Traditional and modern Scandinavian and Nordic recipes.

Thursday, October 23, 2014

Very Berry Scandi Muffin - A Delicious Berry Muffin Recipe.



These muffins are so yummy made with any of the summer berries that you might find.  I used blueberries, red currants, red gooseberries, red raspberries and a hint of elderflower syrup in this recipe!!  These summer muffins are perfect for breakfast, brunch or a snack.



 Ingredients:
  • 3 cups of flour
  • 4 teaspoon of baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon of salt
  • 1 teaspoon of cinnamon
  • ½ a cup of red currants
  • ½ a cup of raspberries
  • ½ a cup of blueberries
  • ½ a cup of red gooseberries
  • 1 -2 teaspoons of sugar
  • 3 tablespoons of elderflower syrup over gooseberries to macerate for 15 minutes
  • ½ a  cup of white sugar
  • ½ a cup of brown sugar
  • 1 teaspoon of orange zest/ lemon zest
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 teaspoon of vanilla
  • ½ a cup of oil
  • 1 cup of plain yogurt
  
Kitchen Utensils:
  • 1 large glass bowl 
  • 3 medium bowls 
  • 1 measuring cup
  • measuring spoons
  • a whisk or electric mixer
  • a spatula 
  • an ice cream scoop
  • 1 knife
  • 1 fork
  • 1 spoon
  • A cutting board
  • 12-cup muffin pan
Instructions:
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease 12 muffin cups or line with paper muffin liners.
  2. In a large bowl mix the dry ingredients including flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt with a fork. Then set the bowl aside.
  3. Combine red raspberries and red currants in a bowl.  Add 1-2 teaspoons of sugar.  Muddle the fruit in a bowl.  Then set aside.
  4. Add 3 tablespoons of elderflower syrup into a bowl of red gooseberries.  Mix with a spoon and set aside.
  5. Now  take 1 tablespoons of your flour mixture and put it into a bowl of blueberries.  Give the fruit a quick little mix with a spoon to coat them in the flour so the flour adheres to it.  That way when the muffins are baking, the fruit will not sink all of the way down.  We will do the same with the gooseberries just before we add into the batter.
  6. In a medium bowl, use a hand held whisk to whisk together quickly the yogurt, eggs, lemon zest and vanilla until smooth.
  7. Then add in oil, white sugar, brown sugar, red currant raspberry mixture into the bowl of wet ingredients.
  8. Next, combine the bowl of dry ingredients right into the wet ingredients with a spatula.  Don't over mix.  The batter should have lumps and not be completely smooth.
  9. Now fold the fruit into the batter mixture with a spatula until the batter just comes together.  The spatula prevents from over mixing the flour and from smashing up the fruit so these are going to be a nice muffin.
  10. Next, add an ice cream scoopful of batter into each muffin cup and make them all of the same size.
  11. To give little extra Scandinavian touch add almond paste slices into each of the cups.
  12. Add blueberries on top of the batter. This will make the muffins pop visually.
  13. Sprinkle sugar on top as the final topping.
  14. Now we are ready to bake the muffins in the preheated oven 350°F for about 20-25 minutes or until they’re golden brown.  The easiest way to tell if the muffins are baked is to insert a toothpick into the center.  If the toothpick comes out clean then you know they are done.
  15. Transfer to a wire rack and let the muffins cool in the pan for 5 to 10 minutes.
  16. These muffins are best when freshly baked, but they’re still good the second day.

We hope you enjoyed the video on how to make this recipe! If you like the video, please be sure to subscribe to our YouTube Channel Scandinavian Today.  Our channel has videos including

Our Scandinavian recipes including Danish, Norwegian, Swedish and Finnish are on http://scandinavtoday.blogspot.com/

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Friday, October 10, 2014

Joulutorttu – Finnish Christmas Prune Jam Tarts




Pastry Ingredient:

  • 15 oz/425 g unsalted butter; cubed, at room temperature
  • 15 oz/425 g light ricotta (cream cheese or cottage cheese)
  • 3 1/3 cup of plain flour
  • (or buy puff pastry from the store)
Pastry Instruction:
  1. Mix butter and flour together to form a crumby consistency.  
  2. Add ricotta and mix until it comes together. 
  3. Roll into a ball and place it in the refrigerator for 30-60 minutes.

Filling Ingredients:

  • 1 lb pitted prunes
  • 4 tbs or half a cup of sugar
  • 1-2 cups water – or just enough to cover the prunes in a medium sized saucepan

Instruction to make the Jam:

  1. Add prunes, water and sugar to a pan.  Bring it to the boil, reduce heat and simmer until the prunes have completely softened (approx.15minutes). 
  2. Stir to ensure the prunes do not stick to the pan.
  3. Keep an eye out for how much water you need.
  4. If you want a smooth texture you can puree the jam or mash the prunes with a fork to a chunkier texture.

Instruction to Make the Tart:

  1. Divide pastry dough into 2 portions. Roll the first portion out (place 2nd roll in refrigerator).  
  2. Use flour sparingly to ensure the pastry dough does not stick to the board.
  3. Cut the pastry into squares (or use a square cutter).  Make diagonal cuts in each corner of every square about halfway to the center, leaving the middle of the square uncut for the jam. 
  4. Place a teaspoon of jam into the center of each square and fold the pastry to make a star.
  5. Bake at 400F for approx. 8-10 min or till a little golden.

Serve with either coffee, tea, or milk.  Enjoy!


