Category Archives: Christmas

My mother’s mazarin cake

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My mother associates this cake with Christmas because her grandmother used to bake it for the holidays. And the red colour helps with that association too, I’m sure. In general, though, this type of cake has nothing to do with Christmas. It is a cake we eat all year round and it got its name from Cardinal Mazarin.

Consisting of a shortcrust with an almond filling this cake is chewy and not too sweet. It also has the unusual addition of desiccated coconut, and although I’m not a fan in general, it really works here.

Mazarin cake, serves 8-10

Short crust:

75 g butter

35 g caster sugar

1 egg white

100 g plain flour

 1 1/2 tsp baking powder

Filling:

100 g almonds

50 g desiccated coconut

100 g butter

150 g caster sugar

3 eggs

red food colouring

Cream butter and sugar for the shortcrust. Add the egg white, flour and baking powder. Incorporate and cover a baking tin with the dough. 

Blanch the almonds and grind them finely. Add coconut, butter and sugar. Add the eggs and colouring. Pour into the tin and bake in 175C about 20-30 minutes. Leave to cool and dust with icing sugar. 

Chewy vanilla toffee

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Sweets play a big role in Sweden. We are addicted to our pick ‘n mix (which is actually far better and represented in every single supermarket), love our cars and other chewy sweets.

When I run out of Swedish sweets I resort only to chocolate, as British sweets usually disappoint in comparison. Also, the only chewy British sweet that I really like; Bassett’s wine gums, you hardly ever see here apart from at the airport..

But even though I don’t know how to make perfect wine gums at least I can vary the chocolate with this amazing chewy toffee.

The recipe is straight forward and pretty standard, but it still tastes amazing! The easiest way to make toffee is to use a sugar thermometer; the toffee is ready once the sugar is boiling, at 120C. Or you can pour a spoonful of toffee mixture in a glass of cold water. If it easily shapes into a ball it is ready.

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Chewy vanilla toffee, makes about 50 sweets

Translated from Johanna Westman’s recipe from the book Julgodis (Christmas sweets).

200 ml double cream

100 ml golden syrup

300 ml caster sugar

100 g butter

1/2 vanilla pod

Line a rectangular dish with parchment paper. Mix cream, syrup, sugar and butter in a saucepan. Scrape the seeds out of the vanilla pod, and add both seeds and pod to the pan. Bring to the boil and cook until 120C. Pour the mixture into the lined dish. Leave to cool. Cut into shapes and wrap in parchment paper or cellophane.

Gingerbread cheesecake

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Gingerbread. Is there anything more Christmassy than the mixture of ground ginger, cloves and cinnamon?! I think not.

As much as I love traditional gingerbread, last year I also made this gingerbread cheesecake. The base is of course ginger biscuits, and the cheesecake filling has the same ratio of the three spices as gingerbread. More of cinnamon and ginger, less of the pungent cloves.

Do try this at a gathering or just for your family – it is delivious, and a fun way of serving traditional flavours.

Gingerbread cheesecake, serves 10-12

200 g ginger biscuits (I used Ginger Nuts)

75 g softened butter

600 g Philadelphia cheese

2 eggs

100 ml golden syrup

50 ml caster sugar

2 tsp cinnamon

2 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp cloves

1 tbsp milk

1 tskp gelatin powder

Topping:

150 ml sourcream

50 ml golden syrup

Mix the biscuits into crumbs in a food processor. Add the butter and mix until the crumbs has the consistency of wet sand. Press the crumbs onto the base of a buttered and lined springform tin. Bake for 10 minutes in 175C. 

Beat Philadelphia, eggs, sugar and syrup with an electric whisk. Add the spices and stir to combine. Add milk and gelatin and stir to combine. Pour the cheesecake mixture onto the slightly cooled baked base. Bake for 20 minutes in a low oven or until the cake   is almost set.

Mix sourcream and syrup in a bowl and spread onto the cheesecake with a spatula. Bake for another 5 minutes. Leave to cool, then refridgerate for at least 2 hours before serving. 

Christmas meatballs with thyme and lemon dip

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Scandinavia is hotter than ever in the UK, and my friends are readier than ever to try Swedish treats.

