RECIPES: Cakes and Pies

Pretty, self-explanatory. Recipes for cakes and pies that have been aarinmember approved.

MADERIA CAKE

Ingerdients for 8-10 slices
3/4 cup of butter
1 cup sugar
4 eggs, beaten
grated rind of 1 lemon
2 cup of self-raising flour
pinch of salt
2 strips of candied peel (optional)

STEP ONE:
Preheat oven to 180C/350F
Grease and line an 18cm/7inch round cake tin/pan

STEP TWO:
In another bowl beat together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy and gradually beat in the eggs adding in the lemon rind and a little (half cup) of flour towards the end.
Fold in the remaining flour and salt then pour into the prepared cake tin and smooth surface.

STEP THREE:
Bake for 30 minutes until set, then carefully place the candied peel on top (optional) , and bake for 10 mintues, after 10 mintues are over redue oven temperature to 160C/324F and continue to bank until firm

LASTLY:
After taken out, leave to cool in the tin/pan. then turn over onto a wire rack (or plate) and carefully remove the lining paper.

This is a pretty nice cake I learned a while ago, the original recipe comes from Werner Café in Tartto, Estonia with minor changes by me:

Old Truffeé
(serves 16)

Base:
1. 5 eggs
1. 150g sugar
2. 110g wheat flour
2. 40g cacao
2. 10g almond powder (optional, I don't think you can even taste this)
2. 2 teaspoons of baking powder

Moistening:
3. 100g sugar
3. 50g dark rum (recipe calls for "jamaican" rum, I think Havana Club works great in this)

Filling:

4. 500g whipped cream
4. 200g dark chocolate, melted
4. 50g dark rum
5. 500g preserved fruit slices (recipe calls for pears, I liked peaches in this, fresh strawberries would probably be great too)

Optional:
6. 30g of dark chocolate, 20g powdered sugar.

Making:

1. Beat the eggs and sugar into a loose foam.
2. Sift together the dry ingredients, mix carefully with the foam.
2. Pour the batter into a greased 10"-12" cake tin, bake for 30-40 minutes at 175C (160C in a convection oven)
3. Bring the rum to a light boil, mix in the sugar in small batches, stirring constantly until sugar is completely dissolved (may need to add a little water here)
4. Once the cake is baked, slice it into three layers and let them cool. While the base cools, whip the cream into thick peaks, melt the chocolate in a water bath (put a larger pot with some water on boil, then place a smaller pot inside it so it gets heated indirectly through the water) and mix it with the whipped cream, once you have evenly coloured chocolate cream, add the rum and mix carefully.

Construction:

It's easiest to build this in the baking tin you used.

5. Moisten the layers of cake with the rum syrup you made at 3.
5. Begin with a layer of cake, then spread a bit less than half of the filling on it, add half of your fruits.
5. Add the second layer and repeat previous step.
5. Add the third layer and spread the remaining filling on the outside of the cake.
6. (Optional) use a box grater to shave the chocolate into tiny chips and sift the powdered sugar all over the cake.

Finally place the cake in refridgerator for 30 minutes to firm up before serving.

Simply delicious Black Forest cheesecake~

Ingredients

Cherry Topping:
1 pound of frozen unsweetened cherries, thawed
1/4 cup or kirsch
1/4 cup of Morello cherry syrup or sour cherry syrup

Chocolate Crust:
8½ oz of chocolate wafer cookies
6 tblsp of well-chilled butter, cut into ½-inch pieces

Chocolate Filling:
1½ cups of whipping cream
12 oz of semisweet chocolate, chopped
16 oz of cream cheese, room temperature
3/4 cup of sugar
4 eggs, room temperature
1 tsp of vanilla
1 cup of whipping cream, well-chilled
2 tblsp of sugar
1 tblsp of kirsch

For topping: Soak undrained cherries and kirsch in small bowl 6 hours. Thoroughly drain cherries in strainer set over medium bowl, shakin occasionally, at least two hours. Reserve liquid.

