Gudrun's 'Quick Lunch' Cake / Kvikklunsj kake

 

 

The baking mojo has hit me hard, very hard! It can be weeks, sometimes months between each time I bake. I baked yesterday, and I baked today. MIL was asking; '...is that the only thing you are doing these days?!' LOL It was not in the plan to make the chocolate cake today, but..... I made this cake a couple of weeks ago; it became a disaster! :( I had bought 'all purposes' flour from the biggest distributor of flour on the island. By experience, I'm far from convinced about the flour here... Bread and cakes I have made 'at home', have always turned out better compared to here. I have questioned everything; all ingredients, even the electric oven, but never come up with a decent answer. Not until today! Today I used flour from another distributor and the cake came out just like it always have done 'at home'; moist and scrumptious! Just the way I love it! :)

Many of us remember Rod Stewart & Ron Wood's 'Every Picture Tells a Story' .... This cake has its own story too (for me). My childhood friend Marianne's mother; Gudrun, used to bake this cake ever so often. I used to come to their place often in the weekends to play. There were always visitors there, and always cakes! :) This cake is one of my favorites ever; very easy to make and it taste heavenly!

Wonderful memories from my childhood!  

 

Ingredients:

 

- 3 eggs

- 3-4 cups sugar

- 225 grams unsalted butter or margarine

- 1.5 cups milk

- 3 tsp baking powder

- 3 tsp vanilla sugar or vanilla essence

- 1.5 tbsp cocoa

- 4 cups all purpose flour

 

Frosting:

 

300 grams icing sugar

- 1.5 tbsp cocoa

- 100 grams unsalted butter or margarine

- 1-2 tbsp strong coffee

- 1.5 tsp vanilla sugar / or some drops vanilla essence

- rum essence to taste

Directions:

- beat the eggs and sugar together until it becomes thick
- melt butter and add it to the egg/sugar mix
- stir in dry ingredients together with the milk
- pour the batter into prepared pan
- bake for about 45 minutes (depending on your oven!) 180C / 355F

To make the frosting:

- melt butter/margarine
- sift dry ingredients and add to the melted butter/margarine
- add coffee, rum essence or vanilla essence
- stir well, use a mixer
- pour the frosting over the cake while it is still lukewarm
- decorate with desiccated coconut

 It tastes heavenly together with a cup of yummy coffee!  

  



Chocolate cake with walnuts and beetroot

When a dear friend from Norway visited earlier this year, I asked him to bring a couple of Norwegian weekly magazines. Not that I am a very big fan of those magazines, but I must confess I do love to read new recipes! :)

Attached to one of the magazines was a new one I had never seen before. It is called 'SMAK' (means TASTE) - a magazine for you who loves to make food. The issue I got features some delicious recipes using fruit and vegetables, be it bread, cakes, fresh green salads, vegetable pastes, main dishes etc.

Since I have a sweet tooth, what other dishes than cakes caught my eyes?! LOL

 

 

What caught my eyes even more is the beetroots! This cake has a scrumptious combination of chocolate, walnuts and beetroots, which makes it so juicy and delicious!

 

Ingredients:

 

- 200 grams butter (unsalted)

- 200 grams dark chocolate

- 3 eggs

- 4 deciliters sugar

- 3-4 deciliters grated, fresh beetroot

- 2 tablespoons fresh orange juice

- 100-150 grams chopped walnuts

- 2 deciliter white flour

 

Chocolate / cheese cream:

 

- 75 grams roughly chopped dark chocolate

- 3 tablespoons strong coffee

- 50 grams butter (room temperated, unsalted)

- 100 grams natural cream cheese (I used Philadelphia light - room temperated)

- 1 deciliter icing sugar

- zest of half an orange

 

Preparation: 

 

- melt the butter, add the chocolate and mix until the chocolate has melted.

- beat eggs and sugar well, add the chocolate- and butter mix.

- add finely grated beetroot, orange juice and walnuts.

- carefully add sifted flour

 

- pour the mixture into a 20 x 30 cm cake mould (cover the mould with baking paper before adding the mixture)

- bake at middle shelf for about 35 minutes at 200C (390F) or until a skewer comes out clean when inserted into the middle of the cake.

- let the cake cool completely

 

- melt the chocolate (I prefer using the microwave)

- add coffee, butter, icing sugar and orange zest - beat well until smooth (I prefer using an electric hand mixer)

- add room temperated cheese - beat well until smooth

- spread the chocolate /  cheese cream over the top of the cake, decorate with walnuts and slice into squares. You can also decorate with orange zest together with the walnuts.

 

Recipe from 'SMAK' - #6-2012 

 

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This was the first time ever I have made a cake where one of the ingredients is beetroot.

The beetroot makes the cake very juice and delicious.

This is a cake I highly recommend - it is just too delicious!

Warning: you won't be able to eat one slice only..... :))

 

 

Fried Pork with milk gravy

I have got so used to the local (family) cuisine that there's not often I make Norwegian food, but sometimes the craving for something familiar takes over... None of us are big meat-eaters and since DH doesn't eat beef or pork, I seldom make any 'meat-dinner' just for me only. Well, I can always share with the dogs & cat though! They are always thrilled to get some goodies. :) Raised on a farm where we always reared pigs to be slaughtered before Christmas, pork were our main meat source.

Quite often - when grocery shopping - I have a look at the pork section to see if there's something tempting, but seldom buy anything. I couldn't resist though, when I saw these yummy pieces! Local pork meat/flesh is very tasty, but as you can see; quite fat too. It was a layer of fat in the pan after frying these four pieces. That's how it should be! :)

Fried, and it has the perfect color. I always use an iron pan for frying pork.

Together with the fried pork, goes milk gravy. Very easy to made; butter, flour, milk, nutmeg, pepper & salt - and not to forget; some spoons of pork fat - boiled together.

Pour the gravy over the pork meat and boiled potatoes, and add some spoons of pork fat, sprinkle with pepper. 

Delicious!