[mysecretkitchen-blog]

Russian Walnut Shaped Cookies (made by children)

I came home this weekend to spend a bit of time with my family. As usual, they have taken advantage of me and brought me a bunch of children to take care of, 6 to be more precise. 

Each one of them had their bag of goodies that they didn’t want to share with the rest. As you might have already foreseen , they started fighting , arguing, crying , and throwing whatever fell into their hands at eachother. 

I have incredibly little patience, so what did I do ? I took all their candies and foods they were supposed to eat, and told them to figure out a way so that everyone eats the exact same thing in the same quantity, and work together , so they can learn to share and act like a family.

There were not enough chocolates, candies, fruit yogurts or biscuits so that everyone can have a piece of everything. 

Here’s what crossed my cousin’s mind : 

What if we do some sort of biscuit and fill it up with creams made out of the sweets each one of us brought ?

I found it brilliant, so, I gave them my Russian walnut shaped cookies recipe.

Ingredients :

Batter:

Flour -  600 g

Confectioner’s Sugar - 80 g

Bourbon Vanilla Sugar - 8 g

Baking powder - 10 g

Pinch of salt

4 eggs

Unsalted butter - 250 g ( at room temperature )

Filling:

Viktor gave : cocoa powder biscuits - 6 pieces ;  a glass of milk ; Nesquik cocoa crush 

Raisa gave : strawberry yogurt -  100 g

Tudor gave : butter biscuits -  200 g

Alexandra gave : cream cheese -  150 g

Erdem gave : snickers - 3 pieces ; vanilla pudding 

Sara gave : coconut and jam , sweet bread sandwiches - 2 halves 

Instructions :

First we will do the batter .

Mix the butter with the confectioner’s sugar for about 2-3 minutes until they are well incorporated.

Once the butter is creamy, add one egg a time and mix it well in before you add the next egg. ( Don’t do like Raisa. )

The mixture needs time to thicken and emulsify, which is why it is recommended to add the eggs gradually.

Once the eggs are well incorporated, you can start adding your sifted flour. 

You can keep using your hand mixer until the mixture thickens.

By the time you finish adding all your flour, you will have to use your hands to knead.

Your final dough should look like this, not sticky, but very soft . If you press it , it should slowly bounce back. You do not have to leave it to rest. I recommend using it right away , as it can develop a crust and harden up.

Start making 5 g balls out of your dough. You can approximate the weight by eye , but I highly advise you to weight them on a kitchen counter. 

The kids had a lot of fun with these, threw them in the air... ( They even tried to target me.. A few of them landed on the floor, but hey , the 3 seconds rule still counts! )

The oldest out of them all dealt with baking the cookies on the top of the stove.

Heat your metal mold very well. There is no need to apply any oil on it , as the dough has a lot of butter which will be enough for it to not stick. 

Put a ball of dough in each hole and close the mold.

Turn the mold frequently, about 20 seconds on each part, and keep going for about 2 minutes.

They are ready when the dough looks golden. 

Be careful not to touch the mold! It is very hot. 

Now it is time for the fillings !

They did 3 fillings. One based on Erdem’s vanilla pudding in which they added a bit of butter and mixed it with a mixer ; one based on cream cheese , and the one they loved the most - based on Nesquik cocoa crush.

They actually took a break during which they played a little , and only after , they started making the fillings. 

The cookies had to cool after all. 

Chop the cocoa biscuits very finely. 

Raisa used her tiny , fat hands to crumble up the vanilla biscuits as handling the knife was too much for her anyway. - Make things easier for yourself always !

Take the Snickers pieces and cut them into little squares.

Add all the biscuits into the same bowl along with the Snickers pieces.

Mix in well the Nesquik powder.

Pour the milk in and stir well until a thick cream forms. 

Set it aside and move forward to the next fillings.

Cut the sandwiches into tiny pieces. ( Alexandra scraped the coconut off the sandwiches and added it on the top of the filling in the end - It is not needed at all , but do whatever makes you feel comfortable . The coconut gets mixed in anyways. ) 

Add the softened cream cheese, the yogurt, any fruit you like , and stir it well. - It tasted like baby food to me but I encouraged them nonetheless.

