Habanero Kransekage - Habanero Almond Cake

Habanero Kransekage - Habanero Almond Cake

Happy New Year.

Thank you for visiting my blog. It’s has been a fun year for me with blog. I learned that I do not control what happens after I post. And I do not know what will be a hit and what will be a miss. One thing I do know is, the quality of the photos is getting better. My husband has learned a lot about light, and how to use it.Thank you Michael for helping me, you are the best.

I hope you will keep visiting my blog, and I promise to keep coming up with new recipes and giving old classics a new twist.

I look forward to 2015 and to face all the new challenges this year will bring.  

From my family to yours, have a fantastic 2015, filled with love, light and laughter.

Cheers.

Makes 12

Ingredients:

Kransekage: 

• 50 g almonds blanched
• 100 g sugar
• 1 egg white
• 250 g marzipan (I used Ren Rå, a 60% almond paste)
• habanero chili (be cautious with this chili, it is very powerful, taste a teeny-tiny bit to determine how much to use)

Icing:

• confectionary sugar
• water, hot
• orange food coloring

Directions:

Put almonds and sugar into food processor with the steel blade in place and process until finely pulverized. Add the egg whites and process until smooth. Be careful not to heat the mass to more than 95 - 104°F, else the egg white will cook. 

Shred the marzipan and add it, minced habanero and the almond/egg white mixture to a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat it until it's completely smooth and free of lumps. Form the dough into a ball, and refrigerate for 2-3 hours.

Preheat oven for 375℉ (190℃).

Roll the dough into logs as thick as your finger, and cut into 3 inch long pieces. Gently press the top, so you get a peak.  

Bake for about 12 minutes or until golden.  Allow to cool completely before decorating.

Make the icing with small amount of hot water. You want the icing to be a thick paste. Pipe the icing across the top, using a piping bag with a small round tip.

Enjoy the kransekage with a glass of sweet bubbles.

Homemade Liquorice Fudge

Homemade Liquorice Fudge

December 21th.

Making the last few treats for the holiday celebration. 

Makes about 60.

Ingredients:

• 397 g (1 can) sweetened condensed milk
• 150 ml milk
• 115 g (1 stick) butter (I used salted butter)
• 450 g sugar
• 4-5 teaspoons fine liquorice powder
• 1-2 teaspoons raw liquorice powder

Directions:

Line a square baking pan with parchment paper.

In a large saucepan on a medium heat, heat the condensed milk, milk, butter and sugar, stirring regularly, until the sugar has melted. Let the fudge simmer until it reaches 240℉ (115℃) or until soft ball stage. You have to stir constantly, otherwise the fudge will burn and you end up with bitter fudge.

Transfer the fudge to the stand mixer bowl, add the liquorice powder, and beat for about 10 minutes, until it loses the glossy caramel sheen and you have a thick but soft fudge. 

Scoop the fudge into the prepared baking pan and press it into the corners and even out the top. Let the fudge cool completely. Cut it into squares.

The fudge will keep in a sealed container at room temperature for several weeks. I have never tested this, because the fudge always seems to disappear in the first few days, in my house.

Enjoy!

The Perfect Roasted Duck and Pork Roast.

A duck roasting in the oven.

December 20th.

Every year we look for guides to roasting duck and danish pork roast. Here is my take on how to make christmas dinner. We serve both duck and pork roast, but we only have one oven. A lot of people has this issue, and therefore they roast the duck the day before, but not in the house, that would be way to easy. ;0)

Danish Pork Roast

We make the pork roast in the grill/BBQ, on indirect heat, with a pan under to save the drippings, and this pan has to be refilled with water a couple of time while roasting. Other than that, its the same recipe as here:

Danish Pork Roast

By slow roasting the duck you get the most juicy duck ever. 

Slow-roasted Duck.

For the traditional Danish Christmas dinner serve with caramelizes potatoes and pickled red cabbage.

Gingerbread Ice Cream

Gingerbread Ice Cream

December 19th.

My aunt is known for her homemade ice cream. Every year she will serve ice cream for dessert at her christmas dinner. This is not the traditional Christmas dessert in Denmark, but there is nothing wrong with being a little rebellious. This gingerbread ice cream could be a new addition to my aunts ice cream repertoire, it screams christmas. You can serve it with a swirl of gingerbread cookies or as a gingerbread affogato. 

Makes a small pint.

Ingredients:

• 120 ml milk

• 240 ml heavy whipping cream

• 25 g sugar

• 50 g brown sugar

• 50 g dark syrup or molasses

• 1 pinch salt

• ¼ teaspoon vanilla paste

• ½ teaspoon cinnamon

• ⅛ teaspoon cloves

• ⅛ teaspoon allspice

• 2 pinches ginger

• 4 egg yolks

Directions:

Making the custard:

Pour the cream into a metal bowl placed in a larger bowl of ice, set aside.

Warm milk, sugars, syrup, spices and salt in a medium saucepan. Make sure the sugar and salt is dissolved completely.

In another bowl, whisk egg yolks. Slowly pour the warm milk into the egg yolks, while whisking constantly, then scrape the warmed egg yolks back into the saucepan, and heat the mixture over medium heat, until it thickens. Stir constantly in this process and make sure to scrape the bottom of the saucepan. 

Pour the egg/milk mixture through a sieve into the cold cream. Cool the custard in refrigerator until ice is cold. 

Pour the custard into an ice cream maker and freeze it according to manufacturers instructions. Add the cookie pieces when the ice cream is ready to scoop out, and let them get mixed in. Scoop the ice cream into a freezer safe container, and freeze overnight before serving.  

Enjoy!

Homemade Marzipan

Homemade Marzipan

Marzipan is a big part of all the sweets and confectionary made in Danish homes in the weeks up to christmas. Living abroad it is very hard to find marzipan not to mention good marzipan. 

Ingredients:

Mazipan:

• 200 g almond flour

• 3 small bitter almonds, the skin scraped of

• 35 g agave nectar (I used organic blue agave nectar)

• 50 g (2 tablespoons) syrup*

• 2-3 drops almond extract (optional)

*Syrup (makes more than needed in the recipe):

• 50 ml water

• 90 g sugar

• 70 g light corn syrup (glucose syrup)

Directions:

Syrup:

Heat water, sugar and corn syrup in a saucepan until the sugar is melted into a clear syrup. Let the syrup cool completely before using.

Marzipan:

Scrape the brown skin of the bitter almonds. Ground the almonds to a flour. I chopped it finely and grounded it in a pestle and mortar with a ¼ teaspoon sugar.

Mix almond flour, bitter almond, syrup, agave nectar and extract in a bowl and use your hands to knead it into a uniform paste. Form the paste into a log, and roll it up in plastic wrap. and let it rest in the refrigerator for 12-24 hours for the flavors to blend.

Use the marzipan for baking, snacking, to make confectionery or as base for cream puffs.

Enjoy!

I used some almond extract because the bitter almonds didn't give me enough flavor in all my test batches. I will stay in the marzipan-test-kitchen until next christmas.🎄