Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Posts Tagged ‘jul’

Krumkake – Norwegian Waffle Cookies

Posted in Christmas, Cookies, Dessert, Norwegian, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on February 4, 2013 | 6 Comments »

Norwegian Krumkager

Back in 2005, Joe and I took a week long class at John C. Campbell Folk School. We were at the school during their Scandinavian Heritage week which we figured would be the ideal time for us to be at the school. Joe took a blacksmithing class and I took Scandinavian baking which was so much fun and gave me a lot of confidence in my baking skills. Campbell Folk School is located in the southern Appalachian mountains by Brasstown, North Carolina and the campus is set in the most beautiful and serene location. The school is based on the Danish concept of Folkehøjskole which is an adult non-competitive learning experience. Campbell Folk School offer a wide variety of classes based on American traditional arts and crafts such as basketry, dance, drawing, enameling, leather, metalwork, music, photography, woodworking and so much more. I have written about my experience at Campbell Folk School before when I made Wienerbrød and making these Norwegian Krumkaker brought back wonderful memories about our experience there. I can honestly say that is was one of the most rewarding, exciting and at the same time peaceful experiences I have ever had. To get a feel for the atmosphere at the Folk School check out their blog.

Me at John Campbell Folk School practicing decorating a delicious layered cake.

Me at John Campbell Folk School practicing decorating a delicious layered cake.

Krumkake is a delicate and delicious Norwegian waffle cookie which is traditionally served during the Christmas holiday. I first learned to make this classic waffle while taking my Scandinavian baking class at Campbell Folk School. Making the waffle does require an Krumkake iron and a cone shaped roller which can be purchased pretty easily these days online. The cookies can seem a little tricky to roll at first (careful, they are hot) but after a couple of cookies you’ll quickly get the hang of it. They can be rolled into a cone shape, a cylinder (by using the handle of a wooden spoon) or simply served as a flat round disc. The filling choices are numerous and only limited by your imagination but traditionally they are served with whipped cream and fresh berries.

Norwegian Krumkake

Krumkake – makes 38 Krumkaker

Ingredients:

4 large eggs, at room temperature

200 gram butter (7 oz.)

200 gram sugar (7 oz.)

200 gram flour (7 oz.)

2 tsp vanilla extract or 1/2 tsp ground cardamom

warm water to get correct batter consistency (I used 14 tbsp)

Special equipment required: Krumkake iron and a Krumkake roller (if not already included with your iron)

Directions:

Melt butter and set aside. Add eggs and sugar to a bowl and beat on high until thick and pale yellow in color. While continuing to mix, pour the melted butter, in a thin stream, into the egg mixture. Add your choice of either vanilla extract or cardamom and while continuing to mix, add  flour in small increments. If batter is too thick, add warm water to correct consistency.

Note: follow your Krumkake iron manufactures instructions regarding temperature settings, if iron needs to be greased and cooking time. Using the krumkake roller will give you a cone shape and using the end of a wooden spoon with give a cylinder shape.

Place a large piece of parchment paper onto your counter top next to the Krumkake iron. I taped the corners of the paper down to keep it from moving around.

Pour a generous tablespoon of batter onto your hot krumkake iron, close lid and cook until ready (30-45 seconds). Using a small offset spatula or a butter knife, quickly lift the soft krumkake onto the parchment paper and roll into desired shape. Keep the cookie on the roller for 1-2 minutes to allow it to take its shape before sliding the cookie off the roller and placing it onto a baking sheet to cool completely. Store cookies in an airtight tin until ready to serve. Fill cones with your favorite filling right before serving and enjoy.

Krumkake serving suggestions: whipped cream with fresh berries, soft ice cream, preserves or jams, pudding, custard or Carole’s Almond Pudding (recipe follows)

Carole’s Almond Pudding:

Ingredients:

1 small package instant vanilla pudding (95 gram or 3.4 oz.)

1 cup heavy whipping cream

1 cup milk

1/4 – 1/2 tsp almond extract

Directions:

Beat all ingredients together for 1-2 minutes until desired consistency and keep cool in refrigerator until ready to serve. Pipe into krumkaker cookies and serve immediately.

