Falleg gulrótarterta

Great cake - carrot cake

Well, that's what happens when I watch baking shows on TV...

The show we watched together was about getting inspiration for a themed cake from a picture (= flower vase with flowers by van Gogh). Somehow I found the idea exciting. So I looked for a picture/motive that I consider to be “typically Icelandic” and that also has a certain “recognition effect”. My first thought was graffiti painting, which is very typical of Reykjavík, but my husband wasn't convinced - and then came up with the brilliant idea:

Let Kattakaffihús inspire you!

Reykjavik, summer 2018

We were guests at Kattakaffihús , the “cat café” in Reykjavík, in the summer of 2018.

The idea of ​​a cat café actually comes from Asia - here cat lovers who cannot keep their own cat can relax in a cozy atmosphere with coffee and cake and cuddle with cats if they want. Homeless cats are often taken in and can then find a new person in the café.

The world's first cat café was probably opened in Taiwan in 1998, such cafés have also been available in Europe since 2012 and in March 2018 the "Kattakaffihúsið" opened in Bergstaðastræti in Reykjavík, just around 500 m from Hallgrímskirkja.

Kattakaffihús serves coffee and other hot and cold drinks, various cakes, pastries and also sandwiches, often vegan. (Some of it comes from the pastry shop "17 Sortir", whose range has made me smile so many times at the old harbor in Grandi and now in Kringlan.)

I'm making my theme cake

In any case, I decided to let these typical cat representations inspire me for my Icelandic themed cake.

As the base for the cake, I baked a typical Icelandic carrot cake, actually more of a carrot cake, with two layers and lots of cream cheese filling and cream. I then “colored” the cream a little with apricot jam. I preferred not to use food coloring for the coating, as I was more interested in the most natural taste and natural ingredients possible.

I then made the cat decoration out of different colored fondant:

First I cut out the cat's head from white fondant, placed it on the cake and pressed it carefully and then "painted" it with melted dark and white chocolate. I cut out the eyes from the rolled out green fondant, "painted" the irises again with chocolate and made the pupils from white fondant.

I cut out the leaves from the green fondant and then scratched the middle rib with a toothpick and poked and pressed the side ribs. I bought the red marzipan roses and the white wafer flowers (as well as the fondant), the blue fondant flowers are again "homemade".

Finally, I distributed lots of leaves and thin twigs around the cat's head ("glued" each one with melted chocolate) and pinned the flowers between the leaves (again with the melted chocolate).

In any case, I was happy with my inspired cat head and the carrot cake tasted delicious too!

Ingredients

250 g soft butter

250 g brown sugar

5 eggs (separate!)

1/2 tsp coarse sea salt

2 Tbsp apricot jam

100 g ground walnuts

100 g chopped nuts

180 g flour

1 tsp baking powder

250 g peeled carrots

For the coating

150 g mascarpone

200 g cream cheese

120 g powdered sugar

2 Tbsp apricot jam

White/green/blue fondant

Flowers made of marzipan / wafers etc.

40 g melted dark chocolate

30 g melted white chocolate

Preparation

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

Separate the eggs.

Beat the egg whites with a pinch of sea salt until stiff and set aside in the refrigerator.

Mix the egg yolks with the butter and sugar until foamy.

Add the flour, baking powder, ground walnuts and chopped almonds and stir.

Then stir in the apricot jam and the grated carrots.

Finally, carefully fold in the egg whites.

Then pour the dough evenly into two springform pans (approx. 20 cm in diameter) lined with baking paper, smooth out...

...and then bake in a preheated oven at 350 °F (180 °C) for about 40 minutes until the dough is well baked (test with a toothpick!).

Then let the cake cool thoroughly for at least an hour.

For the coating, mix the mascarpone and cream cheese with the powdered sugar and apricot jam to form a smooth cream.

Finally, stir with the apricot jam until smooth.

Place the bottom layer on a cake plate, spread with a little apricot jam if you like and then spread a layer of cream cheese cream on top.

Then place the second base on top and spread the remaining cream on top and then cover the sides. Then put the cake in the fridge until the cream has set somewhat.

Then cut out the cat's head, leaves, branches and flowers from the fondant and carefully shape it into the desired shape using a toothpick and your fingers (see description above).

First attach the cat's head to the cake and "paint" it with the melted chocolate (I used both the dark and white chocolate separately and mixed them together for the cat's eye area) and then add the fondant eyes Distribute the branches and leaves around the head and then place the flowers between the leaves (see above).

If possible, prepare the cake the day before and cover it with the cream cheese cream so that everything can set well. I then prepared the decorations on the day itself and put them on the cake.

I wish you all bon appetit if you also want to make this cake!

[Translated from here.]

Mannagrjónasúpa

Semolina soup

In my old, beloved Icelandic cookbook from 1945, which I once bought at Kolaportið, the flea market in Reykjavík, there is the section "Hversdagsréttir", or "everyday dishes". The capital contains, among other things, many different sweet soups based on skimmed milk, such as rice soup, buckwheat soup, pearl barley soup, milk noodles, ... I tried the semolina soup here because I am a passionate semolina fan. You can also eat the semolina soup with cinnamon!

(However, I only prepared a small portion; unfortunately the rest of my family is only partially enthusiastic about sweet main dishes.)

Ingredients for 4 - 6 servings

3 liters of skimmed milk

150 g semolina

1 tsp salt

Sugar cinnamon

Preparation

Place the milk in a large pot and bring to a boil over medium heat.

