Chocolate and hazelnut muffins

I love to bake but find it terribly hard to control myself when I keep baked goods in the house, it is as if I cant walk by the kitchen without having another little sample. Lucky I have a job where I get to bake most days and that way get it all out of my system before I come home.
I do however still bake a lot at home, mainly before having guests, or if I am going to someone I can bring some fresh pastries. That way I can nearly pretend I am working and don't have to eat it all myself.
The other night though I just had a craving for something sweet to go with a cup of tea. After a look around in my cupboard I found some ground hazelnuts and decided to make some muffins. Hazelnuts are so delicious when toasted and added to cakes or muffins and goes really well with chocolate. So there it was; chocolate and hazelnut muffins. This make 8 normal sized muffins.

1 egg
75 grams butter
130 grams caster sugar
100 grams plain flour
30 grams ground hazelnuts
1.5tsp baking powder
75ml milk
1 1/2tsp cocoa powder

Melt butter and put aside to cool down. Combine flour, cocoa powder, hazelnuts and baking powder. Whisk egg and sugar until very fluffy and pale, add butter and stir until smooth. Add the dry ingredients through a sieve and fold in, last add milk and stir until all is well blended. Fill muffin cups to 2/3 and bake on 175C for 20min or until a skewer comes out dry. Let cool down.

Almond and cardamom biscotti

As a chef it is important to find basic recipes that always works. Once you have one you can play around a little and create all sorts of taste sensations. Remember not to move too far from the original recipe though when it comes to baking, there is a lot of chemistry involved in getting the right amounts of flour, sugar, eggs and butter to come together and turn out to be the perfect pastry, cake or biscuit.
This biscotti recipe is more or less foolproof, I have never failed when making them and I still return to the recipe on a regular basis. The only thing that changes is the flavour. One day I use hazelnuts and chocolate, like here. Another day I might not use nuts at all but throw in some dried fruit and spices. Another day I just keep it simple and use almonds like the original recipe calls for and then just spice it up a little with some freshly ground cardamom. Like here:

220 grams plain flour

220 grams sugar

110 grams almonds

2tsp baking powder

3 eggs
1tsp ground cardamom

Combine all dry ingredients in a bowl. Add the eggs and quickly bring together to a loose dough. Divide into 3 pieces and roll out to the length of the baking tray you are using. You need a good bit of flour on the surface you are working on to prevent the dough from sticking. Bake for 12-15min on 220C. Cut into biscuits about 2cm thick. Put back into the oven and turn the heat down to 50C and let dry out(takes roughly an hour). Keep the biscotti in an air tight jar. Serve with tea or coffee, great for dunking.

Hazelnut and chocolate biscotti.

In Italy it is very common to be given a little biscotti with your cup of coffee and I love the idea. Something crunchy and sweet but simple enough. Here in Ireland, and in Sweden as well, we tend to make them a little bigger than those tiny nibbles the Italians serve us, so when I made these hazelnut and dark chocolate biscottis the other day I was generous on the size. It is so simple and they keep for very long in an airtight jar, so you always have something to offer when you get unexpected visitors.

220 grams plain flour

220 grams sugar

110 grams nuts

50 grams dark chocolate

2tsp baking powder

3 eggs

Chop nuts and chocolate roughly, mix with the dry ingredients. Add the eggs and mix until it forms a loose dough. Divide in two and make two sausage shaped rolls, put a tray with baking paper. Bake for 15-20min on 220C. Cut in 2cm wide slices, separate the biscotti and put on the tray with a little space in between. Let dry on 50C for about an hour. Serve with tea or coffee.

Pecan-pie

I love pecanpie! It is something special about that piecrust filled with gooey,sticky toffee mixed with crunchy pecans and a hint of cinnamon...yum yum!

This recipe is for one small sandwich tin but just do the double recipe if you want a large one. I have to say it is very sweet and filling though so maybe it is a good idea to start small...

Piecrust
25grams castersugar
50grams butter,at roomtemperature
75grams plain flour
1 eggyolk

Pecanfilling
100grams pecans
65grams butter
200grams golden syrup
125grams castersugar
1/4tsp salt
1tbsp plain flour
1/4tsp cinnamon(optional)
1 egg

Mix sugar and flour,gently rub in butter til it forms crumbles. Add the eggyolk and quickly mix in to a dough. Roll out and line the cake tin. Put in the fridge while making the filling. Prebake the piecrust for 10min on 160C.

Chop the pecans roughly and roast for about 10min on 150C.

Mix butter,syrup,sugar,cinnamon,salt and flour in a pot. Bring to the boil and let simmer for 3min while stirring. Set aside and cool down til roomtemperature.

Add the pecans and egg to the toffeemix.

Fill the piecrust and bake for 35-40min on 160C.

This should really be served with a dollop of whipped cream or even better with some vanilla icecream..but I just keep it in the fridge and have a small piece every now and then on its own.