Norway: Espresso and Blueberry Muffins

Trivia fact of the day, Scandinavian countries drink the most coffee (per capita) in the whole world. Out of the top 6 countries (according to Wikipedia), the only other country to come close is the Netherlands – hardly a surprising inclusion. We mentioned the importance of coffee during the creation of the Icelandic Slongakuka, but today we are going for a different take, and travelling rather to the mainland of Scandinavia, Norway.

Coming in a second place – Finland takes first – Norway consumes 9.9kg of coffee per person, per year. The coffee culture in this country is on of the most developed in the world, and is an integral part of the societal culture. This cake was designed to incorporate this important flavour, but to combine it with a fruit into a muffin that could be eaten alongside. Blueberries grow throughout Norway, and their natural affinity with coffee made them a natural option to include in the cake. The coffee flavour is very strong in this recipe, hence the title ‘espresso’. If you prefer a lighter flavour, then halve the quantity.

Espresso and Blueberry Muffins 

Ingredients:

• 8oz butter
• 8oz caster sugar
• 4 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla essence
• 8oz plain flour
• 3 tsp baking powder
• 3 tbsp instant coffee
• 3 tbsp boiling water
• 2 punnets of blueberries
• 120g butter
• 375g icing sugar
• 2 tbsp instant coffee
• 30ml boiling water
• White icing
• Blue food colouring
• 1 tbsp cocoa powder.

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to Gas Mark 5 and line a 12-hole muffin tin with muffin liners. Cream together the butter and sugar, before adding in the eggs and vanilla extract. Beat in the flour and baking powder and mix well. Dissolve the coffee in the boiling water before adding to the cake mixture and beating until completely combined. Reserve 1/4 of the blueberries and gently fold the remainder into the cake mixture, trying not to break the berries. Spoon the mixture into the cases and bake in the oven for 30 minutes until golden brown and cooked through. Leave to cool completely.

Whilst the cakes are cooling, make the flowers.Take a golf ball sized piece of white icing and briefly knead it, before using a few drops of blue food colouring to create a pale blue fondant. Roll it out to 3mm thick and cut out flower shapes using both a small and large cutter. Colour another golf ball sized piece of fondant brown using the cocoa powder before following the same process to cut out more flowers. These may be either used individually or stacked. Set aside to dry.

Once the muffins are cool, make the icing by beating the butter, icing sugar and coffee (again dissolving the instant coffee in the boiling water) until it is thick and fluffy. Spoon into a piping bag fitted with a large star-shaped nozzle and pipe onto the top of each muffin, before decorating with the icing flowers and reserved blueberries.

Apple and Vanilla Mini Muffins

As I type this, the sky outside is grey as steel, with no trace of this ‘supposed’ summer. I suppose this is what you get for living in the North of England, but still I can’t help but yearn for the sun that *should* be coming!

Last week though, the sun came out. The sky was blue and I didn’t have to have a cardigan and coat when walking to school. In this midst of this weather I wanted to make a cake that fitted the summer atmosphere, and these mini muffins fitted the bill. The size makes them easy to  eat in the hot weather, and the flavours are redolent of the heat of a British summer. A vanilla cake with chunks of apple, topped with a vanilla whipped cream topping, these muffins will fill that small gap when our summer finally arrives.

Apple and Vanilla Mini Muffins

Ingredients:

• 2oz butter
• 2oz caster sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2oz plain flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 0.5oz ground almonds
• 1 small apple, cut into tiny dice.
• 75g whipped cream
• 1/2 vanilla pod
• Flaked almonds, to decorate.

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to Gas Mark 5 and line a 12-hole mini muffin tray with liners.

Cream together the butter and sugar in a bowl until light and fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla extract and beat thoroughly. Add the flour, baking powder, ground almonds and diced apple and mix until well combined. Add teaspoonfuls of the mixture to the cases and bake in the oven for 25 minutes, turning after 20 minutes to ensure they don’t burn on one side! Remove from the oven and leave to cool on a wire rack.

Once the cupcakes have cooled completely, scrape the seeds out of the vanilla pod and add to the whipped cream. Whip until holding soft peaks before spooning into a piping bag fitted with a round nozzle. Pipe a small amount onto each mini muffin and decorate with flaked almonds.

