Regnbogar

Rainbows

For me, Iceland is definitely the land of rainbows. In nature in Iceland I always see a rainbow somewhere - whether in the bright sunshine at the waterfall like here at Skógafoss...

... or in the middle of the rain like here at Litla kaffistofa on the ring road on Hellisheiði.

And not only does nature constantly produce beautiful rainbows, most people in Iceland also fully support what the rainbow stands for politically/socially: as a symbol of the LGBTQ community.

Like here in the picture from Gleðiganga 2022, the Reykjavík Pride Parade - the whole street was rainbow colored, the spectators on the street, the street, the shops... A great experience!

Iceland is actually a good country to live in. Actually. Iceland has always been a pioneer in legislation for the full rights of queer people and social acceptance is higher in Iceland than in most other countries. But there are also regressions in Iceland; in recent years there has been increasing hostility and even attacks on people from the LGBTQ community. Most recently, at the end of September 2023, a participant at a Samtökin '78 conference was physically attacked on his way home in Reykjavík and had to spend a night in the hospital.

The government has responded to the attacks by passing laws against hate speech. A campaign is currently in progress to provide information and awareness in this area. “Raising awareness cannot wait!” said Prime Minister Katrín Jakobsdóttir’s statement.

So with that in mind - rainbows, especially now!

A little person recently had his 5th birthday here and asked for a birthday cake “with a rainbow and a mermaid”. Of course, grandma also developed ambition to be able to fulfill this birthday wish.

This rainbow birthday cake is of course not a typical Icelandic cake. But rainbows are typically Icelandic. If you also want to bake a cake like this, I have brought you a recipe anyway.

By the way, my little mermaid here is made from colored marzipan that I kneaded and shaped.

Ingredients for the dough

300 g soft butter
240 g sugar
1 pinch of ground vanilla
7 large eggs (L)
3 tsp baking powder
1 pinch of salt
1 organic lemon
375 ml milk
Food coloring in red, yellow, green and blue

Ingredients for the cream

900 g cream cheese
375 g softened butter
180 g powdered sugar

Decoration to taste

Preparation

Mix butter with sugar and vanilla sugar. Gradually stir in eggs. Mix the flour with baking powder, salt and lemon zest and add to the dough alternately with the milk. Mix well.

Then divide the dough evenly into 6 bowls. Add some food coloring to each bowl to create the 6 colors for the layers of the rainbow:

- Purple dough (mix red and blue color),

- Blue dough (blue color),

- Green dough (green color),

- Yellow dough (yellow color),

- Orange dough (mix yellow and red paint),

- Red dough (red color).

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

Line a springform pan (diameter 24 cm) with baking paper, then add one color of the dough, smooth it out and bake at 350 °F (180 °C) upper and lower heat for about 15 to 20 minutes (test with a toothpick!).

I always put two layers in the oven, then carefully removed them from the mold and then baked the next two layers.

Then let all six baked bases cool down.

For the cream, mix the cream cheese with the soft butter and powdered sugar well.

Place the first layer (purple) on a flat cake plate. Spread with a little cream, then place the next base (blue) on top and spread it. Continue with the green, yellow, orange and red soil.

Then spread it all over and decorate the top of the cake to taste. I sprinkled the top with colorful sugar sprinkles, piped the remaining cream all around and then topped the whole thing off with a big rainbow, a mermaid and of course a birthday candle!

Here's another picture of a piece of cake on a plate - by the way, such a tall piece of cake with cream cheese and butter cream fills you up!

Grandson was happy - and grandma too!

[Translated from here.]

Skyrbrauð

Sweet skyr bread

I found the recipe for this sweet skyr bread in a cookbook with traditional Icelandic cuisine under the heading "kræsingar" (= "delicacies"). The bread tastes delicious fresh out of the oven, but you can also eat it cold the next day.

The majority of my family thought the Skyr bread tasted “like a fluffy lemon cake.” Well, that's good too - as long as it's delicious!

