Peanut Butter CupsPeanut Butter Cups

In letzter Zeit stehe ich total auf Süßigkeiten. Selbstgemachte Süßigkeiten! Und dann ist mir bei Waterstones in London auch noch ein wahnsinnstolles Buch in die Hände gefallen, seitdem überlege ich ständig was ich Leckeres daraus nachmachen könnte. Als erstes waren die Peanut Butter Cups dran. Nicht weil ich darauf besonders scharf war (ich hatte noch nie davor welche gekostet), aber hallooo! Erdnuss und Schokolade ist ja wohl nur geil! Und das Rezept war simpel und schnell zu verwirklichen!

Peanut Butter Cups

Daher kann ich Euch die Peanut Butter Cups auch prima als Last Minute Geschenk zu Weihnachten empfehlen! Wenn ihr am 23. oder 24. verzweifelt seid, denkt an mich und die Peanut Butter Cups! Praktisch ist nämlich auch, dass man nicht viele Zutaten braucht und wenn man sie nicht sowieso zu Hause, bekommt man sie auch noch schnell im Supermarkt. Keine fancy Glukose oder so, nur Schokolade und Erdnuss. Heaven!

Die kleinen Dinger sind so klein und verführerisch und mit einem Haps im Mund, ganz großes Kino! Und hab ich schon die Kombi Schokolade und Erdnuss erwähnt? Jaa, genau, sehr lecker! Wer es mag, dem empfehle ich noch einen Hauch Fleur de Sel auf den Peanut Butter Cups zwischen den gehackten Erdnüssen. Das wäre wirklich perfekt!

Peanut Butter Cups

Vor zwei Jahren: Pâté von der Räuchermakrele

Vor drei Jahren: Orangen-Vanille-Stangen

Vor fünf Jahren: Crème Brûlée mit Gewürzen

Lately I’m totally into sweets. Homemade sweets of course! Incidentally in London at Waterstones I bought this great book and since then I’m always thinking what I can make next from this book. First I made this peanut butter cups. Not because I was so eager to taste them (I’ve never had them before), but helloooo! Peanuts and chocolate are just awesome! But also this recipe was an easy and quick one!

Peanut Butter Cups

Therefore I can recommend you these peanut butter cups also as a last minute gift for christmas! If you are desperate on the 23. or 24. think of me and the peanut butter cups! It’s also very handy that you don’t need many ingredients and if you don’t have them at home you get them quickly in every supermarket. No fancy glucose or something like this, just chocolate and peanuts. Heaven!

These small bites are so petite and luscious and with one bite they are gone! And did I already mention the combo chocolate and peanuts? Yeees, exactly, so good! If you like, I recommend to add a pinch of fleur de sel to the chopped peanuts on top. This would be just perfect!

Peanut Butter Cups

Two years ago: smoked mackerel pâté

Three years ago: orange vanilla sticks

Five years ago: spiced crème brûlée

Cooking through la Tartine Gourmande: Avocado Tartines with Shrimp & White Chocolate and Cranberry CookiesCooking through la Tartine Gourmande: Avocado Tartines with Shrimp & White Chocolate and Cranberry Cookies

Wir sind wieder zurück mit dem Kochmarathon durch Béa’s Buch La Tartine Gourmande!

Ende letzten Jahres war ich der Serie etwas überdrüssig, da ich das Gefühl hatte, dass das Buch im Winter wenig her gibt. Aber jetzt hab ich mir das Buch nochmal zu Gemüte geführt und passende Sachen für den Winter rausgeschrieben. So hatte ich am Ende doch eine recht lange Liste! Das hat mir wieder einen Schub gegeben und ich freue mich schon auf viele Rezepte die noch kommen werden!

Für diesen Freitag haben Ina und ich uns zwei Rezepte ausgesucht: Tartines with citrus avocado and cumin-flavored shrimp (S. 88) und white chocolate, oat and cranberry cookies (S. 272).

Tartines with citrus avocado and cumin-flavored shrimp

Die Tartines waren gut, aber nichts besonderes. Nächstes Mal werde ich das Salatblatt weglassen, denn das hat so gar nichts für das Gericht gemacht. Ehrlich, Avocado und Shrimps, was kann man da falsch machen? Dazu ein gute Scheibe Brot, mag ich alles sehr!

