Sweet treats for the festive season!
Delight your guests with a luscious chocolate cake, or bake cookies with roses and pistachios — these beauties also make the perfect edible gift!
Swedish chocolate cake
Makes 1 cake.
• 200 g dark chocolate (70% cocoa content)
• 200 g / 1 ¾ sticks butter + more for greasing
• 4 eggs
• 180 g / 1 cup granulated sugar
• 160 g / 1 ⅓ cups plain (all-purpose) flour
• pinch of fine sea salt
To serve:
• icing (powdered) sugar
• lightly whipped cream or vanilla ice cream
1. Set the oven to 200°C / 400°F. Grease a 22–25 cm / 8–10" springform tin. Chop the chocolate into pieces.
2. In a saucepan or frying pan, melt the butter. When the butter has melted, add the chocolate. Stir until the chocolate has melted and you have a nice, smooth mixture.
3. In a medium-size bowl, mix the eggs and sugar until combined. Slowly, stir in the butter-chocolate mixture. Sift in the flour and add the salt. Mix until just combined.
4. Pour the batter into the greased tin. Bake on the lower rack for 15 to 20 minutes. The cake should be very gooey in the middle, so be careful not to overbake it.
5. Take the cake out of the oven and let cool to room temperature. Dust with icing (powdered) sugar and serve with lightly whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.
Rose pistachio shortbread cookies
Makes 2 to 3 sheets, depending on the size of your cookies.
• 45 g / ¼ cup shelled pistachios
• 300 g / 2 ½ cups plain (all-purpose) flour
• large pinch of fine sea salt
• 200 g / 1 ¾ sticks butter, at room temperature
• 100 g / ½ cup granulated (or caster) sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp vanilla paste or vanilla extract
• 1 tbsp rose water
• 1 tbsp dried rose petals
To garnish:
• dried rose petals
1. Roughly chop the pistachios. In a medium-size bowl, combine the flour and salt. Set aside.
2. With a standing mixer or an electric hand mixer, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg and mix until combined. Scrape down the bowl if necessary. Add the vanilla and rose water and mix. Add the flour and mix until just combined. Finally, fold in the rose petals and chopped pistachios. The dough will feel quite sticky, but resist the temptation to add more flour. Form the dough into a disk and wrap in cling film. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight.
3. Set the oven to 180°C / 350°F. Line 2 or 3 baking sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.
4. Remove the chilled dough from the fridge and lightly dust with flour. On a lightly dusted work surface, roll out the dough to about ½ cm / ¼" thick. Cut out the cookies using a cookie cutter of your choice and place them onto the prepared baking sheets leaving enough space in between. Should the dough get too warm, put it back in the fridge for a while, as it is easiest to work with a well-chilled dough. Sprinkle the cut cookies with rose petals.
5. Bake on the middle rack for 10 to 15 minutes or until the cookies start to get golden brown around the edges. Remove from the oven. Let the cookies cool on the sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack. Let cool completely before storing in a tin box or a jar.
RECIPES & PHOTOS: SINI KRAMER
This feature was first published in Laine issue 23.