pudding – Scandelights

The 2022 New Years Eve Menu

Published on December 30, 2022December 31, 2022 by HannaLeave a comment

When it comes to New Years Eve I like to keep it super classic. Champagne (or other bubbly), of course. Lobster in one way or another. Nice meat. A decadent pudding. And good friends! That’s the most important ingredient of all!

Our plan is to have canapés and champagne quite early in the evening. It’s the best part of the evening (we think so at least!) and something we really treasure so I’m making our favourites. One delicious mushroom toast on butter-fried bread (requested by my best friend), another toast with lobster (yum!!) and another little dish with bleak roe because we love it so much.

Then we’re going straight for the main course; fillet of beef, crispy potatoes, nice vegetables and a creamy mushroom sauce to bring it all together.

For pudding I’m going suuuper classic with a dark chocolate fondant, homemade honeycomb and two types of (store-bought) ice cream.

I’m really happy with the menu. Sometimes I like to experiment but on New Years Eve I prefer to keep it classic and stick to tried and tested favourites. All so even the chef (aka moi) can relax and not spend too much time in the kitchen. Living abroad it’s so rare to have an evening like this with friends from home so we’re making the most of it when we can!

My key to success here is of course to prep ahead. I write a list for the day before and start to tick it off. I will even measure up ingredients for the evening so I can chat and sip champagne while I cook without thinking too much about quantities and recipes.

And as we always have homemade pizza with my parents on the 1st January I will prep that too. Just the dough and the tomato sauce but that will make the assembly so much easier that evening. I have discovered a great recipe for pizza dough I will share with you soon. You make the dough a day or two ahead of time and let it slowly rise in the fridge.

Recipe: Vanilla Pannacotta with Fried Apples and Oat Crumble Topping

Published on November 17, 2022November 10, 2022 by HannaLeave a comment

If you’ve read the blog for a while you know that pannacotta is one of my go-to puddings. Partly because it’s delicious (duh!) but mainly because it’s so easy to make in advance. You just take it out of the fridge, add toppings if any and off you go.

Many people seem a little scared of making it at home, but with good quality gelatine leaves (I like Dr Oetker’s) it really is super simple and doesn’t take long to make. But it does require some planning as it needs quite a few hours to set in the fridge. At least six (as it needs to cool down first) but I usually make it the day before or the morning of, for a dinner the same day.

This particular pannacotta recipe is an ode to autumn and apples and almost like a deconstructed crumble with a creamy element.

The apples are soft and sweet but with a little acidity and the crumble topping adds crunch and texture. I really enjoyed this and after a few attempts I got it just right.

Vanilla pannacotta with fried apples and oat crumble topping, serves 4

Pannacotta:

500 ml single cream

1 vanilla pod

50 ml caster sugar

2 gelatin leaves

Apples:

2 apples (local ones are best), washed, cored and diced

1 tbsp salted butter

1 tbsp golden syrup

1/4 lemon, the juice

tiny pinch of salt

Oat crumble:

150 ml jumbo oats

1 tbsp salted butter

1 tbsp caster sugar

Make the pannacotta well in advance: Cover the gelatin leaves with cold water in a bowl. Make a cut lengthways in the vanilla pod and add to a saucepan. Add sugar and cream. Bring to the boil and let it simmer for a few minutes while stirring. Remove from heat. Squeeze the excess water out of the gelatin and add to the pan. Stir to dissolve. Divide between four small bowls or glasses, pouring through a sieve . Leave to cool then let them set in the fridge for at least 6 hours.

Remove the pannacottas from the fridge as you prepare the toppings (or make the toppings before dinner and heat up in time for serving, in which case keep the pannacottas refrigerated). In one non-stick frying pan, add 1 tbsp butter on medium heat. Add the apples and allow them to soften. Add the golden syrup when the apples are soft and fry for another 2 minutes. Add the lemon juice and a little salt. Set aside, covered.

In another non-stick saucepan, add 1 tbsp butter on medium heat. Add the oats and toast the oat flakes until golden brown while stirring. Add the sugar and stir to combine.

Divide the apples between the pannacottas and top with the sugary oats.

