Wedding Cakes

 

Over the years I have made many wedding cakes. Here are some pictures where I have used the recipt of the Norwegian marzipan cake and also the Chocolate cup cakes. 

  

 

Norwegian marzipan cake

Norwegian marzipan cake with marzipan cover and decorations

Birthdaycake made of sponge cake filled with vanilla cream

Spongecake:

8 eggs

400 g sugar

320 g flour

1 teaspoon bakingpowder

160 Celsius degrees  about 30 minutes

Whisk egg and sugar until fluffy and shiny and stiff.

Sift the flour and bakingpowder and blend carefully and softly in.

Pour into a big rectangular baking tray covered by baking paper.

Bake in oven about 30 minutes. Try to not open the oven since the sponge cake easily can "fall down" if getting cold air inside the oven. Try with a toothpick to see when ready. If nothing sticks to the toothpick it is baked enough.

Take out of oven and cool down on a grid.

Filling

Fill the spongecake with vanilla cream. The vanilla cream can be made by ready mix in packages that you just add cold milk to and mix together. Or you can make your own. I usually go with the ready mix. It is fast and easy. Add some whipped cream to the vanilla cream to make it really good. Divide the sponge cake into two and spread the vanillacream evenly on the bottom part. Put the second part on top and put vanilla cream all around the sponge cake. Make it smooth with a knife. For this size of cake you need to make vanilla filling  with about 1 liter milk. Add at least five dl whipped cream.

For the cover you can buy marzipan cover and decorate with or you can make your own. In certain stores even colored marzipan can be bought to make roses and leaves. Or you can color your own with food color. I usually make my own marzipan and color it and make the roses and leaves. This can be bought ready in stores as well. However it is most impressive to make your own.

Homemade marzipan:

500 g almonds grinded in a almond grinder

500 g icing sugar

1 eggwhite

Heat the the almonds and egg whites in i thick bottomed pan on low heat and mix all the time until it becomes a sticky, shiny dough, than take it off and cool and mix the icing sugar in while kneading with your hands until all sugar is in and it is a white soft dough.

When you have made the dough roll out the marzipan cover and put on the cake. Leave some small parts to color for flowers and leaves.

To make flowers and leaves you roll the marzipan to a thin film and cut out the leaves. Flowers can be shaped by cutting half circles with an egg cup for instance and making the roses, adding the halves outside of each other.

"False marzipan"

or:

60 g flour

1 dl cream

3-400 g icing sugar

1 teaspoon tragacanth (can be bought in drugstores/pharmacies, makes the marzipan hold together so it is possible to roll it to a thin cover)

50 g almonds (you can eliminate this and use almond drops instead if afraid of allergies) or just leave it completely)

Heat the cream and the flour in a thick bottomed pan on low heat while all the time stirring. Stir until you have a shiny dough that forms like a ball. Take it off the heat and cool down. Add the icing sugar and tragacanth by kneading the dough by hands. Add icing sugar until the marzipan feels like it can be rolled to a cover and tastes like marzipan. Too little icing sugar it will taste too much flour and not sweet enough.

When you have the wished consistency take some small parts and color with food color for the decorations. The rest roll to make the cover.

When decorated the cake with marzipan. Decorate all around with whipped cream like I have done in the picture, to make it really festive.

Chocolate Cup Cakes

CHOCOLATE CUP CAKES

Makes about twelve cupcakes

Preparing time 25 minutes

Time in oven 15 min

150 g butter

300 g sugar

3 eggs whisked

2 1/2 dl milk

225 g flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon bicarbonate

50 g cocoapowder

For the chocolate frosting

100 g dark chocolate (60 % cocoa)

150 g butter

150 g icing sugar (florsocker)

1 teaspoon vanilla sugar

Directions:

Heat the oven to 175 Celsius degrees.

Put 12 cupcake paperforms in the holes of a cupcake baking tray.

Mix butter and sugar in a bowl until smooth and creamy. 

Whisk in the eggs gently and the milk.

Sift the flour, salt, cocoa and bicarbonate and mix all gently.

Spoon the mix into the paperforms.

Bake for about 15 minutes. 

Try with a toothpick to see if the cupcakes are done.

They are done when nothing sticks to the toothpick.

Take the cup cakes out of the oven and cool on a grid.

Chocolate frosting:

Melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl in a pan with boiling water. Remove from oven when melted and cool down to roomtemperature.

Whisk the butter soft and creamy with an electrical mixer. Add icing sugar and vanilla sugar and whisk until a fluffy cream. Whisk gently in the melted chocolate on low speed until all is blended. Mix on a higher speed until the frosting is soft and shiny.

Decorate the cupcakes with the frosting.

