Birthday coffee 2019

As tradition "demands" I invited my local friends around for birthday coffee. Classic Danish birthday coffee contains three key ingredients: freshly baked bun served with plenty of butter, cream cake and hot chocolate. Hot chocolate or drinking chocolate has no space inside my kitchen, as I DISLIKE the taste of hot chocolate and cocoa milk !!! I still recall my dislike, when I as a child was served hot chocolate at the other children´s birthday :-(

I had not selected a specific theme for the birthday coffee this year, which I sometime had done previous years.

The usual start was a glass of either sparkling wine or French cider to get the talk running, before we sat down at the table.













As start we enjoyed saffron buns. For me saffron buns really equal birthday celebration for me, as the use of saffron in huge amount is a great way to celebrate life/birthdays.

Afterwards it was time for the first cake in form of a Battenberg cake Battenberg cake, which I first became acquainted with at my first afternoon tea course at Denham.

The second cake was the cream cake with rhubarb compote and a whipped cream mixture of both dairy whipping cream and full-fat sour cream. The use of sour cream bring freshness to the cream cake, which was covered by a marzipan cover. So the cake is not tasting too sweet.

For those of my guests still having room in their stomach they could enjoy a oat cookies with raisin and cinnamon. 

I will be sharing the various recipe from this birthday coffee in the near future.

I received some very nice birthday gift in form of a yarns for summer knit sweater and a small ceramic bowl with a teak wood spoon. Thank you very much to my friends for some great gifts and your excellent company :-)

Suggestions for birthday celebration

Today I am celebrating my birthday with a birthday coffee for friends living in the local area.

Perhaps you will start the birthday celebration (not for children birthdays) by serving a drink involving the use of sparkling wine such as this rhubarb version of kir royale

rhubarbe royale

The first eatable thing to serve for a birthday celebration is a bun made with butter such as these buns:

Classic buns

Another most item for birthday celebration is "lagkage" (=cream cake) such as this:

Danish "lagkage"

Looking in again tomorrow to see, that I actually did served for my birthday coffee guests. 

Kagens Dag (Day of the Cake) 2019 in Vejle

Cakes from Vanilla

Tuesday 14 May 2019 was celebrated as Day of the Cake, where you could buy a ticket for 75 kr (10 €), which would give you entrance to a tent next to the town hall of Vejle. Inside this tent 4 local bakers had made a long table full of great looking and tasting cakes. You have 45 minutes to eat as much cake as possible. The event was used to raise money for local charities (this year Mødrehælpen), so you could fill your stomach with a good conscience.

AT the Day of the Cake 3 rounds of each 150 participants get access to the tent, where you when have 45 minutes to eat as much cake as possible. The event was used to raise money for local charities (this year Mødrehælpen), so you could fill your stomach with a good conscience.

I did not taste all the cakes, your eyes can eat more, than your stomach can contain. My strategy is always to start enjoying the cakes made by Vanilla, which this one of the best cake shop of Vejle in my opinion. This year I managed to enjoy 9 cakes, before my stomache was full , and when I did not have any evening meal !

The Day of Cake has been taking place in Vejle since 2015, and I have always enjoyed taking part in this event (2018 Day of the cake, 2017 Day of the Cake & 2015 Cake of the Day). And I am already looking forward to the next Day of the Cake in 2019 :-) Or as Arnold Schwarzenegger says in Terminator "I will be back".

Asparagus soup

We are in the prime season of fresh asparagus, which I enjoy. Yesterday Friday I went on a shopping tour to Germany, as it was a public holiday in Denmark (Store Bededag). And as usual I did also take the time to go to a supermarket, where I found a big selection of German green & white asparagus.

Some of the asparagus I turned into asparagus soup this evening.

Asparagus soup: 3-4 servings

• 600 g white asparagus - to have the end broken off, to be peeled and chopped into 2 cm pieces
• 500 g green asparagus -  to have the end broken off  and chopped into 2 cm pieces
• 30 g butter
• 3 tablespoons wheat flour
• 1 l vegetable stock
• 2½-3 dl dairy whipping cream, 30-38% fat
• season with salt and pepper.
• Salt & pepper for seasnoing. 

1. Prepare the two types of asparagus individual.
2. Melt the butter in a medium cooking pot. 
3. When the butter is melted, stir in the wheat flour. Let the wheat flour dissolved into the melted butter.
4. Add in the vegetable stock little by little, so the butter-flour mixture is dissolved into the vegetable stock.
5. Add in the prepared white asparagus. Let the asparagus pieces simmer gentle in the soup for approx. 10 minutes.
6. Add the cream to the soup together with the prepared green asparagus pieces.
7. Bring the soup to the boil. Let the soup boil gentle for 2-3 minutes.
8. Season the soup with salt & pepper.
9. Serve.

