Raspberry Jelly Roll - Hindbærroulade

Raspberry Jelly Roll - Hindbærroulade

Raspberry jelly roll, aka hindbærroulade, is a traditional cake in Denmark. The kind of cake you would buy at a gas station or at the supermarket. My mom did sometimes buy the jelly roll in the supermarket, and I saw her dressing it up, by covering it with whipped cream and some fresh berries. As a working mom, she didn't have time to do all her cooking from scratch, she did cut some corners, as did a lot of housewives back then, and now.

My mom loved to bake, when she did have the time. I found this recipe in her handwritten recipe book dating back from before she married my dad. 

Well, you can get a better version of this jelly roll by making it yourself or buying it at a good bakers shop. The supermarket cake really doesn't make this cake justice. If made well, with good ingredients the jelly roll is very delicious. Soft, sweet and with a crunch of sugar. A perfect cake to bring for a picnic. The soft cake travels well, and can easily be cut, and eaten off a napkin.

Makes 1 cake, serves 10-12.

Ingredients:

• 3 eggs (room temperature)
• 125 g sugar
• 1 tablespoon water
• 1 teaspoon vanilla paste
• 60 g potato starch
• 60 g all-purpose flour
• ½ teaspoon hjortetaksalt (baker's ammonia/Ammonium bicarbonate (NH₄HCO₃))

Filling:

• raspberry jam

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 425℉ (225℃). Line a jelly roll pan with parchment paper, and spray it with coconut oil, set aside.

Sift potato starch, flour and baker's ammonia, and set aside.

Whisk the eggs light and foamy with the sugar, it takes about 5 minutes to get maximum foaming when whisking on a stand mixer. Whip in the vanilla and water. 

Very gently fold the dry ingredients in the foamy eggs. Be very careful not to deflate the egg mixture to much.

Pour the batter in the prepared baking pan in a thin layer. Bake the cake for 7-9 minutes until golden brown.

Place a new piece of parchment paper on your counter. Sprinkle the paper with a thin layer of sugar on the parchment paper.

Remove cake from the oven. Flip the cake (top-side down) onto the sugar. Gently remove the parchment paper from the back side of the cake. Spread jam all over the cake, leaving about ½-inch from the edge on the side you are rolling it up towards. Using the parchment paper, roll the cake up tightly. Let the cake cool completely. Trim the sides, and serve the cake on a platter.

Enjoy!

The Ultimate Iced Coffee

The Ultimate Iced Coffee

This iced coffee is a special treat. I look at it the same way as a ice cream cone or a slice of cake. It's not an every day occurrence. But It is really good on a hot day for a special day pick me up.

Ingredients:

• 4 oz (120 ml) cold brewed coffee
• 4 oz (120 ml) milk syrup

Milky syrup:

• 1 can (14 oz/396 g) sweetened condensed milk
• 21 oz (1.5 times the can) of milk (i used non-fat milk) 

Directions:

Brew the coffee (it takes 12-14 hours)

Milky syrup:

Mix the two milks together and it's ready. I would try to freeze the mixture in ice cubes, because it do make quite a lot, and it is very rich.

 Stir in syrup in the coffee to taste, for me about half and half, and top with ice.

Enjoy!

Cold Brewed Coffee

Cold Brewed Coffee.

Why do you want to brew you coffee cold? Well, if you like an iced coffee, and don't want a diluted cup of coffee, this is the way to go. The coffee actually tastes sweeter than the same coffee brewed with hot water. Why is that? Some of the more bitter oils in the roasted coffee will only be extracted using hot water, while the cold water only extracts the sweeter flavor components. The real downside to brewing the coffee cold is the time aspect. You can't make yourself a quick cup of coffee, if you didn't think ahead to brew the coffee in advance. In a way you are substituting heat for time. Heat is a catalyst in many processes, and here we have to put in a long steep time, to get all the flavors extracted from the beans.

I steep my cold brewed coffee for 12-14 hours, before filtering it. The filtered coffee will last about 3-4 days in the refrigerator, but somehow it never last as long in my home.

I have become picky with my coffee. I only buy whole coffee beans, and grind them myself. But coffee beans are very different. I don't like the shiny beans you gets from the regular coffee at Starbucks and similar places. The more dry-looking or matte beans are not as bitter, and my grinder don't get an oily build-up from these. So I started to buy my coffee beans fresh roasted from smaller companies. My local Whole Foods carries a small selection.

