Yeast buns with marzipan

This recipe was created as I wanted to prepare a yeast buns for a dessert. I had only few ingredients in my cupboard and now you may see the result of my experiment. Would you like to give it a try ?

Ingredients for 12 buns:

• 2,5 cups flour
• 1 tsp yeast
• 1/2 cup warm water
• 1 tsp sugar
• pinch of salt
• 1/2 cup warm milk
• about 20 g butter
• 2 tbsp sugar

Mix the yeast with water and sugar. Set aside.

Place the flour and salt into an electric mixer bowl. Pour in the yeast mixture and mix with yeast dough hook. Heat up the milk, add butter, sugar and stir well. Pour into electric mixer bowl. Knead until forms a ball (when it is too loose add more flour). Place to dough ball into a bowl, put into warm place and let it rise.

In a meantime prepare the filling.

Filling :

• 200g marzipan
• 1 - 2 tsp all spice

 Place the marzipan and spices into a blender and whizz until combined. Turn into 12 balls. 

Take the dough out of a bowl. Roll it, cut out of it the circles. Grease the muffin tin pan with butter. Place each circle into muffin tin nest. Then place a ball of filling inside. 

Place in a warm place to prove.

Preheat the oven to 200C. Bake the buns in preheated oven for 20 - 25 minutes until golden. 

Baked bun set aside to cool down. Enjoy !

Recipe in Polish

Poppyseed marzipan muffins

Welcome everyone on 2014. Happy New Year to all !!

This year I would like to welcome you with poppy seed and marzipan muffins. They are really tasty, sweet, moist but not dense with beautiful almond aroma. I would recommend them to everybody.

Ingredients for 9 big or 12 standard size muffins:

• 140g flour
• 3 tbsp poppy seeds
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 100g sugar
• 100g marzipan
• 2 eggs
• 100g natural yogurt
• 150g margarine
• almond flakes to sprinkle

Preheat the oven to 200C. Line muffin tin with paper cases.

Grate the marzipan into thick shaves, set aside.

Melt the margarine and set aside to cool down.

In a big bowl mix the flour, poppy seeds, baking powder, sugar and marzipan shaves. Set aside.

In a separate bowl whisk the eggs with yogurt.

Pour the yogurt mixture, cooled margarine into a bowl with dry ingredients. Stir everything until smooth.

Spoon the batter into paper cases up to 3/4 full. Sprinkle with almond flakes. Bake in preheated oven for about 25 - 30 minutes. Check with skewer if poked in the middle of the muffins comes out clean then muffins are ready. 

Remove form the oven and leave them in the muffin tin until cooled down. 

 

Enjoy !

For recipe in Polish please have a look here.

Marzipan cupcakes

Those moist, fluffy marzipan cupcakes are very delicious. This time I prepared them for Easter. 

This thing on top of each cupcake supposed to be a chick or duckling but for some reason it looks like something between very slim goose or dove :). Things happen :(. 

Ingredients for 8 cupcakes:

• 90g flour
• 1 tsp cornflour
• 1/2 tbsp baking powder
• 90g soft butter or margarine
• 90g caster sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 tsp almond extract 
• 40g marzipan

 Preheat the oven to 190C. Line muffin tins with muffin cases.

Dice or shred the marzipan and set aside.

Sift the flours, baking powder into a electric mixer bowl. Add the butter, sugar, eggs and almond extract and beat until smooth. Fold in the marzipan chunks. 

Spoon the batter into paper cases 3/4 full.

Bake for 15-20 minutes until well risen and golden. 

Transfer to the wire rack to cool down.

To decorate melt the chocolate an pour over each cupcake. Then when chocolate starts setting stick to it edible decorations made off the marzipan. 

Enjoy !

Happy Easter !!

Marzipan mini cheesecakes

I am very proud of this recipe I created. Very creamy marzipan flavoured cheesecakes baked on the digestives biscuits crumbs mixed with nutella. My family got crazy about them, they really loved them. Those cheesecakes are also very easy to make. 

From the amount of ingredients listed below I received 18 cheesecakes. As you can see there is plenty to share.

Before start preheat the oven to 180C.

Ingredients for base:

• 168g digestives biscuits
• 90g nutella

 Place nutella and biscuits in the blender and whisk until the crumbly mixture is evenly coated with nutella.

Line muffin tin with paper cases and divide this crumbly mixture evenly among all of them. Smooth the surface with the back of the spoon. Set aside.

Ingredients for cheesecake:

•  750g cream cheese
• 175g marzipan + 100g for decoration
• 50g icing sugar
• 3 tbsp potato flour
• 1 tsp almond essence
• 3 eggs

Grate the marzipan and put it into an electric mixer bowl. Add the cream cheese, sugar, flour, almond essence and eggs. Beat this mixture very short, only to let all ingredients combine.

Spoon this mixture on top of prepared earlier bases. Fill each paper case up to top, leave 1-2 milimiters free space so when baked and dusted with coca powder the cocoa powder will stay in its place. 

Bake for 20 minutes. Then remove form the oven leave in the baking tin for a few minutes. Later transfer to the tray and put into fridge to cool them down completely.

In a meantime roll the remaining  marzipan and cut nice shapes for decoration.

When cheesecakes are cooled down dust the with cocoa powder or icing sugar and place marzipan decorations on top of each cheesecakes. Enjoy !

