Lakkrís sörur

Liquorice Sörur

I love Sörur, and when I recently came across the idea of ​​pimping up the classic Sörur with a little licorice powder and syrup, I definitely had to try it out!

By the way, you can also say “Lörur” to these “licorice sörur” - I like this new word creation, even if it’s not mine.


Ingredients for the dough

300 g ground almonds
250 g powdered sugar
1 Tbsp grated orange peel
4 egg whites

Ingredients for the cream

4 egg yolks
80 g light syrup
60 g licorice syrup
300 g soft butter
3 Tbsp cappuccino powder

Ingredients for the glaze

300 g dark chocolate coating
1 Tbsp licorice powder


Preparation

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

Mix the ground almonds with the powdered sugar and the grated orange peel.

Separate the eggs and beat the egg whites until stiff.

Then mix both together...

...and use a teaspoon to place small heaps on a baking tray lined with baking paper and bake in a preheated oven at 350 °F (180 °C) for about 10 to 12 minutes until the pastries are beautifully golden.

Then let it cool down well.

To make the cream, mix the egg yolks with the light syrup.

Fold in the butter.

Mix the licorice syrup and the cappuccino powder together and let the cream solidify in the refrigerator for about 1/2 hour.

Then pipe the cream onto the cookie bases using a piping bag or something similar, or simply apply it with a teaspoon if necessary.

Then let the cookies solidify in the fridge.

Then let the couverture melt in a water bath.

Then spread the frozen, hard cookies in portions with the liquid chocolate coating and dust them directly with a little licorice powder.

Then chill again in the refrigerator and serve well chilled.

[Translated from here.]

Möndlugrautur

Almond rice pudding

This is also a typical Christmas meal in Iceland for family celebrations on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day - slow-cooked rice pudding with sugar, cinnamon and crowberry juice. And of course in Iceland an almond is hidden in the rice pudding and whoever finds the almond gets a small gift. In many large Icelandic families, it is customary for the adult family members to take turns every year as to who gets the almond gift.


Ingredients

250 g rice
Water
1 liter of milk
1 pinch of salt

sugar and cinnamon
Crowberry juice


Preparation

Put the rice in a large pot, just cover with a little boiling water and then let it cook for an hour.

Add hot water every now and then to keep the rice covered.

Then pour in 750 ml of milk in portions while the rice simmers over a low heat and needs to be stirred again and again.

Then season the rice pudding with a pinch of salt.

Then let the rice pudding stand for about 2 hours, then heat it again and stir in the remaining 250 ml milk until the rice pudding is nice and thick and creamy.

Add a whole almond to the rice pudding.

The rice pudding is then traditionally served with crowberry juice and strong sugar cinnamon.

[Translated from here.]

Heitt kókóssúkkulaði

Coconut hot chocolate

I love hot chocolate, for me it's the perfect nourishment for the soul on a cold, dark evening...


Ingredients for 2 servings

300 ml milk
200 ml coconut milk
80 g dark chocolate

whipped cream
desiccated coconut
optionally coffee spice


Preparation

Slowly heat the milk in a pot on the stove.

Carefully break the chocolate into pieces.

Mix with the milk, stirring constantly.

Then stir in the coconut milk...

...remove the hot chocolate from the heat and pour it into two mugs or glasses.

Sprinkle with whipped cream and coconut flakes, optionally with a little cinnamon or coffee spice, and serve immediately.

[Translated from here.]

Hamborgarhryggur með uppstúfi

Cured pork with white sauce

Hamborgarhryggur is the Icelandic version of cured pork tenderloin and a traditional Christmas meal in Iceland. Instead of hamborgarhryggur, this recipe is also often prepared with leg of lamb; hangikjöt, which has been smoked over birch smoke, is particularly popular.

As a side dish there is traditionally canned peas and/or red cabbage.


Ingredients

1.5 kg cured pork tenderloin
1 can of green peas/
1 glass of red cabbage
800 g boiled potatoes

1 Tbsp margarine
1 Tbsp flour
400 ml milk
1 tsp sugar
1 pinch of salt
1 pinch of pepper
1 pinch of nutmeg


Preparation

Heat the meat, as well as the peas and/or the red cabbage.

