Mocca Brownies

These brownies date back to my childhood and are essential for all Finns. They are there to comfort and to celebrate birthday.

I changed the topping and the sugars by chance as I did not have any confectioner’s sugar or enough caster sugar.

For one panful you will need:

3 eggs and 3 dl sugar (2 dl caster, 1 dl brown), 150 g melted butter, 5 dl flour, 3 tblsp cocoa, 2 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp vanilla, 2 dl coffee or milk.

Topping: 2 tblsp butter, 3 tblsp cocoa, 2 tblsp coffee, chopped pistachios

Whisk the eggs and butter.

Mix the det ingredients. Mix the cooled butter, coffee and flour mixture to the eggs little by little. Fi not mix too hard.

Pour on a vai g run covered with baking papper. Bake 15 min in 200 C.

Let cool. Mix the topping. Spread it on the cake and sprinkle on the pistachios. Cut to serving side and ENJOY!

Mocca brownies aka mokkapalat

Stockholm delights – an insight into a visit in April

Stockholm is only two hours from home and I travel there on business and pleasure. The most recent trip was about to end as I was writing the text below. It is spring term again and plans for new excursions have just started!

I am sitting in Arlanda Express, the super fast train to the airport. We have had a four-day study tour with 1st year tourism students. It has been a business trip with the objective to learn about tourism industry. We had visits to hotels, restaurants, museums and various sights. The official programme also included a visit and tour at Arlanda Airport with Swedavia and Swedish Institute giving insights to how the country brands itself.

We saw many new places and had great encounters, met friends and made new acquaintances.

Places visited on the food front were these among others: Kavalleriet Cafe, Bocqueria, Fotografiska (my favourite vegetarian lunch!), Skeppsbros bageri, Rosendahls Trädgårds kafe på Djurgården. And yes, the four days were not only eating! The town hae so much to offer!

Thank you Sweden, thank you Stockholm!

Freshly baked sour dough bread

Fresh bread is one of life’s delights. A luxury too. It is well worth while the time used in baking. True slow food! Grandma had her rye root and would make large batches of the bread. Oh so good!

My sour dough root is for wheat bread and I am only experimenting. A colleague inspired me to start baking this bread and offered to share her sour dough root. Yesterday’s batch was with oat, wholemeal and spelt, ancient grain, all organic and local produce. I started on Wednesday evening to have the bread at Friday breakfast! I am just about to put the other loaf into the oven now (Saturday morning). The last phase before baking it in the oven is getting in the fridge!

You need 20 g of bread root, 1 kg of flour, water and some salt to bake two large loafs. There is no recipe here because mine is three pages long. One can easily find a recipe online. I am parit of an FB group too, a community of bakers.

Emmerotto with Jerusalem Artichokes – perfect winter meal

It’s been a while folks! I know, there is so much to do. I have not stopped cooking but rather have more activities on the food front and othewise too.

I’m just a few days away from my official guide certification and then I’m all set up for guiding in my lovely hometown. I’ve also started with by first classes with food. Since September I co-teach with a colleage, a chef, a course in Food and Beverage Experiences. So much fun!

Back to the risotto or emmerotto then. This is on of the best. I have made it twice and the second time around it was definitely more delicious. It might have been because I did not measure that much. The emmer wheat I use comes from a local producer Malmgård estate.

For four large portions or 6 side dish portions:
2 dl emmer (or risotto rice), emmer wheat/hulled wheat
1 onion, 1 tbsp oil
5 dl water with some organic vegetable stock
Dash of lemon juice or white wine
salt, pepper and thyme
1 dl grated Pecorino cheese
500 g Jerusalem articokes
juice of half a lemon
1 dl double cream

Start with the artichokes. Clean the artichokes but you do not need to peel them. Place the cleaned and diced artichokes in a pot of water with lemon juice. This will keep them from darkening. Cook the artichokes untl they are done.

Prepare the risotto while the articokes are cooking. Chop the onion and sautee it in oil. Add the emmer/rice. Add the lemon juice/wine and add the water/vegetable broth little by little until the emmer is almost done. This will take ca. 20 minutes.

Puree the articokes and add the cream. Turn the artichoke puree in the risotto. Add grated Pecorino. Taste and add pepper and thyme, and salt if needed. Let rest for 5 minutes and enjoy!
Eat as such or with salad greens and a steak, tagliate or any meat of your choice.

