The ultimate Swedish pancake

Serves 6 people

Makes 20 pancakes

For the pancakes

You will need:

3 large eggs

600ml of whole milk

1 tsp of salt

1 tbsp of caster sugar

1 tsp of vanilla extract

2 tablespoons of melted butter

275g of plain flour sieved.

Add all of the wet ingredients into a bowl and add the flour, sugar and salt into the bowl a bit at a time. Whisk until smooth.

In a pancake pan or non stick frying pan add a small knob of butter and a ladle full of the batter, cook on a medium heat. Flip the pancake when the underside is golden. Cook the other side for a further minute. Repeat until the batter has gone.

Normally in Sweden we would fill our pancakes with whipped cream and jam, but the english half of me always sticks to golden syrup.

The perfect apple crumble

 As I have mentioned many MANY times before my husband has such a terrible sweet tooth, you name it, if it has sugar in he will eat it, he has even been known to dessert hunt in the early hours in the morning, rummaging in the fridge Nigella style! Thankfully for my husband he has a super speedy metabolism, and no matter how much cake and pudding he consumes he never gains an onze. My husbands favourite dessert is usually anything to do with apples, he is a total pomme junkie! When he wants me to make him a dessert he has a particular strategy, he mentions either his mothers or grandmothers desserts, this is so that subliminally it gets in my head, and being the super competitive person I am, I then make it my life's mission to test recipe after recipe until I come up with what I consider the holy grail classic!

 Now here is the science to this recipe, bake the crumble or crisp topping (depending on which part of the world you are from) separately, guaranteed crumble perfection, crisp crumble and soft fruit! You can adapt the fruit to your preference of course but I think half the quantity of tart cooking apples to half firm super sweet apples makes for the ultimate flavour and texture sensation.
 It is not very often my husband is silent, but there was no time for talking whilst he wolfed down this pudding!

For the filling:
250g of pink lady apples, peeled, cored and sliced
250g of Bramley apples, peeled, cored and sliced
100g caster sugar
100g brown sugar
1 tsp almond extract
The zest of an orange
The juice of half an orange
The juice of a lemon
1 tsp of cinnamon
1/4 tsp of  freshly grated nutmeg
50g butter

For the crumble:
75g rolled oats
250g of flour
150g of butter
75g caster sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp Maldon salt

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees c
Butter a 20cm by 15cm pie dish. (Zest the orange first as a juiced orange is impossible to zest. Peel, core and slice the apples place them in a bowl and toss them immediately in the citrus juices. Add all of the rest of filling ingredients apart from the butter and then toss well so the flavouring are well distributed. Place a sheet of grease proof, then tin foil over the baking dish and then bake the apples for 25-30 minutes until some of the apples are soft and some are broken down.
 Meanwhile to make the crumble: add the butter, flour and sugar into a bowl and rub the fat into the dry ingredients using your finger tips, this process should continue until it begins to resemble rough sand.

 Finally add the salt, cinnamon and oats, give the crumble a final toss, I like to pinch the dough to make larger chunks of crumble but the is purely preference. Decant the crumble into a lined baking sheet and then cook for 20 - 25 minutes at the same temperature as the filling, be aware that you must toss the crumble topping for even coloration. Once the crumble topping and fruit filling are ready, decant the crumble on top of the fruit, sprinkle a tablespoon of Demerara sugar onto the crumble top for added crunch! If cooking this from cooled I suggest it will need 20-25 minutes to heat through, but is you are cooking this immediately it will only take ten minutes! Serve with custard, it's the law!

Jamie's chocolate and chestnut torte (done my way)

I saw this recipe in a Jamie Oliver Magazine and thought the combination of chestnut and chocolate sounded amazing, I thought it would be a great alternative to the usual christmas pudding. I tried out the recipe but didn't think it was quite right, it was a little too sweet and the filling was not thick enough, the original recipe called for 300g of sweetened chestnut puree but only 300g of dark chocolate and 300ml of double cream, which meant that it was very sweet and did not have a lovely bitter chocolate flavour, what's more is that a tin of sweetened chestnut puree is exactly 250g, I felt it was a little pointless to get another tin for 50g extra.
 I also wanted to make the recipe easier, the original recipe called for a sweet chocolate pastry base that is not super crisp, I thought a biscuit base would be far more suited and much easier for those who want to wow people with minimum fuss. I have to say that the filling was lovely and bitter which meant it was not as sickly as the original recipe. I think it was a great idea of Jamie's but had a few little glitches that I feel I have ironed out. Great recipe for Christmas day and will happily stay in the fridge for up to a week.