Source for Krumkake: adapted from Tine.no

Source for Carole’s Almond Pudding: my friend and coworker Carole Yoder

Print Friendly and PDF

Making Krumkaker

Read Full Post »

Homemade Crunchy Chocolate

Posted in Chocolate, Christmas, Danish, Quick and Easy, tagged , , , , , , , on December 17, 2012 | 5 Comments »

Homemade Crunchy Chocolate

Danes love to make many different types on confections (konfekt) around Christmas time. They are small delectable treasures and usually pretty easy to make. This one is super quick and easy and I adore the slight crunch from the biscuits and the hint of cranberries. It reminds me of my Kiksekage, which I looove, only this is in small bite-size pieces. However, it does contain nougat which I have never seen in a regular grocery store here where we live. So the only way for me to get nougat is to order it online, but it is well worth it :)

Homemade Crunchy Chocolate

Ingredients:

200 grams semi-sweet or milk chocolate (7 oz)

100 grams nougat (3.52 oz)

50 grams biscuits (1.76 oz)

30 grams dried cranberries (1 oz)

Directions:

Over a warm water bath, melt nougat and chocolate. Remove bowl from water bath and break biscuits into small pieces, add to melted chocolate. Add dried cranberries and gently stir to moisten and combine all pieces. Line a small container with parchment paper allowing paper to extend over edges for easy removal of chocolate. Pour chocolate mixture into container and place in refrigerator for two hours to cool and set. Glædelig Jul and Merry Christmas!

Nougat

Source: adapted from Odense Marcipan

Print Friendly and PDF

Read Full Post »

Brunkager – A Modern Version, Ginger Cookies

Posted in Christmas, Cookies, Danish, tagged , , , , , , , , , on December 3, 2012 | 7 Comments »

Brunkager

Brunkager

This year I decided to try out a new recipe for Brunkager. I view this recipe as a more modern Brunkage in that, the finished product is a small rectangular cookie instead of the traditional round shape and it has pistachios in addition to almonds. The cookies are very flavorful and delicious and the only problem I had was with the aesthetic outcome. I was not able to find any whole almonds and pistachios, all I could get was almond slivers and unsalted pistachio halves and pieces. Of course now that it’s all said and done I finally found the right kind of nuts…bummer… oh well. As far as the almonds, use what you have, but whole would be perfect. But for the pistachios, I would recommend that if you cannot get whole then don’t bother with it because it really wont give you the beautiful green “wow” effect that whole pistachios would provided.

This recipe also uses Potaske which is a leavening agent commonly used in some Danish baked products. Potaske can be substituted with Baking Soda which is what I used in my previous Brunkager recipe. If you use Baking Soda you can omit the 1 tablespoon cold water. Simply just mix the Baking Soda in with the dry ingredients.

I hope you enjoy these cookies, they are a wonderful addition to any Christmas repertoire.

Brunkager II

Brunkager (makes approx. 110 cookies)

Ingredients:

250 gram butter (8.8 oz.)

125 gram dark syrup (4.4 oz.)

250 gram dark brown sugar (8.8 oz.)

2 teaspoon potaske

1 tablespoon cold water

3 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground cloves

2 teaspoon ground ginger

1 teaspoon ground allspice

500 gram all-purpose flour (17.6 oz.)

30 gram whole unsalted pistachios (1 oz.)

120 gram whole blanched almonds (4 oz.)

Directions:

Using a 20 x 20 centimeter (8 x 8 inch) container, cut 2 pieces of parchment paper to fit inside the dish without it crimping up in the corners. Place parchment paper in a cross fashion with paper extending over the edges. Set aside.

Place butter, syrup and brown sugar in a sauce pan and melt over medium-high heat. Once ingredients are melting, whisk vigorously until it comes together. Remove from heat.

Combine potaske and water, set aside. Combine flour, cinnamon, cloves, ginger and allspice in the bowl of a stand-mixer fitted with the hook attachment. Add potaske/water mixture to the warm butter/syrup mixture. Pour the warm butter/syrup mixture into the flour mixture and mix until a homogeneous mass. Add pistachios and almonds and continue mixing until combined.

