Category: Dessert

Elderflower parfait

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The pudding for my party at home this summer, was an incredibly easy parfait, flavoured with my mother’s homemade elderflower cordial.

I find this dessert or a parfait with any flavour, such a good thing if there are several dinner guests. You can make it well in ahead, and it is stored in the freezer which frees up space in the fridge. Oh, and it is absolutely delicious.

I made a large batch and froze it in a clingfilm-covered loaf tins, serving a slice on each plate with homegrown (from my parents’ garden) red currants.

Elderflower parfait, serves 4

3 egg yolks

100 ml caster sugar

300 ml whipping cream or double cream

65 ml concentrated elderflower cordial (only a guideline as different concentrations for different cordials)

Beat the yolks and sugar until pale and fluffy in a mixing bowl. In a separate mixing bowl whip the cream. Fold the cream into the egg mixture. Add the elderflower and stor to combine. Pour into any freezeable moulds you like, either divided into portions or in one large mould. Freeze overnight.

Quick pudding: Lemoncurd whip with raspberries

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If you like me, really dislike wasting food, but stand there one evening with a big dollop of homemade lovely lemoncurd but is also feeling a bit too lazy to use it in baking, well then this is the perfect recipe for you.

All you need is lemoncurd (homemade or storebought doesn’t matter), whipping cream and fresh raspberries. Just whip the cream lightly, fold in the yellow goodness (aka the curd) and scatter with raspberries. It is almost like a lemony mousse but only takes minutes to prepare. It is also fresh and extremely satisfying.

Yum.

Lemoncurd whip with raspberries, serves 2

300 ml whipping cream

 1 dl lemoncurd

2 handfuls fresh raspberries

Whip the cream lightly and fold in the lemoncurd. Divide between two bowls and top with raspberries.

Strawberries and cream, the first of the summer

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To me the first local strawberries of the season is something special. I could go on and on about how badly packaged the supermarket strawberries are in the UK and how long it takes for them to end up in the shop after picking.

I must say, at this, Sweden is a lot better. You have fresh strawberries in small cartons and no plastic in sight, so you can smell and touch them before you buy.

Anyway, the best way to eat strawberries, apart from sun warmed off the plant is with cream and sugar. Is there anything better, I wonder?!

 

Lavender pannacotta with almond brittle

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When I had Jess and Laura around for dinner a while ago I had prepared this dessert the dat before because once again I made pannacotta.

I love this little concotion and will probably not stop making it until I have tried every flavour I can possibly think of – and maybe not even then.

This time I flavoured the pannacotta with lavender, and because of this particular flavour I used less sugar than usual. Instead I added sweet almond brittle to serve with it and it turned out really well. It was nice with the contrasting textures as well with the crunchy sugary nuts and velvety cream together.

I was in a hurry when preparing this and therefore I used quite a lot of lavender to flavour the cream quickly. If you have more time on your hands you can use less lavender with the cream and instead leave the mixture in the fridge for a few hours before making the pannacotta.

Lavender pannacotta, serves 3

400 ml cream

25-30 ml caster sugar

2 tbsp lavender

2 gelatine leaves

Place the gelatine leaves in a bowl and cover with cold water. Pour the cream, sugar and lavender into a saucepan and bring to the boil whilw stirring. Remove from heat. Squeeze the water out of the gelatine and add it to the mixture – stir to combine. Pour the mixture through a sieve to catch the lavender and let the creamy mixture cool for 15 minutes or so. Then pour into dessert bowls, ramekins or what you prefer. Leave to cool, then place in fridge overnight to set.

Almond brittle

1 tbsp salted butter

2 tbsp caster sugar

1.5 tbsp cream

two handfuls almonds

Place all ingredients bar the almonds in a saucepan and bring to the boil. Add the almonds and let the mixture become a golden colour, while stirring. Pour onto a baking sheet and leave to cool completely. Chop and place on top of the pannacottas before serving.

Meringue cake with dulce de leche

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In my fridge there always seem to be a gathering of egg whites, sometimes just a few but more often than not quite a few. I simply hate throwing food away, and egg whites keep for several weeks in the fridge, so I rather use them than throw them away.

Meringues is always a good way to use them up, but to be honest I find meringues on their own a bit boring. But with icecream or cream it is a different matter, and that is why I like this simple meringue cake so much.

If you just have made the meringue bases all you need is a tin of dulce de leche (caramel) and some whipping cream, and it literally takes 5 minutes so assemble. The cake also keeps for a few days in the fridge although it will loose some of its crispness.

Meringue cake with dulce de leche, serves 8

Double this recipe for two meringue bases

1 tin (398g) dulce de leche

300 ml whipping cream

milk chocolate shavings for decoration

Place one meringue base on a cake plate and spread half the dulce de leche on top, then add half the whipped cream on top of the caramel. Add the other meringue base and repeat the layers. Decorate with some milk chocolate shavings.


Vanilla muscovado icecream with lime marinated strawberries

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One particular Swedish food blogger is in my opinion the Queen of Icecream. This recipe is courtesy of her.

Both myself, Maria and Daniel can vouch for the excellence of this icecream, because we managed to almost finish the whole batch after having had both starter and maincourse – and that is quite something.

Vanilla muscovado icecream

After Annika’s recipe.


400 ml cream

200 ml whole milk

1 vanilla pod (I used 1 tsp vanilla instead)

4 egg yolks

150 ml light brown muscovado sugar

Beta the egg yolks and sugar until pale and fluffy. Heta up the milk and cream with the vanilla. Pour the warm half and half over the fluffy eggs while stirring. Place the mixing bowl in a bain marie and whisk while the mixture thickens. Let it cool down, then place covered in the fridge over night.

