cheesecake, so do not overbake it. When the outer part is done and the middle one is still jiggling, you can take it out of the oven. Let it sit for about 4-6 hours or over night before take it out from the tin. Trust me, dont wait until the filling is done completely before you take it out from the oven —->> personal experience ^-^

3. Actually if you are not sure, you can bake it with waterbath .. it is safer than to bake it stright but i think the crust won’t be as good as if you bake it without water. This is just a tip for those who is not sure

Source: Dr. Oetker Baking

Tahini Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

 

Every good and bad stuffs are in this cookie. High calorie but also you can get good fibers. A must to try if you are a chocolate chips cookie fan
Tahini (sesame paste) makes the cookies sophisticated for adults and lower in saturated fat, while brown sugar and chocolate keeps them ever so delicious for the whole family.

Recipe Provided By: EatingWell.com

Ingredients:
2 cups rolled oats (not quick-cooking)
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole-wheat pastry flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup tahini
4 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
2/3 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup packed light brown sugar
1 large egg
1 large egg white
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 cup semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Directions:
Position racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven; preheat to 350 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
Whisk oats, all-purpose flour, whole-wheat flour, cinnamon, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl. Beat tahini and butter in a large bowl with an electric mixer until blended into a paste. Add granulated sugar (or Splenda) and brown sugar; continue beating until well combined-the mixture will still be a little grainy. Beat in egg, then egg white, then vanilla. Stir in the oat mixture with a wooden spoon until just moistened. Stir in chocolate chips and walnuts.

With damp hands, roll 1 tablespoon of the batter into a ball, place it on a prepared baking sheet and flatten it until squat, but don’t let the sides crack. Continue with the remaining batter, spacing the flattened balls 2 inches apart.

Bake the cookies until golden brown, about 16 minutes, switching the pans back to front and top to bottom halfway through. Cool on the pans for 2 minutes, then transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely. Let the pans cool for a few minutes before baking another batch.

Yield: about 45 servings (depending on your cookie size)

Notes:
Tahini is a paste made from ground sesame seeds. Look for it in natural-foods stores and some supermarkets.

If you want it crunchy, bake it longer.

Make Ahead Tip
Store in an airtight container for up to 2 days or freeze for longer storage.

Nutrition Info
Per Serving
Calories: 101 kcal
Carbohydrates: 13 g
Dietary Fiber: 1 g
Fat: 4 g
Protein: 1 g
Sugars: 8 g

Water Roux Bun Dough

The difference of this style of bread than the ‘traditional’ one is the inclusion of water roux, that is cooking portion of water and flour before adding the rest ingredients. The roux itself is different than traditional one which is usually the combination of butter and flour.

The water roux is supposed to allow the dough to absorp more liquid because of the gelatinization of the starch in the flour, there by allowing the finished buns to have a fine soft texture and not to get stale too quick without the use of any artificial bread improver or bread softener . But please note that this kind of dough has slightly higher proportion of egg-butter than the regular one.

The adding of custard powder improves the aroma of the finished bun

makes 16 portions

325 gr bread flour

150 gr plain flour (or 130 gr plain flour+20gr vanilla custard flour/cornflour)

20 gr milk powder

50 gr caster sugar

1 tsp salt

7 gr / 2 1/2 tsp instant dry yeast

2 eggs, lightly beaten

100 ml (approx.) lukewarm water, adjust as necessary (start with 50 ml.. i need 75 ml)

75 gr butter, cubed

water roux:

25 gr bread flour

125 ml water

note: water roux is basically 1 part of bread flour to 5 parts of water 

method:

water roux:

Mix flour and water in a saucepan, cook over low to medium heat, stirring continuously until it reaches 65°C. It should have thickened to a paste at this stage, that is, when you stir, you can see the bottom of the pan. Remove from the heat, place a cling wrap over the paste and let it sit until lukewarm or room temperature before using.

If you dont have thermometer, cook as directed just until it starts thickened then continue to cook for about  minute more before removing it from the stove.

This water  roux can be kept in an airtight container after cooling in a refrigerator for 1 day if not used immediately. Do not use it when it turns grey, that means it’s turned bad.

For the bun dough:

Sift all the flours together, mix it with caster sugar and salt. Add instant dry yeast, mix well.

Make a well in the middle of the flour. Add lightly beaten eggs and the lukewarm roux, mix in.

