It has been absolute madness over in my world for the last couple of weeks.
What with losing half the photos from my blog and spending hours slowly inserting them back into their posts, I’ve also been sick. Like have no voice, have to write things down in order to communicate kind of sick.
On top of all that, I’m also frantically trying to get everything ready for a trip to Europe I’m going on in three days. Yes, THREE days.
And I haven’t even started packing yet. That in itself, is giving me anxiety (because I am the most crazy organised person only ever and have a list for everything. Everything.).
I’m working right up until the day we fly out, regardless of the fact that I’m sick, because I’m going away for over three weeks and heck, my pastry section at work needs to be fully prepped. Like, they hired a walk-in-freezer for me to fill before I go kind of prepped.
I’m not even joking. Can you feel the madness yet?
Thank God I’m going on a holiday.
I will attempt to update le blog while I’m away, but definitely get following on Instagram for photos of the beautiful places we visit and all the delicious food we’ll be eating (I already have a list for that! Yeah!).
If anyone has any must-dos and must-eats for London, Amsterdam, Vienna or Prague please do let me know! I would love some insider tips.
In the meantime, I’m sharing a recipe for my version of a traditional Polish cake! It’s traditionally called miodowiec, and my aunt makes this for me when I go to Poland because she knows it’s my absolute favourite. This particular version was one I made for Mr Man’s birthday recently.
If you follow this blog, you’ll be well aware that he loves anything “chocolatey with a biscuity crunch”. And this is exactly that, a refrigerator cake made with layers of handmade biscuits and chocolate hazelnut buttercream, that all gets topped off with a chocolate hazelnut ganache. X
- FOR THE BISCUITS:
- 500g plain flour
- 200g unsalted butter, softened
- 150g caster sugar
- 100g (3 tbsp) honey
- 2 eggs
- pinch salt
- FOR THE NUTELLA BUTTERCREAM:
- 250g unsalted butter, softened
- 1 litre milk (4 cups)
- 6 tbsp semolina
- ½ cup sugar
- 2 tsp vanilla
- 1 tsp salt
- 280g Nutella (1 cup)
- FOR THE GANACHE:
- 60g Nutella
- 60g dark chocolate, chopped
- 60g cream
- ½ cup chopped, roasted skinless hazelnuts
- Preheat the oven to 180 C (350 F) and line as many round trays as you have with baking paper (you’ll need 8 in total but can always rotate them).
- To make the biscuit dough, knead all the ingredients together by hand, in a food processor or in an electric mixer.
- Divide the dough into 8 equal parts. On a floured surface, roll out each ball of dough into a very thin round, until it is the size of a dinner plate. Place a dinner plate upside down on top of the rolled out dough and trim around it to remove the excess.
- Place the rolled rounds of dough onto the baking trays and bake for 7 – 8 minutes until golden. Set aside to cool.
- Meanwhile, make the buttercream. Boil the milk, semolina, sugar, vanilla and salt together until thick.
- Place in a heatproof bowl and cover with plastic wrap directly on the surface. Refrigerate until cool.
- Beat the butter using an electric mixer until pale and creamy. Add the Nutella and beat until incorporated. Add the semolina a couple of tablespoons at a time, until it is all combined.
- To assemble the cake, place a biscuit round on a serving plate. Top with about a third of a cup of semolina buttercream and spread it evenly around using an offset spatula. Top with another biscuit, and repeat the process until all the biscuits have been used. Spread the remaining buttercream over the top and sides of the cake to seal it. Refrigerate the cake to allow the buttercream to set.
- To make the ganache, combine the Nutella, cream and chocolate in a small saucepan over a low heat, stirring with a rubber spatula until everything is melted and smooth.
- Pour the ganache over the cake, allowing it to drip down the sides, and sprinkle with the hazelnuts.
- Keep refrigerated. Best served the next day. Serves 10.
Adapted from this post.