Frozen CheeseCake

This is my mom's recipe. I got it off her not that long ago.
I love this cheese cake!!!!
It's more like a ice cream cheese cake and easy and quick to make, just needs a bit of time to cool in the freezer. 

Ingredients:

3 egg yolks

2 dl caster sugar

1 tsp vanilla flavored sugar or vanilla extract

100 g natural flavored philadelphia cheese

(whip together with an electric whisk)

3 dl whipped cream

(whip together with an electric whisk till smooth, don't whip it too hard)

Now, fold the two mixtures together.

Digestive cookies - 8 pieces, crushed

Place the crumbles in the bottom of a round baking tray. It need to be one with removable sides. Pour the mixture over the digestives. Rap a layer or two with cling film over it and place in the freezer over night. Take out an hour before serving and let your imagination go with decorations. Maybe pour over some raspberry or strawberry coolie over it, decorate it with lots of berries or fruit or crumble some Oreo cookies over it.

YUMMY!

Mum A-K's Mocha squares

Growing up, i was lucky to have a "baking" mother.  We always had a delicious selection of cookies in the freezer.

I use to love help her bake and to be allowed to eat the last bit of batter. I have so many childhood favorites but i think these are definitely in the top 5.  

Recipe:

Makes 30-35

Oven temp: 200 C

5 eggs

4 1/2 dl sugar

2 dl water

200g margarine or butter

4 dl all purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder

2 tbsp coco powder

Glaze:

3 1/2 dl icing sugar

1 tbsp coco powder

4 tbsp melted margarine or butter (60g)

2-3 tbsp strong cold coffee

Garnish:

coconut flakes

Butter a baking tray, 30x40 cm.
Whisk the eggs and sugar until it is light and fluffy. Bowl the water and add the butter in small pieces. Stir it till the butter has melted. Mix in the flour and baking powder and the coco powder.
Add this to the egg mixture and mix well.
Pour it in to the baking tray and bake it in the lower part of the oven for 15 minutes.
Let the cake cool.
Mix the ingredients for the glaze. make sure it's lump free, smooth and glossy.
Spread it over the cake and sprinkle the coconut flakes over it.
Cut into squares and enjoy!
(keeps 3-4 days in a air tight container or 3 months in the freezer).

Smörgåstårta - all i want to eat on my birthday is you

Smörgåstårta (sandwich cake)

If you never been to Sweden, you probably never heard about this. This is the ultimate thing for any sandwich lovers out there or for you who can't get enough of carbs and calories.

It is compositionally similar to a sandwich, but it has such a large amount of filling that it more resembles a cake.

The smörgåstårta is normally made up of several layers of white bread with creamy fillings in between. The fillings and toppings vary, but egg and mayonnaise are often the base, additional filling may vary greatly but often includes one or more of the following: liver pate, shrimp, ham, various cold cuts, caviar, cheese and smoked salmon.

Smörgåstårta is served cold and sliced like a dessert cake.

My husband is my "Swedish culture experiment" and bless him, he's been eaten dishes that some people might see as weird. But all in all i think he's enjoyed most of it. And i think i can speak for him, this has been one of the highlights.


You can use any white bread really but if you are feeling ambitious, here's a good recipe for Smörgåstårta Bread.

1 Round cake

(the bread need be baked in a round baking tray with removable sides )

This bread you can slice into 3-4 thin layers.

50 g yeast

6 dl milk

3 tbs. oil

1/2 tsp salt

2 tsp sugar

ca 1.4 l plain white flour

oven temp: 250 C

Start by adding the yeast to a bowl. Warm the milk with the oil till it's "finger warm" ca 37 C. Pour it bit by bit whilst stirring over the yeast. Add the rest of the ingredients and almost everything of the flour. Work the dough till it's shiny and elastic and till it comes away from the bowl. Dust the dough with some flour and let it rest under a clean kitchen towel for around 40 minutes.
Work the dough with the rest of the flour and form it to a round, smooth shape.
Bake it in a greats round baking tray ( 26 cm in diagonal) punch holes  with a fork and let it rest for another 40 minutes under a kitchen towel.
Bake the bread on the lower part of the oven for 10 minutes. Turn off the heat and let it sit in the after heat for another 20 minutes.
Let the bread cool down before slicing it.

AND NOW TO THE FILLINGS

So this is where your own taste and creativity can take place.
some of you might only want shrimps and eggs with cod roe. Some of you, like myself are greedy enough to want shrimps, eggs, smoked cod roe AND liver pate and ham. It's my birthday, not yours! LOL

Filling with shrimps:

Defrosted Shrimps

Finely chopped dill

Mayonnaise

Squeeze of lemon

salt and pepper

Filling with eggs & cod roe:

Hard boiled eggs, thinly sliced

Red cod roe

Mayonnaise

Red onion, very finely chopped.

Filling with liver pate:

Chicken liver pate

Gurkens,finely chopped

double cream to thin out the pate to make it more spreadable

Filling with ham:

Smoked ham or turkey ham thinly sliced

Mayonnaise

Creme fraiche

Salt & pepper

( optional cheese and ham spread in tube)

The cake is now covered in Mayonnaise and garnished with all the delicious things you had inside..... Here is a few idea's!

Natalie's Yummy Blueberry Brownies

I am now spilling my friend Natalie's secret to her awesome blueberry brownies. They are sooooo yummy and so worth the calories. And of course serve it with vanilla ice cream...... lots of it!!!!

375 g (187g) butter

400 g (200 g) dark choc

6 eggs (3 eggs)

1 tspn (1/2 tspn) vanilla essence

500 g (250 g) caster sugar

225 g (110 g) flour

1 tsp (1/2 tsp) salt

250 g blueberries (150 g)

Make sure you have a baking tray, not too deep. Line it with baking paper or tin foil. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C.

Melt the butter and dark chocolate in a glass pyrex bowl that is sitting on top of simmering water (have you done this before?). Once melted, leave to cool. Beat the eggs and sugar in a bowl until pale and fluffy. Add the vanilla essence and salt. Then add the melted butter and chocolate to the eggs and sugar and whisk. Finally, add the flour and then fold in the blueberries. Pour into the tin and put in the over for 20 - 30 mins, depending on how good your oven is. Make sure all of the blueberries are pushed down into the mixture, if they are poking out they will burn. When ready, make sure that when you take the brownie out of the oven, it wobbles slightly - so that it looks as though it isn't fully cooked. This will make it yummy and moist!!

My Ultimate Spinach Salad

Quick and simple salad tip!

This Salad is heathy but oh so delicious! My poor husband get served this salad at least once a week but i just can't get enough of it. Perfect with a steak or you can toss in some grilled chicken slices. If you gonna try one this is the it, it's super easy and i can almost guarantee you will LOVE it too. 

Ingredients:

170 g of washed  baby spinach leaves

2 peeled and grated carrots

2 medium size yellow or/and red peppers

Sun dried tomatoes in oil, here is really up to taste, i normally go for it and use half a jar.

A handful of Pine nuts, roasted on a try pan till golden.

For the dressing:

Virgin olive oil

Balsamic vinegar 

Hole grain dijon mustard

(i like to add some oil from the sun dried tomatoes if i've got some left)

Toss it all together and Enjoy!!

Prawn & Mascarpone Ravioli With Pesto Olive Oil

I found this amazing recipe on the internet, but changed it a little bit to my own taste. 
I've cooked it once for my friends and they all loved it. 
It's a real crowd pleaser and a great recipe if you want to impress your friends at a dinner party.

2 dozen ravioli
Prawn and Mascarpone Filling:
1 tablespoon unsalted butter 
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil 
2 shallots, finely chopped
2 tablespoons brandy 
1/4 cup white wine, preferably Sauvignon Blanc 
1 pound cooked prawns 
1 pound mascarpone cheese, at room temperature 
2 eggs, beaten 
2 tablespoons chopped basil leaves 
Pinch freshly grated nutmeg 
Salt and freshly ground black pepper 
1 recipe standard or colored pasta dough, recipe follows 2 egg whites, beaten 

Directions:


Make prawn and mascarpone filling: Heat butter and olive oil in a large skillet. Add shallots and cook until soft and translucent, about 3 minutes. Remove pan from heat and add brandy. Turning pan away from you, carefully light with match to flambe. Add white wine and cook until reduced to syrup-like consistency, about 10 minutes. Add lobster meat, cooking until just warmed through. Remove from heat and place into a large mixing bowl and allow to cool.In a medium bowl, combine mascarpone cheese with beaten eggs, chopped basil, nutmeg and salt and pepper, to taste. Add to lobster and shallot mixture and combine well. Taste to adjust seasoning. Cover and set aside. If not using immediately, store in the refrigerator for up to a day.
Using a pasta roller, roll out pasta into thin sheets. Cut out shapes for the tops and bottoms of the ravioli using cookie cutters or if you're brave by hand. Place pasta shapes on a floured dishtowel and cover so that pasta does not dry out. Cut out smaller shapes to decorate ravioli tops. Using a small, sterilized paintbrush, dip into the egg white and attach smaller pasta decorations onto raviolis. Be sure to completely decorate the top ravioli cutouts before filling. Cover with floured dishtowel. You should have an equal amount of ravioli bottoms without decorations and ravioli tops with decorations.Working with 1 ravioli at a time, place a spoonful of filling in the center of 1 ravioli bottom cutout. Using the paint brush, brush egg white all over the pasta edges around the filling. Place the ravioli top with top the filling  and press to seal the edges, pinching together with a fork. Cover, until all of the ravioli shapes are made. If not using immediately, store in an air-tight container in the refrigerator for up to a day. If freezing, separate ravioli on a lightly floured baking sheet and cover with plastic wrap until frozen so that ravioli doesn't stick together. Once frozen, store in a freezer-proof sealable plastic bag or airtight container for up to a month.Bring a large shallow saucepan of salted water to boil. Carefully slide in raviolis. Cook until al dente. About 10 minutes if using ravioli immediately; 12 minutes if using refrigerated ravioli and 15 minutes for frozen. Remove raviolis with a slotted spoon and lay on paper towels to absorb excess water. Place ravioli on plates and drizzle with olive oil mixed with pesto

