Summer Cake with Strawberries, Lemon and Yogurt

In summer, waking up in the morning to warm sunshine and a blue sky feels so good. But it feels even better when you know that there's a freshly baked strawberry cake waiting for you to eat it for breakfast. Well, I must correct myself: not only for breakfast, but all day long. Seriously, this cake is perfect at any time. Serve it with a spoonful of lightly sweetened plain greek yogurt on top and there you go - the most delicious summer dessert of all time!

Strawberry Summer Cake

batter
150gm butter or margarine, at room temperature
150gm white sugar
1/2 tsp salt
a pinch of ground nutmeg
a pinch of ground cinnamon
3 eggs
zest of 1 lemon (about 2 tsp)
280gm regular white flour
2 tsp baking powder
130gm plain yogurt or buttermilk

+ about 300gm of fresh fruits, cut in halves or pieces or slices - I was using 1 large nectarine cut in thin slices and about 20 large strawberries cut in halves. What kind of seasonal fruit you add totally depends on your taste. blueberries, strawberries, blackberries, pears, apricots, nectarines, kiwi, rhubarb - add anything you wish.

Preheat your oven to 200 C. Line a medium size round baking pan with baking paper but do not grease the sides of the pan. Place soft butter, sugar, lemon zest, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg in a large bowl and beat using a hand mixer on high speed until fluffy for about a minute. Beat in the eggs, one at a time. In another bowl sift together flour and baking powder and sieve it over the wet mixture, quickly beating it in. The batter should be very dry and sticky. Now add the yogurt or buttermilk and quickly beat it in as well making sure that everything is well incorporated. Now the batter should be extremely fluffy, light and smooth. Put the batter into the lined baking pan spreading it evenly. Arrange all the pieces or slices of fruit on top of the batter and lightly press them in. Now prepare the crumble mixture...

crumbles

30gm butter or margarine, at room temperature

30gm sugar

50gm regular white flour

a pinch of salt

Combine the ingredients for the crumbles in a bowl and beat using a hand mixer on low speed for about 10 seconds, just until the mixture is lumpy and crumbly, and arrange the crumbles on top of the cake onto the fruits. Put everything in the oven and bake for about 45 minutes until done and nicely golden. Let it cool completely and then remove the cake from the baking pan. Enjoy ...

Simple Oatmeal Yogurt Cookies

Honestly, this needs no introduction. These cookies are extremely easy to make and they're perfect for breakfast, just have them with a cup of simple hot coffee or (if you are into yogurt like I am) cut some fruits that you like in small pieces, mix them with half a cup of plain yogurt and crumble some oatmeal cookies on top, and voilà - another delicious breakfast is ready!

Simple Oatmeal Yogurt Cookies
makes about 2 dozen medium size cookies

1 cup simple white flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 Tabsp butter
3/4 cups sugar
1 egg
1/4 cup yogurt

1 1/2 cups oats (any kind you like, I was using quick cooking oats. Use old-fashioned rolled oats if you prefer cookies that are more crispy and chunky)

Preheat oven to 180 C. Line 2 baking sheets with baking paper. Cream together butter and sugar using an electric mixer on high speed. Add the egg and yogurt, mix well. In another bowl sift together flour, baking powder and salt and sieve the dry mixture over the wet mixture, mix everything together. Now fold in the oats. For one cookie drop about one tablespoon of the batter on the lined baking sheets (or about one teaspoon of batter for smaller size cookies). When dropping the small portions of batter on the sheet, make sure to leave some space in between as the cookies will slightly spread while baking. Bake for about 10 - 12 minutes until nicely golden and done. Enjoy.

