Traditional Icelandic Cake

March 6, 2024 Forestwood

As I get a little older, watching the waistline becomes mandatory. Weekends are more the time to indulge in baking and eating sweet treats. Rabbit rations are for the working week.

I was reminded of the wonderful ‘Hjonabandsaela’ or Blessing of the Marriage cake at a recent lunch! It is not only light and delicious, it is traditional comfort food at its best, and – it originates from Iceland!

And I am heading to a Thai wedding shortly. It’s an informal second wedding so a Bring a Plate concept is included. So to add some ‘Scandi flair,’ for which I am renowned. I will make an Icelandic cake.

Icelandic Wedding Traditions

Fridays are the traditional wedding day in Iceland.

The pagan Icelanders believed the day was dedicated to Frigga, who just happened to be the goddess of marriage! Engagements sometimes last for 3 -4 years, so after waiting that long, it is little wonder that cake features prominently in the celebrations!

At the wedding feast itself, a ‘Kransekake’ or traditional Scandinavian wedding cake, is eaten. This the wonderfully Scandinavian stack of crispy, concentric almond-based pastry rings, decorated with icing and flags, which looks and tastes incredible.

Another Icelandic tradition is for a groom to send presents to bride’s family, on the morning after the wedding. Whilst the ancient tradition is by and large, forgotten in modern times, it is still customary for a bride and groom to exchange personal “bed gifts and cake.” The traditional religious ritual, the ‘Blessing of the Marriage’ is undertaken by the priest, after the wedding couple leave the wedding feast, when the bride and groom are finally alone! This is the cake for such an occasion!!!

This weekend’s sweet treat!

Recipe – Hjonabandsæla -Blessing of the Marriage

Ingredients:

1 cup rolled oats

1 cup plain flour

1 cup dark brown sugar

150 gram butter

1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda/baking powder

1/2 teaspoon cardamon (optional)

Rhubarb jam or other not very sweet jam such as cranberry.

Mix thoroughly softened (not melted) butter with the sugar. Add flour, bicarbonate of soda and oats

Press 3/4 of dough into greased tin. Spread jam on top, sprinkle the rest of the dough on top.

Bake in medium hot oven approx 30 -40 minutes.

To Make your own Jam

Bring to boil:

2 cups chopped rhubarb

juice of 1 orange

1/2 cup strawberry or cranberry (lingonberry) jam

2 tablespoon sugar

Cook 10 minutes and allow to cool. You can add more sugar if you think it is too tart.

NB Tips:

If mixing by hand, use quick cook rolled oats, instead of whole oats.
Instead of rhubarb jam, you can try cranberry, blackberry or plum jam.

blogging, food

Five Minute Thai Curry and Cauli Rice Challenge

October 5, 2022November 5, 2022 Forestwood

Could you make a meal in five minutes?

The Cauliflower rice took me a tad longer than five minutes, but it was super tasty and the M.o.t.h. gobbled it up thinking it was fried rice!

I added onion, shallots, capsicum (red pepper) and doused it in soya sauce.

Simple and easy.

food

Simple Nasi Goreng

January 15, 2022January 15, 2022 Forestwood

A versatile dish that can made using a variety of ingredients to hand in the fridge and pantry Full recipe of Nasi Goreng.

Uncategorized

Chocolate Cake with Zucchini Squash

July 14, 2021 Forestwood

At the Home by the Sea, I am always looking to incorporate more vegetables in our diet.

If you have read this blog before you might be aware of my penchant for sweet treats. Especially those with brown sugar, walnuts and cinnamon, such as the Danish Spice Cake, or Walnut Streusal Cake.

Fellow blogger Sandy just had to go and post a delicious recipe of Chocolate and Zucchini cake with just those aforementioned ingredients that I love so much.

Clear the hallway! I said when I read the post.

“I am headed for the kitchen.” No sooner had I read the post then the cake was in the mixing bowl.

Here is the result:

Sandy’s Chocolate and Zucchini Cake

Health Benefits of Zucchini or Squash to your Diet

Zucchini is low in calories, fat, and sugar and is a great source of antioxidants and Folate. It also contains Vitamins (A, E and C) that improve skin integrity, alleviate puffiness, build collagen and fight damage from free radicals. So Zucchini make us look younger!

Recipe

I reduced the zucchini – I use 2- 3 zucchini amounting to about 500 ml shredded – squeezed it out a little then added a 2- 3 tablespoons of extra flour to Sandy’s recipe.

Find the Full recipe at Sandy’s blog post.

building

Edamame and Avocado Smash on Beetroot Hommus

June 24, 2021June 29, 2021 Forestwood

Ingredients:

1 Slice Sourdough or Rye bread toasted
1/2 small can of cooked Edamame beans
1/2 ripe Avocado
2 tablespoons of Beetroot hommus
Spinach leaves and Cracked Pepper to garnish

More here: forestwoodfolkart.wordpress.com/2021/06/24/embracing-edamame-beans/

Exploring the street food of Phnom Penh

https://www.toonsarah-travels.blog/exploring-the-street-food-of-phnom-penh/https://www.toonsarah-travels.blog/exploring-the-street-food-of-phnom-penh/

recipe

DIY Cake and Cookie Pre-Mix and Save

April 22, 2021April 22, 2021 Forestwood

Never buy a packet cookie or cake mix again! Many of them are just flour, sugar and dehydrated egg or fat.

You can easily make good quality cake mixes on your own in a food processor, or by hand, if you relish manually rubbing in butter to flour; (I don’t). But it does save you money and assist in building a zero waste household!

Buying larger bags of flour and sugar, in order to make up a few batches of cake mix will save money in the long run, as you can access cheaper prices for buying in bulk. Think how much each individual box of cake mix costs. I estimate you could save at least 2/3 of the retail price. So in effect, 3 for the price of 1!

These pre-made mixes can be made up immediately they’re removed from the fridge, but it will take a little longer than if the ingredients are at room temperature when you make them up. Use this time well by preparing pans, trays etc. whilst waiting for the mix to acclimatize.

Hints on Making Your own Baking Mixes:

Measure ingredients accurately.
Place mixes into sealable plastic bags: large zip lock bags are great.
Mark down the date prepared and the contents: eg.Chocolate cake/ orange cake, on the label. You might even want to add some simple directions on preparing or baking and give these mixes as gifts to friends. A marble cake pre made mix is welcomed by my friends.
Sealed well these mixes will store in the freezer for 3 months.

Foundation Cake Pre-Mix

*NB: Self raising flour is the equivalent of 1 cup of plain or all purpose flour mixed with 2 teaspoons of Baking powder sifted and mixed thoroughly.

Cake Mix Ingredients

1 1/2 cups Self-raising Flour*
3/4 cup (180 g) castor sugar
2 tablespoons skim milk powder
125 g (4oz) butter, straight from fridge and chopped into small cubes

Combine sifted flour, sugar and milk powder in the bowl of food processor fitted with a metal blade for blending the butter.
Blitz dry ingredients for 2- 3 seconds to mix.
Add the chopped cold butter.
Process 10 to 20 seconds until butter is evenly distributed in dry ingredients.
Seal and store or continue to make a completed cake.

Making up the Cake from the Pre-Mix

Ingredients:

2 eggs
1 teaspoon Vanilla extract or Vanillin Sugar
1/2 cup water

Method:

Prepare Foundation Cake Mix in a mixer bowl as instructed above.
Add the eggs, vanilla and water.
Beat on low speed until ingredients are combined.
Increase mixer speed to medium and mix for three minutes or until mixture changes in colour and is smooth. (There should not be any lumps in the mixture; if there are, beat til they’ve disappeared).
Spread mixture evenly into well-greased 20 cm Round, Bundt, Ring, or a 28 x 18 cm, (11x 7 in) lamington tin.
Bake in moderate oven 30 minutes and leave for 10 minutes before turning on to wire rack to cool.

Cake Variations:

Orange Cake

Add 2 teaspoons grated orange rind with the water and eggs and omit vanilla.

Top cake with Orange glace icing when cold.

Coffee Cake

Dissolve 1 tablespoon instant coffee with 1/4 cup boiling water, and make up to 1/2 cup with cold water but leave to cool before using. Use this in place of the 1/2 cup water in original recipe.

Top with glace icing of your choice, or coffee icing.

Chocolate Cake

Sift 1/3 cup Cocoa into a small basin, gradually blend in 2/3 cup water, stir till smooth. Use in place of water in original recipe. (The extra water is needed in this recipe to absorb the cocoa.)

Top with chocolate icing.

