Hazelnut Berry Muffins with White Chocolate Frosting

 

 

Hey guys!

I'm really sorry for not posting for so long, I've just been over my head in school work... Our nice teachers decided that the 2-3 weeks before our break have to be filled with tests... And not just an easy one, that you only have to study 15 minutes for and you get a good mark, o no! They decided that everyone of the tests should be long and about multiple chapters....

 

Yeah, I don't really love them right now...

I do really love these muffins! (Yeah, smooth and subtle change of topic, I know)
I first made them a year ago, for Easter, and I loved them right away. They are delicious. They have the sweetness and a bit of tartness from the raspberries, a subtle hazelnut flavour and a sweet, smooth white chocolate frosting on top.
You should try them yourselves!


Hazelnut Berry Muffins with White Chocolate Frosting
from Cadbury
Ingredients
125g Cadbury White Chocolate Melts
250g Philadelphia Block Cream Cheese, chopped and softened
125g butter, softened
¾ cup caster sugar
2 eggs, lightly beaten
Finely grated rind of 1 orange
2 tablespoons orange juice
½ cup flour
½ cup SR flour
½ cup ground hazelnuts
150g frozen raspberries
Extra raspberries for decoration, if desired

Combine the chocolate and half the philly and stir over simmering water until chocolate has melted. Chill until firm enough to spread.
Beat the remaining half of the philly, butter and sugar with an electric mixer until smooth. Gradually add the eggs, beating well between each addition. Fold through the lemon rind and sifted flours alternately with the juice, then stir through the hazelnuts and raspberries until combined.
Spoon into 12 x 1/3 cup capacity patty paper lined muffin pans. Bake in a moderate oven 180°C for 25-30 minutes or until cooked when tested. Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes before turning out of pan to cool completely. Spread with the prepared frosting and decorate with extra berries if desired

Italian Easter Breads

Yes, I know that I should have posted about this recipe before Easter, but well.... I didn't. :)

So I'm just gonna post about it now. That way you can make it for next year's Easter or just when you are in a let's-make-sweet-white-breads-braided-into-a-circle-covered-in-sprinkles-with-a-painted egg-in-the-middle-mood, or something...

I do really think you have to make these, now or next year. They were the showstealers on my Easter brunch, everyone loved them! They look very colorful and beautiful, and my aunt asked me if I bought them at a bakery! That totally made my day, ofcourse. :)

The bread itself is a sweet, white bread, that tasted delicious with a bit of jam.

Apart from all that, I really liked making these! I don't make a lot of bread, but I really liked to make these, kneading the dough, letting it rise (okay, maybe that was a little less fun)... But after all, I fell in love with these fun, colorful breads. Try them for yourself!

Italian Easter Bread
from The Italian Dish
1.25 cups milk
pinch of salt
1/3 cup butter
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup sugar
3.5 cups flour (approximate)
1 egg, beaten with 1 teaspoon of water
6 dyed Easter eggs
sprinkles or pearlized sugar
3.5 cups flour (approximate)
1 egg, beaten with 1 teaspoon of water
6 dyed Easter eggs
sprinkles or pearlized sugar



Instructions:* tip:  the Easter eggs do not need to be hard boiled.  They cook when the bread bakes.  I usually just dye the eggs uncooked, without hardboiling them.  Saves time.  Just be careful they don't crack!
In a small saucepan, warm the milk and butter together, just till butter melts.    In a large mixer bowl, combine yeast, salt, eggs and sugar.  Add the warm (not hot - it will kill the yeast) milk and butter. Add about half the flour and beat until smooth with dough hook.   Slowly add the remaining flour to form a stiff dough.  Don't worry about how much flour it ends up being, just keep adding until the dough is not sticky anymore.  Knead until smooth with either dough hook attachment or turn out on floured board and knead.  Place in a greased bowl, cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about an hour.Punch dough down, divide into 12 pieces.  Roll each piece to form a 1 inch thick rope about 14 inches long and, taking two pieces, twist to form a "braid", pinching the ends,  and loop into a circle.
Place on two baking sheets lined with parchment paper or Silpats.  Cover and let rise until double, about an hour again.  Brush each  bread with beaten egg wash.  Put on the sprinkles or sugar.   In the middle of each bread ring, gently place an Easter egg, making an indentation with the egg.
Bake at 350 degrees until golden - about 20 minutes.  Cool on rack.
You can eat the eggs, but if you leave the bread sitting out for a few hours, don't eat them.  Common sense.

Easter Brunch

I hope you all had a great easter!

 

 

I certainly had! On Easter Sunday, we had a brunch with our niece and aunt. This was what the table looked like... It was stuffed with all kind of (sweet) stuff! I had made everything. The most things I made on Saturday, but the cookies I made on Friday (to make sure I had something to eat while making all the other things :D ) and the scones I made on Sunday morning.

 

 

On le internet (yeah, putting le before a word totally makes it French), I found these super cute easter tags that I put on top of my cupcakes and sweet rolls. You can download them here  (for next year probably :D ) and I forgot where I downloaded the other happy easter tags..... Sorry!

Here´s what I made:
-Cranberry and dark chocolate sweet rolls
-Cranberry, almond and orange zest crusty bread
-Raspberry hazelnut cupcakes with white chocolate cream cheese frosting
-Easter M&M cookies, egg shaped
-Chocolate chip cookies in het shape of an egg (just press an egg shape cookie cutter in the cookies when they get out of the oven)
-Blueberry oatmeal bread
-Summer berry yoghurt tart
-Scones
-Italian easter bread

Well, that´s it I guess. Ofcourse it was way to much for a brunch, but whatevah... The next day we had a high tea, so we just took any leftovers with us, and I made a speckled egg cake (picture + recipe coming soon) And we do like to eat! So everything is now gone. :)

 I will now share the recipe for the Blueberry Oatmeal Bread with you, the rest of the recipes will follow soon.
This bread/cake was delicious! I really loved it. And it's even some kind of healty-ish-ish!! It's one of my favorites. It was somewhere between a cake and a bread, and just out of the oven with a bit of butter..... Hmmm.... Really amazing.
Try for yourself!


Blueberry Oatmeal Bread
From Go Bold With Butter
Makes one loaf

Ingredients:
1 cup blueberries
2 cups flour, plus 1 tablespoon
1 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup Greek yogurt
2 eggs
½ cup (1 stick) butter, melted and cooled slightly
1 teaspoon vanilla
½ cup oats

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375°F. Line a 9×5-inch loaf pan with parchment paper or lightly butter and dust with flour.
In a small bowl, toss blueberries with 1 tablespoon flour to keep blueberries from sinking. In a large bowl, whisk 2 cups flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. In a separate bowl, mix yogurt, eggs, melted butter and vanilla together and then fold into the dry ingredients. Add the blueberries and oats and gently combine.
Scrape the mixture to loaf pan. It will be thick and a little sticky. Bake for 50-55 minutes and golden brown and when a toothpick inserted into the bread comes out clean. Remove from oven and cool in the pan for 5 minutes then cool on a wire rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.


Notes:
-I was able to make one big loaf and one small one, that we immediately ate when it came out of the oven!
-It's the best just out of the oven with a bit of butter.