While batter is still warm, pour into dish lined with parchment paper and press the mixture into corners and flatten. Cut another piece of parchment paper to fit and place on top of dough. Fold overhanging edges of paper in over batter and allow to cool at room temperature until the following day. Next day, remove dough from dish and cut into 4 logs. If you plan on baking the cookies at this point, cut logs into thin slices and place on baking sheet lined with parchment paper, leaving a 1 inch space between cookies. Bake in a 180 degree C (350 degrees F) preheated oven for 9 – 12 minutes. Allow cookies to cool completely before placing in a cookie tin with a tight fitting lid.

If you plan on baking cookies on a later date, wrap each log tightly in plastic wrap, place in a zip-loc bag and store them in refrigerator for 1-2 weeks. Flavors will continue to develop as dough sits. Once ready to bake, allow dough to come to room temperature before slicing and baking.  Merry Christmas and Glædelig Jul.

Brunkager ready for baking

Brunkager ready for baking

Source: adapted from Det Søde Liv

Print Friendly and PDF

Read Full Post »

Brunede Kartofler – Caramelized Potatoes

Posted in Autumn, Christmas, Danish, Side dish, tagged , , , , , , , , , on November 19, 2012 | 12 Comments »

Brunede Kartofler – Caramelized Potatoes

Brunede Kartofler is a classic Danish side dish which was always served with Christmas dinner when I was a child.  Of course it was also served occasionally at other times but I think probably most Danes associate the dish with Christmas in particular. The sweetness of the caramelized potatoes is wonderful with the other classic side dish Rødkål (sweet and sour red cabbage) which is slightly tangy and the two dishes are often found on the same table.

When making Brunede Kartofler make sure to watch the sugar so it doesn’t burn and when you add the butter it will bubble up briefly, so please be very careful.

Caramelized Potatoes

Brunede Kartofler

Ingredients:

potatoes (approx 20 small white)

1 cup sugar

5 tablespoon butter

Directions:

Boil potatoes in salted water until fork tender. Drain potatoes and place in refrigerator to cool. Once potatoes are cold, remove peel. In a pan over medium-low heat melt sugar. Watch sugar carefully so it does not burn. When sugar has melted add butter, please note that it will bubble up, stir to combine. Add potatoes and cook low and slow, gently stirring occasionally until potatoes are warmed through. Enjoy!

Source: My mother Åse Frandsen

Print Friendly and PDF

Read Full Post »

Rødkål – Sweet and Sour Red Cabbage

Posted in Autumn, Christmas, Danish, Side dish, tagged , , , , , , , , , on November 12, 2012 | 23 Comments »

Red Cabbage

With the holidays quickly approaching it’s time to revisit some classic Danish dishes. Rødkål is a side dish that is always on the table for Christmas dinners and luncheons but of course it is also served at other times. For me though, the sweet and sour aroma with a hint of cloves in the background reminds me of Christmas and it will perfume your house in the most warm and pleasant of ways. The dish itself is very quick and easy to assemble and the remainder of the time is spent simmering away on the stove.

Sliced red cabbage ready for cooking

I have been experimenting with this recipe for some time now and I finally got it right (that’s according to my tastebuds of course :) ). The traditional way to make Rødkål is to use Ribssaft (Red Currant juice) but it’s impossible to find it in any of the stores around here, so I am substituting it with 100% Pomegranate juice.

The first time I made Rødkål the ratio of vinegar to pomegranate juice was off with too much vinegar. The second time I could not find any pomegranate juice so I used cranberry juice instead…bad idea. It left a really dry taste in my mouth. In the meantime, my parents came to visit and they brought real Ribssaft with them but it was confiscated going through customs. (Still unclear as to why they couldn’t bring it in, maybe the size of the bottle?) Anyway, two cabbage heads later and with real pomegranate juice and less vinegar, we finally have a winner!

Rødkål

Ingredients:

1 head red cabbage

1 deciliter apple cider vinegar (3.4 oz.)

