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February 27, 2022

Shrovetide bun a la Semla style


Today Sunday it is Shrovetide Sunday (Fastelavnssøndag) here in Denmark. What does it mean ? It is the peak day for eating Shrovetide buns, until you can not stand the sight of these very rich and fatty buns for another year.


Shrovetide bun are connected with fasting, which starts 49 days before Easter. And when in the fast period you are not supposed to eat meat and wheat flour as well as not drink milk or alcohol. So before the fast started there was big parties, where you would indulge in these foods. Fastelavnssøndag (Shrovetide Sunday) and the following Monday were the last days, where you could eat meat. The following Tuesday was the last day of eating wheat flour, where wheat buns were baked and eaten. This White Tuesday is also known as Pandekagedagen (Pan Cake Day) again relating to the use of wheat flour in pan cakes.

This year I am baking Shrovetide buns, which are in the style of semla otherwise  known as the Swedish version of Shrovetide bun. Here you bake the buns, where you afterwards empty the inner part of the bun and fill it up with a filling and top of with whipped cream. I have found this recipe in the weekly magazine "Hendes Verden" (issue 8/2021).

The traditional Danish "fastelavns"/Shrovetide song is like this:


Fastelavn er mit navn                                             Shrovetide is my name
Boller vil jeg have                                                    Buns I would like to have
Hvis jeg ingen boller får                                          If I get no buns
Så laver jeg ballade                                                When I will make trouble

Boller op, boller ned                                               Buns up, buns down
Boller i min mave                                                   Buns in my tummy
Hvis jeg ingen boller får                                         If I get no buns
Så laver jeg ballade                                                When I will make trouble



Shrovetide bun a la Semla style: 12 buns

Dough:
  • 500 g wheat flour
  • 75 g sugar
  • 150 g butter - melted 
  • 25 g fresh yeast
  • 2 eggs
  • 3/4 teaspoon salt
  • 2 teaspoon vanilla sugar
  • 1 teaspoon cardamon 
  • 200 g milk
  • egg wash for glazing
Filling:
  • 200 g bun crums
  • 2 apples
  • 3 tablespoons sugar
  • 30 g butter
  • 350 g caramel sauce
  • 2½ dl dairy whipping cream
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla sugar
  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. Let the entire dough raise for approx. 30-40 minutes under a damp cloth.
  6. When you evaluate, that the dough has raise enough, divide the dough into smaller pieces with a weight of 80 g each.
  7. Place the bun pieces on the baking tray covered with baking parchment. 
  8. Let the bun raise for second time for approx 45 minutes under a tea towel.
  9. Heat up the fan oven to 200'C.
  10. Bake the bun at 200'C for 15 minutes, turning the baking trays around after 8 minutes to get an even baking.
  11. Cold down the buns.
  12. Cut the top of the buns. Remove the inner part of the buns. Save the bread crumbs for use in the filling.
  13. Peel the apple and cut it into 1 x 1 cm squares.
  14. Turn the apple pieces around in the sugar.
  15. Melt the butter in a cooking pot.
  16. Add the apple pieces into the melted butter. Cook the apple pieces soft in the butter, before they are mashed.
  17. Add in the caramel sauce and the bread crumbs.
  18. Cook this for 2-3 minutes.
  19. Cool down this filling.
  20. Whip the dairy whipping cream and vanilla sugar together in whipped cream.
  21. Fill the apple-caramel filling into the buns, top on with whipped cream and place the top bun piece on top.
  22. Served together with coffee/tea.

February 26, 2022

Make Nine 2022 - knitting ambitions

 

On a knitting vlog, which I watch during back in 2020, I saw that some knitters were making a Make Nine plan for an upcoming new year. I found this to be a great idea, as it would bring me some structure to all the many knitting ideas, which I collect in magazine, online knitting shops and knitting vlogs. 

So, for 2021 I made such a Make Nine 2021 knitting project plan, which I actually managed to complete. Yes, I was a little pressured, as lot of Make Nine 2021 projects were sweaters or other knitting projects, where I struggled with the knitting firmness, so I had to re-knit again on a different size of the knitting needle. 

My good friend from high school  was also struggling, so for 2022 we have decided to add smaller projects to our Make Nine 2022 list. Again I have made my Make 2022 plan on a piece of carton, which you can see a photo above. Next to the project, there is two small boxes. The upper box is named WIP (Work in Progress), and here I can place a cross as well as the date, when I start on the specific knitting project. The lower box is named FO (Finished Object), where I again to make a cross and write the date, when I have finished the knitting of the specific project. 

For my Make None 2022 I have decided to knit from nine different designer, so I can get try various designers instead of just knitting from more or less one knit designers. My list looks like this:

February 25, 2022

Suggestions for Shrovetide buns for Fastelavn 2022

  


Sunday it is Shrovetide Sunday (Fastelavnssøndag) here in Denmark. What does it mean ? It is the peak day for eating Shrovetide buns, until you can not stand the sight of these very rich and fatty buns for another year.

Shrovetide bun are connected with fasting, which starts 49 days before Easter. And when in the fast period you are not supposed to eat meat and wheat flour as well as not drink milk or alcohol. So before the fast started there was big parties, where you would indulge in these foods. Fastelavnssøndag (Shrovetide Sunday) and the following Monday were the last days, where you could eat meat. The following Tuesday was the last day of eating wheat flour, where wheat buns were baked and eaten. This White Tuesday is also known as Pandekagedagen (Pan Cake Day) again relating to the use of wheat flour in pan cakes.