Trim off the edges of the cookies in order to give them a smoother look. ( Don’t do that while they are hot as they will crumble up! - Tudor tried that and we lost some good halves . )

Fill up both halves and stick them together as in a sandwich. 

NOW PAUSE 

Here’s what happened... 

Sara sneezed while holding the box of Nesquik crush in her hands which provoked a pretty hilarious explosion of powder all over my kitchen floor and - herself. By this time, I told Viktor to continue filling the cookies and not leave that place, asked the rest to clean around and took Alexandra to wash her hair. 

Of course, when I came back, the kids have given up already on cleaning - which I obviously expected to happen - AND the smallest out of them all, which I asked to finish filling the cookies, fell asleep on the table. 

He listened to be precisely. He didn’t move from that place until I came. How adorable is that ?!

And there you have it ! The cutest russian walnut shaped cookies I have ever tried. 

I must say that my day was more relaxing than I expected it to be! Try it out with your kids too. It is definitely worth it. They were so tired they fell asleep so quickly and easily. It was - awesome.

PS : A more complex recipe for the fillings will be posted soon . 

Enjoy!

[mysecretkitchen-blog]

Brownies (made by a 4 year old)

So today I had to take care of my 4 year old cousin. As usual, he expected me to bake him some sort of a dessert. As much as I love working alone, when it comes to kids, I like to get them involved in anything that I am doing , so they can learn to appreciate everything they are given by experiencing the hard work behind it. So today, Viktor baked his first brownies. 

Ingredients :

Batter:

Milk Chocolate - 300 g

Flour -  125 g

Coconut Flakes - 30 g

Cocoa Powder - 50 g

Espresso Powder - 50 g

Granulated Sugar - 400 g

Bourbon Vanilla Sugar - 8 g

Brown Sugar - 100 g 

Pinch of salt

Six eggs

Unsalted butter - 250 g ( at room temperature )

Instructions :

Prepare your pan and put it aside. Make sure to spread butter on the entire surface of the baking paper, not only underneath.

Preheat your oven to 180 C.

Chop your chocolate in big chunks. The only things I actually did were give instructions, use the knife where we had to and turn on the oven. As you can see , my little one was getting ready to steal a little bit of chocolate for his own enjoyment. 

Next step is mixing up your sugar in the motion he is actually describing with this hand.

Crack your eggs one by one and mix them with the help of a hand mixer.

Incorporate as much air as you can and make sure the sugar dissolves completely. My little one was counting the yolks and pointing to an egg shell that fell into the batter.

Once enough air had been incorporated, you are ready to melt your butter. Viktor was protecting his spoon, hoping I will not dare use it myself.

Make sure the butter is hot enough so the chocolate melts as well once you add it.

Mix it with your hand mixer. Viktor gave up on the spoon easily.

(Tasting it is optional.)

Gradually, add the chocolate into the other batter and mix them together well.

No need to use the spoon anymore, don’t follow the steps of this child. By this time, he was already pretending that my batter bowl was his steering wheel. 

After the chocolate is incorporated, the batter should look like this. Now it is time to add the dry ingredients.

Sift the flour, cocoa powder and salt and incorporate them in the batter without deflating it. He made a bit of a mess.

Use a spatula.

Add your coconut flakes.

Pour the batter into your pan and leave it in the oven for 20 minutes.

Take it out and wack it down on the table a few times so the top layer breaks and forms that delicious crust we all love. This will also even out the interior texture.

Sprinkle a bit of sugar on top and put it back into the oven for another 20 minutes.

Let it cool completely before you take it out of the pan.

Cut it in squares.

Serve it with a scoop of ice-cream or even by itself. 

And there you have it ! The most delicious and moist brownies. 

By the time we finished, my brother joined as well. This was all team work and we had an amazing time together.

PS : I’ll let them bake from now on. Giving only directions feels great.

Enjoy!

[mysecretkitchen-blog]

Aaaaand ready to bake !

Recipe coming soon ...

