Category: cinnamon

Spicy Pear Muffins

Posted in chocolate, cinnamon, cream cheese frosting, fruit, muffins, pear, spiceTagged , , , Leave a comment

Time to bring back some fruits. These muffins are moist and filled with flavor, and they turned out to be a hit with my father. 

Ingredients
Pear Sauce/Jam
10-12 pears (chopped)
2 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp cardamom

Batter
200 g (7 oz) butter (melted)
100 g (3,5 oz) sugar
3 eggs
300 g (10,5 oz) plain flour
2 tsp vanilla sugar
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp cardamom
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp nutmeg

2 tbsp of cocoa

Frosting/Decoration
Powdered sugar
Vanilla sugar
Cream Cheese
Water

Chopped Almonds

 

How to do it
Pear Sauce/Jam

  • Chop the pears, and put them in a saucepan.
  • Mix in cinnamon and cardamom.
  • Heat up the pears, and let it simmer until much of the fluids has evaporated.
  • Let the sauce/jam cool down a bit.

Batter

  • Preheat the oven to 200 ºC/ 395 ºF.
  • Melt the butter and let it cool down a bit.
  • In a large bowl, mix together eggs and sugar until you have a thick and fluffy mixture.
  • Stir in the melted butter.
  • In a separate bowl, mix together plain flour, baking powder vanilla sugar and the spices, then slowly add them to the mixture and stir until you have a smooth batter.
  • Carefully stir in the pear sauce/jam with a wooden spoon.
  • With a couple of spoons, transfer the batter to muffins liners in a cupcake/muffins form.
  • When you’ve transferred about 1/2 of the batter into muffins liners, stir in 2 tbsp of cocoa to the rest of the batter. Then transfer the rest of the batter to muffins liners in a cupcake/muffins form.
  • Bake the muffins in the middle of the oven until they have a golden surface, or until a skewer put in the center of the muffins comes out clean, about 15-20 minutes.
  • Take the muffins out of the oven, and let them cool down in the muffins/cupcake form for a few minutes. Then let them cool down on a cooling rack.

Frosting/Decoration

  • Mix together powdered sugar, vanilla sugar (1-2 tsp), cream cheese (about 2 tbsp) and water until you have a smooth, yet fluid, mix.
  • Cover the muffins with the frosting and decorate with chopped almonds.

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Enjoy!

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Last Minute Christmas Cookies

Posted in chocolate, christmas, cinnamon, cookies, holidays, licorice, nuts, spiceTagged , , , , Leave a comment

I don´t know why, but somehow Christmas comes as a surprise every year. This year was no exception, so I needed to make some super fast, super easy Christmas cookies. With 3 main ingredients that can easily be mixed with additional/optional ingredients, these cookies are perfect for some last minute baking.

Ingredients
200 g (7 oz) softened butter
100 g (3,5 oz) powdered sugar
400 g (14 oz) plain flour

Additional/optional ingredients
Cinnamon, cardamom, ground ginger, allspice, chopped chocolate, chopped almonds or other nuts, powdered licorice, cocoa, pearl sugar…

How to do it

  • Mix together softened butter and powdered sugar. I use a stand mixer, but you can also use your hands.
  • Slowly add the plain flour, and mix until you have a smooth dough.
  • Divide the dough into separate pieces, and add any preferred optional ingredients. (I first divided the dough into 2 pieces, then mixed in the spices in one of them. Then I divided the 2 doughs into more pieces, and mixed in chopped chocolate, chopped almonds and powdered licorice to the different pieces.)
  • Roll out the different pieces until they are about 3-4 cm (1,5 inches) diameter, then place them on a cutting board and cover them with plastic foil.

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  • Place the rolls in a cool place for 30-45 minutes.
  • Preheat the oven to 250 ºC/ 480 ºF, and line a baking sheet.
  • Cut the rolls into cookie sized pieces (about 1 cm thick), and place them on the baking sheet.
  • Bake in the middle of the oven until the cookies start to get a golden surface, about 5 minutes.
  • Let the cookies cool down on a cooling rack.

Merry Christmas!

Roll with the Season – Saffron and Cinnamon Rolls

Posted in buns, cinnamon, rolls, saffron, spiceTagged , , , Leave a comment

Roll with the season and make these spicy rolls!