The traditional Danish "fastelavns"/Shrovetide song is like this:


Fastelavn er mit navn                                             Shrovetide is my name
Boller vil jeg have                                                    Buns I would like to have
Hvis jeg ingen boller får                                          If I get no buns
Så laver jeg ballade                                                When I will make trouble

Boller op, boller ned                                               Buns up, buns down
Boller i min mave                                                   Buns in my tummy
Hvis jeg ingen boller får                                         If I get no buns
Så laver jeg ballade                                                When I will make trouble

If you have no clue, what kind of Shrovetide Bun to bake tomorrow, please look below for further inspiration.

And if you want to know that Shrovetide bun, which I am baking Sunday, when re-visit my blog again Sunday :-) This year I have baked Shrovetide bun a la semla-style.






February 16, 2022

Knitting projects finished during 2021


Also 2021 turned out to be a year, where corona continued to set the agenda for many people in various ways. So, again it meant for me, that I spend a lots of days working from home (being grateful for this opportunity due to both job position and company policy) as well evenings spend at home due to the closure of cinemas, cafes etc. As "entertainment" I spend a lot of my spare time knitting various projects, while I attended phone meeting at work or watch TV or vlog/podcast on youtube with focus on knitting.

Looking at my knitting projects at Ravelry, I can see, that I have finished the knitting of a total of 17 different projects from bread basket cloth, over vest, cardigans to two different Christmas sweaters.  For all these various knitting projects I have used 22.931 m's of yarn, so quiet close to the amount of yarn used in 2020.


Nine of these 17 knitting projects were a part of my Make Nine 2021 knitting aspiration, which I managed to finish off late November 2021. Based on my experience I will included smaller projects in my Make Nine 2022 ambitions, so it does not become too stressful knitting the various projects.



My friend from high school and I have decided to make a new Make Nine 2022 knitting again this year. I will share this list quiet soon :-)

Here below you can photos of some of my various knitting projects finished in 2021:

So Faded by Andrea Mowry


Christmas sweater 2020 by Önling/Katrine Hannibal


Yakokse by Annette Danielsen


Hals sweater by Sigknitture


Chunky Cardigan by Skabagtig.dk


Peacock Tee by Lene Holme Samsøe


Endelave slipover by Kit Couture


Femina's bøllehat


Tyk-tynd T-shirt by Skabagtig.dk


Trio Sommer by Hanne Larsen


Irma knit top by Önling/Katrine Hannibal






February 14, 2022

Valentine cheesecake with raspberry

 

Today it is Valentine's day, where I decided to make a heart-shaped cheesecake with addition of raspberry to get the red colour. 

I found this recipe on cheesecake with raspberry at the magazine Isabellas. I made various modifications on the different volumes of ingredients, so that they fitted with the amount, which I could get at the supermarket.

Cheesecake with raspberry:
  • 350 g raspberries (fresh or frozen)
  • ½ lemon - only the juice
  • 50 icing sugar
  • 150 g Digestive biscuits
  • 75 g butter (melted)
  • 5 leaves of gelatine
  • 1 organic lemon - zest & juice
  • 300 g plain cream cheese (full-fat)
  • 150 g sugar
  • 250 g sour cream with 38% fat
  • 100 g dairy whipping cream with 30-38% fat
  • 1½ pasteurised egg white
  1. Add raspberries, lemon juice and icing sugar into a cooking pot.
  2. Bring it to the boil.
  3. Blend everything into a puree.
  4. Sieve the puree through a sieve to remove the raspberry seeds.
  5. Cool down the raspberry puree.
  6. Melt the butter.
  7. Mash the Digestive biscuits with a baking roll. I place the biscuits in a plastic bags to keep the pieces together.
  8. Stir the mashed biscuits and butter together.
  9. Place the mass as bottom layer in the cake form. Place it cold in the refrigerator, until it is needed again.
  10. Place the gelatine leaves in a bowl of cold water for 5 minutes.
  11. Add lemon zest together with sugar and cream cheese into a mixing bowl. Whip it together using a electrical beater, until the mass is homogenous. 
  12. Afterwards add in the sour cream and whipping cream and whip everything together again.
  13. Add the lemon juice into a small cooking pot, melt the gelatine leaves in lemon juice, as you heat up the lemon juice.
  14. Slowly pour the lemon juice into the cream cheese base as you whip it. It is important to whip thoroughly to avoid gelatine lumps or strings.
  15. Whip the egg white into firm mass in a separate clean bowl.
  16. Gently fold in the whipped egg white into the cream cheese base.
  17. Pour in the raspberry puree, leave 2-3 tablespoons for decoration of the top of the cake.
  18. Mix it together, but the look should be marbled.  
  19. Remove the cake from the refrigerator, pour the cheesecake mass on top.
  20. Add the remaining 2-3 tablespoon raspberry puree on top for decoration.
  21. Place the cheesecake cold in the refrigerator for 4-6 hours or night over.
  22. Serve and enjoy :-) Happy Valentine day to you :-)

February 13, 2022

Suggestions for Valentine 2022 as eatable treats

 



Tomorrow it is Valentine Day, so perhaps you would like to make something special for your very own Valentine ?

Anyway you can be very, very certain, that I have been creative again, so look around again tomorrow where I will be sharing some one more Valentine idea with you in form of cheesecake with raspberry


I have the following suggestions, if you were my Valentine.









Valentine cookies with pomegranate kernels, white chocolate and rose extract.




Valentine Romance Scones baked in heart shaped form and full of butter, white chocolate and the wonderful Amarena Fabbri cherries



LOVE cupcakes full of yet some more amazing Amarena Fabbri cheeries.



My Valentine cocktail is sparkling tasty combination of rose extract, Cointreau, cranberry juice and sparkling wine for you celebrate your love with.


And as final suggestion thisValentine sparkling cocktail being sparkling wine with rose extract.