Brownies! Testing recipes part one!

I know I said I don’t do many baked goods on this blog – and this is still true. But! In about 3 weeks my husband and I are having a party and I really want to be able to get some of the cake at the party (who wouldn’t) – so I have got to fix some vegan brownies before it’s to late.

This means I have to test some recipes and see if I can make an inexpensive brownie that will work well with ice cream. This is not an attempt at making a healthy brownie – just so we are clear! I am not testing anything here other than how to make a cake that is egg and milk free. And that is literally what I made. A very normal- but slightly to moist – brownie. It was gooey and very rich. And it was impossible for me to get it out of the dish without breaking it so there will be no super fancy pictures! But I will try more recipes next week, so lets see if that turns out better.

Kringle! The Danish Pretzel – a sugar/butter filled dough adventure!

There is no good way to translate this baked good. According to Google Translate, it is called a Pretzel. But it is NOT! As far as I am aware, a pretzel is a dry salty cracker-like thing. This is only called by the same name because you have the option to shape this goodness just like a pretzel.

This should be called a “Kringle” instead. Cause that is the Danish name. And a Kringle is my all time favorite cake. It has a yeast based dough and is filled with a sugar/butter remonce and shredded apples. It is DIVINE!

Ingredients:

For the Dough
2 dl milk.
2 pck yeast
600 g flour
200 g margarine (room temperature)
2 spsk sugar
1 tsp salt
2 eggs

For the Remonce and filling
200 g butter (room temperature)
200 g sugar
2 spsk flour

3 apples
60 g Raisins
1½ tsp Cinnamon

For garnish
Sugar and almonds (optional)

Instructions:

1. Heat up the milk to a pinky-temperature to dissolve the yeast.
2. Now add the rest of the dough-ingredients and combine.
3. Let the dough rise to double the size (about 20 minutes)
4. While waiting combine the butter, flour and sugar for the remonce and shred the apples.
5. Split the dough in 3 equals for 3 rods of Kringle
6. Roll every dough into a 15 cm x 40 cm rectangular (Adjust so it fits your baking sheet, mine was 38 cm so I went for 40) (6×15 inches)
7. Down the middle of this dough you put a third of the remonce and apple, raisins and cinnamon.
8. Fold the ends in and then the sides, close with your fingertips.
9. Place on a baking sheet to raise for 20 minutes.
10. Brush with egg and sprinkle with sugar, and if you want it chopped almonds.
11. Bake for 15 minutes at 220° C /425° F

This is a very easy cake to make in my opinion. The dough is easy to work with, and if you make sure the butter is at room temperature, you will have no problem what so ever. But it does take a few pictures to understand this recipe, so I have made a bunch of those to help you baking this, and I hope that will be helpful.

Now, about the yeast – you should feel free to use your dry-packaged yeast if that is what is normal in your country. I have heard that one 50 gram package of yeast in Denmark is equivalent to the 12 grams of dry yeast you get elsewhere. But as long as you use 2 packages, I don’t think it will make a huge difference as long as you allow the dough to rise to double size.

Calories (Oh no)

Now, when I eat cake, I don’t want to think about the calories, but the fact is: Cake is not healthy – not at all. There is about 290 calories pr 100 grams of baked Kringle when you follow this recipe, and that quickly adds up. In my Kringle, 100 gram was a slice of 2,5 inches so maybe you shouldn’t have two pieces at a time. OR maybe you should – cause this thing is worth the calories. I promise! And who knows – maybe I’ll go for a run tomorrow – or maybe I won’t. I’m still gonna have my cake.

Apple Pie!

It might seem like it’s not a big deal – but it is. I have made my very first apple pie. In Denmark people like pear pies a lot. Everybody has had pear pie and sour cream much more than once in their life. But apple pie is not so common. Actually most people I know have never even tasted it.

Challenge accepted! I have got to bake it! And so began hours and hours of research to find the perfect recipe. I looked for weeks around Pinterest, Youtube and all my favourite blogs. I didn’t find one recipe that I trusted a hundred percent so I made my own.

That was a great decision and I have never gotten so much praise on anything I’ve baked. In my opinion it turned out perfect. But then again – it was my first apple pie ever so I don’t really know, do I?