Die Kekse sahen bei mir ganz anders aus als im Buch. Geschmeckt haben sie aber echt lecker, obwohl ich nächstes Mal auf die Mandelblättchen verzichten werde. Von der Textur ist in den Keksen schon so viel los, da sind die irgendwie zu viel und geschmacklich stehen sie auch nicht raus. Alles in allem, aber sehr gute Kekse!

white chocolate, oat and cranberry cookies

Sooo, we’re back with our cook through of Béa’s cookbook La Tartine Gourmande.

I was a bit exhausted of this series at the end of last year, since I couldn’t find much in it to cook in winter. I thought. But I flipped through the book again and wrote things out, that are possible to cook now and I ended up with a lot of recipes! So that gave me new energy and recipes to look forward to!

For this friday Ina and I chose two recipes: Tartines with citrus avocado and cumin-flavored shrimp (p 88) and the white chocolate, oat and cranberry cookies (p 272).

Tartines with citrus avocado and cumin-flavored shrimp

The tartines were really nice, although nothing special. I would skip on that lettuce leaf next time, because it did nothing for that dish. Avocado and shrimp, two things I like very much, combined with a slice of good bread, there’s nothing you can do wrong about that.

The cookies didn’t look at all like in the book. But the taste is really good, although I would skip the slivered almonds next time, since there’s already a lot of texture going on in these cookies. Nonetheless, very good cookies!

white chocolate, oat and cranberry cookies

Blutorangen-Tian mit weißer SchokoladeBlood Orange and White Chocolate Tian

Blutorangen-Tian mit weißer Schokolade

I know the reveal date for the Daring Bakers challenge was 4 days ago. Since I was in Nuremberg again for family festivities, I didn’t had the time to post it. Since I’m still short in time because of learning, I hope you will forgive me, that this is not the best and longest post. But I’m feeling guilty. And since I’d done the challenge in time, I must blog it.

The 2010 March Daring Baker’s challenge was hosted by Jennifer of Chocolate Shavings. She chose Orange Tian as the challenge for this month, a dessert based on a recipe from Alain Ducasse’s Cooking School in Paris.

Blutorangen-Tian mit weißer Schokolade

As I read the challenge a month ago, I was disappointed. Whipped cream with some citrus isn’t something I would eat or order or bake. But a challenge also means to try things you normally wouldn’t. So I gave it a try. For safety reasons I only made the half amount.

Making the (blood) orange marmalade was easy. I used Gelierzucker (jam sugar), instead of sugar and pectin. Gelierzucker is common here in Germany and always used for making jam. I wouldn’t have known where to buy pectin (and it’s already in the Gelierzucker).

The marmalade tasted very good, not a hint of bitterness. It smells intensive of oranges. Unfortunately it smells more as it tastes of oranges. Maybe because of the blanching.

Blutorangen-Tian mit weißer Schokolade

I don’t know why, but my paté shrunk in the oven and so it was a bit too small for my cookie cutters. I added some shredded white chocolate in the whipped cream (of which I used the double amount, since it was not enough), which added a nice, slightly sweet flavour. The hardening of the cream with the gelatine didn’t really work. I used leaves instead of powder, but I cannot imagine, that this was the mistake. So I added a sachet of Sahnesteif (stabilizer for whipping cream) for more stiffness and let it stay some more time in the freezer.

In the end it tasted good and it was a light dessert. You could have eaten two in a row. But we didn’t ;-).

But probably I won’t do it again. It costs a lot of time just for this small dessert, which is eaten in no time and not as satisfying, as what I would expect from a good dessert. But anyway it was fun to do and to learn something new.

Blutorangen-Tian mit weißer Schokolade

Recipe

Orange Tian

for the pate sablee

Ingredients:

  • 2 medium-sized egg yolks at room temperature
  • granulated sugar 80 grams
  • vanilla extract ½ teaspoon
  • Unsalted butter 100 grams ice cold, cubed
  • Salt 1/3 teaspoon
  • All-purpose flour 200 grams
  • baking powder 1 teaspoon

Directions: Put the flour, baking powder, ice cold cubed butter and salt in a food processor fitted with a steel blade.

In a separate bowl, add the eggs yolks, vanilla extract and sugar and beat with a whisk until the mixture is pale. Pour the egg mixture in the food processor.

