Pleated Christmas Heart Cookies

Pleated Christmas heart cookies

The pleaded or weaved heart is quintessential Christmas for Danes. The pleaded Christmas heart is said to contributed to the Danish Storyteller H.C. Andersen. The oldest known heart is kept at The H.C. Andersen Museum in Odense. As a child we learned to make pleaded Christmas hearts, and we placed them on the Christmas tree. Last year I saw someone make cookies like the pleaded hearts, I knew I wanted to make some. I took offset in the checkerboard cookies, and replacing the cocoa with food coloring.

Ingredients:

Dough:

• 340 g butter, salted and room temperature

• 200 g confectionary sugar (powder sugar)

• 90 g almonds, bleached and grounded

• 2 egg yolk

• 2 teaspoon vanilla bean paste

• 500 g all-purpose flour

• Red food gel coloring, for the red part of the dough

DIRECTIONS:

Cream the butter until soft and creamy. Add the confectionery sugar, mix until fully combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Add the ground almonds, egg yolks, vanilla and flour, and mix until just blended. Be careful not to over mix the dough. Remove half of the dough, and mix the other half with red food coloring, until you get a bright red. I used Christmas red Wilton gel color, and I had to use most of the little jar, to get the right color. Wrap the doughs in plastic film and places dough in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes, so the butter firms up, making it easier top work with.

Divide each color in 2, rolling one half into a log with a 1-inch (3 cm) diameter. The other half form it into flat squares. Cover the log and square in plastic wrap, and put it back in the refrigerator. Roll each flat square of the dough out between 2 pieces of parchment paper, to a little under ⅓-inch (9 mm) thickness. Place the dough on a baking sheet, and place it back in the refrigerator for about 1 hour.

Assemble the cookies:

Remove one of  the doughs from the refrigerator, peel off the paper from both sides and set the dough onto a fresh sheet of parchment. Using a sharp knife, slice the dough lengthwise into square strips about ⅓ inch (9 mm) wide. Place the dough strips in the refrigerator, while repeating the other dough.

Remove dough strips from the refrigerator. Lay a strip of the white dough lengthwise on the baking sheet, then lay a strip of red dough next to the white, another strip of white and finally another red, so you now have 4 strips alternating colors. Press the three strips gently together so that they stick to one another. You can brush the sides with some diluted apricot preserve, to help the dough glue together.

Do this with the rest of the strips, so you end up with logs of striped cookie dough.  Place the logs on top of each other, so the red dough and white dough alternates and you have  4x4 colors per log.

Gently press the logs together on all sides. Wrap the log with plastic wrap, a place in the refrigerator.   Make more logs with the remaining dough.

Take out the round logs, an cut them in half lengthwise. Firmly press 1 red and 1 white half log on top of the 4x4 colored logs. Placing them on to sides next to each other. Now you have a pleated hearty, when you cut the log in slices.

Chill the logs for at least an hour before slicing.

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

Slice into cookies about ¼ inch (6 mm) thick. Set the hearts about ½-inch (1 cm) apart on the baking sheet and bake for about 7-8 minutes, until the withe parts are very lightly browned. If your oven is baking unevenly rotate the sheet halfway through. Cool on the parchment paper on a wire rack. 

Store the completely cooled cookies in an airtight container.

Enjoy!

Mrs. Cross’s Christmas Syrup Cake - Sirupslagkage

Mrs. Cross’s Christmas Syrup Cake - Sirupslagkage.

This type of cake was one of my mom’s favorites. She always told a story about getting a syrup layer cake at a friends house, where the buttermilk came from their own cows. Maybe my mom’s childhood food memories were tied to fond memories like my own. The syrup cake were not tied to Christmas in my home, but by adding the orange jam and chocolate is leans itself towards Christmas. My mom served hers with a sprinkle of powdered sugar on top, the chocolate ganache make it more decadent.

Ingredients:

Batter:

• 125 g dark syrup

• 75 g sugar

• 75 g butter

• 250 g all purpose flour

• 1 teaspoon baking powder

• ½ teaspoon backing soda

• 1 teaspoon cinnamon

• ½ teaspoon ground cloves

• ½ teaspoon ground allspice

• ½ teaspoon ground ginger

• 150 ml buttermilk

Filling:

• 5-6 heaping tablespoons Orange jam

Buttercream:

• 250 g butter, salted and room temperature

• 250 g confectionary sugar (powdered sugar)

• 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste

Chocolate ganache:

• 200 ml heavy whipping cream

• 200 g dark chocolate, finely chopped, I used Valrhona

• 10 g butter

Garnish:

• orange zest strips

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 355℉ (175℃).

