Tag Archives: pretty

Apple and Marzipan Swirls

Posted on May 23, 2013 by thesweetestbrunch

I love baking but at the same time, I have a little fear of baking with yeast.
My fear is that the dough will not rise enough and that all the waiting for it to rise and rise again, was a waste of time. But I also love baked goods made with fresh yeast, so I have decided to overcome this fear.

A chance to do so, offered itself when I had some fresh yeast left over (from the waffles) and cake sale coming up at work. I decided to try out these Apple Marzipan Swirls, knowing that they would be a good treat for my brunch blog. They are great fresh from the oven, first thing in the morning but all the work has to be done the night before.

They proved a success - so much so that they all sold out within the first few minutes!

For 12 swirls you’ll need

450g flour (plus extra for the work surface)
20g fresh yeast
ca 250ml milk
2 Tbsp sugar
a pinch of salt
400g apples
150g good quality marzipan
2 Tbsp lemon juice
100g apricot jam

Start with the dough the night before baking:
As this is a fresh yeast dough, you’ll have to make a ‘pre-dough’ (I’m not actually sure of that is the real English term for this or just a direct translation from German but let’s just go with it). Tip the flower into a big bowl and make a little well in the middle of it in which you crumble the yeast, along with about 3-4 tablespoons of lukewarm milk and a pinch of sugar. Dust this with a little flour from the sides and leave, covered under cling film, in a warm corner for 15 minutes. I covered my bowl under my duvet (!) and also put a hot water bottle underneath.

Add the rest of the milk and sugar as well as the salt and knead the ingredients together in the bowl – be warned, it’s a very sticky business!

Dust a work surface with flour and tip the dough onto it. Knead for at least 5 minutes until the dough is smooth and no longer sticky. Now put it back in the bowl, cover with cling film again and bring it back to the warm corner to leave it to rise some more – this time, until it rises to double its size. This will take 30 – 60 minutes (when checking on this, just look through the cling film – don’t lift it).

While you wait for the dough to rise, make the apple marzipan filling:
Peel and core the apples and cut them in to small pieces and when I say small, I’m talking little tiny squares of about 1-2 square cm. Follow suit with the marzipan by cutting it in pieces of a similar size. Mix both together with the lemon juice and set aside until the dough is ready for the next step.

When the dough has doubled in its size, roll it out on a flour-dusted surface, to a rectangle of about 50 x 25 cm. Pour the apple-marzipan mix on to it and roll it up, from the longer side, so you end up with a long roll. Cut the roll in 12 pieces and put those on two non-stick baking trays. You will need to spread them out as much as possible as they will rise again. Cover the trays with cling film and leave to rest in the fridge for the night.

The next morning, the swirls will have risen again. Take them out of the fridge and let them come back to room temperature while you preheat the oven to 200 degrees.

Bake the swirls – one tray at a time – for 25 minutes. Heat the apricot jam in the microwave so it becomes fluid and spread the rolls with it, as soon as they come out of the oven. Leave to cool but then enjoy as soon as possible!

American Waffles with Blueberry Compote

Posted on April 11, 2013 by thesweetestbrunch

I love Belgian Waffles – those thick, square yeasty ones.

Sadly, I can’t really make those in my little waffle iron at home, as that one is for the thinner German ones. Still, I wanted to try out a waffle receipe with yeast anyway, as yeasty waffles are also quite American (I think!) and the waffles there are not really sweet and actually, often eaten with chicken.

As you know, I’m always one for sweet rather than savory though, so I opted to serve them with blueberry compote, quickly made from frozen blueberries.

Please note, that the waffle dough has to rest overnight, so you’ll need to make it in the evening ahead of your waffle brunch!

For the waffles you’ll need:

21 g OR ½ a cube of fresh yeast
125 ml water at room temperature
1 tsp sugar
485 ml warm milk
120 g melted butter
¾ tsp salt
235 g white flour*
50 g wholemeal flour*
2 eggs
¼ tsp bicarbonate of soda

*of course, you can also just use 285g plain flour instead of the plain/wholemeal flour combo, if you prefer

For the blueberry compote you’ll need:

2 cups frozen blueberries
3 tbsp water
2 ½ tbsp honey
¼ tsp ground cinnamon

In the evening, mix together the yeast, water and sugar in a big bowl (about 3l capacity) and set aside for 5 minutes.
Add milk, butter, salt and flour and mix everything together with an electric whisk. Cover the bowl with cling film and let it sit on the kitchen counter overnight, for the batter to rise and (at least) double in size.

