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My Christmas Cookie Baking 2020

It's been an unsual 2020, to say at least. For me personally, it gave me the opportunity to make a lot of different Christmas cookies this holiday season which I haven't had the time in the last four years (I shared my last "Christmas Cookie Baking" here). It's been such a joy baking in my very own kitchen instead of a professional restaurant kitchen and being my own chef. 
I made 28 different kinds of cookies and in total I made 1346 cookies, besides of countless of delicious lussekatter (Swedish sweet Christmas brioche with saffron) which are on of my favorite brioche of all time.  I still have to share my lussekatter recipe with you. But there is hope: there is always a next year and a next Christmas. 
1  Grenobler Nusskekse (Grenoble Nut Cookies)
2  Pepparkakor (Swedish Gingerbread Cookies, my recipe is here)
3  Syltkakor I (Swedish Jam Cookies)
4  Spekulatius (German Speculoos Cookies, my recipe is here)
5  Gewürzkugeln (Chocolate Spice Balls)
6   Schokoladenstäbchen (Chocolate Sticks)
7   Tuiles aux Amandes
8   Sirapskakor (Sliced Sirup Cookies)
9   Orangenmonde (Orange Cookies with Orange Jam)
10 Müsliflorentiner (Granola Florentine Cookies)
11 Vanillekipferl (Vanilla Crescents)
12 Glühweinschnitten (Mulled Wine Squares)
13 Minzecken (Mint Chocolate Corners)
14 Cardamom chocolate cookies
15 Dunkle Wölkchen (Dark Chocolate Clouds)
16 Skurnar Chokladkakor (Swedish Sliced Chocolate Cookies With Pearl Sugar, my recipe is here)
17 Bärentatzen (Chocolate Bear Paws)
18 Spanisches Brot (Cookies with Almonds and Meringue)
19 Elisenlenkuchen (my recipe is here)
20 Pfauenauge (Peacock Eyes Cookies, my recipe is here)
21 Spritskransar (Spritz Cookies)
22 Zitronen Terassen (Lemon Curd Terraces)
23 Russinkakor (Raisin Oatmeal Cookies, my recipe is here)
24 Haselnuss Nussknacker (Hazelnut Nut Crackers)
25 Havreflarn (Swedish Crispy Oat Cookies)
26 Überraschungsiglus (Surprise Balls Filled with Toffee)
27 Weiße Wölkchen (White Chocolate Clouds)
28 Schokoladensterne (Chocolate Stars)
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Caramel Hazelnut Petite Cakes

One of my favorite part of making French inspired cakes is unmoulding and glazing the cakes. It is always such a satisfying moment seeing the final touches of a cake coming together and it fills me - every single time - with happiness. This applies to caramel, too.
On my last Paris trip I indulged into Sadaharu Aoki's Tarte Caramel Salé Matcha and I rediscovered the deliciousness of caramel. I started to make caramel more often and I found so much joy in making caramel. This was not always like that. I remember my first attempt making caramel ( I wanted to make a tart tartin) years ago and I was quite frustrated. I could not figure out how to melt sugar properly and I was left with sugar lumps. It was a mystery to me and it took me a while how to work with sugar. It is not that difficult if you follow a few simple rules which includes patience (it takes time to melt the sugar) and not stirring while the sugar is melting since this changes the temperature of  the sugar and this means that it takes longer to melt the sugar. If you have never made caramel and the first attempt does not work out, do not be discouraged. Try again and you will be rewarded with a luscious caramel and there are many delicious way to make use of the caramel such as my caramel hazelnut mousse cake that I want to share with you today. I do not have many words for this cake but it is one of my top five favorite cakes that I have ever made (one of my favorite recipe is my caramel apple vanilla mousse cake). The caramel flavor goes so well with the hazelnuts, the caramel mousse is light and creamy; and it is a wonderful contrast to the caramelized hazelnuts. It is simply a luscious caramel dream cake. 

 Makes 6 cakes ( 6 cm / 2.4 inches in diameter)

TART SHELLS

  • My tart shell recipe is here which is a recipe by Cheryl Koh. I have written here a blog post about my tips on making tart shells. 
  • You can make the tart shells in advance. In fact, I always a few tart shells on hand which I keep in an air-tight container. 

