I must be the last person in Denmark, who hasn’t understood that we live in dangerous times. While I was in Utrecht last week, there had been some cases of killer cucumbers in Germany (infested with e-coli bacteria) which made every single vegetable and piece of fruit coming from either Germany or Spain (that part I didn’t quite catch) seem very ominous. Suddenly all of our good intentions concerning a proper green-filled diet had been turned into a game of Russian roulette.

All of this, I was blissfully unaware of when I bought two, admittedly rather cheap cartons of strawberries from Irma the other day. It wasn’t until T came home, looked at the carton and said “German!?” that I started to worry a bit. Good thing I was never going to eat them raw anyway, but had intended for them to become “rødgrød med fløde”, the impossible tongue twister of a dish, that translates roughly into “red compôte with cream”. Tongue twisting aside, this is the gentlest kind of sweets you’ll ever have, that still manages to tickle your fancy every time with the classic combination of strawberry and vanilla flavour topped with velvety soft-whipped cream.

Rødgrød med fløde (makes about 1500 ml.)

Adapted from Mette Blomsterberg in Politiken’s bog om: Dessert

• 800 grams fresh/frozen strawberries (about two cartons)
• 200 ml. water
• 200 grams sugar
• 1/2 vanilla pod + content
• Juice of 1/2 lemon
• 1 tsp. rose water (be careful not to overdose)
• 6 tsp. corn starch (Maizena)
• 1 1/2 decilitres of fresh blueberries, preferably the small, wild growing ones if you can get a hold on some

Clean the strawberries. It may be frowned upon, but I prefer to pour all of the berries into a large bowl of cold water to make sure I get rid of all the dirt and little “hairs” on the berries. Remove the green tops and slice them into bite size, which for me is quarters with regular sized berries and six pieces with larger ones. Either way, remember that the pieces will keep their shape, so choose one you can live with. Add the cleaned and sliced berries to a large saucepan along with the water, sugar, vanilla and lemon juice. Mix it well and let it simmer under a lid for about 15 mins. When it is done, add the rose water and mix the corn starch with some cold water and add it slowly to the compôte while stirring thoroughly. When it thickens, take it off the heat and add the blueberries. Finally, pour it into a container of your choice and let it cool down completely in the fridge.

Serve with slightly whipped cream (prevents the cream from “breaking up” the surface of the compôte and making it look messy from the beginning. Plus, it adds some fluffiness which is never a bad thing.)  If you are serving it as a dessert for friends and not just yourself, you can spruce it up with peeled and roasted almond slivers, grated lemon zest or thin flakes of dark chocolate.

Enjoy!

Ahh David Lebovitz, don’t know the guy but I hear he’s living in Paris. Anyway, he has a very nice blog and some cookbooks on his conscience and that’s how I stumbled upon his recipe for Mint Chip Ice Cream. You see, I too have childhood memories of scooping up some kryptonite-green ice cream into the funny wafer cones my grandparents had back in Gordonvale. Naturally I had to try David’s version, especially because it promised to be much less damaging to my Superwoman shield, what with the natural colouring and all. Anyway, just thought I’d share my results with you and pass on the recipe to any of you who might also like the combo of cream, mint and dark crackling chocolate strings in one cool bowl of happy.

Below are the ingredients in my version – a little less sweet and creamy than David’s, because I don’t like the kind of greasy feeling it leaves on the inside of the mouth. Apart from that, just follow David’s instructions and you’ll have ice cream in no time.

David Lebovitz’ Mint Chip Ice Cream, done my way

• 500 ml regular milk
• 130 grams sugar (a tiny bit less than the original recipe suggested – I think this is plenty)
• 250 ml cream (38% fat)
• Pinch of salt
• 80 grams Swiss mint leaves (though I’ve made it with different kinds of mint, I would recommend sticking to the Swiss kind, because it has that sharp freshness needed to balance the cream)
• 6 pasteurized egg yolks

Click here to read the rest of the recipe.

Okay, it seems it’s going to be another post about another tart. But what a tart! Imagine the flavour of roasted hazelnuts and creamy chocolate truffle in one crunchy bite. Not bad eigh? And for once, the recipe’s a real no brainer.

