Súkkulaðikaka

Chocolate cake (no baking)

If there's no time to bake, then maybe there's at least time to quickly mix together a no-bake chocolate cake and put it in the fridge to set!


Ingredients

300 g Oreo cookies
40 g melted butter
500 ml whipping cream
1 tsp instant coffee powder
400 g cream cheese
30 g powdered sugar
1 pack chocolate pudding (for cold mixing)


Preparation

Grind the Oreo cookies thoroughly in the blender.

Mix with the melted butter...

...and press firmly to the bottom of a springform pan (approx. 24 cm in diameter) lined with baking paper.

Place in the fridge to allow the base to firm up a bit while you prepare the filling.

For the filling, beat 200 ml of the whipping cream with the coffee powder until stiff.

Mix the powdered sugar with the cream cheese until a smooth, supple mixture is formed and mix with the whipped cream and coffee powder.

Mix the chocolate pudding with the remaining 300 ml of unbeaten whipping cream.

Now take the cake base out of the fridge. First put about 1/3 of the cream cheese mixture on the base and smooth it out...

...then spread the chocolate pudding on top...

...and spread the remaining cream cheese mixture over it.

Sprinkle the dark chocolate shavings on top and let it solidify in the fridge for at least 3 hours.

Serve well chilled.

[Translated from here.]

Grænt salat með appelsínum

Green salad with oranges

The recipe here comes from an old Icelandic cookbook from the 1940s. I find it a bit unusual, such a “sweet salad”, but it definitely has something!


Ingredients

1 head of lettuce
1 orange
50 ml whipping cream
1 tsp brown sugar
1 tsp lemon juice


Preparation

Wash and pick the lettuce.

Then arrange the lettuce leaves on the plates.

Peel the orange, clean it and cut it into small pieces.

Whip the cream until stiff and mix with the orange pieces, sugar and lemon juice.

Then pour the mixture over the lettuce leaves and serve immediately.

This salad is traditionally served as a side dish to cold dishes, lamb or poultry.

[Translated from here.]

Mojito Skyr

Skyr drink a la mojito

My personal life is currently in an absolute state of emergency - on the one hand, we have just become grandparents for the first time, on the other hand, my mother is seriously ill and I am (perhaps) constantly on duty. Sometimes I barely get to eat, let alone cook. In order to at least get a load of vitamins every now and then, I threw the ingredients for this “Mojito Skyr” into the blender today.

A little spicy - but extremely tasty!


Ingredients for 2 people

450 g vanilla skyr
400 g peeled fresh pineapple
2 limes
2 Tbsp brown cane sugar
8 mint leaves
10 ice cubes


Preparation

Squeeze the limes and pick and wash the mint leaves.

Then put all the ingredients in a large blender and mix thoroughly.

Then serve the Skyr drink straight away.

[Translated from here.]

Lúðusúpa með dillolíu

Halibut soup with dill oil

Classic Icelandic halibut soup, as the Vikings probably already knew it, is actually made with egg yolk, cream, prunes and honey - and it tastes really, really good! This is a slightly more modern version, a little stronger in taste, a little less sweet, but also very tasty - and the special highlight about it is the homemade dill oil that you use to dress the soup. I think it really looks great in terms of color and taste!


Ingredients for 4 servings

1 Tbsp butter
1 onion
2 celery sticks
3 carrots
500 ml fish stock
(preferably from crustaceans)
250 ml cream
80 ml apple cider vinegar

400 g halibut
200 g crabs
1 apple

4 Tbsp dill oil


Preparation

Slowly heat the butter in a large pot.

Wash, clean and chop the vegetables.

Fry the chopped vegetables in the pot.

Pour the fish stock over it and simmer for about 20 minutes.

Then puree well...

and add the apple cider vinegar.

Cut the halibut into bite-sized pieces and add to the soup along with the crabs.

Peel the apple, core it and cut it into small cubes. Then add it to the soup too.

Finally add the cream and stir in.

Then serve the warm soup on the plates and sprinkle with the dill oil.
Serve straight away - enjoy your meal!

[Translated from here.]

Dillolía

Dill oil

I've often been served wonderful food with gritty green oil in Iceland - I find it really exciting! Want this too! So I do it myself.


Ingredients

120 ml grape seed oil
60 g dill
20 g parsley


Preparation

Put the oil in a blender with the fresh dill and parsley...

... and mix very, very thoroughly.

Then strain or at least pour through a sieve.

The dill oil should be used within a few days, as it contains fresh herbs that would otherwise spoil.

But I find it simply fascinating in terms of color and taste (like here in the halibut soup)!

[Translated from here.]

Gamla Bakaríið in Ísafjörður

The "Old Bakary"

The first bakary in Iceland was Bernhöftsbakarí. It was founded in Reykjavík in 1834. I already visited it on my "Reykjavík Food Walk".

The second bakary in Iceland followed in 1868 in Akureyri und the thiord one in 1871 Ísafjörður. This still exists and runs as "gamla bakaríið", literally meaning "the old bakary".

On the square in front of the store, you normally can see this beautiful old car advertising the bakary.

In addition to the salesroom, the bakary has a guest are, where you can sit and have breakfast, drink coffee and eat cake. But we didn't try it.

On one afternoon sduring our stay in Ísafjörður we took a look at the old bakary. Unfortunately we were quite late. Hence the choice of cake was manageable. And the young sales assistant seemed a bit clumsy, when she wrapped up our order. Anyhow, this did not bother us.

We bought following selection: rabarbarasnitta (rhubarb cake), skúffukaka (chocolate cake) and vínarbrauð (Vienna bread, here made with yeast dough).

I can recommend all three kinds of cake. Child no. 2 was deeply impressed by the Vienna bread.

[Translated from here.]

Bláberjadraumur frá Litlibæ

Blueberry dream from Litlibær

When we were in Litlibær, a historic peat farm in the Icelandic Westfjords, in the summer, Sigríður, who hosts her guests here so wonderfully in the summer months, shared a few of her recipes with us - like this recipe for a really great blueberry cake. The purest blueberry dream!


Ingredients

130 g margarine
125 g flour
125 g oat flour
75 g sugar
75 g brown sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 tsp baking soda
3 Tbsp blueberry jam
280 g frozen blueberries


Preparation

Preheat the oven to 350 °F (180 °C) upper/lower heat.

Let the margarine melt.

Then add the remaining ingredients except for the jam and the berries and knead everything into a smooth dough.

Set a third of the dough aside for now.

Then put the remaining dough into a greased or baking pan lined with baking paper.

Spread with the jam and add the frozen blueberries on top.

Then carefully pluck the remaining dough over the berries and distribute it.

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

Bon appetit!

[Translated from here.]