CARAMEL MOUSSE

                                                                                                                                • 130 g / 1/2 cup and 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
                                                                                                                                • 60 g / 4 1/2 tablespoons salted butter, cut into cubes
                                                                                                                                • 200 g / 3/4 cup and 2 tablespoons heavy cream
                                                                                                                                • 1 1/2 gelatin sheets (2,25 g), soaked
  • Pour the sugar into a medium sized saucepan. Over medium-high heat, let the sugar melt. Do not stir the sugar at this stage in order to avoid sugar lumps. As soon as the sugar starts melting, switch the heat to low medium heat.
  • As soon as the sugar is completely melted and is golden in color, remove from the heat. Make sure that the sugar does not get too dark, otherwise the caramel will taste bitter, and if the caramel is too light, it taste very sweet. 
  • Carefully pour 100 g / 1 /3 cup and 1 tablespoon of the heavy cream to the melted sugar and stir constantly. Add half of the butter cubes and mix well. Place the saucepan back to the heat (medium heat) and stir until the caramel is smooth. As soon as the caramel is smooth, remove from the heat, add the rest of the butter cubes and mix well again. 
  • Divide the caramel into half (you need the other half later when assembling the cakes). 
  • Add the gelatin into one half of the caramel and stir until the gelatin is dissolved. Pour the caramel to a medium sized bowl and let it cool to room temperature. 
  • In the meantime, whip the remaining heavy cream until creamy. 
  • Fold the whipped cream into the caramel. 
  • Pour the mousse into 6 moulds. I use a silicon muffin moulds and fill the moulds until 3,5 cm / 1.4 inches high.
  • Freeze the moulds for at least 8 hours or overnight. 

CARAMELIZED HAZELNUTS

                                                                                                                                • 110 g / 3/4 cup hazelnuts
                                                                                                                                • 100 g / 1 /2 cup granulated sugar
  • Preheat the oven to 150 °C / 300 °F. 
  • Place the hazelnuts on a lined baking sheet. Roast the nuts for 15 to 20 minutes. 
  • Remove the skin of the nuts by rubbing them in a kitchen towel. Set aside 6 nuts for decoration. 
  • While rubbing the skin of the nuts, melt the sugar in medium sized saucepan. As soon as the sugar is melted (follow the steps written above in the caramel mousse), remove from the heat. Add the roasted hazelnuts to the melted sugar and stir well. Place the caramelized hazelnuts on a baking paper (be carefully it is very hot!) and quickly separate the nuts with the help of two forks. Let the nuts cool completely. Set 60 g of the caramelized hazelnuts aside and cut the nuts into halves. 
  • Place the rest of the caramelized hazelnuts in a food processor and blend until it becomes a smooth noisette paste.

NOISETTE WHIPPED CREAM

                                                                                                                                • 25 ml / 2 tablespoons whole milk
                                                                                                                                • 20 g / 1 1/2 tablespoons noisette paste
                                                                                                                                • 3/4 sheet gelatin (1 g), soaked
                                                                                                                                • 65 g / 1/4 cup heavy cream
  • Place the milk and the noisette paste in a small saucepan and heat the mixture. Remove from the heat, add the soaked gelatin and stir until the gelatin is dissolved. Pour the noisette mixture into a medium sized bowl and let it cool to room temperature. 
  • Whip the heavy cream until creamy. Fold the heavy cream into the noisette mixture. 

ASSEMBLING

  • Place a dollop of caramel onto the bottom of each tartlet shell. Use only a little bit of caramel, otherwise it gets too sweet (in my opinion).
  • Distribute the caramelized hazelnut halves onto the tartlet bottoms. Spread the noisette whipped cream on top of the nuts and smooth out the surface. 
  • Unmould the frozen caramel mousse and carefully place the mousse on top of each tartlet. Decorate each cake with a roasted hazelnut. 
  • Place each cake on a cake board and let the cakes defrost in the fridge. The cake taste best on the day you assemble the cakes (the next day the tart shells get a little bit soft).
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Snowball

A couple of weeks ago I was daydreaming of a cake in the shape of a snowball. I had a clear idea how to make the cake but I was not so sure what kind of flavor to choose for the cake. My first thought was to make a tarragon mousse with lingonberries and a speculoos bottom. I was not entirely sold on this idea but I thought I should give it a try. I went to the farmers market in order to pick up a few branches of tarragon but while I was waiting in line at a vegetable stall, I changed my mind and I bought rosemary instead. The vendor also sold some beautiful looking pomegranates and all of a sudden I knew what kind of flavors I wanted for my snowball cake creation: a rosemary white chocolate mousse with a pomegranate jelly and a cinnamon sable bottom. I envisioned a beautiful color contrast between the white mousse and the dark red color of the pomegranate. Just the thought of it made me so happy. On my way home from the farmers market, I passed a Christmas market and there was the scent of roasted almonds in the air and I decided to add roasted cinnamon almonds to the cake creation as well. This is how I came up with my latest cake creation: the snowball mousse cake with tarragon, pomegranate, cinnamon and almonds. 
I wanted to post this recipe before the holidays but this obviously did not happen. However, the petite snowball mousse cakes are delicious on any winter day. If you are still indecisive what dessert to serve on New Years Eve, you might consinder making these snowball cakes. The cake is a delicious way to end 2016 and it is also the last cake recipe that I share with you this year. I hope you have had a great year with lots of delicious cakes. I wish you nothing but the best for 2017. 
Makes 6 little cakes (7 cm / 2.8 inches in diameter, height 4,5 cm / 1.8 inches)

