Baking

Nougat Buttons – A favorite Christmas Cookie

- Tobia 6 Comments
yummy nougat button

I don’t like nougat that much but these nougat buttons are a favorite in the Christmas Cookie Jar. They get made envy year. At least for the past 10 if not longer. I like recipes that are quick and easy and don’t take too much time. This is one. And it taste wonderful too. It has a very smooth almost velvety texture, a chocolate-nougat taste and the white chocolate gives it the extra flavor. I know I am raving but you really need to give them a try. I promise you won’t regret

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Soulfood – Saxonian Quarkkeulchen with a twist

- Tobia Leave a comment
plate with saxonian quarkkeulchen with applesauce and cinnamon real soul food

Some days call for soul food. Like really you need it to take another breath on this damaged world we live in. Please tell me I am not the only one. While I am often drawn towards hot semolina for breakfast. I recently remembered “Quarkkeulchen”. Something my mom made only every once in a while. It’s a Saxonian dish, very regional in Germany. Not a lot of people know about it. It’s a shame because souldfood coming out of a pan is always a good idea. And Saxonian Quarkkeulchen are pretty much the best there are.

As so many great dishes it is actually a meal made of left overs. Here you traditionally use boiled potatoes. But let’s be honest there is no such thing as left over potatoes. At least not in this house. Maybe the reason why it’s not often made.

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Omenakakku – Finnish Apple Cake with Herbs

- Tobia 6 Comments

It’s this time of year again where we celebrate together and I serve up some Finnish delicacies. Once again I’ve some baked goodies for you. Omenakakku – this Finnish Apple Cake is more like a breakfast cake. It’s dense, it’s rich and with the addition of the rolled oats and herbs it has an interesting flavor. I haven’t come across anything like it yet.

I know you also want to have some dinner choices and I promise one of those days I will get around to it. But not today. Since I am planning of staying married we have a couple more celebrations ahead of us. But let’s not procrastinate any further.

seeking creative life omenakakku finnish apple cake

Here is what you need for omenakakku – Finnish Apple Cake.

  • 250g butter, room temperature
  • 200 g sugar (I used 150g regular and 50g brown sugar)
  • 4 eggs
  • 350g flour
  • 150g rolled oats
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 2 tsp ground ginger powder
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 300 g finely chopped apples
  • 1 handful cinnamon-basil leaves, chopped
  • 1 handful mint leaves, chopped
omenakakku finnish apple cake seeking creative life

1. Preheat oven to 180°C.
2. Mix butter and sugar until slightly foamy.
3. Add in eggs and beat.
4. Now add in flour, baking powder, rolled oats and spices. Mix well.
5. Grate apples, chop herbs and combine with dough mixture.
6. Pour dough into baking tin.
7. Bake approx. 30-40 min – it depends on the size of your tin. Make sure to test the dough. I personally like a cake slightly underbaked.

seeking creative life craftaliciousme omenakakku finnish apple cake

You can serve the omenakakku the true Finnish way with whipped cream and cranberry jam. I had it with a bit of butter. As I said before it feels a bit like a baked breakfast choice. It fills you up pretty good and sustains for quite some while too. You might actually be able to leave out the sugar altogether to make it a bit more healthy. I will give that a shot next time.

I will leave you to your weekend for now. While you read this I will roam the city of Oslo and have a short vacation. If you like of hop over to Instagram to follow along.

Happy baking

Tobia
craftaliciousme omenakakkku finnish apple cake

PORKKANAVESIRINKELIT – Finnish Carrot Rolls

- Tobia 4 Comments

It’s time for our annual Finnish get-together. How awesome of you to join me for the fifth time and celebrate with me. I promised you dinner last year unfortunately the recipe I was going to serve needs to be in the oven for 5 hours or so. Not very ecological when cooking for 1-2 people. So instead let’s have some hot steaming porkkanavesirinkelit – Finnish for carrot rolls. Could be part of your dinner too however I enjoy them in the morning.