[mysecretkitchen-blog]

Honey Cream Cheese Fig Muffins

Ingredients :

Batter:

Flour -  210 g

Almond flour - 30 g

Sugar - 200 g

Bourbon Vanilla Sugar - 8 g

Baking powder - 15 g

Corn starch - 8 g

Baking soda - 8 g

Pinch of salt

Three eggs

Unsalted butter - 200 g ( at room temperature )

Yogurt - 40 g

Milk - 30 ml

Filling :

Cream cheese - 200 g

One large egg yolk

Sugar - 40 g

Topping :

Fresh figs

Honey

Instructions :

Prepare your muffin paper cups and set aside.

Preheat your oven to 180 C.

In a large bowl , mix your butter until fluffy , then add the two types of sugar until you obtain a cream consistency and the sugar melts completely.

Crack 3 eggs and mix them well with your butter mixture.

Add your salt , baking soda , corn starch and baking powder. 

Incorporate well your yogurt and milk.

Add your dry ingredients gradually and fold them in , without over-mixing the batter.

This is how your batter should look like : 

Fill your muffin tins ¾ full.

Now let’s prepare your cream cheese swirl!

Take two, washed fresh figs , and chop them up in tiny cubes.

Blend together your cream cheese and 40 grams of your sugar.

Add in the yolk of an egg and continue mixing.

Almost done!

Add in your figs and there you have your filling!

Top each muffin with a bit of cream cheese mixture and use a tooth pick to swirl it into the batter.

Bake your muffins for 20 minutes or until they pass the tooth pick test.

Slice one more fig and use the slices as a topping along with some honey.

And there you have it ! Delicious, moist and fluffy! 

PS : They are an amazing breakfast along with a cup of hot tea.

Enjoy!

[mysecretkitchen-blog]

Vanilla Cherry Swiss Roll

Ingredients :

Batter:

Eggs - 6

Sugar - 120 g

Flour - 120 g 

Vanilla sugar - 10 g

Salt

Vinegar - 10 ml

Milk - 60 ml

Oil - 60 ml

Frosting:

Cherry jam: ( my recipe will be posted separately, I have used a jar made last autumn )

Pastry cream: ( the instructions will be posted separately, I used some made one night before )

Milk - 500 ml

Seeds of one vanilla pot / Vanilla sugar - 10 g

Sugar - 85 g

Pinch of salt

Egg yolks - 6

Butter - 45 g

Cheese cream frosting:

Philadelphia cheese - 250 g

White chocolate - 200 g

Whipping cream - 200 ml

Powder sugar - 15 g

Decorating:

remaining frosting

white chocolate

candied cherries

Instructions :

Grease and line your pan with parchment paper. Mine was 20 cm . Preheat your oven to 120 C.

Prepare your ingredients.

Separate the yolks from the egg whites.

Add the pinch of salt, your vanilla sugar,  half milk and the oil over the yolks and mix them well . 

Sift the flour and incorporate it into your mixture until smooth. 

Add the rest of the milk and the oil.

Add the vinegar into the whites .

Mix well until foamy.

Add the sugar gradually and keep mixing.

Keep mixing until soft peaks form.

Fold the whites into the yolk mixture carefully.

The result should be smooth , creamy and you should be able to make ribbons with it.

Pour your batter into the pan and gently move it around until it reaches all the corners and the top is uniform. Hit it on the table a few times to break all the air bubbles.

Bake it for 20 minutes and after that increase the temperature to 150 C and continue baking for another 10 minutes. 

Now you are ready for the first frosting !

Mix Philadelphia cheese in a bowl until smooth ,pour the melted chocolate and mix until well combined. Be careful when you melt the chocolate , it can burn easily! Either leave it in the microwave for 45 seconds , take it out , mix then put it back and repeat the process until it is all melted or  let it melt over a pan with simmering water.

In another large bowl whip the cream until stiff peaks form. Incorporate powdered sugar and your vanilla sugar .

Incorporate the whipped cream into the cheese mixture.

I had my pastry cream ready as I had used it yesterday for another recipe.

Mix both your frostings together and refrigerate until ready to use.

Take it out of the oven and run a knife around the edges. Take it out of the pan and roll the cake right after it cooled down completely.

