Danish Hazelnut Makroner

Danish Hazelnut Makroner

Makroner is a classic danish cookie used in trifle, classic danish apple cake or in layered cakes (danish birthday cakes).

Normally makroner is made with almond flour, but I love this version with hazelnuts. I had a reason for making these makroner, I'm going to make Sarah Bernard cakes. You can read more about Sarah Bernard cakes in another post.

Ingredients:

• 150 g hazelnuts
• 300 g sugar
• 4 egg whites

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400℉ (200℃).

Grind up the hazelnuts in a food processor with thew sugar. Add the egg whites and keep processing until the mixture gets finger warm. Be careful not to get it too hot, so the egg coagulates. 

Put the mixture into a pastry bag (decoration bag) with a plain round tip. Pipe the cookies onto a sprayed parchment paper in rounds, leaving space between the disks. 

Bake the cookies for about 10-15 minutes.
Let the cookies cool on a wire rack.  Gently remove the cooled cookies of the parchment paper, they might stick.

The cookies should be crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside. If you are using them in a trifle, bake the cookies a bit longer to make them more crispy.

Store in an airtight container at room temperature.

Enjoy!

Red Velvet Cake for Valentine's day

Red Velvet Cake for Valentine's day

This cake is as American as apple pie. I had never heard about it before moving here, but it was love at first bite for me. But I quickly learned that not all cakes are made the same. The cake should be moist, light and fluffy. Most store bought cakes are dense and on the dry side. 

I think my care fulfilled the three criteria. I added a splash of coffee to enhance the cocoa flavor, but it will also darken the red color, but I think it's worth it.

Ingredients:

Cake:

• 1 cup (210 g) safflower oil

• 300 g sugar

• 1 teaspoon vanilla paste

• 2 eggs

• 225 g all-purpose flour

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 20 g cocoa powder

• 1 teaspoon baking powder

• 1 teaspoon baking soda

• 1 teaspoon vinegar

• 1 tablespoon strong cold coffee

• 1 cup (250 g) buttermilk

• 1 oz (30 ml) red food coloring

Frosting:

• 200 g cream cheese, room temperature

• 120 g salted butter, room temperature

• 250 g confectionary sugar

• 1 lemon, the juice of

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray two 9 inch cake pan with baking spray. I also put a round sheet of parchment paper in the pan, to be sure that the cake comes out smooth.

Stir together buttermilk, vinegar, coffee and red food coloring. Set aside.

Cream together oil and sugar until fluffy in a stand mixer. Mix in the eggs. 

Add Cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, salt and buttermilk mixture and mix well Lastly add the flour and mix until it's just incorporated. Be careful not to over mix the batter.

Pour batter into cake pans, and level off the surface. Bake for 20-25 minutes. Remove pan from oven and allow cake to cool in the pan for a while, and cool completely on a wire rack.

Frosting:

Cream the butter and cream cheese with the confectionary sugar and the lemon juice. Whip the frosting for about 5 minutes to get a light and fluffy frosting.

Place one cake on a cake stand, spread about half the frosting on the cake. Add the next cake on top, and finish the cake by spreading the rest of the frosting on top of the cake.

Enjoy, and happy valentines.

Béarnaise Sauce made in a blender

Béarnaise Sauce

This is not a healthy sauce by any means. But a little goes a long way. I grew up with béarnaise sauce made from a powder like Knorr bearnaise sauce. Well, we had it occasionally, but never made from scratch. We poured way to much sauce on the plate, and we loved it, we didn't know better. I would rather have a little dollop of real béarnaise with my steak, than having it swimming in a sauce made from a powder. But then again - you cant beat the accessibility of the  powder sauce, everybody can make it, and the taste is always the same. But sometimes it's ok to splurge and make the real thing. By making this sauce yourself, you will know what you put into your mouth. I love when I don't need a degree in chemistry to know what's in my food. 