Chocolate and marzipan muffins

The chocolate and marzipan muffins recipe comes from The Vegan Forum website. Those are first egg free muffins I ever baked. They were tasty, very chocolaty with pieces of marzipan, but a little bit dry. I like them with a glass of milk although vegans would not be particularly happy about that.

Ingredients for 6 -8 muffins:

• 130g marzipan
• 50g dark chocolate chips or chocolate
• 175g flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 70g sugar
• pinch of salt
• 35g cocoa powder
• 160 ml cold water
• 30 ml canola oil
• 1 tsp vanilla bean paste
• some almond flakes to sprinkle

First dice the marzipan into smaller cubes. If you don't have chocolate chip dice the chocolate into smaller pieces. set them aside.

Preheat the oven to 175 C. Line muffin tin with paper cases. 

Into big bowl sift the flour, baking powder, sugar, salt, cocoa powder and whisk them together.

In measuring jug pour the cold water, add oil and vanilla stir together and pour into dry ingredients mixture. 

Combine all ingredients together. Do not over stir the batter. At last but not at least gently fold in prepared earlier marzipan and chocolate pieces. 

Spoon the batter into muffin cases, about 3/4 full. Sprinkle top of each muffin with the almond flakes. Bake for 15-20 minutes, until well risen.

Leave to cool in the baking tin for a few minutes than transfer to the wire rack. enjoy !

Merry christmas muffins

Happy New Year to everyone ! I haven't got enough time for posting before Christmas that's way you can see this recipe now. Those muffins were baked according two muffin recipes. I liked both so much I couldn't make up my mind which one to bake. For muffin batter I used recipe from this website while the topping comes from this blog.They were very tasty, soft and moisture.

Ingredients for 12 muffins:

• 100g melted butter
• 275 ml buttermilk
• 200g sugar
• 300g flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 2 eggs
• 100g fresh cranberries
• 100g marzipan
• 50g little pieces of candied orange peel
• pinch of salt
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp vanilla bean paste

 Ingredients for topping:

• 3 tbsp flour
• 2 tbsp brawn sugar
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 2 tbsp soft butter

Prepare topping first. Place all ingredients into small bowl and mix them with fingers until crumble. Set aside.

Preheat the oven to 200C. Line muffin tin with paper cases. 

Melt the butter and set aside. Dice the marzipan into small cubes. 

Into big bowl sift the flour, baking powder, sugar, salt and cinnamon, whisk them together. In separate jug whisk the eggs, buttermilk and vanilla. Pour this mixture into dry ingredients, then add the marzipan, cranberries and orange peel. Stir everything together until all ingredients all combined. Spoon the batter into muffin cases, sprinkle with earlier prepared topping and bake for 20-25 minutes. When ready transfer to the wire rack to cool down.

Ingredients for icing:

• 1/3 mug of icing sugar
• 2 tbsp orange juice

Place those ingredients into a jug and whisk with a fork. 

Gently drizzle over each muffin top.

Enjoy !

Hot cross buns

Hot cross buns!
Hot cross buns!
One a penny, two a penny,
Hot cross buns!
If you have no daughters,
Give them to your sons
One a penny,
Two a penny,
Hot Cross Buns!

This nursery rhyme refers to buns which are usually bake on Good Friday in Ireland and UK. Hot cross buns are yeast - leavened, sweet, spiced, made with raisins buns with a cross on top of them. The cross is a symbol of The Crucifixion. I haven't made traditional buns, as my blog is devoted to muffins and cup cakes. I have chosen recipe for no fuss buns from BBC Good Food which are baked in muffin tin.

As I am Polish and live for a few years in Ireland, I combine customs and I put hot cross buns into Easter basket. Traditionally in Poland, Easter baskets are prepared on Holy Saturday filled with boiled coloured eggs, slice of bread, ham, sweets and taken to a Church for blessing. This food is served for Easter breakfast, most important meal for Polish during Easter and everybody have to take a piece of blessed food. 

Ingredients for 12 buns:

• 500g plain flour
• 1/2 tsp dried yeast or 3g fresh one
• handful raisins
• 1 tsp mixed spice
• 50g marzipan
• 1 tbsp granulated sugar

In a large bowl place the flour, raisins, mixed spice and add 350 ml of warm water. If you use dry yeast simply put them into flour before water. When you add fresh yeast instead of dry ones dissolve them in the water. Stir everything together, cover the bowl with a tea towel and leave to rise for 3 hours. You can also place the bowl in the warm oven (no more then 50C) for 1 1/2 hour.

Before baking

Heat up the oven to 180C. Butter a 12 hole muffin tin. Sprinkle a worktop with some flour put the dough on it. The dough is a little bit sticky. Divide it into 12 balls and drop each into muffin hole. Leave them again to rise for 10 min. In a meantime dissolve 1 tbsp of sugar in 2 tbsp of water. Brush each bun with sugary water. Bake for 20 min. If they don't turn brown after 15 min in the oven you may brush them again. 
When baked remove them from the oven. Brush again it will help to stick marzipan cross better. Use golden marzipan, make small stripes, roll it in your hands as play dough, and lay cross on the top of each bun. Return to the oven for 5 min.

Before returning to the oven

Happy Easter !!!