The BIG Christmas post!

I'm not going to waste any time writing a long story today so just sit back and enjoy!

Jag tänker inte slösa någon tid genom att skriva ett långt inlägg idag.. (recept på svenska kommer snarast!).


Fudge ice cream cake with cherries






"Lussekatter", vanilla saffron buns and almond paste saffron rolls






Four layer nougat bars




Hot chocolate spoons






Homemade vanilla extract





Brownie mix (recipe HERE)





Recipes after the jump

Fudge Ice cream cake with cherries

I made a double batch of the cake recipe which is definitely not necessary! I used the leftovers to crumble on top of the cake. Recipe adapted from Gourmet traveller.

NOTE that this cake gets really hard in the freezer and is HARD to cut. Just so you know.

 

2 quarts (2 liters) ice cream (I used vanilla)

Cake

110 g butter

150 g dark chocolate (53%), roughly chopped

150 g brown sugar

3 eggs

110 g cocoa powder (dutch process)

95 g all-purpose flour

Fresh cherries

1. Preheat oven to 150°C. Line a 15 cm (6 inch) round cake pan with parchment paper. Place butter and chocolate in a saucepan over low heat, stir until melted and smooth. Remove from heat and stir in sugar. Add eggs, one at a time, stirring well between each addition, then sift in cocoa and flour and mix just to combine. Pour batter in prepared pan, smooth with a spatula and bake until just set, about 35-45 minutes.

2. Let cool for a while and then turn out onto a wire rack. When completely cool, split layer in half.

3. Line the sides of a deep 18 cm (7 inch) cake pan with removable base with parchment paper. Cut strips around the edges a little taller than the pan itself. Put in freezer to chill.

4. Beat ice cream to soften, spoon one-third into base of cake pan, smooth top and place half the cake over. Put some cherries between the layers.  Add ice cream and put the next cake layer on top. Finish with a layer of ice cream and smoothing top. Freeze until firm (6 hours or overnight).

5. Serve with extra cherries and cake trimmings crumbled over (if you have any that is!)

"Lussekatter", vanilla saffron buns and almond paste saffron rolls

Saffron buns

Makes 30-40

50 grams fresh yeast

200 grams butter

1 gram saffron (2 envelopes)

3 dl milk

2 dl heavy cream

2 dl sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1 large egg

16 dl flour

Egg wash:

1 egg, lightly beaten

50 grams fresh yeast

Decoration:

Raisins

1. Crumble the yeast into a bowl. Melt the butter, add saffron, milk and cream and heat until about 37°C (barely warm to the touch) Add a little of the liquid to the yeast and stir until it has dissolved, then add the rest of the liquid.

2. Add the egg, sugar and salt and stir until dissovled. Add most of the flour (keep some for later) and work into a smooth dough. It should still be a little bit sticky (but manageable!). Leave the dough to rise, covered, for 45-60 minutes. You can see when the dough is ready as it will have doubled in size.

Lussekatter:

3. Now it's time to make lussekatter! But before you do that, work in the remaining flour (if needed). Divide the dough into equals portions and shape each bun like an "S". Put them on parchment paper. Leave some space between them as they will rise even more. Put two raisins in each bun.

4. Cover with a cloth and leave to rise for 30-45 minutes. 

5. Brush with beaten egg. Bake in the middle of the oven at 250°C (480F) for about 7-9 minutes, depending on the size of the buns.

6. Let cool. Enjoy! Remember to freeze leftovers immediately or they will become dry very fast.

Vanilla saffron buns

1 saffron bun dough, steps 1 & 2

Vanilla filling:
225 g softened butter

1 1/2 dl sugar

1 tsp vanilla powder or 4 tsp vanilla sugar

Decoration:
Pearl sugar

1. Divide the dough into two pieces. Start by rolling out the first dough into a large rectangle (thickness of the dough is really up to you, I like my dough thin so there is room for lots of filling.. yum!).
2. Mix the ingredients for the filling and spread evenly (save half the filling for the rest of the dough) on the dough. To make the shape pictured, fold the dough into half and press with your hands to press filling together. 

3. Cut out long strips of dough (about 2-3 cm wide) which you then cut in half lengthwise, leaving the top part uncut (imagine holding up a pair of pants in front of you, that's what it should look like :-) )

4. Twist together and put on parchment paper.

5. Cover with a cloth and leave to rise for 30-45 minutes. 

6. Brush with beaten egg. Sprinkle pearl sugar on top. Bake in the middle of the oven at 250°C (480F) for about 7-9 minutes, depending on the size of the buns.

Almond paste saffron rolls

1 saffron bun dough, steps 1 &; 2

Almond paste filling:
150 g softened butter

300 g grated almond paste

Decoration:
Almond flakes or pearl sugar

1. Divide the dough into two pieces. Start by rolling out the first dough into a large rectangle (thickness of the dough is really up to you, I like my dough thin so there is room for lots of filling.. yum!).

