Hazelnut Cake with a Granola Topping

This cake is a  fairly healthy cake, loaded with hazelnuts and applesauce, and easy to prepare.

Ingredients:
1 9x13 inch (30x40 cm) Pyrex dish or deep baking dish
Some grease

For the batter:
250 g all-purpose flour
3 leveled teaspoons baking powder
125 g sugar
200 g ground hazelnuts
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
250 g soft butter or margarine
4 eggs
50 ml milk

For the topping:
350 g applesauce
200 g granola

For the glaze:
100 g apple jelly
1 tablespoon water

Preparation:
1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius (350F). Grease Pyrex dish or deep baking dish.
2. Mix flour and baking powder, then sift into a bowl. Add remaining ingredients for the batter and using an electric hand mixer whisk everything until the batter is smooth (about 2 minutes).
3. Spread batter evenly into baking dish, then cover batter evenly with applesauce. Sprinkle granola on top, and bake cake at 180 degrees Celsius (350F) for about 25 minutes.
4. Remove cake from oven, and let cool down. Briefly bring apple jelly and water to a boil, and apply liquid glaze with a cake brush.

Serving suggestions:
Serve cake with freshly whipped cream.

Comments:
1. The cake is very nutty. If you like hazelnuts, you'll love this cake. If you don't like hazelnuts, stay away.
2. A suggestion made in the recipe book is to make the batter with rum instead of milk.

Redwine-Chocolate Brownies

Ever craved chocolate and red wine? Then this cake might be the perfect combination for you.
 
Ingredients:
9x13 inch (40x30 cm) Pyrex or other deep baking dish
some grease
 
100 g semisweet chocolate
250 g (2 1/2 sticks) butter or margarine
250 g all-purpose wheat flour
10 g unsweetened cocoa powder
3 leveled teaspoons baking powder
125 g sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 eggs
100 ml red wine
150 g semisweet chocolate chips

to soak the cake:
125 ml (1/2 cup) red wine

for the glaze
200 g semisweet chocolate
1 tablepoon heavy whipping cream, half and half or vegetable oil

Preparation:
1. Grease baking dish and preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius (350F).
2. Melt butter or margarine in a bowl. Melt chocolate over a water bath.
3. Sift flour into a bowl. Add cocoa, baking powder, sugar, vanilla extract, eggs, red wine, melted butter and melted chocolate. Using an electric hand mixer whisk all ingredients until a smooth batter has formed. Fold in chocolate chips, then pour batter into greased baking dish.
4. Bake cake for about 20-25 min at 180 degrees Celsius (350F) or until toothpick comes out clean.
5. Remove cake from oven, then soak cake evenly with red wine, let cake fully cool down.
6. Melt chocolate over a water bath at low heat. Add 1 tablespoon heavy whipping cream or half and half (I prefer those over oil), spread chocolate evenly over cake.
7. Using a baking comb decorate cake by making a pattern in the chocolate cake. Serve when chocolate has fully cooled down.

Classic Yoghurt Cream Cake

Ingredients:

One springform (28 cm or 11 inches in diameter)

Parchment paper 

Stovetop pot

Batter

100 g all-purpose flour 

25 g starch

3 leveled teaspoons baking powder 

125 g sugar 

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract 

1 pinch of salt 

3 eggs

125 g (1 stick) butter or margarine 

Filling

1 can mandarine oranges or sliced peaches

500 g Greek yogurt (Fage or Chobani brands)

400 g whipping cream

1 satchel gelatine 

Preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius (350F). Line springform bottom with parchment paper.

2. In a bowl mix flour, starch, baking powder, then add all remaining ingredients for the batter. Whisk everything with an electric hand mixer until a smooth batter has formed.

3. Spread batter evenly in springform and bake for about 25 minutes at 180 degrees Celsius (350F).

4. Remove cake from oven, carefully remove springform edge (use a knife if necessary), and let cake cool down on parchment paper on a rack.

5. In the meantime, drain mandarine oranges, collect the juice. Set aside 12-16 slices of mandarine oranges (for as many pieces as you want).

6. Take 100 ml (1/3 cup) of the mandarine oranges' juice, put in a stovetop pot and add Gelatine powder. Carefully heat the juice and stir until gelatine has dissolved. Add 2 tablespoons of Greek yogurt and stir. Then add the mixture into the remaining Greek yogurt and briefly blend.

7. Pour the whipping cream into a bowl and whisk cream until stiff.

8. Add mandarine oranges to Greek yogurt, then carefully fold in the whipped cream.

9. Flip cooled cake upside down, remove parchment paper, and cut cake once horizontally.

10. Add filling on top of one cake half, spread evenly, then carefully place the second cake half on top.

11. Chill cake for about 3 h or overnight prior to serving. Sprinkle cake with powdered sugar just before serving. Decorate with slices of mandarine oranges.

Lemon Cake with strawberries

Ingredients:

Deep baking dish or Pyrex dish (30x40 cm or 9x13 inches)

Some grease

For the batter:

100 g (1 stick) butter or margarine 

100 g sugar 

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract 

1 pinch of salt 

4 eggs 

300 g flour 

3 leveld teaspoons baking powder 

Juice and peel from one lemon

75 ml (1/4 cup) milk

1 pound strawberries

Some powdered sugar

Preparation:

1. Wash strawberries, drain excess water (e.g. put them on a paper towel), remove core, then cut them into halves or quarters depending on their size.

2. Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius (350F). Grease baking sheet or dish.

