Pecan Cake / Nusstorte

We’ve been having winter like weather here in Ontario, with lots of snow and cold temperatures.  It’s snowing as I’m writing this blog post and there is a snow squall warning in effect.

I made this Pecan Cake for my son’s 17th Birthday. The original recipe uses Hazelnuts but my son really likes Pecan nuts, so I used these instead. It was delicious with a simple whipped cream filling and a few maple caramelized pecans to finish it up.

Pecan Cake / Nusstorte

• 220 g coconut sugar
• 6 egg yolks
• 2 tbsp rum
• 6 egg whites
• 1 pinch salt
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 2 tbsp honey
• 300 g ground pecans
• 1 tbsp spelt flour

-Grease and flour two 9-inch baking forms.

-Whisk together the coconut sugar, egg yolks and the rum.

-In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites with the salt and baking powder until stiff peaks form. Add the honey and whisk until combined.

-Mix together the flour and pecan nuts then gently with the egg whites, a little at a time, stir/fold under the egg yolk mix until well combined.

-Fill into prepared baking forms and bake in preheated  350 F oven for 20 minutes then change temperatures to 300 F and finish bake for another 40 minutes or until tester inserted into centre of cakes come out clean.

-Let cool completely.

For the filling: 300 ml 35% cream, 2 tbsp honey

-Whisk the cream until stiff peaks form, add the honey and whisk until combined.

-Fill and decorate as desired, I also used some maple caramelized pecan halves to decorate which was really delicious. You can easily make it yourself. Combine maple syrup and pecan halves in a small saucepan and let simmer until caramelized.

Have a wonderful week!

Enjoy!

Ursula 

 

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littleswisslittlecanadian

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Plum Tart / Zwetschgenwaehe

Love this time of the year with all the peaches, plums and fresh apples locally available. I’ve felt like making a traditional Swiss Plum Tart. Simple way of using any kind of fruits. Flaky, buttery crust, plums, cinnamon and I added a small Canadian touch by using maple syrup-simply delicious!

 

 

Plum Tart / Zwetschgenwaehe

Crust:

• 150 g white spelt flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 75 g butter, cold, cut into small pieces
• 3 – 4 tbsp cold water

Filling:

• 2 tbsp ground hazelnut or almonds
• 8 – 9 plums / Zwetschgen, cut into 1/4
• 100 ml cream
• 1 egg
• 3 tbsp maple syrup
• 1 tsp cinnamon

 

-In a  medium bowl add the flour and salt. Mix in the butter with your hands until  small crumbs form, add 3 tbs of water, mix until well combined, adding more water if needed. Do not knead to long. Refrigerate for 30 min.

-Grease and flour a 26 cm tart or pie form. Preheat oven to 375 F (convection setting).

-Roll out dough and fit into prepared tart form. Sprinkle evenly with the ground nuts.

-Whisk together the cream, egg, maple syrup and cinnamon.

-Arrange plums and top with the cream.

-Bake in preheated oven for about 30 min.

-Dust with some icing sugar, can be served with whipped cream.

 

 

Simply delicious!

Enjoy!

Ursula

 

You can find me on Instagram: littleswisslittlecanadian

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pumpkin Spice Babka

This is just a simple sweet yeastbread filled with pumpkin and spices and glazed generously with spiced maple syrup. I just love the smell and taste of this. I usually make babkas (Nussstriezel) filled with ground hazelnuts or almonds, I was surprised how good it was with a pumpkin filling.

Nothing complicated for the filling, just pumpkin puree sweetened with coconut sugar, spiced it up with cinnamon and pumpkin spice mix. For the dough I used my sweet yeastbread recipe that you can find here: Almond Croissants just changed the flour ingredients to 200 g unbleached all-purpose flour and 100 g spelt flour and spiced it up a bit by adding 1 tsp vanilla extract and 1 tsp cinnamon:)

 

 

Pumpkin Spice Babka

Dough:

• Almond Croissants
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 tsp cinnamon

 

Pumpkin Spice filling:

• 200 g pumpkin puree, (not pumpkin pie filling)
• 3 tbsp coconut sugar
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice mix

Spiced Maple Syrup Glaze

• 3 tbsp maple syrup
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice mix

-Prepare dough in advance, it needs at least 1 hour to rise. In the meanwhile prepare your pumpkin filling by mixing together pumpkin puree, coconut sugar and spices.

-Whisk together maple syrup, cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice mix, set aside.

-Line a loaf pan or a baking sheet with parchment paper

-When doubled in size, roll out dough into a rectangular shape. Then spread pumpkin filling evenly all over. Start rolling dough up from the longest side, like you would for a cinnamon bun and gently pinch ends together. Cut log lengthwise in half so filling is exposed, pinch one end. Twist both pieces, pinch the other end to secure.

-Place in prepared loaf pan or baking sheet. Cover and let rise for another 30 minutes.

-Bake in preheated 350F/180C oven for 40 minutes.

-About 25 minute into baking brush some of the syrup onto babka. Bake until golden brown. Remove from stove and brush with remaining syrup. Let cool before cutting.

 

–Make sure your spice mixes are not old, it looses its flavor over time.–

 

Wishing everyone a happy weekend and to all my Canadian friends a happy Thanksgiving!

Enjoy!

Ursula

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Plum Rose Tarts with an Almond Shortbread Crust

Happy weekend everyone!

