Panettone French Toast

Panettone French Toast

The past few years we bought a panettone from Manresa Bread for Christmas. This traditional Italian Christmas bread is a mix between a bread and a cake. I’ve see the ones at the grocery stores for years, but it was first when I got interested in sourdough bread baking and saw the panettone at our Local Manresa Bread store, I wanted to try it. It is as yummy in the morning with coffee as it is in the afternoon with a glass of something sweet. But the panettone is a large bread/cake, so I wanted to see if you could use the leftovers in another way, and here, French Toast a very good option. I do like French toast, but often it is very sweet and I find it to lack texture. But the panettone version add a more complex flavor profile and the breads own texture and the dried berries make it a very delicious breakfast. But I like a bit of salt with my sweets in the morning, so we added some bacon to our plates, and it was just perfect. when serving people with a larger appetite, add a sunny side up egg to the mix.

Serves 2.

Ingredients:

• 1 large slice Panettone (1-inch/2-3 cm) thick (I used a ginger lemon cherry panttone from Manresa Bread)

• 1 egg

• 4 tablespoons heavy whipping cream

• ½ teaspoon vanilla

• 1 lemon, the zest of

• 1 pinch salt

Directions:

In a wide, shallow bowl, beat the egg, cream, vanilla, and salt together with a whisk until well-combined. Place the bread slice in the custard and gently press it down to help the bread absorb the custard, then flip it over and do the same to the other side of the bread. 

Heat a good amount of butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the custard-soaked bread to the pan and cook until it’s browned, it takes about a minute. Flip the bread and fry on the other side until it is browned. Serve the French toast immediately with a light sprinkle of powdered sugar and a drizzle of marble syrup. I served with a couple of slices of bacon, to bring some saltiness to the plate.

Enjoy!

Franske Snegle - Cinnamon Palmiers

Franske Snegle - Cinnamon Palmiers

Normally these cookies are large, in fact huge. But I wanted to make them smaller, so you get a delicate cookie rather than a huge piece you cannot finish. So I decided to cut the roll into even smaller pieces than I described in the directions, so I ended up with cookie sized cinnamon palmiers. I hope you will try these, they are relatively easy to make.

Makes 12-16.

Ingredients:

• puff pastry, store-bought and defrosted

• 100 g butter, room temperature

• 100 g sugar

• optional 1 teaspoon cinnamon

• 10 ml simple syrup (half sugar and half water boiled into a thick syrup)

• extra sugar for sprinkles

Icing:

• confectionary sugar (powder sugar)

• Unsweetened cocoa powder (I use Valrhona)

• and a little warm water

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 355℉/180℃ with convection, if you don't have convection, then preheat the oven to 400℉/200℃).

Cream the butter with the sugar, so you have a soft light mixture. Mix in the cinnamon.

Roll the pastry in to a 20 x 16 inch (50 x 40 cm) rectangle. Gentle spread the fluffy filling all over the pastry. Roll the pastry up tight. Cover the roll in plastic wrap, and let it sit in the refrigerator for 10-20 minutes to firm up a bit.

Cut the roll into 1 - 1.5-inch (3-4 cm) thick slices. Place slices on its ends, and press them flat to about ⅓-inch (1 cm) high. Brush both sides with the simple syrup. Place on a baking sheet with parchment paper. Sprinkle with sugar on top.

Bake the palmier for 20-30 minutes until deep golden brown. Let the palmier cool, before icing.

Enjoy!

Rhubarb Mazarin Cake

Rhubarb Mazarin Cake.

I really love rhubarbs. They are tangy, sour and are perfect in desserts and cakes. So when I found this recipe, it was a no-brainer. I had to bake it. And it was ohhh so good. And it is the perfect cake to bring to a summer barbecue.

Serves 6-8. (Recipe from the magazine Søndag).

Ingredients:

• 200 g rhubarb

• 200 g sugar

• 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste

• 150 g marzipan

• 150 g butter

• 3 eggs

• 80 g all-purpose flour

• 80 g almond flour

• 1 lime, the zest of

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350℉ (175℃).

Clean the rhubarb and cut them into small bite-sized pieces. Place them in a bowl and stir in with ¼ (50g) of the sugar + the vanilla, set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar until very light and fluffy, mix in the grated marzipan, making sure the mixture again gets light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, and mix just until fully incorporated. Gently fold in the flours and lime zest.

