Baked Mini Apple Spice Doughnuts

Well, since I first posted the two recipes for baked mini doughnuts, I was looking for an excuse to bake some more. The Mini Doughnut Pan is just too wonderful to resist. There are so many delicious doughnut recipes out there. 

Choices, choices.


I finally decided to give a recipe for Apple Spice Doughnuts a try.
The recipe includes fresh homemade apple sauce, apple cider and some warm spices like allspice and cinnamon.





The final touch is a glaze composed of confectioner's sugar, more allspice and cider and then the glazed doughnuts get a coating of cinnamon sugar. The doughnuts are best eaten while still a bit warm!

LEGO Cupcakes

The kids'  newest find at the Lego Store in Cologne was this cute "Lego Minifigure Ice Cube Tray" (available at Lego.com or at amazon.com). 

I used it as a chocolate mold and made some white chocolate Lego figures. 

While the figures cooled, I baked some dark chocolate muffins using some colorful muffin liners, (just use your favorite chocolate muffin recipe), added some white chocolate chunks to the dough, and glazed the muffins with a dark chocolate glaze, then, for the final touch, decorated the muffins with the black and the white chocolate Lego figures. 

They were a big hit.

Soft and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

Who doesn't like Chocolate Chip Cookies - especially the soft and chewy kind - so following is my favorite recipe for Chocolate Chip Cookies. It is an easy and delicious recipe. The Cookies are always gone before the end of the day, everybody in our house loves these Cookies. So, here is the recipe.

Soft and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies
(as adapted from Martha Stewart, Holiday Cookies 2005, Special Issue)

2 1/4 cups (280 g) AP flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 cup (2 sticks/226 g) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup (100 g) granulated sugar, I used superfine
1 cup (200 g) light-brown sugar, packed
1 tsp salt (I used fine sea salt)
2 tsp vanilla extract (I used pure vanilla sugar)
2 eggs, large (use free range or organic whenever possible)
2 cups (12 ounces/240 g) semisweet and/or milk chocolate chips (I did not use chocolate chips but rather cut 2 1/2 bars of Lindt Excellence 70 % into medium-sized chunks)

Preparation: preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (175 degrees Celsius)
1. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper (I always use unbleached parchment paper).
2. Whisk together flour and baking soda.
3. In the bowl of your mixer combine butter with both sugars and beat on medium speed until light and fluffy.
4. With the mixer on low, add salt, vanilla and eggs. Beat until well mixed.
5. Add flour, mix until just combined.
6. Add chocolate chips.
7. Drop nine heaping tablespoons of dough on each baking sheet. Use an ice cream scoop to get even-sized cookies and leave sufficient space between each cookie because the dough will spread during baking.
8. Bake 8 to 10 minutes, not longer, as the name, implies, you want the Cookies to be still soft in the center.
9. Remove from oven, and let cool on baking sheets for a few minutes then transfer the Cookies still on the parchment paper onto a wire rack. Let them cool completely on the racks.

Enjoy with a tall glass of cold milk, a nice tea, or cappuccino...

Baked Mini Doughnuts

The idea of baking Mini Doughnuts was very appealing to me. Not only do they look very cute but they seem to make great snacks.


So off I went looking for a special baking pan, not an easy task around here. Finally, I found one made by  "Norpro" (www.norpro.com) called "Nonstick Petite Donut Pan" available also at www.amazon.com.



The pan comes with two recipes. For today I chose the Chocolate Cake Doughnuts recipe.

Recipe for Chocolate Cake Doughnuts

(as adapted from Norpro)

1 1/2 cups AP flour, sifted

1/3 cup unsweetened Dutch cocoa powder

1 tsp baking powder

1/8 tsp salt ( I used fine sea salt)

1 tbsp instant espresso powder

2 large eggs (use organic or free range whenever possible)

2/3 cup sugar (I used superfine)

1 tsp vanilla (I used real vanilla sugar)

1/2 cup milk, room temperature

2 tbsp unsalted butter, melted and cooled

Decoration: chocolate icing and sprinkles

Preparation: preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit (165 degrees Celsius)

