I already told you that I was on a class trip last week. Our youth hostel was in a beautiful town surrounded by a river – the Trave. It takes only 20 minutes by bus to get to the beach which woud have probably been more fun if the weather had been nicer :(. It did not only rain, it was cold as well and at the and of the trip half of the students had a cold. Perfect, eh?
It was fun, though. The first day we went through Luebeck and spend some money on summer sale shopping, especially at Yves Rocher’s http://www.yves-rocher.de/control/main :P. The second day we went to a theme park. This Hansa Park was great, luckily it did not rain. On wednesdey we were at the beach, it was cold and warm and then cold again and it rained. At least we had a bit of every kind of weather. The last day we went to Hamburg, one of the biggest German cities at the coast of the North Sea. We just got a glimpse of the town, but I liked what I saw. I want to go there again!
Luebeck is not quite big, but not very small, either. The town is famous for its marzipan creations. Well, I do not like marzipan that much, but I simply had to try something from there. So I bought marzipan chocolate sticks with berry prosecco flovour and I was stunned. That almond flavour of marzipan was not strong at all and the berries and the semi-sweet chocolate fit perfectly together. After you have tasted all this, a fine note of prosecco flavour completes the combination. Yum!
http://www.niederegger.de/
The first day I was at home, I wanted to include this sweet in a treat. Well, at least I tried.
Some weeks ago, I had planned to try out an eclairs recipe. Everything was good, my dough was as it should be, the eclairs did not stay flat… But unfortunately my oven window is very dark and the light inside has stopped working some time ago… So I opened the oven to check if the eclairs were done already 5 minutes before the time was over. They came out flat. Crap. Because the cream was already prepared, I did not want to throw all the ingredients away. So I put it on top of the eclairs (which tasted good, though). Here is the frosting recipe:
240 ml (1 cup) heavy cream
8 tsp. strawberry jam
1 tbsp. powdered sugar
60 g (2 oz) Niederegger marzipan berry prosecco flavour
Beat the heavy cream with a mixer until it is stiff. Add the strawberry jam and sugar and beat until incorpotated. Add the marzipan and mix just a little.
Erveryone has his or her own soul food. After a difficult day or even a period, some people like to enjoy glass of wine, others prefer beer, fruit, nuts, ice cream or… chocolate. I am a chocolate lover. It is not my only soul food, but it definitely belongs to this category. After my last exam this year, I made this…
… and loved it.
You need to know, that the time before my 10th-year exams was very hard for me. I could not stop studying Maths, Chemistry and English. I did not learn much for the German exam, lol.
BUT, it was worth the stress. I passed all the tests with best grades :D.
However, this cake is good way to consume your soul food. It is very moist, has an intense chocolate flavour and is not too bitter or too sweet. I decided to share this recipe with you at the beginning of our summer holidays (yes, they have just started here.)
Here we go:
Flourless Chocolate Cake
(for one cake pan, Ø 26 cm/10 inches)
110 g (4 oz) good semi-sweet chocolate, at least 60 % cocoa
115 g (½ cup/1 stick) butter
170g (¾ cup) sugar
3 eggs
60 g (½ cup) cocoa (unsweetened)
Preheat the oven to 190°C (375°F). Oil a cake pan and lightly dust it with flour.
Chop the chocolate and put it into a microwave safe bowl. Microwave for 30 seconds. Stir with a spoon and microwave for another 30 seconds. Stir again. Add the butter and combine. If the ingredients are not completely melted, microwave for 30 seconds again. Transfer the mixture into a bigger bowl. Add one egg at a time and mix until they are fully incorporated. Finally add the cocoa and stir. Do not overbeat.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for about 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 10-15 minutes before serving.
An additional spoon of vanilla ice cream fits perfectly :).
Recipe adapted from Krissy’s Creations
http://www.krissys-creations.com/2011/07/flourless-chocolate-cake.html
This week I was on a classtrip at the Baltic Sea! Pretty nice, except the weather. It was cold and it even rained from time to time. Even though, it was fun to spend this time with my classmates as it is our last trip before we are separated in new courses the next year. I will make a post with photos next week, I promise.
But today, I want to share something different with you. I love oreos. Not just eating them as they are, but also creations with them: cake, bark etc. I have already tried making oreo cookies on my own, but they came out too sweet and besides, they could not survive the hot weather some weeks ago. This is why I decided to make oreo muffins. They are one of my favourites and I must admit that their dough is one of the most delicious I have ever made :P. But you’d better concentrate on the baked muffins and not eat too much of the batter as there are raw eggs in it…
The recipe is quite simple and quick and all the oreo-lovers will love the result. If you have some cookies left, you should turn on your oven at once and start baking. :)
Oreo muffins:
(20 – 24 muffins)
10 oreo cookies
300 g (2 ½ cups) flour
2 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
200 g (1 cup – 2 tbsp.) sugar
100 g (3 ½ oz) butter at room temperature
2 pck. vanilla sugar or 2 tsp. Vanilla extract
3 eggs, room temperature
160 ml (2/3 cup) milk
Put the oreos in a freezer bag and crumble them with a rolling pin. Set aside until needed. Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F).
Combine the flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl. Set aside. In a bigger bowl, combine the butter, sugar and vanilla. Cream until the muxture becomes lighter and fluffy. Add one egg at a time and stir until it is fully incorporated. Now add the milk and the dry ingredients by turns while stirring in between so the dough stays smooth. Finally add the shredded oreos. Stir just to combine.
Oil a muffin pan or put paper cups into it and fill about 2/3 of the molds with dough. Bake for about 20 minutes.
Enjoy with ice cream, heavy cream or whatever cream. Just enjoy!
Recipe adapted from USA kulinarisch: http://www.usa-kulinarisch.de/rezept/oreo-cupcakes/
