Napoleonshatte - Napoleon Hats

Napoleonshatte - Napoleon Hats

Napoleon hats are a stable in the Danish Baker's Shops. The cake is made from shortcrust pastry with a filling of kransekage dough, then dipped in a good dark chocolate. Napoleon hats are one of the cakes I have to have when I'm visiting Denmark. They are really delicious, and to be honest, this homemade version with real marzipan is so much better than the ones you can buy at most baker's shops. 

The cake is named after the (funny) hat of the French General and Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte.  

Makes 16.

Ingredients:

Pastry:

• 300 g all-purpose flour

• 150 g butter, salted and room temperature

• 100 g confectionary sugar

• 1 egg

Filling:

• 250 g almond paste (I used ren rå marzipan from Odense)

• 100 g sugar

• 1 egg white

Dipped in:

250 g dark chocolate, tempered

Directions:

Pastry:

Mix the butter in the flour and sugar in a stand mixer. Add the egg and mix just until the dough starts to lump together. Form the dough into a disc and wrap it in plastic wrap, and let it rest for about 30 minutes.

On a floured surface roll the dough to about 1/10-inch (3mm) thickness. Cut out rounds about 3⅕-inch (8 cm) in diameter.

Preheat the oven to 400℉ (200℃).

Filling:

In the making

Beat the egg white with the sugar until combined, mix in the marzipan a little at a time. Divide the mixture into 16 balls. 

Place a ball unto the center of each pastry round. Fold three flaps of the circle up, pressing it into the marzipan ball, so it sticks. Use three finger to make it even. 

Bake the cakes for 8-10 minutes until golden brown. Let the cakes cool completely. Place the cooled cakes in the refrigerator until you are ready with the tempered chocolate.

Dip the bottom of the cake in tempered dark chocolate, scrape excess chocolate off the cake. Set the cake on its side with the chocolate pointing up, until the chocolate has set.

Serve the napoleon hats with a nice cup of tea or coffee.

Enjoy!

Just dipped in chocolate

Coconut Macaroons - kokosmakroner

Coconut Macaroons - kokosmakroner

I love cocos macaroons aka kokosmakaroner. I love the crispy crust and the sweet soft center. And the cookie just get better when dipped in a good chocolate. Everything gets better with chocolate. 

We learned to make these macaroons in home economic in school, well we learned a simpler version, but this recipe adapted from Food52, elevates the simple macaroon to a whole new level.

Makes 12-16 small cookies.

Ingredients:

Cookies:

• 2 egg whites
• 110 g unsweetened, coconut flakes
• 85 g sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla paste 
• 1 pinch salt

Dipping:

• 150 g dark chocolate (I used valrhona)

Directions:

Cookies:

Put all ingredients in a large heatproof bowl, I used a stainless steel bowl. Place it on the top of a pot with boiling water, taken off the heat. Stir the mixture until the egg starts to thicken and turn opaque. Remove the bowl from the pot, and set aside for about 20-30 minutes. This gives the coconut time to absorb the liquid.

Preheat the oven to 350℉ (180℃). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

With wet hands form 10-12 ball, and place them on a parchment paper lined baking sheet.  Shape the balls to peaks. 

Bake the cookies for 5 minutes, you just want the tips to begin to color. Lower the heat to 325℉ (165℃). Continue to bake the cookies for another 10-15 minutes until golden brown with darker edges. 

Let the cookies cool completely on a wire rack before gently removing them from the parchment paper.

Dip the macaroons in tempered chocolate. The macaroons will keep in an airtight container for up to a week.

Enjoy!

Skagen Kakaosnitter - Cocoa Bites from Skagen

Skagen Kakaosnitter - Cocoa Bites from Skagen

These cocoa bites or bars, is a classic cake you will find at many baker's shops in Denmark. But they are really pretty easy to make, and the taste is so much better. I made these with the traditional raspberry jam, but I think a more tangy jam will work even better, with the sweet cake. 

The finished bars can be frozen, or will hold up for 3-5 days in an airtight container.

Makes 12-15 bars.