1. Spray pan with cooking oil.

2. In a medium bowl whisk together flour, cocoa, baking powder, salt and espresso powder.

3. In another bowl whisk eggs, sugar, and vanilla until thick and yellow.

4. In a small bowl stir together milk and butter.

5. Alternately combine egg mixture and milk mixture with flour mixture and mix until smooth with no lumps.

6. Fill the dough into a resealable bag and snip off a corner.

7. Squeeze a bit of the dough into each mould until 2/3 full. 

8. Bake for about 6 to 8 minutes, cool slightly and remove from pan onto a cooling rack.

9. Let cool completely on the rack.

10. Ice and decorate as desired (I used white chocolate icing and white and dark chocolate sprinkles).

The recipe yields about three dozen Mini Doughnuts.

Recipe for Vanilla Cake Doughnuts

(as adapted from Norpro)

1 1/2 cups AP flour, sifted

1/2 cup plus 1/3 cup sugar (I used superfine)

2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt ( I used fine sea salt)

1/4 tsp freshly ground nutmeg or mace

1 large egg (use organic or free range whenever possible)

1/2 cup milk, room temperature

1/4 cup plus 3 tbsp unsalted butter, melted and cooled

1 tsp vanilla (I used real vanilla sugar)

1/2 tsp freshly ground cinnamon (I always use cinnamon from Ceylon)

Preparation: preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (175 degrees Celsius)

1. Spray pan with cooking oil.

2. In a medium bowl whisk together flour, 1/2 cup sugar, baking powder, salt and nutmeg.

3. In another bowl whisk egg, milk, 1/4 cup melted butter and vanilla.

4. Combine flour mixture and egg mixture just until combined.

5. Fill the dough into a resealable bag and snip off a corner.

6. Squeeze a bit of the dough into each mould until 2/3 full. 

7. Bake for about 6 to 8 minutes, cool slightly and remove from pan onto a cooling rack.

8. Mix together 1/3 cup sugar with 1/2 tsp cinnamon.

9. Brush doughnut tops with 3 tbsp melted butter and sprinkle with the cinnamon sugar.

The recipe yields about three dozen Mini Cake Doughnuts.

Gâteau Breton - Brittany Butter Cake - Bretonischer Kuchen

I came across this recipe for Gâteau Breton (Brittany Butter Cake or Bretonischer Kuchen)  from Nigella Lawson' s "How To Be A Domestic Goodess" Cookbook and immediately knew that I had to give it a try. It looked elegant and easy enough to put together even on a rather late afternoon.

Besides, having farm fresh eggs and butter on hand helped my decision along quite a bit, to bake this cake. The result is a buttery cross between shortbread/cookies and cake. The taste only gets better, the higher the quality of the butter and eggs you use.

Since there are not too many ingredients in this cake, the difference in the quality of ingredients used, is quite noticable in the end result.



Recipe for Gâteau Breton
(as adapted from Nigella Lawson "How To Be A Domestic Goddess", published by Chatto & Windus 2000, available through www.amazon.com)

For the Cake

225 g (8 ounces) plain flour, preferably Italian 00
250 g (9 ounces) caster sugar (I used superfine)
250 g (9 ounces) unsalted butter, cut into cubes
6 large egg yolks

25 cm Springform tin, buttered well (I used a 10 inch Fluted French Tart Pan with removeable bottom - gives the finished cake a nice look and is available at www.gobel.fr or at www.amazon.com)

For the Glaze

1 tsp of egg yolk, from your 6
1 tbsp of water

Preparation

1. Preheat the oven to 190 degrees Celsius (375 degrees Fahrenheit). Mix the glaze, and put aside while you get on with your gateau.

2. Put the flour into a bowl (I never bother to sieve 00 flour because it's so finely milled, but if you're using regular plain flour then do so), stir in the sugar and add the butter and egg yolks.

3. With the dough-hook attachment of a mixer, slowly whirr till you've got a smooth, golden dough. Scoop this dough into the tin, and smooth the top with a floured hand: expect it to be very sticky; indeed, it should be.

4. Brush the gateau with the glaze, and mark a lattice design on top with the prongs of a fork.












5. Bake for 15 minutes, then turn the oven down to 180 degrees Celsius (350 degrees Fahrenheit) and give it another 25 minutes or so until it's golden on top and firm to the touch.