Pomegranate Jelly

                                                                • 1 medium sized pomegranate / 125 ml / 1/2 cup juice of a pomegranate is needed
                                                                • 5 g / 1/2 tablespoon granulated sugar
                                                                • 1 dash lemon juice
                                                                • 1 1/3 (2g) gelatin sheets, soaked
  • Cut the pomegranate in half. Squeeze the pomegranate halves. Be carefully, otherwise your kitchen might be covered in red dots. You need 125 ml / 1/2 cup juice of the pomegranate. 
  • Pour the juice into a saucepan, add the sugar and the dash of lemon juice; heat the mixture. When the pomegranate mixture is warm, remove from the heat and add the gelatin. Stir until the gelatin is completely dissolved. Divide the pomegranate mixture into six little moulds. The size of each mould I use is: 2.5 cm / 1 inch in diameter and 2.5 cm / 1 inch in height.
  • Freeze the moulds for at least two hours. 

Rosemary White Chocolate Mousse

                                                                • 50 g / 3 tablespoons heavy cream
                                                                • 1 teaspoon / 2 g rosemary needles, chopped
                                                                • 60 g / 2 ounces white chocolate, finely chopped 
                                                                • 1 sheet / 1.5 g of gelatin, soaked
                                                                • 135 g / 1/2 cup and 1 tablespoon heavy cream
  • Pour the heavy cream into a small saucepan and add the chopped rosemary needles. Bring the heavy cream to almost a boil, remove from the heat. Cover the saucepan with a lid and let the rosemary steep for 10 minutes. Pour the rosemary heavy cream mixture through a sieve and pour the heavy cream back to the saucepan. 
  • Bring the infused rosemary heavy cream almost to a boil again. Remove from the heat, add the chopped white chocolate and mix until the chocolate is melted. Add the gelatin and stir well until the gelatin is completely dissolved. 
  • Pour the mixture into a medium sized bowl and let it cool to room temperature. 
  • Beat the heavy cream until creamy. Fold the whipped cream into the rosemary white chocolate mixture. 
  • Place six hemisphere moulds ( 7 cm / 2.75 inches in diameter / I use silicon moulds) onto a tray. Fill the moulds 2/3 with the mousse. 
  • Unmould the pomegranate jelly and gently press the jelly cores into the mousse. There will be a little hole in the middle of each cake while pressing the core into the mousse. Do not level out the surface with the mousse because the hole will be filled with the roasted cinnamon almonds. 

Roasted Cinnamon Almonds

                                                                • 50 g / 1/4 cup granulated sugar
                                                                • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
                                                                • 45 ml / 3 tablespoon water
                                                                • 75 g / 1/2 cup almonds
  • In a medium sized pan, add the sugar, cinnamon and water. Bring the mixture to a boil. Add the almonds and let it simmer, over medium-high heat, for about 5 minutes until the almonds are covered in a sugar cinnamon glaze. You will notice that the almonds will be coated in sugar which look like a sand. Turn the heat down to medium and stir until the sugar melts again (it takes a while, be patient). As soon as the almonds are evenly coated with cinnamon sugar, remove from the heat. Place the almonds on parchment paper and separate the almonds that stick together, use two knifes.
  • Let the almonds cool completely, then chop the roasted almonds.

Cinnamon Sable Breton Bottom

                                                                • 75 g / 5 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter, soft
                                                                • 75 g / 6 tablespoons granulated sugar
                                                                • 30 g egg yolks / equals 2 egg yolks of medium sized eggs
                                                                • 100 g / 1 cup pastry flour
                                                                • 2 g / 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
                                                                • 1 pinch of salt
                                                                • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
  • Preheat the oven to 175 °C / 350 °F.
  • Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. 
  • Place the butter and granulated sugar in a medium sized bowl. Mix well with a spoon. Add the egg yolks and stir well again. 
  • In a separate bowl, mix flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Add the flour mixture to the butter egg mixture and stir until the dough comes together. 
  • Roll out the dough onto the baking sheet to a 23 cm / 9 inches square. 
  • Bake the sable breton for 12 minutes. Remove from the oven. Cut out circles ( 7 cm / 2.75 inches ) with a cookie cutter. Place the baking sheet back into the oven and bake for another 5 to 7 minutes or until the sable breton is golden brown in color. Let the cookie bottoms cool on a wire rack. 