Recipe: Chocolate Fondue

Published on May 11, 2022 by HannaLeave a comment

Even before my boyfriend and I lived together I would spend most weekends at his flat and obviously cook a lot in his kitchen. One day looking through the cupboards for something useful I spotted a chocolate fondue set, complete with chocolate and marshmallows. It had never been used but he knew it had been there a long time so I made sure to use fresh chocolate and marshmallows for our first chocolate fondue. I also added some crispy things like little waffles and wafer rolls to dip, and of course strawberries.

We’ve made it a few times since, and I thought it was the perfect pudding on Valentine’s Day with heart shaped marshmallows (yes, I’m a sucker for things like that)!

It’s actually vey easy to make the chocolate sauce, and as to what to dip – you decide, but I recommend a few different textures and flavours, and definitely something fruity and sharp to cut through all the sweetness. I have listed the dippers we had below and although I love them all I highly recommend the butter crisps.

Chocolate fondue, serves 4

150 g dark chocolate (approx 60% cacao), roughly chopped

50 g milk chocolate, roughly chopped

125 ml single cream

a tiny pinch of sea salt

To dip:

strawberries, rinsed

marshmallows

Jules Destooper butter crisp waffles

wafer curls

Heat up the cream until almost boiling in a non-stick saucepan. Once hot, take it off the hob and add the chocolate. Leave it for a minute or so to melt before stirring well. Add the salt and mix again. Pour into a chocolate fondue pot and serve straight away with a selection of things to dip.

Updated: My Perfected Rhubarb Crumble

Published on April 13, 2021April 13, 2021 by HannaLeave a comment

Anyone else excited about rhubarb right now?! I just love it (you’ll find lots of lovely recipes here) and as it’s still cold out (it snowed earlier in the week!) I thought it best to start this rhubarb season with a warming crumble. It was also the perfect opportunity to improve on the recipe a little; to make it perfect!

All I did was to reduce the sugar a little and substitute some brown sugar for caster sugar to let the rhubarb flavour come through more, and it made such a difference! It was yummy before but now it’s *chef’s kiss*.

My perfected rhubarb crumble, serves 4

ca 250 g rhubarb, washed and cut into smaller pieces

60 g caster sugar (to balance the acidity from the rhubarb)

Crumble:

100 g softened butter

200 g plain flour

65 g soft brown sugar

70 g caster sugar

1 tsp baking powder

Butter an ovenproof dish. Place the rhubarb pieces in the bottom. Scatter the sugar on top. Combine the ingredients for the crumble in a mixing bowl using a wooden fork. Pour on top of the rhubarb. Place in 175C oven for about 30 minutes or until the fruit is soft and the top golden brown. Serve with double cream, custard or ice cream.

Recipe: vanilla crème brûlée once again

Published on May 7, 2020 by HannaLeave a comment

It’s great fun hosting dinner parties together with mamma, because that means we share the cooking! At a dinner party at home in early January I made two types of crostini to start off with it. The main course (which mamma was in charge of) was rather substantial so we opted for nibbles and bubbles on the sofa instead of a starter at the table. Mammas slow-cooked was absolutely wonderful and this very classic pudding was a perfect end to our dinner. I made the vanilla creme brûlée I’ve made for years, but I realised it was quite hard to find on the blog, so wanted to highlight it again.

The original recipe, courtesy of Swedish chef Tina Nordström, had cardamom in it, which I removed but in essence this is her recipe and the only one you will ever need for creme brûlée. I have adapted it a few times too, here is a delicious Amarula Cream version and here is a summery elderflower adaptation.

Vanilla creme brûlée, serves 4-6

5 egg yolks

100 ml caster sugar

350 ml double cream

150 ml whole milk

1 vanilla pod

2 tbsp caster sugar to sprinkle on top

Preheat the oven to 110C. Bring the cream and milk to a boil in a saucepan. Cut the vanilla pod in half lengthways and add it to the cream mixture. Stir the egg yolks and the sugar together in a bowl – no beating required. Pour the cream mixture into the egg mixture and stir (don’t beat or whisk) until the sugar has dissolved. Remove the vanilla pod.

Pour the mixture into crème brûlée dishes and bake for 35-40 min (my oven needed about 1 hour). Remove from oven and let cool in room temperature. Sprinkle the caster sugar on top and caramelise it using a blow torch just before serving.