Place a piece of parchment paper on top and flip it over. 

Peel off the parchment paper underneath.

Start by covering the cake in a thin layer of jam.

Follow it with a layer of frosting but don’t forget to save some to cover the roll in the end.

Start rolling it carefully and peel off the parchment paper underneath gradually.Cover it well and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Cut off the sides so you will have a smoother roll .

Take it out,  and start frosting it with the frosting you saved.

Chop your chocolate into tiny pieces and prepare your candied cherries.

Boil some water in a pot on medium-low heat and put the bowl with the chocolate on top of it. Keep stirring until all the chocolate melted. I added a bit of oil in mine.

Drizzle some melted chocolate on top and decorate with your candied cherries.

Refrigerate it for one hour before serving.

And there you have it ! Quick, easy and delicious. 

This recipe does not require any rolling of the cake before frosting to avoid cracking. I do recommend however a smaller pan than mine, for the same quantity, so that the layer will be thicker.

I personally don’t like any kind of fruits in cakes, but this recipe is so flexible you can do anything you like. You can go for only one type of frosting, only whipping cream, add some sliced berries or even a whipped dark chocolate ganache . Covering it is also not a must.

Enjoy!

[reverthelp]

“Bismillah is the start of all good things”

— Bediuzzaman Said Nursi

[mysecretkitchen-blog]

Candy Box

To me, the best, easiest and quickest gift you can ever give to someone you care about is a box of chocolates made by your own hands. 

The most important ingredient is love, and this will give it a special taste by itself. You do not need fancy tools or fancy ingredients.You just need chocolate and a filling of your choice. 

And the most fun part is the fact that you can personalize them based on the preferences of the person you gift them to ! Be wild, have fun!

You can go for turkish delight , dried fruit , caramels , cake crumbs and so many other different fillings! 

Here’s a few of the recipes you can try out : 

Caramel Cake Crumb Bites

Chocolate Coated Caramels

Chocolate Coated Turkish Delight

It’s meaningful ,special , sweet and DIFFRENT ! Give it a try! They will bring a smile on your loved one’s faces for sure!

Enjoy !

[reverthelp]

No matter what life brings, start your day with ’Bismillah’ and end it with ’Alhamdulillah’. Allah is the best of planners and knows best

[mysecretkitchen-blog]

Bear Bread Buns

Ingredients :

Dough:

Flour - 350 g

Sugar - 40 g

Cocoa powder - 15 g

Salt

Instant yeast - 7 g

Butter - 25 g

Milk - 130 ml

Filling :

Nutella 

Decorating :

White chocolate

Milk chocolate

Heart sprinkles

Instructions :

Add your dry ingredients besides the cocoa powder in a bowl of your liking.

Mix it well until evenly distributed.

Add your milk on top .

Mix and knead until smooth. 

Add in your butter and keep kneading until the dough is elastic and shiny.

Cover and set aside in a warm place until double in size.

Cut your dough in pieces and shape them into balls . I cut mine in 15 pieces, 12 for the heads, and another 3 enough to make the ears for the bears.

Save 4 balls of the heads and one ball of the ears . Knead the cocoa powder into them to crate a marble look. Now you will have a brown bear as well.

Roll out each ball for the heads and fill them in with a tea spoon of Nutella. 

Gather the sides of the dough together and pinch them together to seal it up. 

Turn it around and put the ears on. If they do not stick easily, brush a bit of milk on the place where you want to place the ears and they will attach right away.

Place your buns into the try that was covered in butter and then in flour . 

Preheat your oven to 180 C. 

Cover your tray with a towel and let them raise for another 10 -15 minutes.

Bake your buns for about 20 minutes until golden on top . Check them with a toothpick to make sure they are done inside. 

Remove from the tray and let them cool completely before decorating them.

Chop your chocolate and melt it .

I highly recommend you to sketch your bear faces before you start decorating so you know exactly what you will go for. 

Use a small painting brush to draw their faces. 

Cover the ears of 4 bears in chocolate to create a panda bear as well.

Let the chocolate harden before you eat the buns. 

They can be consumed cold and warm too . Store them into a covered container so they will not dry out quickly.

