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Posts Tagged ‘summer’

White Wine Sangria

White Wine Sangria With A Twist

Even though Fall is officially here we still have some wonderful warm days left here in Virginia and a White Wine Sangria is still a refreshing choice for a Saturday evening with good company. Here is my favorite Sangria! Instead of a regular glass of white wine, which can sometimes be a little strong, this Sangria is light and refreshing with a citrous touch. The White Wine Sangria is the perfect alternative, if you like me, prefer to avoid red wine and I’m confident that you’ll really enjoy it 🙂

White Wine Sangria With A Twist (makes 8 serving)

Ingredients:

1 bottle Chardoney

1/4 cup super fine sugar (50 gram)

1 lime, sliced thin

1 lemon, sliced thin

1/2 Granny Smith apple, cored and sliced thin

1 cup apple juice

pinch of salt

12 oz seltzer water

ice cubes

Directions:

In a large pitcher combine wine and sugar, stir until sugar is completely dissolved. Add lime, lemon, apple, apple juice and salt, mix well. Refrigerate pitcher and at least 1 hour or up to 4 hours. Just before serving add seltzer and ice cubes. Enjoy!

Source: adapted from Brian Boitano

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Summer Vacation

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Hummingbird

 

Hello everyone. It’s time for a little summer vacations here on my Danish Kitchen. I have a couple of home projects I’m working on and we’ll be making a trip up to Chicago very soon. I hope you have all been enjoying your summer so far and I’ll see you back here soon. 🌻

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Blackberry Bars

Blackberry Bars

Blackberry Bars

Growing up back home in Denmark my father always had an elaborate garden with berry bushes, fruit trees, a vegetable garden and a green house. Needless to say he has always had a very green thumb. As for myself, I do well with herbs and I have tried my hand at growing tomatoes which turned out pretty good and this summer my blackberry bush actually gave me beautiful, juicy berries. The bush didn’t quite give me enough berries for these delicious Blackberry bars but it did give me about half of the amount I needed. I have to say, that there is something very satisfying about being able to use produce that you have grown yourself.

Blackberry bars

Cut butter into dry ingredients, pulse until only small pieces of butter remain and mixture is crumbly.

As for these gorgeous little bars they are a wonderful summer treat. I think they taste best when chilled and then cut up and served. The cake itself is soft, yet firm, a little sweet with a great crumb on top and the berries give a nice tartness to the cake.

Blackberry bars 2

Baked crust, topped with berries and filling, topped with crumble mixture and baked until golden.

Blackberry Bars (makes 16 bars)

Ingredients for crust and topping:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (190 grams or 6.7 ounces)

3/4 cup sugar (160 grams or 5.6 ounces)

pinch of salt

zest of 1/2 lemon

3/4 cup unsalted butter, cold (12 tablespoons or 170 grams or 6.0 ounces)

Ingredients for filling:

2 large eggs

1 cup sugar (205 grams or 7.2 ounces)

1/2 cup plain greek yogurt or sour cream (135 grams or 4.8 ounces)

6 tablespoons all-purpose flour (52 grams)

pinch of salt

juice of 1/2 lemon

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

16 ounces fresh blackberries (453 grams), if using frozen berries thaw and drain of excess juices

Directions:

Line a 9 x 9 inch (22 x 22 cm) pan with foil and spray lightly with baking spray. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (176 degrees C).

In the bowl of a food processor or electrical mixer, combine flour, sugar, salt and lemon zest. Give a quick stir to combine. Cut cold butter into 1/2 inch slices (1.3 cm), add to dry ingredients and pulse/mix until only small pieces of butter remain and the mixture is crumbly. Reserve 3/4 cup of mixture for topping the bars. Add the remaining mixture to prepared pan and gently press to form and even layer of crust at the bottom of the pan. Bake 12-15 minutes or until light golden. Let crust cool for 15 minutes before proceeding.

In a medium bowl combine eggs, sugar, yogurt (or sour cream), flour, salt, lemon juice and vanilla extract. Beat until smooth. Gently fold in the blackberries. Pour filling over baked crust and spread evenly. Sprinkle evenly with remaining 3/4 cup topping mixture. Bake for approximately 45 minutes or until the filling is set and the top is starting to brown a little. Let cool completely on a wire rack at room temperature. Chill in refrigerator before cutting into bars. Enjoy!

Source: Annie’s Eats via The Pastry Queen

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Hyldeblomst Saft

Hyldeblomster (Elderflowers) has played a big role in Nordic mythology. It was believed that the goddess Freja lived by the Elderflowers and that the bushes provided protection from evil. The flowers were also thought to give relief from ailments such as toothaches, fevers, depression and insomnia. In today’s modern Denmark Elderflowers are still very popular but for different reasons. Today the mature flowers are used to make a wonderful tasty juice concentrate. The Elderflower bushes can be found growing wild in the woods, fields or parks and the time to harvest the fragrant flowers is in early June. I have never come across Elderflowers here where we live, then again, I haven’t really gone scavenger hunting for them either. In any case, I did come across some delicious Elderflower concentrate at my all-time favorite store IKEA and wanted to share with you this refreshing drink which is perfect for the hot summer days here in Virginia.

