Strawberry Cake / Erdbeertorte

Happy June!!

I’ve had a hard time deciding on what kind of cake I would like for my birthday! There are so many I like…lol. In the end I choose to make a traditional European strawberry cake, similar to what you could find in a bakery.

It turned out pretty lovely and delicious! I was especially proud to have made it, because I’ve been having a lot of shoulder pain and numbness in my arm and hand, which makes everyday tasks very difficult, not to mention doing something that involves even more time. And writing down the recipe just had to wait a little.

I had a wonderful birthday!

 

The recipe is adapted from Kuchenfeelisa.de and Betty Bossi

 

Strawberry Cake / Erdbeertorte

• 80 g sugar or honey
• 4 egg yolks
• 1 lemon, only zest
• 4 egg whites
• pinch of salt
• big pinch of baking powder
• 2 tbsp sugar or honey
• 100 g all-purpose unbleached flour
• 40 g melted

-Line the bottom of a 24 cm spring form with parchment paper. Grease and flour the sides. Preheat the oven to 350F/180C.

-Mix together the sugar, egg yolks and lemon zest until creamy.

-Whisk egg whites with the salt and baking powder until stiff peaks form. Add 2 tbsp of sugar and whisk a little more.

-Add the flour alternately with the egg whites, a little at the time and gently fold under the egg yolk mixture. Mix in the melted butter and fill into prepared form.

-Bake for about 15 minutes or until golden brown.

-Let cool completely.

Vanilla Creme

• 125 g sugar or honey
• 3 egg yolks
• 1 egg
• 60 g all-purpose unbleached flour
• 500 ml milk or plant milk like cashew or coconut milk
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

-In a bowl mix together the sugar, egg yolks and egg, add the flour and mix well.

-In a saucepan bring the milk to a boil. Remove from heat. Add the vanilla.

-Add a few tablespoons of the hot milk to the flour/egg mix and stir well, repeat that 2 times.

-Then add the flour/egg/milk mix to the milk in the saucepan. Keep stirring and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, keep stirring until nice and creamy. Remove from heat. Let cool for a few minutes.

– Add the still warm creme onto the cake. Arrange strawberries onto the cake, I cut them in half to lay onto the creme. Then add the rest of the whole strawberries evenly. This will be a few layers of strawberries.

-Prepare cake glaze according to packing instruction and pour onto strawberries. Use about 100 ml less water to make a thicker glaze.  Leave some to brush on the top strawberries to make it look extra shiny. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

-Remove the spring form side, maybe using a knife first to loosen it from the form first.

-Brush warmed jelly around the side, then cover with the toasted almonds.

-Decorate with some pistachios or flowers if desired.

-Keep refrigerated.

Extras

• 1 kg small or medium strawberries, washed and hulled.
• 50 g strawberry jelly, warmed
• 200 g sliced almonds, lightly toasted
• Tortenguss, cake glaze (you can find it in a European deli)
• a few finely chopped pistachios or some flowers for decorating

 

 

 

Enjoy!

Ursula

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Haselnusstorte / Hazelnut Cake

Hello everyone! It was my husbands birthday yesterday and this Hazelnut cake was his birthday cake wish. The recipe is adapted from my 1982 Betty Bossi book, my usual go to for European style cakes. It has a rich hazelnut flavor, a little bit of rum, no butter and only a tiny bit of flour. The only heavy part of the cake is the whipped cream, I really like it, but have to admit I do not tolerate cream that well, I ended up having a stomach ache. That is why I mostly eat dairy free, I don’t seem to have a problem with butter and eat only once in a while some cheese…I used to eat a lot of cheese before!

My husband loved it! It is really delicious!

I’ve been busy looking after my son, he has been sick with a high fever since Sunday. Poor guy, he was only able to eat a tiny slice of the cake.

Prepare the cake at least 1 day ahead before cutting and adding the filling. I made the cake refined sugar free, feel free to use regular sugar. The recipe is only for 2 layers. I ended up baking another half of the recipe, you could also just double the recipe. I drizzled the bottom 2 layers with a little bit more rum before spreading the whipped cream.

 

Haselnusstorte/Hazelnut Cake

Ingredients:

• 220 g coconut sugar
• 6 egg yolks
• 1 tbsp rum
• 6 egg whites
• 1 pinch of salt
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 2 tbsp honey
• 300 g ground hazelnuts
• 1 tbsp all-purpose unbleached flour

-Line a 24 cm Springform pan with parchment paper, grease and flour the sides. Preheat oven to 180C.

