My bf’s mother made cassis jam. Yippie! This sweet and refreshingly sour treat is just the right thing to nash on during summer.
I was inspired by its taste and the fresh red fruit, I found in a nearby supermarket. The last week of school, my class had a big breakfast together and I wanted to bring something handy. So I thought of whoopie pies.
Pretty chocolate dough, filled with a light cassis buttercream, drizzled with white chocolate, topped with a red berry.
Voilà! They were done easily and quickly, a lot faster than I had expected.
Chocolate Cassis Whoopie Pies
(makes about 25 whoopie pies)
chocolate cakes:
175 g (1 1/2 cups) all-purpose flour
50 g (3/8 cup) dark cocoa powder
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
125 g (1/2 cup – 4 oz) unsalted butter, room temperature
175 g (7/8 cup – 6 oz) white sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract or seeds from 1 vanilla bean
3 large eggs, room temperature
80 ml (1/3 cup) whipping cream, room temperature
frosting:
75 g (1/3 cup) butter
150 g (5 oz.) cream cheese
6 tbsp cassis jam – or to taste
Preheat the oven to 175° C (350° F). Line two sheets with parchment paper.
Whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt in a medium-sized bowl. Set aside until needed.
In another bowl, cream together the butter and sugar, until fluffy and white. Add vanilla. Add one egg at a time and whisk in between until fully incorporated. Now add the dry ingredients while you continue to mix. Stir in the whipping cream. Do not overbeat.
Fill the dough into a piping bag and pipe circles of about 3 cm diameter onto the parchment paper, then bake for about 10 minutes until the dough has set. Remove from the paper and let cool.
Prepare the cream by melting the butter in the microwave for about 30 seconds. Cream with cream cheese and jam.
Find 2 equal pies and put the cream on top of one with a spoon or using a piping bag. Place the second pie half on top and squeese slightly.
Decorate with melted chocolate and fresh cassis. Enjoy cooled.
I kind of have a thing for cheesecake. A few weeks from now I started craving it and this desire has not stopped until yet. This weekend, I came across a recipe called “The best cheesecake in the world”. Dear reader, be careful when reading such things – do not believe everything written on the internet. I was very sceptical at the beginning, as I have been disappointed with such “best” recipes, but the instructions did not sound too complicated, so I gave it a try.
This cake has a crust which holds the whole mass together. I am not reaally a fan of crusts in cheesecake, because they usually take quite some time to prepare and are dry when baked. But this one is no big deal concerning the preparation and is a little crunchy, which is really an interesting experience to taste.
To make the whole thing a little special, I cut one white chocolate into small pieces with a knife and put it in the batter. Also I put some blueberries in the middle of the batter. And no doubt, the cheese layer was by far the best one I have ever tried. It uses beaten heavy cream to get fluffy and the white chocolate inside makes it taste full and rich.
Although my version turned out a bit burned, as can be seen in the pictures, it did not taste burned at all. So please do not let the brown top scare you, the most important thing is that the mass is baked. And now here the instructions for the surprisingly simple “best” white chocolate blueberry cheesecake.
White Chocolate Blueberry Cheesecake
(for a round 26 cm (10´´) pan)
crust:
200 g (1 2/3 cups) flour
75 g (1/3 cup) sugar
75 g (1/3 cup) butter
1 egg
1 tsp baking powder
cheese layer:
125 g (1/2 cup + 1 tbsp) butter
180 g (3/4 cup + 1 tbsp) sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 pckt instant vanilla pudding powder
3 eggs
500 g (18 oz) curd
200 g (6,5 oz) sour cream
200 ml (3/4 cup) heavy cream
150 g (5 oz) frozen blueberries, defrosted and dripped off
100 g (3 oz) white chocolate, chopped into small pieces or shredded
To prepare the crust, soften the butter in a microwave and mix together with the other ingredients for the crust until a crumbly dough comes together.
Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F).
Oil a round pan and spread the dough on the ground and form a rim of about the width of two fingers. Place the crust in the fridge until the cheese mass is done.
For the cheese layer, mix butter, sugar, vanilla extract, pudingpowder and eggs in a bowl. Add curd and sour cream and cream until incorporated.
Beat the heavy cream in a seperate bowl, then fold it gently in the rest of the mass. Last but not least, put in the chopped white chocolate.
Pour half of the mass into the prepared pan, then spread the blueberries onto it. Now spread the rest of the mixture on top.
Bake for a good 60 minutes, until the cheese mass is done.
Hey guys, it has been a few busy days around here. Because of my exhibition, which is coming soon, it is auite hard to document my baking… :/
In these days full of [mental] action, I have been craving especially one thing: NUTELLA. The good thing about this stuff is its flexibility. Put it anywhere and it will be a hit (we are talking about sweets right here, remember). And if you want to share a chocolaty melty dessert with someone you like or you are alone and hungry or frustrated or both, I have an idea for you. Only with a few ingredients you can make one or two persons happy. And don’t feel guilty if one of these is you.
All you have to do is bake this tiny cake in a 10 cm (4´´) round pan, slice up some strawberries and whip up cream.
Then put nutella (as much as you like) onto the warm cake layer. Then place the strawberry slices on top.
Put on some cream. More strawberries.
2nd cake layer on top,some more cream, decoration, done. Takes all in all about 15 minutes and will make you happy for much longer.
Happiness Cake
makes about 2 servings (depending on your apetite :D)
60 g butter (1/2 stick)
50 g sugar (1/6 cup)
1 egg
75 g all purpose flour (2/3 cup)
1/4 tsp baking powder
1 pinch salt
Whisk together the flour baking powder and salt in a bowl. Set aside. Preheat oven to 180° C (350° F).
Cream the butter and sugar in a large bowl until the mixture becomes light and fluffy. Add the egg and stir until fully and incorporated. Now add the dry ingredients and stir until the dough is smooth.
Transfer the mixture into an oiled pan and bake about 12 minutes or until a toothpicker comes out clean.
Cut the cake into two layery and put nutella on the hot bottom. Let it cool a little, then go on with strawberries and cream.
Then: dig in.