Lagkage – Danish Layer Cake

This is a normal, very adjustable cake we usually use for birthdays in Denmark.

 

I made a basic cake to slice into layers (preferably 3)

The recipe is as follows (Shape is about 26cm in diameter):

6 eggs (seperated)

250 g. sugar

180 g. flour (siffed)

1½ teaspoon bakingpowder

2 teaspoon vanilla

3 tablespoon cacao

 

Whisk the eggwhites stiff and add the sugar little by little. When whisked good add the yolks little by little. Add flour bakingpowder, cacao and vanilla through a sif and turn the dough softly.

Bake at 180 degrees Celcius for about 25 minutes.

Let the cake rest and slice into 3 layers.

For the above cake I used the following: (Due to a uneven baked cake I had to use only 2 layers)

1. Cake Layer

2. Strawberry Jam

3. Danish macarons

4. Whisked Cream with strawberry Jam

5. Strawberry Jam

6. Cake Layer

7. Icing

8. Decoration: Strawberries, Cream, and chocolate splinters.

 

The essence of the cake is… Use what you like. There are multiple choices, this is just one of many.

 

Marble cake

For this cake I just simply used a “poundscake” recipe and added some chocolate and cocao for a part of the dough.

 

 

Ingredients:

375g. unsalted soft butter

345g. sugar

1 tbsp. vanilla-essence

6 eggs (fast beaten together)

375g. flour

1 tbsp. baking powder

0.6 dl. milk

Powdersugar

What to do:

Preheat the oven to 180°C. Smear your bakingform with oil (I use a round form 24cm)

Mix the sugar and the butter together with an electrical mixer. Add the vanilla and the eggs little by little.

Add in turns flour, milk and bakingpowder. Make sure you have an evendough.

Take 1/3 of the dough, pour it into another bowl and add melted chocolate and a little cocoa.

Fill your shape with a layer of the white dough, then the dark dough and add the rest of the white on top.

Take a wooden stick (I always use a chineese eatingstick) and make a random pattern in the dough. Make sure you have an even layer at the top.

Bake in the oven for about 55 minutes, or until the dough no longer sticks on any tools you try to stick into the cake.

Let the cake cool down 10 minutes before you take it our of your shape.

Before serving, add a thin layer of siffed powdersugar over it.

Lasagna – Jeroens way!

Ingredients
the tomato sauce:
500 g chopped meat
2 onions
1 clove garlic
2 carrots
1 zucchini/courgette
1 tablespoon sambal (optional)
1 cup red wine
75 cl tomato pulp or passata
1 sprig fresh oregano
fresh basil
1 teaspoon herbes de Provence
olive oil
salt
pepper
the cheese sauce:
30 g butter
30 g flour
4 dl milk
200 g grated cheese
nutmeg
finish:
24 lasagna sheets

Preparation
the tomato sauce:
Put a large pot over medium heat. Pour in a little olive oil.

Fry the meat in hot oil. Stir frequently.

Peel the onions and chop finely. Crush the garlic to a pulp.

Add the onions and garlic to the meat and let them cook with the rest.

Peel the carrots and cut off the tip and end. Cut the vegetables into very fine pieces (cubes). Do the same with the zucchini, you do not have to peel these vegetables.

Add the chopped carrot and zucchini to the meat.

Clean the mushrooms with a dry brush. Cut them into large chunks (eg quarters). Put them in the pot.

Let the meat and vegetable stew further, over low heat.

Chop the fresh oregano leaves and finely basilicium oven and let them cook (Optionally you can also fresh thyme and / or add fresh rosemary.)

Sprinkle the dried herbs in the meat and vegetables. Stir well to.

Whoever takes a bit of a kick, add some sambal to the mixture for the sauce.

Pour the red wine in with the meat and let the wine boil.

Finally, add the tomato pulp (or passata) and let the sauce simmer for 10 minutes on low heat.

Taste and season the sauce with salt and freshly milled pepper.

the cheese sauce:
The base of the sauce is a roux. Melt the butter in a saucepan and add the flour. Let the flour mixture, stirring “dry”, but make sure the roux does not bake on.

Once you have a nice biscuit smells, you pour the milk into the pot. Be patient by stirring with a whisk until the sauce binds. If you stirred long enough, you get a smooth white sauce. (To avoid a thick sauce. In order to dilute the sauce, add some more milk.)

Remove the pot from the heat and mix half of the grated cheese into the sauce. (Keep the remaining cheese aside to finish.) Season the sauce to taste with salt, pepper and nutmeg.

finish:
Preheat oven to 180 ° C.

Pour a thin layer of sauce in the bottom of the dish. Top with 1 / 1 layer of dry lasagna sheets. Arrange them like tiles, but make sure the sheets do not overlap too much. This avoids too thick layers of pasta dough.

Stir in tomato sauce on top of the first layer and spread them evenly over the entire surface of the dish (about 1 cm sauce).

Arrange a second layer on top of lasagna sheets. Then tomato sauce, lasagna sheets … Build the lasagna continue until the dish is just about filled. Make sure the top is a layer of tomato sauce.