Ingredients:

Crust:

• 300 g all-purpose flour
• 150 g butter
• 125 g sugar
• 2 eggs
• ½ teaspoon vanilla paste

Layer:

• 3-5 tablespoons raspberry jam

Topping:

• 100 g melted butter
• 300 g sugar
• 4 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa
• 200 g shredded unsweetened coconut
• 3 eggs 
• ½ teaspoon vanilla paste
• 1 teaspoon espresso or strong coffee

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 435℉ (225℃). Line a 9x13-inch pan with parchment paper. You can use a larger pan, this will just make the cocoa bites thinner.

Crust:

Mix all the ingredients for the crust to a dough, form the dough to a flat square, wrap it in plastic wrap and let it rest in the refrigerator for 10 minutes. Roll the dough out to the size of your pan, and transfer in into the pan. Bake the crust for 5-10 minutes until light golden. Let the crust cool in the pan.

Topping:

Mix the topping while baking the crust. 

Spread a thin layer of jam on the cooled crust, and pour the topping on top, and spread it in a even layer, all the way to the edges. 

Bake the cake for another 15-20 minutes.

Slice the cake into small bars, with a sharp knife. 

Enjoy!

Rutebiler - Chocolate Meringues

Rutebiler - Chocolate Meringues

Rutebiler is a very light and airy cookie, kinda like a chocolate meringue, but rutebiler has a rising agent, and in my version you use whole eggs. Rutebiler are small crispy chocolate rectangles, with a hollow center. They will melt in your mouth with a sweet chocolaty taste, making you want another one.

We had rutebiler at birthdays, as light cookies. Well, my mom had a bad experience with meringues and rutebiler at birthday parties. At one of my brothers birthdays the boys had a big food fight with meringues, and I remember my mom cursing a lot while cleaning up the sticky mess from carpet and furniture in the living room. That was the end of meringues at birthday parties in my family. 

Makes about 100. 

Ingredients:

• 750 g confectionary sugar (powder sugar)
• 2 eggs
• 2½ tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1¼ teaspoon Ammonium bicarbonate (baker's ammonia)

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350℉ (175℃).

Line baking sheets with baking paper.

Crown cookie press attachment

Sift the dry ingredients together, and mix them in the eggs. The batter will be kinda thick paste, a little on the dry side.  Run the dough through a cookie press or meat grinder with cookie attachment, that looks like a crown. Each cake should be about 5 cm (2-inches) long, place them about 2-inches apart, because the cookies will expand. Bake the cakes in the center of the oven for 6-8 minutes. These cookies are light and airy, with a hollow center.

Keep the cookies in an airtight container.

Enjoy!

Elderflower Madeleines

Elderflower Madeleines

This is my summerly take on the classic French Madeleine cookie. Basically it's small pound cake bites, baked in small seashell shapes, aka a madeleine pan. They are really tasty, and are perfect with a cup of afternoon tea.

You can make the batter the day before, and make them fresh for the weekend brunch. This works because the batter can rest up to 24 hours in the refrigerator before baking. 

Makes 24

Ingredients:

• 85 g butter, salted
• 2 eggs
• 75 g sugar
• 3 tablespoons elderflower syrup, I use d'arbo elderflower syrup
• 110 g all-purpose flour
• ½ teaspoon baking powder 
• confectionary (powder) sugar for sprinkling

Directions:

Whisk together the flour and baking powder. In a separate bowl (for the stand mixer), beat the eggs for about 30 seconds, until they are frothy. Add sugar, and whisk for about 5 minutes, until the pale, fluffy and tripled in volume.

Slowly add the dry ingredients and the melted butter + syrup in batches, and mix them slowly in. Be careful not to over mix the batter.

Let the batter rest in the refrigerator for about an hour to chill and hydrate the flour. This will give the madeleines the classic bump on the back, if you skip this step, the batter will still rise, but not as much.

Preheat the oven to 350℉ (180℃), and spray the madeleine pans with nonstick cooking spray, set aside.

Pour about 1 tablespoon of batter into each mold and bake for 15-17 minutes, until golden brown. You want the edges to be crispy and the inside light and fluffy.

Let the madeleines cool for a minute or two. Gently use a knife to loosen the madeleines from the pans and let them cool on a wire rack. For more elderflower taste, brush the warm madeleines with some of the syrup.

Sprinkle the madeleines with confectionary sugar, just before serving.

Enjoy!