Squash cake a la Valdemarsro

The various kitchen gardens are booming with squash, so it can be an easy task to get surplus squash from friends and work colleagues. One way of using squash is to bake a cake with squash, and here I this time tried out this recipe from Valdemarsro. I decided to leave out the chocolate and I also replaced the walnuts with pecan nuts, as I still have some pecan nuts in stock after my last trip to USA. And the topping/glazing I also did not make. The cake taste great on it´s own.

As other suggestions for squash cakes you could also have look at these recipes:

• squash cake with butter
• Preben's squash cake with cinnamon cream cheese topping
• squash cake a la Årstiderne

Or you bake these buns with squash, as a way of using your surplus squash.

The squash cake is served on a ceramic plate made by Signe Kähler.

Squash cake a ala Valdemarsro: - 1 cake

• 350 g sqaush - roughly grated
• 250 g brown sugar
• 3 eggs
• 250 g wheat (cake) flour
• 100 g butter - soft
• 3 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon all spice
• 1 teaspoon cardamon
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon vanilla sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon soda
• 125 g peacon nuts - medium chopped

1. Heat up the fan oven to 175'C.
2. Whip the eggs, soft butter and brown sugar together in large mixing bowl using an electrical beater, until the sugar is dissolved.
3. In another mixing bowl add the wheat flour, spices, baking powder, soda  and pecan nuts.
4. Stir this dry-mix into the sugar-egg part of the cake, while you whip gentle.
5. Finally add in the grated squash, stir well.
6. Pour the cake mixture in a round spring form (diameter 20-22 cm).
7. Bake the cake in the middle of the fan oven at 175'C for 50-60 minutes.
8. Check, that the cake is baked, before removing it from the oven.
9. Let the cake cold, before serving it together with a cup of tea/coffee.

Pickled cornichons

Perhaps you have already seen a few days ago, that I have been busy pickling gherkins in the week-end ? As I had received plenty of gherkins from my colleague's small holding, I decided to pickled the smaller gherkins a la cornichons using a recipe in the "green pickling book" issued by Tørsleffs Husmoder Service.

I have not changes to this recipe.

Pickled cornichons: - 1 big glass

• approx 20-25 smaller gherkins

Salt slurry:

• 1 liter water
• 200 g salt

Pickling slurry:

• 0.75 l plain vinegar
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 cloves of garlic - skin removed and cut into 4 smaller pieces
• fennel seeds
• 1/8 teaspoon of dried sage
• 1/8 teaspoon of dried thyme
• 1/4 teaspoon chilies
• 10 small pickled pearl onions
• potassium sorbate

1. As a first step prepare the salt slurry, so it has time to be cooled down. Add boiling water in a bowl with salt. Stir until the salt is dissolved. Let the salt slurry cool down, before the cleaned gherkins are added into this salt slurry.
2. Start by cleaning the small gherkins in plenty of water. I used a scourer to remove the dirty from the surface of the gherkins.
3. Cut to the two ends of each gherkin, before placing the gherkins in the salt slurry.
4. Place the salt slurry with gherkins cold. Let the gherkins stay in the salt slurry for approx. 24 hours.
5. Remove the gherkins from the salt slurry, dry the salted gherkins using a clean tea towel.
6. Put the gherkins and pickled pearl onions in the pickling jar/glass. 
7. Bring the vinegar to the boil, and pour it over the gherkins in the pickling jar/glass. 
8. After approx 12-24 hours drain the vinegar from the pickling jar/glass, drain the vinegar into a cooking pot.
9. Add the various ingredients mentioned under the pickling slurry into the vinegar.
10. Bring the vinegar incl ingredients to the boiling point, let the vinegar simmer for 5 minute.
11. Add the potassium sorbate into the pickling slurry.
12. Pour the hot spiced vinegar over the the gherkin in the pickling jar/glass.
13. Close the pickling jar/glass.
14. Let the small gherkin stand in the pickling slurry for approx 1 month, before you start to use them.

Light knit shawl - third progress

Now the knitting moves faster and faster for each knitting row, as I now have passed the turning point, so now I am reducing the knit masks on every second row. I know, that the colour of this cashmere yarn is more Summer like, so not fitting into the colour pattern of Autumn, but that is OK for me.

Week-end DIY project - pickled gherkins

This week-end I had a DIY project pickling gherkins. At this is a time consuming project in this sense, that the salt process takes around 12-24 hours, before you can move on to the net step.

One of my work colleagues grows various vegetable on a small holding. And as he had plenty of gherkins, he brought along some gherkins, dill crones and fennel seeds for me. 

Pickling the gherkins also allowed me to use my ceramic pickling jars for the first time.

So, I have making the following pickled gherkin versions:

• pickled cornichons
• pickled gherkin a la Rigeligt med smør
• pickled gherkins a la Lønnestræde

Other shopping in Greece

Besides from food shopping in Greece from filling various food and candy into my suitcase I also brought some hand-made sandals in leather, a light tunica in cotton, a scarf in my favourite colour green and finally a knit shawl/bolero in cotton by the Greek designer Ioanna Kourbela as well in my favourite colour :-)

Food shopping in Greece

I have just returned from another rowing holiday in Greece, where the suitcase again had room for some little food shoppping. As usual I brought back olive oil, olives and various herbs mixes with me. So now I have make Greek salad, tzatziki and spaghetti (perhaps not typical Greek-style food !).

Also, some candy in form French style nougat with fruit and nuts as well as Lokum found a space in my suitcase.

September - what's up

September - what's up

The month of September is the firstmpnth of Autumn here in Denmark. It is also the season for harvesting apples in your garden. And you will have so many apples, what you have figure out, what to do with all these apples in your kitchen.

Therefore I am sharing some suggestions with you, which has apple as the main ingredient.

crab apple jelly

old fashioned Danish apple cake

apple juice

puff pastry with apple, marcipan and white chocolate

apple financiers

I hope, that you look by from time to time here in September to see, what I have creating in my kitchen of seasonal recipes:-)

• pickled cornichons
• squash cake a la Valdemarsro