Yogurt Cake - Mjuk kaka med yoghurt

YOGURT CAKE
Mjuk kaka med yoghurt

The cake gets that little extra from being toasted.

1 cake = 8 to 10 pieces

3½ oz room-tempered butter or margarine
0.8 cup sugar
3 eggs
1 cup flour
2 teaspoons vanilla sugar
1½ teaspoons baking powder
0.8 cup Greek, Turkish or German yogurt
grated zest from ½ large lemon

For serving:
1.2 to 1.6 cups raspberries
approx 1.2 cups heavy cream
lemon balm or lemon verbena


Stir fat and sugar. Add one egg at a time while stirring. Mix all dry ingredients and sift them into the batter while stirring, alternating with the yogurt. Fold in the lemon zest.

Pour the batter in a greased, breaded baking pan, holding 6 cups, and bake at 350F 45 to 50 minutes. Try with a cake tester. Allow to cool.

Slice the cake and toast on both sides on a dry grill iron. Serve right away with fresh raspberries and whipped cream. Decorate with the lovely green leaves.

Of course you can omit the toasting of the cake!

Enjoy!

Bella

Sticky Strawberry Chocolate Muffins - Kladdiga jordgubbsmuffins med choklad

STICKY STRAWBERRY CHOCOLATE MUFFINS
Kladdiga jordgubbsmuffins med choklad

Approx 14 muffins

4.4 oz butter or margarine
0.8 cup sugar
2 eggs
0.3 cup cocoa
1 teaspoon vanilla sugar
some salt
1½ teaspoon baking powder
1.6 cup flour
0.6 cup milk

Filling:
0.3 cup Nutella
14 fresh strawberries

Decoration:
0.2 cup chocolate drops (candy)
powdered sugar (though I'm so TIRED of "dust this and that with powdered sugar"
so I'm not using it for decoration out of pure spite!!!)


Heat the oven to 390F.

Stir fat and sugar until white and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, and stir until smooth between each egg. Sift in all the dry ingredients alternating with milk and gently stir until smooth.

Drop half of the batter into muffin tins or a muffin pan (I often use paper tins but double). Put a plop of Nutella in each and a strawberry on top of that, then cover with remaining batter so that the tins are filled to approx 3/4. Sprinkle with the chocolate drops and bake in the lower part of the oven for about 20 minutes.

Whispering: "Dust with powdered sugar for decoration."

Enjoy!

Bella

White Chocolate Mousse Cake with Passionfruit - Vit chokladmoussetårta med passionsfrukt

WHITE CHOCOLATE MOUSSE CAKE
WITH PASSIONFRUIT
Vit chokladmoussetårta med passionsfrukt

On a dark, viscous almond cocoa layer you spread a snow-white cover of white chocolate mousse topped with passionfruit. Can it get any better?

1 cake = 8 pieces

10.6 oz almond paste
2 eggs
2 tablespoons cocoa

Filling:
1.2 cups heavy cream
7 oz white chocolate
2 egg yolks
2 tablespoons citrus liqueur, e.g. Cointreau or Limoncello

Decoration:
2 to 3 passionfruits (oh, how I love them!)


Heat the oven to 350F. 

Grate the almond paste and stir in eggs and cocoa. Pour in a greased, breaded springform pan, diameter approx 9 inches, and bake in the lower part of the oven for about 20 minutes. Allow to cool and then gently loosen the cake. Wash and dry it and put the cake back in.

Beat the cream. Melt the white chocolate on low heat over a waterbath so that it just softens up, then remove and stir until it melts. White chocolate is extra heat sensitive.

Beat the egg yolks in a large bowl. Add the chocolate while stirring vigorously, then stir in the alcohol and last the cream. Spread this mousse over the cake in the pan, cover with plastic foil and freeze for at least 3 hours.

Split the passionfruit and scoop out the pulp. Spread it out on top of the mousse and allow the cake to be in room temperature approx 30 minutes before serving.

Enjoy!

