Pies & Stuff

Cake:

525g plain flour 550g sugar 95g cocoa powder 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 tablespoon baking soda 2 tablespoons orange aroma or fresh orange juice 5 eggs 350ml (STRONG) coffee 350ml buttermilk 320g melted butter

Frosting:

400g unsalted butter (room temperature) 900g icing sugar 4 tablespoons fresh orange juice 

Instructions:

1. Mix the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, salt and baking soda in a medium bowl. In a separate bowl, mix the orange aroma, eggs, coffee, buttermilk and melted butter. Add the dry to the wet ingredients and whisk until smooth. Pour the batter into your cake pans (I used four flat 6 inch pans plus a 6 inch hemisphere ball pan). Bake the flat layers for about 25 minutes and the ball pan for about 35 minutes at 330°F/165°C. Use a cake tester to check if the cake is ready or not.

2. Once baking time is over, place the pans on a rack and let them cool. Release the cake from the pans, wrap the separate layers in plastic wrap and put them in the fridge (I suggest at least two hours of cooling time because assembling the cake will be much easier if the layers have chilled properly).

3. Using an electric mixer, beat the butter on high speed for about 5 minutes until it’s pale. Reduce the speed to low and add the (sifted!) icing sugar bit by bit. Once it’s smooth, add the orange juice and food coloring of your choice (I went for a blue cookie monster look with this one) and stir slowly for another two minutes.

4. Trim and level the cakes and stack them by putting icing between each layer. If you’ve never assembled a layer cake, I recommend this tutorial for better step-by-step visuals. Once all your layers are assembled (don’t forget the the hemisphere layer on top!) and the crumb coat is in place, refrigerate your cake for about 30 minutes.

5. Cut out eyes, a mouth and teeth out of black and white fondant. Place the mouth on your preferred spot on the cake. To get the "fur”, use a star tip and pipe short lines all over (as shown here). It doesn’t have to be neat -it is a monster, after all- just make sure that the cake is completely covered. Finally, you can add little antennas, horns or whatever your preferred monster look is. Time to get creative.

This cheesecake makes for the perfect dessert because it is surprisingly light with just the right amount of sweetness.

Crust:

100g white chocolate 2 tablespoons oil 180g oats

Cheesecake filling:

3 tablespoons strawberry jam (homemade or from the store) 2 teaspoons lemon juice 5 gelatin sheets 180g cream cheese (room temperature) 120g sugar 150g yogurt 200g heavy cream white chocolate and strawberry jam for topping and decoration

Instructions:

1. Break the chocolate into small pieces and together with the oil, put it into a small pan and let it melt on low heat. When it’s completely melted, take the pan off the stove and in a separate bowl, mix the oats and melted chocolate. Line a baking pan (I used an 8 inch pan) with parchment paper and press the oats-chocolate-mixture into the bottom of the pan. Make sure it’s spread out evenly. Place the pan with the crust in the fridge to let it cool.

2. Soak sheets of gelatin in a bowl with cold water for 5 to 10 minutes. In a small saucepan, add the strawberry jam and lemon juice and bring to a boil. Keep stirring until the jam has a liquid consistency and take pan off the stove. Take the gelatin sheets out of the water and wring gently to get rid of excess water, then add them to the pan and stir until the gelatin has fully dissolved into the strawberry jam.

3. In a medium bowl, combine the cream cheese and sugar. First, add 3 tablespoons of the cream cheese mixture to the saucepan with strawberry jam and stir. Then mix the remaining jam and cream cheese mixture. Add the yogurt. Once the filling thickens a bit, beat heavy cream until stiff. Gently, fold in whipped cream into cream cheese mixture and spread it out evenly over the chilled crust. Refrigerate for at least four hours.

It’s fall. It’s pie season. And my apartment still smells like heaven after making this.

Crust: (x)

You can’t go wrong with a crumble. It’s science. For this one, I used pears and apples for the filling, a classic crumble mixture for the topping, and some homemade caramel for the special touch.

