Koko Suomi leipoo winner Anne Laitila: summer recipes

Pyhäjärvi resident Anne Laitila thought for a long time about participating in the Koko Suomi leipoo competition, but doubted whether he was up to it after all.

Last year, Laitila’s friend hinted that the application period would be at hand again.

– It was a bit like corona boredom or something, and I went to look at the application form, says Laitila.

He immediately figured out what kind of search video he could shoot and was excited to shoot it with his friend. Applying paid off because Laitila found her way both to the program itself and to its winnings.

The passionate baker made an impression, especially with his cake decorating skills. Stuffed cakes are Laitila’s favorite pastries anyway.

– Making them is my thing! I like that I have free hands and can design the decoration myself according to a theme, he says.

Children’s cakes are favourites

Although Laitila earns her living from other jobs, she also does some custom work. For example, making cakes for children’s parties is a pleasant task, because you can decorate them as imaginatively as you like.

As a cake icing, the master baker prefers cream. Although traditional whipped cream is tasty, you can use cream to plan the decoration in a much more versatile way.

In addition, it is a good option for summer parties, because cream lasts better than cream in warm weather. Chocolate cakes Laitila would rather save for other seasons.

– I like that fresh and light flavors are offered in the summer. Strawberry, lemon, rhubarb, thinks Laitila.

Two instead of one

The fresh flavors are also suitable for sandwich cakes for summer parties. According to Laitila, you can try, for example, tzatziki or fish as a filling, and cream cheese as a topping.

– Instead of one big sandwich cake for a summer party, you should make two smaller ones, advises Laitila.

One of the cakes can be on the table and the other in the cold, and the cakes can be changed when the one on offer has started to warm up.

According to Laitila, you should plan the serving of summer parties according to what you like or what you know your guests will like. It’s not worth offering anything just because it’s always been done before.

– I’ve probably never made a traditional coffee cake for my own parties. He always wants to go without eating!

Getting to know each other in a new way

In addition, familiar baked goods can be offered in a festive and new way when you think about the display. You can replace the familiar bun crown with, for example, fun frosted little buns.

– I made a strawberry-rhubarb pie for one of my children’s graduation parties. At first I was afraid that it would be too ordinary to offer, recalls Laitila.

– It turned out really nice when I made the pie a little thicker, cut it into serving pieces and decorated them with thin spirals made of rhubarb peel.

In addition to sandwich cakes, savory pies and muffins are also suitable for a summer party table.

– Savory muffins look nice and are easy to make. Putting them on doesn’t take a lot of time, advises Laitila.

Being easy to make is definitely a plus, because preparing a party always takes time. Challenging tasks like the opera cakes seen in the baking contest are therefore not worth thinking about.

– It takes all day to make them, Laitila laughs.

Prepare well in advance

He therefore recommends choosing something to offer on the list that can be prepared in time before the party and, for example, frozen. You shouldn’t leave everything to be done the night before the party.

– There is already enough to do.

We asked Anne Laitila to design two instructions for our readers for summer parties.

These cookie cups and fresh tomato basil muffins are both easy recipes that don’t take too much time to make. However, the taste has not been compromised!

Chocolate cookie cups with strawberry filling

75 g room temperature butter

130 brown sugar (Indian sugar/flour sugar/cane sugar)

1 teaspoon of vanilla sugar

1 small egg

130 g of flour

0.3 tsp of baking soda

a pinch of baking powder

0.3 tsp salt

100 g of dark chocolate, crushed

1. Preheat the oven to 185 degrees.

2. Mix together the flour, soda, baking powder and salt

3. Grind the chocolate into coarse crumbs with a knife

4. Beat room temperature butter, sugar and vanilla sugar together until foamy

5. Add a room-temperature egg to the foam while whisking well

6. Add the flour and grated chocolate to the dough, mix. The dough should be quite stiff.

7. Grease (and, if necessary, flour) a 24-inch mini muffin tin

8. Take a scoop (about a tablespoon) of the dough and roll it into a ball in your hands. If necessary, use a little flour to help. Flatten the ball and place it in the recess of the muffin tin.

9. Bake the cookie cups for about 8-10 minutes. The cups are still soft at this point. Form an indentation in the cups immediately after taking them out of the oven (for example, with the handle of a wooden rolling pin). Cool down.

Strawberry filling

1 dl whipping cream

175 g of Philadelphia cream cheese

150 g of strawberry puree

1 teaspoon of vanilla sugar

½ dl sugar

1 tablespoon of vanilla cream powder

fresh strawberries for decoration

Put the cream, cream cheese, sugar, vanilla sugar and vanilla cream powder in a bowl and beat until foamy. Add the pureed strawberries. Transfer the mass to a piping bag and squeeze generous scoops into the recesses of the cookie cups. Garnish with fresh strawberries.

The cups can be kept unfilled in the refrigerator for 3-4 days. The filling softens the cups the longer they are filled, but even then they are wonderfully sticky and tough, as a chocolate cookie should be. If you want the cookies to remain crispy on the outside, fill them only as close as possible to serving.

Tomato-basil muffins

2½ dl wheat flour

1½ dl coarse bread roll flour

½ tsp baking powder

½ tsp baking soda

1 teaspoon of salt

1 teaspoon of garlic powder

½ tsp ground black pepper

75 g of melted butter

200 g cream cheese

just under 1 teaspoon of vinegar (e.g. white wine vinegar)

2 eggs

80 g zucchini (2 dl loosely measured)

½ dl of chopped basil

250 g cherry tomatoes

Icing

200 g Apetina Mediterranean cheese cube (“feta”)

100-120 g of Turkish yogurt

approx. 2 teaspoons of lemon juice

a pinch of black pepper

1. Preheat the oven to 225 degrees

2. mix the flour, baking powder, soda, salt, garlic powder and black pepper together. Add melted, slightly cooled butter, vinegar, whipped cream and eggs. Grate the zucchini with a fine blade and squeeze out the excess liquid. Chop the cherry tomatoes into four or more parts, depending on the size. Chop the basil. Add zucchini, cherry tomatoes and basil to the dough, mix quickly.

3. Grease a 24 mini muffin tin. Divide the filling into the holes. Bake for about 20-25 minutes, if necessary cover with baking paper at the end of baking. Test the doneness with a stick. Cool down.

4. Prepare the frosting. Crumble the cheese into a bowl, shred with a fork. Add yogurt, lemon juice and pepper, beat with an electric mixer until fluffy. Transfer the mass to a piping bag and squeeze over the muffins. Decorate with basil leaves, for example.

You can follow Anne Laitila’s baking on Instagram with the account @mrshiekkakku.