Process until the dough just comes together. If you find that the dough is still a little too crumbly to come together, add a couple drops of water and process again to form a homogenous ball of dough. Form into a disc, cover with plastic wrap and leave to rest in the fridge for 30 minutes. Preheat your oven to 350 degree Fahrenheit.

Roll out the dough onto a lightly floured surface until you obtain a ¼ inch thick circle.

Using your cookie cutter, cut out circles of dough and place on a parchment (or silicone) lined baking sheet. Bake for 20 minutes or until the circles of dough are just golden.

 

for the marmalade

Ingredients:

  • Freshly pressed orange juice ¼ cup + 3 tablespoons; 3.5 oz; 100 grams
  • 1 large orange used to make orange slices
  • cold water to cook the orange slices
  • pectin 5 grams
  • granulated sugar: use the same weight as the weight of orange slices once they are cooked

Finely slice the orange. Place the orange slices in a medium-sized pot filled with cold water. Simmer for about 10 minutes, discard the water, re-fill with cold water and blanch the oranges for another 10 minutes.

Blanch the orange slices 3 times. This process removes the bitterness from the orange peel, so it is essential to use a new batch of cold water every time when you blanch the slices.

Once blanched 3 times, drain the slices and let them cool.

Once they are cool enough to handle, finely mince them (using a knife or a food processor).

Weigh the slices and use the same amount of granulated sugar . If you don’t have a scale, you can place the slices in a cup measurer and use the same amount of sugar.

In a pot over medium heat, add the minced orange slices, the sugar you just weighed, the orange juice and the pectin. Cook until the mixture reaches a jam consistency (10-15 minutes).

Transfer to a bowl, cover with plastic wrap and put in the fridge.

 

for the orange segments

For this step you will need 8 oranges.

Cut the oranges into segments over a shallow bowl and make sure to keep the juice. Add the segments to the bowl with the juice.

 

for the caramel

Ingredients:

  • granulated sugar 200 grams
  • orange juice 1.5 cups + 2 tablespoons; 400 grams

Place the sugar in a pan on medium heat and begin heating it.

Once the sugar starts to bubble and foam, slowly add the orange juice. As soon as the mixture starts boiling, remove from the heat and pour half of the mixture over the orange segments.

Reserve the other half of the caramel mixture in a small bowl — you will use this later to spoon over the finished dessert. When the dessert is assembled and setting in the freezer, heat the kept caramel sauce in a small saucepan over low heat until it thickens and just coats the back of a spoon (about 10 minutes). You can then spoon it over the orange tians.

[Tip: Be very careful when making the caramel — if you have never made caramel before, I would suggest making this step while you don’t have to worry about anything else. Bubbling sugar is extremely, extremely hot, so make sure you have a bowl of ice cold water in the kitchen in case anyone gets burnt!]

 

for the whipped cream

Ingredients:

  • heavy whipping cream 200 grams
  • 3 tablespoons of hot water
  • 1 tsp Gelatine
  • 1 tablespoon of confectioner’s sugar
  • orange marmalade 1 tablespoon

In a small bowl, add the gelatine and hot water, stirring well until the gelatine dissolves. Let the gelatine cool to room temperature while you make the whipped cream. Combine the cream in a chilled mixing bowl. Whip the cream using a hand mixer on low speed until the cream starts to thicken for about one minute. Add the confectioner sugar. Increase the speed to medium-high. Whip the cream until the beaters leave visible (but not lasting) trails in the cream, then add the cooled gelatine slowly while beating continuously. Continue whipping until the cream is light and fluffy and forms soft peaks. Transfer the whipped cream to a bowl and fold in the orange marmalade. [Tip: Use an ice cold bowl to make the whipped cream in. You can do this by putting your mixing bowl, cream and beater in the fridge for 20 minutes prior to whipping the cream.]

 

Assembling the Dessert:

Make sure you have some room in your freezer. Ideally, you should be able to fit a small baking sheet or tray of desserts to set in the freezer.

Line a small tray or baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone sheet. Lay out 6 cookie cutters onto the parchment paper/silicone.

Drain the orange segments on a kitchen towel.

Have the marmalade, whipped cream and baked circles of dough ready to use.

Arrange the orange segments at the bottom of each cookie cutter. Make sure the segments all touch either and that there are no gaps. Make sure they fit snuggly and look pretty as they will end up being the top of the dessert. Arrange them as you would sliced apples when making an apple tart.