When I had some friends over for glögg (our version of mulled wine) I served meatballs as a nibble with a thyme and lemon dip and they were a huge hit. This version of meatballs we refer to in my family as the Christmas version because of the addition of allspice.

Meatballs can vary in size and if I have them for supper I usually make them around 3 cm in diameter, but for Christmas or as nibbles (or in this case both) I tend to make them smaller, around 1.5 cm in diameter.

Christmas meatballs, makes about 35

750 g pork mince

1 egg

3 tbsp water

75-100 ml breadcrumbs 

1.5 tsp sea salt

black pepper

3/4 tsp allspice

Mix egg and water in a large mixing bowl. Add the breadcrumbs and spices and let it sweel for a few minutes. Incorporate the mince using a wooden fork or your hands. Mix throughly and shape into small hands, dipping your hands in water in between rolling to make it easier to shape the meat. Place the meatballs on a greased roasting tray and place in a 180C oven for 15 minutes. Then fry in butter in a frying pan for a golden crust. 

Lemon and thyme dip

200 ml creme fraiche

3 tsp dried thyme

grated zest from 1/2 lemon

1/2 tbsp nice oil

salt, pepper

Mix all the ingredients, leave for 15 minutes for the flavours to develop. Keep chilled until serving. 

A Scandinavian Christmas part III: The food

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I know that last year’s Christmas is done and dusted, but I still want to show you what we ate on Christmas Eve. Before Christmas I gave you the low-down of what happens that day, so it is about time to show you as well.

For lunch (or breakfast for me) we have the cold foods, such as pickled herring, smoked eel, smoked salmon, eggs, bread and cheeses.

And then in the evening we have all the warm food. The reason for this divide is that we don’t want to eat too much so we think having less dishes will help with that, but I’m not sure it works. We all leave the table dying to lie down on the sofa because we’re so full.

Anyway, the first course in the evening we enjoy meatballs, Jansson’s frestelse [temptation] (potato bake with anchovies), small sausages calles prinskorv, red cabbage, brown cabbage (i.e. caramelised white cabbage), Christmas ham with mustard crust, this year we also had a boar ham which was delicious, bread, cheeses and my chicken liver mousse.

Next course is very traditional, and not my favourite I have to admit. The fish is poached salted ling, served with allspice, boiled potatoes and a mustardy bechamel with melted butter.

Dessert consists of rice pudding with lots and lots of whipped cream mixed in and a coulis. We have raspberry and cherry coulis to choose from.

After dinner Santa comes with all the presents and once they are opened we have coffee and pastries. Very typical are the almond biscuit (second from left) and ginger bread of course.

A Finnish-British christmas meal

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On Saturday a few of us gathered at Anna and Ian’s for a Christmas dinner among friends. The two hosts decided to have a little cook off and to serve traditional food from both Finland (where Anna is from) and Britain.

The meal was utterly delicious and we definitely have two winners in the cook off! Thanks guys!

We started off with some nibbles. Both smoked salmon on rye bread and this smoked reindeer meat that Anna’s mother brought with her from Finland, on rye bread.

The main course was a smorgasbord of dishes; lovely moist turkey with homemade stuffing and wrapped in pancetta, roast potatoes, sausages wrapped in bacon, juicy mustard glazed ham, Finnish Christmas box (puréed potatoes and parsnips baked in the oven and a lovely sallad with pickled beetroots (the Scandi way with acetic acid instead of vinegar) and potatoes. Needless to say we ate in silence for a few minutes and just enjoyed the food.

After a short break I prepared my mother’s version of Glace au Four (Baked Alaska), and because it contains icecream we had to eat it pretty quickly. After another little break we had recovered enough to dig in to the cheesecake Jenny had brought as well.

Thank you and Happy Christmas to the hosts; Anna and Ian:

Photo: Jenny Mills

Advent gathering

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The first Sunday of Advent is special to me, and I like to invite people over to celebrate it with Swedish glögg and plenty of nibbles.

Unfortunately I was too busy in the kitchen to have time to take pictures of everything, but at least a few things got caught by the camera.

