The Daring Bakers October 2014: Sachertorte

The October Daring Bakers’ challenge was brought to us by Korena of Korena in the Kitchen. She took us to Austria and introduced us to the wonders of the Sachertorte.

Sachertorte is one of my favourite cakes. I discovered a recipe when I was a teenager and I made it a lot of times. I hadn't made it for a lot of years and this challenge travelled me a little back to time.I really enjoyed making it and I didn't face any problems and I really enjoyed tasting it again. It is really a chocolate cake with marmalade, covered with chocolate but I don't know what is that something that it has, that makes me like it so much. The only thing I did differently from the original recipe is that instead of a chocolate glaze, I used a chocolate ganache which I am sure that it never disappoints me and because I wanted a softer texture on the top. So, here is the recipe and on the link you will find the original recipe given along with some history of the Sachertorte.

Easter in Greece- Nutella and wafers filled Easter chocolate eggs

Warning: This is a loong post!

This year, I spent Easter in Greece, in Athens. Maybe it was not in a village, where you really feel Easter, but trust me, anywhere in Greece you can feel Easter, as it is maybe the most important holiday. In Greece, Easter doesn't last only for a day, but in order to celebrate Easter Sunday you have to go through the Great Lent,Palm Sunday, Holy week and then there is Easter and Easter week. On Palm Sunday, people go to the church where they get palm tree branches. Afterwards, the tradition is to eat fried cod, it is the one of the two times in the Great Lent that you are allowed to eat fish.

Monday to Saturday before Easter, is called Holy Week. The most important ones are on Wednesday, with the blessing of Holy oil and the Last Supper. Then, Maundy Thursday is when Jesus was crucified. This is happening to the church but you know, with a fake wooden one. During the night, some people stay, mostly

Banana cupcakes with chocolate frosting

There are some things that everybody likes (well, almost everyone as I learned today :P ). Two of those things are banana and chocolate that, to my opinion, make a great taste combination. It is always a matter of ripe bananas to me when I decide to make something with them and it always turns out great. Well, at least so far. These cupcakes are so moist and so aromatic that you can almost taste them with your sense of smell. They are delicious as they are, but when topped with the chocolate frosting they become heavenly. The recipe  I decided to use, called for a peanut butter and chocolate frosting, but since I hate peanut butter (yes, that's right), I went for a chocolate version, which I think is perfect.

Semolina halva with chocolate

During the Great Lent in Greece, the people who fast, are not supposed to eat meat, dairy and fish with some exceptions like the Annunciation and Palm Sunday that they eat fish. During the Great week some people don't even consume olive oil.

So, because of these rules, people have adjusted their diets and there are a lot of different dishes and desserts that make them not to miss anything. One of those desserts is semolina halva that, well, of course people consume during the year too,because it is one of our traditional desserts. 

It is a sweet made in a saucepan and then turned over in forms, like cakes. Simple to make if you pay attention to it the whole time.The most common recipe for it, is called 1-2-3-4. That means 1 cup oil, 2 cups semolina, 3 cups sugar and 4 cups water. It usually contains cinnamon, cloves, pine nuts and blanched almonds and sometimes raisins too. Everybody makes their favourite version, adding or removing ingredients.

This halva recipe is different from the classic recipe. The sugar is reduced and it contains chocolate and cinnamon instead of the traditional nuts and raisins. I was looking for a recipe with less sugar and found this recipe on this blog where you can find a lot of delicious mostly Greek recipes. I changed some things and well, I think it has a great balance of flavours. So , go ahead and give it a try.

Chocolate and pear tart

I made this tart for dessert on Valentine's day. I love the combination of pears and chocolate and the tart was delicious!! Very chocolatey and the pear was giving it just the exact freshness that it needed! Very nice and balanced flavour. But thanks to my clumsiness the half of it fell on the floor. :( Thank God it was not the whole of it but still... So, despite the accident I suggest everyone to try this tart, it's heavenly!!

Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

I had a few ripe bananas looking at me in a very sad way, so, I decided I had to do something with them. I looked through the internet and I discovered this recipe for a banana bread. I hadn't tried banana bread so I went for it. Now I know that banana bread is actually cake. To be more precise a muffin in the shape of a loaf. This one I made is actually very tasty,it smells and taste so much banana and it is a great combination with the chocolate chips. Great for breakfast. I just think that with brown sugar it would be even more delicious so, that is what I'm going to do with my next ripe banana batch.

January 2014 Daring Bakers challenge: Baumkuchen

The January 2014 Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Francijn of "Koken in de Brouwerij". She challenged us all to bake layered cakes in the tradition of Baumkuchen (tree cake) and Schichttorte (layered cake).

This was an interesting challenge. I hadn't heard of this cake before, so, it was nice to try something different and unknown. What was more interesting is the baking technique. You start baking one layer of the cake and then you add one layer at a time and bake it and when you cut the finished cake you can see the different layers. They look kind of the lines that you see inside a trunk and that is why it is called Baumkuchen (tree cake). You normally do that on broiler and because I don't have in my oven I was a bit worried that I will end up with a half-burnt cake but in the end it turned out perfect. The consistency and the taste were both amazing. I used the given recipe with some small changes and I loved how soft the cake turned out and I liked that it has marzipan since I love almonds. Here is the recipe then:

Chocolate terrine with praline wafer sticks

I am posting this recipe a little late, since I made it for New year’s eve but better late than never. It is once more, one of the recipes of my favourite pastry chef in Greece, Stelios Parliaros. It is very chocolatey and a little piece is enough to send the sense of your taste to another level. So, here is the recipe and the link is for the video of the recipe where Stelios Parliaros is making it.

Merry Christmas and truffles

Merry Christmas everybody!! 
Yesterday evening we celebrated Christmas here with great company, lots of great food and lots of great presents! It was soo nice :) I made some sweets this year too : truffles and whoopie pies. These here are the truffles

Anders Birthday Trilogy: #2 Nutella-Chocolate balls

 

The second treat I made for Anders birthday was these amazing chocolate balls filled with nutella, hazelnuts and chocolate wafers. It is again very easy and also delicious. Who doesn’t love Nutella? The finished chocolate ball reminds a lot Ferrero-rocher chocolates. Very nice and it could also be very nice as a Christmas treat. I found the recipe on this site, it is made by this girl who has a very nice blog and is always making very nice things.

Almond paste, orange and chocolate buns & cinnamon buns (kanelbullar)

Here in Sweden, bullar (sweet buns) are the most usual company for coffee. It is a sweet yeast bread with usually, an intense cardamom aroma. There are a lot of different kinds of bullar. The classic one is kanelbulla, the cinnamon bun that you can find everywhere. Of course the homemade version is always the tastiest. This time,except the classic cinnamon buns I made a successful experiment with almond paste, orange and chocolate filling that it has now become one of my favorites. For the dough I used a recipe that I found behind a flour package.

Chewy Chocolate Gingerbread Cookies

Christmas is not yet here but it feels a little Christmassy to me when I look outside my window and everything is covered with snow. Also, some people have already put on Christmas decorations to their houses and stores. So, to complete my Christmas is coming feeling I baked these cookies. They have an amazing smell and the chocolate with gingerbread is a delicious combination.

The original recipe is from Martha Stewart, but I followed Patricia’s adaptation from here, firstly because I didn’t have any fresh ginger and secondly because I speak metric better and it was easier to me. So, here’s the recipe: