Wake up Amaryllis!

If you, like me, love to decorate your home with majestic Amaryllis flowers at Christmas time I can recommend these two beautiful little films from Zeta's Trädgård showing you how to 'awaken' the bulb before planting it...

I have always planted my Amaryllis bulbs into pots without this 'awakening' step and they have been consistently late in flowering, so a few days ago I yanked my 'Apple Blossom' bulb out of its pot, brushed off the compost and perched it on a bulb vase with the root shoots trailing in water. When these roots have perked up I will remove any withered root shoots and plant the bulb back in the pot - hopefully it will grow a bit faster this way.

Midsummer

It's Midsummer tonight - easy to forget when you live somewhere like London. But what a wonderful excuse to gather friends and family for a meal outdoors if the weather allows it. And don't forget the wildflowers, Midsummer is all about wildflowers.

We've postponed our Midsummer gathering to tomorrow, as I am quite simply not the kind of person who can dash home from work and whip up a dinner party in 30 minutes. Much rather a leisurely day tomorrow, a bit of gardening, a bit of cleaning, a little bit of cooking and mainly enjoying.


Tonight I'm just going home to relax and watch 'Dicte' on TV with a glass of wine to hand. And perhaps put some wildflowers under my pillow before I go to sleep. They say it's good for romance..

Scandi Food for Midsummer

I don't normally quote newspaper articles, but Diana Henry has written a really good piece about Scandinavian summer food - specifically Swedish - in her Telegraph column this week. You'll find it here: 'Scandi Food; why Swedes do midsummer - and coffee breaks - best'

Takk Diana :)

Photo: www.uterummet.se

Hurra for 17. mai!

I'm having an early mug of cocoa while checking the news online before I head downstairs to the kitchen to set up for today's festivities. For once I have prepared most of the food in advance, but I woke up this morning with a start realising that I'd forgotten to go out and pick wildflowers yesterday evening. If I get a chance I'll dash over to the canal and pick a big bunch of cow parsley.

But for now, to all my fellow country women and men: GRATULERER MED DAGEN!

Photo: Frode Hansen, VG.

 

In a few hours my niece will be walking with her school in the parade through Oslo and up to the royal palace as in this photo. I remember how proud I was the first time I paraded with my class - wearing our best clothes, flags held high... it was better than my birthday. It's OUR birthday :)

A Norway Day Cake To Die For

I'm trying to see past the streaming rain today, surely it will improve in time for Norway Day on Sunday? Although obviously this amount of rain is bound to turbo-charge the plants in the garden, which is a very welcome effect after such a dry spring.

Anyway, so far my preparations for ND have consisted of making gravlaks and baking a cake. Plus eating too many of the Scandi sweets I ordered from the Skandikitchen "just because I need to test the quality". I have rather a lot left to do on the prepping front.

But, I'd like to share the recipe for the cake, which was a great success at our Norway Day garden party last year. It's a recipe by famous Norwegian food blogger Trine Sandberg (www.trinesmatblogg.no) and she has graciously allowed me to translate and publish it here. Trine calls it the 'Hurra for 17. mai kake' which if you don't read Norwegian means 'Hurrah for the 17th of May'.

It's easy, but looks very impressive.

Ingredients
* 150g butter
* 200g dark chocolate (70% is good)
* 3 medium eggs
* 150-175g caster sugar
* 1tbsp vanilla sugar (I used 1tsp vanilla extract as vanilla sugar isn't commonly available in the UK)
* 125g plain white flour (not self-raising)
* 1tsp baking powder

 Photo: lifewithanordicsoul

Baking
* Heat your oven to 175°C (or 160°C fan)
* Grease and flour a round 22-24cm tin and set aside
* Melt the butter in a pan on a low heat while you break the chocolate into small pieces
* Remove the pan from the hob and add the chocolate, stirring until it melts completely (it's important that the butter is not too hot as this can make the chocolate go grainy)
* Add one egg at a time, stirring the batter thoroughly but gently between each
* Stir in the sugar, vanilla and baking powder
* Sift the flour into the batter while stirring until completely smooth
* Pour the batter into the tin and place it on the middle shelf in the oven

* Bake for 20-30 minutes (test with a wooden toothpick after 20 mins - if you pull it out clean the cake is done, if not bake for a few more minutes) 

* Leave the cake to cool on a rack while you prepare the filling and topping

Filling & Topping

Chocolate ganache, crème chantilly, pears and berries...