2 deciliter pomegranate juice (or red currant juice = ribssaft) (6.8 oz.)

3 – 4 tablespoons sugar

1/2 tablespoon salt

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cloves

1 tablespoon butter

Atamon for rinsing glasses

Directions:

Remove outer leaves of cabbage, cut into quarters, remove the tough white core and discard. Slice cabbage into desired thickness. Place cabbage  into cooking pot and add vinegar, juice, sugar, salt and ground cloves. Let it simmer covered for 3 hours, stirring occasionally. At the end of cooking time add the butter and gently stir until melted. If cabbage is to be used fairly quickly, simply just sterilize jars and lids with boiling water. If cabbage is intended for storing away, rinse jars and lids with Atamon. Store in cool, dark place. Enjoy!

Source: My Danish Kitchen

Print Friendly and PDF

Read Full Post »

Brunkager – Ginger Cookies

Posted in Christmas, Cookies, Danish, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on December 22, 2011 | 9 Comments »

Brunkager

Here is another Cookie which I grew up with. You can buy a version of this in some grocery store, but why on earth do that, when you can fill your house with an intense aroma of cinnamon, cloves and ginger. The Brunkage cookie is crunchy and crisp and to me it’s filled with childhood Christmas memories from a long, long time ago….well, not that long ago :)

I’ve been searching for a Brunkage recipe which uses ingredients that I have relative easy access to. Again, there are numerous different ways to make this cookie. This recipe is really straight forward as far as ingredients go, it is easy and quick to make and the cookies are very flavorful. As far as the syrup goes, I did use a Danish dark syrup (mørk sirup, in Danish). However, I did some inquiring about a substitute syrup and the response I got was that Maple syrup will work just fine. So although I have not tried it myself, it should be no problem using Maple syrup. I hope you enjoy this cookies as much as I do!

Brunkage thickness

Ingredients:

200 grams butter (7 ounces), at room temperature

200 grams sugar (7 ounces)

1 deciliter syrup (0.4 cup) (100 milliliter)

1 teaspoon ground ginger

3 teaspoons ground cinnamon

2 teaspoons ground cloves

300 – 325 grams flour (10.6 – 11.5 ounces)

1 teaspoon baking soda

100 – 125 grams blanched sliced almonds (3.5 – 4.4 ounces)

Directions:

In the bowl of an stand-up mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or electrical mixer add butter and sugar and beat until smooth. Add syrup, ginger, cinnamon and cloves, mix until combined. Holding back a small amount of flour for kneading the dough, add the majority of the flour and all of the baking soda and almonds. Mix until combined, careful not to over-mix. Turn dough out onto working surface and using the remaining flour, knead the dough briefly until smooth.  Divide dough into two equal portions and form  two logs 5 centimeters in thickness. Wrap each log in plastic wrap and place in a zip lock bag. Let dough rest in refrigerator overnight.

Preheat oven to 200 degrees C (390 degrees F) and line baking sheets with parchment paper. Slice dough into approximately 4-5 mm (0.2 inch) thick slices and bake in the middle of oven for 4-5 minutes. Cool on baking sheet for 2-3 minutes before moving to cooling rack. Store cookies in a cookie tin with a tight-fitting lid. Glædelig Jul and Merry Christmas :)

Mørk Sirup

Source: Kirsten Hüttemeier via Connie Lauridsen Childs

Print Friendly and PDF

Read Full Post »

Havregrynskugler – Oat Balls

Posted in Chocolate, Christmas, Cookies, Danish, tagged , , , , , , , , on December 5, 2011 | 11 Comments »

Havregrynskugler

Havregrynskugler is a Danish Christmas treat that children of almost all ages can really get involved in making. They are a fun activity and super easy to make and also no-bake.

There are numerous different recipes for Havregrynskugler varying from low-fat to much richer, lower sugar to sweeter as well as adult versions containing alcohol and coffee. I like this version because it does not have a lot of butter, contains Marzipan which I love and it has a slight crunch from the sugar. If you don’t care for the sugar crunch you could substitute with confectioners sugar.

