Soft Liquorice Caramels v.2

Soft Liquorice Caramels

Thank you for stopping by my blog during the past years. It has been a fun but busy year, I hope you have enjoyed it as much as I have. 
Christmas Night and Christmas Day came and went so fast this year. I love having my family and friends around me. My wish for next year, is to be more relaxed and  enjoy the evening more.

I wanted to make these soft caramels and got inspired by a recipe on a Danish blog called Valdemarsro.

Happy holydays from my family to yours.

Makes 15-20 pieces. 

Ingredients:

• 50 g light corn syrup, or glucose
• 100 g sugar
• 200 ml heavy whipping cream
• 1 teaspoon sweet liquorice syrup
• 1 tablespoon raw liquorice 

Directions:

Prepare a 9-inch loaf pan with parchment paper, and set aside.

Mix corn syrup, sugar and cream in a saucepan, and bring it to a boil, while stirring. Lower the heat and let it simmer for about 30 minutes, stirring every few minutes. The caramel is done when the mixture pulls away from the saucepan, when stirring, and you can see a slight crystallization when you stir. Mix in the liquorice syrup. Pour the caramel into the prepared pan, and sprinkle the raw liquorice on top. Let the caramel set on the kitchen counter for a few hours, before cutting into cubes. Wrap each caramel in parchment paper or wax paper and keep the caramels in a cool place in an airtight container. 
Enjoy!

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!

Liquorice Wreaths - Lakridskranse

Liquorice Wreaths - Lakridskranse

Dansk version

December 3.

One of the classic Danish christmas cookies is vanillekranse, a crispy, sweet, buttery cookie with the distinctive vanilla flavor. These cookies have always been one of my favorite. 

What can you do with a perfect cookie to make it more Danish or Nordic? In this day and age - you have to add liquorice, and so I did. 

Liquorice wreaths is a new take on vanillekranse, the traditional christmas cookie in Denmark. The liquorice taste is subtle and is perfect in this classic crispy cookie.

Ingredients:

• 200 g butter
• 150 g sugar
• 1 egg
• 250 g all-purpose flour
• 100 g liquorice marzipan
• 3 teaspoons raw liquorice powder

Directions:

Cream the sugar and liquorice marzipan with the butter. Mix in the egg, and finally mix in the liquorice powder and flour. 

The attachment and process 

Put the dough into a decorating bag with a star decorating tip. You can also use a cookie press. Pipe the dough in small circles approximately 2 inches (5 cm) in diameter, onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

If you have a stand mixer, a meat grinder attachment and a vanillekranse attachment to make stings of star shaped dough; you can do this instead of piping the cakes:

If using a stand mixer, chill the dough in the refrigerator overnight. Add the cold dough to the feeder on the grinder, and push it into the grinder, and long strings of star shaped dough comes out of the grinder. I do this on medium to high speed. Place the strings of dough on the table, an cut them into 4 inch pieces. Join the ends to form a wreath, and place the cookies on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

Bake at 356℉ (180℃) 12-15 minutes, until browned on the edges. It's kinda hard to tell, but it's better to bake them 30 seconds longer than ending up with soft cookies. Cool the cookies on a wire rag. Store in an airtight container at room temperature.

Enjoy!

The Danish version:

Lakridskranse

Dette er en del af Madblogger udfordringen #5 Nordisk Jul. 

#MadbloggerUdfordringen5 og #MadbloggerUdfordringen.

Der er lakrids i alt efterhånden, så jeg måtte lige se om dette ville fungere. Og ja det holder hele vejen. Det er stadig den sprøde lækre krans man kender fra vanillekransen, med en skøn eftersmag af lakrids.

Ingredienser:

• 200 g smør, stuetemperatur
• 150 g sukker
• 1 æg
• 250 g hvedemel
• 100 g lakridsmarcipan (jeg brugte liquorice marzipan fra Bülow)
• 3 tsk rålakridspulver (raw liquorice powder fra Bülow)

Fremgangsmåde:

Sukker, lakridsmarcipan og smør røres sammen, indtil det er luftigt. Rør ægget med i og tilsæt slutteligt lakridspulver og hvedemel. Mix kun til dejen netop har samlet sig. 

Dejen kommes i en sprøjtepose med en stjerne tyl & sprøjtes straks ud i "kranse" på bagepapir - diameter ca. 5 cm. Bages ved 200℃ til de er let gyldne - ca. 12 - 15 minutter. Giv dem hellere lidt længere tid, da de er svære at bedømme udfra farven. Det er ikke sjovt at få bløde småkager.
Afkøles på bagerist og opbevares i tætsluttende dåse.

Velbekomme!

Peach Galette with Liquorice Whipped Cream

Peach Galette

We finally got some peaches from our three. The squirrels have been eating all the peaches for the last 5 years. But for the first year the humans are victorious! Well, to be honest we shared the peaches, we got about 20 small peaches, the squirrels got the rest.

I wanted to make a peach pie, but didn't have enough, so I had to scale down. So I had to try to make the more rustic peach galette. And Oh Boy, it was good. I'm definitely going to make this again.

