Chocolate cake with raspberry and rose

I found this recipe on chocolate cake at isabellas.dk, where the use of raspberry, rose and yogurt in chocolate cake triggered by curiosity to try out this flavour combination. I already know, that my good friends in Horsens will start to get small tics, when they see the use of rose in cake !!! being afraid of a flavour overdose turning the entire cake into soap. This was not the case, the cake has a delicate flavour of rose, which brings something extra to this chocolate cake. So it is not the last time, that I will bake this chocolate cake.

I made a few modification to the original recipe in form of adding real chocolate instead of only cocoa powder into the cake dough. I used milk chocolate, but if you are bigger fan of dark chocolate, when use dark chocolate instead of.

Instead of Greek yogurt I used normal plain yogurt, as this was I had available in my refrigerator. So use the fermented milk product, which you have available.

Chocolate cake with raspberry and rose: - 1 cake

• 150 g wheat (cake flour)
• 2 tablespoons of cocoa powder
• 2½ teaspoon baking powder
• 1 pinch of salt
• 125 g sugar
• 125 g butter - soft
• 3 eggs
• 4 tablespoon of plain yogurt
• ½ teaspoon of vanilla sugar
• 2 teaspoon of rose flavouring or 1 tablespoon rose water
• 100 g chocolate - medium-fine chopped
• 100 g fresh raspberries
• icing sugar for dusting after baking
• fresh raspberries for decoration

1. Heat up the oven to 180'C.
2. Start by whipping the butter and sugar into a white foamy mass.
3. Add in the egg one by one, and whip the cake dough in between, so it becomes homogeneous before addition of the next egg.
4. Add flour, baking powder, cocoa powder and salt into cake dough, and stir until homogeneous. 
5. Add in the rose flavouring and yogurt, and stir until homogeneous.
6. Finally stir in the chocolate pieces.
7. Place the fresh raspberries in the bottom of a silicone form.
8. Pour the cake dough on top of the raspberries.
9. Bake the chocolate cake in the lower part of the oven at 180'C for 30-40 minutes.
10. Before removing the cake from the oven, check that the cake is baked entirely.
11. Let the cake cold down, before removing it from the form.
12. Place the cake on a serving plate.
13. Sprinkle the surface with icing sugar and decorate with fresh raspberries.
14. Enjoy :-)

Valentine scones with cranberry, raspberry and white chocolate

As more easy sweet treat (compared to Valentine Ice with cherry) for your Valentine you could bake these scones with cranberry, raspberry and white chocolate. As extra touch you can use a cutter in heart shape.

I have been using this recipe on cranberry - orange scones as starting point, while creating these Valentine scones. As a more indulgent Valentine Scone you could also try out these Valentine romance scones.

Valentine scones with cranberry, raspberry and white chocolate: 10-14 scones

• 350 g wheat flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 85 g sugar
• 85 g butter - diced into small pieces
• 30 dried cranberries - either whole or chopped
• 30 g white chocolate - medium chopped
• 2 tablespoons of dried raspberry
• 175 g plain yogurt - yogurt without addition of neither sugar or fruit
• egg wash

1. Heat the oven to 200'C.
2. Cover a baking tray with baking parchment. 
3. Mix the cranberries, raspberry and white chocolate together in a small mixing bowl.
4. Mix the flour, baking powder and sugar together in a mixing bowl.
5. Add in the butter pieces, rub in the butter using only your fingers, until the mixture looks like fine breadcrumbs.
6. Add in the cranberries, raspberry and white chocolate.
7. Make a hole in the mixture, where the yogurt is pour into. Knead the scone dough together, until it is soft.
8. Roll out the scone dough in a thickness of 2 cm.
9. Cut out the scones from the dough using a cutter. Do not twist the cutter, while doing this.
10. Turn the scone up side down, when it is placed on the baking tray.
11. Let the scones raise for 15-30 minutes prior to baking.
12. Before making, brush the the top of the scones with egg wash (only the top, as this affect the raising of the scone during baking).
13. Bake the scones at 200'C for 15 minutes, until golden.
14. Cold down prior to serving.

Valentine ice cream with cherry

As a more time consuming sweet treat for your Valentine you could make an indulgent ice cream full of white chocolate and cherry. Later on today I will share a more easy sweet treat in form Valentine scones with cranberry, raspberry and white chocolate.

I have been using this recipe on chai ice cream as starting point, while creating this Valentine ice cream.

