Snickers Bar Cake

Chewy meringue with salty peanuts and Ritz crackers meeting a soft chocolate topping. This cake is as near as you can come a Snickers bar. Indulge your taste buds!


I am in love once again, this time with the Snickers Bar Cake! It has everything I am looking for in a sweet treat, and it is as near as you can come a Snickers bar really. It has the salty peanuts, the crunch from the crackers, the chewiness from the meringue and the lovely chocolate topping that pulls it all together into an amazing Snickers cake! I have read quite a few recipes on Snickers bars or Snickers cake on the net, but all of them call for dozens of ingredients you do not usually have available at home, like caramels, peanut butter, loads of chocolate and the list goes on. This recipe is straightforward, easy and not complicated at all. All you need is some peanuts, crackers, a little chocolate and the rest you have it in your cabinets. And if you do not have any Ritz crackers, I tell you, it is perfectly fine to use some fine crispbread or the like you have available, it will not change the taste or texture, but you may add a additional pinch of salt to over-weigh for the salty crackers.

I have made the Snickers cake quite a few times, but it has been a more luxury version with whipping cream in between the meringues and a slightly different recipe. I was using this recipe for the first time, which is developed by the Norwegian chef, Tom Victor Gausdal. I do not know if this version or the whipping cream version of Snickers cake is Norwegian invention or not, but I do not seem to find it in any other country on a Google search, so I am assuming it is Norwegian.

It is amazing how this Snickers cake tastes just like a Snickers bar! I could not stop myself from eating, first one piece, then a second, then a third.. I think I ate half of the cake! And mom was asking today, "where did the Snickers cake go?", hehe!
This Snickers cake is really good the same day you make it, but I promise you, it is even better the next day, all the flavors have enhanced and the meringue becomes a bit softer. So I strongly recommend to let it set overnight in the refrigerator even though how difficult it might be to keep you finger from the cake!

Love Snickers? Then put on your apron and get started!

Makes about 30 - 35 pieces

I n g r e d i e n t s

Meringue Bottom

125 g peanuts, salted
100 g ritz crackers or any other crackers
3 egg whites
2,5 dl sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla powder


Chocolate Topping

3 egg yolks
0,5 dl whipping cream
50 g sugar
50 g butter
50 g chocolate

Pre-heat the oven at 170 C and prepare a baking tray or a spring form, about 26 cm with greased baking paper

1. Crush the crackers and chop the peanuts roughly (not too much) and have them in a bowl, set aside

2. Have the egg whites in a clean large bowl

3. Whisk the egg whites until they forms stiff peaks

4. Add sugar little by little and beat until the egg whites forms a meringue

3. Fold in the crushed and chopped crackers and peanuts in the meringue

4. Add baking powder and vanilla sugar, mix to combine

5. Spread the meringue on prepared baking tray or baking tin

Bake in the bottom of a pre-heated moderately hot oven at 170 C for about 18 - 25 minutes or until it is firm to the touch

Let cool, remove the baking paper by turning the meringue upside down while still lukewarm (if it is difficult to remove the baking paper, brush lightly with cold water, wait a few minutes and it will come off easily)

Meanwhile, prepare the Chocolate Topping

1. In a small sauce pan, combine together egg yolks, whipping cream and sugar

2. Heat it up and let boil over medium heat until it thickens stirring constantly, remove from heat

3. Add butter and chocolate and stir until it becomes even and smooth

4. Cool down (it will thicken a little more)

Spread the cooled chocolate cream evenly on the cooled meringue, sprinkle with some chopped peanuts and let cool in the refrigerator preferably overnight or at least for a few hours to let cake set

Decadent Snickers Bar Cake!

Get in love.. and

feel the Snickersness..

Mmmmmmm!!

Mom's Cinnamon & Fruit Rolls And Raisin Buns

Soft, fluffy and full of love. It is hard to beat mom's amazing buns which will literally melt in your mouth like fluff and want you crave for more and more and more..


My mom has been a great inspiration since my childhood when it comes to baking. I have, after all, inherited it from her. She does rarely bake anything now since I am the head baker at home, but on rare occasions she can actually combine ingredients into amazing stuff. No matter how good I am at baking, and how lovely yeasted buns I make, I think it takes a lot to beat my mom's buns. Because my mom bakes amazing buns; fluffy, soft and full of love! Just how they are meant to be. I have at times been speechless at how wonderfully soft her buns turns out, like magic in her hands. Imagine biting into fluff..

My mom has a big heart. When she first is making something, it has to be a lot! I end up at time arguing with her about the quantity of food and baking she makes, but I guess it is just that after all she is a mom and want the food to be sufficient. So when mom is baking buns, there are enough for the whole neighbor hood, so next time just drop in for some homemade freshly hot out of the oven buns, made with love! Ask me, there is little that can compare with that!

So these buns are baked by mom, some filled with cinnamon filling, some with candied fruits and some with raisins. They are equally good all of them. I am giving the whole recipe, which will make a lot of buns, but when you first are making them you might as well bake many, they would not last very long anyway. Ah, I am really craving for some fresh buns now..

Makes about 40-45 buns

I n g r e d i e n t s

150 g butter
5 dl milk
50 g yeast, fresh
1/2 tsp salt
1-1 1/2 dl sugar
1 1/2 tsp cardamom seeds, crushed
or (2 tsp cardamom powder)
ca 13 dl all purpose flour


Filling 1

50 g butter, softened
1/2 dl sugar
1 tsp cinnamon, ground

1. Have the softened butter, sugar and ground cinnamon in a bowl and beat until it becomes smooth and creamy


Filling 2

50 g butter, softened
1/2 dl sugar
25 g marzipan, grated
40 g candied fruits
1. Have the softened butter and sugar in a bowl and beat until it becomes smooth and creamy


Filling 3

50 g raisins


Garnish

1 egg, beaten
pearl sugar
almonds, chopped


1. Melt the butter in a large bowl, add milk and heat up until it reaches 37 C (lukewarm)
2. Have little of the butter and milk mixture in a small bowl, crumble and dissolve the yeast and pour it back in the
large bowl with egg and milk mixture
3. Add salt, sugar, ground cardamom and about 2/3 parts (8 dl) of the flour (I find it better to add the flour little by little to blend it well)
4. Work the dough till it becomes shiny and smooth
5. Add more flour (keeping 1-2 dl aside for rolling)
6. Knead until the dough comes away from the edges of the bowl
7. Sprinkle a little flour on the top, cover with plastic or a cloth

Let the dough raise on a draft-free place for about 1 hour or until doubled in size

8. Work the dough a little in the bowl
9. Pull it out on a lightly floured surface and knead in rest of the flour (remaining 1 dl), the dough is ready when it comes
off the surface and hands
10. Divide the dough in three equal parts and roll two of the pieces, each to a rectangular, about 30 x 40 cm
11. Spread filling 1 on one of the rectangular dough, sprinkle some more ground cinnamon and roll it up from the width  and cut in 3-4 cm thick pieces
12. Spread filling 2 on the other rectangle, sprinkle with grated marzipan and candied fruits, roll it up from the width and cut in 3-4 cm thick pieces
12. Place them on a greased or baking sheet prepared tray or in cupcake cases and cover with a cloth
13. Knead in raisins in the third piece of the dough, divide in about 10-12  pieces and roll them up to smooth balls, place on a greased or baking sheet prepared tray and cover with a cloth

Let them raise on a draft-free place for about 1 hour or until doubled in size

Brush with beaten egg, sprinkle the cinnamon rolls with pearl sugar and chopped almonds

Bake in the middle of a pre-heated hot oven at 200 C for about 8 - 10 minutes or until light golden in color


Cinnamon rolls and candied fruit rolls

Fresh from the oven..

with a glass of cold milk

Eat your way to dreamland!

