Simple Semolina Muffins

Who doesn't love some sweet yellow muffins with a cup of strong hot coffee for breakfast? It's definitely one of the simplest and easiest recipes that I've ever tried and they're good for almost everything, a sweet breakfast, a cosy afternoon coffee, a small gift for a friend, just anything. You can frost them or dust them with some icing sugar or dip them in a chocolate ganache or eat them just like that when they're fresh from out of the oven.

Simple Semolina Muffins
makes 12 regular size muffins or one medium size round cake

1 cup yellow semolina
1 cup milk or buttermilk
1 cup sugar 
1 cup flour 
10 Tabsp vegetable oil
3 eggs
2 tsp baking powder

(optional: about 1 cup of raisins, chopped nuts, fresh berries, dried apricots, softened poppy seeds, seasonal fruits cut in small pieces, ...)

Line 12 muffin moulds with paper cups or line a medium size round baking pan with baking paper. Combine semolina with milk in a large bowl and let sit for at least 1 hour. 

Preheat oven to 180C. Whisk the semolina milk mixture and beat in the oil. In another bowl beat the eggs together with sugar until light and bubbly for about 3 minutes. Add to the semolina mixture and whisk well. Sieve over flour and baking powder and quickly beat in. (Add 1 cup of an ingredient you like mentioned above.) Fill the batter in the 12 muffin cups and bake for about 25 - 30 minutes until done. If you use this recipe for a cake it might take another 10 minutes in the oven.

 

Moist and Rich Lemon Sour Cream Cake

Let's just say: This cake is an excellent mixture between creamy and fruity. 

If you have been following the recipe posts on my blog (I know you have! right??!!) you have probably noticed that I don't care much about low-fat products. I've never enjoyed them and I rarely use them. Instead, I think that a healthy amount of fat in your food makes the meals even more delicious. So if it says in the recipe 'sour cream' definitely use real sour cream, if it says 'whipping cream 40%' use real whipping cream 40%, if it says 'butter' use real butter. Have you ever tried to make one dessert with low-fat buttermilk (1% fat) and another with usual heavy cream (50% - 60% fat) and then compared the taste of both with each other? Then you know, obviously, that you cannot make a nice dessert or a sweet cake without using fat. Impossible.

That's why this mouth-watering cake contains full-fat sour cream in the frosting and a looot of fresh vegetable oil in the cake layers. 

Bake it. 

Frost it. 

Decorate it. 

Enjoy a piece. 

And then another. 

Never worry about calories. 

If you have a really healthy lifestyle with a lot of exercising, you can enjoy as much baked stuff as you desire without falling sick or becoming overweight.

So here comes the recipe . . .

Lemon Sour Cream Cake

cake layers

3 eggs

zest of 2 large lemons 

16 Tabsp sugar

16 Tabsp vegetable oil

5 Tabsp cold water

16 Tabsp white flour

15gm baking powder

1 tsp salt

Preheat the oven to 175C. Line the bottom of two regular round baking pans with baking paper. Beat the eggs, sugar and lemon zest using a hand mixer on high speed until very light and foamy. Add oil and water, beat in quickly. Sift together flour, baking powder and salt and sieve it over the wet mixture. Beat in quickly just until incorporated. Fill in the two lined baking pans and bake for about 20 - 30 minutes until nicely golden. Remove from the pans and let cool completely.

lemon glaze

juice of 1 lemon, freshly squeezed

1 tsp sugar

Whisk together lemon juice and sugar until the sugar is completely dissolved. Brush the top of each cooled cake layer with the sweetened lemon juice. Let soak for a few minutes.

frosting

1000gm full-fat sour cream / crème fraîche

250gm white sugar

1 Tabsp corn starch

grated chocolate (optional)

Combine sour cream, sugar and corn starch in a large bowl and beat using a hand mixer on high speed until the mixture becomes very creamy and fluffy for about 2 - 3 minutes. Frost the two cake layers. (Sprinkle some grated chocolate on top, if desired.) Let cool and soak completely for a few hours or overnight. Enjoy :)

Sweet Yeasted Cinnamon Swirls

Is there anything yummier than sweet cinnamon swirl buns for breakfast?
The warm scent of cinnamon and slightly caramelized top when you take the swirls out of the oven is just amazing. Actually I wanted to dust the baked swirls with some icing sugar on top but I couldn't. I skipped the icing sugar and I found myself eating the warm cakes right away just like that.
They now definitely belong to my all-time favorite recipes, I can't wait to bake them again. So please, do me a favor and bake those swirls right now. You'll love them.

