Category: Dessert

Dulce de leche pannacotta

Published on by HannaLeave a comment

To me, a great ending to a meal is some cheese, a pannacotta or a creme brulée. On Saturday after some homemade pizzas with bacon and chorizo I served this lovely caramel pannacotta.

It is incredibly easy to make, especially if you buy the dulce de leche readymade but also if you boil it yourself.

The panncotta is enough in itself but I added a dollop of caramel on top just for appearence and texture.

Dulce de leche pannacotta, serves 4

300 ml cream

ca 200 g (1/2 can) dulce de leche

2 gelatine leaves

Soak the gelatine in cold water. Bring cream and caramel to the boil in a saucepan while stirring. Remove from heat and add the gelatine, water squeezed out. Stir to incorporate. Leave to cool for a while before pouring into bowls. Leave to set in the fridge for at least 2 hours.

 

Simple pleasures

Published on by HannaLeave a comment

Sometimes the simple pleasures in life are enough to put a smile on your face. One of my simple pleasures and favourite desserts are a plate of room temperature Ossau-Iraty cheese, a Basque ewe’s milk hard cheese. It is hard and creamy at the same time and the flavour is lovely. Especially paired with some truffle honey. Bliss!

Sundae of homemade icecream and chocolate sauce

Published on by Hanna3 Comments

In my new flat we have the luxury of a regular three-drawer freezer, and since my flatmate and I have one drawer each it is perfect to use the third drawer for say, icecream.

I brought over my mother’s old icecream maker and used it to make frozen yoghurt at work in the summer, but now I keep it in my flat so I can make icecream instead.

Since I haven’t made my own icecream since I lived in Sweden (almost four years ago now) because of major freezer issues (in every flat) I had to start the icecream making with something as simple as vanilla.

Simple yes, but it is made with whole milk, double cream, free range egg yolks and a proper vanilla pod, so still very good. Served with an old fashioned chocolate sauce and chocolate chip cookies, this is a very simple, yet always fulfilling dessert.

I promise you, there will be more icecream recipes from now on. I am just getting started!

Homemade vanilla icecream, serves 3-4

Translated from Charlotta’s recipe.

4 egg yolks
100 ml caster sugar
300 ml double cream
100 ml whole milk
1 vanilla pod
a pinch of salt

Beat the yolks and sugar with an electric whisk until pale and fluffy. Cut the vanilla pod in half and scrape out the seeds. Place this in a sauce pan with the cream and the salt. Bring to the boil, then remove from heat and leave to cool. Pour it over the egg mixture and mix well. Place the bowl in a bain marie and stir with a whisk until the mixture is 85C (should take about 10 minutes). Place the bowl in a tub of ice water to cool down then pour it into the icecream maker.

Mother’s chocolate sauce, serves 3-4

50 ml cocoa

50 ml caster sugar

50 ml water

Pour all the ingredients into a saucepan, stir occasionally and bring to the boil. Let it thicken for a few minutes. Serve warm with icecream.

A vegan New Year’s Eve menu

Published on by Hanna1 Comment

I like to be challenged in the kitchen, and that is why I thought it was a good idea to cook for my friend Jenny and her boyfriend James on NYE before heading to a party. Last time I invited James I cooked a whole lot of mezze dishes inspired from my trip to Syria and Ottolenghi’s book Plenty.

I wanted the NYE menu to be quite traditional, nice and vegan and because it was just for the three of us I kept it quite simple.

~ The New Year’s Eve menu 2011 ~

***

Crostini with bean spread

***

Jerusalem artichoke soup with coconut milk and fried chestnut mushrooms

Rustic baguette, olive oil and balsamico

***

Butternut squash risotto with spinach

Salad with romaine lettuce, romano peppers, avocado and pomegranate

***

Vanilla pannacotta with soy cream and passionfruit

***

We had champagne to start as well, and thanks to Waitrose I got a great bottle of bubbly half price. At the champagne tasting at Harrod’s I tried some champagnes from Duval-Leroy, but not thiis one; their regular Brut NV, but because I liked the others and it is a good quality champagne house I bought this bottle and it was really good.

Vega Jerusalem artichoke soup with coconut milk, serves 3 as a starter

1 shalot, finely chopped

1 tbsp oliv oil

500 g Jerusalem artichokes, peeled

water

2 tsp concentrated vegetable stock

50 ml coconut milk

salt, white pepper

Topping: fried, sliced chestnut mushrooms

Fry the onion until soft in the oil. Add the artichokes to the pan and fry for a minute or so, Add hot water to cover and add salt. Bring to the boil and cook until very soft. Remove half the water, but keep it on the side, and puré the rest with the artichokes. Add the coconut milk and then adjust the thickness with the left over water. Add concentrated stock, salt and pepper. Bring to the boil again and serve.

