With the Brownie Queen's recommendation...

I may have mentioned already that I'm freaked out by recipes whose ingredient list contains items like 300-400g chocolate and 200-300g butter. I simply cannot justify putting so much of these ingredients in a smallish cake. It just doesn't seem right, neither from calory point of view, neither because of economic reasons. And since brownie recipes tend to begin with such items in these amounts, I have had to neglect them so far because I relate different ideas to weekend baking and for special occasions I surely wouldn't want to bake brownies.

But this weekend I wanted chocolate cake, an intense and moist chocolate cake but was not willing to sacrifice my principles. Julie came to the rescue with this recipe. If I didn't know she was a modest girl, I'd be surprised why she didn't start her new English blog under the heading "The Brownie Queen" :) The recipe seemed to include the perfect amounts of chocolate, butter and flour (I don't like chocolate cakes with too little flour, like the Easter egg nest cake was) for a smallish tray of brownies.

I left out the cheese swirls as I wanted pure chocolate and baked the brownies only for 40 minutes which resulted in the best texture and exactly the one I was looking for! Soooooo perfect!! It will be a wonderful basic recipe to add nuts, chopped white chocolate or indeed the cheese swirls to without feeling too guilty about eating half the tray myself LOL Thank you, Julie!

Favourite kitchen items

I've been really uninspired foodwise lately so I thought I'd invite you to have a look around my kitchen until my mojo comes back.
I've chosen my favourite items in my tiny kitchen (non-electric gadgets only), all of which are special for me for different reasons.



The item I love most is this cheerful, striped pot I bought a couple of years ago. Morning grumpiness just doesn't have a chance to linger around too long when tea is served from such a colourful, freshening sight :) A pity I didn't buy the accompanying mugs and cereal bowls back then.



The second item is my mug pretty in pink. I have a thing for mugs and have a huge variety of them but this is the "one". I love pink, I love mugs and this is such a delicate piece.



I also have an obsession for storing tins and have got a great amount of them, small and large, square and cylinder shaped, for pasta, tea, coffee, sugar, cookies, you name it! I must admit I often buy food items just for the tin they get sold in LOL This design is my favourite and I've got a couple of other shapes with the same pattern but this cookie tin is the prettiest one.

The fourth item is this gorgeous tea towel I got from the lovely Anna. It's so pretty but I must admit I don't use it too often because I'm terrible at removing stains and I would hate to see it end up like most of my tea towels. So this a special occasion towel ;)


I love fridge magnets but I haven't got too many of them because hubby hates them and would be happy to remove all of them but hey, the kitchen is my "castle", hands off the fridge! My favourite item doesn't need much comment, does it? LOL

And last but not least, here's my gorgeous red Peugeot pepper grinder which is almost exactly the same shade as my KA, Beauty. I would not normally spend that much on a pepper grinder but this was irresistable. And Beauty surely deserves such an extravagant companion, doesn't she?

Now I wonder if any of my fellow bloggers would like to join in the game and show us their favourite kitchen items... I'd be more than happy to have a sneaky peek :)

One dough, two ways

It is not too strange that one dough can be prepared in several ways to give you different results, but if I say that you get one savoury and one sweet snack from the exact same dough, that's not too usual, is it? However, it is the case with this potato dough, whose recipe comes from my Granny. The recipe yields either savoury potato cakes, or sweet dumplings (and "nudli"). I grew up with both of these dishes, they were real treats offered by her to her grandchildren and were quite frequent "visitors" on the kitchen table, especially the dumplings. My grandma's so good at making them, that neither of her two daughters learned how to make the dumplings, instead, they would just pick up the phone and order a big batch of these for the "kids" - all of them grown-up now, but willing to travel any time to Granny's place to have some of these :))

Although both my Mum and Aunt are great cooks, they're not too keen bakers, so just like with cakes, it was my - happily undertaken - job to learn the tricks of preparing dumplings. After all, Nana won't be here forever as much as we'd like her to, but traditions must go on. True, you can get it completely wrong and you need practice to get the right consistency if you don't want to end up with inedible and indigestible stone-hard "pebbles". But when made properly, you can hardly stop eating these.