In the morning, start with the compote: pour 1 cup of the blueberries into a pot with the water, honey and cinnamon. Bring to the boil and simmer for 10 minutes. Now that the blueberries are soft, mash them against the pan with a potato masher or wooden spoon. Add the remaining blueberries and on a low heat, warm them through for about 5 minutes.

For the waffles, mix the eggs and bicarb of soda and fold them in the risen batter.

Warm up your waffle iron and get baking (as per manufacturers instructions).

If you fancy, add a dusting of icing sugar…

Easter Cookies

Posted on March 25, 2013 by thesweetestbrunch

It’s hard to believe it’s almost Easter, thanks to the ongoing sub-zero temperatures and snow in front of my window, that makes it feel more like Christmas.

That’s no reason though, to not try to get into a more spring like mood, at least indoors, for example with the help of some springtime decorations. And when it comes to decorations, why not go for edible ones, such as these Easter cookies. You won’t even need special Easter cookie cutters for them, any round cookie cutter can – with the help of icing – make some cute Easter chicks…

For about 24 cookies you’ll need:

90g unsalted butter (at room temperature)
100g caster sugar
1 egg
½ tsp almond OR vanilla extract
200g flour (plus extra for rolling out the dough)
½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
250g icing sugar
1 egg white
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 tube of ready-made black icing

Mix the flour with the baking powder and salt. In another bowl, whisk the butter and sugar together until the mix is fluffy and pale in colour. Add the egg and almond or vanilla extract and whisk again, then mix the dry ingredients in to the wet.

Using your hands bring the dough together to form a ball. Wrap it in clingfilm and rest in the fridge for at least 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 180C/ gas mark 4 and line two baking sheets with baking parchment.

Sprinkle your work surface with flour, flatten the dough ball on it and dust it’s surface with flour as well before rolling it out to the thickness of about half a centimeter. Using a round cookie cutter of around 6cm cut the cookies out and transfer them to the baking sheets. Bake for 10 – 12 minutes (one sheet at the time) until the cookies are lightly golden.

Cool on a rack whilst making the icing by mixing the icing sugar, egg white and lemon juice (do this slowly with a fork, or the icing sugar will fly everywhere). Set 2 tablespoons of the icing aside, which will be used for the eyes.

Add yellow food colouring to the rest of the icing. Then set 2 tablespoons of the yellow icing aside and mix that with some red food colouring to make some orange icing for the peak and feet.

Using a (palette) knife ice all cookies with the yellow icing and let it dry, before piping on the white eyes, followed by the orange peak and feet. If you don’t have a piping bag with a fine tip, you can fold some baking parchment into a cone, leaving a small opening at the pointy end of it. Finally, add black pupils on to the white eyes, with the ready-made black icing and there you have it: a bunch of spring chickens – Happy Easter!

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Posted in Other and tagged afternoon tea, biscuit, breakfast, brunch, cookies, delicious, easy, easy recipe, eggs, fancy, frosting, pretty, quick recipe, super easy, sweet, tasty, treat. Bookmark the permalink.

Yoghurt Mousse and Frozen Berry Pots

Posted on March 19, 2013 by thesweetestbrunch

Defrosting my freezer the other night, I came across some raspberries, which I needed to use up.

Not that this is a hard thing to do. I always like to have some frozen berries, when fresh ones are not in season so that I can still have berries with my breakfast – or at any other time of the day for that matter. They are great just as an accompaniment for pancakes, stirred in porridge or with yoghurt and granola.

In this easy receipe they make up a fruity layer between yoghurt mousse, which sits on a biscuit base, similar to the base of some cheesecakes. The little pots of this combo make a great brunch dessert, enjoyed after some Eggs Benedict or such likes. Of course, you could always also just go straight to dessert…

For 8 small pots you’ll need:

40g butter
100g plus another 2 -3 for the topping, crunchy oat biscuits (Hobnobs work best in the UK)
400g plain yoghurt
3-4 Tbsp honey
3-4 Tbsp vanilla infused sugar (if you don’t have that you can go for the same amount of sugar and add 1 tsp vanilla essence)
200g whipping cream
300g frozen raspberries
4 Tbsp crushed hazelnuts (optional)

For the biscuit base, crush the biscuits until you have fine crumbs. I find the best way to do this is to put the biscuits in a freezer bag and bash that bag with a rolling pin.

Melt the butter on the hob, then stir in the biscuit crumbs and spread the mixture between your 8 dessert pots/glasses and press it down with the back of a teaspoon. Leave to set in the fridge for half an hour.

For the mousse, start by whipping up the cream so it holds it’s shape. Now, in a larger bowl, whisk the honey and vanilla sugar into the yoghurt. If you have a sweet tooth go for 4 tablespoons of each, the honey as well as the sugar – otherwise start with 3 tablespoons and add more if desired.

