Scandelights

Fortnums

Published on May 4, 2013April 29, 2013 by HannaLeave a comment

I also took my parents to Fortnum & Mason when they were visiting, and just like me they adore St James’s.

I like the old vibe of the area, something you can’t easily find in Sweden, and we certainly haven’t got a department store dating from the 1700s. Sadly.

I really appreciate the quality of Fortnum’s products and I usually buy things here for my friends as little gifts for friends and family. Something I almost regret after mummy and daddy have developed an addiction to a certain Morello Cherry and Cognac Preserve…

Fortnum & Mason, 181 Piccadilly London W1A 1ER

Frosted chocolate cake with almonds

Published on May 3, 2013April 29, 2013 by HannaLeave a comment

We’re serious about our cakes and other baked goods in Sweden, but sometimes I roll my eyes at the names the cakes get. This cake is called ‘Success Cake’ in Swedish, don’t ask me why, and I just refuse to call it that in English, but the more describing name frosted chocolate cake with almonds, doesn’t really do it justice either.

I mean, yes, it is a frosted chocolate cake, but a very yummy one. Just go ahead and make it and see for yourself!

Frosted chocolate cake with almonds, serves 10

150 g salted butter
180 g caster sugar
1 1/2 eggs
75 ml cocoa
90 g plain flour
3/4 tbsp vanilla sugar
1 tsp baking powder

Frosting:
150 ml double cream
120 g caster sugar
1 1/2 tbsp golden syrup
100 g dark chocolate
75 g butter

Decoration:
50 g almond slivers

Preheat the oven to 175°C. Butter a normal sized baking tray.

Melt the butter in a saucepan. Remove from heat and add sugar and eggs. Mix cocoa, flour, vanilla sugar and baking powder in a bowl. Add the dry mixture to the butter mixture and incorporate well. Pour into the tin and bake in the middle of the oven for 20 minutes.

Mix cream, sugar, syrup and chocolate in a saucepan. Let it simmer until the frosting has thickened and the chocolate has melted, it takes about 15 minutes (less on a gas hob). Remove from heat and add the butter in chunks and beat it into the frosting. Pour the frosting over the cake, spread it evenly, decorate with almond slivers and place in the fridge to set.

A weekend at home!

Published on May 2, 2013April 29, 2013 by Hanna3 Comments

Right now I am on my way home to Sweden. I can’t wait to spend a long weekend here catching up with friends, seeing my parents and hanging out with my best friend Emma.

Food wise I am looking forward to dinner at Atmosfär in Malmö and brunch at Rosen in the same city. Other than that I want to barbecue and go for a walk in the woods and stock up on spring nettles and wild garlic.

Hampton Court Palace

Published on May 1, 2013April 29, 2013 by Hanna2 Comments

Partly because of the gardens, my parents and I also visited Hampton Court Palace when they were in town.

It was actually Henry’s (VIII) adviser Thomas Wolsey that built the Tudor palace that was later taken over as residence for the king.

It is incredibly large with several courtyards and a large garden and although it is very interesting walking around here we were a bit overwhelmed to walk around the whole place and chose the parts we were most interested in; the garden and the kitchens.

Unfortunately it was raining when we looked around the garden, so it wasn’t as pretty as it can be with the sun shining, but still very pretty.

The kitchens had lots of props trying to make them look used, but I think I would have enjoyed looking at them without the props even more, but maybe that’s just me, wanting things to be ‘real’. Definitely worth a visit regardless.

Hampton Court Palace, East Molesey, Surrey KT8 9AU

Kensington Roof Gardens

Published on April 30, 2013April 29, 2013 by HannaLeave a comment

When my parents were visiting two weeks ago we got to see and do (and eat!) a lot, and now that I have told you all about my weekend in Gothenburg I’ll go back to telling you about what we did in London.

I really love living here and I especially like the fact that it is, just like in any other large city, impossible to get board. New things pop up or old things change so there is always something to see and do.

My gardening afficionado of a mother really wanted to visit the Kensington Roof Gardens and I must say I enjoyed the visit just as much, although we didn’t visit the restaurant.

Instead we admired the view and petted the flamingos and walked around the impressive garden (it is much bigger than you think!).

Kensington Roof Gardens,99 Kensington High St London, Greater London W8 5SA

Sponge cake with vanilla filling

Published on April 29, 2013 by HannaLeave a comment

In Sweden a sponge is as common as here in the UK, even though we normally make them without butter which gives you an airier lighter cake.

This cake is just like that, a simple airy sponge but with a very simple filling adding both moisture and lots of flavour. It is incredibly simple to make, and yet wonderful to eat.

I got the recipe from my mother, and although I remembered it was very good I was surprised how good it actually is! And needless to say it went down a treat in the office as well…

Sponge cake with vanilla filling, serves 8

Cake:

3 eggs

300 ml (240 g) caster sugar

300 ml (180 g) plain flour

2 tsp baking powder

100 ml lukewarm water

Filling:

125 g butter (I used salted)

100 ml milk

3 tbsp icing sugar

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

Beat eggs and sugar until pale and pluffy. Sift in the flour and baking powder and stir it in. Add the water and incorporate well. Pour the batter into a buttered springform tin, lined with parchment paper in the bottom. Bake in 200C (180C fan) for about 30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Leave to cool in the tin while preparing the filling.