3. Using an electric hand mixer blend butter until smooth, add sugar, vanilla extract and salt and whisk until sugar isn't crunchy any longer. Add eggs, one at a time, and whisk for about 1/2 minute per egg.

4. Mix flour and baking powder, sift, and add in two portions to the batter. Alternate with milk if the batter gets too heavy.

5. Add lemon juice and lemon peel, then spread batter into greased baking form. Add strawberries on top of the batter.

6. Bake cake at 180 degrees Celsius (350F) for about 1 h or until toothpick comes out clean.

7. Remove cake from oven let cool, the sprinkle with powdered sugar before serving.

Chocolate Cake

This cake uses semisweet chocolate and a little instant coffee giving it a nice balanced, not to sweet chocolate taste.

Ingredients:

Springform (26 or 28 cm in diameter, 10 or 11 inches)

Some grease

For the batter:

300 g semisweet chocolate 

4 egg whites 

1 pinch of salt 

250 g (2 sticks) very soft butter

100 g sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract or 1 package vanilla sugar 

4 egg yolks

1 teaspoon instant coffee powder 

125 g all-purpose flour

Preparation:

1. Melt chocolate in a bowl over hot water. Grease springform. Preheat oven to 170 degrees Celsius (340 F).

2. Separate eggs. Using an electric hand mixer who's egg whites and salt until very stiff peaks appear.

3. Whisk butter until smooth, add the sugar and keep whisking until you can no longer hear the crunch from the sugar. Add vanilla extract or vanilla sugar. Mix in egg yolks, one at a time.add coffee powder and melted chocolate, and whisk until batter is smooth. Make sure to scrape the sides of the bowl. Soft flour into batter and mix. Lastly, carefully fold in egg whites.

4. Pour batter into greased springform, then bake cake for about 30 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean at 170 degrees Celsius (340 F).

5. Remove cake from oven, let cool down before serving.

Comments:

1. This cake is terrific when lukewarm and served with freshly whipped cream.

2. You can also serve this cake with warm cherries and freshly whipped cream.

Eggnogg Cake

This cake doesn't have to made around Christmas time, it's great all year round. For this cake I buy alcoholic eggnogg like Verpoorten, a famous Dutch eggnogg, but a cheaper one such as Pennsylvania Dutch will work, too. I've never made this cake with alcohol-free eggnog, but I don't think it will make a difference.

Ingredients:

Gugelhupfform 

Grease

Some flour 

For the batter:

125 g all-purpose flour

125 g starch

4 leveled teaspoon baking powder

200 g powdered sugar 

2 packages vanilla sugar or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

250 ml vegetable oil 

250 ml eggnogg 

5 eggs 

1. Grease and flour Gugelhupfform. Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius (350F).

2. Mix flour and starch in a large bowl. Add all remaining ingredients and mix everything using an electric hand mixer for at least 1 minute. Make sure to scrape the sides of the bowl during mixing the batter.

3. Pour batter into Gugelhupfform and bake cake for about 1 h at 180 degrees Celsius (350F) or until toothpick comes out clean.

4. Remove cake from oven, let cake cool down in Gugelhupfform for about 10 minutes. Flip form upside down, the cake should readily slide out. Dust cake with powdered sugar before serving.

Comments:

1. If you don't own a Gugelhupfform you can use a 9x13 inch Pyrex dish or 28 cm Springform. ( I haven't tried that, so you may have to test whether those sizes wor or if the cake rises too high and the amount used for the recipe needs to be scaled down or split into two baking forms).

2. If you don't want to use alcoholic eggnogg you can use alcohol-free eggnogg, again something I haven't tried yet, but I don't see why it shouldn't work.

Apricot-Cashew Cake

Ingredients:

For the batter:

250 g (2 sticks) of butter

150 g sugar 

5 eggs

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract or 1 package vanilla sugar 

1 pinch of salt 

350 g all-purpose flour

2 leveled teaspoons baking powder 

100 g cashew nuts 

500 g (1 pound) fresh apricots or 1 can apricots

For the topping:

100 ml apricot liquor 

200 ml whipping cream

1 Greek yogurt vanilla 

50 ml apricot liquor 

Preparation:

1. Prepare apricots: Cut fresh apricots in half, remove pit, the dice apricot halves. For canned apricots, drain the juice, the dice apricot halves.

2. Remove 24 cashews, then chop the remaining cashews. Grease baking form and preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius (350 F).

3. Using an electric hand mixer whisk butter until smooth. Add sugar, vanilla extract or sugar and salt. Whisk until sugar does no longer crunch. Add eggs, one at a time, and whisk for at least 1/2 minute per egg.

4. Mix all-purpose flour and baking powder. Sift mixture into a new bowl, then add flour in two portions into batter.

5. Spread batter evenly in baking dish. Sprinkle apricot and cashew pieces over the batter. Bake cake for about 30 minutes at 180 degrees Celsius (350 F).

6. Remove cake from oven. Brush the hot cake with apricot liquor, then let cake cool down and cut into pieces.

7. Whip cream until fully stiff. Mix yoghurt and apricot liquor. Fold whipped cream into yoghurt. Fill piping bag with yoghurt mixture and decorate each piece of the cake with some cream, then add a cashew on top.

Comments:

1. I didn't have any apricot liquor, so I mixed a little apricot jam with vodka. Since vodka is very neutral it takes on the taste of the apricots. Alternatively, if you use canned apricots you can use the apricot juice.

2. Make sure to use a very dry Greek yogurt. Any additional liquid will turn the whipped cream liquid. Also, avoid overmixing the yoghurt when adding the liquor or when folding in the whipped cream.