Potato dumplings with jam (aka Bohemian dumplings)

1/2 kilo potato (never new, they don’t work here)
150-170g flour (or more if the potato is not too floury)
1 egg
20g margarine or a tablespoon oil
hard jam/jelly, best is plum, mixed red fruit or apricot (preferably baking-proof which cannot ooze out)
80g butter
100g dried breadcrumbs

Peel and cook the potatoes in lightly salted water. Let them cool a bit then push through a potato ricer (or mash very carefully so that there are no big pieces left).
Mix with the rest of the ingredients adding more flour if necessary or a little margarine/oil if it’s too hard. (You can cook a small piece of the dough in boiling water –if it’s not sticky, neither too hard, it’s OK. )

Roll out the dough on a surface dusted with flour until about ½ cm thick. Cut it into 5x5cm squares, put a scant teaspoon of jam on each, pinch the four corners of each square together and roll it between your palms to make a ball.

Cook the dumplings in lightly salted boiling water, stirring carefully with a wooden spoon once to avoid sticking together. When the dumplings come to the surface, cook them 2-3 minutes longer. Test one to see if they are cooked well and remove them with a strainer on a plate.

Fry the breadcrumbs in butter (my grandma adds a little water as well, it will be less dry) and roll the dumplings in it.

Serve with sifted icing sugar.

Variations:

If you’re lazy, make "nudli" (noodles) from half of the batch. Just cut the dough in 1x4 cm sticks then cook and roll in breadcrumbs as the dumplings. Serve with icing sugar. You can serve the noodles with ground poppy-seed and sifted icing sugar as well (my hubby's favourite).

In summer/autumn you can substitute jam with plum. For this you need as many smaller plums as many squares you’ve got. Remove the seeds and add a scant teaspoon of sugar and a pinch of cinnamon in the place of the seeds. Put one on each square and proceed as above.
It even gets better on the next day (if there's any left). If you make noodles, mix them with some oil after cooking, so that they don't stick together.
They freeze very well, but only cooked (without rolling them in breadcrumbs).

As for the savoury potato cakes, I cannot imagine a better comfort food on a rainy day, eaten right from the frying pan, as you go on frying the rest - there's never many left to go cold ;)

Savoury potato cakes

1 batch of potato dough

Roll the dough 1/2 cm thick and cut out 7-8cm circles. Roll these out very thinly (about 1-2 mm thick), prick with a fork a few times. Knead and roll out the leftover and cut out smaller (3cm) circles. Fill a big frying pan up to 1 cm with sunflower oil and fry the cakes on both sides until nice golden (1-2 minutes). Serve hot as it is, or with some sour cream.

The grown up cupcake

Since we liked the cappuccino cupcakes from HTBADG so much, I decided to make a cappuccino cake along the same lines. I searched for appealing recipes in vain so decided to create my own version. I chose Nigella's buttermilk birthday cake for a base (also from HTBADG) but altered it by replacing the buttermilk by coffee, milk and joghurt. For the icing I used the white chocolate icing for the cappuccino cupcakes.

Cappucino cake

For the cake

1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup plain yogurt
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup strong coffee
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 cup soft butter -- unsalted
3/4 cup sugar
3 large eggs

For the icing
see recipe and instructions here

Preheat oven to 180C. Mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a bowl. Pour the yogurt, milk and coffee into a measuring cup and stir in the vanilla. Cream the butter and sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer at medium speed until light and fluffy. Reduce the speed if using the mixer and add the eggs one at a time, beating for 30 seconds between additions. Add portions of the flour mixture and the vanilla-buttermilk alternately, blending well after each addition; this should take 3-5 minutes. Pour the mixture in a buttered and floured 20cm round tin, and bake for about 50 minutes until the cake is beginning to shrink away from the sides and a cake tester comes out clean.

After cooling you can decide whether you want to cut the cake in two layers, I chose not to, and iced it as it was (there was enough icing left to fill the cake, too!)