White Chocolate Mirror Glaze

                                                                • 55 ml / 1/4 cup water
                                                                • 25 g / 1/2 tablespoons granulated sugar
                                                                • 50 g / 2 1/2 tablespoons glucose
                                                                • 2 1/3 (3.5 g) gelatin, soaked
                                                                • 35 g / 2 1/2 tablespoons crème double
                                                                • 50 g / 1.8 ounces white chocolate, finely chopped
  • Place water, sugar and glucose in a small saucepan. Bring the mixture to a boil and let it boil until it has reached the temperature of 103 °C / 217 °F. Remove from the heat. Add the crème double and gelatin and stir until well combined. Add the white chocolate and mix again until the chocolate is completely melted and the glaze is smooth. Pour the the glaze through a sieve and let the glaze cool until has a temperature of 40 °C / 104 °F. It is a thin glaze which I like for this cake. The glaze is more like a glue, so the coconut flakes stick to the cake. 
  • You can also prepare the glaze a few days ahead. Store the glaze in the fridge ( in a sealed jar). The glaze gets very thick but do not worry; gently reheat the glaze. 

Assembling

  • Coconut flakes, for decoration
  • Unmould the frozen mousse cakes. Fill the hole of each mousse cake with the chopped roasted cinnamon almonds. Place a cookie disc on each cake and flip the mousse cakes over. 
  • Place the frozen mousse cake on a wire rack (place a deep plate under the wire rack, so you can catch the excess glaze which you can reuse). Pour the glaze over the mousse cake and cover each mousse cake with coconut flakes. I recommend glazing not more than three mousse cakes at a time. 
  • Place each mousse cake on a cake board and let the cakes defrost in the fridge and keep the cakes in the fridge until consumption.
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The Best Kouglof in Paris ∼ Vandermeersch Boulangerie