Recipe: Crema Catalana

Published on October 25, 2019 by HannaLeave a comment

If you love a creme brûlée but don’t always have the patience to make it, then this is for you. This Spanish cousin of the creme brûlée is much easier to make as it doesn’t need the water bath oven time, but it still offers that caramelised lovely sugar on top of the vanilla crème.

Crema Catalana, serves 6

100 ml (80 g) caster sugar

300 ml cream

1 tbsp corn flour

5 egg yolks

250 ml milk

1 tsp vanilla

1 pinch of sugar per bowl for serving

Whisk ety yolks, corn flour and sugar until fluffy in a bowl. Bring milk, cream and vanilla almost to the boil. Remove from heat and pour little by little into the egg yolk mixture while whisking. Pour the milk mixture back into the pan and let it thicken on low heat while stirring. Pour into bowls when it has thickened and leave to cool. Refrigerate until serving.

Scatter the bowls with a little sugar and blow torch until golden (or in lieu of a blow torch use the grill on the oven to caramelise the sugar). Serve with berries.

Recipe: daim ice cream cake

Published on October 12, 2019October 12, 2019 by HannaLeave a comment

In my family we all love the daim bar. I grew up eating them for fika instead of a cookie sometimes (but only half a daim bar each!) and my favourite ice cream is still the daim ice cream. Either as scoops or the daim cone we have in Sweden.

So I don’t know why it took me so long to try this daim ice cream cake recipe, as it basically has my name written all over it!

I made it for pudding in the summer for some friends of mine and we all loved it, although I thought it was borderline too sweet. (Who have I become?!) So when I made it for the second time, only a few days later, for dinner with my parents, I changed the proportions a bit. The cake base is really lovely but also very sweet so by adding more ice cream on top the base appeared less dominant and sweet. So this is not the original recipe, but my adaptation of it, and isn’t that the beauty of sharing recipes really?! That we can all change them after our own preferences.

And yes, of course it was a hit with my daim bar loving parents as well!

Daim ice cream cake, serves 6-8

Translated from and adapted after Söta Saker’s recipe.

Base:

100 g butter, softened

100 ml golden caster sugar

100 ml oats

2 tbsp cocoa

1 tsp vanilla

2 daim bars

Filling:

150 ml double cream

75 ml caramel sauce

3 daim bars

Dekoration:

daim sprinkles

caramel sauce

Mix butter, sugar, oats, cocoa and vanilla to a sticky batter. Chop the daim bars coarsely and mix into the batter. Press the batter onto a baking parchment covered cake tin.

Whip the cream and add the caramel sauce bit by bit, while whipping until soft peaks. Chop the daim bars and add to the cream mixture. Pour the cream mixture into the tin. Cover with cling and put in the freezer for at least 4 hours or over night. Remove from the freezer a few minutes before serving and decorate with caramel sauce and daim sprinkles.

Recipe: Italian meringue covered fruit

Published on March 8, 2019 by HannaLeave a comment

This is a perfect Friday night pudding as it’s quick to whip up (don’t let the Italian meringue scare you, I promise it’s easy!) and feels really fresh after a pizza or whatever Friday night cravings you may have.

Use any (seasonal) fruit and berries you like – they don’t get warm even if you use the grill to brown the meringue, but it’s even easier with a creme brûlée torch, and then you could also put the fruit in a glass so you can see it. Very pretty!

Italian meringue covered fruit, serves 2

Mixed fruit, cut into pieces and berries (enough to almost fill the vessels you’re using), such as:

1 blood orange

1 apple

blueberries

raspberries

Italian meringue:

1 egg white

75 ml caster sugar

75 ml water

50 ml caster sugar

To serve:

lightly whipped cream

Divide the fruit between two ramekins (or glasses if not using the oven) – they should be almost full.

Pour 75 ml caster sugar and 75 ml water into a saucepan and bring it almost to the boil. Once the sugar has melted the syrup is done. Remove from heat. Meanwhile beat the egg white until fluffy with an electric whisk. Pour in some of the remaining sugar and beat some more. Pour in the syrup while beating continuously. Then add the remaining sugar and beat until you have a glossy meringue that is set enough that you can turn the bowl upside down without it sliding out.