Add enough Morello cherry syrup to cherry liquid to measure 1 cup. Pour 6 tablespoons into heavy 8-inch skillet (reserve remaining liquid for filling). Halve cherries and add to skillet. Boil until syrup is thickened and mixture resembles preserves, about 6 minutes. (Can be prepared 2 days ahead. Chill.)

For crust: Generously butter 9-inch springform pan. Finely crush the cookies in a bowl. Cut in the butter and mix until the mixture begins to gather together. Press crumbs into bottom of pan and up sides to 3/4 inch from top; there should be no cracks. Refrigerate crust for at least 30 minutes.

For filling: Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Heat 1 1/2 cups cream with chocolate in heavy medium saucepan over low heat until chocolate melts, stirring constantly. Cool 10 minutes.

Beat cream cheese with 3/4 cup sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs 1 at a time until just combined. Beat in chocolate mixture, then remaining 10 tablespoons cherry liquid and vanilla. Pour into crust. Bake until outer 2 inches of cake are firm but center still moves slightly, about 1 1/4 hours (top may crack). Cool completely on rack. Top pan with paper towels and cover tightly with foil. Refrigerate 1 to 2 days.

Remove foil, paper towels and pan sides from cake. Spread cherry topping over cake. Beat remaining 1 cup cream with 2 tablespoons sugar and kirsch to peaks. Spoon into center of cake. Top with chocolate curls if desired. (Can be prepared 2 hours ahead and refrigerated.) Let stand at room temperature for 15 minutes before serving.

Ok I'm not a pro cook but I like to hobby around backing pastries.
I love apple cakes and pies the best so here are two recipes that I have worked on so far ^^

Simple but BIG apple cake:

Ingredients:
300gr Sugar
250gr Butter
250gr Self rising flour. (can be replaced for plain flower but add the baking powder)
3 bags of vanilla sugar ( 3 x 8gr can be replaced by vanilla extract)
5 eggs
4 apples medium size.
Optional: a hand full of raisins, lemon juice and cinnamon powder)


-Heat up the oven on 180 degrees. (hot air oven I usually put on 170)
-take your cake tin (i use a 30X10X10 cm one and its still too much, you can use a spring form 21cm wide as well) and put a layer of butter in to make sure the cake comes lose, since i dont like my cake to become to fat i dust the butter with flower.
-peal the apples and cut them is cubes of 1cm by 1cm. to big and they will stay on the bottom, to small you wont find them back. its a bit of a try out really. I personally like to cut up one apple really small and one big, and the others medium.
(to get a really nice taste, mix the apples with some lemon juice and a tiny wif of cinnamon powder)
-put the sugar on a bowl and add the melted butter and mix this.
-add bit by bit the flower, when it becomes to dry you add and egg.
-add the backing powder and vanilla sugar.
-add the cubed apples and a hand of raisins and slowly scoop them through the batter.
-put the batter in the shape and put it in the oven.
(i noticed that by putting tinfoil over the top it makes it easier for the cake to rise and become really nicely fluffy. I take it off for the last 10 min fo get a golden crust on the top.)
-leave the cake in the oven for 45min to 1 hour. keep checking though if your cake doesnt hit the tinfoil or burns every 10-15 min.

serve it when it cools down a bit.

serving tip: add a scoop of vanilla ice next to it ^^

Best Apple Pie:
well this is a result of me trying out i dont know how many apple pies from all over europe and mixing the best things together to create this apple pie ^^ Hope you will like it as much as me and my friends do, cause we are addicted.

Base:
365 gr plain flour
1/4teaspoon salt
180 gr granulated white sugar (or witte basterdsuiker just translate that from Dutch to your own language)
250 gr butter cold + butter to cover the shape
1 egg yolk.