Finnish Carrot Rolls PORKKANAVESIRINKELIT spread

Here is what you need:

  • 100 ml of warm water
  • 50 ml of milk
  • 50 ml vegetable oil

  • 7g of yeast which equals one pack of dry yeast

  • 1/2 tsp of sugar
  • 3 spritz of agave sirup
  • 1/2 tsp of salt
  • 100g grated carrots
  • 500 g flour (I used 350 whole grain and 150 wheat)
PORKKANAVESIRINKELIT finnish carrot rolls hands

Here is how it’s done:

Dissolve yeast in warm water, milk and add sugar, salt and oil. Add too carrots and mix well. Now add flour and knead dough until it comes off your fingers. Let rise in a warm place. I prepared the dough at night and let it sit over night.

Form little balls and gently press flat. Let them rise a bit more while you start heating a pot with 2 l of water and add 2 teaspoons of salt for cooking. Preheat oven 200-degree.

Make a hole in the middle of the buns with your thumb and drop them into the water a few at a time. Allow to boil for about a minute and bring them to baking paper to dry.

Bake the rolls about 15 minutes until they have a beautiful color.
Serve with salted butter or marmalade.

Finnish Carrot Rolls –PORKKANAVESIRINKELIT

Now I would suggest you enjoy them still warm and fresh out of the oven. At least that is how I prefer homemade fresh rolls.

As you know I love a good winter hence my winter wedding. However it seems like yet another winter where Berlin is not really blessed with snow. We’ve only gotten one or two days with a tiny bit of snowflakes. Nothing stayed on the ground of course. While I haven’t given up completely on winter yet I see the signs for spring all over. And therefore I was wondering if those rolls might actually be a perfect addition to an Easter brunch. What do you think?

Well for now let’s enjoy the cold weather.
Happy Friday

Tobia
PORKKANAVESIRINKELIT – Finnish Carrot Rolls for easter brunch

Spicy Chai Cookies – My all Time Favorite

- Tobia 8 Comments

You know how much I love this season by now. And I might have mentioned here and there that I am totally baking crazy.

spicy chai cookies the best

I remember one year where I bought 12 kg of flour and baked it all in one weekend. It was insane. I am not doing that anymore but I am still baking way too much. I mean there are just so many fun recipes out there. But than there are the all time favorites. And the repertoire gets larger with every year…

baking spree
I have this unwritten rule with myself: For every known/proofed/favorite recipe I bake there must be an unknown one. This way it is not getting too boring but at least 50% of the cookies taste good.

One year I made 12 different cookies. So it was a surprise the other day when I realized there is not one Christmas Cookie Recipe on this blog. Time to change that and today I spill my most favorite recipe of recent years.

Spicy Chai Cookies

spicy chai cookies

While I love cookies and sugared goodies this time of year it just sometimes gets too much. And that is when those cookies come in. They change up the cookie jar with it’s spicyness and a bit savory taste.

What you need:
∗ 125 g butter, soft
∗ 75 g sugar – I usually use about 50 g
* 1 pinch of salt
* 1 egg
* 4 bags of Yogi tea / chai tea – I only use the ones based on black tea and found this one to be the best
* 1/2 tsp grounded pepper – sometimes I add more
* 100 g brittle
* 250 g flour
* 1 egg yolk
* 2 tbs milk
* 2 packs of vanilla sugar

Directions:

1. Whisk butter, sugar and salt until smooth. Add the egg.

2. Cut open tea bag and put into a bowl. Add half of the tea, pepper, 50g of brittles and flour to the butter mix. Knead until you have a smooth dough. Wrap in plastic wrap and let the dough rest in the fridge for about 30 minutes. Try not to eat too much dough.

3. Preheat oven to 160-180°C. Roll dough onto floured surface and either cut cookies with knife or use a cookie cutter. Put cookies on baking sheet lined with baking paper.

4. Mix egg yolk and milk and coat cookies. Add remaining brittles and vanilla sugar to the remaining tea and cover cookies. Bake for about 7-10 minutes until golden and crunchy.

spice cookies

This makes for approx. 100 cookies. And they usually don’t last long. Unfortunately! My supply this year is already gone. Maybe I make another batch.

What is your favorite cookie recipe? Please share I always want to try new recipes.

Happy baking

Tobia