Cooking Times

Cooking times vary so here is a guide to tin sizes and cooking times:

20 cm (8 inch) ring tin – 35 minutes

2 x 25 x 8 cm (10 in x 3 in) bar tins – 30 minutes

20 x 10 cm (8in x 4 in) loaf tin – 50 minutes

23 x 12 cm (9in x 5 in) loaf tin – 50 minutes

25 x 15 cm (10in x 6 in) – 45 minutes

Basic Cake Icing

Vanilla Glace Icing

1 1/2 cups Icing or Confectioners sugar
2 teaspoons Butter, melted
1/2 teaspoon Vanilla extract or Vanillin sugar
2 tablespoons Milk, approximately

Stir Icing sugar into small heatproof bowl
Stir in butter, vanilla and enough milk to make a thick paste.
Stand basin over hot water, stir constantly until icing is of spreading consistency.
Spread over cold cake with spatula.

Variations:

Orange Glace Icing: Use 2 tablespoons strained orange juice in place of milk and omit vanilla.

Coffee Icing: Sift 2 teaspoons instant coffee powder with icing sugar.

If granular instant coffee is used, heat the milk and dissolve the coffee in the milk.

Chocolate Glace Icing: Sift 2 tablespoons cocoa with the icing sugar.

You will need about 2-3 tablespoons milk to bring mixture to a paste-like consistency.

Cookie Pre-Mix

Makes 20 cookies / aka biscuits

1 and 1/4 cups self raising flour [ ie. 1 and 1/4 cup all purpose or plain flour and 1 and 1/4 teaspoons baking powder].
1 tablespoon skim milk powder
1/3 cup castor sugar
1/3 cup coconut
125 g (4 oz) butter

Sift flour milk and sugar, place in bowl of food processor which has been fitted with metal blade.
Add coconut, and chopped cold butter.
Process 10 – 20 seconds or until butter is evenly distributed through dry ingredients.
Seal and store for up to 3 months in fridge or freezer.

To make Cookies:

Place prepared biscuit pre-mix in a bowl.
Add 3 tablespoons water and beat with a wooden spoon until the mixture comes together. (Mixture should be quite stiff).
Roll teaspoonsfuls of mixture in to balls and place 5 cm (2 in) apart on lightly greased oven trays.
Flatten biscuits with a fork which has been dipped in flour, or top biscuits with almonds, cherries or choc bits.
Bake in moderate oven 10 – 15 minutes or til golden brown.
Place on wire racks to cool.

If you are planning a fund raiser, making the mix beforehand and bake without lengthy preparation on the day of sale.

No doubt about it, freshly baked home baked treasts will sell like hot cakes!!

food, health

Easy Salmon Pie with Cheesy Crust

March 22, 2021April 8, 2021 Forestwood

Salmon is low in fat and high in protein. Not to mention it is a good source of B12, potassium, iron and vitamin D. No wonder the Scandinavians enjoy it.

Making pastry can be a pain but it’s a breeze with this recipe as the kitchen food processor blends and forms a delicious, cheesy pastry shell.

Cooks Notes:

This recipe is substantial and makes a filling pie great for serving the family or group. The pie cuts easily and holding its form brilliantly on the day of cooking as well as the next day for a summer lunch.

Salmon Pie Recipe

Preheat Oven to 180 C (350F)

Cheesy Pastry Crust Ingredients

1.5 cups Plain flour
1/2 teaspoon Paprika
125 g Butter
1 cup grated Cheddar or firm Cheese (substitutes are fine as long as it isn’t a cheese that melts too much such as mozzarella)

Rub the butter into the flour using a Food Processor but not so much that it turns into a ball (keep it crumbly)
Add the grated cheese and mix through the pastry.
Set aside 1/4 of the mix to reserve for the pie topping
Press the remainder into an 8-9 inch pottery, or glass, pie dish until it covers the base and sides to form the pastry shell.

Filling Ingredients

220 gram (around 8 oz) can cooked Red or Pink Salmon, preferably boneless
3 Eggs
375 grams Sour cream (13 oz)
1 Onion, finely chopped
1 tablespoon chopped Chives
2-3 drops of Tabasco sauce (optional)
1/2 cup grated Cheese (extra)

Drain and flake salmon and combine with the rest of the filling ingredients
Place the combined mix into the pastry shell
Crumb the reserved portion of the pastry crumbs on top
Bake 40 – 50 minutes at 180 C (350 F) or until golden brown on top

Delicious served hot or cold the next day with a green salad.

food, health

A Gluten-Free Christmas Menu

December 21, 2020December 21, 2020 Forestwood

You know your own children’s preferences, but when they become adults and bring home partners, you might have to face the prospect that the partners has different dietary preferences that need to be accomodated at festive occasions, like Christmas.

