Gundel Pancake/Gundel Palacsinta

This year the pancake day will be on the 12th of February. To celebrate this grand occasion, I made some pancakes in preparation, to have a practise run before the big day. Gundel Pancake is a traditional Hungarian pancake created and invented by Karoly Gundel. It is a pancake with ground walnuts, raisins and rum filling served flambéed dark chocolate sauce. It is quite heavy, I would be surprised if you could eat more than two even if you are a big guy. Due to traditions I included my dear friend, Kabi's kitchen pancake batter recipe.

Gundel Pancake / Gundel Palacsinta

For the Batter (makes about 20)

400g plain flour

3 tsp sugar

1 tsp salt

500ml milk

250ml sparkling water of soda water

4 eggs

sunflower oil

For the filling(for 4-7 pancakes)

4 tbsp rum

80 g of raisins

60 g grated walnut

65 g chopped walnut

150 ml double cream

50 g caster sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

For the chocolate sauce

80 g dark chocolate, chopped

100 ml single cream

2 egg yolks

1/2 tbsp butter

2 tbsp caster sugar

2 ek rum

Before you start the pancakes, put the raisins in a bow and pour the rum on top. Leave it to soak for 1 hour, or until you ready with the pancakes. As the rum won't cover the raisins, stir it time to time.

Sift the flour in a mixing bowl and add the salt and sugar. Make a well in the middle and add the eggs and the milk(add the milk in two portion mixing well in between). Mix it well, and slowly add the sparkling water until it reach the consistency  of thicker single cream. 

Stir it up before you start to make them. Heat up the pan until very hot with some oil and make the first batch of the pancakes. Poor the mixture in the middle of the pan, and with circular motion of your wrist spread it evenly. When the edges start to brown flip it with a plastic spatula or a flat wooden spoon. In order to get out of the kitchen before midnight use at least 2 frying pan/pancake pan...I usually do it with three and create a small production line.

Put the double cream in a heavy based pan, add the sugar and bring it to boil. When it reached boiling point add the chopped and the grated walnut, cinnamon and cook it for further 3 minutes. Turn off the heat and leave it to cool for a few minutes then add the rum soaked raisins and the rum if left any. Stir it well, and add some more rum, if you require so.

Place the chopped chocolate in a bowl over boiling water with the single cream and stir it until the chocolate is incorporated with the single cream. Take off from the heat and whisk in the egg yolks first then the butter and sugar. Return the bowl above the boiling water and reheat it.

Take one pancake fill it with the hot walnut filling and fold it in half then to another half, to get the typical quarter shape. Place one or two on the plate, pour on top the chocolate sauce. To flambé the pancakes, just pour some rum on top of the chocolate sauce than light it with a blow torch. Please be really careful and if you don't want flambéed Gudnel pancakes, just simply pour the rum into the chocolate sauce.

Chocolate Fingers Celebration Cake with Red Berries

It is my friend's birthday today so true to traditions I baked her a birthday cake. I always wanted to make a similar cake but the chocolate cigarellos just way out of my budget range(for a small cake  it would cost 30-40 pounds at least). But, there is a cheaper alternative: Chocolate fingers! I modified my previous flourless brownie recipe (but added some flour to make it more sturdy) as I just couldn't have enough of it since yesterday.

Chocolate Fingers Celebration Cake with Red Berries

Ingredients for the cake
250 g dark chocolate broken into pieces (around 60%-70 cocoa solids)
250 g unsalted butter, diced
100 g golden caster sugar
4 medium eggs
100 g  ground almonds
50 g plain flour
1 heaped tsp baking powder, sifted
3/4 tsp ground cinnamon

For the cream and decoration
250 g mascarpone
100 g dark chocolate broken into pieces
2-5 tbsp Amaretto liqueur
2.5 box of Cadbury Chocolate Fingers

300 g raspberries
150 g strawberries

red ribbon for decorating
2 coloured pearl headed pins

Preheat the oven to 170C and prepare two 19 cm sandwich tin.

Melt the chocolate (250 g) with the butter in a bowl set over a pan with a little simmering water in it. Remove from the heat, add the sugar and stir to combine, then leave to cool slightly. Add the eggs to the chocolate mixture, one by one, beating after each addition until the mixture is very glossy.

Gently fold in the ground almonds, flour, baking powder and cinnamon without overmixing.

Spread the chocolate mixture in the tins and bake for 25-35 minutes. A skewer inserted into the centre should come out clean with just a few moist crumbs on it.

In the meantime  you can prepare the filling. Melt the 100 g chocolate in a bowl set over a pan with a little simmering water in it. Remove from the heat then leave to cool slightly. Add the mascarpone and work it until fully incorporated then add Amaretto liqueur to taste (as this cake made for a birthday girl, I wasn't shy with the amount:))

When the cake is ready and completeley cooled, level with a cake leveller. Place one layer on the cake stand and spread some chocoalte filling and sandwich with the other sponge layer.

Cover the cake with the rest of the chocolate cream (leaving a thicker layer on the top rather than the sides) and start to press lightly the chocolate fingers to the sides. You should face the cake eye level otherwise after a few chocolate you tend to misplace the fingers and they won't stand straight.

I prepared the bow while baking the sponge. Just cut a piece of ribbon, tie it, then insert a headed pin from behind. Cut a bigger piece of ribbon, tie it around the cake and fix it with another headed pin(obviously please wash the pins before use, and just before cutting the cake remove the ribbon with the needles to avoid any accidents). When you happy with the position of the ribbon just insert the bow on top.

