Norway, Bowling,

There is a story to the recipe below. Probably 60 years ago, we sailed to Norway on my parents' boat. We visited many ports and nowadays I can't tell you exactly where we were when we went looking for Norwegian sweaters. We bought some in a store and the sales girl suggested we might like to go to some local celebration. I don't know what it was about, but we went and had dinner which was reindeer meat followed by  Bløtkake. Matt complains about tough meat, he should have tried that reindeer!! The cake for dessert was absolutely fabulous. We then watched some country dancing which, I'm afraid, underwhelmed us. In fact Norway was somewhat disappointing in that a) it rained a lot, it may not mean much to you, but my mother commented even the Teddy Boys carried umbrellas and b) alcohol was the same price as gold, or maybe diamonds meaning when we went out to eat we couldn't afford to have a drink with our meal. Anyway, I subsequently bought a book called What You Have Eaten in Norway and later made the cake. In fact I made it two or three times. Always with corn starch (corn flour) and it turned out a nice, light, white sponge. Also made it with pineapple - well I have added my recipe. Only trouble is, I have lost the book. I can buy it, but am reluctant to do so, not least because if I do, mine will probably turn up.

Monday was league bowling of course, and although we all four bowled badly, we ended up winning 3/7 which surprised the heck out of me. Of course next Monday is the last day for it to make any difference and then May 1 is our banquet and prize giving. I doubt we will have won anything as we have been in 7th spot for most of the season. Have crept up to 6th, but....

Bløtkake (Norwegian Cream Cake)

Bløtkake, layered spongecake covered with drifts of whipped cream and fruit, is a dessert that Norwegians are passionate and possessive about. It is a traditional sweet finish for any festive meal, whether a long, dark winter lunch or a long, sunlit summer dinner. “Scandinavians really value lingering and feasting at the table,” said Maren Waxenberg, a Norwegian-American cook who lives in New York

City and serves this cake at Thanksgiving.

Cloudberries are a protected crop in Norway and are rarely available fresh in the United States, but raspberries are a good substitute.

FOR THE CAKE:
Nonstick cooking spray
4 large eggs
1 cup/200 grams granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla sugar or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup/120 grams cake flour
1 tsp baking powder
FOR THE FILLING AND FROSTING:
3 cups/720 milliliters whipping cream
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 Tbs confectioners’ sugar
3 Tbs cloudberry, raspberry or blackberry preserves
1/3 cup cloudberry or raspberry liqueur (such as Chambord), or berry juice of your choice
12 ounces/340 grams fresh raspberries or blackberries, for decorating (optional)

1. Bake the cake: Heat oven to 350 degrees and mist a 9-inch springform pan with cooking spray. Combine eggs, sugar and vanilla in a large bowl and beat with an electric mixer (or the whisk attachment of a stand mixer) until light and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes.

2. Sift cake flour and baking powder into a separate bowl, then fold into the egg mixture in 2 additions.

3. Pour batter into pan and bake on the middle rack of the oven for 25 to 30 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted into the middle comes out clean. Let cool completely before removing from pan.

4. Make the frosting and filling: Beat whipping cream, vanilla and confectioners’ sugar with an electric mixer until stiff peaks form. Transfer 1/3 of the whipped cream to a separate bowl and stir in preserves.

5. Use a serrated knife to slice cake horizontally into 3 equal layers. Arrange top layer of the cake cut-side-up on a platter. Poke a few holes in the cake layer with a toothpick, then sprinkle with 1/3 of the liqueur or juice.

6. Spread half the whipped cream and preserves mixture over the cake layer, then arrange middle layer on top. Poke holes in the middle layer with a toothpick and sprinkle with another 1/3 of the liqueur or juice. Top with remaining whipped cream and preserves mixture.

7. Arrange the bottom cake layer on top of the stack, cut-side-down. Poke more holes and sprinkle with remaining liqueur or juice. Frost top and sides of cake with the whipped cream, using a pastry bag to pipe on stars or other designs, if you'd like. Decorate with fresh berries.