Vegan butternut squash risotto with spinach, serves 4

1/2 butternut squash

1/2-1 onion

olive oil

100 ml dry white wine

1 litre vegetable stock

400 g aborio rice

2 handfuls fresh spinach

salt, white pepper

Peel the squash and remove the seeds. Cut it into chunks and place them in a roasting tray, add oil, salt and pepper and mix. Place in 200C for 35 minutes or until soft.

Fry the onions in olive oil in a casserole dish or large saucepan but don’t let it brown. Add the rice and stir for a minute or two. Add the wine and watch most of it evaporate. Then add a ladle of the hot stock and continue to stir while it cooks in. Add another ladle and repeat the procedure until all the stock is used up and the rice is soft. it usually takes 18-20 minutes depending on the type of rice. Add the spinach and stir until it is wilted. Season with salt and pepper and add the butternut squash. Feel free to serve with parmesan if you’re not vegan.

Vegan vanilla pannacotta with soy cream and passionfruit, serves 3

400 ml soy cream

2-3 tbsp vanilla essence

50-75 ml jelly sugar, or the same amount of caser sugar + enough veggie set or agar flakes for the amount of liquid

3 passionfruits

I tried my way through when I cooked this, to get rid of the particular aftertaste soy products have, and I recommend you do the same.

Add the cream to a sauce pan and the smaller amount of sugar and vanilla and heat it up. Then add the sugar and vanilla little by little until you are satisfied with the taste. Add the jeling agent if not using jelly sugar. Bring to the boil and stir so the sugar melts. Pour into dessert coupes or ramekins and leave to cool. Place in the fridge for a minimum of four hours to set. 

Before serving, place the inside of the passionfruits in a bowl and place enough on each pannacotta to cover the top. Serve and enjoy.

Glace au four like my mother does it

Published on by HannaLeave a comment

It has taken me a while, but here is the recipe for my mother’s Glace au Four that I made for Anna & Ian’s Christmas dinner.

My mother has always made this dessert, also known as Baked Alaska, with an oat biscuit base, but it is commonly made with a sponge base here in the UK.

Most of the time I make my food shopping online with plenty of time, but this time I went to Sainsbury’s the weekend before Christmas when it was mayhem, and that is my excuse for buying the wrong oats. I prefer rolled oats for baking and grabbed the first bag I saw, and I didn’t notice that it was mixed with almonds, hazelnuts, cinnamon and raisins. I just removed the raisins and added some cardamom to get an even stronger Christmas feel.

I doubled the recipe as there were seven of us, but the below recipe is for four people. However, just double it if you need to.

Photos by Jenny Mills.

Glace au Four, serves 4

Biscuit base:

75 g butter

250 ml rolled oats

125 ml caster sugar

1 egg

1 tsp baking powder

1 tbsp plain flour

(for a Christmas touch, substitute some of the oats for almond slivers and hazelnut kernels as well as 1 tsp cinnamon and 1 tsp cardamom)

3 egg whites

75 ml caster sugar

100 g raspberries, frozen and thawed or fresh

1 litre vanilla icecream

Melt the butter and pour it over the oats. Mix flour and baking powder and add it to the oats. Then add eggs and sugar and stir to combine.

Spread the batter into a greased large tin. Bake in 175C for 20 minutes and leave to cool.

Turn the oven up to 250-275C or put the grill on high. Place the raspberries on the oat base. Beat the egg whites until foamy and add half the sugar. Beat until stiff peaks. Add the rest of the sugar and beat until very stiff peaks and until the meringue is glossy. Place the icecream on top of the berries and cover it with the meringue. Put it in the oven for 5 minutes or until golden brown on top. Serve immediately.

Baked stuffed figs with mascarpone, walnuts and chocolate

Published on by HannaLeave a comment

To end that Italian inspired meal I have been going on about all week, we served Baked stuffed figs with mascarpone, walnuts and chocolate from that lovely book I have been going on about all week too – Bringing Italy Home by Ursula Ferrigno. I was more inspired by it than anything, so below is my adaptation with a few changes. It went perfectly together with the vin santo we bought at Harrod’s a while back, but almost any dessert would.

This is nevertheless a nice way to end a meal, with pimped up fruit. It is lighter than most creamy dessert despite it contains both mascarpone and chocolate and I served it with whipped cream.

Fyllda ugnsbakade fikon med mascarpone, valnötter och choklad, serves 4

Adapted after Ursula Ferrigno’s recipe.

8 fresh figs

75 g mascarpone

40 g walnuts, chopped

1 tbsp vin santo

100 g milk chocolate

1-2 tbsp single cream

Wash the figs and cut off parts of their bottoms so they can stand up. The make a cross almost all the way down to open up the figs. It is in this opening we put the stuffing.