Pour the dough into a non-stick tart pan. (I used a 9-inch square pan with removable bottom). Place the rhubarb on top of the cake, and bake it for about an hour, until it's firm in the middle and golden brown.

Let the cake cool before serving it with a dollop of creme fraiche or ice cream.

Enjoy!

Danish Kringle

This old fashioned pastry became famous in Denmark, when a very popular TV-host from a gardening show raved about it as the worlds best kringle. The recipe originates from Anne Magrethe in Hirtshals. She was a kogekone a kinda cook for when you had large family parties at a kind of community center. You got home cooked style food from a cook who was used to scaling up the amount of food. It was kinda catering before we had catering.

I do agree that this pastry or kringle is really good. It have a nice flakiness without being a lamination of traditional pastry. You can add raisins or some kind of jam as filling. I like it best when it is more traditional.

Makes 4.

Ingredients:

Dough:

• 200 ml lukewarm water

• 300 g  butter, room temperature

• 50 g  live yeast or 4 teaspoons dry yeast

• 3 tablespoons sugar

• 3 eggs (+ more for egg wash)

• 450 g  all-purpose flour

• 1½ teaspoons salt

Filling:

• 225 g butter, room temperature

• 225 g sugar

• 100 g marzipan (almonds paste), grated

Sprinkles:

• raw sugar

• almonds slivers

Directions:

Mix water, yeast, sugar, eggs and diced butter together in the stand mixer bowl. Let it rest for about 20 minutes.

Add flour and salt and knead the dough together. Do not over-knead the dough. Let the dough rise in a warm spot in the house for about 30 minutes.

Mix together the filling and put it in a piping bag, cutting a dime sized hole.

Preheat the oven 425℉ (220℃). Prepare 2 baking sheets with parchment paper, set aside.

The dough is kinda sticky, so place the dough onto a well floured surface. Divide it into 4 pieces. Roll each piece out to a narrow rectangle, about the length of your baking sheet. Pipe the filling onto the middle of the rectangle leaving a small piece without in both ends. Fold the dough over the filling, and Pinch the ends tightly, to keep the filling inside. Gently press a dent lengthwise in the middle of the pastry. Place 2 pastries on each baking sheet. (I know, I’m a rebel, I did 3 and one). Brush on some egg wash, sprinkle with sugar and almond slivers. Let the pastries rise for about 15 minutes.

Bake the pastries for 15 minutes until dark golden brown.

Let the pastries cool on a wire rack. Serve the pastries slightly warm or at room temperature.

Enjoy!

Mrs. Child's Cheese Crackers

Southern Cheese Crackers

It’s no secret I LOVE cheese. So when a friend of mine told me about these cheese cracker, it was a no-brainer, I had to make them. The most surprising was, that it took me almost a month to do so.
These crackers a very addictive, and pair well with a cold beer or a nice glass of wine. If you’re not into the spiciness, then drop the cayenne.

Recipe by Robyn Stone.

Makes 40-60 crackers.

Ingredients:

• 200 g (2 cups) freshly shredded sharp cheddar cheese

• 112 g (1 stick) salted butter, softened

• 1 teaspoon salt

• ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper

• ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

• ⅛ teaspoon garlic powder

• 60 g (½ cup) pecans, finely chopped

• 145 g (1½ cups) all-purpose flour

Directions:

Cream the butter with the grated cheese for about 3 minutes. Mix in the salt, cayenne, black pepper, and garlic powder. Add the flour a little at a time, stirring after each addition until the ingredients are well combined and a dough forms. If the dough seems a little dry, ad 1 or 2 tablespoons of water.

Shape the dough into two 1-inch (2½ cm) diameter logs. Wrap in parchment or plastic wrap. Twist the ends and refrigerate 30 minutes or overnight.

Preheat oven to 375℉ (190℃). Line 2-3 baking sheets with parchment paper.

Cut the logs into ⅛-inch (⅓ cm) thick slices and place ¼-inch (1 cm) apart on the prepared sheet.

Bake until light golden brown, about 12-15 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely. The crackers will keep in an airtight container for up to 1 week. This is theoretical because they evaporate faster in my house.

I can recommend making some extra dough, and freeze it, for an easy snack for when you have guests.

Enjoy!