Much as I love coffee flavoured things and the cappuccino cupcakes, I found the icing two overwhelming on this cake. Or perhaps it has to do with my changed eating habits due to a new medicine I need to take to stabilize my insulin levels, but I didn't eat more than one slice of this, I felt so sick of all the butter and sugar. But hubby ate about a quarter of the cake himself, and declared it was a gorgeous cake, so I don't care :P My waistline will be grateful for the "flop", I'm sure :)

In need of something soul-warming

Now that the weather has cooled down quite significantly, I find I need to cook something to warm me up all the time. I've made several quick soups and hot stews recently, but of course what really warms me up (literally, too!) is baking. And for that matter, baking with yeast, because yeasted cakes give you that feeling of cosyness and fill your home with a smell that says "You're home, you're safe and warm now" (even if in fact you are not, because the heating season has not yet begun).
I've been coquetting with the idea of making Tessa's cinnamon-cardamom buns ever since I got the book - or even earlier, sinceI've seen many a foodie make this and drooled over the pictures - , but somehow it always got put off.

I was almost put off this time, too, after reading the recipe, because the description of forming the spectacular shape of the buns was intimidating slightly. On second reading, however, it was all clear and I decided to proceed and was rewarded with that soul-warming effect I was longing for - no to mention the gorgeous smell that invaded the whole flat, mmmmmm!

Cinnamon cardamom buns

(makes about 35 buns)

For the dough
250 ml tepid milk

100 g caster sugar

25 g fresh yeast

1 egg, beaten

125 g butter, softened

2 tsp. ground cardamom

1 tsp. salt

650 g flour

For the cinnamon butter :
2 tsp. ground cinnamon

50g sugar

80 g butter, softened

for brushing and decorating

1 egg, beaten

sugar or sanding sugar

Put the milk and sugar in a bowl and crumble in the yeast. Leave for 10 minutes, or until the yeast begins to activate. Add the egg, butter, cardamom and salt and mix in. Add the flour, bit by bit, mixing it in with a wooden spoon until you need to use your hands, and then turn it out onto the work surface to knead. (I simply used my KA to do this). The dough turns out beautifully elastic. Cover it with a clean cloth, and leave in a warm place for about 2 hours, or until it has doubled in size.

Mix together the cinnamon and sugar (I prefer using brown sugar with cinnamon, I think it works better, it gives an extra depth to the cinnamon flavour). Divide the butter into four portions.

After the dough has risen, put it on a floured work surface and divide it into four portions. Begin with one portion, covering the others with a cloth so they don't dry out. Using a rolling pin, roll out a rectangle, roughly about 30 x 25 cm and 2-3 mm thick. Spread one portion of butter over it. Sprinkle it generously with about 3 tsp cinnamon mix (I'd actually use 1.5 x amount of cinnamon sugar next time to make it more comforting).

Roll up to make a long dough sausage. Repeat with the rest of the dough.
Line up the dough sausages in front of you and cut them slightly on the diagonal, alternating up and down, so that the slices are fat 'v' shapes, with the point of the 'v' about 2 cm and the base about 5 cm. Turn them so they are all the right way up, sitting on their fatter bases. Press down on the top of each one with two fingers until you think you will almost go through to your work surface.

Put the buns on the baking trays lined with baking parchment, leaving space for them to puff and rise while they bake. Brush lightly with beaten egg and sprinkle a little sugar over the top.
Leave the buns to rise for half an hour and preheat your oven to 180C. Bake them for about 20 minutes, or until they are golden.

Keep them in an airtight container so they don't harden. They freeze nicely.

Dobos torta

I was a bit upset and at a loss recently when I read about a quest of Hungarian confectioners to create the "cake of the country" for the commemoration of the founding of our state (20 August). I was at a loss because I thought we had one already: surely Dobos torta is Hungarian enough!? They came up with a cake based on the traditional dessert all Hungarians like (and like to claim as Hungarian but I'm not so sure about that) which the French call ile flottante. I'm not saying it cannot be good but I find no reason for creating such a new cake when we have something to be proud of already. You can read about the history of Dobos cake here.

Perhaps I got upset only because it was at this time that my husband "placed his order" for a cake for his nameday, and it was Dobos torta :)
I'm far from claiming it is a cake you want to whip up for unexpected guests. In fact, this is one of the cakes that only people as crazy as me attempt, the rest walk to a good confectioner's and buy it. And I don't think you can find many people in Hungary who don't like it :)

The cake is usually round, though you can find it in roulade and triangle shape as well at better places - no way I'm attempting those! But hubby ordered a rectangular one, because his granny always made it that way (only he forgot to mention it was a long loaf shape, not like mine, and I almost threw it in his face when he came in as I was making the caramel topping and he said it did not look good...)

