BIMU Bakes: Stuffed Apples

I know you're probably thinking stuffed apples are a thing of autumn or winter.  When the leaves are changing colour and falling and everything is so crisp.

Guess what folks? I live in Finland.
That means it's April 25, 2017 as I write this (and I started this a week ago...) and it was snowing this past Easter weekend (not enough to stick around but still!) and it was a hot and balmy -7*C this morning when I went to take the A-Man to daycare (a week ago...).

So in short?  Warm, delicious desserts are welcome - all.  Year.  Round.

I ended up doing Easter dinner on the Easter Monday instead of the traditional Sunday.  Not to be cool but I was fighting a small cold all Sunday - which meant I got to sleep (and therefor drool) most of the day away.

With regards to the kids - they each got an egg and naturally, fought about each other's eggs, toy inside the egg and jelly beans etc.

So for Easter dinner - I decided to skip the lamb - as it was just our family celebrating this year and save some money.
I dug around the freezer and guess what? I had a bag of frozen game stew meat.
Our meal couldn't be more Finnish if I tried.

I cheat and use my bread machine for the dough-making process.
I also should have made cuts BEFORE letting it rice again...oops.
And here's the recipe!

A freshly baked loaf of Italian bread with mashed potatoes, slow cooked game stew and lingon berry sauce was our Easter dinner.  Naturally, that means none of the kids ate this...except V-Man.  He devoured the lingon berry sauce and the other two loved the bread.

Onto the baked apple though!

Pre-heat your oven to 200*C (400*F).
Wash and core almost all the way to the bottom - your choice of apples.  I used Granny Smith.  Using a sharp knife - cut a bigger circle and a tablespoon to scrape out the sides a bit so you have a good sized pocket to fill it with.

In a separate bowl - microwave butter until melted.  Add a cup of oats, some brown sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg.  Actual amount - I can't say because I just winged it and only made 2 stuffed baked apples...
Mix well.  Spoon generously into apples and flatten with the spoon.
Drizzle honey on top if you like.

Bake in a dish filled with a bit of water for 15-20 minutes.

Serve it up warm with vanilla ice-cream and more honey!  Or maple syrup!
Actually, I used some Ben and Jerry's cinnamon bun ice-cream and it was even better than your typical old fashioned vanilla ice-cream!

You can also add chopped or crushed nuts and raisins with the oatmeal mixture - it'll still be amazing and lovely.

What I really loved about this recipe is that it means portions.  It means I can't get all crazy and eat tons and tons of these apples in one go!
Disclaimer: the extra filling is another story...

Enjoy!
BIMU

PS If you're curious what a more traditional Finnish Easter dessert is - look no further than mämmi.  Yes it looks like a distant relative of what'll come out of your body after eating too much...no need to point it out any more because Finns know it.

Finns either love it or hate it. There is no in between.  And there's usually a ton of sugar and vanilla sauce (similar to custard) to be dumped onto it to make it edible...bearable to look at even.

Then there's these...Mignon - a Finnish solid chocolate egg...made in an actual egg shell.  For realsies.  I recall there was a year where they were sold out...so I panic every year and make sure to buy myself one just in case.

Where can you get such chickens to produce these god-like desserts?

Finland - the land of Moomins, quietness, saunas, poop-like desserts and chicken pooping solid chocolate eggs.

NY Resolution Recipe #13: Apple Strudel

I'm in cooking school and recently we had a "German Day" - of which I was ridiculously excited to learn how to make home-made sausages.
But seeing as I don't have a sausage-making machine or a meat grinder - this post isn't about that unfortunately!
What I do have - is things to make apple strudel!  And you probably do too.
I've changed this from the school recipe which I found a bit bland with only boiling apples with a cinnamon stick - by mixing in the cinnamon and nutmeg after draining them.