Yeasted Apple Pancakes

Coming from a family of many different races and ethnicities I grew up learning a lot about the Kazakh, Greek, Russian, Armenian, German, Korean, Jewish and Ukrainian cuisine, to mention only a few. Korean glass noodle salad, Russian black bread, Armenian kefir and Kazakh syrup sweets - as a child, I had all of this together (Goodness, I'll never forget the good old days...) If you are also of a mixed family background you'll probably know what I'm talking about. But anyway, I'm straying from the subject, let's get back to the main story I wanted to talk about: yeasted apple pancakes. As a child, I ate a lot of pancakes. No matter if those were Russian or German or Greek pancakes, no matter if they were made with buttermilk, yeast or whole wheat flour, no matter if I added honey or jam or cream cheese on top - I've tried endlessly many different kinds of pancakes. And, honestly, I still haven't fallen out of love with pancakes. They're always great, no matter what. That's why I wanted to share an amazingly delicious pancake recipe with you which uses yeast for the batter, apple slices for the top and which is perfect for a warm, fruity and sweet breakfast meal. Trust me. These. Are. Simply. Good.

Yeasted Apple Pancakes

250gm flour (I was using regular white flour, use whole wheat flour if you prefer to live on the healthy side of life)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
3 Tabsp sugar
20gm fresh yeast, in crumbles or small pieces
250gm warm milk
3 Tabsp melted butter or margarine
3 eggs
2 apples, in thick slices
some butter for frying

In a large glass bowl, combine flour, salt and cinnamon and mix well. Slightly press in the top of the flour mixture using your fingers to make sort of a pit or deepening, in which you have to place the crumbled yeast, sugar, melted butter and milk. Gently stir, just until a bit combined and let sit for a few minutes until the yeast mixture on top of the dry mixture starts to get light and foamy. Add eggs and start beating the batter using a hand mixer on high speed until everything is well incorporated. Cover the bowl with a kitchen towel or a plastic wrap and let sit at a very warm place for about 40 - 60 minutes until the batter has risen a little bit. Now make the pancakes: melt some butter in a frying pan at medium heat, drop about 2 - 3 tablespoons of batter in the pan and place one apple slice on top of the pancake. Fry on both sides at medium heat for about 3 minutes until golden brown. Continue until batter and apple slices are used up. 

Serve while still warm adding some liquid honey or maple syrup on top of the pancakes.

 

Sweetened Condensed Milk Cupcakes

Look at them, aren't they just lovely? Kind of childish and girly. They remind me of a kids party with a lot of baked stuff, colorful jellies and many sweets. But no. No kids. And no party. It was just me and some friends having mokka with some sweetnened condensed milk cupcakes. Originally, the recipe that I was using was meant to be for a pound cake.  Fabulous but so easy. The batter was very soft but at the same time very fluffy and spongy and went excellent together with the rich and heavy frosting. I'm definitely going to use this recipe again, probably trying a simple sweetened condensed milk pound cake next time.

Sweetened Condensed Milk Cupcakes
makes about 10 regular size cupcakes
cupcake recipe (slightly changed) taken from J's Kitchen

cupcakes
100gm soft butter or margarine
40gm sugar
2 eggs
120gm flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
200gm (1/2 can) sweetened condensed milk

Preheat the oven to 180 C. Line 10 regular size muffin moulds with paper cups or line a 20 x 20-cm cake pan with baking paper. In a large bowl cream together butter and sugar until fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time and beat in. Add sweetened condensed milk and beat well until incorporated. In another bowl sift together flour, baking powder and salt, sieve over wet mixture and beat in quickly just until everything is combined. Pour into prepared muffin cups or baking pan. Bake for about 20 - 25 minutes (or for about 40 minutes if you bake a cake) until nicely browned. Take out of the oven, remove from the pan and let cool completely.

frosting
250gm curd cheese or cream cheese
2 tsp corn starch
1/2 cup powdered sugar

In a large bowl beat together the ingredients for the frosting using a hand mixer on high speed until everything is well incorporated and the mixture is very fluffy. Frost the cupcakes.

Optional: Decorate with some jelly fruits if you want. Enjoy :)

Simple Banana Yogurt Bread

It's quite weird but I absolutely hate bananas while I absolutely love banana cake. Well, I know that's not normal, but come one... we all have strange quirks we can't get rid of. Face it. I hate bananas. I love banana cake.
But a moist banana cake with some yogurt added to the batter is even better. Although I'm still not entirely sure why those kind of recipes are called 'banana bread' instead of simply 'banana cake', I don't mind at all as long as the so-called 'bread' is delicious. Just as the Spanish proverb tells us 'If there is no bread, cakes will do.'
 