For the filling:
600g dark chocolate
600ml double cream
250g of sweetened chestnut spread

For the base:
300g Oreo biscuits crushed until very fine
100g butter





Top with four tablespoons of crushed honey comb


 Firstly grease and line the bottom of a 9 inch spring form cake tin. Blend the Oreo biscuits in a food processor until they resemble fine crumbs, melt the butter and add it to the crumbs, mix well until it is the texture of damp sand, push it into the tin until it creates a flat biscuit base. Place the tin into the fridge for half an hour to firm up the base.
 For the filling melt the chocolate either in a microwave on medium for 2-4 minutes stirring occasionally or over a bain marie. Whisk the cream and chestnut puree together until it is ad the soft peak stage, add the melted chocolate and mix until fully incorporated, decant the filling into the spring form cake tin, give it a sharp tap to eliminate air bubbles and place in the fridge for a couple of hours or overnight. To finish sprinkle with crushed honeycomb.

Linda Lomelino's No Bake Strawberry cheesecake

I Love the Swedish way of life, always at one with nature and of course thinking practically. Swedes always have a simple solution to everything, whether it is organisation, kitchen gadgets, homewares etc, I always feel like they are one step ahead of us Brits. I remember my mother bringing home a cheese slicer from Sweden when I was just a tot because they simply did not sell them in England, now they are everywhere, I digress, the point I am trying to make is that style and practicality is a trait that comes naturally to Swedes. I love getting inspiration from fellow foodies but I have to admit that I am tough to please, I am always the worst critic, mainly because I am such a perfectionist when it comes to my own food, but sometimes I need to give respect where it is due and without a doubt Linda Lomelino is a true master. Her stunning cakes and desserts almost look too pretty to eat ALMOST! Each recipe she had created looks so effortless but always very chic, the decorations that she uses are always a natural visual enhancer to the concept of her recipes. 
 Incase you are wondering if it is style over substance I can assure you it is not, I first made her "No-bake cheesecake" exactly as the recipe stated, but if you are a regular reader you will know that I am always tweaking recipes but only very slightly, the original recipe called for a traditional cheesecake base of digestives and butter but I decided to use shortbread and substitute butter for White chocolate, strawberries and shortbread are a natural pairing and the white chocolate binds the biscuit crumbs whilst adding sweetness and vanillary goodness to the base. SUCCESS!! I urge you to look her up.
http://call-me-cupcake.blogspot.co.uk/

For the base:
Ingredients:
340g of short bread fingers
100g of green and blacks white chocolate (melted)
1 tsp of vanilla bean paste

For the filling:
400ml of double cream
300g of soft cream cheese
250g of mascarpone cheese
1 tsp vanilla bean paste
200g of fresh strawberries
190g of caster sugar
1 tbsp of runny honey
the zest of one lime
the juice of two limes

You will need an eight inch spring form cake tin, grease and line the bottom of the tin with greaseproof or baking parchment.
Crush the biscuits until they are crumbs, you can either do this in a food processor or place the biscuits in a plastic bag, tie the top of the bag so that the biscuits do not come out and lightly bash with a rolling pin until fine. 
 Place the biscuit crumbs in a bowl and add the melted chocolate and vanilla, mix well until all the crumbs are coated and then press it into the bottom of the cake tin until you have an even covering.

Next blend the strawberries, lime juice, zest and sugar in a food processor or with a hand blender until fully smooth. In a Large bowl mix the double cream, cream cheese, mascarpone, honey and vanilla in a bowl, whisk until light and fluffy then whisk in the strawberry puree mixture until fully incorporated. 

Pour the filling into the cake tin and place in the freezer for at least five hours or until fully set, remove from the freezer 20-30 minutes before serving. Decorate with seasonal fruits and flowers.

Epic Chocolate cake

 I have always made it my mission in life to make the perfect chocolate cake, a catalyst for this is probably the film Matilda, when Miss Trunchbull made a little boy eat the most delicious looking giant chocolate cake. I have made a fair few chocolate cakes over the years, and I think that I have come very close to making the perfect chocolate cake a few times but have still continued on my mission of cake excellence. I have tried Ina Garten's famous "Beattys chocolate cake" but I found it slightly dry and I did not like the frosting, it wasn't the rich chocolate taste I was hoping for. I tried Martha Stewart's chocolate cake but unlike Ina's it was moist but lacked the flavour of the beattys chocolate cake sponge. I think there has to be the right balance of light moist rich chocolaty sponge, but the frosting has to be outrageously chocolaty. I have discovered a few little tricks on my mission to chocolate Elysium so of course I will share my calorific cake. This is most definitely the ultimate cake for chocoholics, but possibly a nightmare for dieters, it is most definitely worth treating yourself every once in a while. I have to say my little son knows how to eat a good cake, diving into it head first like Tom Daley.