Now pour the remaining sauce in the dish and spread them evenly over the surface of the dish. Sprinkle the remaining grated cheese over it.

Note: If this lasagna is made one day in advance, then cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and place them in the refrigerator.

Bake the lasagna for 30 minutes in an oven at 180 ° C.

 

Original recipe (in dutch)

Durum with chicken and spicy dip – Jeroens way!

Sorry for the bad photo quality, but it’s hard when you are eating at the same time 😀

Ingredients

For the sauce:
6 tablespoons mayonnaise
2 tablespoons ketchup
1 tablespoon sweet chilli sauce
a dollop of harissa (Tunisian hot sauce)
1 teaspoon tandoori spice (herb)
1 teaspoon curry powder
few sprigs of fresh tarragon
the salad bar:
1 / 2 red onion
1 / 2 iceberg lettuce
1 / 4 white cabbage
2 tomatoes
1 cucumber
the chicken:
4 chicken breasts
1 tablespoon butter
chicken spices
for the finish:
4 tortilla (wrap)

Preparation

For the sauce:
Take a mixing bowl and add to the mayonnaise, ketchup, sweet chili sauce, tandoori spices, the curry powder and a dollop of harissa for some extra spice.
(Herbs are an Indian Tandoori spice mix. Harissa is a red hot sauce from the Tunisian cuisine. Both can easily find in the supermarket.)
Mix all the sauces and spices to a smooth dip.
Pick the leaves from the sprigs of fresh tarragon and finely chop the herbs. Mix the tarragon into the dip and put them aside.

the salad bar:
Rinse clean all vegetables and drain. Put enough vegetable dishes ready to separate them. A kind of “salad bar” really.
Remove the tough core of the lettuce crisp lettuce and cut into very fine strips.
Grate the piece of white cabbage.
Cut the unpeeled cucumber in three or four pieces. Then cut it lengthwise in (long) drives, and finally into strips. (Julienne) that eating easier.
Cut the unpeeled tomatoes into halves and remove the tough center. Then cut the pieces into thin slices.
Cut red onion into thin half-rings. Large pieces of raw onion in a durum are not nice.

The chicken:
Cut the chicken breasts lengthwise into thin slices. Remove the tough white skin on each fillet.
Cut the slices into strips.
Put a frying pan over a strong fire. Melt a knob of butter.
Bake the chicken until golden brown in hot butter. Season the meat with chicken seasoning in between (where salt is incorporated).
If you prepare larger quantities, then fry the chicken in several turns.
Preheat oven to 180 ° C.

for the finish:
Place the tortilla sheets briefly in the oven. Not be too long, because then they lose their flexibility and can not roll up nicely.
Lubricate a tortilla with a layer of sauce.
On to your salad bar! Place the tortilla in the middle of a selection of fine vegetables of your choice. Do not use too much onion.
Spoon a serving of fried chicken on the tortilla and fold closed.
First fold one side over the filling and roll the tortilla stuffed then.
Fold foil around the durum what the role so you can eat on the run.

UUHHHHMMMMM!

Original recipe (in dutch)

Menu New Years Evening 2011-2012

Here is what our menu included on New Years evening 2011-2012:

Ingredients:

– Tortilla pancakes

– Cream cheece

– Zalmon

– Wooden sticks

What to do:

Spread the creamcheece over the tortilla pancake. Add the zalmon over the cheece in a nice even layer.

Roll the pancake tight together and cut in slices of about 1 cm.

And that is it! Easy right?

Ingredients (about 7 persons):

1000g. Pork tenderloin

350g. Mushrooms

3.5 cloves of garlic

100g. Walnuts

175g. Butter

1 bundle parsley

3.5dl. Pork bouillon

3.5dl. Sour cream

What to do:

Cut off any less pretty pieces of the tenderloin. Cut a long deep cut in the meat so it can be rolled out nicely.

The cleaned and cut mushrooms needs to be roasted on a pan so all excessive liquid evaporates. add the walnuts the pressed garlic.

On the rolled out meat you smear out the parsleybutter and add the mushroom filling. Bind together with a cookingthread or meatneedles.

Brown the meat in some butter and put into the ovendish. Let cook in the oven for about 20-30 minutes at 175°C

Cook the pan off with the bouillon and add to the tenderloin for the last 10 minutes of the cooking time.

When the tenderloin is done – pour the bouillon back into the pan and add sour cream. Alternatively you can add foodcolor if needed.

Cut the meat into nice slices and add the sauce on top.

We served this with mashed potatoes and beans.

For dessert we made a white chocolate mousse. I was not overjoyed with the result, so I have decided not to add a recipe – at least till i find the perfect one. I think white chocolate mousse has a tendency to get WAY too sweet!

The above picture is from a previous attempt with Kurt.

Chicken with chorizo

This recipe is not pretty, but it is a dish we enjoy a lot, especially when it is cold outside.

 

Ingredients:

oliveoil

2 red onions

4 chickenfilets

1 chorizosausage

8 tomatoes

800g borlottibeans (from can)

4 cloves of garlic

1 chilipeber (can be excluded if you prefer the dish a little less spicy)

600ml. chickenbouillon

Chilipowder after your own desire

Coriander

What to do:

Cut the chicken, sausage and tomates into dices. Leak and wash the beans.