What you need:

• 3-4 Large apples peeled/cored and chopped small (I used golden delicious since they were on sale)
• Cinnamon stick
• Cinnamon and nutmeg
• Brown sugar
• Filo pastry/puff pastry 4 sheets thawed
• Melted butter
• Optional:
• Slivered almonds or chopped peanuts
• Dark chocolate shaved
• Raisins
• Caramel sauce

What to do:

1. Boil your apples with the cinnamon stick until tender - about 15 minutes.
2. Drain water, discard cinnamon stick and pre-heat oven to 200*C (400*F).
3. Stir in cinnamon, nutmeg and brown sugar to your taste.
4. Lie out 1 sheet of filo carefully (it tears easily) and keep the rest of the sheets covered so it doesn't dry out.  Brush with melted butter and add the next sheet - adding melted butter between each layer.

Lay apple filling a couple inches wide along the edge - but give yourself an inch or two from the actual edge (see first photo).

Add on top your chocolate/nuts and/or raisins.

Fold in sides carefully (all 4 layers).
Brush butter along the folded edges.

Slowly roll it upwards - be careful of the center not ripping.
Brush butter while rolling because then it prevents it from drying out while baking. Brush butter generously on top.
Sprinkle extra nuts on top if you want!  

Bake in a 200*C/400*F oven for 15-20 minutes until golden brown.

Slice and serve warm with vanilla ice-cream and caramel sauce!

Next post will have the caramel sauce recipe! :)
Sorry I'm falling behind on these - but I AM sticking to my resolution and making something new every week! And not just in school :).

Since my husband can't eat nuts - I made him a separate strudel and didn't top it with nuts so that way we could distinguish the two strudels.

This could be made with other fruits I'm sure - just make sure they're well drained so the pastry is easier to roll and less likely to break on you from being soggy!

Enjoy,

BIMU

PS Originally posted here.

New Year's Resolution Recipe #5: Jelly Roll Cake

One thing I learned in school this past week was how to make jelly roll cakes.
They're so easy - too easy.

So I tried to make my own at home using home-made jam and chocolate sauce (couldn't find my dark chocolate bar for shaving) and I baked it a smidge too long!
So it isn't rolled up as nicely.  But it still tasted lovely!

At home - yeah it was threatening to break so I just flattened it because it wasn't flexible enough to roll properly or tightly.

School version - much more roll-y looking!

I got positive reviews of my piping skills of the whipped cream at school (photo below) until I started to run out of whipped cream and some pieces had too much cream.
"This isn't America D! We use a lot less cream!" she chastised me.
Naturally, having American friends over on Friday called for "American-style" whip cream.

At school all pretty.

So how easy is this?

Pre-heat your oven to 225*C

• 4 eggs
• 2 dl of sugar

Beat these with an electric mixer!  I used just a whisk and it wasn't beat well enough and I found the cake to be a smidge heavy.

Sift:

• 1 dl of potato flour
• 1 dl of all-purpose flour

Fold it into the wet ingredients and mix well (not with mixer with a spatula) and then pour into a baking-paper lined baking tray and bake for 5-8 minutes.

I try to aim for 7 but apparently nearly hit 10 with the one I made on Friday!

Remove from oven and have a second baking paper sheet on your surface sprinkled in sugar, powdered sugar, cocoa powder or whatever you want your cake dusted with on the outside.

Flip cake onto the 2nd sheet and slowly peel off the paper backing.

Spread a thin and even layer of filling all over the cake (but don't go over the edges!) - whether it be:

• jam
• Nutella
• marmalade
• whipped cream etc.

Carefully roll the cake horizontally from one side to the other and tightly as possible without breaking the cake.

Wrap tightly in baking paper and chill in the fridge until you're ready to serve it - then slice it up and enjoy!

This is a fantastic cake for your next handicraft meeting, book club meeting or little tea party!  It's dairy-free (unless you put the whipped cream or chocolate) - which will make your local lactose-intolerant/dairy-allergic friends very happy I'm sure.

I wish they weren't so easy to make!  Really I do.
BIMU

Originally posted on 2 Hookers 2 Kitchens.  Recipe from Kokkiprokkis - my school book in Finnish.