Freeze the container to put the icecream in. Then pour your icecream mixture into the icecream maker for about 45 minutes. Transfer to the cold container and freeze for at least an hour before serving.

Lime marinated strawberries

300 g fresh strawberries

1/2 lime, the juice and perhaps some zest

2 tbsp icing sugar

Clean the strawberries and remove the green. Cut in halves. Place in a bowl and add the lime juice (and zest). Mix in the icing sugar.

Simple dessert: vanilla icecream + sherry

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During Easter I managed to meet up with one of my dearest childhood friends, Karl. He lives abroad too and it is not often that we are both at home in Sweden at the same time.

Karl works in Norway as a restaurant manager and sommelier so when we met up we obviously talked about food.

He also gave me a very nice gift; sweet sherry from the year we were both born. It has been aged for so long that it has become syrupy and a bit too sweet just to drink. Instead Karl recommended it be poured over vanilla icecream as dessert.

I obviously tried this more or less straight away and it was seriously yummy. The dessert is of course very simple to make, but is still worthy to be a dinner party finale. And with homemade vanilla icecream this would be even nicer (we used bought icecream this time). Do try this at home, folks!

1982 Bodegas Toro Albala Don PX Gran Reserva

Our Good Friday dinner party

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I went back to Sweden on Friday and after a quick fika (coffee break with cinnamon buns in this case) I whipped up a cheesecake for that evening’s dinner when my best friend Emma and her fiancée Claes came for dinner at my parents’ house.

We started with some bubbly (Crèmant de Bourgougne) and served some olives, pistachios and parmesan crisps as nibbles. It was the first time I made parmesan crisps, but certainly not the last. They were really yummy!

We then sat down and enjoyed my mothers’ roast lamb with garlic, red wine and rosemary and we had a large rösti, creamy sauce, broccoli and carrots with it.

We then served the dulce de leche cheesecake with coffee, bailey’s and whisky. Although I have made it before and loved it, I was still surprised by how divine it is. Just try it!

It was a perfect first evening back home and we had such a great time together. It can be real fun to hang out with different age groups at the same time and I truly enjoy spending time with my friends and parents at the same time.

Parmesan crisps

Choose a good parmesan. Grate it finely and place in piles on baking parchment on a baking tray. Bake in 200C for a few minutes or until the cheese has melted and is golden brown. Leave to cool on the tray.

Almond meringue tart with custard

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The next cake for work have also featured on the blog before, but it was a while ago, so I think it is fair to let it into the limelight once again.

The recipe for this cake is from one of my mother’s many cookbooks and is courtesy of the chefs at Svaneholms Slott in Sweden once upon a time (it is an old book) but the nice thing is that this hotel is in an old castle just 15 minutes from where my parents live.

My colleague Michael loved this cake so much that he asked for the recipe straight away, and I do agree with him – it is a wonderful cake.

It works just as well to end a dinner party as to serve with tea or coffee on a Sunday aftrenoon. The texture is creamy and chewy at the same time and the flavours are really nice. Also it is very simple to make, but it might not look it.

The original recipe calls for flaked almonds to top but I, however think it looks nicer with some fresh raspberries.

Almond meringue tart with custard (gluten free), 8 portioner

150 g ground almonds

5 eggwhites

200 g icing sugar

Beat the eggwhites until stiff peaks. Fold in the icing sugar followed by the ground almonds. Pour into a buttered dish and bake until golden brown, about 30 minutes in 175C.

Custard:

3 egg yolks

200 ml double cream

150 ml caster sugar

1,5 tbsp butter

Add the ingredients to a saucepan. Let it all melt while stirring and let it simmer for about 5 minutes. Leave to coll and pour onto the meringue base. Leave to cool a little and decorate with raspberries or flaked almonds.

Delicious mango icecream

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Spring is here and with it my longing for icecream is even stronger. Stronger? you might wonder. Yes, I am one of those weird people that can happily eat icecream when it is freezing cold outside.

And since I now have a proper freezer instead of a tiny one, I will make up for lost time by making and eating lots of icecream this spring and summer. Already in January, I made a simple vanilla icecream, and this time I tried mango.

The recipe is from a very trusted source, the Swedish food blog Smaskens.nu. I have tried and tested a lot of her recipes and they are always very good. This icecream is no exception, but describing it as very good would be an insult. It is wonderful! Rich and creamy with a freshness of fruity mango. Dreamy.

I can just picture myself in the garden of our summer house by the south coast in Sweden resting after a sunbathing session at the beach a short walk away and refreshing myself with this icecream. It has summer written all over it.

Mango icecream, 1 batch

After Annika’s recipe.

Custard:

400 ml cream

200 ml milk

a splash (1/2 tsp or so) vanilla

5 egg yolks

200 ml granulated cane sugar (lightly brown)

Heta up cream, milk and vanilla in a large saucepan. Beat yolks and sugar fluffy in a mixing bowl. Once the cream mixture is warm, pour it into the mixing bowl while stirring to combine. Transfer the lot to the saucepan again and heat up while stirring continuously. Do not let it boil. Remove once it has thickened slightly. Pour into the mixing bowl again and leave to cool. Chill in the fridge overnight to thicken.

Mango purée:

500 g mango

50 ml granulated cane sugar (lightly brown)

Peel and cut the mango into smallish pieces. Place in a saucepan with the sugar. Bring to the boil and let it bubble for about 15 minutes. Mix until smooth and let it cool.

Mix into the custard just before adding the mixture to the icecream maker. Once the icecream is done, let it set in the freezer for a few hours before serving.

Smaka och dö en smula!