Friday, May 31, 2013

A new love

My neighbors got a new kitten last November, a beautiful Maine Coon, fluffy, loving, gentle, outgoing and I enticed him to friendship already. His mom and dad  were a white cat and a gray tabby, I have to smile when I look at him. The cutest are his two white cheeks in the gray tabby head.  He comes over to me to be petted and cooed at and has dedicated his first summer to exploring his new neighborhood. At the moment he goes by “The Kitten”.

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He still thinks he can be invisible by laying low in the lawn.

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Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Grandma’s marbled Bundt cake


Grandma’s Bundt Cake
recipe for a small loaf form or a small bundt cake
  • 150 gr sugar with a packet of Dr Oetker Vanille Sugar
  • 150 gr soft unsalted butter
  • 3 eggs
  • 90 g light cream
  • pinch of salt
  • 180 g all-purpose flour
  • 1 1/2 ts backing powder
  • 100 g dark chocolate (or chocolate chips)
  • 20 g mini chocolate chips (separate)
Preparation
  1. Spray Bundt cake form or loaf form with baking spray. Preheat oven to 350F.
  2. With a hand or stand mixer mix the butter and sugar and the vanille sugar until sugar is dissolved.
  3. Add one egg at a time, and mix well.
  4. Add light cream and salt, and mix well.
  5. Mix flour and backing powder, and carefully add to the dough. Now, separate the dough into 2 bowls.
  6. Melt the chocolate in the microwave in a microwave-safe dish. To avoid burning the chocolate, microwave in 30 second intervals and mix the chocolate in-between. Should be melted in 2-3min. Mix the melted chocolate and the chocolate chips to one half of the dough.
  7. Place some of the white dough first in the cake form. Add the chocolate dough, and finish with a layer of white dough. Draw a fork through the dough layer to get the marbeling.
  8. Bake cake for 50 minutes at 350F. 
  9. Remove cake from oven, rest for 10min and then remove and cool.
  10. Add powdered sugar before serving.
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Layering the chocolate and white dough.
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Fluffy, light perfection!