Use a spatula to cover the ramekins with the meringue. Put the grill on the oven to 250C and place the ramekins underneath it. Keep the door open and an eye on the ramekins as the meringue browns quickly and you don’t want it going too dark. Remove with mittens as the ramekins go warm (but the fruit inside doesn’t). Or skip this step all together and use a creme brûlée torch to brown the meringue. Serve with lightly whipped cream.

Second week of holiday!

Published on August 16, 2018August 16, 2018 by HannaLeave a comment

My second week in Sweden I tried to take it a bit easier than the first. Try to wind down, not set an alarm and lower the pace. The first day that didn’t happen as I had invited eight adults and five children over for lunch, but I think I managed OK the rest of the week.

But back to the lunch. I skipped a starter so the children didn’t have to sit still for too long; instead everybody could mingle around with a glass of rosé in hand and snacking on these lovely crisps with browned butter, lemon juice and grated cheese.

For the main course I made chicken with lots of garlic and lemon, potato wedges, caramelised garlic sauce and a nice salad.

And for pudding I let everybody put together their own pudding of soft meringue (everybody loves this one!), ice cream, lightly whipped cream, chocolate sauce. berries and figs.

In the evening I had a simple supper consisting of Danish red pølse and all the trimmings. So yummy!!

The next day I went to the beach in Skanör with friends and their three children.

They brought a lovely picnic and there was a lot of swimming with the kids mixed with chatting to their parents. Such a lovely day that we finished off with a late lunch in the harbour nearby followed by ice cream.

Wednesday I slept late and spent my time in the sun in the garden before going for dinner at a friend’s new house! They’d made salmon with salad, potato wedges, two sauces and nice bread and for pudding we had rhubarb pie with ice cream. A perfect summer’s evening.

The next day was another quiet one, with some rain but also some time on the beach (yay!) before having dinner with my parents in the evening. I made lots of pizzas which I will blog about later.

Friday started off the same way (not bad eh?! three lazy days in a row!) and finished with dinner at Badhytten with all the seafood!

My last full day in Sweden I spent partly with my best friend, partly with my parents. Friends of the family came by for fika in the afternoon and in the evening my parents and I had something we never get tired off; fillet of beef with homemade bearnaise sauce. This was the first time we had dinner indoors as the weather turned, but I’m grateful for the sunny days I got!

Sunday was my last day and my best friend and her family came over for lunch with my parents. I got lots of cuddles from my god daughter but we also had some lovely food. Mamma cooked arctic char with potatoes, mange tout, carrots and two sauces; one with caviar and this one with apple. The pudding was a huge success too (although dad would have liked a sweeter version) and I will blog all about it later.

Then off I went to the airport with a quick pit stop at my parents’ house where I hadn’t been all summer. Thank you, near and dear ones, for a lovely two weeks! ❤

Recipe: rhubarb parfait

Published on July 13, 2018July 13, 2018 by HannaLeave a comment

The base recipe for this parfait I’ve known since childhood, so full credit for it goes to mamma. It’s delicious on its own, and so much easier to make than ice cream. And it’s infinitely adaptable.

I’ve made it with elderflower before, and when I was at home in Sweden at the end of May mamma and I came up with this rhubarb version together. We wanted to keep the fresh acidity from the rhubarb while still keeping the sweetness of the custard-tasting parfait and I think we managed to do just that. It’s sweet but not too sweet with a hint of acidity for balance and freshness.

Rhubarb parfait, serves 4

3 egg yolks

80 g caster sugar

300 ml whipping or double cream

Rhubarb filling:

300-400 g rhubarb

approx 2 tbsp caster sugar

Rinse and slice the rhubarb. Mix with sugar and place in a pyrex dish. Place in a 180C oven and bake for approx 20 minutes until the rhubarb has softened and most of the liquid has evaporated. Leave to cool completely.

Beat egg yolkd and sugar until fluffy in a mixing bowl. Whip the cream in a separate bowl and add to the egg mixture.

Line a bread tin with cling film and place a 1 cm wide line of rhubarb compote in the middle of the tin lenghtways. Mix the rest of the rhubarb with the cream mixture and pour into the bread tin. Cover with cling and put in the freezer for at least 5 hours, but preferably over night. Serve with oat thins, berries, more rhubarb, whipped cream or as is.