We hope you enjoyed the video on how to make this Joulutorttu recipe and video! If you like the video, please be sure to subscribe to our YouTube Channel Scandinavian Today.  Our channel has videos including

Our Scandinavian recipes including Danish, Norwegian, Swedish and Finnish are on http://scandinavtoday.blogspot.com/

Follow us either on Twitter @scandinavtoday, Blogger, Google+, Google Pages, Pinterest and Subscribe to our YouTube Chanel Scandinavian Today!  Let's get cooking Scandinavian foods!

Smørrebrød - Stjerneskud - Shooting Star Open-Faced Sandwich - A Simplified Delightful Version!


This Shooting Star sandwich is my abbreviated version of a famous Danish sandwich.  It is not only pretty to look at, but it also tastes great and is healthy. It's basically a combination of a variety of seafood toppings.


 
Ingredients:

  • Rye Bread (Rugbrød)
  • Butter
  • Fried Filet of Sole (or Plaice}
  • 1 piece of Smoked  Salmon
  • 1 tbsp Cod roe or Caviar
  • Approx.6 Shrimps
  • 3-4 asparagus
  • Dill
  • Lettuce
  • 2 Lemon Wedges

Directions:

  1. Dip the first fish in flour, egg, and breadcrumbs, fry until golden brown in butter. Once this has cooled we are ready to make the sandwich.
  2. Place lettuce on the buttered rye bread
  3. Arrange the luke warm/cold fried fish on top of the lettuce
  4. On top add mayonnaise
  5. Next place smoked salmon on end of the fried fish and  shrimp on the other end of the fried fish
  6. In between the salmon and the shrimp place the asparagus as if it is shooting up in the air
  7. On top twist two slices of lemon on end of the asparagus.  
  8. Add cod roe (or caviar) on the asparagus and in the center of the sandwich
  9. Add dill behind the lemon
We usually set the table with a Royal Copenhagen plate, a fork, a knife and a glass for the beer. When we have a Danish celebration, we traditionally have Danish beer and schnapps with an open-faced sandwich and say Skål frequently! 

We hope you enjoyed the video on how to make this Smørrebrød and recipe! If you like the video, please be sure to subscribe to our YouTube Channel Scandinavian Today.  Our channel has videos including

Our Scandinavian recipes including Danish, Norwegian, Swedish and Finnish are on http://scandinavtoday.blogspot.com/

Follow us either on Twitter @scandinavtoday, Blogger, Google+, Google Pages, Pinterest and Subscribe to our YouTube Chanel Scandinavian Today!  Let's get cooking Scandinavian foods!

Thursday, October 2, 2014

Æbleskiver ♥ How to Make Danish Aebleskiver with Apple Filling

Did you know there are different types of Æbleskiver batter?  There are a variety of aebleskive recipes. Some aebleskive recipes require buttermilk or milk or yeast. Here is our 3rd version using milk and baking powder.





First step is to make the Apple Filling.  The second step is to make the batter.  Finally. we are ready to make the Æbleskiver!

Apple Filling Ingredients:
  • 2-3 tart apples, peeled, cored and diced (according to size)
  • approx. 1/4 cup butter
  • 2-3 tblsp sugar
  • 1/4 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp cardamom
Kitchen Tools:
  • large heavy saucepan
  • apple peeler
  • cutting knife
  • cutting board
  • measuring cup
  • measuring spoon
  • mixing spoon
Instruction:

Cook the apples in the melted butter with the spices and sugar over medium heat until the apples are tender (approx. 10 min).

Remove from the heat and use as filling for for the aebleskiver.
 
Aebleskive Ingredient:
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 1/2 tsp sugar
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 tsp cardamom
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 cup whole milk
  • 2 tblsp melted butter
What to Serve with Æbleskiver
  • powder sugar for dusting
  • sugar or jam
Kitchen Utensils:
  • æbleskiver pan (cast iron preferable)
  • 2 mixing bowls
  • electric mixer
  • wooden spoon
  • measuring cup/spoons
  • wooden skewer or knitting pin
Instruction:
Whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt together in a bowl. Mix egg yolks with the milk and the melted butter. Add the yolk mixture to the flour mixture and stir till well blended.

In a separate bowl beat the egg whites till stiff, but not dry. With a spatula fold approx. 1/3 of the egg whites into the batter and finally fold in the rest of the egg whites until no white streaks remain. Now we area ready to bake the aebleskiver right away in the aebleskive pan.

Add butter to the aebleskive pan and heat up the pan. When butter bubbles add 1 tblsp batter in the pan and add 1 tsp apple filling into the center. Finally add a little batter on top of the filling.

Cook until the aebleskiver are browned on each side (approx. 3 min each side). Turn with a knitting pin or a wooden skewer.

Dust with confectioners' sugar before serving.

Tip:Æbleskiver can be kept warm in the oven, and they can also be frozen.

We hope you enjoy our Danish aebleskive recipe for your Jul celebrations, afternoon snacks or whenever you feel like having one! 

If you like the video, please be sure to subscribe to our YouTube Channel Scandinavian Today.  Our channel has videos including

Our Scandinavian recipes including Danish, Norwegian, Swedish and Finnish are on http://scandinavtoday.blogspot.com/

Follow us either on Twitter @scandinavtoday, Blogger, Google+, Google Pages, Pinterest and Subscribe to our YouTube Chanel Scandinavian Today!  Let's get cooking Scandinavian foods!

Monday, September 29, 2014

Serving Akvavit? How about a Tivoli Special Cocktail!


Instructions:
  • 2 tablespoons of Akvavit
  • 1 teaspoon of fresh lemon juice or to taste
  • 3 to 5 ice cubes
  • Ginger ale
  • 1 lemon wedge

Directions:
  • Combine the Akvavit with lemon juice and ice cubes in a glass.
  • Stir and mix well.
  • Fill the glass with ginger ale.
  • Add a lemon wedge on the side of the glass.