Batter:

Melt butter, sugar, and syrup in a sauce pan, remove from heat, and let it cool for a few minutes. Mix the dry ingredients, and add it to the warm mixture, together with the buttermilk. Pour the batter into a 8-9-inch (22cm) springform, the bottom lined with parchment paper. And bake it for 30-35 minutes. Let the cake cool completely, before removing from the form.

Buttercream:

Cream the butter with the sugar for about 8-10 minutes, until it’s white and fluffy. Mix in the vanilla.

Ganache:

In a saucepan heat the cream to an almost simmer, remove it when small bubbles start forming at the edges. Pour it on top of the chopped chocolate and add the butter. Let it sit for about 30 seconds before you start stirring the mixture. This will give the chocolate time to start melting. Stir the ganache until it is smooth, glossy homogeneous.

Assembly:

Using a serrated knife, slice the cake horizontally in 2 layer, using gentle sawing motion. Spread the orange jam in a even layer on the lover part of the cake. On top of that spread all the buttercream in a thick even layer. Place the top part of the cake on top of the buttercream. Give it a little press to make the buttercream come out to the edge. Pour the ganache over the top of the cake, it’s ok if the ganache drips over the edges. Sprinkle with some orange zest on top, befor the ganache sets.

The cake will benefit from sitting a few hours or even overnight in the refrigerator before serving.

Enjoy!

Blueberry & White Chocolate Scones

Blueberry & White Chocolate Scones

I love scones, especially when they are light and fluffy. Maybe it’s wrong, to talk about a light scone, given they contain a lot of butter and cream 😁 But these feel very light.

Makes 8 scones.

Ingredients:

• 300 g all-purpose flour

• 50 g sugar

• 2 teaspoons baking powder

• ½ teaspoon salt

• 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste

• 60 g butter, salted and room temperature

• 150 g blueberries

• 125 g white chocolate, coarsely chopped, I used Valrhona

• 190 ml heavy whipping cream + extra for brushing

• 1 egg

• coarse sugar for sprinkling

Directions:

Add the dry ingredients and the vanilla in a mixing bowl. Add the butter and mix the butter into the dry ingredients with your hands or the paddle attachment (flat beater), until the mixture is coarse and crumbly. Gently mix in the blueberries and chocolate. Place the mixture in the refrigerator for 30-40 minutes to cool completely.

Preheat the oven to 355℉ (180℃), and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Whisk the egg into the heavy whipping cream. Pour the mixture into a well in the cooled dry ingredients. Gently mix the dough with a fork, until just mixed together. Be careful not to overmix. Pour the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Use your finger to gently press the dough into a disc 8-inch (20 cm) in diameter and about 1-inch (2.5 cm) thick. Slice the disc into 8 wedges, and place them on the prepared baking sheet about 1-inch apart. Brush each wedge with cold cream, and sprinkle with sugar.

Bake the scones for 22-25 minutes until they a light golden.

Let the scones cool for about 15 minutes before sinking your teeth into them.

Enjoy!

Easy Sourdough bread

Easy Sourdough bread

My favorite sourdough bread is the Basic Country Bread a la Tartine, but It is time consuming. I have been trying to make a cheat version, with the same good result. This is the closest I have been able to get to it. And I’m very satisfied with the result.

Makes 2 loafs.

Ingredients:

Leaven:

• 3 tablespoons (55 g) sourdough starter

• 150 g water

• 140 g all-purpose flour

• 25 g whole wheat flour

Bread:

• 250 g leaven - save the rest as your new sourdough starter

• 710 g water

• 800 g all-purpose flour

• 200 g whole wheat flour

• 20 g salt

• 50 g water

Directions:

Feed your starter the night before you want to bake.

Day 1 morning

Mix the ingredients in a medium bowl, and let it sit covered on the kitchen counter for 7-8 hours. To test leaven's readiness, drop a spoonful into a bowl of room-temperature water. If it sinks, it is not ready and needs more time to ferment and ripen. If it floats, it's ready to use.

Save your leftover leaven.  It will be your starter/sourdogh for next time you bake. Read here how to feed and keep a sourdough starter.