Such a lovely yet easy recipe to make ! Try them out in the morning with a bit of butter or fruit jam. They are complemented well by a cup of tea or a glass of milk. They will make the day of your kids !

Enjoy !

[reverthelp]

When Allah blesses you with something that you love, don’t forget that HE alone is the Source of that Blessing. Thank Allah all the time. Don’t love the gift more than The Giver.

Alhamdulillah always

[mysecretkitchen-blog]

Peach Pie

Ingredients :

Dough:

Flour - 500 g

Icing sugar - 60 g

Salt

Butter - 300 g

Water 40 - ml

Filling :

Peaches - 1 kg

Sugar - 200 g

Walnuts - 100 g

Cinnamon - 8 g 

Nutmeg - 8 g 

Vanilla sugar - 8 g

Cornstarch - 10 g 

Salt

Lemon

Instructions :

Sieve your dry ingredients in a bowl.

Maneuver your butter with cold hands . Keep everything cold all the way. 

Cut your butter in small cubes and place them in the fridge once more for 10 minutes.

Take a sheet of parchment paper and place your butter on it. Cover it with another sheet , or fold the other half of the first one over your butter. Start hitting it until it gets flat.

If your butter starts melting, place it back into the fridge. 

Break your butter into small pieces directly into your bowl.

Coat the butter in flour.

Start rubbing your flour and the butter together. Pick up your butter and push it though between your fingers and your thumb to break it up and create little flakes.

If your hands are getting hot and you feel as if the butter is melting, go get your hands cold by washing then in really cold water. 

When it reaches a bread crumb stage, add your ice cold water to it evenly. 

Cut the water though the mixture with a cold pallet knife to spread it evenly.

Test your crumbs. Take a few and press them between your fingers. If it sticks together, the dough is ready.

Take it out onto a clean surface dusted with flour.

Knead the dough, divide the dough into 2 equal portions , form it into the shape of 2 flat but thick disks and let it rest in the fridge for at least 2 hours . I allowed mine to rest over night, as it is very important for the gluten to relax in order for your dough to become elastic .

Wash your fruit of choice, and get ready for the filling!

Peel off the fruit if necessary. 

Chop them into equal slices .

In a bowl of your choice, mix your fruits with 100 g of sugar, cornstarch, salt, cinnamon , nut meg and a bit of fresh lemon juice. At this point you can add the zest of a lemon as well if you enjoy the taste, however , this time I kept mine without it.

Use a strainer to separate the juice of the fruit. Wait 30 minutes if there is no juice. You will see that in contact with your sugar, the fruits will eliminate most of their water percentage. This is an important step if you want to avoid a mushy crust.

Put your juice into a sauce pan and boil it until it reduces to the consistence of a syrup. 

Let it cool, then put it in the fridge , and you will see it thickening .

Mix the left sugar with your walnuts and caramelize them. 

Grease your pie pan with butter and dust it with flour. 

Preheat your oven to 180 C.

Take one of your pieces of dough out of the fridge and crumble it up.

Place the crumbles into the pan and press them together so that it molds perfectly into shape of the pan.

Use a fork to make small holes here and there so that the air underneath will escape.

Bake it for 10 to 15 minutes until you can see the crust hardened a bit .

Put your caramelized nuts on the surface of the crust .

Cover them with the fruit.

And on top of the fruits pour the syrup . Spread it evenly with a spatula.

If you do not want to create perfect layers, you can use a fork to create small indents into the fruit payer so the syrup can get underneath. 

Roll your other piece of dough and cut it in stripes.It should be 1/4 cm thick.

Make a lattice. - You can go for any other design you wish. I have different designs for each fruit pie I make. ( Other recipes coming soon ) 

Sprinkle a tiny amount of sugar on top for a bit of texture.

Bake for 30 minutes on 170 C. 

And voila ! You are done !

Let your pie chill over night , covered with some tin foil so the syrup on top solidifies , and the crust underneath absorbs the remaining fruit juice. 

Easy yet delicious recipe to make ! The crust is dense , soft yet still crunchy and the filling is sweet but sour as well. My family fell in love with it. Give it a try !

Enjoy !

