NY cheesecake

As promised, here comes the recipe for a traditional New York cheesecake. It's from "cheesecakes" by Maxine Clark, but I've changed quite some things.

What you need:
base
200g rusk/zwieback (make sure it's sugared)
100g butter
75g sugar

filling
150g butter
190g sugar
4 big eggs
30g flour
a untreated lemon (grated peel and juice)
8g vanilla sugar (1 package)
675g Philadelphia (should come directly out of the fridge)
60ml milk

topping
425ml sour cream
2 tbs. sugar
freshly pressed lemon juice from 1 lemon

I use a 26cm diameter springform.

How to:
As always, you need to preheat the oven, to 190°C.
Then, you start with the base for which you need to crush the rusk. I put the rusk (in portions) in a freezer bag and then use a rolling pin to crush it. This technique is rather time-consuming.
Melt the butter (slowly) and mix it with the rusk and sugar.
Grease the springform, then spread the mixture and with your fingers, flatten it.
Bake the base for 8-10 minutes. Afterwards, you need to cool it before continuuing. Reduce the oven temperature to 160°C.

In the meantime, mix the butter and sugar for the filling. Gradually add the eggs, then the flour, the lemon zest and juice and the vanilla sugar.
Use another bowl to mix the Philadelphia with the milk (here you need a rather big bowl). Finally, pour the first mixture into the second and make sure there are no clots. If that's the case, pour it onto the base and bake for 90 minutes.

For the topping, mix the ingredients. Put it into the fridge until you need it.

Once the filling is baked, increase the temperature to 190°C again. Pour the topping onto the cake and bake for another 10 minutes or until it's solid.

To cool the cheesecake you have two options: You either switch off the oven and leave it there to cool with the oven door open. Or put it onto a cooling tray with a big bowl put over. This is to prevent the base from cracking.

You have to put the cake into the fridge for at least 2 hours, but in my experience, the cheesecake tastes even better when you make it in advance and leave it in the fridge for about two days.

Often, I make some raspberry coulis to eat with the cheesecake. It's really easy, but you need some patience to pass it through a sieve. All you need in terms of ingredients is raspberries and some sugar (I prefer it still a bit sour,  others like more sugar). I warm the raspberries a little, especially if you have frozen ones. And then, as I said, you need the patience to pass it through the sieve.

ENJOY!

cinnamon rolls - kanelbullar

With Easter knocking on our doors I thought a recipe might be a good idea...especially this one! It's a Swedish special and has become one of my absolute favorites! Maybe you'll try them for your Easter brunch?

What you need:

dough

75g butter

250ml milk

25g fresh yeast

100g sugar

½ tsp salt

at least 1 tsp ground cardamom

500g flour

filling

40g butter

ca. 1 tbs cinnamon

ca. 1 tsp cardamom

75-100g sugar

1 egg to brush

decorating sugar to sprinkle

How to do it:

Melt the butter then add the milk. The mixture shouldn't get too warm since you use it to dissolve the yeast. Pour it into a big bowl and add sugar, salt and cardamom. Then gradually add the flour. (I use a wooden ladle as long as possible, then my hands.) Knead the dough until it's smooth (You might have to add some more flour). Cover the bowl with a slightly wet cloth and leave it to raise for at least an hour (up to four hours would be better). 

Knead the dough again and divide it into 3 equal pieces. Roll the dough into rectangles of about the size of 20x30 cm. They should be approximately 0.5-0.8cm thick. (It depends on whether you prefer tastin more of the dough or more of the filling.)

Melt the butter for the filling and brush each rectangle.

Mix sugar, cinnamon and cardomom in a seperate bowl and disperse it over the butter. As you can see in the photo above, it is perfectly okay to also use your fingers for that. Otherwise it's rather difficult to have it dispersed equally.

Roll each rectangle lengthwise so you have three rolls of 30cm. (Make sure its rolled as tight as possible. If not you can still adjust it afterwards.) Then cut each into spirals that are about 2cm wide. Make sure the spirals' ends don't unwind. Put them on a baking tray with baking paper on it. Depending on the size there should fit about 16 to 20 cinnamon rolls on one baking tray.

Mix the egg in a small bowl and brush each cinnamon roll. Then sprinkle some sugar on them.

Leave them to raise again. In the meantime, preheat the oven to 220°C.

Bake them for circa 8 minutes or until they are golden.

When out of the oven cover every baking tray with some aluminum foil.

Voilà.

Eat them as fresh as possible! Even when they're still warm if you'd like that.

Keep the rest in a box or wrapped in aluminum foil, but definitely not for more than two more days.

Happy Easter everyone!

muffin marathon

Last week I spent an afternoon baking muffins with a friend. So much fun!
Here's what we made:

Carrot Muffins

ingredients (for about 12 muffins):

50g butter
120g sugar
1 pinch of salt
zest of 1 organic lemon
2 eggs
1dl milk
200g carrots
150g ground almonds
100g flour
4 tsp. baking powder
120g powdered sugar
ca. 2 tbs. lemon juice
12 carrots made of marzipan


Preheat the oven to 180°C.
Stir the butter until soft, then add sugar, salt, lemon zest and eggs. Keep stirring.
Grind carrots, mix them with the rest. Then add almonds, flour and baking powder.
Fill the dough into the preparated molds and bake for about 25 minutes.
To cool, leave the muffins on a cooling rack.

For the icing, stir powdered sugar and lemon juice (make sure it's neither too thick nor too thin). Disperse on muffins with a knife or palette-knife. Decorate with marzipan carrots before the icing is dry.



Orange Muffins with Chocolate Chips
ingredients (for about 8 muffins):

100g butter
100g sugar
2 big eggs
100g flour
1 tsp. baking powder
100g dark chocolate, chopped in small pieces









Preheat the oven to 190°C.
Mix butter, sugar, eggs, flour and baking powder in a bowl. Fold in the chocolate bits.
Then fill the dough into the preparated molds.
Bake for about 20-25 minutes until the muffins have a golden brown surface.
Leave to cool in molds for 5 minutes, then put the muffins on a cooling rack.



Cranberry-Chocolate Muffins

ingredients (for about 12 muffins):

150g dark cranberry chocolate (recipe also works with regular dark chocolate, of course)
125g butter
1-2 tbs. kirsch (or some other liqour)
125g flour
200g sugar
3 eggs








Preheat the oven to 230°C.
Melt butter, chocolate and kirsch in a pan. In the meantime, mix flour, sugar and eggs in a bowl.
Stir the melted chocolate mix into the bowl.
Pour the dough into the preparated molds and bake for about 12-15 minutes. (The muffins are also delicious when the inside is still a bit liquid, but just not too much.)
Leave to cool on cooling tray.



Apple-Cinnamon Muffins with Raisins

ingredients (for about 10 muffins):

0.5dl milk
60g butter
175g sugar
2 eggs
150g Mehl
2 tsp. baking powder
ca. 220g apple, chopped into small pieces
ca. 30g raisins







Preheat the oven to 210°C.
Melt butter with milk in a pan. Meanwhile, mix sugar and eggs in a bowl.
Pour butter and milk into the bowl, stir.
Sift flour and baking powder into the bowl and mix with the apple and raisins.
Bake for about 15-20 minutes. Then leave to cool on a cooling rack.



I've adapted all of those recipes...I hope you like it! As we say in Switzerland: En Guete! (enjoy your meal)