I've made this cake before, but I had no real problem because the recipe called for round springform tins, but now I had to fuss about adjusting the recipe to a rectangular tin. I failed quite miserably and the last layer turned out too thin and burnt almost completely and I had to whip up another batch and up the amounts - I don't want to confuse you with all this, I'll give the recipe with modified amounts. (Also, I only got 5 layers instead of six because I didn't have enough cream). However, the drawback turned out to be an advantage, as it is much less time consuming to make three rectangular layers and halve them (either horizontally or diagonally) than make six round layers.

Dobos cake

( for a roughly 25x20 cm cake)

For the sponge:
10 eggs, separated
50g butter, melted and cooled
200g icing sugar
200g flour

For the chocolate cream
8 eggs
200g icing sugar
130g dark chocolate, chopped
260g butter
1 tbsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp sugar

For the caramel topping:
1 tsp butter
150g sugar
a few drops of lemon juice

Preheat the oven to 220 Celsius and line a 25x35 cm rectangular tin (or three if you have so many).

Whisk the egg whites until firm peaks form. Cream the egg yolks with the sugar until the mixture turns pale yellow and add the flour and egg whites alternately, adding the whites very carefully so as not to "break" them. Finally, add the butter.

Spread 1/3 of the batter in the tin as evenly as possible and bake in the hot oven until light golden. Repeat twice with the rest of the batter (or use a fan oven and three tins to do it at the same time). Leave to cool.

For the chocolate cream whisk the eggs with the icing sugar. Put the bowl over a pan with boiling water and add the chopped chocolate. Continue whisking until the cream starts to thicken. This takes some time, around 15 min. Let it cool completely. This is essential, because if it is just a tiny bit warm, you won't get a smooth cream! Leave it in the fridge for at least 1-2 hours after it has cooled.
Cream the butter, sugar and vanilla and add the cooled chocolate cream bit by bit, beating it in.

Halve each layers of sponge and choose the nicest one - you need the bottom side of it. For the caramel topping melt the butter in a heavy-based pan, add the sugar and drops of lemon juice and burn until it gets a nice goldenbrown colour. Spread it on the nicest layer of sponge with a buttered knife (a wide one) and make horizontal and diagonal cuts on the surface (you don't need to cut through the sponge but you might want to do it), buttering the knife before each cut. You should get around 16 slices.

Layer the sponges with the cream and place the caramel-topped one on top. Spread cream on the sides and scatter with ground nuts or ground sponge fingers and decorate the edges if you want.

Quick treats

Time is of essence now that I'm in the finish of studying for exams, so there has been not much cooking or baking for me recently. However, one needs to have a little break sometimes, especially when you're feeling like your brain was starting to explode when squeezing in some new fact. Now that is definately a time when you need: treats!

I guess everyone has a few treats that they enjoy making and return to in times of need. So here are a few of mine, interestingly a breakfast, main course and dessert :) Not made on the same day, though.

Porridge is not something we have a tradition of eating in Hungary. Actually, it took me quite long to dare attempt making a porridge because it somehow seemed odd: rolled oats soaked in water and/or milk, what on earth could that taste like?? Well, I must say, they taste awesome! Real comfort food. And it's healthy! Now I only feel sorry that quick porridge is not available here, because with the original method it takes too long to prepare on a work day - at least I'm too lazy to get up earlier to make this, no matter how good, I'm simply not a morning type of person: I guess Bill would drive me crazy with his morning "chirping" as he calls it LOL


The first time I made porridge I used Bill's recipe in Open Kitchen, and since it turned out lovely, I use this again and again.

Five-grain porridge with brown sugar peaches
(Serves 4)

250g mixed grains
600ml boiling water
600ml milk
3 peaches, quartered
80g brown sugar

Caramelize the peaches in hot oven with the sugar (about 15 min). Since I usually prepare 1 portion, I do this in a pan, not in the oven. Not the same, I know, but I feel it'd be too extravagant to turn on the oven to caramelize 1 peach LOL
Mix the grains with the water in a pan and leave for 10 minutes. Then add the milk and slowly bring to the boil, then simmer gently for 10 min, stirring often.