I am rather late in planning this Gluten free Christmas menu and it is not Vegan, nor vegetarian so that is a heads up. But it is highly nutritious.

Entree or Nibbles

First off we have a Prawn, snow pea and Capsicum Entree, I used the following Prawn dish idea but made it a kind of tasting nibbles board, rather than a whole dish. I will add some nice cheeses, home made Knekkerbrød (Norwegian crackers) and nuts to accompany this.

Fresh is best for this opener. Given that all prawns are frozen at the point of capture, fresh is a loose term these days. But we are Australian, so we have to have some kind of shellfish option to start the hot meal.

Mains

Meat

Assortment of oven-roasted, gluten-free meats – without stuffing and preferably organic in nature

Roasted Vegetables

Potatoes roasted with garlic, thyme and dill
Pumpkin, sweet potato, and carrots (all roasted with rosemary sprigs)
Onion
Choko
Red capsicum drizzled with olive oil and roasted lightly

Salads

Cauliflower butter beans and Pumpkin Hommus
Chickpea Spinach and Eggplant Salad
Broccoli, Quinoa and Edamame Vegetables (served warm for the Moth)

Dessert

Smashed Pavlova with seasonal stone fruits – there is just a little teaspoon of cornflour in this Pavlova recipe but when there is a coeliac visitor, one has to be extra careful. This is not just Gluten intolerance, but allergy!

Gluten-free Option – Chocolate Brownie

For the Moth: Warm Plum Pudding served with custard and ice cream

(not gluten-free)

What kind of different dishes are you cooking this Christmas?

Are you breaking from preparing traditional foods?

Merry Christmas from the Home by the Sea

food

Making Cinnamon Buns with Dry Yeast

October 20, 2020October 21, 2020 Forestwood

I have always been reluctant to use yeast in the kitchen. I have had bad experiences with dry yeast sachets.

Either I heat the yeast granules far too much in my anxiety to make the dough rise, or the resulting dish tastes of something that I really can’t describe. It’s not an awful flavour but a slight kind of aftertaste. It is not sweet. I am not sure if this is yeast or something else.

However, when Ju-Lyn posted a Recipe for Cinnamon Rolls, I desperately wanted to make them.

Cinnamon Pastries in Scandinavia

The taste of cinnamon scrolls takes me back to Denmark and Finland, but generally all of Scandinavia. In Denmark, you see these rolls and pastries everywhere, from 7/11 stores (which surprisingly are some of the best), to small cafes and even gas stations kiosks. They are both ubiquitous and synonymous with Scandinavian traditions. Whether they be soft sweet bread or the flaky Danish style pastry, cinnamon is the main theme.

The first thing my daughter wanted to do on our return to Denmark was to eat a Cinnamon ‘snail’ or ‘Kanelsnegle.’ This is the kind of flaky pastry that is thin and wound round and round similar to the shape of a snail’s shell.

Eating various kinds of cinnamon pastries is some kind of birthright in Denmark, and I have it. No question. I enjoyed a huge cinnamon bun in Helsinki one year. I didn’t eat anything else until dinner that day.

Cooking with Yeast

It is not that I have not cooked with yeast before. I have. I used to make my own bread but that was using baker’s fresh compressed yeast and it was brilliant. A never-fail kind of yeast that was guaranteed to make bread products rise beautifully. Not so the sad results of my experiences with the dried variety of yeast.

Nevertheless after 38 years, I decided it was too time to try again or hang up the dried yeast forever. And Cinnamon buns was the perfect tester. Ju-Lyn’s Cinnamon bun photographs looked perfect and the texture was soft and bouncy.

Furthermore, Cinnamon is so good for you. Packed with Antioxidants, cinnamon may lower blood sugar as well as assist in managing heart disease and inflammation in the body.

The Result of Cooking Cinnamon Buns with Dry Yeast

This was the moment of truth. Would they be hard as rocks or soft and bouncy?

I can reveal that I was over the moon with the result.

No aftertaste and a nice even texture on the rolls. They rose as the recipe suggested and Ju-Lyn’s clear recipe tips helped enormously. One minor adjustment would be to substitute water instead of milk but that is only personal preference.

Here they are:

If I can convince you to make them or at least experiment and you would like the recipe, you can find it at the blog: purplepumpernickel.

You can make cakes with cinnamon too.

#onecakeaweek at the Home by the Sea.