Last month I spent a few days in Paris. In the last minute I found myself travelling by myself which I made me sad. I made the best of it and it gave me the opportunity spending far too much time in cookware shops and visiting countless pastry stores and bakeries. One of the bakeries that I visited was the Vandermeersch Boulangerie which is situated at the outskirts of Paris and this was the perfect opportunity to pay a visit to this bakery. Years ago I read about Vandermeersch excellent kouglofs and I was very eager to try Vandermeersch's kouglof. So one morning I hopped on the subway and 45 minutes later ( I stayed in Montmarte) I arrived at the bakery and I found a beautiful display of kouglofs in the bakery. There were different sizes of kouglof available. I opted for two petite kouglofs - although I was tempted to buy a big kouglof - but there was no way that I could finish one big kouglof myself. The small kouglofs from Vandermeersch are sprinkled with granulated sugar whereas the bigger ones are sprinkled with powdered sugar and decorated with almonds but apart from the size I do not think there is difference between the kouglofs.
After my successful kouglof purchase I hopped back on the subway and went to the Marais ( it is just about 20 minutes from the Vandermeersch bakery away) and I sat down on a park bench in the Square Georges-Cain park (it is next to the Swedish institute with a lovely cafe with Swedish pastries) in order to have my kouglof breakfast. I literally devoured one of the kouglhofs, not because I was starving, but because it was so good. It was the very BEST kouglof that I have ever eaten in my entire life. It was fluffiest, moistest, airiest yeasted kouglof with a hint of orange blossom water. It really blew my mind. I really did not expect. It was truly one of the best breakfast that I had in a long time and I was glad that I bought two kouglofs (I saved my other kouglof for my dinner). Writing this blog post about Vandermeersch excellent kouglof is such a torture, my mouth is watering and I do not know when I have the next chance to eat a Vandermeersch kouglof. I have to find a way recreating these unbelievable delicious and mouthwatering kouglofs but I doubt is that I am able to make such delicious kouglofs. If you are in Paris and have some time left on your hand visit the Vandermeersch boulangerie. I promise that you won't regret it!
The Marais district is a part of Paris that I particular like. The "Place des Vosges" is an incredible beautiful square but there are so many beautiful little corners to discover in the Marais district. Do not miss the Victor Hugo Museum which is a beautiful museum, located next to the Place des Vosges (as a bonus the museum is free of charge).
Address: 
Vandermeersch Boulangerie 
278 Avenue Daumesnil, 75012 Paris
 Opening Hours: Mondays and Tuesdays closed, 
 Wednesday to Saturday 7 am to 8 pm, 
 Sunday 7 am to 4 pm. 
Subway station: Porte Dorée (line number 8); 
 it is a two minutes walk from the subway station to the bakery.
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I cannot tell you how much I admire French pâtisserie and how much I am inspired by the incredible art of French pâtisserie. I cannot think of any French pastry that I do not like. One of my favorite pastries are financiers, brioches, canelés, éclairs, tartlettes au citron and in particularly I love the art of French fancy little cakes. Over the last three years I became very passionate about learning the art of making little cakes and it is one of my favorite things to do and reading books about French pâtisserie as well. At the moment I am reading a very heavy and thick pâtisserie book by Pierre Hermé: it is a book that makes me a bit dizzy because there are so many pastry terms that I have to look up in order to understand Hermé's recipes. It is a lot of joy for me spending hours in the kitchen while listening to an interesting radio program or podcast and creating these little cakes. It is a very rewarding process which results into beautiful homemade little cakes that do not look only fancy but taste really, really scrumptious. I know that I have not shared many recipes of cakes that takes more time and effort than making cookies or a simple pound cake for example. I was very hesitant about sharing recipes because I am not a patissiére and I was not sure if anyone was interested in making fancy little French cakes (I still do not know if anyone cares about it). However, I want to document my little pâtisserie journey for myself and maybe I can inspire one or two which would make me very happy.
Today I want to share a recipe of raspberry mousse cakes that are filled with a white chocolate cream and a raspberry jelly core and have a chocolate walnut brownie bottom. I made these raspberry mousse cakes several times this year and everyone who tried these cakes loved them very much and were very impressed. 
You might think to yourself that there is no way that you have the time for making those time-consuming cakes, in particular during the holidays season. Quite the contrary, I think it is a beautiful cake for the upcoming holiday season and it is the perfect dessert for a fancy holiday dinner.
I cannot deny that it takes more time than making chocolate chip cookies but you do not have to make the cakes in one day. For example you can prepare the core of the cake on one evening and you can prepare the raspberry mousse and brownie dough the following evening. One need to freeze the cakes at least 4 hours but you can also freeze the cakes for a week. Just the finishing touches has to be done one hour before you serve these delicious raspberry mousse cakes.
Notes
I always use frozen raspberries - I defrost them at room temperature - for these mousse cakes.
It is important to use precise measurements of the ingredients, otherwise you might experience a bad surprise.
I tried my best to write down this recipe but if you have any questions or suggestions, feel free to ask me.
Makes 6 raspberry mousse cakes

Equipment

  • Six small silicon moulds (4 cm Ø )
  • Six hemisphere silicon moulds (6 cm Ø )
  • Sugar thermometer
  • A good kitchen scale

White Chocolate Cream

                • 2 g powdered gelatin
                • 55 ml heavy cream
                • 1 egg yolk
                • 5 g granulated sugar
                • 15 g white chocolate (roughly chopped)
  • Mix gelatin with 1 tablespoon of cold water in a small pot. Let it stand for 10 minutes.
  • Boil up the heavy cream. In the meantime mix the egg yolk and sugar in a bowl. Pour the hot heavy cream to the egg mixture and mix. Then pour the mixture back into the pot. Over medium heat stir mixture constantly until the temperature has reached 85 °C and the mixture is thickened. Remove from the heat and pour the mixture into a bowl.
  • Heat the gelatin gently and pour it over the mixture and stir well. Add the white chocolate and let it stand for 1 minute; then stir until the cream is smooth. Pour the white chocolate cream into silicon moulds (half -full). Freeze the chocolate cream for at least 2 hours.

Raspberry Jelly

                • 85 g raspberries (fresh or frozen/thawed)
                • 15 g granulated sugar
                • 2 powdered gelatin
  • Mix gelatin with 1 tablespoon of cold water in a small pot. Let it stand for 10 minutes.
  • Puree raspberries. Strain the puree through a fine mesh strainer in order to remove the seeds (you can also omit this step if you do not mind raspberry seeds in your cake but I recommend removing the seeds).
  • Heat the raspberry puree and sugar. Remove pot from the heat. Heat the gelatin gently. Stir gelatin into the raspberry puree.
  • Take the moulds with the chocolate cream out from the freezer and pour the raspberry mixture over the chocolate cream. Freeze the moulds again for at least 2 hours.