MEXICAN BUFFET

MEXICAN BUFFET

For my daughter Frida´s 18 th birthday I made a mexican buffet for her. I used small tacoshells for the tacos. These are easy to eat and not so messy when at a party. They fit into your mouth. I also had taco chips and soft tortillas that the guests could fill with their own fillings of ground beef seasoned with taco mix and vegetables like chopped green sallad, cucumbers, tomatoes, red and green paprika and melted cheese, cream cheese, salsa, shredded cheese, avacado filling and bean filling. I also made enchiladas and Tacopie with chicken. I also had some small baby back ribs and it was great.

 

  

TACO PIE WITH GRILLED CHICKEN

One grilled chicken spiced with mexican taco spices is simple and easy to make. This receipt is for four people, but on a buffeé it is enough for a party really about 10 people.

Ingredients taco shell:

125 g butter

3 dl flour

½ teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons water

Filling

1 grilled chicken

1 yellow onion

1 package taco mix (or choose your own taco spices)

1 dl water

2 eggs

2 dl milk

1 dl shredded cheese

Directions

Turn oven on 200 Celsius degrees

Chop together butter, flour and salt with your hands. Add water and work fast together to a dough. Press the dough into the pie pan about 25 cm. Make some holes in the dough with a fork. Put in the fridge for about 30 minutes.

Bone the grilled chicken and cut the meat in smaller pieces. Chop the onion and fry soft in butter and oil in a frying pan. Add taco spices and water and let simmer on low heat for 5 minutes. Add the chicken and mix well.  Put the filling in the pie shell. Whip the egg and milk and pour over the chicken filling in the pie shell. Drizzle the shredded cheese all over the pie and put in the middle of the oven for about 35 minutes, until the eggs are stiff and the pie has a nice color.

ENCHILADAS WITH CHICKEN 

About 6 Soft tortillas

½ grilled chicken

Cottage cheese (if you like, if not just don´t use this)

Shredded cheese

Taco spices

Cream cheese or sour cream

Directions:

Turn the oven on 225 Celsius degrees

Mix chopped chicken with taco spices, sour cream or cream cheese in a frying pan and fill the soft tacos with a little chicken filling, cottage cheese if you like and shredded cheese. Roll and put in a pan. Do the same with all your soft tortillas until the pan is filled. Drizzle shredded cheese over all the tortillas and put in the oven about 10 minutes or until the cheese is melted and have a little color.

You can use thin sliced and fried meat and chopped onions, fried soft, as a filling if you like also.

BEANS WITH BACON

Fry bacon crisp and chop in small pieces

Add regfried beans and taste with chipotle paste

Serve on the buffeé cold or warm

CHUNKY GUACAMOLE

1 large ripe tomato

3 avacadoes, very ripe but not bruised

juice of a large lime

handful coriander, leaves and chalks chopped plus a few leaves roughly chopped to serve

1 small red onion finely chopped

1 chilli red or green deseeded and finely chopped

Use a large knife to pulverise the tomato to a pulp on the board, then tip into bowl. Halve and stone the avacados. Use a spoon to scoop out the flesh into the bowl with tomato. Tip all other ingredients into the bowl and season with salt and pepper. Use a whisk to roughly mash everything together. If not serving right away sit a stone in the guacamole (this helps to stop it going brown). Cover with cling film and chill until needed. Scatter with coriander, if using, than serve on the buffeé.

American Chocolate and Vanilla Cheesecake

CHOCOLATE AND VANILLA CHEESECAKE

600 g cream cheese (philadelhia ost), softened
1, 5 dl sugar
2,5 dl sour cream (kesella)
2 teaspoons vanilla
4 eggs
1 dl whipped cream (whipped stiff)

COCOA MIXTURE
150 g dark chocolate of good quality (60 %)
3 tablespoons espresso coffee

GRAHAM CRUST
400 g graham cracker crumbs (digestive kex)
200 g butter, melted

Directions:
PREPARE GRAHAM CRACKER CRUST
Mix cracker crumbs & melted butter
Press mixture onto bottom and 1,3 cm up side of 22cm springform pan
Bake at 175 Celsius degrees for 8 to 10 minutes.
Cool and lower oven to 140 Celsius degrees.

CHEESECAKE
Combine (whip) cream cheese and sour cream and add sugar and vanilla in a large bowl

Beat on medium speed until smooth
Add eggs one at a time carefully and the whipped cream last.

COCOA MIXTURE

Put the chockolate in pieces in a bowl in a pot of boiling water to melt the chockolate
Add the coffee when chockolate is melted

Divide the cheesecake filling into two parts and mix the chockolate in one of the halfs

Spoon plain and chocolate mixtures alternately into prepared crust, ending with dollops of chocolate on top;  
gently swirl with knife for marbled effect

Bake at 130 Celsius degrees  for 1 1/2 hours until it is baked

Remove from oven
Loosen cake from side of pan
Cool completely
Chill thoroughly
Or could even be served a bit warm