Valentine ice with cherry:

• 630 g whole milk, 3-3.5% fat
• 39 g skimmed milk powder
• 96 g sugar
• 32 g glucose syrup as powder
• 6 g ice cream stabiliser
• 150 white chocolate  medium chopped
• 4 tablespoons Amarana cherry in syrup

1. Dry-mix all the powder ingredients. Pout them into the milk, as the milk is whipped.
2. Pour the milk base into the a cooking pot.
3. Heat the ice cream mix over medium heat until hot, but not boiling.
4. Add chopped white chocolate into a plastic container.
5. Pour the ice cream mix into this plastic container little by little, using the warm mixture to melt the white chocolate. After melting of the chocolate cover the plastic container with a lid.
6. Cool down the ice cream mix in the refrigerator, let the mix stand for minimum 4 hours or night over.
7. Whip the ice cream mix prior to freezing it.
8. Pour the mix into the ice cream machine and freeze it into ice cream, which takes around 30-40 minutes.
9. After freezing of the ice cream, stir in the cherry and it´s mixture.
10. Store the ice cream in the freezer.
11. Serve the ice cream with a cherry in syrup.

Suggestions for eatable Valentine treats

Tomorrow it is Valentine Day, so perhaps you would like to make something special for your very own Valentine ?

Anyway you can be very, very certain, that I have been creative again, so look around again tomorrow where I will be sharing some more Valentine ideas with you.

I have the following suggestions, if you were my Valentine.

Raspberry kiss

Valentine cream caramel as a little sweet treat



Valentine fudge

Valentine cookies with pomegranate kernels, white chocolate and rose extract.

Marzipan cake with raspberry and lime

Valentine Romance Scones baked in heart shaped form and full of butter, white chocolate and the wonderful Amarena Fabbri cherries

LOVE cupcakes full of yet some more amazing Amarena Fabbri cheeries.

My Valentine cocktail is sparkling tasty combination of rose extract, Cointreau, cranberry juice and sparkling wine for you celebrate your love with.

And as final suggestion thisValentine sparkling cocktail being sparkling wine with rose extract.

Shrovetide bun with raspberry filling

As buns for the Shrovetide celebration this year I used this recipe hindbær fastelavnsstang from Odense Marcipan with a few modifications.

Shrovetide bun with raspberry filling: - 12-14 buns

• 3 dl whole fat milk
• 25 g yeast
• 100 g sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 100 g butter - soft
• 1 teaspoon cardamon
• 500 g wheat flour
• 1 organic lemon - only the zest
• egg wash
• 5 dl dairy whipping cream, 30-40% fat
• 5 teaspoon sugar
• 1½ dl fresh raspberries

1. Add milk, salt, yeast, sugar, butter and wheat flour into the mixing bowl on a stand alone mixer.
2. Knead the dough together for 10 mintutes.
3. Rest the dough raise for 45-60 minutes
4. Divide the dough into two portion. Form each dough portion into the shape of a long bread.
5. Let the dough raise for another 40-60 minutes.
6. Heat up the oven to 200'C.
7. Glaze the dough with egg wash.
8. Bake the breads at 200'C for 20-25 minutes.
9. Cool down the bread.
10. Whip the dairy whipping cream and sugar into firm whipped cream.
11. Mash the fresh raspberries with a fork, and blend into the whipped cream.
12. Fill the raspberry filling into a pipping bag.
13. Slice the bread into slices of 3-6- cm. Cut each slice into two.
14. Fill raspberry filling on the bottom layer and place the upper layer on top of the raspberry filling.
15. Sprinkle the buns with icing serving.
16. Serve.

Shrovetide bun suggestion for Fastelavnssøndag tomorrow

shrovetide buns in Spring colour

Tomorrow it is Shrovetide Sunday (Fastelavnssøndag) here in Denmark. What does it mean ? It is the peak day for eating Shrovetide buns, until you can not stand the sight of these very rich and fatty buns for another year.

Shrovetide bun are connected with fasting, which starts 49 days before Easter. And when in the fast period you are not supposed to eat meat and wheat flour as well as not drink milk or alcohol. So before the fast started there was big parties, where you would indulge in these foods. Fastelavnssøndag (Shrovetide Sunday) and the following Monday were the last days, where you could eat meat. The following Tuesday was the last day of eating wheat flour, where wheat buns were baked and eaten. This White Tuesday is also known as Pandekagedagen (Pan Cake Day) again relating to the use of wheat flour in pan cakes.

The traditional Danish "fastelavns"/Shrovetide song is like this:

Fastelavn er mit navn                                             Shrovetide is my name

Boller vil jeg have                                                    Buns I would like to have

Hvis jeg ingen boller får                                          If I get no buns

Så laver jeg ballade                                                When I will make trouble

Boller op, boller ned                                               Buns up, buns down

Boller i min mave                                                   Buns in my tummy

Hvis jeg ingen boller får                                         If I get no buns

Så laver jeg ballade                                                When I will make trouble

If you have no clue, what kind of Shrovetide Bun to bake tomorrow, please look below for further inspiration.

Abd if you want to know that Shrovetide bun, which I am baking tomorrow, when visit my blog again tomorrow afternoon.

Shrovetide bun with caramel sauce

Shrovetide buns with liqourice



Shrovetide bun with cherry and marzipan



Shrovetide bun with raspberry and marzipan



Speculoos shrovetide bun



Shrovetide bun with marzipan cake filling



Shrovetide bun with marzipan filling