Red Velvet Latte

Red Velvet Latte

The first time I tasted a red velvet latte was at Bitter+Sweet, a small but very good cafe in Cupertino. My friends and I keep going back to this place, because the coffee is that good. So if you're ever in the neighborhood, do stop by, you won't regret it.

I have been wanting to create the same latte at home, and finally I found the right mix to create the same perfect red velvet latte. I could do some reverse engineering and figure out what goes into the red velvet mix, but for now I'm happy with buying it. Sometimes you need an easy way out.

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons milk
• 2 tablespoons Cappuccine Red Velvet Frappe mix 
• 1-2 espresso shots
• steamed milk (whole milk gives the best texture)

Directions

Heat the cup with some really hot water.

Whisk the red velvet mix with some steamed milk in the heated cup. Add the espresso shot(s) to the mix. Finally add more steamed milk and some milk foam.

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!

Russian Salad - Russisk Salat

Open faced sandwich with Russian Salad/Russisk Salat with a fried egg.

This Russian Salad is not a Olivier salad or a potato salad, but a beet salad used in Denmark on an open faced sandwich mostly with some kind of egg.

This sandwich was a go-to for my mom, when she needed a quick and easy dinner. For a working mom you need some easy solutions. My mom just had to fry the eggs, the rest was store bought. 

I love the vibrant color of the salad, and the sweetness from the apple and the beets, pairs perfect with the dense rye bread and the fried egg.

Serves 4.

Ingredients:

• 4 slices Danish rye bread

• 4 eggs, fried

Salad:

• 3 beets, tomato-sized (cooked with skin on for about 45 minutes in salted water), cooled & diced

• 1 green apple, peeled and diced

• Dressing:

• 4 tablespoons mayonnaise

• 1 tablespoon creme fraiche or sour cream

• ¼ teaspoon mustard

• ½-1 teaspoon sugar, to taste

• salt & pepper

Directions:

Mix the dressing first and add apple and beets. Let the salad rest in the refrigerator to let the flavors develop and mix. Season the salad with salt, pepper and sugar. 

Serve the salad on a slice of rye bread with a boiled or fried egg on top.

Enjoy!

Scallops with Elderflower Syrup

Scallops with Elderflower Syrup

The smell of elderflower is the smell of summer. My mom always made her own elderflower syrup. We would go out and pick the flowers when they first start blooming. Mixing the flowers with a large amount of sugar, lemons, citric acid and hot water. After infusing the water for a few days, you would have the best sweet elderflower syrup, the taste of summer. During the summer we would get a splash of syrup in our water, just enough to infuse the water with the sweet flowering flavor.

You can use elderflower in drinks, punch and everywhere you like to add the sweet flowery taste. Here I paired with scallops, and the bright flavor worked perfect with the sweetness of peas and corn, and the hint of salt from the bacon perfected the dish.

Serves 2 for an entree. 

Ingredients:

• 6 scallops

• 2 slices bacon, cut in dices

• 2 small shallots, finely chopped

• 125 g peas, frozen and defrosted or fresh shelled peas

• 2 corn on the co, corn cut off

• butter and oil for cooking

• lime juice from ½ lime

• 75 ml elderflower syrup, I used D'arbo Elderflower Syrup

Directions:

Fry the bacon dices crispy, and let it drain to shed the excess fat on paper towel.

Sauté the shallots until translucent in a skillet, add peas and corn. Heat them through on medium low heat. 

Heat another skillet over high heat, add oil and butter. When the fat begins to brown and smoke sear the scallops for 1½ minutes on each side. The scallops should have a ¼-inch golden crust on each side, while being translucent in the center. Set the scallops aside on a plate. Pour the elderflower syrup in the skillet and reduce to about half. Remove from heat.

Mix mint and bacon with the pea/corn mixture, and plate it. Add the scallops to the hot syrup, and cover them with the syrup, just before you place them on top of the pea/corn mixture. drizzle the syrup on top and serve immediately.

Enjoy!

Profiterole

Profiterole

Profiterole or ice cream filled cream puffs, are a classic French dessert. And it is so so good. The cold ice cream with the crispy puffs and the warm chocolate is everything you need in a dessert.

Makes a lot of small puffs

Ingredients:

Cream puffs (pâte à choux):

• 100 g butter, salted

• 200 ml water

• 125 g all-purpose flour

• a pinch salt

• 1 pinch baking powder

• 3 large eggs

Chocolate sauce:

• 160 g dark chocolate

• 250 g heavy whipping cream

• 1 tablespoon sugar

• 1 teaspoon espresso

• 1 teaspoon unsweetened cocoa powder

• ½ teaspoon vanilla paste

Filling:

• vanilla ice cream

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400℉ (200℃). Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.

Put water and butter in a medium saucepan and bring it to a boil over medium heat. In a bowl sift flour, baking powder and salt. When the butter is all melted add all the flour at once, and stir the mixture with a wooden spoon. Lower the heat and keep stirring until a dough is formed and it pulls away from the sides of the pan and is slightly shiny. 

Keep beating the dough with the wooden spoon until slightly cooled, about 2 minutes.  

Beat all the eggs in a bowl. Add a little of the beaten eggs, incorporating it thoroughly before adding more. Add the egg in small amounts until you have a thick paste but not runny at all.

Fill a large pastry bag fitted with an open tip, with the cream puff dough. Pipe quarter-size circular mounds about 2 inches apart, onto the parchment paper. To get the best tops on the cream puffs stop pressing on the pastry bag before you lift it, make a small circular move with your wrist as you lift the tip of the puff. If you have small tips on the puffs anyway, dab the tops of each puff with a fingertip dipped in water to smoothen the tops. 

Bake the puffs for 18-20 minutes, until they are puffed up and golden brown.

DO NOT open the oven while baking cream puffs, it will cause them to deflate.

Let the puffs cool on a wire rack.

Chocolate sauce:

Heat the cream in a small sauce pan, add chocolate, cocoa, coffee vanilla and sugar, and stir while heating. You don't want it to come to a boil.

Filling:

Fill each puff with about a teaspoon good vanilla ice cream.

Serve the profiterole with the warm sauce on top.

Enjoy!