For the first time ever, I made my own glögg, which is basically a sweeter version of mulled wine, served in little cups wit almonds and raisins.

I love it, and you can have white or red glögg although the red one is more common. I also made mulled cider which is a bit drier, although still sweet, so that was why I served mainly savoury nibbles this year.

We had mini potato bakes with anchovies (it is a lot nicer than it sounds, promise), meatballs and pickled beetroot on scewers, dates wrapped in bacon, ginger thins with Stilton (great combo), clementines and a soft gingerbread cake with frosting (recipe to follow). I also made a little spread with potato, hardboiled eggs, herring, dill, chives, mayonnaise and creme fraiche, knows as old man’s spread. A dollop of that on crisp bread is delicious.

Homemade glögg, 70 cl

Translated and adapted from this recipe.

1 bottle red wine

1 whole cinnamon stock

20 cloves

1 tsp ground ginger

4 cardamom kernels, crushed

300 ml caster sugar (start with 200 ml if you don’t want it too sweet)

1 tsp vanilla

some grated lemon zest

Pour the wine into a large sauce pan. Add the spices and leave it for at least an hour and a half. Before serving, add the sugar and vanilla and heat it up without boiling. Pour through a sieve to remove the spices. Serve in a small cup (espresso size) with almonds and raisins.

Mulled cider, 2 litres

2 litres dry cider

1 vanilla pod, cut in half lengthways

2 tbsp brown sugar

2-3 star anise

2 tsp ground cinnamon

orange or lemon peel

Place everything in a large saucepan and heat up. Serve without the spices.

Christmas meatballs, makes 50

500 g beef mince

500 g pork mince

2 eggs

150 ml breadcrumbs

100 ml cream

1 onion, finely chopped or 1 tbsp onion granules

2-3 tsp salt

white pepper

1,5 tsp allspice

Pour everything but the meat into a large bowl. Mix and let it sweel for a few minutes. Add the meat and mix it throughly with a wooden fork. Rinse your hands in cold water and roll into smallish meatballs. Fry in the oven or in a frying pan until cooked through Serve hot or cold. Place a meatball on a toothpick together with a wedge of pickled beetroot for a simple canapé.

Old man’s spread (Gubbröra), makes 30 canapées

2-3 medium potatoes, cooked, cold and chopped

1 jar matjes herring, chopped

2 hardboiled eggs, cold and chopped

4 tbsp mayonnaise

4 tbsp creme fraiche

1/2 bunch dill, finely chopped

1/2 bunch chives, finely chopped

Mix creme fraiche and mayo in a bowl. Add the other ingredients and mix. Break crispbread into small pieces and place a dollop of the spread on each. Serve straight away as the crispbread will soften from the moisture.

Bacon wrapped dates, makes 18

18 pitted dates

9 slices smoked streaky bacon

Cut the baconslices in half. Wrap a bacon piece around each date, fasten with a toothpick. Place in a baking tray and bake for 15 minutes in 200C until the bacon is crisp. Serve while hot.

Hannu’s Christmas paté

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My mother is very much into her gardening, and she’s very good at it too, everyone who has seen her garden can verify that. One of my mother’s favourites within gardening is a Swede called Hannu Sarenström, and he does recipies too! We found this recipe in his book  Vinterkalas (Winter parties), and my mother and I made this at Christmas. It might be a bit late to post a recipe for a Christmas paté after New Year’s, but there is nothing Christmassy about this paté apart from the name. You can make this paté all year round.

We nearly followed the reipe this time, but made a few changes. We used 200 g chicken liver and 200 g mixed mince instead of pork mince and smoked ham instead of smoked bacon. We just added slightly less liquid and that worked really well. We also used a food processor for everything but the mince, so ours is a bit smoother. Really nice!

Hannu’s Christmas paté (called Barbro’s traditional Christmas paté in the book)

300 g chicken liver

300 g lean pork mince

1 packet smoked bacon

1 onion, grated

2 cloves garlic, pressed

2 tsp salt

2 tsp marjoram or oregano

1 tsp black pepper

100 ml dry white wine

2 eggs

100 ml plain flour

100 ml double cream

2-3 tbsp chopped parsley

Chope the liver and add to the mince. Cut the bacon into small strips and add to the mixture. Add onions and garlic. Add salt, oregano (marjoram) and pepper. Stir in the wine, eggs, flour and cream. Add the parsley.  