Simple Banana Yogurt Bread

1 cup sugar
2 Tabsp butter
2 eggs
3 cups white flour
1.5 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
3 mashed bananas combined with 2 cups of yogurt or instead use 2 cups of bought banana yogurt (containing real bananas or banana flavour)

Preheat your oven to 180C. Line a loaf pan with baking paper. Cream butter and sugar together using a hand mixer on high speed until very fluffy. Add the eggs and beat in. Add the mashed bananas+yogurt or the banana yogurt and beat in as well. Sieve over flour, baking powder and salt and quickly beat in just until incorporated. Do not over beat. Pour the mixture into the lined loaf pan and bake for about 45 - 55 minutes until done and the top of the cake is golden brown. Let cool completely.

Optional: Sprinkle the top of the cake with some melted chocolate or dust the cake with some icing sugar.

Chocolate filled Oatmeal Ginger Cookies

  

- It's builder's tea. We dunk biscuits into it.

- Dunk?

- Means lowering the biscuit into the tea and letting it soak in there and trying to calculate the exact moment before the biscuit dissolves, when you whip it up into your mouth and enjoy the blissful union of biscuits and tea combined. It's more relaxing than it sounds.
(Quote taken from the movie 'The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel')

Everytime I eat cookies together with some black tea or coffee I think of this quote. My favorite ones to dunk into tea or coffee are oatmeal cookies. And my absolute all-time favorite ones to dunk into tea or coffee are chocolate filled spicey cookies. It's so simple but so delicious so that you just have to try this recipe, you won't regret it!

And oh! before I forget, here's another lovely quote I absolutely adore from the same movie:

- Everything will be allright in the end. So if it is not allright, then it is not yet the end ...

Chocolate filled Oatmeal Ginger Cookies

(makes about 1 dozen big double-cookies or about 2 dozen small double-cookies)

dough

1/2 cup butter or margarine, at room temperature

3/4 cup sugar

1 egg

1 1/4 cups oats

2/3 cups white flour

2 tsp baking powder

pinch of ground nutmeg

2 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp salt

Preheat your oven to 200C. Line 4 baking sheets with baking paper. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg, just until incorporated. Sieve over flour together with baking powder, salt and spices, add oats and mix everything well until you have a thick but still soft mixture. (You might want to add a little bit more flour if it seems to you that the dough is too sticky.) Roll out dough on a lightly floured surface and cut out the cookies using a drinking glass or a cup of the size you want your cookies to be. Place the cookies on the lined baking sheets and bake for about 10 minutes until done and nicely browned. Let cool completely before filling them.

filling

about 100gm melted dark chocolate (it depends on how much filling you want to have between two cookies, if you want them to be less-sweet, reduce the amount of chocolate. If you want the extreme sugar shock, use a lot of sweet milk chocolate instead of less dark chocolate. It totally depends on your taste. You decide.)

Take two completely cooled cookies and spread some melted chocolate (about 1-2 tsp) on one and then simply stick the two cookies together. Continue to fill the remaining cookies until everything is used up. Place the filled cookies on a wire rack until the chocolate is completely cooled.

Enjoy with a hot cup of tea or coffee. And don't forget to dunk them into it.

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.

 

 

 

 

Jewish Honey-Drizzled Syrup Cake

A soft buttery batter soaked in sweet honey syrup. What else do you need to be happy? Well, maybe a cup of strong hot mokka. 

Jewish Semolina Syrup Cake
recipe adapted from Big Girls Small Kitchen (slightly changed recipe)

batter
120gm soft butter or margarine
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
zest of 2 lemons
1/2 cup milk
2 cups yellow semolina
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
a pinch of nutmeg

Preheat your oven to 175C. Line a  medium size round pan or a 20 x 30-cm baking pan with baking paper. Combine butter and sugar, cream using a hand mixer on high speed. Beat in eggs, one at a time, add milk and lemon zest and beat on high speed just until incorporated.
Sift together semolina, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. Sieve over the wet mixture and mix well. Fill the batter in the prepared pan and bake in the preheated oven for about 30 minutes.

honey syrup
1/2 cup honey
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup water

While the cake is baking, prepare the syrup. Combine the ingredients for the honey syrup in a sauce pan. Place on high heat and bring to a boil. Let simmer for about 5 minutes, then remove from heat. 
When the cake is done, take it out of the oven and slowly pour the hot honey syrup all over the cake using a spoon. Let soak and cool completely overnight.
Optional: Sprinkle with almonds if you like.