Spinach & Gouda Quiche

Savory pie with spinach and onion, topped with tomatoes, black olives and gouda cheese. A wonderful combination of flavors that goes well with a dollop of Turkish yoghurt!


I rarely cook for dinner, or at all. Cooking is just not me, not that I can not cook at all, but I like to try new and exciting dishes from all over the world (which I think I am alone to fancy at home). However, my sister has requested about a quiche or a savory pie a while ago since she really wanted to have it for dinner. So as she was coming over at our place today she asked us to make it for dinner. And since quiche is more of a baking than cooking, I was really up for it. This is my first attempt on a quiche ever, and I am so much pleased with the result. The quiche or pie turned out amazing. Actually my sister ended up eating half of the quiche!! The sautéd spinach and onion filling stood well to the egg mixture and pie crust topped with the rich gouda cheese and black olives. And it is so easy to prepare.

What else? I have been making these amazing yummilicous best-ever browned butter brownies for the third time today within a week I think! I think I am addicted to these. Dangerous, I tell you, so it is better to stay on the safe side and refrain from making them. I am finally done with the exam and the results will be up this week, I am a little nervous. But I am not finished yet, more exams and presentations coming up this month.

The weather outside is just lovely! All snow is gone and it is so mild and nicely windy in the day time, and it is just the beginning of March, but I am hoping the weather will last because I am loving it. Enjoy the weather where ever you are and enjoy this lovely savory pie alone or with good company! By the way, I am completely aware of that this is meant to be a baking blog for sweet goodies, but once in a while it is nice to share a really good recipe for some savory stuff also, of course baked only!

Here comes the recipe which is taken from Tine (in Norwegian)


I n g r e d i e n t s


Pie Crust

125 g butter, cubed
3 dl all purpose flour
2-3 tbsp water


Filling

250 g spinach, fresh or frozen
1 onion, diced
25 g butter

3-4 eggs
2,5 dl milk
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
100 g tomatoes, sundried or fresh
50 g olives
150 g gouda cheese, grated (or any other cheese)

Pre-heat the oven at 200 C and grease an around baking tin or pie pan, about 26 cm

1. Have the flour in a large bowl and mix in the butter until it form crumbles or use a food processor
2. Add the water and mix until the dough just comes together
3. Roll the dough a little larger than the tin size and press it down in the prepared tin, covering the sides
about 5 cm above all the way around
4. Prick with a fork (you can add beans if you want, but it is fine without too)

Bake in the middle of a hot oven at 200 C for about 15 minutes

Meanwhile, prepare the filling

1. Heat the butter in a pan
2. Add spinach and finely diced onion
3. Sauté for about 5-10 minutes over medium heat until the onions become blank and tender
4. Remove from the heat and set aside
5. In a medium sized bowl whisk together eggs, milk, salt and pepper
6. Spread the spinach filling evenly on the pre-baked pie crust

7. Pour over the egg mixture

8. Add cut tomatoes and olives
9. Sprinkle over grated cheese

Bake in the bottom shelf in a hot oven at 200 C for about 40 minutes or until golden brown

Let cool a little, serve lukewarm with turkish yoghurt and a good salad

A piece of spinach & gouda quiche

Looking like a pizza..

Lovely flavors!

I love spinach <3

Salted Browned Butter Brownies

Decadent chewy gooey browned butter brownies. The ultimate combination of sweet and salt creates love at first bite. The best brownies so far in my record!


I do not think I need to repeat my love for brownies, but I have to say I am truly in love with these salted browned butter brownies. I have always thought that my recipe for American brownies is the best; until now. Actually my recipe is really good, and it is still in my favorites, it is just that this new recipe is now my new top favorite brownies recipe. It has all the things I could ask for in a brownie; the gooeyness, the chewiness, the intense cocoa flavor and of course the salty taste combined with the sweet chocolate. I hitted this recipe at my work, I often google up cakes and other baked goodies to look at in between, and I found a blog; Catalystcupcakes which seemed interesting, I scrolled a little down and there they was; "Browned Butter Brownies". Usually I am not very open to try new brownies recipes as I have been very much satisfied with the one I have, but this time it had a few things added which seemed quite interesting, such as coffee powder and the method was also different. Beside that the good words from the blogger praising the brownies made me note down the recipe. And yes, I was really excited to try these out!