Fall has finally arrived! It’s been crazy hot lately, which made it kind of harder to think of fall baking:) I’ve found some beautiful local plums and like every year turned them into some kind of dessert(s). Our annual favorite happens to be a Zwetschgen-Streusel Cake (Plum-Crumble-Cake). I took the recipe from my Peach-Crumble-Cake/ Pfirsich-Streuselkuchen just used plums instead of peaches, so delicious!

Instead of using apples to make roses I thought I give it a try with plums. It was a little tricky because the plums were very soft, you definitely need some patience;), in the end I was happy, it worked out beautifully!

Baked in a yummy almond shortbread crust

 

Plum Tarts with an Almond Shortbread Crust

Yields: 4 small tarts

Almond Shortbread Crust

• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• 1 cup all-purpose unbleached flour
• 1/2 cup almonds, finely ground
• 1 tsp almond extract
• 1/4 cup honey
• pinch of salt
• 1 lg egg yolk

-In a small bowl, with a whisk, mix together butter, honey almond extract and egg yolk. Add flour, almonds and salt. Mix until well combined. Wrap dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1/2 hour.

-Start with cutting about 5 plums into very thin slices, once you assemble the roses you see if you might need more.

-Preheat oven to 375F. Grease 4 small tart forms.

-Take dough out of refrigerator and let it sit for a few minutes, otherwise it is very hard to roll out. Then roll out and cut to fit into each form, prick crust with a fork and place again in refrigerator for a few minutes.

-Assemble roses by starting on the outside working toward the center.

-I used a simple milk, egg, honey and cinnamon filling from my Peach Tart , I only used a little bit in each tart.

-Bake in preheated 375F oven for 10 minutes then reduce heat to 350F, for another 10-15 minutes, bake until golden brown and liquid is set. Cover with tin foil if crust is golden brown but liquid is not set. Let cool before taking out of forms.

 

In memory of my late father-in-law who passed away one year ago.

 

Ursula

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Apple & Plum Crumble Bites

Now that the kids are back to school I really like to have some healthier treats on hand. The weekend is perfect to take some time and prepare all sorts of snacks, like cookies, muffins or these apple or plum crumble bites. The apple bites are from last week. We bought our first local apples for this season and there are still plums available. Even though the weather has been exceptionally warm, you can already see the first sings of fall. But for now I am enjoying these beautiful warm temperatures:)

 

 

Apple Crumble

Plum Crumble

 

Apple or Plum Crumble Bites

Yields: 12

Crumbs:

• 3 cups oat flour
• 3/4 cup spelt flour
• 3/4 cup coconut oil, melted
• 1/2 cup maple syrup
• dash of sea salt
• 1 tsp cinnamon

Apple Filling:

• 5 small apples, peeled and cut into small thin pieces
• 1/4  cup honey
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tbsp lemon juice

 

-Preheat oven to 350F/180C. Grease a muffin tin or line with paper liners.

-For the apple filling combine all ingredients and set aside.

-In a medium bowl mix together the oat flour, spelt flour, salt and cinnamon, then add the coconut oil and maple syrup, stir until well combined.

-Fill muffin tins with about 1-2 tbsp of crumb mix, pressing down to cover bottom. Add about 1 tbsp of apple or plum filling, then cover the fruit with crumb mix, gently pressing down a bit.

-Bake in oven for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool completely. Store in a airtight container in the refrigerator for 1 week.

–The recipe is only intended to make either the apple or plum bites, double only the crumb mix ingredients if you like to make both.–

Plum Filling:

• 2 large plums cut into small pieces
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon

 

–I just use regular oats and grind them into flour. Measure after grinding.–

 

 

Have a great weekend!

Enjoy!

Ursula

 

 

You can find me on Instagram: @littleswisslittlecanadian

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pumpkin-Chocolate-Muffins

Living in the Country is just so beautiful! I love seeing all the animals and be able to spend a lot of time in my garden. It is just so relaxing. Besides my beloved flowers I have a large herb garden, different berries, two apple trees and our vegetable garden. Growing your own fruit and vegetables is very rewarding and healthy and good exercise;)

 

Pumpkins are a good source of vitamins like beta-carotene and contain lots of minerals. I really like muffins and I just had to try this recipe out. Years ago I received this little recipe book from my niece who lives in Quebec. It contains recipes from class mates at her school. I am using coconut oil instead of vegetable oil, less sugar and part whole wheat flour. Delicious!

 

Pumpkin-Chocolate-Muffins

• 4               eggs
• 1cup        pure cane sugar
• 2cups      pumpkin puree
• 1 1/2cup  coconut oil
• 1 1/2cup  whole wheat flour
• 1 1/2cup  unbleached white flour
• 2tsp         baking soda
• 2tsp         baking powder
• 1tsp          cinnamon
• 1tsp          sea salt
• 2cups       dark chocolate(chopped) or semi-sweet chocolate chips

 

-In a large bowl, beat eggs and sugar. Add coconut oil and pumpkin puree, mix until smooth.

-Combine whole wheat and white flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon and salt.

-Add to pumpkin mixture and mix well. Fold in chocolate chips.

-Fill greased or paper-lined muffin cups 3/4 full.

-Bake at 350F/180C for 15-20 minutes or until tester inserted in center comes out clean.

-Yield:24

Happy baking!