Also linking to the Virtual Tea Party, hosted by Su at zimmerbitch.

blogging

Gardening with Alkaline Soils in Coastal Areas

October 7, 2020October 7, 2020 Forestwood

Having a home by the sea has many advantages, however, one disadvantage, is the poor quality of the soils for gardens and the difficulty in growing plants that thrive in coastal areas.

Coastal soils are often sandy and have poor water retention ability but might also be heavy, salty and highly alkaline. This means their PH level is about 7 or above, which makes growing plants quite tricky.

If I wanted to grow Azaleas, Camellias, Magnolias or my favourite flowering shrub: Gardenias, for example, the coastal soils would need organic and chemical* help.

*Please note growing azaleas, camellias, magnolia and gardenias will require a specific fertilizer or may wither or develop yellowing leaves, without the right conditions.

As some of my garden had already been established, adding large quantities of peat moss, compost or organic matter wasn’t going to be a viable option, so in order to change the PH of the soil, I needed to look at other options.

It’s always best to test the soil’s pH level and follow instructions to the “T” when using anything to change soil pH.
If your soil is highly alkaline, adding sulphur, peat moss, sawdust, or aluminium sulfate can help neutralize it.
Adjust soil pH slowly, over time, avoiding any quick fixes. You can simply add plants suitable for alkaline soil. Read more about Plants For Alkaline Soils
https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/garden-how-to/soil-fertilizers/plants-for-alkaline-soil.htm

Damage to Plants from High Ph Levels

The first warning sign that the plants in my garden were suffering from a high Ph level was leaves turning yellow with a green midvein, evident firstly with the alkaline sensitive Gardenias and later, the Murraya, or Mock Orange, and some of the small Cupheas bordering the garden.

My next step in remediation was to stabilize the Gardenia, in situ, with an appropriate chemical fertilizer suitable for the sensitive likes of those plants and plant out more alkaline-tolerant species, as well as add organic matter where possible.

Lots of blue colour in this garden. Westringia (a native Coastal Rosemary), Juniper, Strelitzia and of course, Lavender. All plants that thrive in coastal areas.

Within a few weeks of applying the fertilizer, the Gardenias and Magnolia had shiny new green growth. I applied a general fertilizer to the Murraya and the Cupheas and although slower, they are responding with new buds.

Growing Lavender in Coastal Areas

Lavender plants are a sound choice for coastal areas as they relish well-drained sandy soils and don’t mind wind. The ones I planted thrived in soil that had an upper layer of very sandy alkaline loam with an underlying, also alkaline, clay. They are especially beautiful now, in full bloom. No fertilizer needed, or signs of alkaline damage, so far.

Lavender plants make spectacular borders and vary in height: Lavender dentata, for example, grows to a height of 60 cm and can be pruned to a ball shape lightly after flowering.

Growing Your Own Lavender Plants

Lavender blossoms make excellent cut flowers,or can be used in dried flowers arrangements or potpourri. After flowering, I remove the lavender flowers from the stems and pot up the trimmed down leaf tips and place them in potting mix after first dipping the ends in rooting powder and then seal them with a plastic bag for several months. After that, you should have some established new Lavender plants.

It’s really a plant that keep on giving.

Lavender is known for its therapeutic properties.

Growing Olive Trees in Coastal Areas

Contrary to popular belief, Olive trees do not really have troublesome root systems, and as they do like coastal conditions they can also tolerate alkaline soil, well, provided it is free draining. A great choice for a coastal garden particularly with their grey-green foliage.

Olive trees take about 7 years to produce fruit. Sadly, we had to leave a beautiful olive tree at our former location, when we moved to the ‘Home by the sea,’ one that was close to flowering and producing olives.

The tree was about five years old and about 3 metres tall. It was not in a position of full sun, but we do live in the sub-tropics, so the sun is stronger here. Olive trees seem resilient to pests, so are a great choice for coastal and Mediterranean-style climates.

Plants suitable for Alkaline soils:

Some other plants that cope well in Alkaline soil types are listed below.

Herbs/Vegetables for Alkaline Soils

Thyme
Parsley
Oregano
Asparagus
Sweet Potato – my plants are thriving. Just pop them in and watch them grow.
Beets
Cabbage
Cauliflower
Cucumber
Celery

Parsley can be used as an edible border plant as it is a splash of greenery and handy for use in making Tabouli or salads in the kitchen. It is a herb that does like alkaline soils.