Chocolate ganache ingredients:

* 200g chopped dark chocolate

* 100ml single cream

* 50ml water

* 2-3tsp caster sugar

* 1tbsp butter

Chocolate ganache method:

* Add the chocolate and butter to a large mixing bowl

* Gently heat the cream, water and sugar in a pan on the hob until the sugar dissolves and pour it into the mixing bowl

* Stir the mixture gently until the chocolate is completely melted. Do not stir more than necessary.

Crème chantilly, pears & berries:

*500ml whipping cream

* 1tsp caster sugar

* 1 drop of vanilla essence

* 1 punnet of strawberries (raspberries are fine, but strawberries are more 'flag red')

* 1 punnet of blueberries

* 1 tin of pears in natural juice

Method:

* Whip the cream, sugar and vanilla until you get a fluffy whipped cream with 'hold' and put the bowl in the fridge

* Slice the cake in two horizontal layers

* Spread half of the whipped cream over the bottom layer of the cake, then layer the pears and half of the berries on top of this (I would recommend slicing the pears and strawberries so that you can layer fairly flat)

* Gently place the second layer of the cake on top of the first

* Pour the chocolate ganache over the top of the cake and spread with a spatula, letting some of it run down the sides (at this point the ganache should have cooled and thickened a bit so that it doesn't run too much)

* Set the cake aside to allow the ganache to cool and set before you continue

* Spread the remainder of the cream over the top of the cake but not all the way out to the edge

* Decorate the top of the cake with the rest of the berries

And there you have it: Hurra for 17. mai kake!

Photo: Trine Sandberg

Gravlaks - End of Year Delicacies

We have friends coming over for New Year's Eve. It's the first time ever that we're hosting in our own home... In previous years we've organised big NYE weekends in various country houses - and every time we created a cooking rota where everyone was responsible for a meal each. It was always good fun and not very stressful at all when it came to our turn to cook (it was just a case of dishing out the main NYE meal to the best cooks of course, no one blamed us for that!) This time we're entirely responsible, since although I started by suggesting that our guests might bring zip-lock bags of peeled and chopped vegetables as contributions, my husband said no, it's not the done thing, we'll do it all ourselves. Huff! Time to start planning!

Anyway, I have knocked my husband's idea of a casserole dish on the head and am heading to an old-fashioned butcher in London later today to see if I can find a good joint of beef. But before that, as we're now just 2.5 days away from the event, I need to get some gravlaks on the go as I am planning to serve that as a starter. I have a really top-notch recipe for gravlaks by Norwegian food blogger Anne Cathrine who posts superb recipes on her blog Enestående Mat. I served this gravlaks at our Norway Day party in May and it was very well received.

Photo: enestaaendemat.no

GRAVLAKS by Anne Cathrine's Mamma
ca 500g boneless salmon fillet (if you use fillets with skin on one side they will be easier to slice when you serve)
2 tbsp cognac
1 tbsp salt
0.5 tbsp sugar
1 small handful mustard seeds
1 large bunch of dill (approximately 3 packets if you buy from a supermarket)

Use salmon (or trout if you prefer) which has been frozen for at least 24 hours before you use it. This acts as a kind of sterilisation process. Defrost the fish in the fridge. Once defrosted, pat it dry with a kitchen towel or kitchen paper - do not rinse it with water!
Ensure that you have two pieces of salmon. If you start with one large fillet cut it in two half lengths. Pour the cognac over the fish and massage it in gently with your fingers. Mix the salt, sugar and mustard seeds together and sprinkle over the fish, then massage the mixture in gently making sure you cover the whole surface of both fillets.
Make a bed of around 1/3 of the dill in a shallow dish and place the first fillet (skin down) on this. Chop the remaining dill and spread half of it over the salmon fillet in the dish. Then place the second fillet (fleshy side down/skin up) on top and cover with the remaining chopped dill. Place a chopping board on top of the two salmon fillets - I put a heavy book on top of this in order to make sure it is weighed down properly - and place it in the fridge for 3 days. It is important to let the fish breathe, so resist any temptation to use clingfilm, the fish needs to breathe.  Leave the fish alone, there is no need to turn it or touch it at all, it will mind itself.