Mission complete!

You will need:(for the sponge)
300g of plain flour
275g of caster sugar
175g of muscovado sugar
90g of good quality cocoa powder
1 tsp of baking powder
2 tsp of bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp of sea salt
240ml of buttermilk
160ml of vegetable oil
2 extra large eggs or three medium
1 tsp of vanilla extract
240ml of hot brewed coffee
1 tbsp of black treacle
1 tbsp of malt extract

For the frosting:
You will need:
600ml of double cream
400g of good quality dark chocolate
200g of tinned caramel
2 tsp of maldon sea salt or 1 tsp of regular sea salt
150g of icing sugar
1 tbsp of malt extract

For the cooked sponges:
100ml of dark rum
100ml of coca cola

Preheat the oven to 170 degrees c. 

Grease, line the bottom and lightly flour three 8 inch sandwich tins (make sure they have a fixed bottom).
I a stand mixer or in a bowl whisk the eggs, sugars, buttermilk, vegetable oil, vanilla, treacle, malt extract and salt together until the sugars almost dissolve into the batter and all lumps are well mixed in. Sift the flour, bicarb, cocoa powder,and baking powder together so they are thoroughly combined, then fold this into the buttermilk mixture, do this until the flour is just incorporated, if you mix it any more it will toughen the sponge. Lastly add the hot coffee and mix until just combined. Divide the batter between the three tins and then place in the oven straight away for 30-40 mins (depending on if you have a fan assisted oven, they are a little quicker) until you can insert a toothpick and it comes out clean, the sponges at the top of the oven may cook faster so you just have to keep your eye on the sponges.
Allow the cakes to cool thoroughly in their tins.
Meanwhile place a sauce pan onto a medium heat and add the cream and chocolate, stir and heat them together until fully melted and mixed well, add the caramel, salt, malt and sieved icing sugar and then whisk until fully incorporated. Remove from the heat and allow to cool or decant into a bowl and refrigerate until it hardens a little and is a spreadable consistency.
To assemble the cake, place one of the sponges (remove the grease proof on the base of the cake) on your chosen cake plate or platter. Slide four pieces of grease proof under the sponge so that it covers the plate edges to protect it from mess, but can be easily pulled away once the cake is frosted.
Mix the coca cola and rum together and brush the first sponge well so that it is very moist, then spread the chocolate frosting over the first sponge, then top with the second layer, repeat the brushing with the rum and coke and then spread with more frosting. Lastly top with the final sponge and spread the frosting over the top and the sides with a palate knife, this can be as rough or and neat as you can muster. Remove the greaseproof sheets from under the cake to reveal a clean plate YAY!!

 Allow the cake to set for an hour and then dive it.

Schwarzwaldtårta

For years now my Mother has told me all about the legendary Schwarzwald cake, she has raved to the point of near exhaustion (my exhaustion that is) about how this is the cake of all Swedish cakes, but when I asked her what the recipe was for this culinary spectacular she simply said "I don't know, I've never made it". WHAT? I have spent the best part of my adult life being told about this cake only to be told that there is no recipe? This is when the real mission began. I gathered as much information from Swedish recipe books and from my mother to find out what it is that makes this cake so damn amazing!
 My Swedish grandmother who is a fantastic cook and gives my mum a serious run for her money, said that this was her favourite cake, that is very very big talk coming from the two heavy weight cooks in my family, so that was it, I had not make it. This cake literally is pure praline, and is a hazelnut lovers delight, irresistible to squirrels, and of course my Cake-a-betic Husband! Hazelnut meringue, praline filling and chocolate ganache, I ask you could there be anything better? The short answer would be NO!