Raspberry Mousse

                • 100 g raspberries (fresh or frozen/thawed)
                • 3 g powdered gelatin
                • 5 ml freshly squeezed lemon juice
                • 1 egg yolk
                • 25 g granulated sugar
                • 135 ml heavy cream
  • Mix gelatin with 2 tablespoons of cold water in a small pot. Let it stand for 10 minutes.
  • Puree the raspberries. Strain the puree through a fine mesh strainer in order to remove the seeds. Pour the pureed raspberries into a big bowl.
  • Heat the gelatin gently and add gelatin and lemon juice to the raspberry puree. Mix well.
  • In a double boiler heat egg yolk and sugar until the temperature reached 60 °C. While heating the mixture, constantly stir. Pour egg mixture into a bowl and beat the mixture until it is cold and thickened.
  • Whisk heavy cream until creamy.
  • Fold in the egg mixture to the raspberry mouse. Then fold in the whipped cream to the mousse.

Brownie Bottom

                • 50 g dark chocolate (70%) (roughly chopped)
                • 75 g unsalted butter
                • 135 g granulated sugar
                • 1 egg (medium size)
                • 35 g all-purpose flour
                • 65 g walnuts (toasted and roughly chopped)
  • Preheat the oven to 170 °C. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
  • Melt chocolate and butter in a double boiler.
  • Mix sugar and egg in a bowl. Add the melted butter-chocolate mixture. Mix flour and walnuts and stir it into the batter.
  • Pour the batter onto the baking sheet (use half of the baking sheet or use a casserole dish).
  • Bake for 20 to 25 minutes.

Decoration

                • 1 pouch of unflavoured gelatin fruit glaze
                • 6 fresh raspberries
  • Raspberry or blackberry juice (for the unflavoured gelatin)
  • White chocolate

Assembling

  • Fill the raspberry mousse into hemisphere moulds.
  • Unmould the frozen white chocolate and raspberry jelly core. Gently press the frozen cores into the moulds.
  • Use a round cookie cutter or a glass and cut out 6 cm Ø round brownie slices.
  • Put the brownie slices on top of the mousse.
  • Freeze the cakes for at least 4 hours.
  • Prepare the gelatin fruit glaze according package instruction.
  • Unmould the cakes and put the frozen cakes on a wire rack. Pour the glaze over frozen the cakes. It is important that the cakes are still frozen while pouring the glace over the cakes.
  • Decorate each cake with a raspberry and white chocolate.
  • Place each cake on a plate and let the raspberry mousse cakes defrost for about one hour.
The recipe is adapted from the book "Törtchen & Tartlettes" by Matthias Ludwigs. 

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Mini Pumpkin Cakes

I always liked pumpkin but this fall season it really hit me and I am enjoying the pumpkin season to the fullest. I like making simple pumpkin soups which I make at least once a week. Every time I puree my pumpkin soups I am flabbergasted by the intense orange color. I always add a little bit of pumpkin seed oil (it is a speciality from Styria, Austria) and a few roasted pumpkin seeds and my bowl of soup looks like a piece of art. Every time I tell myself what beautiful color nature has to offer (who needs artificial color). Besides delicious soups there are so many different things that one can make out of pumpkin but my favorite sweet treats are little mini pumpkin bundt cakes. These petite pumpkin cakes are incredible moist and they are also very quick and easy to prepare. I made these bundt cakes a lot this fall season  - they were my edible gifts of this fall season - and I think I sweetened up the every day life of quite a few people.
NOTES: I do not know where you are located in the world but in my little corner of this world canned pumpkin puree does not exist (maybe it does but I never came across it) and I am not sure if I would use it if I had access to it. Making your own pumpkin puree is very easy. My favorite kind of pumpkin is hokkaido, also known as red kuri squash) because you can use the skin of the pumpkin and I like the slightly sweet flavor of this pumpkin. Feel free any kind of pumpkin that you like most.
Preheat your oven to 175 °C / 350 °F. Cut the pumpkin in half, crape out the pulp and the seeds. Cut the pumpkin into small chunks. Place the pumpkin pieces onto a lined baking sheet and bake for 25 to 35 minutes until the pumpkin is very soft (the baking time depends on the size of the pumpkin pieces). Scoop out the pumpkin flesh (skip this step if you use hokkaido pumpkin) and place the flesh in a food processor or a blender and puree it until smooth.  You can keep the pumpkin puree in the fridge for two days or you can also freeze the puree. 
Makes 10 mini bundt cakes or muffins *

