Krumkake

Fri, 12 Jan 2018 00:00:00 +0000

If you've been following along on social media (esp Instagram!) you'll know I've had an exciting week: my little girl turned 7, my favorite fashion blogger of all time (Aimee Song!) showed my IG some love, and I discovered a classic Norwegian dessert called Krumkake. In anticipation of my daughter's birthday, I got to thinking what kind of cake should I make for her? Chocolate and vanilla can get tiresome when you make them almost every day. I thought, what about a Kit Kat cake? What would I need? Chocolate, wafers, and more chocolate. I did some research on the filling of KitKat - apparently it's some trade secret! Rumor has it the filling is made up of crushed KitKat?? That's kind of dark. Like, candy cannibalism. Anywho, that's what got me started on my wafer journey. Looked up a wafer recipe, said recipe directed me to various presses. Instead of a waffle press, I went with this Norwegian Krumkake press, with it's beautiful design, I couldn't resist! The simplest batter of butter, flour, eggs, sugar and milk gives you excellent wafers. The only thing is you need like 1 hour in the kitchen, baking each one for about 30 seconds each, and rolling them around the cone that the press comes with, or leaving flat if you want to stack them for a cake. You can fill them with pretty much anything you like! Whipped cream, pastry cream, fresh fruit, ice cream. I opted for a dark chocolate ganache, whipped cream, blueberries and powdered sugar. They are delicious on their own, as well!

[video mp4="/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Krumkake.mp4"][/video] They are delicate, so take care handling them after they’ve dried. I found it easier to fill and decorate by placing them in tall glasses. Serve on a nice wooden platter and enjoy immediately!

Linzer Cookies

Fri, 22 Dec 2017 00:00:00 +0000

I don't know why I became obsessed with Linzer cookies this week. I probably saw one or two in my Instagram feed because of the holiday baking season, got lured in by the jewel like centers and fluffy snow-like confectioners sugar topping. So the research ensued, and I learned they are an Austrian/Hungarian cookie, traditionally made with some nut flour (almond or hazelnut) and filled with raspberry jam. I saw a few recipes that looked true to form, but when I saw my beloved Ina Garten had her version, and it was no frills, I thought I'd go that route. Big. Mistake. Very minimally flavored and sweetened shortbread dough - OK. That's fine. It will get sweetness and flavor from the raspberry jam and confectioner's sugar. No almond flour, or flavorings besides vanilla - all OK to try. But what I couldn't believe was the bake time. 20-25 minutes?! Of course, in following these instructions, I way over baked my first batch. So I went back to the recipe and watched the video in which she made them...in the video she declares a bake time of 10-15 minutes! How has no one caught such a glaring mistake?! After re-rolling the scraps and baking a second batch (for 10-12 min) the results were much better, but I still had an itch I needed to scratch. I had to try the traditional version - with almond flour and lemon zest. But thank you, internet, for your recommendations. The King Arthur Recipe was the way to go. And although it was a little difficult to handle, the final product was worth it. Delicate cookies with a zesty lemon flavor, crumbly almond texture. It was a cookie to match the aesthetic. I hope you enjoy these cookies during this holiday season and beyond! Wishing everyone a joyous holiday, whatever you're celebrating, and a happy happy new year!

Recipe from King Arthur Flour.

Christmas on Kitchen3N

Krumkake

Linzer Cookies