-Whisk together egg yolks and sugar, add rum.

-Whip egg whites with the salt and baking powder until stiff peaks form. Add the honey and continue to whip for a little longer.

-Mix hazelnuts and flour, add to the egg yolk mix, alternating with egg whites, a little at the time, and gently fold under with a spatula. Pour into prepared form.

-Bake in preheated 180C for 20 minutes then reduce heat to 150C and bake for about 40 minutes, or toothpick inserted into middle comes out clean. Let cool completely. Let rest for 1-3 days before cutting and filling.

Filling:  

• 200 ml 35% cream
• 3 tbsp ground hazelnuts
• 3 tbsp honey

-Whip cream until stiff peaks form, add the hazelnuts and honey, mix well. Fill and decorate cake as desired.

-Store in refrigerator.

 

 

Wishing you all a lovely week!

Enjoy!

Ursula

 

Follow me on Instagram: littleswisslittlecanadian

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Almond Coconut Birthday Cake

Happy weekend everyone!! This was a very special week for us; we celebrated our daughters 18th Birthday! I have to admit this comes with some mixed feelings and maybe a few secret tears:) Yes my babies are growing up, making me think back to when they were little, time goes by so fast indeed, but now I have a grown up daughter, and I am very proud of the young lady she’s become!

We share a love for all things coconut, usually my kids let me know what kind of cake they would like to have on their birthday, but this year they were both asking for a surprise:) I’ve made her a almond coconut cake with raw Raffaello truffles, you could of course use the real Raffaello truffles. I’ve made the cake refined-sugar free; almond coconut sponge filled with coconut whipped cream, so simple but so delicious!

If you love coconut you’ll love this cake!!

 

Almond Coconut (Raffaello) Cake

Almond Coconut Sponge

• 6 large eggs, room temperature
• pinch of salt
• 1 cup honey or sugar
• 1/2 cup almonds, ground
• 1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
• 1 cup all-purpose unbleached flour
• 1 tsp almond extract
• 500 ml whipping cream, 35%, chilled
• 1 tsp vanilla sugar
• 1/4 cup honey or icing sugar
• 1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
• 1 cup canned coconut milk
• 8 or more Ferrero Raffaello truffles, optional
• lightly toasted shredded coconut, optional

-Grease and line a bottom and sides of a 9-inch (23 cm) pan with parchment paper. Preheat oven to 340F/170C.

-Separate egg whites from yolks. Add a pinch of salt to the whites and start mixing until foamy. Gradually add honey or sugar and continue whipping until stiff peaks form.

-Mix egg yolks with almond extract and fold into the whipped whites.

-Mix together ground almonds, coconut and flour then gradually and carefully incorporate into the whites.

-Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake for 40-45 minutes, until golden brown. Let cool for about 10-15 minutes. Remove from pan and cool completely on a rack.

For the whipped cream frosting:

-In a large bowl mix the whipping cream and the vanilla sugar. Whip until lightly/almost stiff then gradually add the honey or icing sugar, as sweet as you like it, continue whipping until stiff peaks form. Fold in the shredded coconut.

Assemble the cake:

-Divide the sponge cake into 3 layers. Place one layer on a serving plate. Spread 1/3 cup coconut milk over the cake. Spread evenly with a bit less then a third of the whipped cream. Top with second cake layer and repeat. Add the third layer of cake. Cover the top and sides of the cake with whipped cream, leaving it like that or get creative with piping rosettes and so on. Decorate with Raffaello truffles and toasted coconut. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

 

Tip: You could get fancy and drizzle some coconut liquor (Malibu) over the sponge layers:)

 

 

Happy 18th Birthday!

Enjoy!

Ursula

 

Follow me on Instagram: littleswisslittlecanadian

 

 

 

 

 

 

Peach-Crumble-Cake/ Pfirsich-Streuselkuchen

Here is another Streusel cake I’ve made. You can find my Apple-Crumb-Cake here: Apple-Crumb-Cake/ Apfelstreuselkuchen. With all the amazing summer fruits and berries in season now, we just had to have another Streuselkuchen:) This time I used peaches and it was so good. It is not quit the same recipe as the Apple-Crumb-Cake, I think it was even better:)

My kids are having their long summer vacation now, that means we have more time to do things together like baking! These are some of the things my daughter and I’ve created so far;)

Maple-Almond-Buns

Giant Cinnamon Bun Cake

Strawberry-Banana-Pops

 

 

My Peach-Crumble-Cake/Pfirsich-Streuselkuchen

 

Peach-Crumble-Cake

Ingredients:

• 3 eggs
• 120 g honey
• 2 pk vanilla sugar or 2 tbsp vanilla extract
• 100 g butter, soft
• 250 g unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 pinch salt
• about 600 g peach slices

Streusel:

• 250 g unbleached all-purpose flour
• 120 g honey
• 150 g butter, soft
• 1 pk vanilla sugar or 1 tbsp vanilla extract

-Line a 9×13-inch (23x32cm) baking dish with parchment paper.

