Sveitabrauð

Country bread

I'm actually completely thrilled with this bread - so easy to prepare, so few ingredients, no long rising times... and afterwards a wonderfully crunchy crust and a wonderfully fluffy interior.

Oh yes, I really love this Sveitabrauð!


Ingredients

300 g flour
300 g wholemeal flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
400 ml buttermilk


Preparation

In a large bowl, mix the flour, baking powder and salt.

Add the buttermilk and knead everything into a smooth dough.

Shape the dough into a nice loaf with floured hands.

On a tray lined with baking paper...

...bake in a preheated oven at 350 °F (180 °C) upper and lower heat for about 1 hour.

Then let it cool down a bit and then cut into slices and enjoy.

Bon appetit!

[Translated from here.]

Sjónvarpskaka

TV cake

When you ask Icelanders what a “typical Icelandic cake” is to them, one name always comes up: Sjónvarpskaka.

Literally translated it means “television cake”. However, no one could really answer me why this cake is called TV cake. Maybe because it's easy to eat without making a big mess while watching TV on the couch.

But one theory also says that the cake is called TV cake because the surface of the cake looks like the TV picture in Iceland used to - crisp and noisy. Of course there could be something to that!

In Iceland, the cake is not only known as Sjónvarpskaka (= television cake), but also as "Skólakaka" (= school cake) and as "Gullkaka" (= gold cake).



Ingredients

4 eggs
300 g sugar
250 g flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 pinch of ground vanilla
200 g milk
50 g margarine

For the coconut caramel topping

125 g margarine
100 g coconut flakes
125 g powdered sugar
4 Tbsp milk


Preparation

Preheat the oven to 180 upper/lower heat.

In a large bowl, beat the eggs with the sugar until fluffy.

Add flour, baking powder and ground vanilla.

Add the milk and margarine...

...and work everything into a smooth dough.

Place in a springform pan (approx. 24 cm) lined with baking paper and bake in the lower third of the preheated oven at 350 °F (180 °C) for about 35 minutes.

Take the cake out of the oven briefly and prepare the topping:

Put all the ingredients for the topping in a small pot and heat slowly, stirring occasionally. Let the mixture simmer for about 5 minutes.

Pour the coconut mixture into the middle of the cake and spread it very carefully, leaving a small edge so that nothing flows down during baking.

Then bake for about 25 minutes at 350 °F (180 °C) upper and lower heat in the lower third of the oven.

Then take the cake out of the oven and let it cool down.

In Iceland, the “classic TV cake” is usually enjoyed with whipped cream and cold milk.

Have fun with a cozy afternoon watching TV!

[Translated from here.]

Steikt klausturbleikja með möndlusmjör

Fried char char with almond butter

Char is called “bleikja” in Icelandic (“Artic Char” in English). Char are from the salmon family.

A particularly large variety of different char species can be found in Lake Þingvallavatn in Iceland - the lake is said to be the only place in the world where four different species of char live at the same time, all of which have developed here over the last 10,000 years.


Ingredients for 2 people

2 chars
4 Tbsp flour
1/2 tsp coarse sea salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 Tbsp butter

150 g butter
1 bunch of parsley
100 g mushrooms
50 g sliced ​​almonds
50 g scampi
1 tsp lemon juice
1 pinch of black pepper


Preparation

Wash the fish, fillet it as carefully as possible and pat dry.

Mix the flour on a plate with the salt and pepper and place the fish in on both sides.

Melt the tablespoon of butter in a large pan.

Fry the fish in the hot pan for a few minutes on each side.

Then keep the fish warm in a fireproof dish in the oven.

Add the remaining butter to the pan.

Wash, clean and chop the mushrooms and parsley.

Then add them to the pan along with the sliced ​​almonds and scampi, mix thoroughly and season with a little pepper and a tablespoon of lemon juice.

Arrange the fish, pour the almond butter over it and serve immediately. This fish dish is usually eaten with boiled potatoes and fresh salad - we had Gulrótasalat , i.e. carrot salad with raisins.

Bon appetit!

[Translated from here.]

Gulrótasalat

Carrot salad

Ingredients

300 g carrots
2 Tbsp raisins

2 Tbsp rapeseed oil
2 Tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp sugar
1 pinch of coarse salt
1 pinch of black pepper
1 Tbsp chopped parsley


Preparation

Wash, peel and grate the carrots into small pieces.

Place in a large salad bowl along with the raisins.

Mix the oil with the lemon juice, sugar, salt and pepper,...

....pour over the grated carrots and mix everything thoroughly and sprinkle with the chopped parsley.

Let it sit in the fridge for 1-2 hours and then serve.
Depending on your taste, season with a little salt and pepper.

[Translated from here.]

Vöfflur með kardimommur

Waffles with cardamom

This waffle recipe comes from an old Icelandic cookbook. I was particularly happy about the pinch of cardamom in the ingredients list - a pinch of Scandinavia in this recipe, so to speak. “In Scandinavia, cardamom is a typical ingredient in sweet baked goods,” Wikipedia already knows.

Ingredients

2 eggs
85 g margarine
1 Tbsp sugar
250 g flour
1 pinch of cardamom
150 ml milk
100 ml whipping cream

Grease for the waffle iron

Powdered sugar for sprinkling


Preparation

Separate the eggs.

In a bowl, beat the egg yolks with the sugar and margarine until fluffy.

Add flour, cardamom, milk and whipping cream and mix everything into a smooth dough.

To top it off, beat the egg white until stiff and fold it into the dough.

Grease the waffle iron, let it get hot and then bake the dough in portions in the waffle iron.

Finally, sprinkle the waffles with powdered sugar and serve warm if possible.

Traditionally, people in Iceland eat their waffles with whipped cream and jam.

[Translated from here.]

Eggjahræra

Scrambled eggs

Ingredients for 2 people

4 eggs
2 Tbsp whipping cream
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 pinch of coarse sea salt
1 pinch of black pepper
2 Tbsp cheese
2 Tbsp butter


Preparation

Put the eggs in a tall container and mix vigorously.

Add cream, baking powder and salt and pepper and stir in.

Then let the mixture stand at room temperature for about 5 minutes.

Heat a large pan and melt the butter.

Then add the egg mixture to the hot pan, fry briefly and then add the grated cheese on top.

Continue to fry the scrambled eggs, stirring constantly, until the mixture has set, then sprinkle with chopped parsley or dill and serve immediately.

We had scrambled eggs here with boiled skyr bread and delicious smoked vendace, which I found on the Finland blog MAHTAVA! won the “ Finland Centenary Menu ” blog event.

On that note - bon appetit!

We enjoyed it!

[Translated from here.]