Grandpa Alex's Peanut Butter Cookies

Peanut Butter Cookies (makes 6 dozen)

250 g butter
250 ml brown sugar
250 ml granulated sugar
2 eggs
250 ml smooth peanut butter
750 ml plain flour
2 tsp baking soda
½ ts salt

1. Cream butter and both sugars together.
2. Beat in eggs.
3. Mix in peanut butter.
4. Stir in flour, baking soda and salt.
5. Let batter rest in fridge for half an hour.
6. Preheat the oven to 190 C.
7. Shape the batter into small balls. Place them on a baking tray lined with baking paper and press with fork. Leave room for expansion (see *tip below). Dip fork in flour as needed to prevent stickiness.
8. Bake cookies in the oven for 10-12 minutes.

For peanut butter chocolate chip cookies, add 300 ml chocolate chips.

*Tip: Bake a test cookie to see how much it expands and see if you are happy with the texture. If the cookie expands too much, add some more flour to the batter. Usually the amount of flour in the recipe is perfect but as different flour brands may act differently, it is worth while baking a test cookie.

Valentine's Day - Red Velvet Cupcakes

Valentine's Day 2015, Cake #169 - Giant Red Velvet Cupcake and Small Red Velvet Cupcakes with Vanilla Buttercream and Dark Chocolate and Strawberry Hearts.

Red Velvet Cupcakes 
makes 12 cupcakes and 1 giant cupcake ( Ø 15cm)

350 g self-raising flour
250 g granulated sugar
300 g soft butter
4 eggs
2 tbsp drinking chocolate
2 tbsp dark cocoa powder
100 ml water
2 tbsp red food colouring

1. Pre-heat the oven to 175C.
2. Beat butter and sugar until creamy.
3. Beat in eggs.
4. Mix together all dry ingredients and add to the batter together with water and food colouring. 
5. Spoon half of the batter into a greased and floured Ø 15 cm cake pan and divide the other half equally into 12 paper cups placed in a muffin tin.
6. Bake the cupcakes for about 20 minutes and the giant cupcake about 30 minutes.

7. Let cool before icing and decorating the cakes.

Chocolate Hearts
Melt 100 g dark chocolate and pipe hearts on a silicone mat. Let set in the fridge for at least 15 minutes.

Strawberry Hearts
Cut strawberries in half and using a heart-shaped cookie cutter, cut out hearts. You need either huge strawberries or a tiny cookie cutter! I was lucky to have both.

Vanilla Icing

150 g butter

300 g icing sugar

1-2 tbsp cream 

1 tsp vanilla extract

1. Beat butter and icing sugar in a bowl until soft and creamy. 

2. Add vanilla extract and then cream drop by drop to make sure the mixture does not become too loose.

Valentine's Day - Chocolate Cake with Rum and Raisin Fudge

Valentine's Day 2015, Cake #168 - Chocolate Cake with Rum and Raisin Fudge.

On the plate, instead of a cake, I was supposed to place cute little rum and raisin fudge hearts in cute little paper cups. I made the fudge in the morning but for some reason it just didn't set during eight hours at all. It did not even freeze - except the raisins. Luckily the mixture looked like it could work out as cake covering - and it did! On a chocolate cake which was supposed to be something else than chocolate cake covered with rum and raisin fudge... 

Oh, well. Win-win. The chocolate cake covered with rum and raisin fudge tasted heavenly. 

So, hopefully better luck next time with f-u-d-g-e in cute little papercups.

Rum and Raisin Fudge Cake Covering

100 g raisins, chopped

2 tsp rum essence

500 ml double cream

450 g demerara sugar

150 g butter

150 g white chocolate

2 tsp red food colouring

1. Sprinkle the rum essence on the chopped raisins and let set while you cook the fudge.

2. Mix together cream, sugar and butter and boil on medium heat until the mixture thickens, about 15 minutes.

3. Remove from heat, add chocolate and food colouring and mix well.

4. Fold in the raisins and put the fudge cake covering in the fridge to set while you bake the cake.

Chocolate Sponge
175g self-raising flour
2 tbsp cocoa powder
1 tsp soda
150g caster sugar
2 large eggs
150 ml sunflower oil
150 ml milk
2 tbsp syrup

1. Preheat the oven to 180 C/ 350 F and grease and flour a Ø 24 cm round cake pan.

2. Sieve flour, cocoa and soda into a bowl. Add sugar and mix well.
3. Make a well in the centre and add syrup, eggs, oil and milk. Beat well until smooth.
4. Spoon the mixture into the pan and bake for 35-40 minutes until risen and firm to the touch. Remove from oven and leave to cool completely before spreading the fudge.