Strawberry Cake

This is a fresh and light cake just like a layerd cake but without whipped cream. The secret of the cake is the lovely strawberry custard with butter and confectioner’s sugar.

I bake the batter in a smallish cake tin with a removable bottom (ca 17 cm in diameter).

For the batter you will need: 2 eggs, 1 dl sugar, 0.5 dl regular flour, 0.5 dl potato flour and 1 tsp baking powder.

Grease and flour the baking tin. Whip.the egg and sugar. Mix the rest of the det ingredients, and turn into the batter. Pour into the baking tin and bake in 175 C for 30 minutes or until done.

Custard: 0.5 dl strawberries, 25 g bitter, 1 dl confectioner’s sugar, 1 tsp vanilla.

Melt the butter and mix all the ingredients.

Decorate the cooled cake with strawberries and pour over the custard. Alternatively, you can serve the custard in a jug.

Kombucha in my kitchen

Fermenting kombucha is really the thing I’m into right now. I have my third batch on the way. The bottle in the pic above is of the 1st batch with green tea and black currant.

My scoby come as a gift from a dear colleague and it has now started making “scoby babies”. Each bottle is actually developing a tiny “baby” of its own.

This is what I do:

1st fermentation:

1 scoby and 3 dl kombucha from an earlier batch, 2.7 dl tea, 1 dl sugar

Start with brewing 2.7 dl tea (green, black or white) and let it cool to the temperature of 40 C. Rinse the scoby. Pour the cooled tea into a glass jar and add the sugar. Add the kombucha and the scoby. Cover with a cloth.

Let ferment in room temperature for 10-14 days. The longer the stronger taste. The higher the temperature the shorter the fermentation time. It should be no higher than 27 C.

2nd fermentation:

Fish out the scoby and put it in a jar with 2-3 dl kombucha for your next batch. You should have at last 10% of kombucha in each new fermentation.

Bottle the drink and put some fruit or berriers in the bottle for sugar. This increases fermentation and carbonation. Let stand in room temperature for 2 to 3 days opening the corks each day.

Then your kombucha is ready to be enjoyed. It keeps in the fridge for weeks if not months. Ours does not keep because we enjoy it so much!

Light Matcha-pancakes

It’s been a while and you might know to be better off follwing my Instagram account if you wish to know what’s happening #inmykitchen.

This post is for the start of my summer holiday. Sundays are pancake days and today a day for special ones.

I’ve made matcha pancakes with a ELLE mat & vin recipe but wanted to try something simpler and without banana. Here you have my pimped recipe.

Makes 6 pancakes.

1.5 dl coconut milk, 1 egg, 0.5 tbsp agave syrup, dash of salt, 2 tsp tahini

1.5 dl flour, 1 tsp green matcha powder, 0.5 tsp baking powder, 0.5 tsp cinnamon

Beat the coconut milk and egg. Add salt and syrup, and tahini.

Mix the dry ingredients. Whisk them into the batter little by little.

Let the batter rest for 10 minutes. Cook in coconut oil and serve with fresh berries and agave syrup.

More on Valencia

I love participating in international conference and the INTED2019 in Valencia last week was superb. You always meet so many people and learn so much. Both on the pictures and workshop and especially the networking between the sessions and over meals.

Here you have some insights to more fabulous seafood and the Centraal market hall in Valencia. Also, a peak into Picasso and jot of life exhibition at Fundacione Bancaja. It is great that places like that have their doors open until 9 pm.

Valencia on the plate

Valencia others wonderful sea Food and other delights.

I’m on a conference trip and Enjoying the wonderful tapas, paella and sea Food in the evenings. Have a peak! I’ll be writing about the restaurant later.

Favourite Mudcake

My cravings for sweet choclaty desserts continue. Yesterday I tried this favourite recipe with a new topping.

For the cake you will need:

100 g butter, 2 eggs, 1 dl sugar, 1 dl flour, 3/4 dl cocoa and 1 tsp vanilla

Pre-heat the oven to 175 C. Grease a cake tin with a removable bottom.

1. Melt the butter.
2. Beat the eggs and sugar.
3. Mix the dry ingredient.
4. Mix in with the eggs and sugar little by little alternating with pouring in the cooled butter little by little.
5. Pour in the cake tin and bake for 20 minutes.

Make the topping.

1. Cook 1/2 dl double cream. Melt 90 g dark chocolate (70%). Pour over the cooled cake.
2. Add some crushed choclate-mint candy.