Ingredients:

Crust:

Makes enough for two large galettes

• 375 g (4 cups) sifted all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten
• 120 ml (½ cup) ice cold water
• 340 g cold salted butter, cut into small pieces
• ⅓ cup sliced almonds + extra sugar for sprinkling
• egg wash (1 egg + a few drops of water, beaten together)

Filling:

• 4 large peaches, sliced into slices
• 1½ tablespoons cornstarch
• 1 ½ tablespoons sugar
• 30 g marzipan
• ½ teaspoon vanilla paste
• fresh mint for garnish

Liquorice whipped cream:

• 250 ml heavy whipping cream
• 2 tablespoons fine raw liquorice powder

Directions:

Crust:

Add the flour, sugar and salt to a food processor and pulse just until combined. Add the cold butter pieces into the food processor and pulse until small coarse crumbs remain. Whisk mix  egg and water together. Drizzle the water/egg mixture over the flour and pulse again until the dough just comes together.

Divide the dough in two and wrap the dough disks separately in plastic wrap. Refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes. 

If you only make on galette, the dough will keep for about 5-7 days in the refrigerator, or you can freeze it.

After 30 minutes, preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Filling:

Add the sliced peaches to a bowl. Sprinkle the peaches with cornstarch, sugar and vanilla paste, and toss it all together and let the filling sit for about 10 minutes.

Remove one of the crusts from the fridge.

Roll one of the pie crusts into a ¼ inch thick disk. It's not important to shape the disk perfectly, you want it to look kinda rustic.

Place the dough on a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Spread the grated marzipan in the center, leaving a 2-inch+ border of crust. Layer the peaches on top and fold border of the crust over the peaches. Brush the crust with egg wash, and sprinkle the slivered almonds and some sugar on the crust, and press it into the crust. Bake the galette until the crust and almonds are golden, about 40 to 45 minutes. 

Liquorice whipped cream:

Whip the heavy whipping cream until soft peaks. Fold in the liquorice powder.

Sprinkle with fresh mint leaves on the galette before serving. Serve the galette with liquorice whipped cream or a small scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Peach Galette with Liquorice Whipped Cream

Enjoy!

Rhubarb Crumble with Liquorice Marzipan

Rhubarb Crumble with Liquorice Marzipan

I was told to make more recipes with rhubarb, and of course I complied. This one is for you Vibs.

Ingredients:

• 400 g rhubarb
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 1 tablespoon raw cane sugar
• ½ teaspoon raw liquorice powder
• 35 g marzipan with liquorice, shaved  

Crumble:

• 75 g brown sugar
• 40 g all-purpose flour
• 40 g rolled oats
• slivered almonds
• 60 g butter, salted, and chilled
• ¼ teaspoon fine liquorice powder

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425℉ (220℃). 

Wash and slice the rhubarb and mix them with sugar, cornstarch and liquorice powder. Set aside while making the crumble. 

Mix brown sugar, flour, oats and liquorice in large bowl. Add chilled butter, using your fingers, blend butter into mixture until coarse crumbs form, then mix in the almonds. 

Divide rhubarb mixture among 3-4 ramekins. Sprinkle the liquorice marzipan on top of the rhubarb. Divide oat mixture among dishes, sprinkling it evenly.

Place ramekins on a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350℉ (175℃), and continue baking until the crisp topping is golden brown and rhubarb filling is bubbling at edges, about 15-20 minutes longer. Let the crumbles cool for a while before serving.

Serve crumbles with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or some cream fraiche.

Enjoy!

The Danish version:

Rababercrumble med lakridsmarcipan

Ingredienser:

• 400 g rabarber
• 1 spsk maizena
• 1 spsk rørsukker
• ½ tsk raw liquorice powder
• 35 g marzipan with liquorice, høvlet  

Crumble:

• 75 g brun farin
• 40 g hvedemel
• 40 g havregryn
• mandelflager
• 60 g koldt smør, saltet
• ¼ tsk fine liquorice powder

Fremgangsmåde:

Opvarm ovnen til 220℃. 

Vask og skær rabarber i små stykker, og bland dem med sukker, maizena og lakrid pulver. Sæt til side, mens crumblen laves.

Bland brun farin, hvedemel, havregryn og lakrid i en stor skål. Tilføj smørret,og brug fingrene til at smuldre smøret i blandingen. Bland mandlerne i tilsidst. 

Fordel rabarberne i 3-4 ramekiner, drys lakridsmarzipan ovenpå. Fordel havregrynsblandingen i et jævnt lag over rabarberne.

Placer ramekinerne på en bageplade med bagepapir. Bag kagerne i 10 minutter. Reducer herefter ovntemperaturen til 175℃, og fortsæt bagningen indtil de er gyldent brune og rabarberblandingen bobler i kanten, ca 15-20 længere. Lad crumblen køle et godt stykke tid før servering.

Server crumblen med en kugle vanilleis eller cream fraiche.

Velbekomme!