That's how the cookie crumbles!

If you find yourself with some leftover chocolate (I know it's a rare phenomenon, but occasionally it does happen) or don't feel like eating it with out butter, oat and other yummy things: this is a great little number to make if you want a quick fix. It is basically a giant chocolate chip cookie  - sort of - with simple ingredients and takes just about 30 minutes to make.

Piece of Cake!

100-150 grams of chocolate
123 grams of butter
3 dl Oats
1,5 dl flour
1 tsk baking powder

Melt the butter and mix in all the dry ingredients.
Pat the batter out on a baking tray, the batter will be quite hard.
Break the chocolate into large, chunky pieces and stick into the batter.
Place in the over, 200'C, for ca 15 - 20 minutes or until golden.

Tear and Share

Happy New Year!

We're back.

For now.

Fingers crossed. 

To kick off this cold and rainy January we'll serve you up some comforting and spicy bread, to chew on while wishing you hadn't eaten quite so much during Christmas. We know we did. 

Cumin and cracked black pepper tear and share bread

• 2 pints of flour
• 2 satchels (14 gram) of dried yeast
• pinch of salt and sugar
• whole cumin seeds (roughly ground)
• cracked black pepper
• 1 egg
• sea salt
• 3 dl of water

1. Mix you dry ingredients, hurrah!
2. Pour up the water, make sure it is warm to the touch (around 37 degrees celsius).
3. Kneed the dough lightly, until it's got a doughy consistency. Let rest in a warm place until doubled in size.
4. Kneed the bread for ten to fifteen minutes, then shape into balls and place next to each other.
5. Let rest in a warm place.
6. Glaze with egg and sprinkle a bit of salt and back pepper on top.
7. Place in the oven for 30 minutes, or until golden brown, at 250 degrees.

Muddymudcake

This is an empty pie dish. 

It's not very happy. But with some butter, chocolate and liquorice it feels a lot better - or maybe that's just me. As always, finding a name/translation into English has been tricky - but fun! Because it is, as always, quite close to an English term/translation - here the English term Chocolate Mud cake - but not quite. In my search through the Wild Wild Web I came across an interesting little blog that was discussing, well, exactly what I am discussing right now. In a way.

For now, let's just call it Mud Cake and get on with it.

I guess every place, family, etc, has its or their own classic dish or cake that is made over and over until perfect (or as near as one can come). When I was a child, simple sponge cakes and Mud cake (or Kladdkaka) where the first ones I learnt to bake. Mud cake especially since it is so simple and quick to make. I suppose one could think of it as a 'ruined cake', as the aim is to achieve a crusty shell and a gooey, almost runny, middle.

There is probably over a 100 different ways of making them and here is also about a million different recepies, some which I hope to try very soon. Just to shake things up I decided to starts things off not with a Classic Mud cake, but one with liquorice!

Liquorice is something I've lately become very interested in (yes, I tend to obsess a bit about food). Liquorice comes in many different forms - sweet, salt, to almost tar-tasting - and it can be an acquired taste. What I had never thought of, however, was using it in cakes. In a small, cosy shop, I found a stack of liquorice products and one of them was this small jar of powdered liquorice (and I was strongly advised to try this cake). And who am I to say no to a challenge?

 Liquorice Mudcake

1. 150 grams of butter
2. 3 tablespoons of liquorice powder
3. 3 eggs
4. 3 dl sugar
5. 2 tablespoons of syrup
6. 2 dl of flour
7. 6 tablespoons of cacao

• Put the oven on 175 degrees. 
• Melt the butter, and then mix together the dry ingredients. 
• Stir in the syrup and butter. 
• Pour the batter into a greased tin or pie dish. 
• Bake in the lower part of the oven, roughly 20-25 minutes. You want it really doughy and soft in the middle! 
• Serve with raspberries and whipped cream (or vanilla ice cream.) 

Let the good times roll

A classic treat in most bakeries and cafes, I decided to try and make them myself. Turned out to be a bit of a challenge since I used uncoloured marsipan and had to add colourings myself - I also made them rather small (to make it easier to eat many). But hey, what are summer holidays for if not for playing around with silly things like this?

 Punsch-roll:

• 100 grams butter 
• 1 dl icing sugar
• 2 teaspoons of vanilla essence
• 3 tablespoons of cacao powder
• ca 4 dl of cookie crumbles (I made crumbs of a small Victoria sponge)
• Flavour the batter with Punsh or Arrack essence 
• ca 200-250 grams of Marsipan
• 3 tablespoons of icing sugar
• 100 grams of milk chocolate

1. Stir together butter, sugar, vanilla and cacao powder.
2. Add the crumbs.
3. Add flavouring of your choice.
4. Shape into two long rolls (I had do more than two due to space restrictions).
5. Let rest in the fridge for a while.
6. Flatten the marsipan with a rolling pin, add the batter and roll together - cut into ca 4.cm long pieces.
7. Dip the ends in the melted chocolate and leave to set on baking paper.

