Skyrkaka með jarðarberjum

Skyr cake with strawberries

This is another "no-bake cake", although you did need a stove to melt the butter for the base, dissolve the gelatin for the filling and cook the berries. By the way, you have to prepare the cake the day before so that it can set in the fridge overnight.

However, the strawberry layer on top is quite liquid and runs down the right and left of the piece of cake - but that also makes it taste nice and fruity and refreshing!

(By the way, instead of plain oatmeal cookies, I used oatmeal cookies with chocolate pieces and dried berries; I thought they tasted a little more interesting. In any case, you can vary things up a bit.)


Ingredients

200 g oatmeal cookies (or similar)
90 g butter

500 g vanilla skyr
1 egg
250 ml whipping cream
1 env powdered gelatin
5 Tbsp water

300 g frozen strawberries
120 g sugar
2 Tbsp lemon juice

fresh strawberries for decoration


Preparation

First prepare the soil:

Melt the butter.

Carefully crumble the oatmeal cookies - if available, place them in a breakfast bag and carefully crush them with a rolling pin.

Mix the melted butter with the cookie crumbs.

Line a springform pan with baking paper, pour the biscuit mixture into it and carefully press it evenly onto the base.

Now prepare the filling:

In a small pot, mix the gelatin with a little water and let it swell for about 10 minutes.

Then place the pot on the stove and heat slowly.

Meanwhile, mix the vanilla skyr with the egg and the whipping cream in a mixing bowl.

When the gelatin mixture is warm, slowly and carefully stir in the Skyr mixture, spoonful by spoonful.

Then pour the mixture onto the prepared base and let it cool in the fridge for at least 2 hours before applying the berry sauce.

Finally prepare the berry sauce:

Put the frozen strawberries with the sugar and lemon juice in a medium-sized saucepan and let it slowly get hot...

...until the mixture starts to thicken and bubbles. Let simmer for about 15 minutes.

Remove the pot from the heat and let the berry mixture cool slightly.

When the mixture is no longer warm, carefully pour it over the skyr cake and let it solidify in the fridge overnight.

The next day, carefully remove it from the springform pan, decorate with a few fresh strawberries and serve well chilled.

[Translated from here.]

Kaffivagninn in Reykjavík

For dinner at the old harbor

Kaffivagninn in Reykjavík's old harbor, in Grandi, has existed since 1935, making it the oldest still operating restaurant in Iceland. It has been in the current building since 1975. Breakfast is served here to hungry fishermen, workers, employees and tourists 7 days a week from 7:30 a.m. to 11 a.m., lunch is available from 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. and the slightly larger evening menu is available from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m.

After a long day, we were looking for dinner in March in the evening and ended up at Kaffivagninn. When we came here at the weekend it was packed, but during the week it looked completely different and we were able to choose our table.

We chose a table on the street side, from which we had a nice view of the restaurant and the water. And the waitress eagerly brought us the dinner menu because we wanted a real dinner. It was also happy hour, so my husband ordered another beer while I stuck to the water, which was available in large bottles on all the tables.

The menu was relatively clear, we then decided on fish & chips ("fiskur og franskar") with salad and three different sauces (mustard sauce, cocktail sauce and remoulade)…

...and char fried in butter ("smjörseikt bleikja") with potatoes, crabs, almonds and parsley.

The fish with fries cost 2,690 ISK (the equivalent of around €20 as of March 2019), but it was a decent portion that filled you up well. The fried char with crabs was definitely very tasty, although a bit more expensive at 2,990 ISK (the equivalent of a good €22) - and the portion with the fish and the five potatoes was relatively manageable. Since we both shared portions, we were both pleasantly full!

We then paid and went back to our apartment.

Good night, Reykjavik!

[Translated from here.]

Skyrbúðingur

Skyr pudding

I found the idea of ​​a Skyr dessert with a difference, namely in pudding form, very exciting. And it definitely impressed me in terms of taste!


Ingredients

500 g pure Skyr
1 egg
250 ml whipping cream
1/2 tsp ground vanilla
1 env powdered gelatin
6 Tbsp angelica or elderflower syrup

Berries/nuts for garnish


Preparation

Mix the skyr with the egg, whipping cream and ground vanilla.

Mix the syrup with the powdered gelatin and let it swell for about 10 minutes.

Then slowly heat the swollen gelatin in a medium-sized saucepan.
Slowly stir in the Skyr mixture, spoonful at a time.

Then pour the mixture into dessert glasses, a glass bowl or something similar and let it solidify in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours.

Then serve the skyr pudding with fresh berries and some chopped nuts or similar.

[Translated from here.]

Spínatsalat með jarðarberjum

Spinach salad with strawberries

Actually, this recipe is made with blue cheese. However, we were on vacation and I absolutely couldn't find any blue cheese in the available stores, so I made do with grated hard cheese. It worked too - but blue cheese is a bit tastier!


Ingredients for 2 servings

150 g fresh spinach
80 g fresh strawberries
2 Tbsp blue cheese
2 Tbsp oil
2 Tbsp walnut kernels


Preparation

Wash and clean the spinach and arrange on two plates/bowls.

Wash and quarter the strawberries.

Cut the blue cheese into small cubes.

Spread the strawberries and cheese over the spinach.

Pour a tablespoon of oil over each portion.

Roast the walnut kernels in a pan.

Then add the seeds over the salad and serve immediately.

[Translated from here.]

Grænmetissúpa

Vegetable soup

This is a beautifully simple soup, and with the little bit of vinegar and cream it tastes really interesting and delicious to me!


Ingredients for 2 servings

1 stalk of leek
2 carrots
400 g chopped canned tomatoes
400 ml vegetable broth
1 Tbsp vinegar
1 pinch of thyme
1/2 tsp coarse sea salt
1 pinch of pepper
200 ml cream


Preparation

Wash, clean and chop the vegetables.

Then put in a pot with the chopped tomatoes, vegetable stock, vinegar and thyme...

...and let it simmer over low heat for about half an hour.

Season with salt and pepper.

Stir in the cream...

...and serve the soup.

[Translated from here.]

Eplaskífur

Apple fritters

The Icelandic word "skífa" means "disc", but it refers to a flat, round object - like these apple fritters here.

Traditionally, these apple cakes were baked in a special pan, a so-called "eplaskífupanna" with corresponding cavities. When we recently visited the "Cave People" in Laugarvatnshellar, there was one exactly like that hanging on the wall - a really beautiful old "eplaskífupanna". Since I happened to come across the recipe for this eplaskífur in an old Icelandic cookbook, I recognized the pan straight away and was delighted!

Of course, I tried the recipe straight away at home, even though I made do with a poffertjes or egg pan. After all, I couldn't take the good pan from Iceland with me!

Ingredients for approx. 25 pieces

4 eggs
500 ml concentrated milk
1 tsp ground vanilla
1 tsp grated lemon peel
2 Tbsp sugar
300 g flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 pinch of salt
1 apple

some oil for the pan


Preparation

In a bowl, mix the eggs with the thick milk, vanilla, lemon zest and sugar.

Then add the flour, baking powder and salt and whisk everything together to form a nice, liquid dough.

Wash, peel, core and cut the apple into small pieces.

Stir the apple pieces into the dough.

Then let the dough rest for about 20 minutes.

Preheat the pan well over medium heat.

Carefully grease the hollows in the pan a little and then fry the dough in portions on both sides.

If bubbles form on the dough, carefully turn them over with a fork or something similar until the cakes are golden brown on both sides. Make sure that they are properly baked on the inside too!

Sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve warm.
We had applesauce with it.

[Translated from here.]