2. Mix the ingredients for the filling and spread evenly (save half the filling for the rest of the dough) on the dough. 

3. Roll the rectangle into one large roll. Cut each roll into about 15-20 pieces and put in paper liners or on parchment paper.

4. Cover with a cloth and leave to rise for 30-45 minutes. 

5. Brush with beaten egg. Sprinkle almond flakes or pearl sugar on top. Bake in the middle of the oven at 250°C (480F) for about 7-9 minutes, depending on the size of the buns.

Four layer nougat bars

Makes one 20x20 cm pan

Adapted from How Sweet Eats

Chocolate layer 1

150 g milk chocolate

50 g dark chocolate

1/4 cup/ 0,6 dl peanut butter

Butter your pan and cover with parchment paper (optional of course but easier to get it out of pan). Melt ingredients in a double boiler or in a saucepan, then pour into the prepared pan and spread with a spatula until even. Let cool completely in fridge. Prepare nougat layer.

Nougat layer

50 g butter

1 cup / 2,4 dl granulated sugar

1/4 cup / 0,6 dl evaporated milk (not sweetened!)

1 1/2 cups (or 1 jar / 213 g) marshmallow fluff

1/4 cup / 0,6 dl peanut butter

200 g salted peanuts, chopped

Melt butter in a saucepan, then add sugar and evaporated milk. Let simmer for about 5 minutes stirring occasionally. Add marshmallow fluff and peanut butter and stir until smooth. Take saucepan off heat and fold in peanuts. Let cool just slightly. Pour over chocolate layer, smoothing with a spatula. Put in fridge to harden.

Caramel layer

1/4 cup / 0,6 dl whipping cream

~280 g soft caramels/toffee (I used two bags of Werther's original Cream Toffees)

Heat cream in a sauce pan over low heat. Add a few toffees at a time and stir occasionally until smooth. This can take a while. Pour caramel on top of nougat layer and put back in fridge.

Chocolate layer 2

150 g milk chocolate, chopped

50 g dark chocolate, chopped

1/4 cup / 0,6 dl peanut butter

Melt ingredients together in a saucepan then pour over caramel layer. Smooth off with a spatula. Put in fridge to harden completely. Refrigerate for a couple of hours at least then cut in squares (or whichever shape and size you prefer!). Store in fridge.

In Swedish:

Glasstårta med chokladbotten och körsbär

Jag gjorde en dubbed sats av receptet på bottnen men det var verkligen inte nödvändigt! "Resterna" använde jag för att smula över tårtan. Notera att bottnen blir hård i frysen och tårtan är därför svår att skära i snygga bitar!
Receptet kommer från Gourmet Traveller.

2 liter valfri glass (jag använde vanilj)

Tårtbotten

110 g smör

150 g mörk choklad (53%), grovt hackad

150 g ljust muscovadosocker eller farinsocker

3 ägg

110 g kakao

95 g mjöl

Färska körsbär

1. Värm ugnen till 150°C. Smörj med smör, klä bottnen och sidorna av en 15 cm bakform med bakplåtspapper.  Lägg smör och choklad i en kastrul på låg värmel, rör tills allt har smält. Dra bort kastrullen från värmen och tillsätt socker. Tillsätt äggen, ett i taget och rör ordentligt mellan varje tillsatt ägg. Sikta i kakao och mjöl och rör tills smeten är slät. Häll smeten i formen och grädda cirka 35-45 minuter.
2. Låt svalna en stund i formen och vänd sedan försiktigt ut kakan på ett galler. Låt svalna helt. När bottnen är helt sval, dela den på mitten så att du får två bottnar (var försiktig då bottnen är skör, men det är inte hela världen om den går sönder!).

3. Smörj en 18 cm springform (det går även bra med större men då blir tårtan lägre) med smör och täck sedan sidorna och bottnen med bakplåtspapper. Klipp remsorna runt kanterna något högre än själva formen så att pappret sticker upp några centimeter över kanten. Ställ in formen i frysen.

4. Vispa glassen för att mjuka upp den, häll upp 1/3 av smeten i bottnen av den förberedda formen. Jämna till med t.ex. en sked eller spatel och lägg sedan på en tårtbotten. Kärna ur några körsbär, lägg dem på bottnen, häll i ytterligare 1/3 av glassen. Lägg på nästa botten och avsluta med resterande glass. Jämna till med en sked eller spatel. Ställ in i frysen 6 timmar eller över natten.

5. Servera med färska körbär och eventuellt överbliven tårtbotten om du har någon! Annars funkar hackad choklad utmärkt också.