  

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Sweet Pies are made of this

The berry season is, I know, usually at the end of the summer. But if you have them, eat them. Blueberries especially are a source of antioxidants and C-vitamins - and probably loads of other healthy stuff. By how much these healthy benefits are reduced however, when mixed in with a mass of sugar, flour and oats, I can't say, but who needs desserts to be healthy anyway? Let's eat!

 Blueberry pie (or tart, if you need the distinction)

• grams of blueberries
• 200 grams of butter
• 1 dl of Oats
• ca 3 dl of flour
• 1.5 dl of sugar

1. Melt the butter, and add the oats and sugar - let soak for a minute.
2. Add the flour, mix well until the batter if firm enough to be pressed out into a pie dish.
3. Pour in the blueberries! How much you need/want depends on how big a dish you use.
4. Sprinkle a little bit of oats and sugar on top - or even some cinnamon. 
5. Place in the oven, 175'C, for about 25-30 minutes. 

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Good Intentions

At the beginning of the year, and at the dawn of this blog, I had the noble intention to start making my own bread - regularly. Then the oven debacle with the notorious muffins happened, and my dream of delicious homemade bread flew out the window. As mentioned previously I no longer reside in that kitchen and therefore fresh, crunchy bread is back on the table! Literally.

I started with something simple and fool proof: mix the flour, some seeds and the yeast. Add lukewarm water and some oil (don't forget a pinch of salt - which I did - and maybe some sugar). Let it stand, somewhere warm, and then dive into the therapeutic process of kneading the dough for 15-ish minutes, mold into the form you want and then let it stand again, covered. Pop in the oven (250'C) until golden brown.

simple
easy
tasty :)

That is how I was taught to make bread - years ago now, in a land somewhat far from here. The process is familiar and makes one feel at home in a new kitchen. There will be more adventurous loafs of bread to come!

Poppy and Sesame seed Bread 

• 1 pint of strong white flour
• 7g dried fast action yeast
• 3 dl of water
• Poppy and sesame seeds
• salt (sugar)
• 1 tbs vegetable oil

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Chocolate Mocha Muffins

I have a bad track record with ovens and muffins to say to least. I moved into a new place so the natural thing to make - to test the oven - was muffins. I think it is safe to say that this oven is functioning just fine.

10 large muffins

• 1 egg
• 1,5 dl milk
• 0,5 dl veggie oil
• 0,75 dl sugar
• 5 dl flour
• 2 tbsp of cocoa powder
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 espresso
• 75 gr milk chocolate

1. Beat the egg and add milk and oil.
2. Mix sugar into the mixture and whisk until the grains have dissolved.
3. Mix dry ingredients and add to the egg mix .
4. Finally add a cold espresso and the chocolate chips.

Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes at 200'C
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Dream a little dream

Baking SOS = consult my tiny little cookie-book. You might have heard it mentioned before. The title is '7 kinds' (of cookies), in English it has the rather unimaginative title of 'Swedish cakes and cookies'. Also, the title made me laugh, because I am pretty sure that at least some of the recipes mentioned in there are used in a lot of other places beside Sweden....you know, like the ones named English Fruitcake, or Swiss roll...hmm. Be that as it may: they are still tasty, and frankly, who cares about the title. It should just have been a bit funnier. Tiny bit.

Swiss Roll time! Leaving my confused musings on those finer points in life behind (waaay behind) lets explore the yummieness that is Swiss roll.

Dreamroll

• 3 eggs
• 1 1/2 dl sugar
• 3/4 dl potato flour
• 2 tablespoons of cacao
• 1 teaspoon of baking powder

Filling

• 150 g butter
• 2 dl icing sugar
• 2 teaspoons of vanilla sugar/ or essence
• 1 egg yolk

1. Put the oven on 250 degrees (200 degrees if you have a fan-assisted oven).
2. Whisk the egg and sugar into a fluffy mess.
3. Mix together flour, cacao, and baking powder - then stir that into the egg/sugar batter.
4. Fold up the edges on a baking paper, and cover with the batter.
5. Place in the middle in the oven, ca 5 minutes. It will be done very quickly, don't worry if it seems to rise unevenly, it will be more even when it is taken out.
6. Flip the cake onto a dampened (not drenched!) tea-towel, sprinkled with a bit of sugar.
7. Remove the baking paper and let cool.

Step 2
Stir the butter and icing sugar together and add the vanilla essence and the egg yolk.
Spread on the cake, roll together swiftly and let it rest in the fridge before you cut it.

