Afakaka

Grandfather cake

Icelandic cakes are often particularly popular when they are nice and sweet, preferably with a layer of jam and best of all with meringue on top. This "grandfather's cake" combines all of these requirements for a "good Icelandic cake" in a very pleasant way.


Ingredients

200 g butter
200 g sugar
4 eggs
480 g flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 pinch of vanilla
250 ml milk

4 Tbsp blueberry jam

200 g sugar


Preparation

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

Separate the eggs.

In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar until fluffy. Then add the egg yolks and stir in.

Finally add the flour, baking powder, vanilla and milk and work everything into a smooth dough.

Pour the dough into a rectangular baking pan (approx. 30 x 40 cm) lined with baking paper and bake in a preheated oven at 350 °F (180 °C) upper and lower heat for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, beat the egg whites with the sugar until stiff.

Take the (not yet fully baked!) cake out of the oven, spread it with the jam and spread the egg whites on top of the cake.

Then put the cake back in the oven and bake at 350 °F (180 °C) upper and lower heat for another 20 minutes.

Then let the baked cake cool thoroughly and serve.

[Translated from here.]

Möndlukaka

Almond cake

Dialogue in bed in the evening - my husband explains to me that we actually should have had a big New Year's Eve celebration. "Huh?" Well, because of the 5,000 days! "Huh?!?" Well, we had been married for exactly 5,000 days on New Year's Eve!!! "Huh?!?!?"

So today we have been married for 5,005 days and to celebrate our 5,005th. On my wedding anniversary I spontaneously baked this extremely chocolaty chocolate almond cake for my husband!

Ingredients

200 g butter
200 g sugar
200 g chocolate
200 g almonds
6 eggs

1 Tbsp oil for greasing the Bundt cake tin

Whipped cream and, if desired, fresh berries for serving


Preparation

Put the butter, sugar and chocolate in a saucepan and slowly melt it over medium heat, stirring thoroughly until a uniform mixture is formed. Remove the pot from the heat and let it cool down.

Grind the almonds fairly finely.

Put the butter-sugar-chocolate mixture in the pot with the ground almonds and eggs...

...mix into a smooth dough.

Then put the finished dough into a well-greased Bundt cake tin...

...and let it bake in the (not preheated) oven at 350 °F (180 °C) upper and lower heat for about 60 minutes, ...

...until the dough is done (stick test).

Then take the finished cake out of the oven, let it cool down and carefully remove it from the baking pan.

Then serve the cake with plenty of whipped cream and, optionally, fresh berries.

Verði þér að góðu! Bon appetit, enjoy it!

[Translated from here.]

Piparkökutrufflur

Gingerbread truffles

Here's a recipe that's a wonderful way to use up leftovers after Christmas and is also really tasty!


Ingredients for approx. 30 truffles

150 g gingerbread
150 g cream cheese
1 pinch of ground lemon peel
200 g white chocolate
1 pinch of lava salt


Preparation

Grind the gingerbread very finely...

...and mix with the cream cheese to make a mixture that is as uniform as possible,...

...then knead in the ground lemon peel to taste.

Then put it in the fridge for about 1/2 hour so that it becomes somewhat firm and can be processed easily.

Then form small balls out of the mixture, about the size of a walnut, and then if necessary put them in the fridge again so that they become a little firmer while you prepare the chocolate coating.

Melt the chocolate in a water bath, carefully dip the balls until they are completely coated with chocolate, then place them on a sheet of baking paper, aluminum foil or something similar and sprinkle them directly with a very small pinch of lava salt.

Allow to dry well.

Store the finished Piparkökurtrufflur in the refrigerator and serve well chilled.

[Translated from here.]

Rósakál með beikoni og hnetum

Brussels sprouts with bacon and nuts

As a child, I found it horrible when my mother cooked Brussels sprouts, and I still have that impertinent smell in my nose... no, Brussels sprouts weren't mine at all!