Mixing the dough - 5pm day 1

Pour the warm water into a the bowl for your stand mixer, adding leaven, stir to disperse. Add flours and mix dough until no dry flour remain. Let rest covered for about 30 minutes. Add salt and remaining 50 grams warm water, and head the dough for about 5-6 minutes. Transfer the dough to a medium plastic container or a glass bowl. Cover with lid or kitchen towel. (I use a dough-rising bucket like this. Let the dough rise for about 2-3 hours.

Shaping the dough - 8-9 pm day 1

Gently pull the dough out of container, onto an un-floured surface, using a dough spatula. Lightly flour the top of the dough and use a bench knife to cut the dough into 2 equal pieces. As you cut the first piece, use the bench knife to flip it over, so the floured side now rest on the work surface. Do the same with the second piece of dough.

While working with the dough you want to incorporate as little flour as possible. Work each piece into a round using scraper and one hand. Tension will build as the dough slightly anchors to the surface as you rotate it. By the end, the dough should have a taut, smooth surface. Dust tops off rounds with flour, cover with a tea towel, and let rest on the work surface for 20 to 30 minutes.

The final shaping:

To form the loaf's, carefully turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface with the floured side down, using the bench knife. Now the underside is facing up. Be careful not to deflate the dough. This final shaping builds up tension inside each loaf, so it holds its form and rises substantially when baked. This is called "oven spring."

Fold the third of the dough closest to you up and over the middle third of the round. Stretch out the dough horizontally to your right and fold this right third over the center. Stretch the dough to your left and fold this third over the previous fold. You are now starting to get a neat package. Stretch out the third of the dough farthest from you and fold this flap toward you, over the previous folds, and anchor it in place with your fingers. Then grab the dough nearest to you and wrap it up and over, while rolling the whole package away from you, that the smooth underside of the loaf now is on the top and all the seams are on the bottom. Let the shaped loaf rest on the counter for a minute. Fold the other loaf the same way.

Line two baskets with clean tea towels generously dusted with rice flour. These bowls will hold the fermenting dough overnight in the fridge to proof. Using the dough scraper, transfer each round to a basket, smooth side down, with seam centered and facing up. Cover the dough loosely with tea towel, and place it in a large ziplock bag - do not close the bag. Let the dough rest in the refrigerator overnight.

Baking the Bread - day 2.

Pull the loves out of the refrigerator, removing the bowls from the ziplock bag. Let the bowls on the kitchen counter while you preheat the oven and dutch/French oven to 500℉ (260℃), with rack in lowest position.

Flip one bread into hot dutch/french oven. Score top twice using a razor blade matfer lame. Cover with lid. Return to oven, and reduce oven temperature to 450℉ (232℃). Bake for 20 minutes.

Carefully remove lid and continue to bake until crust is deep golden brown, 20 to 25 minutes more.

Transfer loaf to a wire rack. It will feel light and sound hollow when tapped. Mix the topping and spread it on top of the hot crust, then let the loaf cool. Letting the bread cool, is the hardest thing.

To bake the second loaf, raise oven temperature to 500℉ (260℃), wipe out dutch/French oven with a dry kitchen towel, and reheat with lid for about 10-20 minutes.

Enjoy!

Sourdough Bread with Olives

Sourdough Bread with Olives

It’s no secret in my neighborhood that I love to bake. So now and then a neighbor nudge me to bake some bread. So in honor of my olive-loving neighbor, I tried a, for me, new filling for my sourdough breads - olives. Prior to this I’ve used artichoke/parmesan or walnuts with big success. So even though I still love the walnut one very much, the olive bread comes in as a very close second. It’s really good!!

But if you are the type of person that love nutella or pålægschokolade (thin slices of chocolate, used on bread in Denmark) this bread will not be the best option for you. But if you are a chocolate covered olives kind og guy - well go right ahead.. 😂

This bread is great to have with cheese, cold cuts, soups or simply with some butter.

Makes 2 breads.

Ingredients:

Leaven:

• 3 tablespoons sourdough starter (fed 8 hours prior)

• 200 g water (78℉/25℃)

• 100 g all-purpose flour

• 100 g whole wheat flour

Bread dough:

• 720 g water (80℉/27℃)

• 250 g leaven

• 800 g all-purpose flour

• 200 g whole wheat flour

• 20 g salt

• 50 g water

Filling:

• 375 g pitted olives, I used ⅓ green olives

• zest of 2 lemons

Sprinkles:

• rice flour

Directions

Prepare the Leaven - 8am day 1.

The man in the cup - testing the readiness of the leaven. Here you see it floating on the water.