-Preheat oven to 350F/180C.

-Cream together eggs, honey, vanilla sugar and butter. Mix together flour, baking powder and salt. Add to wet ingredients, mix well.

-For the Streusel: mix flour, honey, butter and vanilla sugar until crumbly.

-Fill batter into prepared baking dish. Top with peach slices and then cover with the Streusel.

-Bake for 25-30 minutes.

Tip: I’ve used frozen peaches from last summer, just left them to thaw a bit.

 

Enjoy!

Ursula

 

 

You can find me on Instagram: @littleswisslittlecanadian

 

Strawberry-Coconut-Cake

June is usually the month when we get the first Ontario Strawberries, depending on where you live of course. We also have some plants in our garden, which are full of flowers this year, and I’ve seen some green unripe berries. I can’t wait to taste the first berries:)

June is also the month of my birthday:) June 2nd. I’ve made this amazing tasting strawberry coconut cake. Imagine coconut cake with a creamy mascarpone filling and strawberry puree! It is perfect for the month of strawberries;) or as other summer fruits come along I am sure it would taste great with cherries or other berries and so on.

Our strawberry plants.

 

Strawberry-Coconut-Cake/Erdbeer-Kokos-Torte

Coconut cake:

• 3 eggs
• pinch of salt
• 100 coconut sugar, or sugar
• 75 g flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 40 g coconut, shredded unsweetened
• 30 g butter, melted

-Preheat oven to 350F/180C. Line the bottom of a 22 cm round Springform baking pan with parchment paper.

-Mix eggs, salt and coconut sugar well for a few minutes. Mix flour and baking powder and sift it into the bowl with the egg mixture. Gently mix. Add coconut and melted butter only until combined. Pour into prepared baking pan. Bake for about 30 minutes or until tester inserted in middle comes out clean. Let cool completely.

Strawberry layer:

• 1/2 organic lemon, zest and juice
• 250 g strawberries
• 2 tbsp cornstarch
• 3 tbsp water

-Puree strawberries, lemon juice and zest. Mix together well cornstarch and water, add to strawberry puree. Over medium heat bring puree to a boil, and let cook for about 3 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool down, then put in fridge.

Coconut Mascarpone Cream:

• 500 g mascarpone
• 150 ml coconut cream
• 100 ml honey, plus 2 tbsp
• 350 ml whipped cream
• 1 packet vanilla sugar
• 2 pouches unflavored gelatin
• 75 g coconut, shredded unsweetened

-Mix together mascarpone, coconut cream and honey, add shredded coconut. Prepare gelatin as directed. Add a few tablespoons of the mascarpone cream to the gelatin and mix, then add it to the rest of the cream. Whip whipping cream until stiff, add 2 tbsp honey or sugar, whisk again then fold gently under the mascarpone cream. Cover and leave in fridge until cake has completely cooled down.

Extras and Decoration: 

• Coconut liquor, Rum, Kirsch Schnapps…(optional, leave out if you have little kids eating)
• 100 ml whipped cream
• 250 g strawberries

-Place cake on a plate or cake stand. Drizzle some liquor on top. Place and close cake ring back around the cake. Spoon some of the strawberry puree into middle leaving a 2 cm space around. Cover with 2/3 of the mascarpone cream, spread evenly. Mix rest of puree with remaining mascarpone cream. Spoon onto cake then gently swirl, not going to deep until you have a desired look, kind of like a marbled look. Let set in refrigerator overnight.

-Carefully remove cake ring. I used a hot knive to go around first, to loosen it a bit.

-Decorate with whipped cream, strawberries and some shredded coconut if desired, to your liking:)

–you can use regular sugar to replace the coconut sugar and the honey–

 

Recipe by Ursula, A little Swiss a little Canadian

 

 

 

I wish you all a great weekend! Happy long weekend for those in Europe (Pfingsten)!

Enjoy!

Ursula

 

 

You can find me on Instagram @littleswisslittlecanadian