Put the oven on 200C. Grease and coat a dish with flour, fill it with the mixture. Cover with tin foil and bake for 1 1/4 hour.

Saffron cake with marzipan

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This is a great Christmassy cake that I treated my friends to on Sunday when they came over for lunch.

It is nice and moist and has a lovely colour from the saffron. Served with lightly whipped cream and a warm raspberry sauce this is divine!

Saffron cake with marzipan, serves 8

250 ml caster sugar

100 ml grated marzipan

100 ml plain flour

3 eggs

2,5 tbsp vanilla sugar

a pinch of salt

125 g melted butter

1/2 g saffron powder (if you buy the long strands grind them in a pestle and mortar with a tbsp of sugar)

Grease a sprinform and cover it in breadcrumbs. Stir together all the dry ingredients apart from the saffron. Add the saffron to the butter. Add the butter and eggs to the dry mixture. Combine and pour into the springform. Bake in 180C for about 20 minutes until it has set.

To make the raspberry sauce, bring frozen raspberries (or fresh) to a boil, break them down with a fork and add some caster sugar, so it is still tart but not so much. Serve warm with the cake and lightly whipped cream.

Christmas dinner with friends, anchovies bake and brussel sprouts with bacon

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On Saturday we had a little Christmas dinner among friends. It was David, Gaby, Ian, Anna and me and Christopher and we all contributed to the dinner by bringing different dishes, and the result was a great smorgasbord of Christmas food with an international touch.

Blinis with smoked salmon, chives and creme fraiche

Anna (who has a Russian mother and a Finnish father) served homemade blinis with smoked salmon, chives and creme fraiche as a starter. Wonderful!

For the first time I tried making meatballs in the oven and then fry them afterwards, and they were perfect. :)

Instead of a main course we had a buffet with different dishes; David and Gaby’s amazing ham, Anna’s Salad Olivier (Russian salad with boiled eggs, potatoes, carrots, beetroots, frankfurters, gherkins, grated apple and mayonnaise), roast potatoes, meatballs, anchovies bake, brussel sprouts with bacon, carrots in orange butter, green beans and a shallots and red wine gravy. Really nice! :)

The prettiest ham ever!

Ham with wholegrain mustard from Daylesford organic.

Salad Oliver!

Anchovies bake

Brussel sprouts with bacon

A plate full of wonderful food!

Gaby made a lovely crumble with apple and blackberries for dessert. After that we had some Christmas sweets, the almond biscuits with cream and jam, clementines, tea, coffee and quite a lot of port.

Apple and blackberry crumble with custard

I woke up poorly the next day though. :(  I hate having the flu, but it is difficult to avoid it this time of year… I really hope I will be feeling better towards the end of the week, because I’m flying home to see my family and friends on Friday.

Anchovies bake, serves 6

10 large potatoes

1-2 onions

1/2 packet anchovies with brine

300 ml cream

butter

bread crumbs

salt

white pepper

Grate the potatoes and the onions. Butter a regular dish and fill it halfway up with potatoes and onions. Cut the anchovies fillets in small pieces and scatter them on top. Put the rest of the potatoes and onions on top. Pour over the cream and the brine from the anchovies. Place a few dollops of butter around the dish, and sprinkle over some salt and white pepper. Lastly cover the dish with breadcrumbs. Bake in 200C for 45 mins to 1 hr. The potatoes should be soft and the top crispy.  

Brussel sprouts with bacon

500 g brussel sprouts

8 slices of bacon

butter

grated nutmeg

salt

white pepper

chopped parsley

Trim the brussel sprouts (a really boring job, but it has to be done. Take the outer leaves off if they look manky and cut off the white bits). Boil them in salted water for 10 minutes or so. They should be softer but still quite firm.

Cut the bacon in pieces and fry them crispy in butter. Add the drained brussel sprouts, salt, pepper and grated nutmeg. Add the parsley and serve straight away.