Stuffing:
75 gr raisins
5 table spoons of rum (can be replaced for water)
1 kg sweet sour apples. (I prefer them not to sour.)
2 or 3 table spoons lemon juice
2 table spoons cinnamon
4-6 sheets of gelatin. (this is to prevent the bottom form becoming soggy, you can use replacements for it)
200gr of marzipan.
a hand full of hazelnuts and walnuts

Topping:
- 100 gr icing sugar
- water


How to:
1. put the raising in the rum.
2. siff out the flour and salt out in a big bowl, add the sugar, egg yolk, and the cold butter and cut this through the flower and sugar. this will be easier with a dough mixer. once the butter is cut up use a fork to mix everything and knead the dough until its one big bol.
3. wrap the 2/3 of the dough in plastic foil and make the rest in an other boll and do the same. and put the two bolls in the fridge for half an hour.
4. peel the apples and cut them up in cubes, 1cm by 1cm (i like to keep some a bit bigger some smaller)
5. add the cinnamon, lemon juice and stir. add the nuts and raisins and stir this loosely.
6. add a little layer of butter to your spring-form (24cm diameter) so the pie will come lose afterwards. add a soft layer of flower over this. and put the shape to the side.
7. heat up the oven to 175 degrees.
8. take the bigger boll of dough from the fridge. use a roller to spread out the dough so it will cover the whole shape. (excluding the top) tip: sprinkle the working surface with flour so the dough will be easier to take of. (the dough should be half a cm thick or so)
9. place the dough in the shape. make sure everything is covered.
10. put a layer of marzipan on the bottom. (0.5 cm think)
11. add the gelatin sheets over that so that the whole bottom of the pie is covered. this gelatin will make sure the marzipan will stay on the bottom and absorb the juices of the apples from above.
12. add the stuffing. make sure its evenly spread.
13. take the other bowl from the fridge and roll this out. depending on how you want your pie to look you can either lace the top and leave it as that. or cover it completely (with this one i'm covering it completely.) cut off the edges and make sure the walls are attached to the topping and that nothing goes over the shape as this will likely burn in the oven.
14. put the pie in the oven for 45 min. (give or take an other 5 to 10 min)
15. take the pie out of the oven and let it cool down.
16. mix the icing sugar with a little bit of water. (make more if you need)
17. once the pie is cooled down add the icing all over the top.
18. let the pie cool down completely to room temperature (this will take 4 hours at least) and then serve your pie ! ^^
***If you dont let it cool down completely the marzipan will run out of the pie. and you want to keep it as a thin layer on the bottom***

Strawberry Yogurt pie
Nice as dessert or just as a fresh summer pie.

Ingredients:
50 gr Butter.
200gr Bastonge cookies this is a Dutch type of cookie with a rich flavour. Coffee cookies come closest to this.
2-3 eating spoons of forest fruits or strawberry jam.
10 sheets of gelatine.
500gr strawberries.
100 ml cooled strawberry or orange juice.( I prefer something not to acidic so a mix of both is best.)
500 gr yogurt.
200gr white granulated sugar.
250 ml whipped cream.

1. Put a thin layer of butter in a spring form (22cm diameter) and put it aside.
2. Crumble the cookies till they are completely pulverised. Heat the butter up and mix this through the cookie stuff, put the jam through that
and mix this thoroughly. Press the mix on the bottom of the spring form.
3. Put the gelatine sheets in a bowl of cold water for 5 min (I usually leave them in till when I need them next.)
4. Clean the strawberries and cut 3/4^th of the strawberries in chunks.
5. Heat up the strawberry juice. Make it come close to the boiling point and take the pan off the fire.
6. Wring out the gelatine and stir it through the juice. Make sure the gelatine is completely diffused then leave the mix to cool for a bit.
7. Take another bowl and beat up the whipped cream till its stiff
8. Mix in a different bowl the sugar, gelatine mix and yogurt. Carefully stir the strawberries through the yoghurt mix.
9. With the use of a spatula carefully stir the whipped cream through the yogurt strawberry mix.
10. Slowly pour the mix onto the cookie bottom and flatten the top. Put this in the fridge shortly.
11. In the mean time slice up the remaining strawberries. When done take out the pie and decorate the top with the sliced strawberries.
12. Leave the pie in the fridge for around 3 hours before serving.

*** You can replace the yogurt with (curd cheese? quark? I'm getting so many english terms here >__<). ***
***another nice combi is to replace the strawberries with Satsuma’s and the coffee cookies with plain biscuits to even out the acidity, use a jam that suits the taste. ***