 For the last year we have had a subscription on fresh roasted coffee bean from Blue Bottle Coffee. Every other week we get a new bag of coffee delivered by mail. We get a new kind of coffee every time, and so far, we have liked them all. 

Ingredients:

• 150 g (1½ cup) medium roasted coffee beans (I like fresh roasted beans)
• 1000 ml  (1 liter or about 4 cups)

Directions:

Grind the coffee, and pour it in a suitable container, I use my 12 cups French press. Pour the cold water over the coffee, and stir to combine. Cover with plastic wrap and let it steep for 12-14 hours on the kitchen table. I stir the mixture a couple of times if steeping during daytime, but it's not mandatory.

When Steeping is done, you need to filter the coffee. Using my French press, I just put the press-part in the pitcher, and press down slowly. I decant the coffee into a new pitcher or bottle, to keep in my refrigerator.

When serving, dilute the coffee with cream, milk, water or syrup to your taste and top with ice. Or try my Ultimate Iced Coffee.

Enjoy!

The Danish Version:

Koldbrygget Kaffe

Ingredienser:

• 150 g medium-ristede kaffe bønner
• 1 liter kold vand

Fremgangsmåde:

Der er intet svært her. Kværn kaffebønnerne og kom dem i en passende beholder. Hæld vandet over, og lad kaffen trække tildækket i 12-14 timer på køkkenbordet. 

Si kaffen igennem et almindeligt kaffefilter. Jeg bruger en stor Bodum stempelkande, og trykker bare stemplet langsomt ned. Hæld kaffen på en kande og afkøl den helt i køleskabet. Kaffen kan holde sig i køleskabet i 3-4 dage.

Ved serveringen, fortyndes kaffen med fløde, mælk eller vand efter smag. Sød kaffen med en sirup.

Velbekomme!

Salmon en Croûte - Indbagt Laks

Salmon en Croûte - Indbagt Laks

This is one of my favorite dishes to make for an spring or summer buffet. I'll just use more puff pastry and a large piece of salmon fillet.

The creamed spinach is to die for. The sweet, creamy and a bit tangy taste pairs well with any fish or smoked sausage. This recipe makes too much for this dish, but I always serve it as a side for the fish.

Ingredients:

• 300 g salmon filet, deboned and without skin

• 1 package puff pastry, defrosted

• 1 egg for egg wash

Creamed Spinach:

• 450 g baby spinach (you can use frozen leaf spinach)

• 2 tablespoons butter

• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

• 250 ml heavy whipping cream

• 1 lime, zest and juice

• 3 tablespoons sugar

• salt & pepper to taste

Directions:

Defrost the puff pastry in the refrigerator according to instructions on the package. 

Creamed spinach:

Melt the butter in a sauté-pan, steam the spinach in the butter a few minutes until it is wilted down, and you have cooked most of the water from the spinach down. Sprinkle the flour on the spinach, and stir until incorporated. Stir in the cream and cook the spinach until the sauce thickens, about a few minutes. Finally add sugar, lime juice and zest and season with salt, pepper and additional sugar. Cool the creamed spinach to room temperature, before adding it to the puff pastry.

Roll the puff pastry to two 16x8-inch (40x20 cm) rectangle. Place the on a baking pan lined with parchment paper.

Place a dollop of spinach in one end of the pastry, make sure to leave a ½-inch border to seal the pastry. Place the salmon on the spinach, and add more spinach on top. Fold the pastry over the filling, and close the pastry package by pinching it shut. Repeat with the next, and brush the packages with egg wash. Score the top with a sharp knife.

Bake the salmon for 25-30 minutes.

Serve the salmon with a nice salad.

Enjoy! 

Baked Cod

Baked Cod

Easy, yummy healthy weeknight dinner.

Adapted from a recipe by The Boston Bean.

Ingredients:

• 2 pieces cod filets, good and evenly sized.

• olive oil for the pan

• 1 teaspoon chili powder

• ¼ teaspoon lemon pepper

• 2 tablespoons butter

• ¼ teaspoon cumin

• 1 lime, the juice of

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 450°F.

Remove bones from the cod. 

Put a little olive oil in an ovenproof pan, just enough to grease the pan. 

Place cod in pan, making sure that the pieces are the same size and thickness. Sprinkle the cod with chili powder and lemon pepper..

Bake the cod for 5-7 minutes until opaque in color. Remove the pan from the oven, and melt the butter in the pan, next to the cod. Add cumin and lime juice to the melted butter, let it heat through to make a sauce. Spoon the sauce on top of the cod, and serve immediately.

Enjoy the cod with a good salad.