Carefully fold the whipped cream under the sweetened yoghurt and using a piping bag, pipe half of the mousse on top of your cooled down biscuit bases. Add a layer of frozen berries and then pipe on the rest of the mousse to cover the berries.

Break the extra biscuits down to crumbs and sprinkle those on top of the mousse. And/or, for extra crunch, roast small hazelnut pieces in a non-stick pan for a few minutes and, once they have cooled down, add them to the crumbs, as a final finishing touch.

You can eat the desserts straight away “semi-freddo style” (though I’d suggest even then to wait about an hour for the raspberries to defrost a little) or transfer the pots back to the fridge, where they will keep for up to 24 hours.

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Posted in Other and tagged breakfast, brunch, delicious, dessert, easy, easy recipe, healthy, pretty, quick recipe, recipe, recipe with oats, super easy, sweet, tasty, treat. Bookmark the permalink.

Chocolate Beetroot Cake

Posted on January 14, 2013 by thesweetestbrunch

I’m back!

Having spend most of the last three months in NY (with a visit to Botswana in between), I am now back in my own kitchen, here in London.

I have to admit, that I did become one of those New Yorkers who doesn’t bother cooking or baking. But why would you when the choice for eating out, delivery and deli food is so great. I loved the food markets, especially the weekly Smorgasburg in Dumbo…I loved the fact that you can get dessert at midnight, if you go to the Chocolate Room…I loved the American bbq joints… the cheap Chinese dim sum… the great Mexicans tacos…

And as for brunch – oh, how I’ll miss my weekly girlfriend brunch outings. My favourite brunch place overall was probably Bobo in Chelsea but I will tell you about that another time.

Right now, I want to share the first cake I made this year with you. Since it’s January and everyone (apart from me) seems to be on some new year’s resolution healthy eating scheme, I wanted to make something a little less loaded with sugar and fat and decided a chocolate beetroot cake is the way to go.

It might sound strange but is actually one of my most popular cakes. It’s lighter than a regular chocolate cake, probably as it contains neither butter nor chocolate but features sunflower oil and cocoa powder instead.

The icing is another story, of course. If you really want a healthier, reduced calorie cake you have to omit it, though you could maybe drizzle it with some plain melted chocolate instead. But I think, the taste of the sweet white icing on top of the dark cake is worth the extra calories. It also turns a plainer cake, that’s not too heavy and can therefore be eaten for brunch, in to a celebration cake, especially if you make enough icing for the top and a layer for within the cake.

Either way, it’s super easy to make but you will need ready cooked beetroot (NOT the pickled vinegar one, of course) and a blender!

For the cake you’ll need:

180ml sunflower oil, plus more for the tin
190g self-raising flour
60g cocoa powder
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
250g (golden) caster sugar
250g beetroot, cooked
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
a blender
a round tin at the size of 18cm min – 23cm max

Preheat the oven to gas mark 4 and line your cake tin – both sides and bottom – with baking parchment

Combine the flour, bicarbonate of soda, cocoa and sugar in one big bowl.

In your blender, purée the beetroot, eggs and vanilla. Then slowly pour in the oil, while the motor is running on the slowest speed (make sure it really is on a slow setting and don’t take the lid of fully, or you may end up with a red kitchen…). Pour the beetroot mixture into the dry ingredients and gently combine by folding them together with a bit spoon or spatula.

Pour into the cake tin and bake for 40–50 minutes, until a skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean.
After removing it from the oven, leave it for 5–10 minutes in the tin, then turn it out on to a wire rack and peel the lining off to let it cool completely.

For the icing you’ll need:
(Note, that if you want enough icing for a sandwich cake, with a thick layer in the middle, you’ll have to double the quantities)

25g white chocolate
100g cream cheese, softened
50g unsalted butter, softened
½ tsp vanilla extract
250g icing sugar
1 tbsp whipping cream

Melt the white chocolate carefully in the microwave by using a low setting and checking it every 4 seconds. Stir until smooth, and allow to cool back to room temperature.

In the meantime, whisk together the cream cheese and butter with an electric whisk until smooth, then mix in the melted white chocolate and vanilla essence.

Finally beat in the icing sugar and cream, again with an electric whisk until fluffy.

Spread the cake and let it set in the fridge for at least an hour – but note, that before eating you want the cake back to room temperature, so the icing isn’t too hard!

The Sweetest Brunch

Tag Archives: pretty

Apple and Marzipan Swirls

American Waffles with Blueberry Compote

Easter Cookies

Yoghurt Mousse and Frozen Berry Pots

Chocolate Beetroot Cake

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