INGREDIENTS

        • 100 g / 1 cup pastry flour or 3/4 cup all purpose flour
        • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
        • 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
        • 1 pinch of salt
        • 2 pinches of nutmeg
        • 2 pinches of cloves
        • 75 g  / 1/2 cup chocolate (50%), chopped
        • 50 g / 1/2 cup walnuts (I like my nuts toasted), chopped
        • 1 egg (medium size)
        • 50 g / 4 tablespoons granulated sugar
        • 50 g / 4 tablespoons light brown sugar
        • 50 ml / 3 tablespoons coconut oil (melted), alternative canola oil
        • 150 g / 2/3 cup pumpkin puree*, see my notes above
        • 2 tablespoons orange juice
  • Powdered sugar, for decoration
* I like using mini bundt cake moulds because I adore the shape of bundt cakes (the size of my mini gugelhupf moulds are: 7 cm / 2.8 inches diameter and 4 cm / 1.5 inches height). But of course you can use a muffin tin instead of a gugelhupf pan.

DIRECTIONS

  • Preheat the oven to 175 °C / 350 °F. 
  • Grease and flour your gugelhupf moulds or muffin moulds. In case you use silicon moulds you can skip this step. 
  • Mix flour, baking soda, salt, spices, chopped walnuts and chocolate in a medium bowl. 
  • Whisk egg and both kinds of sugar until well combined. You do not need to use a standing mixer or an electric mixer. Use a simple egg whisk. 
  • Add coconut oil or canola oil, pumpkin puree and orange juice and mix well. Add the flour mixture and stir with a (perferable wooden ) spoon until all ingredients are well combined. 
  • Spoon the cake batter into the bundt cake pan or muffins tin. Fill the batter almost to the top because the cakes does rise just a little bit. 
  • Bake the cakes for 17 to 20 minutes or if you insert a toothpick and it comes out clear the cakes are done.
  • Let the mini cakes cool, unmould the bundt cakes and sprinkle the cakes with powdered sugar.

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Vaniljbullar

It has been a while that I shared a recipe that involved a yeast dough. Today I like to introduce you to a recipe of sweet buns filled with a vanilla custard which is a Swedish classic. These vanilla buns are called krämbullar or vaniljbullar in Swedish. Bullar mean buns in Swedish (singular is bulle), kräm means cream and vanilj - you can probably guess - means vanilla. 
I make kanelbullar which are another Swedish classic - my blog post about these delicious buns is here - every week and there are always a few bullar in my freezer but I do not make vaniljbullar on a regular basis. This has changed a bit since I rediscovered my love for vaniljbullar about a month ago and now I have to restrain myself of not making these buns too often. 
There is nothing more comforting than a soft and fluffy yeast bun with a creamy vanilla custard in the middle of the bun. The yeast dough is flavored with a hint of cardamon which is a very common spice in Swedish baking. Sometimes lots of cardamon is added to the buns which I think can be overpowering. I prefer the subtle taste of cardamon in the vanilla buns. 
These Swedish vanilla buns are a wonderful way to welcome the fall season which is approaching fast. They will fill your home with an irresistible and comforting smell on chillier fall days. 
NOTES:

Yeast

There are different kinds of yeast available. For instance you can use active dry yeast, instant active dry yeast or fresh yeast.
I personally prefer using fresh yeast. In Sweden there are even two types of fresh yeast: one for bread and one for sweet bread. A while ago I learnt that fresh yeast is not common or available in every country. I was not aware of this fact and I will update the recipes on my blog that involves yeast and convert the amount of fresh yeast to dry yeast. In my recipe direction below I explain how to use each type of yeast.

Cardamon

Cardamon is one of the most expensive spices (saffron is the most expensive spice, followed by vanilla and cardamon). You can buy cardamon pods or cardamon powder. Cardamon seeds that are grounded looses its flavor quickly, so ground or cardamon powder that you buy has less flavor.
For baking I don't mind the less cardamon flavor (in cooking I prefer cardamon pods) and I use cardamon powder that I buy at the spice store.
If you only have cardamon pods on hands you can, of course,  also make your own cardamon powder. Crush the cardamon pod (use green cardamon) and remove the seeds from the shell. Place the seeds with a little bit of sugar in a mortar and pound the seeds with a pestle until you have a powder. You do not need to add sugar but I think it makes it easier to ground the cardamon seeds.
Makes 14 vanilla buns