Valentine's Day - Yogurt and Raspberry Heart

Valentine's Day 2015, Cake #167 - Yogurt and Raspberry Heart (pulla - sweet bun cake).

Valentine's Day. In most languages I know, the day is called Valentine's Day or Saint Valentine's Day referring to a saint called Valentinus and being associated with romantic love. 

For some reason in Finland the day is called Ystävänpäivä - Friend's Day, and in Sweden Alla Hjärtans Dag - All Hearts' Day. Why, that is an interesting question. Is it easier for a Finn to say their partner that you are my best friend rather than saying I love you in a romantic way? And do the Swedes want to spread equality also this way - to, via and through all hearts?

One stereotype or another, let your Valentine or Friend or Foe or anybody with a heart - and especially anybody without one -  feel loved this Valentine's Day. If you cannot find words or dare say any, bake a cake!

***

Yogurt and Raspberry Heart
Dough
300 ml  lukewarm milk
25 g fresh yeast (or 1 bag / 7 g fast action dried yeast)
100 ml sugar
½ tsp ground cardamom
1 egg
100 g melted butter
about 1 litre plain flour

Filling
100 ml natural yogurt
50 ml raspberry jam
50 ml granulated sugar
½ tsp vanilla extract

1 egg for glazing

icing sugar, red food colouring and sprinkles for decorating the cake

1. Dissolve yeast in warm milk.
2. Add sugar, cardamom and egg and mix well.
3. Start adding flour gradually.
4. After you have kneaded in about half of the flour, add melted butter.
5. Knead in more flour until your dough is not sticky any more but still soft. It is better to leave the dough a little too soft than make it too dense as the cake will be too dry and hard after baking.
6. Leave the dough to rise in a warm place until double in size, for about half an hour.
7. Roll your dough into a rectangle, about 0,5 cm thick.

8. Cut hearts with a cookie cutter - or cookie cutters of different size.
9. Grease a heart-shaped cake pan and place one layer of hearts in the pan.
10. Mix together all ingredients for the filling and spoon half of the filling on the hearts. Then place another layer of hearts on top and spoon the rest of the filling on them and finally a third layer of hearts. 
11. Let rise for about 20 minutes and glaze with egg before baking.
12. Bake in the oven at 200 C for about half an hour.
13. Let the cake cool before removing from pan and decorating with icing and sprinkles.

Cake inspired by Ikea paper napkin...? 

Valentine's Day Coming Up!

 The Cat Hairy Baker's Valentine's Day Specials 8-14 February. Stay tuned!

Also on Facebook and Instagram.

Cakes #165 and #166 - Friday Cakes

#165 Friends First Friday Cake - Raspberry and Lemon Cake - to celebrate spring which according to the Celtic calendar started 1 February. And it really feels like spring!

#166 Nutella and Cinnamon Cake - Another World Nutella Day Cake.

Lemony Peach Cake by Donna Hay is one of my all-time favourites. Now I used raspberries instead of peaches and it worked out great! Yogurt gives the cake a gooey texture and yogurt is also great to go with the cake together with some fresh (or like in this case, frozen) berries.

The recipe for Nutella and Cinnamon Cake I bumped into at BBC Good Food Facebook page on the World Nutella Day right after baking my Nutella Brownie Cake. I wanted to try the recipe but had to leave it to the day after. Worth trying. Worth waiting!

Both turned out to be the perfect Friday Cakes when watching a movie with the family. After enjoying some pizza The Husband made for his Friday 'cake'. Some evenings are just made for munching, especially when it is all home-made. 

Cake #163 - Nutella Brownie Cake

World Nutella Day 5 February. Sure a reason to bake something with Nutella!

Nutella Brownie Cake
175 g dark chocolate
175 g butter
250 g golden caster sugar
pinch of salt
3 large eggs
120 g plain flour
2 tsp vanilla extract
4 tbsp Nutella

1. Pre-heat n to 180C and line a 20cm x 20cm square cake tin with baking paper.
2. Melt the chocolate and butter and stir until smooth.
3. Add sugar and salt and beat eggs and vanilla into the mixture.
4. Sift in the flour and then stir in Nutella.
5. Scrape the mixture into the tin and bake for 20-25 minutes.
6. Allow cool before removing from tin.
7. Serve with ice cream.

Happy World Nutella Day!