Wedding Chocolate Cupcakes with Caramel Buttercream Frosting

A few days ago my great-grandparents had their 65th wedding anniversary. Since this is a huge number of years and and amazing event, my whole big family was celebrating as if there was no tomorrow. Everyone in my family loves to talk loudly, to eat a lot, to sing out of tune and to hug each other like crazy. So, in short, I was having a great time. Not only because of my lovely family but also because of all our delicious traditional food. And I can say with pride that somewhere on the dessert table between about hundreds of other cakes, there were some beautiful little chocolate cupcakes with a pretty buttercream frosting made by me. And now they are requested and desired for every future celebration or family event. 
That's why you should definitely try them. The batter is extremely moist and soft while the buttercream is very fluffy and creamy. They're perfect for any special occasion. So here comes the recipe ...

Chocolate Cupcakes With Caramel Buttercream Frosting
(cupcake recipe taken from raspberricupcakes, I slightly changed the recipe)

cupcakes (makes about 12 medium size cupcakes)
95gm white flour
150gm sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
6 Tabsp unsweetened cocoa powder
6 Tabsp hot water
85gm melted butter
6 Tabsp buttermilk or low-fat yogurt
1 egg

Preheat the oven to 180C. Line 12 muffin pans with muffin paper cups. Sift together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Combine cocoa powder and hot water and stir until the mixture is a thick paste. (According to Steph, this step intensifies the chocolate flavour of the cupcakes. I think it definitely works. The cupcakes had a very strong and delicious chocolaty taste. So don't skip this process.) Beat together the chocolate paste, butter, buttermilk and the egg. Sieve over the flour mixture and beat just until incorporated. Fill the batter in the prepared muffin cups and bake for about 20 minutes until done. Remove from the pan and let cool completely. 

buttercream
100gm butter, at room temperature
200gm cream cheese, at room temperature
2 cups icing sugar
2 Tabsp caramel syrup (or use any other kind of syrup you like)
3 tsp corn starch

Beat together butter and cream cheese. Sieve over corn starch and beat in quickly. Sieve over the icing sugar and continue beating for about 2 minutes until very smooth and well incorporated. Add the syrup and mix. The mixture should be very thick but smooth. Frost the 12 completely cooled cupcakes. (Optional: I decorated the frosted cakes with some dark chocolate roses. Use whatever you wish.)
Enjoy :)

New York Cheesecake With Raspberry Topping

There are probably at least hundreds or thousands of recipes for NY Cheesecake. But this is the best one. Trust me. A nice buttery crust, a moist and heavy cheese filling and a very fruity and sweet raspberry topping. Honestly, I could have eaten the whole cake all by myself. 

New York Cheesecake with Raspberry Topping

crust
200gm ground biscuits or cookies or whatever you like
120gm butter, melted

Line a normal size round baking pan with baking paper and grease the sides.
Combine ground biscuits and the melted butter, mix well and press the mixture on the bottom of the pan. Place in the fridge while preparing the cream cheese mixture.

cheesecake
1kg curd cheese or cream cheese (or ricotta for the Italian version of the cheesecake)
1 cup sugar
3 Tabsp flour
4 eggs
100ml heavy cream
zest of 1-2 lemons (depends on how lemony and fruity you want your cheesecake to be)

Preheat the oven to 180C.
Beat curd cheese using a hand mixer until very smooth. Sieve over sugar and flour, beat until well combined. Quickly beat in the eggs, one at a time. Add cream and lemon zest and beat again just until everything is well incorporated and you have a smooth and heavy mixture.
Take the baking pan with the crust on the bottom out of the fridge. Pour the cheese mixture in and smooth the top.
Place the cake into the oven and bake for about 15 minutes at 180C. Then reduce the temperature to 150C and continue to bake for about 60 - 70 minutes until done.
The sides of the cake should be nicely browned but the middle part or the inside should still be a little bit wobbly and creamy.
Take out of the oven and let cool completely, then remove from the baking pan.