Ingredients

125 g butter

200 g brown sugar

2 eggs

250 g vanilla skyr

75 ml cream

150 g chopped almonds

500 g flour

2 Tbsp baking powder

1/2 organic lemon

1 Tbsp brown sugar for sprinkling

Preparation

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

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

Add skyr and cream and stir in.

Then add the chopped almonds, flour and baking powder.

Wash and grate the organic lemon and add the grated lemon peel to the dough.

Squeeze half the lemon and add the juice to the dough.

Knead the mixture thoroughly and pour it into an emperor cake mold lined with baking paper and smooth it out.

Bake in the preheated oven at 350 °F (180 °C) upper and lower heat for 60 minutes until the cake is golden and baked through (test with a toothpick!).

Take the cake out of the oven and sprinkle it with a little brown sugar, then let it cool down a little and carefully remove it from the tin.

The sweet Skyr bread tastes good both fresh from the oven and cold the next day.

[Translated from here.]

Súrmjólkursúpa

Sour milk soup

This is traditional Icelandic everyday cooking again - a recipe for a nice warm, thick sour milk soup, just right for the first cold days of autumn. We had this soup for breakfast these days.

The soup is served with cold, whipped cream, which slowly dissolves in the warm soup - very tasty with the warm, soft soup, the fruity soft raisins, the crunchy chopped almonds and the cold cream!

Ingredients for 4 servings

800 ml sour milk

400 ml milk

4 Tbsp corn flour

1 pinch of ground vanilla

1 tsp cinnamon

50 g raisins

4 Tbsp sugar

1 pinch of salt

150 ml cream

1 Tbsp chopped almonds

Preparation

In a large pot, add the sour milk, milk and corn flour and slowly bring everything to the boil, stirring constantly.

Then add the vanilla, cinnamon, raisins, sugar and salt and simmer over low heat for another 5 minutes.

Whip the cream, stir 2/3 of it into the soup...

... and then serve the soup nice and warm with the remaining cream on top, the chopped almonds and maybe a few raisins or a little cinnamon.

Bon appetit!

[Translated from here.]

Partar

Shortbread pastry particles

"Partar" (= "parts") are a typical Icelandic pastry, fine baked goods that are fried floating in hot fat.

Partar is traditionally eaten freshly spread with butter and jam, but depending on your taste it can also be served with a hearty topping, for example with cheese or hangikjöt.

Ingredients

500 g flour

2 Tbsp sugar

1 tsp coarse sea salt

50 g margarine

350 ml concentrated milk

Fat for deep frying

Preparation

In a large bowl, mix the flour with the sugar and salt.

Add the margarine in flakes and knead.

Then add the concentrated milk to the dough in portions...

.... and knead into a smooth dough.

It is best to let the dough rest in the refrigerator for a quarter of an hour.

Then roll out the dough to a thickness of approx. 0.5 cm.

... and cut into squares or triangles with a pastry wheel and carefully poke small holes in the cookies with a fork.

Heat the fat in a large pot. If you hold a wooden stick in the fat and small bubbles form on the edge, the temperature is right.

Then fry the pastry on both sides in the hot fat...

... and then drain on kitchen paper.

It's best to enjoy it a little warm.

Bon appetit!

[Translated from here.]

Lakkrís Íslatte

My summer drink 2023

I think it's not too late to post my favorite summer drink of 2023 - after all, the astronomical start of autumn (i.e. the day of the equinox = jafndægur ) is only on September 23rd this year, which means there are still a few left last few days of summer...

So before I move on to the Pumpkin Spice Latte in the fall, I'm going to enjoy my personal summer drink for 2023 again these days, namely my Lakkrís Íslatte, my iced coffee with licorice syrup.

Prepared quickly and easily - and really tasty, with that very light licorice aroma!

Ingredients for 1 glass

1 Tbsp sweet licorice syrup

200 ml cold iced coffee

1 scoop of vanilla ice cream

optionally some coffee spice or similar.

Preparation

First add the sweet licorice syrup to the glass...

...and then top with the iced coffee.

Add another scoop of vanilla ice cream, optionally sprinkle with a little coffee spice or something similar to taste.

And then enjoy it ice cold!
Bon appetit!

[Translated from here.]