Standard Pasta Dough:
3 cups all-purpose flour 
Salt 
4 large eggs 
2 tablespoons olive oil, 
optional Combine the flour and salt, to taste, and mound on a work surface. Make a well in the center and add the eggs and olive oil, if using. Carefully, beat the eggs with a fork until well mixed. Gradually begin incorporating the flour into the egg mixture with the fork. When enough of the flour has been incorporated so that the dough can be worked by hand, begin kneading the dough, adding more flour to prevent the dough from becoming too sticky. knead vigorously for about 10 minutes until the dough is smooth and satiny to the touch, and when cut in half, is completely smooth, with no air holes or gluten strands visible. Wrap the dough in plastic and allow to rest at room temperature for 30 minutes in order to relax the gluten.


Colored Pasta Dough:The amount suggested below for each puree is enough to color 1 recipe for standard pasta dough. Should you wish to prepare 2 or 3 different pasta colors, divide the quantities of dough and purees and color accordingly. If using small quantities, it is simpler to mix ingredients in a bowl, rather than on a flat surface. Mix the puree together with the eggs and proceed with the master recipe for the pasta. To compensate for extra moistness, you may need to incorporate extra flour into the dough when kneading it.


Green Puree (spinach):Steam 1/2 pound of spinach with water clinging to its leaves, covered for 2 minutes, or Swiss chard for 5 minutes. Rinse in cold water and squeeze the leaves as dry as possible. Puree the spinach in a food mill or processor.


Red Puree (beet):Bake a small unpeeled beets in a preheated 400 degrees F oven for 45 to 60 minutes or until tender. Peel and puree in a food processor.


Yellow Puree (saffron):Add a generous pinch of ground saffron to the eggs in the well right before beating.

Semlor - 8th of March Fettisdagen - A warm Swedish tradition

In the beginning, we only ate this marzipan paste and creamed filled sweet bun on "fettisdagen" (translated the fat day). Later, when the swedish people started to loose an interest in fasting, did it become a tradition to eat this gorgeous fatty bun every tuesday on during the 7 weeks of fasting.

Today, you can buy a Semla just after Christmas all the was up to Easter.

Accordingly to tradition, this desert started as a flat bun which was the only thing accepted to eat during fasting. To make this food last, people started to make holes in the bun and fill it will other treats, and with time it became marzipan paste and wiped cream which is now seen as the true Semla ingredients in Sweden.

This would be the background to why the semla is eaten on "fettisdagen and all the way up to easter.

I love this creamy bun, reminds me of my childhood and i remember thinking it was a sign of spring and that the long Scandinavian winter might soon be over. :)

Ingredients:

50 g yeast

3 dl milk

75 g butter

1 egg

0,5 dl caster sugar

2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp salt

1 tsp ammonium bicarbonate

1 liter  all purpose flour

For the egg wash: 1 egg

Filling:

200 g marzipan (almond paste) 

If you want to make this yourself, please see below.

6 tbs whipped cream

4 dl cream

icing sugar

Makes 40 mini Semlor

1. Melt the butter and add the milk, warm this to finger temperature, 37 degree's.

Add the yeast to the mix and stir till it's dissolve. Add the egg and sugar.

2. Seperate, take 1 dl of the flour and mix with the salt and the bicarbonate.

Add this to the liquid mix and then the rest of the flour. Save 1 dl of the flour to roll out the doug.

3. Let the doug rest under a clean kitchen cloth for 40 mins.

4. Flour the table and work the doug quickly.

5. Split it in to 2 big bites. Make 20 small balls of each side. Let these rest again for 30 minutes on a baking tray under a cloth.

6. Pencil each bun with the egg wash (beaten egg).

7. Bake in the middle of the oven at 175 degrees for approx 8 minutes.

8. Mix the Marzipan with a little cream to make it in to a smooth paste.

Cut of the top of the bun ( the hat for the cream ) and make a hole in the bun so you can fill it with the paste.

9. Whip the cream ( not to hard, you want it nice and smooth) and some icing sugar to sweeten if needed and sprits over the bun.

Add the "hat" and sprinkle over some icing sugar.

ENJOY