Tiny Kitchen Blog

Hey guys. A lot has been going on these days, so it was quite tricky for me to document my baking recently… Hope you don’t mind!

THere has been the day of youth dedication ceremonies in town and I was involved with a baking contingent. As always I asked for wishes – and they said chocolate. Chocolate cupcakes, chocolate frosting. Not too heavy. I was so glad I could try a combination I had been waiting for so long: brownie cupcakes with nougat frosting. And I can tell you, the stuff turned out to be double chocolaty and double tasty.

Both components – the bater and the buttercream – have already introduced on this blog, but I guess it is easier for you to have them both on one page if you want to make these babies.

I advise you to put the cupcakes in the refridgerator for at least 2 hours after piping the frosting on top, because the cream needs some time to set and gets a better consistence after cooled down. And one more thing: plan enoutg time for making these, as the cream and the cakes mustn’t be warm anymore before put together.

Chocolate Chocolate Cupcakes

(makes about 2 dozen cupcakes)

300 g (3 sticks) butter
450 g (2 2/3 cup) sugar
3 tsp vanilla extract
6 eggs
125 g (1 1/8 cup) dark cocoa powder
180 g (1 1/2 cup) flour
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

found at my baking addiction

Preheat oven to 175°C (350°F). Melt the butter in a microwave. Combine with sugar. Add the eggs one at a time and stir in vanilla. Sift together all dry ingredients and stir them in. Line a muffin mold with cups and fill with dough up to 2/3. After 35 minutes you will have sweet, flat cupcakes, waiting for decoration. Let them cool completely.

20 g (2/3 oz.) corn starch
2 egg yolks
50 g (1/4 cup) sugar
300 ml (1 1/4 cup) milk
250 g (2 sticks) butter
100 g (3 oz.) nougat, melted
50 g (1 2/3 oz.) semi-sweet chocolate, melted

found at Chefkoch.de

Mix 50 ml (5 tbsp.) of the milk with corn starch. Add egg yolks and sugar and mix well. Heat the remaining milk until it starts to boil. Slowly add the egg mixture and stir until the cream thickens.

Cream the butter in a seperate bowl. Incorporate in cream.

Melt nougat and chocolate over a water bath, then incorporate as well.

Chill at least for 1 1/2 hours in the refridgerator. Then pipe on top of the cucakes and decorate. Cool the cupcakes for two more hours.

Last week I accepted a special challenge. A fondant cake. OMFG, I was so frightened. Fondant scares me. It won’t make the things I want it to, have not the right colour, be sticky, dry… I have a kind of phobia.

But to make the parents of a school mate happy, I tried to ignore these fears and started the project. Her parents are great formula 1 fans, this means the shape of the cake should be the most attracting thing – a racing car. Wew, this was really a challange. With a good basic chocolate cake I always use and a really yummy choc buttercream, it was possible to make a good shape. Then everything covered and decorated.

It would be quite tricky to explain how I exactly prepared the car as I have no pictures of the process, but I will give you the recipe of the chocolate buttercream that is not to be missed. It is pretty easy to make and has a strong nutty note that tastes good with chocolate cake. Mhhh…

Chocolate Buttercream

20 g (2/3 oz.) corn starch
2 egg yolks
50 g (1/4 cup) sugar
300 ml (1 1/4 cup) milk
250 g (2 sticks) butter
100 g (3 oz.) nougat, melted
50 g (1 2/3 oz.) semi-sweet chocolate, melted

Mix 50 ml (5 tbsp.) of the milk with corn starch. Add egg yolks and sugar and mix well. Heat the remaining milk until it starts to boil. Slowly add the egg mixture and stir until the cream thickens.

Cream the butter in a seperate bowl. Incorporate in cream.

Melt nougat and chocolate over a water bath, then incorporate as well.

Use for decoration, cake pops and much more :)

Recipe adapted from Chefkoch.de

On our trip to Dresden last weekend went past a cookie factory, lol. I am pretty sure this was no accident. :D

This shop was full of cookies, meringues and bars. This is just what I thought the land of milk and honey would be like.

Shelves with tons of cookies… Mhhhh… It is so hard to choose!

Oh and there was also stuff for our vegan, gluten-free and egg-free friends.

Imagine this large bowl full of cookie dough! (Placed my brother next to it to give you an idea of its size.)

These yould have been cute for Valentine’s Day… Should remember this.

And this is what I bought: A cookie with the sillouhette of the church in Dresden, its trade mark. Cookie cutters of other sights would be so great…