Bella

Cherry Crêpes - Körsbärscrêpes

CHERRY CRÊPES
Körsbärscrêpes

Serves 4

3 eggs
1 vanilla pod without the seeds
a little salt
1.2 cups flour
2 tablespoons corn oil or other neutral oil
2.4 cups milk
butter or margarine for frying

Filling:
2 cups heavy cream
seeds from the vanilla pod
1 tablespoon powdered sugar
0.2 cup cherry jam
2 tablespoons sweet white wine
1 lb sweet cherries, pitted and split
4 cups vanilla ice cream


Put eggs, vanilla pod and salt in a mixing bowl. Add flour, little by little, while beating until you have a thick batter. Add oil and stir it into the batter. Add milk until the batter has the consistency of thin cream. Take up the pod.

Heat the frying pan on rather high heat and brush the pan with a very, very thin layer of room-tempered fat before frying. Fry the crêpes.

Beat the cream with vanilla seeds and powdered sugar. Stir cherry jam and wine and fold the sweet cherries in. Serve each crêpe with some ice cream, a large spoon of whipped cream and a good heap of cherries on top. Fold up and serve straight away.

Enjoy!

Bella

Leek with Bacon and Mashed Potatoes - Baconpurjo med potatismos

LEEK WITH BACON AND MASHED POTATOES
Baconpurjo med potatismos

Leek and bacon is easy to store at home. Together, they make a really tasty oven dish. The mashed potatoes, which isn't included in this recipe, is said to be extra good with nutmeg (I don't like nutmeg so I never use it - instead I flavor the mash with some spice salt, lemon pepper, paprika or fresh herbs, or don't flavor it at all except for salt and pepper). 

Serves 4

Approx 1 lb 9 oz leek
5 oz streaky bacon
0.4 cup grated cheese
2 tablespoons dried breadcrumbs


Cut the leek in long pieces and rinse thoroughly. Boil until barely tender in lightly salted water for about 15 minutes. Take it up and drain well. Wrap the bacon slices around the leek pieces and put them tightly together in an oven-proof pan. Sprinkle with a mixture of grated cheese and breadcrumbs and put in the oven at 480F for 10 to 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, make a really good mash and serve with this delicious oven bake.

Enjoy!

Bella

Saturday Oven Bake - Lördagslåda

SATURDAY OVEN BAKE
Lördagslåda

As I might have told you I translate the recipe titles straight off the best I can, and sometimes I run into trouble. For instance, the word "låda". It really means "box" or even "drawer" in a desk or the like, but in Sweden, and especially a few decades back, a culinary "låda" is a dish, almost always with eggs, that is baked in the oven with other ingredients. So I call it "oven bake" … as I don't have a better name for it!

Serves 4

2 middle-sized onions
1 red bell pepper
2 green bell peppers
butter or margarine
4 eggs
1.2 cups heavy cream
½ teaspoon salt
a little black pepper
0.4 cup grated ripe cheese
approx 5 oz streaky bacon


Heat the oven to 390F.

Peel and slice the onions. Trim the bell peppers and cut them in rings. Sautée onions and bell peppers in a saucepan in some fat for about 2 minutes. Transfer the mixture to a greased, oven-proof pan. Beat eggs and cream and flavor with salt and black pepper.

Add cheese and pour this egg mixture in the pan. Bake until the eggs have set, about 30 minutes. Serve with fried bacon and vegetables.

Enjoy!

Bella

Leftover Bacon Risotto - Restrisotto med bacon

LEFTOVER BACON RISOTTO
Restrisotto med bacon

To make cooking magic out of leftovers is very rewarding. Here's a tip for a scrumptious risotto, spicy and delicious for dinner.

Serves 4

1.2 cups long-grained rice
2.4 cups bouillon (I normally use chicken bouillon)
2 onions
1 carrot
2 tomatoes
approx 11 oz leftover roast or other leftover boneless meat
3½ oz streaky bacon
2 tablespoons butter or margarine
salt, celery salt, black pepper
2 tablespoons chopped parsley


Boil the rice in bouillon on low heat, covered, for about 20 minutes. Trim the vegetables. Chop the onions and coarsely grate the carrot. Scald and skin the tomatoes and cut them in wedges. Dice leftover meat and bacon. Heat up the fat in a pot and sautée onions, carrot and bacon without browning. Increase the heat, add the diced meat and quickly brown while stirring. Flavor with salt, celery salt and black pepper, then add rice and tomato wedges.

Heat through and stir gently so that all blends well. Check for seasoning and adjust if necessary. Serve the risotto sprinkled with chopped parsley and a salad.

Enjoy!

Bella