Havregrynskugler

Ingredients:

50 gram unsalted butter, at room temperature (4 tablespoons)

50 gram marzipan (1.75 ounces)

75 gram sugar (2.63 ounces)

125 gram oats (1 1/2 cups)

25 gram unsweetened cocoa (0.87 ounce or 4 tablespoons)

1 -2 teaspoon almond extract

1 -2 teaspoon rum

2 teaspoon seedless raspberry jam

about 100 gram coconut flakes, chopped finely (3.51 ounces)

Directions:

Optional: process oats in a food processor for a few pulses to break up oats a little.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment add butter and break marzipan into small pieces, cream together until smooth. Add sugar and continue to beat for 1 or 2 minutes longer. Add oats, cocoa, almond extract, rum and raspberry jam, continue to mix until homogeneous.

Form into small balls by pressing the dough together and rolling in your hands. Immediately roll each ball in the coconut. Place covered in refrigerator. Serve cold. Enjoy!

Source: adapted from Kvalimad

Print Friendly and PDF

Read Full Post »

12 Days of Christmas – Conclusion

Posted in 12 Days of Christmas, Other, tagged , , , , , , , on December 12, 2010 |

Christmas Star - it hangs in my kitchen window every Christmas

First of all, I just wanted to thank everyone for all of your nice comments and emails that you have left me during the 12 Days of Christmas series. It has been such a great pleasure and I have had a lot of fun in creating this series and now that it has come to a conclusion it is almost a little bittersweet. The positive response I have gotten has been unexpected and very impressive, it has brought back a lot of wonderful memories for myself and I am happy that I have been able to share some of them with you. I look forward to bringing you more delicious food and desserts and feel free to stop by My Danish Kitchen any time you like. Merry Christmas and Glædelig Jul to everyone.

Our Christmas tree with Danish and American flags

Read Full Post »

12 Days of Christmas – Ris a la mande

Posted in 12 Days of Christmas, Christmas, Danish, Dessert, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on December 10, 2010 | 23 Comments »

Ris a la mande

Ris a la mande

During the 1800′s the citizen’s of Copenhagen felt the need to separate themselves from the farming community and this also affected our Christmas food. They added whipped cream and almonds to our beloved Danish Risengrød and called it Ris a la mande to give it some French flair, because that is what was in fashion at that time. Kristeligt Dagblad

Danish Christmas Tradition: Mandelgaven (the Almond Present)

Today you still see Ris a la mande served in most Danish households on Christmas Eve. Since then, we have add a warm Cherry Sauce to top it off and traditionally a fun game goes along with eating this wonderful Christmas treat. A single whole Almond is blanched and stirred into the Ris a la mande to hide it. The dish is served after Christmas dinner and whoever finds the almond wins a gift. The problem with the Almond gift is that the winner could be anyone from a child to grandmother. This is often solved by giving a traditional small Marzipan pig as the gift, but today, the gift could be anything. Also, there is a lot of cheating going on with this game. Some may choose to place an Almond in each of the children’s bowls so all the children gets a gift. I think my Mom did that one year but we thought the game should be done “the right way”. I can honestly say that I have never won this game. The winner in our home was typically my Dad. He would often times get the almond and then he would keep it hidden against his cheek until all the Ris a la mande was eaten up. Sneaky.  One year my Dad took pity on me and gave me the Almond under the table :) but I didn’t feel right taking the gift since I did not honestly win it.

I should also mention that some households may chop blanched Almonds into small pieces and add them to the dish. We have never done this at our house, instead pure Almond Extract is added giving the dish a wonderful Almond flavor. This dish is by far one of the biggest highlights of Christmas for me and I continue to serve it every single year, for it would not be Christmas without it.

Ris a la mande with warm Cherry sauce

Update:

I am very honored to be asked to participate in the LexioPhiles International Recipe Advent Calendar 2011. My recipe for Ris a la mande with warm Cherry sauce will appear on December 2nd, 2011.  LexioPhiles will feature a new recipe every day during the month of December from bloggers around the world.  I am very excited about visiting each day to see what unique recipes will be displayed from my fellow bloggers. I hope you will too!