Hyldeblomst Saft – Elderflower Concentrate

Ingredients:

Makes 1 glass

Hyldeblomst (Elderflower) with Water

1/4 cup Elderflower concentrate

3/4 cup ice-cold water

ice cubes

lemon slice

Hyldeblomst (Elderflower) with Carbonated Water (and Rum)

1/4 cup Elderflower concentrate

3/4 cup carbonated water (such as Perrier)

ice cubes

1 shot Captain Morgan’s Spiced Rum (optional)

Directions:

Making sure the water or carbonated water is ice-cold, mix with concentrate. Add ice cubes and remaining ingredients such as lemon slice and rum if desired. Enjoy!

Hyldeblomst Saft mixed in blender with ice.

Source: My Danish Kitchen

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Kammerjunker – Twice Baked Biscuits

Kammerjunker is a small twice-baked biscuit which is served with the Danish summer dish Koldskål. I have been promising to write a post about Kammerjunker for quite some time now and with summer right around the corner I find myself day-dreaming about cold, sweet and tart delicious Koldskål with some crunchy homemade Kammerjunker. And so here they are!

Kammerjunker – Twice baked biscuits

I have to say that the home-made Kammerjunker completely beats the store-bought kind. These turned out crunchy and so tasty that I had to fight off my husband for them. Btw he told me to tell you that they are also great with a little jam and Nutella on them (shaking her head in disbelief). They are not overly sweet like the ones from the store, which I really like, besides I find the store-bought kind more like a cookie anyway. I hope you enjoy these as much as we have.

Kammerjunker – makes 48 whole or 96 half sliced biscuits

Ingredients:

250 grams all-purpose flour (8.8 oz.)

2 teaspoons baking powder

100 grams sugar (3.5 oz.)

1/2 vanilla bean

1/2 teaspoon cardamom

100 grams butter, room temperature (3.5 oz.)

1 egg

1/2 deciliter milk (1.7 oz.)

Directions:

Scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean and mix with a small amount of the sugar to separate the seeds. In a large bowl add flour, baking powder, sugar, seeds from vanilla bean and cardamom, stir to combine. Cut butter into pieces, add to flour mixture and using your clean hands work butter and flour together until crumbly. Add egg, mix only until incorporated. Add milk and mix only until dough comes together. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and place in refrigerator for 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 345 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.

Roll small pieces of dough into approx. 2 centimeter (0.8 inch) balls and place on baking sheet 2 centimeter apart. Bake for max 10 minutes. Remove from oven and while biscuits are still warm slice into halves using a serrated knife. Place back onto baking sheet with cut-side down.

Lower heat in oven to 200 degrees F (100 degrees C) and continue to bake for another 45 minutes to dry biscuits out. Allow to cool completely before storing Kammerjunker in a cookie tin. Enjoy!

Source: adapted from Det Søde Liv

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Rabarber Koldskål

I know what you’re thinking, and your right. It’s time for Koldskål! The days are longer and the temperatures are rising and Koldskål is just such a perfect dish for summer evenings. This version is made with rhubarb which makes it a little more tart but you can always add more sugar if you like. I like the tang though. I also chose to used Greek yogurt which made it a little thicker, yet it turned out with a wonderful “airy” consistency which I really enjoyed. When ready to serve make sure you serve it very cold and with your favorite topping. I hope you enjoy this Danish summer dish.

Koldskål – 3 servings

Ingredients:

2 cups buttermilk

1 cup Greek plain non-fat yogurt

4 tablespoons sugar

Rhubarb Compote:

1 1/2 large Rhubarbs

4 tbsp sugar (50g)

1/2 vanilla bean

1/2 cup cold water (1 dl)

Topping:

Kammerjunkere – delicious cookies typically served with Koldskål

Direction:

Beat buttermilk, yogurt and sugar together. Cover and place in refrigerator.

Meanwhile, clean and cut rhubarbs into 2 inch slices and place in small cooking pot. Add sugar, seeds plus vanilla bean and water. Simmer covered for 15 minutes, uncover, turn off heat and let stand another 5 minutes. Remove vanilla bean ,place in blender and blend until smooth. Allow to cool before whipping it into the Koldskål. Place back in refrigerator until ready to serve. Add your favorite topping. Enjoy.

Rabarber Koldskål med Kammerjunkere

Adapted from: Det Søde Liv

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Danish Koldskål

Danish Koldskål

This is a traditional Danish dish served in the summertime. I recall having this either as a dessert, breakfast or even as a light dinner on a warm summer evening. I don’t think my husband and son would easily accept this as a dinner dish…. what, where is the meat 🙂 ….but I actually think this makes a perfect dinner because it’s so refreshing and light, especially in 90 degree weather. Some make this with eggs but I prefer to leave them out. You can also add vanilla sugar and lemon for added flavor. Buttermilk has a tangy flavor which is offset by the sugar. It has high levels of lactic acid which makes it’s easily digested and increases the absorption of calcium. Serve this refreshing dish cold with your choice of topping.

Koldskål ingredients

Koldskål ingredients

Koldskål – 3 servings

Ingredients:

2 cups buttermilk

1 cup plain nonfat yogurt

3 – 4 tablespoons sugar

Directions:

Whip buttermilk, yogurt and sugar together. Serve very cold with a topping of your choice.

Toppings:

Kammerjunker – sweet cookies typically served with Koldskål

fresh fruit (sliced strawberries, raspberries, peaches)

biscotti

toasted oatmeal (toast on pan; 1/2 cup oatmeal, 1-2 tbsp butter, sliced almonds or hazelnuts, careful not to burn)

tvebakker – twice baked cookies popular during WWII

Koldskål

Koldskål

Source: My Danish Kitchen

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