Melt the butter in a saucepan. Add the milk and let it simmer for a few minutes. Remove from heat and add the icing sugar and vanilla. Leave to cool slightly.

Loosen the cake from the tin and cut in half. Place the bottom piece on a serving plate and pour over the filling. Place the other sponge on top while still warm. Decorate with icing sugar and serve.

Brunch at Incontro, Gothenburg

Published on April 28, 2013April 24, 2013 by HannaLeave a comment

Sunday was my last day in Gothenburg and I started with a lie-in while my host went for a run. Then we went to Incontro for an epic brunch.

After being seated and served with drinks it was time to queue up by the different stations and help yourself to the big spread of food.

The cold food, which we started with, consisted of lots and lots of vegetarian antipasti, a large wooden board full of cold meats, olives, freshly baked bread with truffle cream (amazing!) and big chunks of parmesan to enjoy with either a tangy orange marmalade or with a strong balsamic vinegar. (I preferred the latter). Oh, and we had smoothies too.

After a little break we started with the warm spread. Eggs and bacon, naturally, but I actually skipped the a bit too dry-looking scrambled eggs. The bacon was nice and crispy, the ribs succulent, the pizzas very good and so on.

Another break. Longer this time, and then the obligatory breakfast pancake with cream and warm blackberries.

And yet again a longer break before we embarked on icecream, hot chocolate sauce and meringues.

At the pudding table you also had pannacotta, Belgian waffles, strawberry crumble with custard and lots of pastries.

Needless to say I wasn’t hungry for the rest of the day.

The brunch was very good in my opinion. Sure, everything isn’t perfect when sitting on a hot plate, but the staff were great at topping up the food and changing it if it had been out for a while. Our waitress was also very attentive to clearing plates and topping up our drinks.

And it occured to me how great this place is for vegetarians. Most dishes were actually vegetarian and it was a good spread of that too. Most of the antipasti was vegetarian, same for the pasta and they also had a vegetarian pizza.

Incontro
Mässans Gata 24
412 51 Göteborg, Sweden

Dinner at Hello Monkey, Gothenburg

Published on April 27, 2013April 27, 2013 by HannaLeave a comment

After cocktails at Hotel Dorsia we (all the food bloggers) continued our Saturday evening at Hello Monkey where we all had had their Monkey Combo menu.

Hello Monkey. Such a great name, don’t you think?! Great food too. And atmosphere.

The starter consisted of three different sashimis that we shared among the table. The tuna was soft and velvety and was paired with creamy avocado and crispy fried shallots.

Norwegian Salmalax (a type of farmed salmon) came with pickled ginger and shiitake mushrooms. My favourite among the three.

The mackerel came on a bed of coconut creme and had mustard pickled chilli on top. Nice although I don’t particularly like coconut.

The maincourse was again lots of different plates that we shared among us. First we had these divine shiitake mushrooms springrolls served in a lettuce leaf. So yummy!

Several dips for the dumplings.

These little shellfish cakes made from tiger prawn and scallops were like most generic fishcakes, and it was a shame you couldn’t taste the scallops.

The steamed dumplings with chicken and spring onions were delicious, especially dipped in the soy sauce.

The potstickers with entrecôte (beef) and pork mince had a nice flavour too them, but the texture of the casing was rather strange and slippery.

These crispy lamb wontons were nice too, but not that special. All the different dumplings were served with vegetables (in case that doesn’t show very well) and we also had steamed rice on the side. It wasn’t necessary though, the rice, I was so full at the end of this meal.

Although some dumplings were better than others I really enjoyed this meal. Everything was tasty, nicely presented and well timed for such a large group. The restaurant is cosy and really buzzing on a Saturday night. If I lived in Gothenburg I would definitely eat here a lot.

Hello Monkey, Magasinsgatan 26, 41118 Göteborg, Sweden

Dinner Chateau Beirut, Gothenburg

Published on April 25, 2013April 23, 2013 by HannaLeave a comment

The first item on the agenda for the meetup was drinks at Kim’s followed by dinner at Lebanese Chateau Beirut on the Friday evening.

We all had a set meze menu with twelve different dishes, some of them real classics like hummus, stuffed vine leaves and baba ganoush but also a few interesting ones like the creamy tuna dip (delicious) and bulgur wheat falafel.

Stuffed vine leaves

Paprika and garlic dips

Belly dancing

Tabbouleh and tuna dip

The food was really good and authentic in flavour and even the wines were Lebanese. Only downside was the dated decor and the very loud music from the speakers when it was time for the belly dancing.

Chateau Beirut, Karl Johansgatan 7, 414 59 Göteborg, Sweden