After 3 days the gravlaks will be ready to serve, but if you leave it for 4 days it will be absolutely heavenly. It will last up to 1 week if you store it carefully in the fridge (or on the balcony if it's cold where you live - this is what my parents do, it's great for expanding your fridge capacity! Though not if temperatures are sub-sub zero). Gravlaks is traditionally served in all the Nordic countries as a special treat: in Swedish it is called 'gravadlax', in Danish 'gravad laks' and in Finnish 'Graavilohi'. In Norway it is often served with a creamy potato salad, but we're having roast potatoes with our main course, so to avoid carb overload I am planning to make a crisp red cabbage salad and a creamy celeriac salad plus a dark rye loaf.

The traditional mustard sauce which is served with gravlaks is made of roughly 3tbsp mustard, 1tbsp sugar, 1 tbsp white wine vinegar and a finely chopped bunch of dill - stirred thoroughly.

Pepperkaker - Scandinavian Gingerbread

One of the seven varieties of cakes and biscuits which we used to bake when I was growing up was 'pepperkaker'. The Swedes call them 'pepparkakor' and the Danes 'peberkager'. The dough takes a bit of time to make, since it needs to rest for a good 12 hours before one can use it. Children love baking pepperkaker since they can choose from lots of different-shaped cutters and literally bake a story.

We're going to be baking pepperkaker on the 13th, so I've got plenty of time. But it's good to start planning the ingredients now so that we don't rush around looking for them at the last minute.

The recipe we're going to use is one we've tried before, by a Norwegian food writer and blogger called Trine Sandberg.When I was little we often used Henriette Schønberg Erken's classic recipes, but I'm afraid I don't have her cookbook here in England. In any case, Trine Sandberg's cake recipes tend to go down a storm, so we're in safe hands.

Ingredients:
250g caster sugar
1dl golden syrup
1dl dark treacle
1tbsp ground cinnamon
1/2tbsp ground ginger          (Schwartz - available from Asda and Tesco)           
1/4tbsp ground cloves          (Schwartz - available from Asda and Tesco)  
250g lightly salted butter
1tbsp natron                       (use baking soda if you do not have access to a Norwegian grocer..)
2 small eggs
650-800g wheat flour            (NB: Scandinavians do not use self-raising flour, only what I call 'natural' flour)
baking parchment  

NB: 1 dl = 100ml   

• Start by cubing the butter and putting it in a wide bowl. Set aside.
• Pour the sugar, syrup and treacle into a small saucepan and gently heat until the sugar dissolves. 
• Add the ground cinnamon, ginger and clove to the mix and stir well.
• Stir in the natron (or baking soda) with quick movements. The mixture will lighten and rise slightly.
• Without delay, pour the mixture over the butter in the bowl. Stir until the butter is completely melted and the mixture has cooled.
• Whisk the eggs and add them to the main mixture.
• Add the flour by sifting it over the mixture bit by bit and stirring carefully. Continue until you get a smooth and quite firm dough (you may not need to use all the flour - set the rest aside)
• Shape the dough into a smooth flat ball with your hands, return to the bowl and leave it somewhere cold for 12 hours (in England that will have to be the fridge)

  
Baking:
Sprinkle a bit of flour on the table or bench where you will be rolling out the dough. Roll out the dough with a rolling pin (you don't have to do the whole dough in one go, I break it up into smaller lumps and roll those out individually). For small to medium sized cutters I would roll the dough out to ca 3mm thick. If you are making a 'pepperkakehus' (a gingerbread house) you will need to go slightly thicker, 5mm, otherwise the walls and panels of the house will be too fragile to work with.
In my experience it is quite difficult to lift the pepperkake shapes off the worksurface and on to the baking tray, so I suggest that you roll the dough out to around 1cm thick, then transfer it on to a sheet of baking parchment and finish rolling it out to 3mm or 5mm thickness. You can then place the cutters (or your house pattern) on the dough - we call it 'sticking out' the shapes - and lift off the residue from between the cut out shapes, leaving you with pristine cookies that can be put straight in the oven. Bake at 220-225C (no fan), in the middle of the oven, for 7-10 minutes. Keep a close eye on the tray towards the end as they will darken quickly and can burn if you are not careful. Remove from the oven and transfer the whole sheet of baking parchment with the cookies on it to a cooling grid (they will still be soft at this stage, so if you lift them off one by one they may bend).