I am not really fond of trying out brownies recipes which calls for chocolate, mainly because that is an ingredient which is not always available so I love recipes that only calls for cocoa powder. And that may be one of the reasons this recipe attracted me so much. I explored that coffee powder actually is a super ingredients which enhances the chocolate flavor and combines into a delicious flavor which is difficult to describe. It is like it kind of tame and balance the overpowering cocoa flavor bringing out the best. Beside that, it has the browned butter instead of regular melted butter. Browned butter adds an caramellish and nutty flavor which combines so amazingly with the salty taste. I used extra salted butter, and it is very important that you use salted butter or the flavors wont come out right. Before Christmas holiday I made brownies using my regular recipe and I always lick the bowl and this time the batter was just tasting plain and watery. I was really surprised and thought something was wrong with my taste buds as the so flavorful and delicious brownie batter was tasting nothing! And the baked brownies did not taste any better (bland!) and I was really clueless of the reason as I made them exactly as I always do. Then, I came to find out that mom had bought unsalted butter by a mistake!!? Oh my goodness, it is actually first then I got to know the importance of salt in food and baked stuff. I have never used unsalted butter in my baking, I love the salted butter. Salt really enhances the flavors, so do not even try to bake brownies without salted butter ever, or if you do not have it available, make sure you put enough salt in the batter!

Baking aside, I am having exam in less than three days and what I am actually doing is to sit here and blogging about yummlicious brownies! I guess I have to rest the baking for a few days now until I have finished my exam and give myself another amazing browned butter brownies treat after the exam is done! What say? And guess what, all the snow has melted completely, the weather is so amazing.. almost feels like spring is around the corner!

Makes about 20 pieces

I n g r e d i e n t s

141 g butter, salted
281 g sugar
3 tbsp cocoa powder
1 tsp coffee powder, instant
1/4 tsp salt
2 tbsp water
1 tsp vanilla essence
2 eggs
60 g allpurpose flour
40-50 g fruit and nuts of choice, optional

Preheat the oven to 160 C / 325 F and grease an square tin, about 20 x 20 cm

1. In a small bowl, have sugar, cocoa powder, salt and coffee powder, whisk until combined
2. In another bowl have the eggs, water and vanilla essence, whisk together and set aside
3. In a medium sized sauce pan, melt the butter over medium heat
4. When the butter start skimming, stir the butter carefully for about 2-4 minutes until the butter starts forming brown bits at the bottom
5. Remove from heat
6. Have the dry ingredients (sugar and cocoa mixture) in the browned butter and stir until combined (the mixture will look muddy)
7. Let cool for about 5 minutes
8. Have half of the egg mixture in the butter mixture and mix together quickly until well combined using a hand whisk
9. Have rest of the egg mixture and stir until well blended (Batter is supposed to be thick and smooth)
10. Add the flour and stir vigorously (20 strokes), scrape down the sides, combine the batter (the batter will be thick and slowly become more even)
11. Again, stir vigorously for another 20 times, scrape down the sides, combine the batter (batter is now supposed to be shiny and smooth)
12. Stir vigorously for a last time, again 20 times (total 60 strokes), scrape down the sides, combine the batter
13. Add chopped nuts and fruits and pour the batter into the prepared tin

Bake in a moderately hot oven at 160 C / 325 F for about 30-40 minutes till a pin pierced comes out almost clean (small crumbs on the pin, but not runny batter!)

Let cool completely (at least 1 hour) before you cut the brownies into pieces!

I am in love.. with these brownies <3

Salted butter combined with salted peanuts is indescribably amazing!

Chewy and gooey brownies.. makes great company to vanilla ice cream and chocolate sauce

Makes me crave for some right now!