Place or arrange the washed fruits on top.............and you can start preparing for the birthday party.

and Happy Birthday Rimma!!!!!

Flourless Chocolate Brownies

The second recipe I tried from my new Annie Bell book was this brownie. I was quite curious how this would turn out, as I modified the recipe (I don't normally change recipe without trying out first the original, but there are exceptions) . First of all I used half the sugar the recipe originally suggested (200 g) - and was still sweet enough -, left out the additional 50 g of dark chocolate chips and added some berries. These days I go to the gym 5 times a week and I didn't want to ruin my hard earned -kgs. The result was a beautifully moist, melt in your mouth light brownies. As it doesn't contain any flour it is gluten free, but crumblier than the usual brownies.

Flourless Chocolate Brownies

Ingredients
250 g dark chocolate broken into pieces (around 60%-70 cocoa solids)
250 g unsalted butter, diced
100 g golden caster sugar
4 medium eggs
150 g  ground almonds
1 heaped tsp baking powder, sifted
3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
handful of berries

Preheat the oven to 170C and prepare a 23 cm square tin (rectangle is fine as well).

Melt the chocolate with the butter in a bowl set over a pan with a little simmering water in it. Remove from the heat, add the sugar and stir to combine, then leave to cool slightly. Add the eggs to the chocolate mixture, one by one, beating after each addition until the mixture is very glossy.

Gently fold in the ground almonds, baking powder and cinnamon without overmixing.

Spread the chocolate mixture in the tin, sprinkle over the fruits and bake for 25-35 minutes. A skewer inserted into the centre should come out clean with just a few moist crumbs on it.

Leave to cool completely in the tin - it will be very crumbly to begin with, but will firm up a little by the following day. The brownies will keep well in an airtight container for several days (ha-ha not in our household).

Hints and tips:

You can also replace the sugar with fruit sugar(Tate Lyle what I use sometimes) or agave to make your brownies totally sugar and flour free as well

Cheese and Marmite Straws & Bryndza Cheese Straws

Before Christmas I saw a cooking show on ITV, while running on the treadmill in the gym. Even since I wanted to try this quick, easy recipe that would be perfect for unexpected guests. I never liked Marmite on a toast, but I love the Marmite coated cashew and Marmite crisps you can buy in the supermarket, so I tough to give it a go. And I was right, it was delicious. For the other half of the puff pastry I used bryndza cheese (we call it brindza in Hungary) which is made from sheep and goats milk, usually soft, spreadable, "smelly" cheese. It is also you either love it or hate it, so basically I placed two "love it or hate it" ingredients together and we loved them both.

Cheese and Marmite Straws & Bryndza Cheese Straws

Ingredients for the Marmite Straws

250g puff pastry

20 g butter, melted

1 tbsp Marmite

50 g parmesan cheese, grated

50 g mature cheddar cheese, grated

Ingredients of the Bryndza Straws

250g puff pastry

20 g butter, melted

100g bryndza cheese

50 g mature cheddar cheese, grated

Preheat the oven to 190C.

Whichever filling you choose the preparation is identical.

Roll out the puff pastry on a lightly floured surface to roughly 4 mm thick and achieve a rectangle shape. Brush the melted butter on the surface of the pastry than spread the Marmite on one half. Sprinkle  3/4 of both cheeses on the Marmite covered half, then fold the pastry over lengthways.

 Using your rolling pin compress the pastry (gently, but firmly) so you have the filling in between the pastry layer tightly. This will help retain the nice filling line when you twist the strip. Roll until the pastry is 3-4 mm thick.

With a pizza cutter, cut 1 cm wide strips and twist. Arrange on baking sheets (and chill for 10 minutes before baking-if you have the time). Spay some vegetable fat on the strips, sprinkle on the rest of the cheese and bake for 10-12 minutes, until golden brown and puffed up. 

If the strips don't want to stay twisted on the baking sheet, just lightly press down the two ends with your fingers, so the pastry "sticks" to the baking sheet.

To do the bryndza Straws just repeat the same process, but replace the Marmite with Bryndza.

Cornbread Loaf

I bought a new book.....I know.... again. This time the author was unknown for me at the time, but I really liked the pictures and the recipes were unique, well presented. So first I tried this Cornbread Loaf from Annie Bell, to reduce the our white flour consumption from bread. It turned out quite nice and tasted yummy.

Cornbread Loaf

Ingredients

15 unsalted butter

1 onion, peeled and chopped 

125 g tinned sweetcorn kernels

sea salt and black pepper

125 g cornmeal and polenta

140 g self-raising flour, shifted

10 g golden caster sugar

1 tbsp baking powder

2 medium eggs

200 ml whole milk

Preheat the oven to 170C and prepare a 22 cm loaf tin with baking paper.

Melt the butter in a large frying pan over a medium heat. Add the onion and fry for several minutes until softened, without colouring, then add the sweetcorn and fry for a little longer, seasoning the mixture.

Combine the cornmeal or polenta, flour, sugar, baking powder and a teaspoon of salt in a large bowl. In another bowl, whisk the eggs with the milk, then stir in the fried onions and sweetcorn. Tip the wet ingredients into the dry ones and loosely combine, leaving the mixture, leaving on the lumpy side.

Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and bake for 30-35 minutes until golden and crusty on the surface and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Remove the ready loaf holding the edge of the baking paper and leave to cool on a wire rack. You can dust with a little more cornmeal or polenta if you wish.