Once you have neatly arranged one layer of orange segments at the bottom of each cookie cutter, add a couple spoonfuls of whipped cream and gently spread it so that it fills the cookie cutter in an even layer. Leave about 1/4 inch at the top so there is room for dough circle.

Using a butter knife or small spoon, spread a small even layer of orange marmalade on each circle of dough.

Carefully place a circle of dough over each ring (the side of dough covered in marmalade should be the side touching the whipping cream). Gently press on the circle of dough to make sure the dessert is compact.

Place the desserts to set in the freezer to set for 10 minutes.

Using a small knife, gently go around the edges of the cookie cutter to make sure the dessert will be easy to unmold. Gently place your serving plate on top of a dessert (on top of the circle of dough) and turn the plate over. Gently remove the cookie cutter, add a spoonful of caramel sauce and serve immediately.

Blood Orange and White Chocolate Tian

I know the reveal date for the Daring Bakers challenge was 4 days ago. Since I was in Nuremberg again for family festivities, I didn’t had the time to post it. Since I’m still short in time because of learning, I hope you will forgive me, that this is not the best and longest post. But I’m feeling guilty. And since I’d done the challenge in time, I must blog it.

The 2010 March Daring Baker’s challenge was hosted by Jennifer of Chocolate Shavings. She chose Orange Tian as the challenge for this month, a dessert based on a recipe from Alain Ducasse’s Cooking School in Paris.

Blood Orange and White Chocolate Tian

As I read the challenge a month ago, I was disappointed. Whipped cream with some citrus isn’t something I would eat or order or bake. But a challenge also means to try things you normally wouldn’t. So I gave it a try. For safety reasons I only made the half amount.

Making the (blood) orange marmalade was easy. I used Gelierzucker (jam sugar), instead of sugar and pectin. Gelierzucker is common here in Germany and always used for making jam. I wouldn’t have known where to buy pectin (and it’s already in the Gelierzucker).

The marmalade tasted very good, not a hint of bitterness. It smells intensive of oranges. Unfortunately it smells more as it tastes of oranges. Maybe because of the blanching.

Blood Orange and White Chocolate Tian

I don’t know why, but my paté shrunk in the oven and so it was a bit too small for my cookie cutters. I added some shredded white chocolate in the whipped cream (of which I used the double amount, since it was not enough), which added a nice, slightly sweet flavour. The hardening of the cream with the gelatine didn’t really work. I used leaves instead of powder, but I cannot imagine, that this was the mistake. So I added a sachet of Sahnesteif (stabilizer for whipping cream) for more stiffness and let it stay some more time in the freezer.

In the end it tasted good and it was a light dessert. You could have eaten two in a row. But we didn’t ;-).

But probably I won’t do it again. It costs a lot of time just for this small dessert, which is eaten in no time and not as satisfying, as what I would expect from a good dessert. But anyway it was fun to do and to learn something new.

Blood Orange and White Chocolate Tian

Recipe

Orange Tian

for the pate sablee

Ingredients:

  • 2 medium-sized egg yolks at room temperature
  • granulated sugar 80 grams
  • vanilla extract ½ teaspoon
  • Unsalted butter 100 grams ice cold, cubed
  • Salt 1/3 teaspoon
  • All-purpose flour 200 grams
  • baking powder 1 teaspoon

Directions: Put the flour, baking powder, ice cold cubed butter and salt in a food processor fitted with a steel blade.

In a separate bowl, add the eggs yolks, vanilla extract and sugar and beat with a whisk until the mixture is pale. Pour the egg mixture in the food processor.

Process until the dough just comes together. If you find that the dough is still a little too crumbly to come together, add a couple drops of water and process again to form a homogenous ball of dough. Form into a disc, cover with plastic wrap and leave to rest in the fridge for 30 minutes. Preheat your oven to 350 degree Fahrenheit.

Roll out the dough onto a lightly floured surface until you obtain a ¼ inch thick circle.

Using your cookie cutter, cut out circles of dough and place on a parchment (or silicone) lined baking sheet. Bake for 20 minutes or until the circles of dough are just golden.

for the marmalade

Ingredients:

  • Freshly pressed orange juice ¼ cup + 3 tablespoons; 3.5 oz; 100 grams
  • 1 large orange used to make orange slices
  • cold water to cook the orange slices
  • pectin 5 grams
  • granulated sugar: use the same weight as the weight of orange slices once they are cooked

Finely slice the orange. Place the orange slices in a medium-sized pot filled with cold water. Simmer for about 10 minutes, discard the water, re-fill with cold water and blanch the oranges for another 10 minutes.