Keep your pepperkaker in a closed tin until you are ready to serve them.

Decorating:
If you like decorating pepperkaker you can use white icing, by itself, or as glue to stick on little silver balls or coloured sweets. Here is a simple recipe:

• 4dl icing sugar
• 1 small egg white (if it's a medium or large egg increase the amount of icing sugar)
• 1ml lemon juice

Whisk the ingredients in a bowl until smooth, firm and not too gloopy. Scoop into a plastic freezer bag, tie a knot firmly to close the opening and snip a corner of the bag off with a pair of scissors. The snip should make a small hole, to give you a fine piping. (You can of course use a piping bag - but this is really not something I have invested in - I prefer throwing the bag away when I've finished) You can also add food colouring to the piping mix, but do bear in mind that it will make it more runny, so you would have to add a bit more icing sugar to compensate.

Pipe away. If you're decorating a pepperkake house you may find that the icing will run slightly down the walls - in which case set aside your piping bag and reserve it for decorating horizontal stuff. Add a bit more icing sugar to the recipe and you'll find it holds its shape better on vertical surfaces.
The icing will need to dry thoroughly before you can put the cookies away in a tin.

 Photo: Trine Sandberg

If you are making a house you can use the piping to glue the bits together, but the best option is to make caramel and use that - it dries much faster. Arla, the Scandinavian dairy brand, has a fairly simple model drawing which you can print out on A4 paper and then cut out the various elements. See here. With a bit of dedication you could make this:

Photo: Arla

And if you fancy stocking up on beautifully crafted utensils for the baking days ahead, try Iris Hantverk

 Photo: Iris Hantverk

Having not baked pepperkaker for a few years I re-learned a couple of lessons this time: 
- If your spices are a bit old (as our were) you can still use them, but do increase the dosage a bit to get the desired spiced flavour. Our pepperkaker turned out a bit on the bland side...
- I tend to buy large eggs these days, and traditional recipes are generally based on using medium to small eggs, unless large eggs are specifically stated. This makes a big difference when making sugar frosting, as a large egg yields a large egg-white. Opt for a small egg, or increase the amount of icing sugar. Otherwise you might end up with a gloopy glazing, which will look fine on cakes decorated while lying flat but it will droop and run when decorating a pepperkakehus...

Baking in December

Last night I went to bed hoping that the Amazon delivery van wouldn't arrive after I'd fallen asleep. I wanted our new stand mixer for the kitchen to be delivered, but not after 10pm. I woke up this morning and realised that it hadn't been. Grrr.

This is very inconvenient. I have two traditional British Christmas cakes to bake this weekend. And while my husband bakes them by hand, he is not here, and I do not have the arm-power to cream brown sugar and butter in those quantities... Disappointed. Cakes will not be as good if they don't get to snuggle in their cake tins and sip brandy for a month before we serve them to our families.

The elusive stand mixer is also going to help me reconnect with my traditional Norwegian self, specifically the baking of the magical 7 kinds of 'julekaker' in preparation for Christmas. Norwegian Christmas kakes are more like biscuits and small kakes, each a mouthful only. Which 7 varieties one choses to bake is left to your own preference, guided by family tradition and - perhaps crucially these days - preparation time and effort. In my family we never made 'Fattigman', a delicious deep fried diamond-shaped delicacy. My mother wasn't comfortable with the idea of deep frying - hot oil with children jostling around wasn't a reassuring thought, and worse even, our hair would smell of 'smult' afterwards. We concentrated on non-dangerous baking: 'Serinakaker', 'Berlinerkranser', 'Mor Monsen', 'Pepperkaker', mince pies (my father is British, hence the mince pies and Christmas cake), 'Krumkaker', 'Sandkaker'... none of which need to bathe in the deep-frying pan. Each weekend in December was dedicated to baking two types of cakes, which were stored in Christmas-patterned tins until we would crack them open on the 23rd December.

So just come on and deliver that silly mixer! I have work to do.