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Monday, March 25, 2013

Oreo Cupcakes


According to the newest statistics Oreos still remain the world’s favourite cookies! This is definitely not a surprise, especially because the use of the dark chocolate and milky cream cookie varies a lot. They appear in cheesecakes, cupcakes, milkshakes and the more adventurous even put them into chocolate chip cookies.  

This Sunday I decided to go for the cupcake version of the world’s beloved cookie. At the beginning I couldn’t really imagine what the outcome would be like. How do the Oreo-crumps stand out of the strong vanilla flavour of the cupcake dough itself? And wouldn’t the frosting be too sweet for this little cupcake? The answer is clearly: NO! I have eaten a lot of cupcakes so far and I dare to say that the Oreo cupcakes are one of my favourites.

There is not much more to say except that they’re perfect. Soft yet crunchy is the cupcake and the frosting is creamy yet not too heavy. From my family to my friends to the office colleagues, this is by far the best feedback I got regarding my beloved cupcakes! So if you’re a fan yourself, do not hesitate to recreate these little delights.

And now hurry to the recipe, your friends and family are secretly waiting for them already!


For 16 Cupcakes you need:

230g butter
230g sugar
220g flour
1 ts baking powder
4 eggs
1ts vanilla extract
10 crushed Oreos

Preheat the oven to 175°

In a large bowl whisk together the softened butter, sugar, flour, baking powder, vanilla extract and the eggs. Beat them fast until you get an even dough. Now carefully incorporate the Oreo crumbs.

Put the cupcake cases into your cupcake mold and pour the dough up to 2/3 into the cupcake forms and bake for 20 minutes. 

 ******

For the icing:

350g icing sugar
220g butter
1 pinch of salt
10 Oreos cut into little pieces

Whisk the icing sugar, the butter and the pinch of salt together for about two minutes until you get a silky mix. Carefully add the Oreo pieces. Take a knife and decorate the cupcakes.


Enjoy!!!!!

  
 

Saturday, March 16, 2013

Grandma's Kiermeskuch - Luxembourgish Raisin Bread


For those following my Facebook page you heard about grandma ordering a Kiermeskuch. She loves going to pastry shops and have all sorts of cakes. My grandpa started baking when he got retired and made a lot of yummy carnival or Christmas cookies, nicely decorated birthday cakes or just some traditional Luxembourgish cakes. Now I took over the baking activities in the family. I'd say that for the whole cookie story I've been a good provider so far but in regards of traditional cakes and dishes, I have to admit that my list is quite empty.


Even though you can still buy this raisin bread in all the local bakeries, the tradition around it is about to disappear. In former times, all the small villages had their little fairs during the years. It weren't the big ones with roller coasters but rather small attractions. The local wind section played a Kiermes song called Hemmelsmarsch. Kids were following them and on Sunday, the actual fair day, families gathered and had the traditional Fair dishes like: Kirmes soup, Kiermes ham and this recipe the Kiermeskuch (Kiermescake)


Due to the urbanisation of the bigger towns these kinds of events are about to slowly disappear. Dad's doing his best to prepare us regularly the Kiermes soup, which I am not necessarily a fan of, but I'm sure after tasting the cake he will ask for more. Grandpa would be happy to see that within the family the takeover was a great success!


For one Kiermeskuch you need:

400g flour
1tsp dry yeast
80g sugar
125ml warm milk
1 pinch of salt
60g butter
2 eggs
100g raisins

*******

Preheat the oven to 250°

Put the flour into a large bowl. In a smaller bowl whisk the yeast the sugar and the warm milk and add the mix to the flour. Beat the eggs then add them, the butter and a pinch of salt and start kneading. Kneading is a necessary step to ensure the bread dough rises properly afterward. Finally add the raisins.

Cover the dough with a towel and let it prove for at least 30 minutes.

Now put the dough into a loaf pan and bake first for 10 minutes. Decrease the temperature to 200° and bake another 40 minutes.

******

Usually we put butter on it or jam. In autumn and winter most often plum jam. 

Enjoy!!!!!




Sunday, March 3, 2013

Honey Porridge with Fresh Berries


It's a first! The first time in my entire life that I eat porridge and the first time that I prepared it myself. And yet it has become my favourite Sunday breakfast dish! It's really easy to prepare but with the nice honey and the fresh berries you can pimp the oats a bit. Depending on whether you add the honey immediately to the milk or if you add it later on you'll receive a different type of sweet. I opted the latter version. 

The honey I used comes straight from Bosnia. Honey is probably my favourite food item to bring back from the Balkans. Once you tried it, you will hardly accept any other taste ever again. My favourite still comes from Serbia. A friend's mom knows a honey producer and provides the family with it on a regular basis. I admit, I am jealous. 

No that I have become a big fan of porridge I'll check what options I have to pimp it a little more. I was thinking about nuts. Cashew- or probably hazelnuts and maybe also banana. In any case it's a healthy breakfast and everyone can add what suits him best.


For 4 small bowls you need:

140g oat flakes
350ml hot water
200ml warm milk

fresh berries
honey





Put the oat flakes and the hot water into a saucepan and boil for around 10 minutes. Add the warm milk and cook for 5 more minutes on a middle heat.
Pour the oat-milk mix into small bowls.
Now pour some honey over it and add the fresh berries.
Cut them in two if they're too big and mix with a spoon.

Enjoy!!!!



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