Blanch the orange slices 3 times. This process removes the bitterness from the orange peel, so it is essential to use a new batch of cold water every time when you blanch the slices.

Once blanched 3 times, drain the slices and let them cool.

Once they are cool enough to handle, finely mince them (using a knife or a food processor).

Weigh the slices and use the same amount of granulated sugar . If you don’t have a scale, you can place the slices in a cup measurer and use the same amount of sugar.

In a pot over medium heat, add the minced orange slices, the sugar you just weighed, the orange juice and the pectin. Cook until the mixture reaches a jam consistency (10-15 minutes).

Transfer to a bowl, cover with plastic wrap and put in the fridge.

for the orange segments

For this step you will need 8 oranges.

Cut the oranges into segments over a shallow bowl and make sure to keep the juice. Add the segments to the bowl with the juice.

for the caramel

Ingredients:

  • granulated sugar 200 grams
  • orange juice 1.5 cups + 2 tablespoons; 400 grams

Place the sugar in a pan on medium heat and begin heating it.

Once the sugar starts to bubble and foam, slowly add the orange juice. As soon as the mixture starts boiling, remove from the heat and pour half of the mixture over the orange segments.

Reserve the other half of the caramel mixture in a small bowl — you will use this later to spoon over the finished dessert. When the dessert is assembled and setting in the freezer, heat the kept caramel sauce in a small saucepan over low heat until it thickens and just coats the back of a spoon (about 10 minutes). You can then spoon it over the orange tians.

[Tip: Be very careful when making the caramel — if you have never made caramel before, I would suggest making this step while you don’t have to worry about anything else. Bubbling sugar is extremely, extremely hot, so make sure you have a bowl of ice cold water in the kitchen in case anyone gets burnt!]

for the whipped cream

Ingredients:

  • heavy whipping cream 200 grams
  • 3 tablespoons of hot water
  • 1 tsp Gelatine
  • 1 tablespoon of confectioner’s sugar
  • orange marmalade 1 tablespoon

In a small bowl, add the gelatine and hot water, stirring well until the gelatine dissolves. Let the gelatine cool to room temperature while you make the whipped cream. Combine the cream in a chilled mixing bowl. Whip the cream using a hand mixer on low speed until the cream starts to thicken for about one minute. Add the confectioner sugar. Increase the speed to medium-high. Whip the cream until the beaters leave visible (but not lasting) trails in the cream, then add the cooled gelatine slowly while beating continuously. Continue whipping until the cream is light and fluffy and forms soft peaks. Transfer the whipped cream to a bowl and fold in the orange marmalade. [Tip: Use an ice cold bowl to make the whipped cream in. You can do this by putting your mixing bowl, cream and beater in the fridge for 20 minutes prior to whipping the cream.]

Assembling the Dessert:

Make sure you have some room in your freezer. Ideally, you should be able to fit a small baking sheet or tray of desserts to set in the freezer.

Line a small tray or baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone sheet. Lay out 6 cookie cutters onto the parchment paper/silicone.

Drain the orange segments on a kitchen towel.

Have the marmalade, whipped cream and baked circles of dough ready to use.

Arrange the orange segments at the bottom of each cookie cutter. Make sure the segments all touch either and that there are no gaps. Make sure they fit snuggly and look pretty as they will end up being the top of the dessert. Arrange them as you would sliced apples when making an apple tart.

Once you have neatly arranged one layer of orange segments at the bottom of each cookie cutter, add a couple spoonfuls of whipped cream and gently spread it so that it fills the cookie cutter in an even layer. Leave about 1/4 inch at the top so there is room for dough circle.

Using a butter knife or small spoon, spread a small even layer of orange marmalade on each circle of dough.

Carefully place a circle of dough over each ring (the side of dough covered in marmalade should be the side touching the whipping cream). Gently press on the circle of dough to make sure the dessert is compact.

Place the desserts to set in the freezer to set for 10 minutes.

Using a small knife, gently go around the edges of the cookie cutter to make sure the dessert will be easy to unmold. Gently place your serving plate on top of a dessert (on top of the circle of dough) and turn the plate over. Gently remove the cookie cutter, add a spoonful of caramel sauce and serve immediately.