Mix mascarpone with wine and walnuts. Stuff the figs. Bake for 10 minutes in 200C.

Melt the chocolate while the figs are baking, and mix with the cream. When the figs are done, place two on each plate and spoon chocolate on top. Serve with lightly whipped cream. 

Baked figs with white chocolate and muscovado

Published on by Hanna2 Comments

I had some left over fresh figs and wanted to make an easy dessert with them, preferrably without having to leave the house to buy any ingredients. After a little google session I found a similar recipe to this on a Swedish dairy website. And lucky me, I had all the (few) ingredients at hand.

Baked figs with white chocolate and muscovado, serves 2

2 fresh figs

50 g white chocolate, roughly chopped

2 tbsp light muscovado sugar

Heat up the oven to 175C. Rinse the figs and cut in half. Almost cut the halves in two and place in a small tray skin side down. Sprinkle the sugar and the chocolate on top and bake for 10-15 minutes. Serve with lightly whipped cream while still warm. 

Blueberry cheesecake

Published on by HannaLeave a comment

For the August birthdays at work I made lavender blondies and this blueberry cheesecake. I wanted to use summery flavours before autumn is here knocking on the door.

I found the recipe for this cheesecake on a Swedish food blog, Matplatsen and it is quite box standard. Making the filling I used a stick blender, and that worked, however a good processor would work even better. And make sure not to omit the top layer of creme fraiche, that is (literally) the icing on the cake and makes it so much nicer.

Blueberry cheesecake, serves 8-10

Base:
250 g digestives
100 g butter

Flling #1:
450 g Philadelphia cheese or other cream cheese
200 g blueberries
3 eggs
125 ml caster sugar 

Filling #2:
300 ml creme fraiche
3 tbsp caster sugar
1 tbsp vanilla sugar

Turn on the oven and set it to 180C. Crumble the biscuits and mix with melted butter. Press the base into a springform until firm. Bake in oven for 5-10 minutes. Mix the ingredients for filling #1 until smooth and pour into the springform. Bake in a low oven for 25-30 minutes or until just set.

Mix filling #2 and spread it onto the cale. Bake for another 5 minutes. Leave to cool completely and refrigerate until serving. Decorate with fresh blueberries and icing sugar.

The best crumble

Published on by Hanna3 Comments

Before crumble used to be a quite nice dessert for me, one I didn’t have a relationship with. Something I didn’t crave very often and something that never really blew me away. But that changed.

I realised how nice a crumble can be when Gaby made it for me the first time. And the second time. I don’t know what her secret is, but her crumble is the best ever. Or at least it was until I encountered this recipe which is actually just as good as her’s.

It all happened one evening when Christopher and I were cooking with Jess and Chris. Jess wanted to make an apple crumble and without a recipe at hand we looked in Chris’s mum’s old Delia cookbook and used her recipe. Then we finished a whole crumble in like 5 minutes between the four of us. It was delish!

The flavour was awesome (sorry, have been watching too much Chuck) but the texture was a bit too sandy for my liking, so a few days later I was standing in my kitchen playing with the measures and this recipe was the result. It tastes just like the Delia-recipe but it contains a bit more butter.

Together with the raw custard, this is the perfect autumn dessert, and you can make it with whatever fruit or berries you have at hand.

Because of the brown sugar, the dessert feels autumnal and quite earthy, and would be perfect served after a casserole or game.

The best crumble, serves 4

8 plums or the equivalent in other fruits/berries 

100 g softened butter

200 g plain flour

135 g soft brown sygar

1 tsp baking powder

Grease a pie dish. Rinse the plums and take the stones out. Cut into wedges/slices and place in the pie dish. Measure all the ingredients into a bowl. Stir to combine with a wooden fork. Pour it over the fruit and bake for 30 minutes in 175C.  

A nice get together in the summer house

Published on by Hanna7 Comments

Our summer house has survived many dinner parties and parties through the years, but the one we had during this holiday in Sweden was probably the best one so far. The weather was good, it was a nice group of friends and the perfect amount of people, and even the food seemed to be appreciated. 🙂

And it is so nice to have a party among old friends sometimes. Friends who without even asking just start helping you. All of a sudden Carina was doing the washing up, Linus carved the meat, Maria made coffee and Claes took charge of the camera. Thanks, guys!

I also had both Malin and Emma to help me in the kitchen with the canapés (and the gossip) and they did a great job (followed orders, I mean).

We started off with two canapés, both found on a lovely Swedish foodblog: Pyttes. We had fried halloumi with grilled peppers and crustades with girolles. Both adorable and extremely tasty!

As a starter I chose a dish I have made before and love; the salmon tartar with cream cheese topping. It is a great summery dish that looks more difficult to make than it is, plus you can prepare it in advance.