 

Ukraine: Philosophy Meets Cake (Kiev Cake)

What is the first thought that comes to your head when I say ‘Karl Marx’? I would assume that those two words are not going to be automatically followed by ‘Confectionary Factory’, but that is in fact what we will be thinking about today. The company is the biggest company of this type in Ukraine and was named in honour of the philosopher and socialist’s 105th anniversary. Personally I feel that we should start a trend – desserts would make complex political thought far more accessible. I’m suggesting ‘Descartes Desserts’, ‘Confucious’s Confections’ and ‘Kant’s C/Kakes’ – any other suggestions?

Before you all think I’ve gone completely off my head, there is a link to all this. Today’s cake from the Ukraine is this delicious delicacy, the ‘Kiev Cake’, which was crated by the Karl Marx Confectionary Factory and is one of their most famous desserts, now seen as a symbol of Kiev itself. I’m using the term ‘cake’ here rather loosely, as this is technically probably more of a gateaux, featuring layers of meringue and buttercream fillings. My recipe is adapted from this recipe at GrabandGoRecipes, though I did end up making a few differences to the eventual result, starting by downsizing the recipe to make a more reasonably sized cake for two people!  Nevertheless it is absolutely delicious and I cannot recommend making this enough!

As a side note, does anyone know why the Balkan countries seem to have a preference for complex layer cakes? It seems to be a common trend within the Eastern European countries not shared with those of the western countries. I can’t seem to find any rhyme or reason for this, but if you can enlighten me, I would be very grateful!

Kiev Cake

Ingredients:

Cake:

• 4 eggs
• 5oz caster sugar
• 5oz plain flour
• 1 tsp vanilla essence

Meringue:

• 3 egg whites
• 5 oz caster sugar

Creamy frosting:

• 5oz condensed milk
• 4oz butter
• 7oz cream cheese
• 4oz double cream, whipped to form soft peaks

Syrup:

• 7oz tinned apricots, syrup retained. (the fruit can be changed according to your taste – I have also used raspberries, in this case, simply substituting a punnet of raspberries.
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• 1 tbsp caster sugar

Instructions:

Like quite a few of the cakes that have featured from these region, the cake includes lots of different processes, so please read the recipe through first – it will help your baking run a lot smoother!

First, preheat the oven to 350°F/170°C/Gas Mark 4 and line and grease a baking dish ready for use later. Start by making the sponge; separate your eggs and beat the egg whites and sugar until they form stiff peaks. In a different bowl, beat the egg yolks until pale before adding the flour and vanilla extract. Fold the egg white mixture into this, being very gentle so as to not knock the air out of the egg whites. Pour the mixture into the baking tin and bake for 25-30 minutes, testing with a toothpick to see if it is complete. When it is done, take it out of the oven and set aside to cool before removing from the tin.

Once the cake is out of the oven, turn the oven down to 250°F/120°C/Gas Mark 1. Prepare your dish for the meringue – this needs to be the same size as the cake, so if you do not own two dishes the same size (let’s face it, most of us probably don’t!), then wait for the cake to cool, remove from the tin and wash and re-line the tin. To make the meringues, whip the eggs whites  and sugar (added in small amounts) on high for about 5 minutes until they form stiff peaks. Spread the mixture into the tin and bake for 4 hours in the oven (you might want to set a timer and go and do something else whilst this is happening!) Take it out and carefully peel the meringue layer from the parchment paper. [Note: because this part is so long, I would suggest doing this the day before if you are not in a rush – the meringue will be fine sitting on the side all night as long as you cover it.]

Next, time to make the syrup and the cream cheese frosting. The syrup could not be easier – stick the whole lot in a blender and puree until smooth. The frosting is not much harder; start by beating the condensed milk and butter before gradually adding in the cream cheese. Once this mixture is nice and thick, stir in the whipped cream (on a slower speed if using a machine).

Now comes the fun bit – putting it together! I would do this on the plate you intend to serve it on – it makes life so much easier! Start by slicing the sponge cake into two layers using a long, serrated knife. place the bottom half on the plate and top with some of the syrup, waiting for about 5 minutes to ensure all the syrup has soaked into the cake. Spread a thin(-ish) layer of frosting (about 1/4) o the top of this and top with the slice of meringue trimming the edges as necessary. Spread some more cream onto the top and top with the remaining sponge cake, again soaked with the remainder of the syrup. Top with the reminder of the frosting (traditionally you would also cover the sides of the cake, but I prefer to have a little less frosting! Decorate with crushed meringue (reserved after you trimmed it earlier), chocolate and toasted hazelnuts. Leave to chill slightly and enjoy!