Mix the ingredients in a medium bowl, and let it sit covered on the kitchen counter for 7-8 hours. To test leaven's readiness, drop a spoonful into a bowl of room-temperature water. If it sinks, it is not ready and needs more time to ferment and ripen. If it floats, it's ready to use.

Save your leftover leaven.  It will be your starter/sourdogh for next time you bake. Read here how to feed and keep a sourdough starter.

Mixing the dough - 5pm day 1.

Pour the warm water into a large mixing bowl, adding leaven, stir to disperse. Add flours and mix dough with your hands until no dry flour remain. Let rest covered with a tea towel on the counter for about 30 minutes. Mix in salt and remaining 50 grams warm water with your hands. Transfer the dough to a medium plastic container or a glass bowl. Cover with lid or kitchen towel. (I use a dough-rising bucket like this.)

I use the folding technique from the basic country bread a la Tartine during the fermentation. Instead of kneading the dough, I stretch and fold the dough, by reaching my hand under the dough and pull one side up and over onto itself. This will help build up the gluten network. The rise is temperature sensitive. As a rule, warmer dough ferments faster. Robertson tries to maintain the dough at 78℉ to 82℉ to accomplish the bulk fermentation in 3 to 4 hours. I ferment my dough in my oven on the proof setting, 85℉/29.5℃. I add the filling during the folding, by adding a little at a time, so the distribution will be evenly.

Do the fold every 30 minutes during the 3 hours.

Shaping the dough - 8-9 pm day 1.

Gently pull the dough out of container, onto an un-floured surface, using a dough spatula. Lightly flour the top of the dough and use a bench knife to cut the dough into 2 equal pieces. As you cut the first piece, use the bench knife to flip it over, so the floured side now rest on the work surface. Do the same with the second piece of dough.

While working with the dough you want to incorporate as little flour as possible. Work each piece into a round using scraper and one hand. Tension will build as the dough slightly anchors to the surface as you rotate it. By the end, the dough should have a taut, smooth surface. Dust tops off rounds with flour, cover with a tea towel, and let rest on the work surface for 20 to 30 minutes. During this stage, (bench rest), each round will relax and spread into a thick pancake shape. The edges should appear fat and rounded, not flat or "dripping" off the edge. If the dough is flat or the dough is spreading too much, the dough has not developed a strong enough gluten network during the bulk fermentation. To correct this, shape the dough into a round for a second time and let it sit to rest covered once more.

The final shaping:

To form the loaf's, carefully turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface with the floured side down, using the bench knife. Now the underside is facing up. Be careful not to deflate the dough. This final shaping builds up tension inside each loaf, so it holds its form and rises substantially when baked. This is called "oven spring."

Fold the third of the dough closest to you up and over the middle third of the round. Stretch out the dough horizontally to your right and fold this right third over the center. Stretch the dough to your left and fold this third over the previous fold. You are now starting to get a neat package. Stretch out the third of the dough farthest from you and fold this flap toward you, over the previous folds, and anchor it in place with your fingers. Then grab the dough nearest to you and wrap it up and over, while rolling the whole package away from you, that the smooth underside of the loaf now is on the top and all the seams are on the bottom. Let the shaped loaf rest on the counter for a minute. Fold the other loaf the same way.

Line two baskets with clean tea towels generously dusted with rice flour. These bowls will hold the fermenting dough overnight in the fridge to proof. Using the dough scraper, transfer each round to a basket, smooth side down, with seam centered and facing up. Cover the dough loosely with tea towel, and place it in a large ziplock bag - do not close the bag. Let the dough rest in the refrigerator overnight.

Baking the Bread - day 2.

Pull the loves out of the refrigerator, removing the bowls from the ziplock bag. Let the bowls on the kitchen counter while you preheat the oven and dutch/French oven to 500℉ (260℃), with rack in lowest position.

Flip one bread into hot dutch/french oven. Score top twice using a razor blade matfer lame. Cover with lid. Return to oven, and reduce oven temperature to 450℉ (232℃). Bake for 20 minutes.

Carefully remove lid and continue to bake until crust is deep golden brown, 20 to 25 minutes more.

Transfer loaf to a wire rack. It will feel light and sound hollow when tapped. Mix the topping and spread it on top of the hot crust, then let the loaf cool. Letting the bread cool, is the hardest thing.

To bake the second loaf, raise oven temperature to 500℉ (260℃), wipe out dutch/French oven with a dry kitchen towel, and reheat with lid for about 10-20 minutes.

Enjoy!

A look inside.