Bauhaus Recipes

By Carole Poirot

Concrete Cake

You will need

• two 21cm square baking tins.

• Start with the baking the day before you’d like to serve it.

• For the most accurate and geometric result, place a thick piece of cardboard (covered in cling film) the same size of the cake on the top to be able to get very sharp edges when icing around it.

Ingredients

FOR THE BATTER

• 250 g flour

• 250 g butter

• 250 g caster sugar

• 4 medium eggs

FOR THE FILLING

• 150 g Blackcurrant jam

• 250 g butter (soft)

• 500 g icing sugar

• 1 tsp vanilla extract

• a few drops of black food colour gel

FOR THE ICING

• 150 g butter (soft)

• 300g icing sugar

• ½ tsp vanilla extract

• 1 small tube black food colour gel

HOW IT’S DONE

1) Preheat oven to 170C. Grease the cake tin and line with baking paper. Whisk the butter and sugar together with an electric mixer until pale and fluffy.

2) Now add the eggs one by one and mix between each addition. Sift the flour into the mix and incorporate with a large spoon. Add a little bit of milk if the batter is too thick, it should have a droopy consistency.

3) Now divide the batter between the tins and bake for 25 minutes. Take the cakes out of the oven and leave to cool in the tin for 10 minutes. Cool completely on a rack.

4) Wrap both cakes in cling film and refrigerate over night. The next day unwrap the cakes and cut off the dome if there is one.

5) Use a ruler to measure the middle of each cake and cut them in half. Whisk the butter until creamy (about 2-3 minutes), then sift the icing sugar into it. Gently whisk until combined. Add the vanilla extract and food colouring and mix again until combined.

6) To assemble the cake spread a layer of jam onto the first cake layer. Using a piping bag and round nozzle, pipe a layer of buttercream on top. Smooth slightly with a palette knife if needed.

7) Place the second layer on top and top that one with jam and then buttercream. Repeat with the third layer. Place the fourth layer on top.

8) Now mix the butter, icing sugar, vanilla extract and a small amount of food colouring for the decorative icing. Icing the cake, part 1: Cover the cake in a thin layer of buttercream to keep crumbs from appearing on the outside later.

Refrigerate the cake for one hour and cover the bowl with the remaining buttercream.

9) Mix some more colouring into the buttercream. Icing the cake, part 2: Take the cake out of the fridge and cover with a thicker coat of butter cream whilst still keeping some aside. Smooth as much as possible.

10) Icing the cake, part 3: Add more colouring to the buttercream and add the darker dots to the existing cake decoration. Smooth the darker dots into the buttercream to achieve the "concrete" look. Don’t worry about the icing being completely smooth, concrete usually isn’t. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Kalter Hund

You will need

• six short tumbler glasses about the same diameter as the biscuits

• Makes: 5-6 Mini Cakes, ½ a cake per person should be enough

Ingredients

• 200 g dark chocolate (72%)

• 250 g unsalted butter

• 2 tsp instant coffee

• 150 g icing sugar

• 150 g (roughly 25-30) biscuits

HOW IT’S DONE

1) Line each glass with cling film and smooth it out as much as possible. Break the chocolate into small pieces.

2) Place the chocolate and butter into a saucepan and melt slowly over a very low heat.

3) Now add the icing sugar and whisk into the chocolate mix. Spoon a tablespoon of chocolate into the bottom of the glass.

4) Top with one of the biscuits. Now add another 1 to 1.5 tablespoons (enough to cover the biscuits) on top.

5) Place the next biscuit onto the chocolate. Repeat until you have used all 4 biscuits.

6) Top with another 1.5 tablespoons of chocolate. Repeat with the other glasses. Now refrigerate for at least 3-4 hours.

7) To take the cakes out of the glasses, gently warm each glass with your hands, then carefully pull the cling film to pull the cake out. Peel off the cling film and cut into halves to serve.

Blackcurrant & Cassis Jello Cubes

Makes 6 jellies

You will need

• a silicone ice cube mould for large (4.5 cm) ice cubes

Ingredients

• 600 g blackcurrants

• 50 ml cassis

• 150 g caster sugar

• Juice of 1 lemon

• 6 gelatine leaves

HOW IT’S DONE

1) Put the gelatine leaves into cold water and leave to soak for 5 minutes.

2) Wash the blackcurrants and put into a saucepan with 250ml water, the sugar and lemon juice.

3) Cook for 2-3 minutes over a medium heat until the fruits are softened.

4) Put a clean muslin cloth into a sieve and place over a bowl or jug. Pour the fruits into the sieve and leave the juices to drip into the bowl/jug.

5) Use a wooden spoon to press some more liquid through if needed. Now take the gelatine out of the water and squeeze the remaining water out.

6) Add to the fruit juice and stir until dissolved. Add the cassis and then pour the liquid into the ice cube mould.

7) Leave to cool before refrigerating for at least 2 hours. Serve the jellies on their own or garnished with fruits and cream.