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Poor Knights

There has been much discussion about the proper name for these things. Guess that is what happens when you have three languages to choose from. We made them anyway, the title now being a simple translation from the Swedish (and Finnish) name. And if anyone out there has another suggestion, leave us a comment! Also, on a side note, if Knights really did eat these they can't have been very poor. 

With a pot of hot coffee your Sunday, or Saturday, brunch is off to a good start.

These were made from sweet wheat bread, the same dough in fact that we used to make Semlor. We simply cut up the left over buns, fried them in butter and turned them in a mix of sugar and cinnamon. They can be made in a more "proper" way by mixing together 2 eggs and 1-2 dl of milk and add little bit of flour. Let the bread (if you got some bread going stale you can use that too) soak up the liquid and then fry them before turning over in the sugar, easy-peasy!

Of course, what nice brunch would be complete with out a steaming pot of really dark coffee? Honestly, even if you don't drink the stuff it is pretty to look at - and smells divine - on our brunch, not to say all breakfast mornings, coffee has become an essential ingredient. Perhaps that is what they call caffeine addiction..?

Time to Meringue!

A lovely meringue recipe from one of my favourite chefs/bakers. Her cook-books are beautiful and colourful and as inspirational as could be wished for. Visit her blog here! And yes, you can view it in English.

Leila's Meringues

This is the original recipe, which could give ca 8 BIG meringues. I only had 5 eggs so I altered the recipe slightly and still got 14 medium/muffin sized meringues. 

• 7 egg whites
• 5 1/4 dl sugar
• Juice from almost half a lemon
• 100 g dark chocolate 70%

1. Put the oven on 130 degrees
2. Mix the egg whites, caster sugar and lemon in a bowl.
3. Place the bowl in a Bain-Marie (in a small pot with a bit of boiling water, place the bowl on top) Whisk it by hand until the sugar is melted and the meringue is ca 60-65 degrees warm.
4. Remove from heat and whisk it for a long time on high speed (you might wanna use an electric whisk for that) until the meringue batter is cool. 
5. To make it chocolaty, melt the chocolate and careful fold it into the meringue batter. (You could also add different food colours to the batter if you want them pink etc)
6. Place on a baking tray, either just on top of paper or in muffin cups..
7. Put in the oven for ca 1 hour, the meringues will come out a bit chewy in the middle.

Third time's the charm

How hard is it to make muffins?
     - Very hard, it turned out,  especially when you don't have an oven that works properly...

It took three attempts to get this right - first at my place, which lead to the realisation that the oven does not work and my muffins sort of exploded ( I wish I had photographic evidence, because in hindsight it is kinda funny - at the time it was not).
    Attempt number 2 at Nina's: oven worked little too well and the muffins got little too dark (all the oven's fault... :P)

And finally! Nr 3:

Lemon and Poppyseed Muffins 

• 1.5 cups of all purpose flour
• 0.5 cup of sugar
• 1 cup of plain yogurt
• 1 egg
• 1 lemon (zest and juice)
• 1.5 tbsp Poppyseeds
• 50g. butter
• 0.5 tsp baking powder
• 0.5 tsp. soda

1.Mix dry ingredients.
2.Whisk the egg lightly and add yogurt and lemon (zest and all.)
3. Mix the dry things with the liquid. Add the melted butter and fill the muffing tray/cups to 2/3.
4. About 15 minutes in a functioning oven at 200'C

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The calm before the storm

Got up early today and went to play tennis with a friend I haven't seen in ages. As difficult as it is to wake up early the reward is worth it: empty streets, little traffic, shops opening. Slow and nice as a Sunday should be.

Some major admin ahead as I am planning revision tactics (leaving over spring break and will sadly - or happily? - be cut of from the Library) and sorting all my papers into new and colourful folders. But first I'm re-charging my batteries with some classic tea and scones.
     With my last scraps of Wilhelmina Green tea - lucky thing I am going home soon so I can re-stock my supply - and some home-made scones and clotted cream, this Sunday is off to a good start.

Scones

This recipe is adapted from the lovely chef Leila Lindholm.

7.5 dl flour
0.5 tsp salt
1.5 tsp baking powder
0.5 dl brown sugar 
125 grams cold butter 
1 egg 
2 dl (200 ml) milk 

Blend the flour, salt, baking powder and sugar, rub in the butter with your fingers.
Add egg and milk, work together, adding a bit more flour as needed.
Put on a flour covered surface and knead until you can form small buns - I like to put my scones in a muffin tray. That way you get nice and high scones, easy to cut in half.
   Put into the oven, (alternatively glaze the scones with a whipped egg and sprinkle some more brown sugar on top) 250 degrees, for ca. 10 minutes or until golden.

Happy Sunday!

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