When the milk boils, sprinkle in the semolina and stir thoroughly.

Then let the soup cook for about 20 - 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Then add salt to the soup, stir again...

...and serve with sugar and cinnamon.

I also had some rhubarb jam with it.

[Translated from here.]

Kaffikaka með sterku kaffi

Coffee cake with strong coffee

I treated myself to some new dishes and “inaugurated” the cups and plates with this impressively simple recipe for coffee cake. A simple, sweet, beautifully fluffy dough - and the strong coffee that flowed through the holes in the dough even creates a pretty, slightly marbled pattern.

Ingredients

250 g butter
250 g sugar
3 eggs
150 g potato flour
125 g flour
1 tsp baking powder
50 g strong coffee


Preparation

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

Beat butter, sugar and eggs in a large bowl until fluffy.

Then add the potato flour, flour and baking powder...

...and mix everything well until you get a nice, uniform dough.

Place in a springform pan (approx. 24 cm) lined with baking paper.

Poke small holes in the dough with a fork and carefully pour the coffee over the kitchen. (The coffee didn't flow so well for me, so I poked the dough a few more times with a fork so that all the liquid could seep in.)

Bake in a preheated oven at 350 °F (180 °C) upper and lower heat for approx. 45 - 50 minutes (test with a stick, maybe bake a little longer if the dough is not completely baked yet!).

Then let it cool down a little and serve.

[Translated from here.]

Rauðrófnaböff

Beetroot schnitzel

The recipe here from my beloved old Icelandic cookbook from February 1945 is nice proof that even Icelanders didn't eat exclusively meat and fish in the past. Even though I know a lot of Icelanders (especially older ones) who like to suppress it themselves.

Ingredients

500 g cooked beetroot
300 g boiled potatoes
3 eggs
1 onion
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
50 g potato flour

4 Tbsp breadcrumbs

oil for frying


Preparation

Cut the cooked beetroot and the cooked potatoes into coarse pieces.

Put the beetroot and potatoes together in the blender and puree thoroughly.

Then cut the onion into small pieces and mix it with the potato flour, eggs, pepper and salt into the beetroot and potato mixture.

Finally, add 2 tablespoons of breadcrumbs until the mixture has a nice, somewhat malleable consistency.

Heat some oil in a pan.

Then form flat flat cakes with your hands and place the flat cakes in the hot fat, sprinkling the flat cakes with breadcrumbs.

Fry the beetroot schnitzel on both sides until golden brown, then cook in the preheated oven at 250 °F (120 °C) upper and lower heat for about 10 minutes while you prepare the rest of the food.

The beetroot schnitzels are traditionally served with boiled potatoes and brown sauce. However, instead of brown sauce, we had a portion of spinach as a side dish.

[Translated from here.]

Langafasta 2021

Lenting season 2021

When you think of traditional Icelandic cuisine, you often think primarily of meat and fish dishes. And many Icelanders apparently feel that a “real meal” includes a lot of meat and fish and as few vegetables as possible (“rabbit food”).

Recently I was looking for recipes in one of my old Icelandic cookbooks and then tried out recipes for beetroot pancakes and an “everyday soup”. I realized that there are actually many vegetarian recipes in traditional Icelandic cuisine - dishes with beets, potatoes, barley, etc., but also many sweet main courses, such as the ever-popular cocoa soup or apple fritters.

So this year I've decided to introduce you to corresponding vegetarian recipes during Lent - " Iceland vegetarian ", so to speak.

Here I have picked out a few tried and tested vegetarian recipes from the blog that are popular with us:

main courses

- Bankabygg með grænmeti - pearl barley with fried vegetables

- Grænt byggsalat - Green barley salad

- Kartöflur með idýfu - potatoes with dip

- Rauðrófusalat með geitaosti - beetroot salad with goat cheese

- Ostabollur í súpu - cheese balls in soup

- Kartöflubúðingur - Icelandic potato gratin

- Gulrótabuff - potato buffer

Soups

- Grænmetissúpa - vegetable soup

- Hvítkálssúpa - white cabbage soup

Sweet main courses

- Brauðsúpa - sweet rye bread soup

- Kakósúpa - cocoa soup

-Eplasúpa með tvíbökum - apple soup with rusks

- Fylltar pönnukökur með marengs - Stuffed pancakes with meringue

- Eplaskífur - apple cake

I wish you a good appetite and a good Lent to everyone who wants to try “Iceland vegetarian”!

Coffee table in the Árbær local history museum

[Translated from here.]

Köld súkkulaðisúpa

Cold chocolate soup

Cocoa soup is actually quite common in Iceland, and it is a popular, quick and easy everyday dish. Here I have a "hardcore version" - a recipe for a real chocolate soup, not as a main course, but as a cold soup/dessert.

Ingredients for 6 people

300 g dark chocolate
1 tsp ground vanilla
1 liter of milk

fresh fruit

sliced ​​almonds or similar for serving

Preparation

Heat half of the milk in a large pot on the stove.

Chop the chocolate finely or break it into small pieces.

Add the chopped chocolate with the ground vanilla to the warm milk.

Allow the chocolate to melt completely, stirring thoroughly every now and then to ensure that no lumps form.

Then remove the pot from the heat, add the remaining cold milk and stir everything thoroughly again to form a uniform soup.

Then cool the soup very well in the refrigerator (at least 4 hours, preferably a little longer).

Then serve the cold soup with fresh fruit, sliced ​​almonds and, if you like, cream.

[Translated from here.]