[thikr]

أشهد أن لا إله إلا الله وأشهد أن محمداً رسول الله

I bear witness that there is no god but Allah and I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah

[mysecretkitchen-blog]

Buttercream Cake

Ingredients :

Batter:

Eggs - 6

Sugar - 200 g

Flour - 120 g

Almond flour - 30 g

Vanilla sugar - 10 g

Baking powder - 8 g

Salt

Cinnamon powder - 8 g

Yogurt - 30 ml

Syrup:

Sugar

Water

Frosting:

Butter 500 g

Icing sugar - 1 kg

Milk - 30 ml

Decorating:

Grapes

Meringues

Figs

Chopped almonds

Sugar pearls

Instructions :

Grease and line your pan with parchment paper. Mine was 20 cm . Preheat your oven to 180 C.

Separate the yolks from the egg whites.

Add a pinch of salt over the whites and mix until foamy. Gradually add your sugar and keep whipping until stiff peaks form. 

Separately , mix the yolks with your vanilla sugar and fold them carefully into the whites.

Fold your sifted dry ingredients into the batter.

Incorporate the yogurt well.

Pour your batter into the pan and bake it for about 45 minutes until the top becomes golden .

If you can tell that the inside is not quite done yet ( the batter is giggly / you tested it with a tooth pick ) , turn the oven to 170 C and leave it a bit longer.

It will shrink a little.

Now you are ready for the frosting !

Mix your butter until it is light and fluffy.

Add your icing sugar gradually.

Once it is creamy and pale, add in your milk. 

Keep mixing until you reach the consistency you want.

Divide your cake into 4 layers.

Boil some water along with about 30 grams of sugar until it dissolves . Let it cool and spread it equally on each layer when you assemble the cake. Follow up with the frosting.

Repeat the process until you reach the top. Add the final layer, spread syrup on top and refrigerate it for 10 minutes.

Crumb-coat your cake.

Take your cake out and use the remaining frosting to cover it well.

You can obtain a completely smooth surface, but that was not the look I wanted for my cake this time.

Now it is time to decorate it!

Earlier during the day I baked some basic meringue cookies and I decided to use a couple to decorate my cake.

I went for a very simple and elegant design , but you can decorate it however you wish.

And we are done ! Delicious , quick and easy buttercream cake.

Enjoy!

[mysecretkitchen-blog]

4 Flavor Cream Cheese Swirl Muffins

Do you need a dessert that can satisfy everyone’s wishes? Here you have a customizable muffin recipe that combined with any flavor , transforms into the most delicious treat! 

Ingredients :

Batter:

Flour -  210 g

Almond flour - 30 g 

Sugar - 240 g

Bourbon Vanilla Sugar - 8 g

Baking powder - 15 g

Corn starch - 8 g

Baking soda - 8 g

Pinch of salt

Four eggs

Unsalted butter - 200 g ( at room temperature )

Yogurt - 40 g

Milk - 30 ml 

Cream Cheese Swirl :

Cream cheese - 200 g

One large egg yolk

Sugar - 50 g

Flavors :

White chocolate and coconut flakes

Chopped almonds and espresso powder

Chopped walnuts , carrot , cinnamon and nutmeg

Milk chocolate and cocoa powder

Instructions :

Prepare your muffin paper cups and set aside.

Preheat your oven to 180 C.

In a large bowl , mix your butter until fluffy , then add the two types of sugar until you obtain a cream consistency and the sugar melts completely.

Mix in the eggs , one by one .

Add in the milk , mixed well with the yogurt.

Add your dry ingredients gradually and fold them in , without over-mixing the batter.

Set it aside.

Let’s flavor your muffins!

Divide the batter into 4 equal parts ( depending on how many flavors you make at a time ).

Mix in your add-ins. I combined white chocolate with coconut , espresso with almonds , cinnamon with walnuts and cocoa with milk chocolate.

Now let’s prepare your cream cheese swirl!

In a medium bowl beat cream cheese until smooth. 

Add in your sugar and egg yolk and mix until well combined.

Set it aside.

Almost done!