Cut the onion and let bake slowly in olive oil. Add the chilipowder en the chilipeber. Let cook for about 1 minute.

Add the chicken and the chorizo and let cook with the rest of the ingredients. Add the tomatoes and the bouillon and let it boil.

Add the beans and let cook for 15-20 minutes till the sauce is binding. (sometimes we let it cook even longer so all the liquid gets out and the dishes gets more tender)

Serve with freshly chopped coriander.

 

Enjoy!

 

Christmas candy

Due to the blog not being updated in time, we will still add some of the christmas recipes. Here is the candy Tanja made for christmas:

 

 

Recipe burned almonds:

– Almonds

– 75ml water

– 100-150g. sugar

What to do:

– Put all ingredients in non-stick pan. Let bake until everything is one sticky goey masse (it takes about 4-5 minutes)

– Pour the almonds over bakingpaper, and seperate them with forks or similar so they don’t stick together. WARNING: This is very hot and VERY dangerous. Be carefull!!

– When cooled down, put in a closed jar, and see how long you can make them last (it is very hard to keep your fingers off!)

 

 

Marcipan:

Recipe: https://tanjalindgreen.wordpress.com/2011/08/14/homemade-marzipan/

What to do:

Shape, color, decorate… do whatever you like.

Whiskycake with sour cream

Tim made this for the first time a very long time ago. Since one of our friends really likes this cake he made it again at his place.

Ingredients for 16 slices of cake:

For the cake

140 ml sour cream

2 tablespoons of whisky

175 g. soft butter

225 g. sugar

4 eggs

400 gr selfrising flour

1/2 coffespoon of bakingpowder

2 coffeespoons of vanilla-extract

salt

Whiskysyrup

4 tablespoons of whisky

2 tablespoons of maple syrup

Glace layer

75 gr unsalted butter

300 gr powdersugar

2 tablespoons of whisky

How to make it:

Preheat the oven to 170°C

Mix the butter and sugar with a mixer till you reach a light masse. Add the flour, bakingpowder and salt.

Mix the eggs one at a time into the butter mixture and add a spoon of flour for each egg. Add all the flour and cream in the end. To finish add the vanille-extract en whisky to the cake.

Put the mixture into the bakingshape and bake it for 50 minutes in the oven.

After taking out the cake, let it cool down for 10 minutes.

Make the whiskysyrup by poring the 2 ingredients together in a bowl. Gently brush it on to the cake. Let the cake cool down fully.

When cooled down you can start making the glacing layer.

Melt the butter till it colors brown. Take it of the fire and mix half of the sugar in. Add the whisky.

Then add the rest of the sugar.

Put the layer over the cake and let it harden.

Coq au Vin

It has been a long time since we updated the blog, now we will bring you back to the end of the previous year and the start of the new one.

On 11. December Tim went to my mom to get the handwritten recipe for Coq au Vin.

Ingredients for 3 pers:

600g chicken

120gr – 170 g small mushrooms

12 – 16  shallot onion (small onions)

1 – 2  cloves of garlic

120g. – 170g. bacon

60g. butter

15g. corn starch (Maizena)

2 tablespoon of cognac

500ml red wine (or 250ml red wine and 250ml chickenbouillon)

1 portion concentrated tomato.

How to make it:

Devide the chicken in pieces

Wash the mushroom and remove the stems

Peel the shallots, those stay in there full size. Cut the mushrooms in slices and chop the garlic in small pieces.

Cut the bacon in small parts and bake them. Take the bacon out of  the pan and bake the vegetables in the fat from the bacon. Take the vegetables out when they are done.

Put some extra butter in the pan and coat the meat with a layer of starch. Spice it up with some pepper and salt. Bake till goldbrown.

Next step requires lots of space above the pan 

Pour the cognac over the meat and light it up with a match. When the flame is gone, fill the pan with the wine.

Add the bacon and vegetables in the pan. Leave on the fire for about 1 hour.

Can be eaten with rice.

Chocoladebrownies

A little piece of heaven…

 

Ingredients for 24 pieces:

40 g. flour

60 g. cacao

440 g. sugar

120 g. chopped pecan or walnuts

250 g. dark chocolade (chopped in smalle pieces)

250 g. unsalted butter (smelted)

2 teaspoons of vanilla essence

4 eggs (mixed)

 

What to do:

1: Heat the oven to 180 degrees C. Cover a cakeform approx. size 20 x 30 cm with bakingpaper.

2: Sif the flour and cacao  in a bowl and mix it with the sugar, the nuts and the chocolade. Make a little hole in it to pour the rest of the ingredients in. Pour in the essence, the butter and the eggs in it. Mix everything good.

3: Pour the mix into the cakeform, smooth our the surface and bake for 50 minutes (the inner part of the cake has to be a bit wet) After having finished the baking it needs to stay at least 2 hours in the refrigerator before you cut the cake into mouthsize pieces.

 

Easy right?