Month: December 2011

Carrot cake with lime frosting

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Like previously, I made three cakes for work at the end of last month to celebrate the November birthdays.

The first cake was a carrot cake courtesy of Swedish TV chef Leila Lindholm, and it turned out just as nice as I hoped it would. And adding lime to the frosting makes this carrot cake an especially nice version.

Leila’s carrot cake with lime frosting, serves 8

3 eggs
300 ml caster sugar
300 ml plain flour
1 tsp vanilla
3 tsp baking powder
1,5 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground cardamom
0,5 tsp ground ginger
150 ml sunflower oil
450 ml grated carrots
a pinch of salt

Frosting:
60 g softened butter
400 ml icing sugar
1 tsp vanilla
100 g Philadelphia
zest from one lime

Beat eggs and sugar until foamy and pale. Mix the dry ingredients in another bowl and add to the egg mixture. Add sunflower oil and carrots. Pour the batter into a greased  springform. Bake in the middle of the oven, 150C for about 55-60 min. Make sure not to open the oven until 30 minutes has passed (so it doesn’t sink in the middle like mine did). Leave to cool completely.

Beat all the ingredients for the icing, then spread onto the cake. Decorate with lime zest.

Scandi tip #7: Saffron

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For us Swedes saffron is synonym with Christmas and advent. Probably because we use it in the saffron buns that are compulsory on the 13th December when we celebrate S:t Lucia.

At this time of year we put saffron into anything we can think of to get into the Christmas spirit; like this cake I made last year. This is a perfect advent treat served with whipped cream and raspberries.

And here are a few more saffron related recipes:

Scallops in saffron sauce

Steamed mussels with saffron

Fish gratin with prawns and dill

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I am one of those girls that like my meat. I like fish too though, but need to eat it more often. And this is the way forward – fish cooked in the oven covered by a nice sauce.

This dish has typical Scandinavian f;avours with prawns, dill and chives, and also some dijon mustard to give it a little zing.

Fish gratin with prawns, serves 2-3

3 tilapia fillets

100 g peeled Icelandic prawns

Sauce:

2 tbsp butter

1,5 tbsp flour

500 ml milk

150 ml cream

1,5 tsp dijon mustard

1/2 fish stock cube

salt, white pepper

freshly grated nutmeg

1/2 bunch dill, chopped

1/2 bunch chives, chopped

Mashed potatoes:

ca 400 g potatoes

100 g butter

salt, white pepper

Butter a dish and place the fish fillets in it. Cook the potatoes very soft in water. Drain and mash with the butter. Season.

Melt the butter for the sauce in a non-stick saucepan. Whisk in the butter. Add the milk little by little, while stirring, until it is all added and the sauce has thickened. Add the cream and stock. Let the sauce thicken and add the mustard, salt and white pepper. Add the herbs at the end.

Pour the sauce over the fish and place the dish in 180C oven for about 5 minutes. Remove from oven and pipe the mashed potatoes around the edges of the dish. Add Scatter the prawns in the middle of the dish. Cook for another 10-15 minutes in the oven. Serve straight away with some green beans.