After coming across a lot of Brussels sprout recipes everywhere lately, I decided to try my own with this Icelandic version of fried and then baked Brussels sprouts with bacon and nuts.

And I have to say, not only was it edible, it was actually tasty!


Ingredients

500 g Brussels sprouts
100 g breakfast bacon
1 Tbsp butter
1 tsp coarse sea salt
1 pinch of fresh pepper
1 handful of chopped walnuts
1 tsp balsamic vinegar
fresh thyme


Preparation

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

Cut off the ends of the florets and carefully remove the outer leaves. Then cut the florets in half.

Cut the bacon into bite-sized pieces.

Melt the butter in a large pan, fry the bacon and then fry the halved florets for several minutes.

Season with salt and pepper.

Then place the Brussels sprouts and bacon in an ovenproof baking dish and bake in the preheated oven for about 30 minutes.

Then take the vegetables out of the oven, spread the chopped walnuts and balsamic vinegar over them and mix everything well, then garnish with the fresh thyme and serve as a side dish with meat dishes.

[Translated from here.]

Þorskur með kókos og karrí

Cod with coconut curry

This year I have an Advent calendar with lots of different spices - I was able to use the curry spice for this Icelandic fish curry!


Ingredients for 4 persons

1 onion
approx. 1 cm fresh ginger
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp fish sauce
1 Tbsp oil
150 ml coconut milk
800 g cod


Preparation

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

Peel the onion, cut it into coarse pieces and process it with the fresh, sliced ​​ginger, chili powder, fish sauce and oil in a blender to form a smooth paste.

Brush the cod with half of the paste and bake in an ovenproof baking dish in the preheated oven for about 10 to 15 minutes.

Heat the rest of the paste in a large pan, pour in the coconut milk, stir everything well and bring to the boil.

Add the baked fish to the sauce and serve immediately with boiled potatoes and fresh green salad (we had purple rice instead of potatoes - for visual reasons!).

The fish really had a wonderful consistency and tasted really delicious!

[Translated from here.]

Súkkulaðimöndlutoppar

Chocolate almond piles

Ingredients

200 g slivered almonds

150 g white chocolate
150 g milk chocolate
150 g dark chocolate

To taste:

1 pinch of ground vanilla
1 pinch of fine licorice powder
1 pinch of red pepper


Preparation

Melt each of the three types of chocolate in a water bath.

Divide the chopped almonds into three equal piles.

To taste, season the melted chocolate with vanilla or licorice powder, pepper or similar, stir 1/3 of the slivered almonds into each melted chocolate and then use a teaspoon to place small heaps on a baking tray lined with baking paper or similar .similar...

...and let it dry there for at least 30 minutes.

Then carefully remove the heaps of almonds from the baking paper and serve or keep cool until ready to eat.

[Translated from here.]

Lakkrístrufflur

Liquorice truffles

Ingredients

250 g chocolate
150 ml whipping cream
1 Tbsp butter
1/2 tsp licorice salt
1/2 tsp licorice powder
2 Tbsp baking cocoa


Preparation

In a large saucepan, slowly melt the chocolate, cream and butter over low heat.

Carefully crush the licorice salt a little with your fingers and stir it into the melted chocolate-cream mixture.

Then put the mixture in the fridge until it has solidified somewhat.

Mix the baking cocoa with the licorice powder.

Form small balls out of the mixture and roll each one directly in the cocoa-licorice powder mixture.

Then store the finished licorice truffles in the refrigerator and enjoy well chilled.

By the way - I bought this bowl from frjor last weekend during a child-free short holiday in Schwetzingen.

"frjor" is a new label founded in 2014 by designer Anna Becker. The word "frjor" is Icelandic and means "creative", "fertile". The design of their bowls is also inspired by Icelandic motifs - no wonder I fell in love with these bowls when I came across them by chance in the summer!

[Translated from here.]