INGREDIENTS

Dough

    • 30 g fresh yeast / 4 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast / 3 1/2 teaspoons instant active dry yeast
    • 50 g / 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
    • 200 ml / 3/ 4 cup and 1 tablespoon whole milk
    • 75 g / 1/3 cup and granulated and 1 tablespoon sugar
    • 1 pinch of salt
    • 1/4 teaspoon cardamon powder
    • 375 g / 3 cups all-purpose flour

Vanilla Custard

    • 30 g / 2 large egg yolks 
    • 45 g / 4 tablespoons granulated sugar
    • 15 g / 1 1/2 tablespoons corn starch
    • 1/2 vanilla bean
    • 125 ml / 1/2 cup whole milk
    • 10 g / 2 teaspoons unsalted butter, cut into small cubes

Topping

    • 40 g / 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
    • 40 g / 3 tablespoons granulated sugar

DIRECTIONS

Fresh Yeast

  • Crumble the fresh yeast into a big bowl. 
  • Melt the butter in a saucepan, add milk. The mixture should be lukewarm. This is really important because otherwise the yeast will "die" and the dough won't rise. 
  • Add little bit of the milk mixture (about two tablespoons) to the crumbled yeast and stir until the yeast is completely dissolved. Add the remaining milk mixture, sugar, salt and cardamon and mix until well combined. 
  • Add most of the flour (set aside about two tablespoons) and stir with a big. preferable wooden, spoon until the dough comes together. 

Active dry yeast

  • Heat the milk until it is lukewarm. Mix the dry yeast with two tablespoons of lukewarm milk in a mug. Melt the butter in the remaining lukewarm milk. 
  • Mix sugar, salt, cardamon, dissolved yeast mixture and butter-milk mixture. Add most of the flour (set aside about two tablespoons) and stir with a big. preferable wooden, spoon until the dough comes together. 

Instant active dry yeast

  • The yeast does not have to be dissolved in any liquid. 
  • Melt butter and add milk to it, set aside. 
  • Mix most of the flour (set aside two tablespoons), dry yeast, sugar, salt, cardamon. Add butter-milk mixture and stir with a big. preferable wooden, spoon until the dough comes together. 
  • Place the yeast dough onto a well-floured surface and knead the dough until smooth. If the dough is too sticky add more flour to the dough.
  • Place the dough into a big bowl and cover it with a kitchen towel. Let the dough rise in a draft-free and warm place. I place my bowl in the oven and switch the the oven to 40°C / 100 °F (make sure that the oven is not too hot). Let the dough rise until it has roughly doubled in size which takes about 30 to 45 minutes. It depends on how warm or cold your place is. 
  • In the meantime prepare the vanilla custard. 
  • Pour milk into a saucepan. 
  • Split vanilla pod lenghtwise and scrape out the seeds (use the tip of your knife or the dull side of the knife). Add the vanilla seeds and the empty vanilla pod to the milk. Bring vanilla milk to a soft simmer. Set aside and remove the empty vanilla pod. 
  • Whisk egg yolks and sugar until well combined, then add corn starch and whisk until smooth. Slowly pour the hot milk to the egg yolk mixture and whisk. 
  • Pour the mixture back to the saucepan and over medium heat - whisk continuously - bring to a boil. You will notice that the custard thickens. Cook the custard for one minute, continue to stir. Now you should have a thick custard. Remove saucepan from the stove. Add butter cubes to the vanilla cream and stir until smooth. Place the vanilla custard into a flat bowl, cover the surface with clingwrap which prevents skin forming. Let cool completely. When the custard is completely cooled, fill it into a piping bag, no nozzle is needed. I place the piping bag into a very tall glass and then fill the bag. That is easier than holding the piping bag in one hand and trying to fill it with the other hand. 
  • Prepare two baking sheets with parchment paper. 
  • Take the dough out of the bowl and knead the dough again on a floured surface. 
  • Divide the dough into 14 pieces and form each piece of dough to a ball. 
  • Place balls onto the baking sheets. Make sure that there is enough space between each ball. Flatten each ball into a disc (they should look like big cookies). Cover each baking sheet with a kitchen towel. Let the buns rise again in a warm and draft-free place for about 20 minutes. 
  • Preheat the oven to 225 °C / 440 °F.
  • Gently press an indentation in the middle of each bun and pipe vanilla custard into the indentation.
  • Bake the buns for 5 to 7 minutes until slightly golden in color. 
  • While the buns are still warm, brush the buns with melted butter and dip the edges of the buns into sugar. 
  • The vanilla buns taste the very best while still warm. 
  •  You can also freeze the buns. I recommend freezing the buns in a freezable box (do not stock the buns on top of each other). Let the buns defrost at room temperature.