Serve with the peach quarters and some brown sugar sprinkled over, and warm milk (is that compulsory for a porridge, I wonder, because I leave that out and it doesn't seem to be missing). A great way to start the day especially if you have some brain work to do ;)

For the quick main course I turned to Bill again. His Warm tomato and ricotta pasta salad is my favourite pasta dish ever. I have changed it a bit, the greatest difference is that I use balsamic vinegar instead of the red wine vinegar, because it complements and highlights the sweetness of the tomatoes much more nicely and I don't always use ricotta, I find the crumblier and coarser curd cheese or the sharp, salty feta a nicer complement to this. And I sometimes leave out the bread crumbles.
This time I used wholemeal penne, feta and cherry tomatoes from my Grandma's garden, mmm. Oh, and I added some green olives, because I had a jar open.


Here's the original recipe, though:

Warm tomato and ricotta pasta salad
Serves 4
500 g (2 baskets) cherry tomatoes, cut in half
80 ml (1/3 cup) extra virgin olive oil
60 ml (14 cup) red wine vinegar
1/2 teaspoon caster (superfine) sugar
1 teaspoon sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
4 thick slices wholemeal or sourdough bread
1 garlic clove, sliced in half
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, extra
500 g (1 Ib 2 oz) rigatoni
60 g (1 cup) finely shredded basil leaves
250 g (9 oz) fresh ricotta cheese

Preheat the oven to 200°C (400°F).

Place the tomatoes, olive oil, vinegar and sugar in a large bowl and stir to combine.
Season with salt and pepper.
Cover and leave to marinate while you prepare the rest of the dish.

Rub the bread on both sides with the cut side of the garlic.
Brush with the extra olive oil and sprinkle with salt.
Put the bread on a baking tray and place in the oven.
Cook for 20 minutes, or until crisp.
Remove from the oven and crumble into coarse breadcrumbs with your hands.
Set aside.

Cook the pasta in a large pot of rapidly boiling salted water until al dente.
Drain well, then add to the tomatoes.
Add the basil and toss to combine.

Divide the pasta between four serving plates, or put it on one large serving dish, crumble over the ricotta cheese and sprinkle with the breadcrumbs.

So, after a breakfast and a main course, what else does a girl want? Chocolate of course. And if she's as mad about baking as me, she has to do "something" with it, not simply get a bar of good quality chocolate. Especially if the following cupcake is the favourite of her husband ;)
The recipe is a marriage of Nigella's Night and day cupcake recipe from HTBADG and
the icing recipe for her Chocolate fudge cake from NB. The idea for using this icing comes from a fellow foodie, Jane in France, the swirling is my addition. It's a really complex recipe, you see LOL


Chocolate cupcakes with chocolate swirl icing

2 scant tablespoons cocoa powder
2 tablespoons boiling water
75g sugar
50g dark brown sugar
125g self-rising cake flour
2 large eggs
125g very soft unsalted butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon milk

1. Preheat the oven to 200. Mix the cocoa to a paste with the boiling water and set aside while you make the cupcake mixture.2. This couldn't be easier: Just put the sugars, flour, eggs, and butter and vanilla in the processor and blitz to combine smoothly.3. Scrape the mixture from the sides and then pulse while you add the cocoa paste and milk down the funnel. You should have a batter with a soft dropping consistency: If not, add a little more milk.4. Dollop into the paper baking cups in the pan and bake for 20 minutes, until an inserted cake tester comes out clean.5. Leave in the pan for 5 minutes, then remove, in the paper baking cups, to a wire rack.

For the fudge icing:
90g dark chocolate (minimum 70% cocoa solids)
125g unsalted butter, softened
120-140g icing sugar, sifted
1 tbsp vanilla extract

To make the icing, melt the chocolate in the microwave - 2-3 minutes on medium should do it -or in a bowl sitting over a pan of simmering water, and let cool slightly. In another bowl, beat the butter until it's soft and creamy and then add the sieved icing sugar and beat again until everything's light and fluffy. Then gently add the vanilla and chocolate and mix together until everything is glossy and smooth.