Ingredients for 1st stage – Risengrød:

1 1/4 cup water

1 cup rice (Grødris)

4 1/2 cup milk

1 teaspoon vanilla sugar

Ingredients for 2nd stage – Ris a la mande:

1 1/2 cup whipping cream

3 tablespoon confectioners sugar

4 teaspoon pure almond extract

2 whole almonds

For the Cherry Sauce:

15 oz can Oregon Bing Cherries in heavy syrup

1 tablespoon cornstarch

water

Directions:

Place water and rice in a medium cooking pot, cover with a lid and simmer for 2 minutes. Add milk and vanilla sugar and simmer over low heat for 40-45 minutes. Stir often to make sure the milk does not burn, especially the last 30 minutes. You may have to turn the heat all the way down as low as your stove will allow and cover with a lid for the last 15 minutes.

Place in Tupperware and refrigerate for several hours or overnight.

Once mixture is completely cooled remove from refrigerator and break it up with a spoon. In a small bowl add whipping cream, confectioners sugar and almond extract. Beat with a handheld mixer until you see tracks from beaters in the cream. Add half of the whipping cream to rice mixture and combine well with a spoon, add remaining whipping cream in small increments. The final  texture should be creamy and easily mixed with the spoon. Place covered in refrigerator until ready to serve.

To blanch almonds. Place almonds in a small dish and pour boiling water over to cover. Let sit in water for 1 minute, drain and rinse with cold water. Pat dry and slip the skins off. I usually blanch two almonds in case I have trouble with one. Before serving Ris a la mande, place one blanched almond in mixture and stir well to hide almond.

In a small dish mix together the cornstarch and some water to form the thickening agent. In a small saucepan bring cherry and syrup to a simmer. Add the cornstarch/water mixture to cherries a little at the time, stirring until syrup starts to thicken. Simmer for 1 minute and remove from heat.

Serve Ris a la mande cold with the warm cherry sauce on top.

Glædelig Jul and Merry Christmas♥

Ris a la mande

Source: My Danish Kitchen

Print

Read Full Post »

12 Days of Christmas – Risengrød

Posted in 12 Days of Christmas, Christmas, Danish, Dessert, tagged , , , , , , , , , on December 6, 2010 | 26 Comments »

Risengrød

Risengrød

Danish Christmas Tradition: Nissen (a mythical creature of Scandinavian Folklore)

The Danish Nisse is a fictional character which has its roots from the 1800′s farming community. Nissen would help with the successful drift of the farm, that is, if you were respectful of the nisse and if you behaved yourself. A special dish which were served for Christmas is Risengrød. It may not seem special by todays measure, but back then milk, rice, butter, sugar and cinnamon was a commodity. And so, it makes sense that Nissen would be part of a festive event like Christmas.

Today, the Nisse folklore is still alive and well, but in a different way. Songs have been written about the Nissen and he’s often seen in Children’s Christmas calendars whether it be on TV or on paper. He is an important part of decorating for Christmas in Denmark and Risengrød is still his favorite meal. In the picture above, which is part of my Christmas Tree skirt, you can see the Nissen getting ready to eat his Risengrød.

Risengrød

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cup water

1 cup rice (Grødris)

4 1/2 cup milk

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla sugar

butter

sugar

cinnamon

Directions:

Place water and rice in a medium cooking pot, cover with a lid and simmer for 2 minutes. Add milk, salt and vanilla sugar and simmer over low heat for 40-45 minutes. Stir often to make sure the milk does not burn, especially the last 30 minutes. You may have to turn the heat all the way down as low as your stove will allow and cover with a lid for the last 15 minutes.

Mix sugar and cinnamon together according to your taste. Serve the Risengrød warm, sprinkled with sugar/cinnamon mixture and place a dollop of butter in the center, letting the butter melt.

Glædelig Jul and Merry Christmas♥

Rice (Grødris) and Vanilla sugar

Source: My Danish Kitchen

Print

Read Full Post »

Older Posts »

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 327 other followers

%d bloggers like this: