TWD - The Rugelach That Won Over France

This week's Baking Chez Moi recipe is The Rugelach That Won Over France.  I am not sure that my rugelach would have won over France, as they are not that photogenic, but they sure are tasty.

Rugelach are made with a cream cheese dough, which is spread with melted butter and cinnamon sugar, topped with chocolate, fruit, nuts and coconut, then rolled up, washed with egg, sprinkled with sugar, sliced and baked.

I found the dough quite hard to work with as it seemed to tear quite easily.  However, even if my rugelach are not the prettiest around, I really liked the flavour of the melted   chocolate with the coconut, toasted pecans and raisins.

To see what the other TWD bakers thought of these cookies, visit the LYL section of the TWD website.

Musical Notes Chocolate Cupcakes for Mark's Birthday

Today is my manager, Mark's, birthday.  Our team has bought him a pressie, and I have made him some cupcakes.

To make the cupcakes, I used the chocolate cupcake recipe from The Primrose Bakery's Cookies and Cream Cupcakes, recipe in their book and online here.

 
Once the chocolate cupcakes were cooled, I iced them with a thin, smooth layer of The Primrose Bakery Vanilla Buttercream - recipe here.

As the finishing touch, I topped each cupcake with a fondant disc printed with a musical notes chocolate transfer sheet from Roberts Confectionery, using the hairdryer technique demonstrated here.  This was the first time I had tried this and I was very pleased with the results. 

The significance of the musical notes is that Mark is very musically orientated, so I am sure he will appreciate these musical cupcakes.

I highly recommend trying this decorating technique using chocolate transfer sheets to decorate ready to roll fondant - it is not too difficult and is so effective.

Peach and Custard Splits

 

I am loving Ruby Tandoh's columns in The Guardian,  and recently was totally suckered in by her recipe for Rhubarb and Custard Splits, online here.  I did not see Ruby in GBBO, but I am enjoying watching the very first series of GBBO, currently on TV here.  Edd Kimber is such a sweetie and fun to watch, especially as I have followed GBBO religiously from its inception through The Guardian.

 

Really, what's not to love here - sweet buns filled with crème patisserie and jam:

 

 

For a twist, I used sour cream (because I had some) in the crème patisserie and homemade peach jam instead of making rhubarb jam.

 

People at work thought these buns were scones, but regardless, they seemed to eat them.  I really liked these buns, which is no surprise given my adoration for custard.  The buns are a little fiddly to make, but are super easy - all you need is a little time.

FFWD - Tartine de Viande des Grisons

This week's French Friday with Dorie features another "stuff on toast" (to borrow from Trevor) recipe.  The stuff is breasola or prosciutto (in my case, the latter), walnuts and oil on buttered grain bread. 

I added some mustard to spice things up a little.

This tartine was totally serviceable but just not very exciting.  Without the walnuts, it would have been downright boring.

To see what the other Doristas thought of this recipe, visit the LYL section of the website.

WWDH - Roasted Carrot and Herb Dumpling Soup

For WWDH this week, Chaya chose Roasted Carrot and Herb Dumpling Soup, the recipe for which is available online here.

This soup is easy enough to make although it takes some time because you have to roast the carrots.  The colour is glorious, but the soup was just OK.  My favourite part was the herb dumplings - don't skip them, they are terrific.

To see what Chaya, Margaret and Sarah thought of this soup, visit their websites.

Gluten Free Raspberry, Almond and Rosewater Muffins

The Caker featured a recipe for Gluten Free Raspberry, Almond and Rosewater Muffins on her blog.  I think they looked really pretty so I decided to print off the recipe and make them.

In the end, they turned out a little bumpy, were not really springy, and  I found the almond meal texture odd.  When I read the comment, I realised that this happened because the method leaves out the addition of the eggs, and because I was working from the method, not the ingredients, the eggs were left out.  The resulting muffins were totally edible and they were polished off at work, but without the eggs, were more like rock cakes or similar than muffins. 

I am glad that I satisfied my curiosity and made them, but I won't be revisiting these muffins.

Pear Streusel Coffee Cake

Recently, I saw the most wonderful looking Pear Streusel Coffee Cake on Liz's website.  I fell in love with it instantly and printed off the recipe.

Shortly thereafter, I decided to make it, as I happened to have some tinned pears in the cupboard and was looking for something to make with them. Liz's spicy cake seemed perfect!

And the end result was perfect, even though my streusel seemed to run into the centre of the cake while baking - hence the odd pattern.  I swear that it was distributed evenly over the top of the cake before baking, so I am not sure why mine doesn't look at all like Liz's.  (A friend of Liz suggested online that it was because Liz applied her streusel in a mathematical pattern with tweezers!)

I replaced the pecans with cashews simply because that is what I had, but otherwise left the recipe alone.

The resulting cake is very moist and pleasantly spiced.  It was a big hit at work, and it is definitely a keeper.  Thanks to Liz for sharing the recipe.