raspberry topping
1/3 cup orange juice
1 Tabsp corn starch
1 Tabsp sugar
1 cup raspberries (fresh or frozen and thawed)

Place orange juice, sugar and corn starch in a small sauce pan and whisk well to avoid lumps of the corn starch. Heat the mixture on high heat while continously stiring for about 3 minutes until slightly thickened. Remove from heat and carefully fold in the raspberries. Arrange on top of the cooled cheesecake. Keep the cake in fridge until completely cooled.
Enjoy :)

Viennese Apfelstrudel

After two posts about baking with apples I honestly still don't have enough of them. You can create soo many delicious things using apples, they seem to be kind of a miracle in my kitchen. There are things like apple jam, apple buns, apple muffins, apple pancakes, apple cakes, apple tarts and no matter where you put the apples in, everything turns out delicious. That's why I'm going to show you another amazing apple recipe. I'm not Austrian and I've never been to Vienna but the traditional viennese Apfelstrudel is what I fell in love with.

Viennese Apfelstrudel

dough
250gm white flour
2gm salt
1 egg
100gm lukewarm water
20gm oil

some melted butter for brushing
some sliced almonds for sprinkling

filling
1kg apples, in pieces or chunks
140gm sugar
10gm cinnamon
170gm raisins
50gm melted butter

Combine the ingredients for the dough using your hands and knead until the dough becomes very elastic and soft. Add a bit more oil if the dough sticks to your fingers.
Place in a bowl and let sit for about 30 minutes.

Combine the ingredients for the filling and mix well.
Preheat oven to 190C.
Roll out the dough in a rectangular shape on a floured surface. The dough should be very thin. Place a clean towel on the rolled out dough and roll it in very carefully making sure not to tear the dough.Flip over the rolled in towel and roll it out in the opposite direction so that the dough is now on top of the towel and not unterneath.
Arrange the filling evenly on top of the dough leaving the sides without filling.
Fold in the sides of the dough. Slowly roll in the dough with the filling using the towel.
Place on a lined baking sheet. Brush with some melted butter and sprinkle some sliced almonds on top.
Bake for about 30 - 40 minutes until golden brown. 
Enjoy :)

Apple Cinnamon Rolls ❤

Let me introduce to you the best baked stuff that has ever been made: the one and only apple cinnamon rolls. A soft and fluffy yeasted dough, heavy and sweet apple pieces and a lightly caramelized cinnamon sugar crust. The moment I took the fresh and hot rolls out of the oven we just couldn't resist the impulse to eat almost everything within few minutes...

Apple Cinnamon Rolls

dough
42gm fresh yeast, in crumbles
3 Tabsp sugar
450ml warm milk
180gm melted butter
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1kg white flour
2 tsp salt
a pinch of nutmeg
+ some milk for brushing

Combine yeast, sugar and half of the milk in a glass bowl and let sit until the mixture is creamy and bubbly and the sugar is dissolved.
Sieve flour, salt and nutmeg into a very large glass bowl. Add the yeast mixture, butter, remaining milk and eggs. Stir with a wooden spoon until well incorporated. Take the dough out of the bowl and knead on a floured surface for about 4 minutes until the texture becomes very soft and elastic. 
Put it back into the glass bowl, cover with a plastic wrap and let rise at a very warm place for about 1 hour.

apple filling
2 cups apples in very small pieces
1-2 tsp ground cinnamon (or as much as desired)
1/2 cup sugar

Combine the ingredients for the filling. 
Line a baking sheet or a deep baking pan with baking paper.
Take the risen dough out of the glass bowl and knead again for a few minutes. Roll it out evenly into a rectangular shape.
Arrange the apple mixture on the rolled out dough and spread evenly.
Carefully roll in the dough and cut into 12 equal parts. Place the 12 rolls in the lined baking pan. (Sprinkle with even more sugar and cinnamon, if wanted.)
Let rise again at a very warm place for about another hour. Brush the top with some milk.
Preheat oven to 175C. Bake for about 35 - 45 minutes until golden brown.
Enjoy.