The Salzburger Christkindlmarkt

Today's post is about the traditional Christkindlmarkt in Salzburg, Austria. Somehow I forgot to post it in December so here it is.

I visited Salzburg in December, when the traditional Christmas market is in full speed. The city of Mozart was just so beautiful and magical, even though there was no snow in sight that day.

Zebra Cake

I love cookbooks, especially celebrity cookbooks. Lorraine Pascale is one of my favorite TV cooks and a few months ago I purchased her Fast, Fresh and Easy Food book, which is amazing. 

The moment I saw the picture of her Crouching Tiger, Hidden Zebra Cake I knew I had to bake it. And here it is. Let me tell you how adorable this cake looks once you cut it into slices. And you will definitely get a lot of recipe requests.

You need:

Recipe from Lorraine Pascale's Fast, Fresh and Easy Food

4 large eggs

250 g caster sugar

100 ml milk

250 ml sunflower oil

1 tea spoon vanilla

475 g self raising flower

1 tea spoon baking powder

25 g cocoa

Preheat the oven to 180°C. Butter a 23 cm take tin and set aside. Put the eggs and sugar into a large bowl with the milk, oil, vanilla extract and 175g of the flour. Whisk with a hand held electric whisk for a minute or two, until smooth.

Pour half of the mixture into a separate bowl and stir in ½ tsp baking powder and 175g flour and set aside. In the other bowl, mix the cocoa, 125g flour and ½ tsp baking powder. Spoon two tablespoons of the plain mixture into the centre of the cake tin. Straight away spoon two tablespoons of the chocolate mixture on top. Continue doing this until all the mixture has been used – you will end up with lots of alternate rings of mixture in the tin. Don’t worry if it’s not very neat.

Cook for 40-50 minutes, until the cake is cooked through – a skewer inserted into the centre should come out clean. Turn the cake out onto a wire rack to cool before serving.

Looking Back at 2013

How was your NYE? I hope you had some great food and drinks to make a good introduction to 2014.

For me, the past year was beyond amazing. I have met so many wonderful people, achieved some really important goals and learned so many things I can't even start to explain. 

The Cake Baby's 2013 was successful as well, so let's look back at the most clicked recipes:

Cinnamon Cake

Banana Oatmeal Cookies

Vegan Chocolate Cake with Kiwi

Sacher Torte

Happy New Year!

I hope 2013 was as good as you imagined it to be. It was definitely my best year and I can't wait for 2014. Hope you get to spend the eve with good people and good food.

Cheers!

Cinnamon Sugar Palmiers

I am in love with this sugary-cinnamon snack lately. It is done within minutes and tastes so so good! And what better way to end this year with a cinnamon treat, right? 

You need:

Recipe from Martha Stewart

1 cup sugar

2 table spoons cinnamon

2 sheets puff pastry

Stir together the sugar and cinnamon. Sprinkle half of the mixture on the work surface and place one sheet of puff pastry over. Sprinkle two more table spoons of the mixture on top of the pastry and roll over dough with a rolling pin. Now gently roll the dough, starting at the one end and rolling up halfway. Turn over and roll the other end up the other half. Slice crosswise into 3 centimetre pieces. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and dip each cookie into the remaining sugary mixture, then place it on the sheet. Bake for 12 minutes on 200°C, then turn around and bake for another 5. Remove from the oven and let cool.

Nutty Chocolate Bars

Today I want to share a family recipe from a dearest friend of mine. These chocolate bars are so so good you will definitely go for seconds. Or thirds. Or fours.

You need:

140 grams sugar

140 grams butter

2 tea spoons baking powder

4 eggs, divided

70 grams walnuts, roughly chopped

70 grams chocolate of choice, roughly chopped

100 grams flour

4 table spoons jam of choice (apricot works best for me)

Chocolate ganache

300 millilitres cream 

300 grams chocolate

Put the cream in a small saucepan and heat it until little bubbles start to form on the edge. Set aside and add chocolate. Let sit for two minutes, then stir until chocolate is fully incorporated.

Sprinkles

Cream together sugar and butter, gradually add the flour and baking powder. Mix well, then add the egg yolks and mix again. Next add the meringue from the egg whites. Mix and add the nuts and chocolate. Pour the batter in a greased baking tin and bake for 20 minutes on 190○C. When baked, let cool and spread the jam on top. Lastly, pour some chocolate ganache on top and decorate with colored sprinkles.

Spicy Crinkles

Merry Christmas everyone!!!!

Hope you have a nice day and enjoy good food.

Here's another great cookie recipe that was a success yesterday at our Christmas Eve Party.

You need:

2 eggs

70 grams powdered sugar

1 cup shredded coconut

80 grams cocoa

100 grams chocolate morsels

1 tea spoon cardamom

some powdered sugar to roll the cookies in (about 3 table spoons)

Separate the egg yolks from whites and put the yolks in a medium sized bowl, set aside. Beat the whites until stiff and set aside. Now put the sugar to the yolks and beat ten minutes, until smooth. Gradually add the coconut and cocoa powder mixed with cardamom. Beat on slow, then mix in the egg whites. From here on mix with a spatula, so you don't over mix the batter. Add the chocolate morsels and mix well. Take a spoonful of batter and form into a ball, then roll in powdered sugar. Place every ball on the baking tray, press gently with a finger so you flatten every ball a bit. Bake for 8 minutes on 190°C.