Fill your muffin tins 3/4 full. ( I had enough batter for 28 muffins , but my tins were medium sized, smaller than normal tins.The batter should be enough for 14 normal sized tins. )

Top each muffin with a bit of cream cheese mixture and use a tooth pick to swirl it into the batter. 

Bake your muffins for 20 minutes or until they pass the tooth pick test.

And there you have it ! Delicious, moist and fluffy! 4 different flavors in the same tray ! Perfect to satisfy your entire family’s taste! 

PS : My favorite one was the espresso one !

Enjoy!

[mysecretkitchen-blog]

More chocolate coated caramels ! 

Recipe coming soon !

[mysecretkitchen-blog]

Sour Cherry Chocolate Cake

Ingredients :

Batter:

Eggs - 6

Sugar - 180 g

Flour - 165 g ( all purpose 100 + almond 65 )

Vanilla sugar - 10 g

Cocoa powder - 15 g

Cappuccino powder - 15 g

Hot chocolate powder - 15 g

Baking powder - 8 g 

Salt

Milk - 50 ml

Melted butter - 50 g

Syrup:

Sour cherry jam ( my recipe will be posted separately )

Sugar - 60 g

Water - 80 ml

Frosting:

Philadelphia cheese - 250 g

Dark chocolate chocolate - 200 g

White chocolate - 60 g

Whipping cream - 200 ml

Powder sugar - 15 g

Bourbon vanilla sugar - 10 g

Decorating:

Gooseberries

Cranberries (dry)

Sour cherries 

Currants

Instructions :

Grease and line your pan with parchment paper. Mine was 20 cm . Preheat your oven to 180 C.

Separate the yolks from the egg whites.

Add a pinch of salt over the whites and mix until foamy. Gradually add your sugar and keep whipping until stiff peaks form.

Separately , mix the yolks with your vanilla sugar and fold them carefully into the whites.

Fold your sifted dry ingredients into the flour.

Separately , mix the melted butter and milk until combined , and in the same bowl , put one spoon of your batter composition and mix well. If you do so , when you will add the wet ingredients to the batter, they will not sink down to the bottom of the bowl and will be absorbed evenly.

The end result should be creamy but still quite liquid - like. 

Pour your batter into the pan and bake it for about 45 minutes until the top becomes crispy . If you can tell that the inside is not quite done yet ( the batter is giggly / you tested it with a tooth pick ) , turn the oven to 170 C and leave it a bit longer.

Now you are ready for the frosting !

Mix Philadelphia cheese in a bowl until smooth ,pour the melted chocolate and mix until well combined. Be careful when you melt the chocolate , it can burn easily! Either leave it in the microwave for 45 seconds , take it out , mix then put it back and repeat the process until it is all melted or let it melt over a pan with simmering water.

In another large bowl whip the cream until stiff peaks form. Incorporate powdered sugar and your vanilla sugar .

Incorporate the whipped cream into the chocolate and cheese mixture.

Refrigerate until ready to use.

Let your cake rest for 10 minutes in the pan , then take it out and let it cool completely.

It will sink a little , which is great because the top will end up being flat and you will not have to level it.

Divide your cake into 4 layers.

For the syrup, boil the water along with the sugar until it dissolves . Let it cool and mix it well with a jar of jam.

Spread syrup on the layer.

Seal it down with a very thin layer of frosting and follow it up with a thicker one. 

On top of the frosting , and some of the sour cherries from your jam for a plus of texture and taste.

Repeat the same steps until you reach the top.

Pour the rest of your syrup on the top layer, crumb coat the cake and let it chill for 10 minutes.

Frost your cake and let it chill for about 20 minutes.

Now it is time for decorating! 

Decorate it however you wish , I kept mine very simple. I chose these fruits because their acidity complements the reach taste of the chocolate very well .

Unfortunately, since I made it for someone’s Birthday , I could not take a picture of a slice.

And there you have it ! I personally don’t like any kind of fruits in cakes, but this recipe made me change my mind completely. Try it out and let’s see if it has the same effect on you ! 

Enjoy!

[mysecretkitchen-blog]

No morning without coffee ! 

RECIPE HERE :  Caramel Banana Cupcakes