Cinnamon Sugar Donuts

Recipe base here. This was not the actual link I used, however I remember the one I did use say that Ina Garten was the delightful culprit, and it does look similar to what I remember.

Cinnamon is one of my preferred spices... in bread, however I find it rather banal in cakes and confectionery.

Trying to transport my memory back to that point in time, I remember that the donuts stuck to the pan more so than when I made the VanVan ones. Perhaps because of the temperature difference, perhaps because of the batter itself. 

They truly were beautiful

Anyhoo, any little bumps, cuts and bruises were cleverly disguised by the cinnamon sugar coating. I wanted to indulge my lazier side and just coat one side, but then decided that would be half-arsed, so coated both sides.

I was making these the same day as I was making Choco Donuts, so wasn't thrilled by the prospect of immediately cleaning donut tins - which is surprisingly tricky - so that they were ready for next use. For that reason, I made two trays' worth (12 donuts), and made muffins out of the remaining batter. Whilst the batter is not offensive when baked in muffin form, I find it a bit tougher than I would like, so this is purely a last resort.

Once I am certain of whether I will stay in Sweden, I will decide whether to invest in two more tins, as this will better suit the quantities I must make.

Available at Samara's Baked Goods

White Chocolate Snickerdoodle Blondies

Recipe base here

I've tried this recipe twice and whilst it has a lot of potential on flavour, I officially give up with this one as the appearance of the complete bake is not so appetising. It's something to do with the pan size (on a basic level) or the ratios (on a more complicated level). From the attempts I have made, I would say that it is the pan dimensions that are not quite working for me. This is especially ironic as the author makes a point of giving advice on varying pan sizes.

This was pretty much good to eat.
If you want to leave this world happy.

As the recipe is quite a pricey one to make here in Sweden, I feel it would be more fiscally responsible to my good self to find a better recipe base and apply these flavours rather than making this many, many times.

This was Attempt #1. I had messed up on the baking soda and
powder components on this one, but on the next one it was
perfectly measured and it still happened 

If you don't mind the appearance, you must make this. The flavour is well worth it!

A flattering picture

Brown Butter Salted Caramel Snickerdoodles

Recipe base from The Recipe Critic (LINK).

This recipe was sent to me by a colleague who I misguidedly believed was actually going to make them himself. After two or so weeks, I realised that the expectation was for me to bake them. So with some misgivings, I did.

'Why the misgivings?', I hear you cry, or more likely not. Well, firstly, I have never even heard of a snickerdoodle*, let alone know what one is meant to taste like. Secondly, the recipe involves Cream of Tartar (not commonly available as far as I know in Sweden), as well as caramel squares (after looking at the pictures, I think this is what I as a Brit, would refer to as fudge). Thirdly it requires browned butter, and after the last recipe that required this (see Triple Chocolate Merlot Bundt Cake), I was sceptical about going through the process for what I viewed as very little reward. Do Americans habitually brown butter for their baking?? I have only used it for one recipe, in which its unique flavour is key, and therefore is worth the trouble.

There! My three reasons for not doing them. I ploughed on, as once a recipe has piqued my interest, it will keep tickling my brain until I try it.

*I have since found out that a snickerdoodle is a biscuit (US cookie) rolled in cinnamon and sugar prior to baking.

Alterations to/Notes for recipe:
I had grand ideas of making my own fudge (yeah, right), so settled on that awful 'pick 'n' mix' fudge instead. I bought around 300g, which was more than enough for two batches. Upon reflection, I would get a better quality, or at least, softer fudge that would melt more readily to get the desired effect.
I used freshly ground salt that was at home - I do not think it was sea salt, however it seemed a smidgeon better than table salt.
All purpose flour is self-raising flour (not plain as I thought it would be) - 313g*
Butter - 227g
Dark Brown Sugar - used dark brown muscovado sugar - 250g
Granulated Sugar - 100g
Greek yoghurt - replaced with filmjölk (closer to buttermilk)
Cream of Tartar - replaced with white wine vinegar, added to the egg, egg yolk, filmjölk and vanilla extract
The batter was very soft when it came together, therefore was very easy to combine - I love recipes that require the butter to be soft (melted rather than browned).

First batch:
I refrigerated the batter for around an hour, and it was still very pliable and easy to handle.
I had cut the fudge into very small pieces, so used two or three pieces within the ball of dough.
After the first tray with six biscuits, that spread more than I expected, I reduced the number of biscuits per tray to four.
I think I made 20 biscuits, baking at 170°C for 9 minutes per tray.

Second batch:
Batter was refrigerated for around 6 hours, so was a lot stiffer. I would disregard the note to chill the batter overnight, as it would be impossible to work with.
Learning from the first batch, I cut the fudge lengthways into halves or thirds so that rather than using three cube-like pieces, I would use one or two slab-like pieces.
Four to a tray again, I made 21 biscuits, baking at 170°C for 9 minutes per tray.
Consistency next day, and day after that was still pleasantly chewy.
The browned butter definitely made a positive addition to this recipe.
I felt the 'rolling' sugar and cinnamon could have been reduced to 40g and 1.5 teaspoons respectively.

I may make these again, however I found them exceedingly sweet even with the contrasting salt sprinkling, so will not be rushing to make them again.

*correction! All purpose flour is plain flour. Not sure which information led me astray before!

Banana and Cinnamon Muffins

Recipe base from Hummingbird Bakery book.

Using Pyrex cupcake tin (only good kind I could find in Stockholm so far), the recipe yielded 24 cupcakes. The recipe was meant to make 12 muffins, however this is with a larger size cup, so I was expecting 18, and was pleased to get to 24 cakes that filled their cases.

I did not mash the bananas too thoroughly, so cakes took around 26-29 minutes to cook thoroughly. I ran out of filmjölk (Swedish substitute for butter milk), so topped up with whole milk (approximately 2:1). First batter, I accidentally put the vanilla extract in with the dry ingredients, rather than the buttermilk-egg mixture, however I do not feel that it had an adverse effect on the results.

I mixed the caster sugar and ground cinnamon together (approximately 4:1) in a little bowl for an even topping. I preferred the cakes that had the topping put on just before baking as opposed to the ones that were topped and had to wait before their bake.

Ran out of cupcake cases, so made two mini loaf-lets, using 'free standing' cardboard cases. The cases were over full (perhaps 1 cm left after the batter went in), and consequently the cakes spread into a more comical rotund shape. Next time I use such cases, I will place them in a baking tin to prevent the spreading effect.

Loaf check @ 35 minutes - still far too moist, however the colour is good, so placed foil caps over them to prevent burning

Loaf check @ 45 minutes - still too moist. Returned to oven inside cake tins (along with foil caps), to give a bit more support

Loaf check @ 55 minutes - too moist

Loaf check @ 65 minutes - one loaf seems ready, the other is still not completely set. Returned both to the oven with tins and caps for 7 minutes

Loaf check @ 72 minutes - oops! Forgot to put the timer on. The skewer is not coming out completely clean, however I think that is down to the banana, plus I am tired, so I am taking it out. It will have to do. Will cool over night, and wrap in foil to take to work for fika tomorrow. It will be eaten either way!

The loaves were a disaster. There is far too much banana in there to bake properly in this format.

Muffin rating #1: 9/10
Loaf rating #1: 0/10