Ingridients
200 g (7 oz) softened butter
150 g (5,5 oz) sugar
1 egg
13 g dry yeast (or 50 regular yeast)
1 kg (2,2 lb) plain flour
6 dl (2 1/4 cup) milk
3-4 tsp cardamom

Filling (cinnamon/saffron butter)
150-200 g (5,5-7 oz) softened butter
Sugar/ pearl sugar
2-3 tsp cinnamon
125 mg saffron
Chopped almonds

How to do it

  • In a large bowl, mix together butter and sugar.
  • Add the egg.
  • In a large bowl, mix together about 900 g (2 lb) of the flour and dry yeast. (If you use regular yeast, the yeast should be mixed with the warmed milk.) I use a stand mixer with a kneading hook.
  • Warm the milk to 40°C/ 104°F (or 37°C/ 100°F if you use regular yeast).
  • Slowly and alternately mix in the flour and yeast mix and the milk. You probably need the rest of the flour to get a smooth dough (not too wet, not too dry), but add it slowly so the dough doesn’t get too dry.
  • When the dough has the right texture mix for another 3-5 minutes.
  • Take out half of the dough and place it in a separate bowl.
  • To the other half of the dough, add the cardamom and mix for about 1 minute.
  • Let the two doughs rise in the bowls under towels or cling film (or use an unused shower cap) for about 30-45 minutes (until double size).
  • In a bowl mix about 100 g (3,5 oz) of softened butter with 2-3 tsp of cinnamon and 1-2 tbsp (pearl) sugar. In a separate bowl, mix about 100 g (3,5 oz) of softened butter with 125 mg saffron and 1-2 tbsp (pearl) sugar.
  • Take the dough out of the bowl, and knead the dough for a about a minute.
  • Divide each dough into 2 pieces.
  • Roll out each piece to a roll, about 5 cm (2 inches) diameter. Then flatten the dough with a rolling pin (about 15 cm (6 inches) wide).
  • Cover the 2 pieces of dough with cardamom with the cinnamon butter, and optionally some chopped almonds.
  • Cover the 2 pieces without cardamom with saffron butter, and optionally some chopped almonds.
  • Cut the dough into pieces, each piece about 5 x 15 cm (2 x 6 inches), then make 3 cuts in each piece, about 10 cm (4 inches). See pictures on how to make rolls out of each piece.
  • Line a baking sheet, and place the rolls on the baking sheet. Cover them with a towel, and let them rise for about 45 minutes.

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  • Preheat the oven to 250 ºC/ 480 ºF.
  • Bake the rolls in the middle of the oven until they have a golden surface, about 5-7 minutes.
  • Serve the rolls warm, or place them in plastic bags when they are still lukewarm and put them in the freezer to serve them later.

Happy Holidays!

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Fall´n´fruits – Apple and Pear Cake

Posted in apple, cake, cinnamon, fruit, nuts, pearTagged , , , Leave a comment

It´s fall. The fruits have fallen off the trees and it´s time for a cake based on the fruits of the season. This apple and pear cake is super easy to make,  full of flavor and is perfect for rainy November days.

Ingredients
75 gram (2,6 oz) melted butter
0,5 dl (1/4 cup) sugar
2 eggs
2 dl (1 cup) plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp cardamom
2-3 grated pears
2-3 grated apples

Decoration
Chopped almonds

How to do it

  1. Preheat the oven to 200ºC (390ºF), and butter and line a round cake tin, 22 cm (9 in).
  2. Melt the butter and let it cool down a bit.
  3. Grate or chop the pears and the apples, put the fruits in a bowl and mix them together with the cinnamon and cardamom.
  4. In a large bowl, beat together the eggs with the sugar. I use a stand mixer, but you may just as well use an electric hand mixer.
  5. Mix in the melted butter.
  6. In a separate bowl, mix together the plain flour, baking powder and vanilla sugar.
  7. Slowly add the mixed dry ingredients to the mixture. 
  8. Mix in the grated apples and the pears with a spatula.
  9. Transfer the batter into the cake tin and top it with chopped almonds.
  10. Bake in the middle of the oven until the top of the cake is golden brown, for about 35-40 minutes. 
  11. Let the cake cool down for a few minutes in the cake tin before taking it out of the tin and laying it on a grid.
  12. Enjoy the flavors of fall, maybe with a scoop of ice cream.

Btw…
How about doubling the recipe and make a two layered cake with some cream cheese frosting between the layers and on top of the cape? Check out First appearance – Pear cake for a recipe for frosting.

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