Kürtőskalács /Chimney cake -Daring Bakers

Kürtőskalács /Chimney cake -Daring Bakers


The August Daring Bakers challenge took us for a spin! Swathi of Zesty South Indian Kitchen taught us to make rolled pastries inspired by Kurtoskalacs, a traditional Hungarian wedding pastry. These tasty yeasted delights gave us lots to celebrate!

Kürtős Kalács or Chimney Cakes were originally baked over hot coals by Hungarians residing in Transylvania, Romania. Kürtőskalács is made from sweet, yeast dough of which a strip is spun and then wrapped around a truncated cone–shaped baking spit, and rolled in granulated sugar. It is baked above charcoal cinders while lubricated with melted butter, until its surface gets a golden-brown color. During the baking process the sugar stuck on kürtőskalács becomes caramel and forms shiny, crispy crust on the cake. The surface of cake can then be provided with additional toppings such as ground walnut or cinnamon powder.

Thanks Swathy for this challenge as this was something new for me to learn. The Chimney Cake is delicious with caramelized sugar on the surface and soft inside.

Kürtőskalács /Chimney cake

Ingredients

For the dough:
240 gm            plain flour
2¼ tsp            active dry yeast 

30 gms            sugar
1/8 tsp            salt
1 large egg,     room temperature
45 gms           melted butter
120 ml            milk, lukewarm temperature

Add active dry yeast to lukewarm milk with half a tsp of sugar and set aside for 5-10 minutes until it becomes foamy
.

In a large bowl combine, flour, sugar and salt. To this add egg, milk, melted butter, and yeast.

Stir the mixture until it comes together to form a dough, and then knead for about five minutes.

Transfer to a well greased container. Allow the dough to rise for 60 minutes at room temperature until doubled in volume.

Prepare the rolling pins by covering them with aluminum foil.

Punch down the dough and divide into 4 equal parts.

On a well floured surface spread one portion of the dough shape into 1/6 inch thick square-shaped sheet .

Using a pizza cutter cut the dough into a long ribbons of about 1/2 inch  wide.

Wrap one end of the dough strip around the spit/rolling pin, tucking in the end so the dough doesn’t unwind.

Roll the whole thing slightly on the counter top to flatten it/press it together.

Brush with melted butter and roll in sugar.

Place in roasting pan and bake in a preheated oven 190⁰C for 25 minutes.

Pao De Queijo- Daring Bakers

This month's Daring Bakers' Challenge took us on a trip to beautiful Brazil! Renata of "Testado, Provado & Aprovado!" taught us how to make Pao De Queijo, tasty cheese buns that make the perfect snack or treat, and that will make your taste buds samba!

Pão de Queijo ( Pão = Bread; Queijo = Cheese) is a non-yeast bread, made with tapioca starch. It dates back to the eighteenth century but it became popular in the 1950's in Minas Gerais (a state of Brazil). 

Pão de Queijo is very popular in Brazil as a snack or breakfast food.They are crispy outside but soft and chewy inside and mild cheesy flavor.

Thanks Renata for truly an enjoyable experience as these cheese buns are super easy to make and something which you would make repeatedly. An excellent option as a gluten free snack.

QUICK PÃO DE QUEIJO

Makes 24 muffin cups 

 

Ingredients: 

 

2                  large eggs 

150 ml          whole milk 

60 gm           butter

1 tsp            salt  

50 gm          parmesan cheese,grated 

250 gm        tapioca starch

 

Directions: 

 

Preheat the oven to 200°C.

Place all ingredients, in a  blender except tapioca starch and blend for a minute or so. 

With the blender still running,add the tapioca flour by the spoonfuls. 

Once all the starch is  added the batter should be smooth, turn off the blender. 

Pour the batter into  silicone cups and bake it for 30 minutes or until puffed up and lightly browned. 

Serve warm.

NOTE:  Extra milk may be required to make tapioca starch smooth.

Hot Milk Sponge Cake with Coffee Mascarpone and Coffee Caviar

I never laugh until I've had my coffee- Clark Gable

I get excited like a little kid whenever I come across a recipe which is so versatile,easy and relatively low cal .Then the recipe is definitely for keeps.And I do have such recipes in my repertoire like Strawberry Streusel cake and One bowl Chocolate Cake.


Apparently this recipe has been around since a long time where hot milk is used to make the batter light and fluffy and the butter used is bare minimum. Its a everyday basic sponge cake recipe and can be easily turned into a fancy cake or a dessert .

I realized I had hardly done any posts on coffee based cakes or desserts.And coffee happens to be my fav!So this cake was  served with Coffee Mascarpone cheese and topped with Coffee Caviar.

Molecular cooking is quite fascinating and has attracted many professionals and foodies alike.Coffee Caviar is made using the method of spherification, a process where liquid is turned into a pearl or caviar.It was introduced by Ferran Adria .This method is a simplified or non molecular version of coffee caviar .

Hot Milk Sponge Cake Recipe

Adapted from here 

2           eggs at room temperature
1 cup      flour 

1 tsp      baking powder
1 Tbsp    butter
1/2 cup   hot milk
1 cup      sugar

1 tsp      vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 180 C.

Grease well an  8 in  bundt pan with butter with upward strokes and dust it with flour.

Heat milk till it starts steaming. Turn off the heat and add butter.

Beat eggs with an electric mixer at medium speed. Gradually add sugar and continue to beat till light and frothy. It takes about 8-10 minutes .

In a bowl, sift together the flour and  baking powder.

Turn the mixer down to low and add the sifted dry ingredients .Mix just until the dry ingredients are incorporated into the egg batter. Add the scalded milk and butter mixture. Mix on low speed until the batter is smooth, scraping down the sides and bottom of the bowl. Add the vanilla extract and continue mixing on low just until its incorporated into the batter. 

Pour the batter into prepared cake pan and bake for 30 minutes or until done.

Coffee Mascarpone

150 gms     Mascarpone cheese

150 ml       chilled cream 

75 gms      caster sugar

2 tsp         instant coffee

1 tbsp       water

• Stir coffee and  water in large bowl until coffee dissolves . Add cream, mascarpone and  sugar. Beat until the cream is thick and smooth. 
• 
  

• Coffee caviar

• Inspired from my fav blog 
• 2-3  cups vegetable oil

  4 tsp  powdered gelatin 

  3 tbsp cold water

  100 ml  hot coffee

  Ice

  1/4 cup salt for water bath
• Place oil in a steel bowl and store in refrigerator overnight. The oil must be very cold for the gelatin to set properly.In a medium bowl mix the gelatin and water until thoroughly combined and no lumps of gelatin remain. Let stand while the hot liquid is prepared.
• Pour coffee over set gelatin mixture and stir until gelatin is melted. Once its melted transfer liquid to a squeeze bottle or you can leave the mixture in the bowl and use a medicine dropper.
• It should be just barely warm - almost room temperature.
• Prepare the ice bath. Make sure the bowl you are using for the ice bath is larger than the container holding the oil.  Fill bowl with ice and then add water until the bowl is two-thirds filled. Add 1/4 cup salt and stir until mixed.  Rest the container of oil inside the water bath.
• Begin dropping gelatin mixture into the cold oil, 1-3 drips at a time. The amount of drips will vary according to the viscosity of the oil and type of dropper used. The mixture forms a ball that rests on the surface for a moment then sinks to the bottom.  
• When half the  mixture has been used, wait for 3-5 minutes then scoop the caviar into a mesh sieve to drain.Place caviar in an air-tight container .Resume dropping the gelatin mixture into the cold oil until all of the mixture is used.