Hazelnut and Chocolate Truffle Tartlet

Recipe adapted from a booklet that came with the September 2008 issue of a Danish ladies’ magazine called Femina.

(I must add that though I usually loathe the magazine itself, they often have suprisingly attractive recipes.)

Tart Shell

• 200 grams of hazelnuts
• 60 grams of muscovado sugar
• A pinch of salt
• 65 grams of melted butter

Chocolate Truffle Filling

• 1/4 litre of cream
• 175 grams of dark chocolate (~65 % cocoa)
• The juice and zest of one lime
• A splash of brandy

1. Set the oven to 165 degrees Celcius. Put the hazenuts in a pan and let them roast on low heat until the peel starts coming off. You might not get it all off, but a little is better than nothing and you want the nuts to start smelling great because that’s when they’ll add character to your tartlet.
2. Throw the nuts, sugar and salt into a food processor and grind them well (see the texture on the photo below).
3. Add the melted butter and mix it well.
4. Divide the mixture into five equal piles (60 grams a pop) and press them into shape in a tartlet mould (I used the disposable tin foil kind that is actually reusable and that I haven’t needed to grease so far). If the mixture keeps sticking to your fingers, you can use a slightly damp glass to press it into shape. Put the tartlets on a baking tray and let them bake for 20-30 minutes, BUT: be careful not to put the baking tray too high in the oven and keep a close watch on them as they tend to burn easily. Leave them to cool while you start making the truffle.
5. Chop the chocolate into small pieces and put them in a metal or glass bowl. Heat the cream until it is all but boiling, take it off the heat and pour it onto the chocolate while stirring. Stir until it has dissolved and add the lime zest, juice and a good splash of brandy to give it a slight tang. Let it cool until it has finger-temperature or less.
6. Pour the mixture into the tartlet shells as closely to the rim as possible. Let the truffle set in the fridge for 1-2 hours and serve with a scoop of sorbet (try this Fluffy plum sorbet). If you have any leftover truffle, let it set in the fridge for a couple of hours and cut it into squares or roll little balls and dip them in chocolate or fine cocoa. Perfect for serving as petits fours the next day.

Hello honeyz! It’s Sunday night at the lazy mansion and I want to tell you about last week’s treat for the knitting club (yes, I am 80 years old and need to start wearing a diaper). I had two friends over for a knitting session and made some toffee from a Swedish recipe book called “Julgodis” (~Christmas candy, a book by Johanna Westman about whom I know absolutely nothing, but seeing as you have a computer too you can do me the honour of googling her yourself, lazykins). It contains a lot of very accessible recipes for hard caramel, soft toffee and all sorts of chocolates. Very tempting stuff. Here’s a combination of two recipes of hers, or rather one roughly translated lemon toffee recipe with a bit of ginger. It’s dead easy. Hell, I think you can have it done by the time a new X-Factor contestant is voted off the island. And then you get to sit there and gloat while enjoying the lemony-gingery butterness of the softest toffee you’ve ever had.

Swedish Ginger & Lemon Toffee (25-30 toffee bits)

• 50 grams butter
• 1 decilitre cream
• 1,5 decilitre sugar
• 1/2 decilitre light syrup (as opposed to dark)
• 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla sugar
• Grated zest of 1 organic lemon
• 1 tbsp grated ginger

Melt the butter in a large saucepan with a thick bottom, mix in the cream, sugar, syrup and vanilla sugar. Boil the mixture without a lid until it has reached 122-125 degrees Celcius or time it for 15-20 mins and you should be alright.  To make sure that the mixture is done, drop a teaspoon of it in a glass of cold water and if you can shape it firmly between your fingers, it’s ready. If not, boil it for another 5 mins. Now add the lemon zest and the ginger, stir it well and pour it into a greased and lined tray or square cake mould. Then leave it in the fridge until it has set (took mine about 15 mins). Remove from the tray and cut  the toffee sheet into individual bits (I recommend using a pair of scissors) and wrap them in baking paper. They can keep in an airtight container in the fridge for 5-7 days.