You will need (for the 4 meringues)
200g ground hazelnuts
275g caster sugar
6 egg whites




(for the praline filling)
300ml of double cream
250g of nutella

(for the ganache)
300ml of single cream
200g of dark chocolate 70% cocoa solids
1/4 tsp of maldon salt
4 tbsp of golden syrup

You will also need a small handful of whole hazelnuts
Preheat the oven to 170 degrees
Melt all of the ganache ingredients together on a low heat and set aside

Start by drawing four eight inch circles onto parchment paper (draw around a cake tin), then turn the parchment over so the biro will not transfer onto the meringues. Whisk the egg whites until they start to come to a firm peak, add the sugar little by little until you are left with a glossy meringue mixture, fold in the ground hazelnuts until just combined. Spread each parchment disc with the meringue mixture, it looks like it will not get there but it will and it does not matter that it is thin as they will puff up. Place the meringues onto a baking tray and then bake for 15-20 minutes until they are golden and crisp.

For the filling whip up the double cream and nutella together until it reaches firm peak stage.

When the meringues are cooled remove the parchment paper. On a cake platter place two sheets of greaseproof paper so the edges meet in the middle of the platter (this will make the platter easier to clean once decorated) place the first meringue onto the platter and on top of the greaseproof, spread a third of the filling onto the meringue and then place the next meringue on top. Top with another third of the filling and then place the third meringue on top, spread the last third of the filling to the edges of the third layer and then top with the final meringue.

 Pour the ganache over the meringue sandwich and let it drip down the sides, place into a fridge for an hour until it had set. Slowly pull the two pieces of greaseproof from under the cake to reveal a clean platter, TAH DAH!! Finally chop a small amount of whole hazelnuts and scatter them on top of the ganache. SUBLIME!!!

Nutty Heaven

Husbands crack

Didn't last two minutes

Strawberry Panna cotta Tart

Every once in a while I like to shop unprepared, rather than planning a meal before you venture to the market it can be very inspiring to let the produce speak for itself. When your feel inspired by certain ingredients it is effortless to put a dish together. 

Like most brits I have been a little fed up  by the ridiculous weather we have been having, snow at easter is never fun, usually around this time of the year spring has officially sprung and we are usually enjoying what the season has to offer, because the weather has been bitter I think that comforting warming food has been on the agenda. Fortunately at my local market they had manage to source some superb French strawberries, I teamed this with a local Yorkshire Lemon curd and homemade butter to make a tart to get rid of the winter blues. 

Rather than filling the pastry case with pastry cream I thought it would be better to fill it with a soft set panna cotta that is flavoured with the lemon curd, lemon brings out the sweetness in strawberries and will cut through the richness of the cream. This was a total experiment that I think really worked, my son absolutely adored it.

You will need:
For the pastry:

85g of butter
85g of caster sugar
2 tsp of vegetable oil
200g of plain flour
2 egg yolks
the zest of one lemon
a pinch of maldon salt
40ml of lemon juice 

Firstly blend the vegetable oil and the flour together until it looks like damp sand, the oil will prevent the butter from being absorbed by the flour, if it stays in small lumps it will result in a very short and flaky pastry. Add the Sugar and butter and continue to mix (this can be done in a food processor on pulse). Add the yolks, zest, salt and juice and mix until it only just comes together, wrap and chill the pastry for at least half an hour. Butter a 20cm loose bottomed tart tin ready for the pastry.

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees c.
Roll out the pastry until it is 3mm thick, lay this onto the tart tin and lift the pastry to let it fall into the corners, this will ensure that the pastry will not shrink too much. Do not trim the edges until the pastry is cooked. Place a layer of grease proof or foil onto the pastry and place either baking beans or coins onto the grease proof to ensure that the pastry will remain flat. 

Cook in the oven for 15 minutes until the pastry is golden brown. Whisk an egg yolk up and brush the cooked pastry all over with it, this will ensure that the tart shell will not leak. Return the yolk washed pastry back to the oven for a few minutes, then trim the edges with a knife.


For the filling:
400ml of double cream
100ml of soy milk
4 tbsp of great lemon curd
the zest of one lemon
2 vanilla pods split and the seeds scraped out
2 tbsp of vanilla sugar
2 tbsp of caster sugar
a pinch of maldon salt
3 gelatin leaves

In a saucepan add all the ingredients apart from the gelatin leaves. Allow all the flavour to cook for 15 minutes on a very low heat, this ensures that the flavours will infuse into the cream. Meanwhile soak the gelatin leaves in cold water until they become soft, drain the leaves , remove the cream from the heat and stir the leaves into the cream, stir until they dissolve. Sieve the cream into the tart tin and refrigerate for at least a couple of hours. Top with strawberries or any other berries you you like and brush with warmed apricot jam.