6. Let it cool completely in the tin before unmoulding it.

7. For serving: either cut it in traditional cake-like wedges or criss-cross, making irregularly sized diamonds.

Carnival - "Amerikaner"

In order to celebrate Carnival (Karneval) this year,  I chose a recipe for so-called "Amerikaner", which, of course, means "Americans". There are a few different theories as to where that name originated.

One is, that the original recipe included "ammonium bicarbonate" which was cumbersome to pronounce and was therefore changed to "Amerikaner", well, I much prefer the explanation that they were fashioned after the black-and-white cookies, a well known New York favorite.

In any event, these cookies have been sold in German bakeries for quite some time now. The preparation is very similar except for the decorating part. While "Amerikaner" are sold year round with either chocolate or vanilla fondant icing, for the Carnival season they get "dressed up" with colorful faces like the costumes worn by the kids during Carnival season.

To recreate the "Amerikaner" ("Americans") you can easily use the recipe for Mini Black-and-White Cookies from the December 2005 issue of Gourmet magazine.

Recipe for the Cookies

1 1/4 cups AP flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt (I use fine sea salt)
1/3 cup well-shaken buttermilk
1/2 tsp vanilla
7 tbs unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup sugar, superfine
1 large egg, use organic or free range whenever possible

For Icings

2 3/4 cups confectioner's sugar, sifted
2 tbs light corn syrup
2 tsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/2 tsp vanilla
4 to 6 tbs water
1/4 cup cocoa powder

Optional: food coloring, chocolate, licorice, etc.

Preparation of the Cookies

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (160 degrees Celsius)
2. Prepare two baking sheets
3. In a bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt.
4. In a cup, stir together buttermilk and vanilla.
5. In a large bowl of an electric mixer, beat together butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Add egg, beating until combined well.
6. Reduce speed to low and add flour mixture and buttermilk mixture alternately in batches, beginning and ending with flour mixture, and mixing just until smooth.
7. Drop rounded teaspoons of batter 1 inch apart onto baking sheets.
8. Bake until tops are puffed, edges are pale golden, and cookies spring back when touched, 6 to 8 minutes total.
9. Transfer to a rack to cool.

Make Icings while Cookies are cooling

1. Stir together confectioner's sugar, corn syrup, lemon juice, vanilla, and 2 tablespoons water in a small bowl until smooth.
2. Transfer half of icing to another bowl and stir in cocoa.
3. With offset spatula spread icing over cookies and decorate as desired.

Visit to a French Bakery in Bonn, Germany

Today, we took a trip to a French Café/Bistro/Pâtisserie called "C´est la Vie" in Bonn (Germany). You can order breakfast there, enjoy lunch or quiches and "tartines" or just pick up some wonderrful brioches, pains au chocolat, croissants, or other viennoiserie.

Café Patisserie "C' est la Vie"

Koelnstrasse 177
53117 Bonn
Phone: 0228-85034488
E-mail: info@cest-la-vie-cafe.de
Homepage: http://www.cest-la-vie-cafe.de
Wlan Access: free

This was part of the selection of wonderful baked goods on the day that I visisted...

....the outside of the Café...

....more delicious choices.

When the weather is nice, just sit outside...

...whatever you choose from the menu, it is bound to be wonderful! BON APPÉTIT!

Visit to a French Bakery in Cologne, Germany

Today we took a trip to a French Bakery in Cologne, Germany, called "Epi" (www.epi-cologne.eu). We bought some wonderful baguette and eclairs there.

Boulangerie Patisserie Française:

Neusserstrasse 32
50670 Cologne
Phone: 0221-37 99 66-56
Opening hours: daily from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.
E-mail: kontakt@epi-cologne.eu

Maternusplatz 4
50996 Cologne
Phone: 0221-93 72 17-12
Opening hours: daily from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.
E-mail: kontakt@epi-cologne.eu

Alte Bahnhofstasse 14
53173 Bonn
Phone: 0228-93 49 70-73
Opening hours: daily from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.
E-mail: kontakt@epi-cologne.eu