For the white sauce, melt the butter in a small saucepan.

Add the flour and stir.

Then add the milk in small portions, stirring constantly and let the whole thing simmer for about 5 minutes.

Then season with sugar, salt, pepper and nutmeg

Slice the meat and serve with the potatoes, peas/red cabbage and white sauce.

[Translated from here.]

Jólakladdkaka

Christmas chocolate cake

Kladdkaka is best known from Swedish cuisine. It is a moist chocolate cake with a beautifully soft, sticky center that is traditionally served with whipped cream or ice cream and fruit. Here's an Icelandic Christmas version of this cake.


Ingredients

Ingredients for the dough

150 g butter
3 eggs
320 g brown sugar
60 g baking cocoa
250 g flour
1 pinch of salt
1 tsp ground vanilla
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp cloves

Ingredients for the glaze

150 ml whipping cream
200 g dark chocolate
1 pinch of ground vanilla
1 pinch of cinnamon
1 Tbsp butter


Preparation

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

Let the butter melt.

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

Add flour, salt and spices and mix with the melted butter to form a smooth dough.

Line a springform pan (approx. 24 cm diameter) with baking paper. Pour in the dough...

...and then bake in a preheated oven at 350 °F (180 °C) upper and lower heat for about 25 minutes. (This time don't do a (!) toothpick test, the cake here should still be soft and sticky in the middle!)

Remove the cake from the oven and let it cool.

For the glaze, put the cream in a small saucepan and heat slowly.

Break the chocolate into pieces and let it melt in the warm cream, stirring constantly.

Finally stir in vanilla, cinnamon and butter.

Then pour the glaze over the cake and let it cool until the glaze has set.

Then serve the cake with lots of cream as dessert.

[Translated from here.]

Laufabrauð

Leaf bread

Laufabrauð is an essential part of Christmas in Iceland. In many families it is a nice pre-Christmas tradition to meet on one day in November or early December and all make Laufabrauð together and lovingly and individually decorate the dough flatbreads by hand with patterns before they are fried in hot fat.

There are special "Laufabrauðsjárn", i.e. "leaf bread irons", now often made of brass, with which you can "stamp" the patterns directly into the dough flatbreads using a small wheel. I still dream of having my own "Laufabrauðsjárn" - and until then I'll make do with a nice sharp knife.

This Laufabrauð recipe here comes from an old Icelandic cookbook by Jónina Sigurðardóttir from 1945 that I bought at the flea market in Reykjavík.


Ingredients

500 g flour
35 g butter
15 g sugar
1 tsp baking powder
250 g milk

500 ml vegetable fat


Preparation

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

Add the sugar.

Heat the milk and pour it into the other ingredients...

...knead everything into a smooth dough. Then let the dough cool briefly.

Then divide into 12 - 14 portions. (In the original recipe there are 20 portions, but I can't manage to roll out the dough flatbreads that thin without accidents.)

Roll out each portion very thinly into a circle. (I used a saucer as a “template” and then cut off the excess edges with a knife.)

The rolled out flatbreads can then be stacked well using baking paper or greaseproof paper as an intermediate layer.

Use a sharp knife (or the Laufabrauðsjárn) to score patterns in the dough and carefully fold over the corners.

In a deep skillet or large pot, heat the fat until it is hot enough that bubbles form when you carefully dip a wooden stick into it.

Then fry each loaf of bread individually on both sides in the hot fat until it is nice and golden brown.

Then place the leaf bread on a flat surface, absorb the remaining fat with kitchen paper and, ideally, weigh it down a little so that the breadcrumbs keep their shape.

The leaf bread was then traditionally served in Iceland at Christmas with hangikjöt and pickled sheep meat. But it also tastes wonderful without everything and is now often simply eaten as a snack.

With that in mind - Merry Christmas! Gleðileg jól!

[Translated from here.]