Servings: 12


Source: JULIA MOSKIN

This, however, is the recipe I made

Bløtkake
Source: What You Have Eaten in Norway


This is a special cake from Norway often used for celebrations.

4 eggs
1/2 lb sugar
4 1/2 oz cornstarch
4 1/2 oz plain flour
1 Tbs cold water
thin cream
sherry
whipped cream
chopped almonds or walnuts
Chopped pineapple
Pineapple slices

1. Whisk eggs together with sugar for half an hour or until the mixture is thick and creamy (or use a mixer). Fold in cornstarch and flour previously well mixed together and finally the cold water. Bake in a slow oven in a round cake tin for 40-50 mins.turn out and cool. Divide the cake in 3 layers, sprinkle each liberally with thin cream to which sherry has been added, or with neat sherry. Between each layer spread a thick layer of whipped cream and either nuts or pineapple chunks. Cover the top and sides with a thick layer of lightly sweetened whipped cream  and decorate with pineapple slices.


Servings: 8


Have a great day
 

Licenses, Dinner, Shrek, Norwegian Bløtkake.

So yesterday I went and paid for my driver’s license which apparently will take up to 6 weeks, why on earth, I wonder. I guess that means I will only have a temporary license when we go away along with my temporary health card. The mills of God and governments grind slowly. I was surprised this time for both cards that I had to take off my glasses, as Matt points out, one looks totally different without them and I wear mine all the time. In my two previous cards, I was wearing them, go figure? I have also recently discovered that we can use these to cross the border into the States and don’t need a passport. However, as Matt says, you never know when we might need one.

We have friends coming over for dinner tonight and then we got an invitation yesterday, to go visit some other friends at their trailer today. Why do these things happen all at once? Funnily enough, I only recently discovered these friends have their trailer where we used to have ours many years ago. Coincidence, or what? I’ve just remembered it’s a holiday on Monday too, Civic Holiday, usually forget about these things as, it could be said, we are on holiday all the time. Its OK, our invite has been changed to Sunday.

Last night I watched Shrek Forever After, quite funny in a way, especially the overweight Puss in Boots. I was amused by Donkey’s children by the dragon, they were flying donkeys. I rented it from iTunes.

I’ve lost a cookbook, I cannot for the life of me understand how this came to be, but I have definitely lost it. It is a little book I bought in Norway a looooooong time ago called What You Have Eaten in Norway. The one thing I was particularly looking for was Bløtkake which when I had it originally, in Norway, was one of the most delicious confections I had ever eaten. I have only ever made it once, with my weight, it isn’t something one should eat too often and, come to think of it, with North American cream it just wouldn’t taste the same. I found an article about Bløtkake here and they have several options for making the cake – these were also given in my missing book, but they don’t include the one where you soak the cake in thin cream and sherry, then load each layer with thick cream containing chunks of pineapple, then cover the whole cake with slightly sweetened cream and decorate with pineapple slices. Its to die for. However, most of the pictures on the internet are either of the cake covered in marzipan, which is an option, or decorated with strawberries. Luckily I did find a copy of the recipe because I blogged about it in 2007 so here is the actual recipe. If you live in Europe, no problem, like I said, not sure how it would work with cream on this side of the pond. Now I will go look for this cookbook, it cannot have disappeared.

Bløtkake

This is a special cake from Norway often used for celebrations.

4 eggs
1/2 lb sugar
4 1/2 oz cornstarch
4 1/2 oz plain flour
1 Tbs cold water
thin cream
sherry
whipped cream
chopped almonds or walnuts (optional)
Chopped pineapple
Pineapple slices

1. Whisk eggs together with sugar for half an hour or until the mixture is thick and creamy (or use a mixer). Fold in cornstarch and flour previously well mixed together and finally the cold water. Bake in a slow oven in a round cake tin for 40-50 mins.turn out and cool. Divide the cake in 3 layers, sprinkle each liberally with thin cream to which sherry (and nuts if desired) has been added, or with neat sherry. Between each layer spread a thick layer of whipped cream and either nuts or pineapple chunks. Cover the top and sides with a thick layer of lightly sweetened whipped cream  and decorate with pineapple slices.

Have a great weekend.