Filling:

1 pound apples 1 pound pears 3 tablespoons lemon juice 2 tablespoons cornstarch 1 teaspoon cinnamon 2 tablespoons caster sugar 

Caramel:

35 grams butter 70 grams caster sugar

Crumble:

1 cup flour 1/2 cup brown sugar 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon (nutmeg also works, depending on your personal preference) 1/4 teaspoon salt 115 grams butter (1 stick) 1/4 cups oats

Instructions:

1. Preheat your oven to 375°/190°C. Peel the pears and apples and cut them up into small pieces. In a large bowl, mix the apples and pears with lemon juice and cornstarch (I recommend mixing the juice and cornstarch separately in a small bowl first and add it to the fruit right after). Add the cinnamon and sugar and stir. Pour the filling into a pan or baking dish (I used a 10-inch pie dish).

2. To make the caramel, melt the butter in a small pan. Reduce the temperature, add the sugar and wait for it to melt into the butter completely. Make sure to keep stirring until it has a smooth, light brown consistency. Careful: sugar may burn quickly. Drizzle the caramel over the filling.

3. In a large bowl, whisk the flour, sugar, cinnamon and salt. Cut up the butter into medium pieces and work into the flour mixture until crumbs form. Pour the crumble evenly over the filling and sprinkle the oats on top. Bake at 375°/190°C for about 30 minutes until the filling bubbles up and the crumble has turned into a nice golden brown shade.

If you’re looking for a quick and simple, yet impressive-looking snack/dessert, this strudel is for you. All you need is cream cheese, raspberry jam, puff pastry and chocolate.

Ingredients:

250g cream cheese 2 tablespoons sugar (if you like it sweeter, add a bit more) 3 tablespoons raspberry jam 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (optional) 50g dark chocolate (cut into small bits) 1 puff pastry sheet (10′‘x 15′‘)

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350°F/175°C. In a medium bowl, mix the cream cheese, sugar, raspberry jam and vanilla. Roll out puff pastry on a baking sheet and spread the cream cheese mixture out in the middle from top to bottom. Make sure to leave enough room on the sides (see picture). Sprinkle the chocolate bits on top. Cut the sides into strips and fold them over the cream cheese (left to right, left to right, etc. as shown in the second picture). Bake at 350°F/175°C until the puff pastry rises and strudel turns golden brown (about 15 minutes). Careful: once it reaches a certain temperature, puff pastry darkens quickly, so make sure to check on the strudel every few minutes.

This strudel works with any type of jam or just plain cream cheese flavor. Get creative with it :)

Crust:

300g flour 3 tablespoons sugar 1/4 teaspoon salt 225g butter (cold) 3-5 tablespoons ice water

Filling:

900g cherries (whatever kind you prefer) 160g sugar 2 1/4 tablespoons cornstarch 2 1/4 lemon juice 30g dark chocolate (melted)

1 tablespoon milk 1 egg brown sugar

Instructions:

1. In a large bowl, whisk flour, sugar and salt. Cut up the butter into small pieces and work it into the flour mix using a fork or pastry cutter until small pea-sized pieces begin to form. Add the water bit by bit (be careful that you don’t add too much at once) and process until the dough has a crumbly texture. (I like to knead the dough by hand but using a food processor is quicker and easier). Gather the dough, divide it into two pieces and press into disks. Put each disk in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least one hour.

2. Preheat oven to 435°F/225°C. In a medium-sized pan, mix the cherries and sugar and bring to a boil. Whisk cornstarch and lemon juice in a small bowl and add to the cherries. Melt the chocolate in a small pan and add as well (the chocolate gives the filling a rich, full flavor). Stir and let it simmer on low heat for about 15 minutes until cherries turn soft and the juice thickens. Take the pan off the stove and allow the filling to cool.

3. Roll out one disk of dough on a floured surface (10-inch round). Transfer the dough into a pie dish and trim the edges. Roll out the second disk to a similar round. You can either cut out small circles as I did or form a traditional lattice- whatever you prefer. Pour filling into the dish and cover with second crust. Trim edges. Mix the egg and milk and brush the top crust with the mixture. Sprinkle brown sugar on top.

4. Place pie dish on baking sheet and bake 15 minutes (435°F/225°C). Reduce the temperature to 350°F/175°C and bake for another 45 minutes. If the top crust gets too dark at the end, cover with foil. Transfer pie to rack and let it cool completely (for about 4 hours- I know, patience!).