Hveder (wheat buns) with cardamon

Today Thursday evening is this the evening before Store Bededag (Great Payer Day) (a Danish religious holiday celebrated on the 4th Friday after Easter). And it is the peak evening for enjoying roasted "hveder" - wheat buns with cardamon.

This year I have baked these "hveder" (wheat buns) using this recipe on classic buns as starting point with addition of freshly grounded cardamon. The second raising phase have also been modified. For other suggestions on home-made hveder take a look here: suggestions for "hveder"

"Hveder" (wheat buns) with cardamon: - 16-20 buns

• 650 g wheat flour
• 50 g sugar
• 120 g butter
• 50 g fresh yeast
• 1 egg
• 8 g salt
• 250 g full-fat milk
• 12 cardamon seed pods - the seeds removed and milled or 1½ teaspoon ground cardamon

1. Weigh all the ingredients directly into the mixing bowl of the stand alone mixer. Keep salt & sugar away from the yeast.
2. Place the bowl on the stand-alone mixer.
3. Start knead the dough at speed 1 for 8 minutes.
4. Afterwards increase the speed to 4, knead for 2 minutes. Check the consistency of the dough. If it is not OK, when knead it at speed 4 for another 2 minutes. Again check the consistency. If needed, knead again for 1 minute and when check consistency of the dough.
5. Cover the dough in the mixing bowl with a damp tea towel.
6. Let the entire dough raise for approx 30-40 minutes under a damp cloth.
7. When you evaluate, that the dough has raise enough, divide the dough into smaller pieces with a weight of 70 g each.
8. Shape the dough pieces into bun shapes. Place the bun pieces relative close in pans covered with baking parchment. 
9. Place the pans with bun dough in the oven (fan oven at 35-40'C) together with 1 liter boiling water in a jug. 
10. Let the bun raise for second time for approx 40 minutes inside the oven.
11. Heat up the fan oven to 180'C.
12. Bake the bun at 180'C for 20-25 minutes.
13. Serve the buns warm with butter. Or slice them into 2 and roast the buns in the fan oven at 200C until light brown in the colour.

Suggestions for "Hveder" (wheat buns) for Store Bededag

This evening is the evening before Store Bededag (Great Payer Day) (a Danish religious holiday celebrated on the 4th Friday after Easter). And it is the peak evening for enjoying roasted "hveder" - wheat buns with cardamon.

Having discovered the great taste of home-made "hveder", where is no turning back for commercial baked "hveder". The combination of freshly grounded cardamon covering your kitchen in wonderful flavour and eating freshly baked/roasted buns is a combination made in heaven !!!

As inspiration for you I hereby share a selection of the various "hveder", which I have been baking over the years. And tomorrow I will share the recipe of the "hveder", which I am baking this evening. You can already now prepare your shopping list as it involve 50 g fresh yeast, wheat flour, sugar, 120 g butter, sugar, salt and cardamon.

Happy baking

Hveder a la Isabellas

Hveder af purpur hvede og surdej

Hveder med inspiration from "Maden imit liv"

Hveder med marcipan

Klassike hveder

May - what´s up ?

May - what´s up ?

May is the month in Denmark, where everything is full of live in form of blooming fruit trees, all the trees and forests dressed up in the most fantastic green colour full of life and hopeful plenty of sunshine.

May is also one of the month with plenty of days from work, as we celebrate various public holidays, so this you more time to spend in the kitchen. One of these public holiday is Store Bededay (Danish holiday), which is celebrated by eating a special Danish wheat bun called "hveder" (2019 "hveder" wheat buns with cardamon).

Hveder a la Isabellas

My birthday is also in in May, which I will be inviting inviting guests around for either birthday coffee and birthday lunch, so I spend quiet some time to looking various cake recipes, followed by plenty of baking activities in my kitchen. A classic Danish birthday cake is the cream cake such as this

walnut cream cake a la-Svinkløv Badehotel

 Asparagus will also play an interesting role in various dishes, one example could be this risotto

spring green risotto

Another item in season is rhubarb, which can be used in anything from jam over cordial to cake like these cookies

oat cookies with rhubarb

I will also in the beginning of May participate in the gin workshop on how to make your own gin and tonic, I will keep you posted on this workshop as well. Another activity here in the month of May is the annual Kagens Dag (Day of the Cake) in my local city of Vejle and yes, I have tickets (2019 Kagens Dag !!!!

I hope you will look by my kitchen from time to time here in May to see, what kind of activities have taken place in my kitchen or in the garden :-)