For the mains we had barbecued chicken with lemon and rosemary and barbecued leg of lamb marinated in red wine, garlic and rosemary. With this we served celeriac gratin, tomatoes provencale and small carrots.

The dessert was prepared in advance as well, the best way to do it for a large gathering I think. I had made an elderflower pannacotta with passionfruit on top, and it was really nice actually, made with mothers homemade elderflower cordial.

I poured the panna cotta into disposable plastic cups, not very sexy, but nice to skip the washing up, when there is 17 of you!

Thank you to all my great friends for coming!

Halloumi canapés with grilled peppers, serves 20 if combined with another canapé.

2 packets of halloumi

5 bell peppers

1 bunch of basil

crema di balsamico

olive oil for frying

cocktail sticks/small scewers

Cut the peppers into big chunks. Rinse and place on a baking tray. Drizzle with olive oil and season. Put the tray in the oven until the peppers are soft and has got some colour, about 25 minutes, 200C, this step you can do in advance.

Slice the hallomi and fry in olive oil until golden, just before serving. Place a piece of pepper and a piece of halloumi on a cocktail stick with a basil leaf in between. Place on platter and repeat until it is all used up. Drizzle crema di balsamico on the platter. Serve with napkins.

Crustades with girolles, serves 12-18 together with another canapé

2 packs (48 pieces) of crustades (you find them in Waitrose)

500 g girolles

butter for frying

150-200 g garlic and herb cream cheese

50 ml sourcream or creme fraiche

1 tsp honey

1 tsp dijon mustard

salt, white pepper

chives to decorate

Clean the mushrooms and chop them. Fry in butter on high heat. Remove from pan to a bowl and add the cream cheese, sour cream, mustard and honey. Season to taste. Fill the crustades with the mixture just before serving (otherwise the crustades go soggy). Cut the chives and sprinkle on top. Serve and enjoy!

Barbecued whole chicken with rosemary and lemon, 8-10 people at a buffet

2 medium chickens

50 g softened butter

rosmary

1 lemon

4 garlic cloves

Rinse the birds. Mix the butter with lemon peel and rosemary leaves. Season the birds and cut pockets in the skin above the breasts. Fill the pockets with butter and smear the rest of the butter around the birds. Cut the lemon in half and place each half the the bird’s cavarties. Place the chickens in a cooking bag each. Place 2 garlic cloves in each bag. Cut a small whole on the top of the bag (as a chimney) and place the chickens in the oven on 200C for about 45 minutes or until almost done. Remove from the bags and place on the barbecue and cook until done (clear juices at the joints).

Barbecued leg of lamb with red wine, rosemary and garlic, serves 12

2 legs of lamb

1 bottle red wine

1 bunch rosmary

garlic

Season the meat on all sides and place in a cooking bag each. Add rosemary sprigs and garlic to the bags and pour half the bottle in each bag. Let the meat marinate for 24 hours, make sure to turn the bag a few times so it marinated evenly. Cut a small whole on the top of the bags (as a chimney) and place the bags in the oven (200C) for about an hour. A meat thermometer is a great tool here, but unfortunately our old one in the summer house didn’t work. Take the meat out of the bags and barbecue at the end to get the crisp and sooty outside. Let the meat rest before carving.

Tomatoes provencale, serves 2-4

2 large tomatoes

3-4 tbsp grated parmesan

5 tbsp breadcrumbs

1 garlic clove

chopped parsley

olive oil

Cut the tomatoes in half (nicest if you cut vertically). Place with the cut side up and brush with oliv oil. Bake in 200 C for 15 minutes. Mix parmesan, breadcrumbs, garlic and parsley in a bowl. Add enough olive oil for the mixture to soak it up. Season the tomatoes and place a spoonful of the mixture on each halve. Bake for another 10-15 minutes. Serve warm.

Elderflower pannacotta, serves 6

700 ml cream (I mixed  single and double)

4 tbsp concentrated elderflower cordial (preferrably homemade)

40 g caster sugar

1/4 tsp vanilla

3 gelatine leaves

Decoration: 2 passion fruits + 2 tsp icing sugar

It is best to make this dessert the day before serving so it has time to set properly. Cover the gelatine leaves with cold water in a bowl. Mix sugar, cream and vanilla in a non-stick saucepan. Bring to the boil and remove from heat. Squeeze the water out of the gelatine leaves and add them to the cream mixture. Stir so they dissolve evenly. Add the elderflower cordial and leave the mixture for 30 minutes to cool down. Pour into plastic cups or small bowls. Leave to cool completely before putting them into the fridge. Leave them overnight to set.

On the same day, scoop out the passionfruit and mix with the icing sugar. Divide the mixture between the pannacottas and spread it out over the top. Serve and realise with the first spoonful that you have gone to heaven.