Gradually, add just enough lukewarm water to form a slightly sticky dough.

Knead until smooth and elastic for 10 minutes. During kneading (if using hand), the dough needs to be thrown onto the working surface for 10-20 times every few minutes between kneading.

Knead in butter until incorporated. Form the dough into a round ball and let it rise until doubled in size in a greased and covered bowl. This should take about 1 hour in warm temperature. To test if the dough has risen properly, dip finger into plain flour and poke deep down into centre of the dough, as far as you can reach and pull out again, the hole should remain if the dough is ready, if it springs back then continue to proof.

When the dough is ready, punch down and knead briefly then divide into 16 equal portions. It is easier if you divide it first into 4 equal parts then divide them again into quarters each. Form each into balls and let them rest for 10 minutes.

Shape and fill as desired to make the bun of your choice. Place all finished buns on a greased baking sheet, cover lightly with cling wrap and let them rise until double in size (about 1 hour in warm temperature).

Bake in preheated 190°C oven for about 12-15 minutes

note:

To make row buns: take each of small divided ball dough (about 8 balls) and roll it out into 15-18cm long. Roll up, swiss roll style from the long side into cigar shape. Tuck both pointy ends down for a better presentation. Arrange them side-by-side, almost touching each other, sealed side down on a greased baking tray. Let rise until double in size. Brush with eggwash and bake in preheated 190°C oven for about 15 minutes or  until golden brown. Brush with melted butter immediately after removing from the oven.

Pizza

 

This is another assignment for KBB ( http://klubberanibaking.blogspot.com/)

Pizza
Source: The Perfect Cookbook. David Herbert. Viking. Victoria, Australia. 2003

Pizza base

1 sachet (@ 7 g  or ¼ oz or 2 tsp) dry insant yeast
1 tsp sugar

2 ½ cups bread flour (high-grade flour)
salt
2 Tbs olive oil

Dissolve the yeast and sugar in a small bowl with 200ml (6 ½ fl oz) of tepid water. Stir well and set aside for 10 minutes, or until the mixture froths.

Place the flour and a pinch of salt in a large mixing bowl. Make a well in the centre and add the yeast mixture and olive oil. Mix until a firm dough forms.

Knead on a lightly floured surface for 5-7 minutes, or until smooth and elastic. Place in a clean, lightly oiled bowl, cover with a cloth or plastic wrap and leave in a warm place for 1-1 ½ hours, or until the dough has doubled in size.

Preheat the oven to 210C (415F, Gas Mark 6-7).

Punch down the dough with your fist to release the air. Divide into two or three equal portions and roll out or press to a thickness of 4-5mm (¼ in). Transfer to lightly oiled pizza trays.

Top with your choice of toppings and cook for 15 minutes. Then slide the pizza off the tray onto the oven shelf and cook for a further 3-4 minutes, to crisp up the base.

Margarita

A present for my dear neighbour

Corinna’s cake

Royal icing and rolled fondant with sponge cake and coconut custard filling. Need to practice more about fine line piping.

Josephine’s Cake

It is a buttercream icing, with paper towel technique to smooth the surface and make the pattern on it… then some writing and piping. The cake is brownies with buttercream filling. Doing this to practice buttercream since I haven’t done it for a looooooooooooong time.

Schneeman

Vanilla sponge cake with vanilla pudding filling, covered with rolled fondant and royal icing.

I have problem with the colour dust, it looks awful isn’t it?

Somehow I like this one very much because i think the snowman is so cute

I learnt from Nicholas Lodge’s book that if I add a little bit of liquid glucose to the royal icing, it will be more stretchy. I love to know what the effect it makes to my icing since royal icing usually is something I avoid to use because it is too easy to gets dry.

Like usual, I seldomly use more than 2 colours on my cakes .. the first and most reason is because I am way too lazy to mix colours

Hannah’s cake

This is a brownie cake with strawberry jam filling, covered with rolled fondant, decorated with buttercream and royal icing butterflies.

The good thing about using rolled fondant to cover cake is that if you make mistakes, it is easily wiped and make new  piping.  Isn’t it great??

Angie’s cake

This is angie’s cake. It is chocolate devils cake with chocolate ganache filling, covered with rolled fondant. I used lattice cutter to make the lattice ornament, had problem to cover it neatly onto the cake, maybe next time will be better. Everything is edible except the ribbon. The doll is handmade, positioned that way so that there is space for candle