Disclaimer: This sauce is made with raw eggs. I recommend using pasteurized eggs. This would minimize the risk of getting Salmonella food poisoning. You can find pasteurized eggs in some supermarkets here in California, on safeeggs.com you can see where to find them in your neighborhood.  In Denmark you'll find it right next to regular eggs. For tips and information on how to handle eggs, check out FDA’s website. The Danish version of FDA,  Fødevarestyrelsen also has advisory on eggs. 

Ingredients:

Reduction:

• 1 bunch fresh tarragon
• 2 small or 1 medium shallots, minced
• ¼ cup (½ dl) white wine vinegar
• ¼ cup (½ dl) dry white wine
• 3 whole black peppers (for the reduction)

Sauce:

• 3 egg yolks
• 200 g butter, clarified 
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Tarragon leaves, finely chopped

Directions:

Reduction:

In a small saucepan, combine sprigs of the tarragon, shallots, vinegar pepper and wine over medium-high heat. Bring to a simmer and cook until reduced by half. Remove from heat, strain the liquid and set it aside to cool.

The sauce:

Melt the butter in a sauce pan over very low heat.  Let simmer gently until the foam rises to the top of the melted butter. Once the butter stops spluttering, and no more foam seems to be rising to the surface, remove from heat and skim off the foam with a spoon. The foam is the milk solids from the butter. The clarified butter should be about 172℉ (77℃).

Blend yolks and bearnaise reduction together. With the blender running add ⅓ of the butter in a slow steady stream, yes it will splatter. Once it emulsifies, turn the blender speed up to high and add the remaining butter. Season with salt and pepper and blend for another second. Add chopped fresh tarragon leaves. Set aside in a warm spot to hold the sauce. 

If you need to reheat the sauce, do it over al very low flame and constantly stirring.

Enjoy.

Parmesan Mashed Cauliflower

Parmesan Mashed Cauliflower

I was reading this post from Huffpost by Carolyn Berry and this mashed cauliflower sounded so yummy, and  would be a good substitute for the heavy mashed potatoes. I have decided to cut down on my starchy sides at dinner this year. It's not easy, when you have been eating potatoes, rice and pasta with your dinners for decades. But I agree with Carolyn Berry that this mash is so good you won't miss the mashed potatoes. 

The great thing about this mash, you can add what ever taste profile you'll like, by adding sundried tomatoes, chives, leeks, parsley, horseradish, olive oil, feta cheese or goat cheese. I have to try adding some homemade pesto to the mash next time. Basil is my favorite herb, just the smell makes my mouth water.

Ingredients:

• 1 large head cauliflower, chopped into small florets

• 1 teaspoon chicken base

• 1 cup (125 ml) water (cooking water)

• 2 cloves garlic, peeled

• ¼ cup plain greek yogurt

• 2 tablespoons parmesan cheese

• salt and pepper to taste

Direction:

In a medium saucepan, bring water, chicken base, cauliflower, and garlic cloves to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and cover, allowing to cook for 15-20 minutes, until cauliflower is tender and easily mashed with a fork. Drain the cauliflower well, if not you'll end up with a purée. 

Add the cauliflower, garlic, yogurt and parmesan to a blender or food processor and blend until smooth. Season with salt and pepper.

Serve with your favorite protein.

Brussels Sprouts Salad with Dijon Vinaigrette

Brussels Sprouts Salad with Dijon Vinaigrette

I'm trying to cut down on the starchy sides at dinner time. I wanted to try another way to eat brussels sprouts. I  been cooking with brussels sprouts in my brussels sprouts purée, and the crispy salad on top, made me think of making a salad.

Ingredients:

• 10-12 medium brussels sprouts, thinly sliced

• 1 shallot, thinly sliced

• 1 handful hazelnuts, toasted with honey

• 1-2 blood oranges

Dijon vinaigrette:

• 1 tablespoon olive oil

• 1 teaspoon dijon mustard

• blood orange juice (I squeezed the core after filleting it

• salt & pepper

Directions:

Dressing: Shake the ingredients in a mason jar, season with salt and pepper.

In a large bowl toss brussels sprouts and shallot together with the dressing until everything is well-coated. Plate the salad and top with blood orange fillets and hazelnuts.