Sweet Yeasted Cinnamon Swirls 
recipe adapted from Solodke (in Russian), recipe slightly changed

for one medium size round baking pan
500gm white flour
1 tsp salt
20gm fresh yeast in very small pieces or crumbles
100gm sugar
2 eggs, lightly beaten
300ml luke warm milk
100gm butter or margarine, melted
about 2 Tabsp ground cinnamon (or more if desired)
about 2 Tabsp white sugar (normally I increase the amount of cinnamon and reduce the sugar as I prefer the swirls or buns to have a very strong cinnamon flavour)

Combine the fresh yeast, milk and sugar in a small glass bowl and let sit for a few minutes until the mixture starts to become light and foamy.
Using a large glass bowl sift together flour and salt, form a mould in the middle of the flour mixture. Add the yeast mixture, the eggs and the melted butter. Stir carefully using a wooden spatula and adding more and more flour from the sides of the bowl until everything is incorporated. Move the dough to a lightly floured surface and knead until it becomes very smooth and elastic. (You might need to add a little bit more flour to the dough if it's too sticky.)
Place the dough in the glass bowl again and let rise at a very warm place (25° - 35°C) for about 1 hour until doubled in size.
Line the bottom of a medium size baking pan with baking paper. Combine ground cinnamon and sugar in a small bowl.
Remove the dough from the glass bowl and devide into 3 equal parts. Roll out the first one into a round shape. Sprinkle the cinnamon mixture on top. Cut the rolled out dough into triangular segments. Roll in each piece of dough starting from the outside and moving inwards. Place the swirls in the lined baking pan.
Continue with the 2 remaining parts of the dogh and put everything in the baking pan. It doesn't have to be perfect, the messier you prepare the buns the cuter they will look afterwards. Sprinkle the top of the swirls with some more cinnamon and sugar if desired.
Let rise again at a very warm place for another 30 minutes until the yeasted dough has risen notably. Preheat the oven to 190°C. Bake for about 30 minutes until done and nicely browned. Remove from the oven. Take a deep breath and enjoy the amazing scent in your whole apartment. Eat.

Apple Chocolate Cheesecake

The combination of a nice buttery crust, a heavy chocolate cheesecake and a fruity apple cake is weird. I admit that. But still, it's really worth trying. If you are a passionate breakfast lover like me you're going to adore this cake. It's perfect for breakfast. 

Apple Chocolate Cheesecake

dough
5 Tabsp butter
1 1/4 cups flour
1 egg
a pinch of salt
1 Tabsp sugar
1/4 cup water

Combine the ingredients for the base. Place on a floured surface and knead until the dough is soft and elastic. Roll it out. Line a medium size baking pan. Place the dough in the lined baking pan with the sides of the dough hanging out.

batter/filling
500gm curd cheese
2 eggs
100gm butter
150gm chocolate
2 Tabsp corn starch
5 Tabsp semolina
3 Tabsp cocoa powder
100gm sugar

+ 5 large baking apples, cut into slices or pieces
 
Preheat the oven to 200C. Melt together the butter and chocolate in a large bowl. Beat in the eggs, curd cheese and sugar. Sift together the dry ingredients and sieve over the wet mixture. Beat in quickly until incorporated. 
Arrange half of the apple slices on the dough in the baking pan and spread about one half of the cheesecake mixture on top of the apples. Arrange the remaining apples on the cake mixture and spread the rest of the batter on the apples.
Fold back the sides of the dough. Bake for about 40 - 50 minutes until done and nicely browned. 
Dust with some icing sugar if you like.