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Recipes
Rhubarb Jam from Muff Worden
Chocolate Pear Cake from Muff Worden
Sandwich Cake from Muff Worden
Pancakes for Solarkaffi from Muff Worden
The Mermaid's Favorite from Muff Worden
Chocolate (Cocoa) Soup from Muff Worden
Iceland.org: Icelandic Recipes
Jo's Icelandic Recipes
Scandinavian Cooking
Virtually Virtual Iceland: Icelandic Recipes
Sigga Eyolfson's Calla Lilies by Kristin Olafson-Jenkyns
Sylvia Sigurdson's Pönnukökur by Kristin Olafson-Jenkyns
Ingibjorg Olafson’s Rúlluterta by Kristin Olafson-Jenkyns
After what feels like months of hunting for a recipe like what I had had in Italy many years ago, and which a number of friends were interested in trying, finding that my mother's cookbooks didn't have it in them, and asking friends here in Iceland, I found out two things. One is that a lot of my friends here simply buy a boxed mix of "kakosupa" in the grocery (one friend who works in our grocery store pointed it out to me last week, and I bought a box and just tried it, and while it is good I think the recipe below is better, darker and thicker), make it up and serve it hot in bowls with dry, crunchy biscuits like zweibach broken up onto it by each person and mixed in. And the other is that a recipe does indeed exist. The same friend brought her cookbook with her to our English conversation class the other night and I have copied out the recipe and done some making of equivalents of measures in American, and here is the recipe at long last: (see - I didn't forget!!) CHOCOLATE (COCOA) SOUP - from the cookbook "Food and Drink" by Helga Sigurdardottir, originally published 1946, revised and printed in 1976 by Mal og Menning, Reykjavik
- 2 tbsp cocoa (unsweetened)
- 2 1/2 tbsp sugar
- 1/4 liter water (c. 1/2 pint = just under 1 cup)
- a large pinch of cinnamon or vanilla bean
- 1 liter milk (1.76 pints or c. 3 1/2 cups) 1/4 tsp. salt
- Zweibach or other biscuits, Italian bread or French bread broken up, etc.
Cocoa and sugar are mixed together. Stir in water and boil gently 5 minutes. Milk and cinnamon (or vanilla) is added, then let return to boil. Potato flour (corn starch) is stirred into the cold water and is added to the soup, and returned to boil. When it is comfortably thickish, serve it in bowls over broken up biscuits or crusty bread. It is nice to try the vanilla bean instead of the cinnamon, and one can use unsweetened or dark chocolate either instead of, or with the cocoa. The soup is eaten with zweibach or other toasted or crusty, not-sweet biscuits. It is also good to serve unsweetened whipped (or unwhipped as well) cream on top.
When we had this in Italy it was served hot either over broken up crusty Italian bread or occasionally over plain ladyfingers (no icing). I hope you enjoy it - it may take a couple of tries for the measurements to come out right for you, but it is easy enough to work up in not much time.
This is one of my favorite quickies for company, and it is from "An Icelandic Cookbook, Traditional Icelandic recipes selected and illustrated by Aslaug Benediktsdottir," published by Iceland Review.
- 1 kg (2 lbs) haddock fillets (halibut, cod or other white fish can also be used)
- 150 g (5 oz) mozzarella cheese, grated
- 2.5 dl (1/2 pint) cream
- 2 - 3 teaspoons Aromat or other seafood seasoning
- 1 tablespoon chopped chives
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1 leek
- salt
- lemon juice
Cut the fish fillets into cubes and dry with paper towels. Sprinkle with lemon juice, cover and leave to stand for a while in a cold place. Put the fish in a greased, ovenproof dish and season. Slice the leek and put on top of the fish along with the chives, garlic and some of the cheese. Pour the cream over and cover with a thick layer of grated cheese.
Bake in a moderately hot oven for approximately half an hour, or until the cheese becomes golden. Serve with bread, salad and rice.
In Iceland, noted for its long dark winters, the earth tilts just enough that the sun is too low in the sky to shine directly into many fjords and valleys for several months. In my fjord we have no direct sun between the end of October and February 18th. It is wonderful when the sun returns and you have to begin to wear sunglasses again!!! So there is a traditional celebration of the return of the sun - one of the first indications that spring is coming, and this is that as soon as the sunlight beams directly into your house for the first time, you have SOLARKAFFI (sun coffee) - open house where you serve coffee (the national drink, despite the reputation of brennivin!) and filled pancakes, ponnukokkur. You can make your own coffee, I am sure, but here is the way to make the pancakes (crepes).
Make your favorite crepes recipe (thin pancake batter, finished product being about plate size and skinny in thickness). For normal serving, like with tea or coffee or snack, just sprinkle them with sugar and roll them up into skinny tubes and pile them up on a plate. For solarkaffi, spread rhubarb (or raspberry) jam around the center, then spread some freshly whipped, unsweetened cream over that. Fold the pancake in half and then in half again, so that you have a quarter circle shape. Pile them up on a plate, leaning one against the next, and so on, filled end down. Serve like that - either finger food or with a fork, since they can be a tad messy if the cream or jam squirt out!
You will need:
A loaf of freshly baked bread de-crusted and sliced lengthwise horizontally into about 6 slices about a quarter- to half-inch thick. You will need at least 4 slices. This can also be bread cooked in cake tins, each cake layer being sliced horizontally in half so it adds up to 4 layers.
Egg salad slightly runny with mayonnaise, and mix into it lots of either chopped up or very tiny cooked shrimp. Season this to your taste with salt, pepper, curry, whatever.
Sliced luncheon meat ham (the rectangular slices)
Cucumber, very thinly sliced Cherry tomatoes, halved purple grapes, seedless and halved One hardboiled egg, sliced More tiny cooked shrimp, cold
Then: spread the bottom layer with the egg salad mixture; next layer with a thin application of mayonnaise and sliced ham; next layer with egg salad mixture; next layer with a thin application of mayonnaise and sliced cucumber; next layer with egg salad mixture. Then put the top layer of bread on top of that, and line the slices up so they have straight sides.
Then "ice" the entire filled loaf with mayonnaise, and use the rest of the cucumber, cherry tomatoes, grapes, sliced hard boiled egg and shrimp to decorate the top and sides (like overlapped slices of cucumber and egg down the middle of the top of the loaf and slices of cucumber stuck to the sides, with little garnishes of tomato and shrimp and more cucumber). CHILL for at least an hour, covered.
To serve, simply slice across the layers so that you get the layered effect, and enjoy.
Make either a light vanilla layer cake, or a light mocha one. Two round layers.
Make one cake layer-sized meringue of three egg whites beaten and stiffened with sugar. Bake till just crisp in a cake layer pan or cookie sheet on baking paper (or circle cut from brown paper bag).
You will also need:
One large can of pear halves, taking out and reserving 6 of them and chopping up the rest into smallish pieces (use the juice for something else or discard it) cocoa powder (or chocolate pudding mix) thick whipping cream, about one pint.
Whip the cream till it is quite stiff, then thoroughly mix in either the sweetened cocoa powder or chocolate pudding mix. It should be nicely gooey but not runny, and a nice shade of medium chocolate brown.
When the meringue and the cake layers have been baked and are cooled, spread the lower layer with the chocolate whipped cream mix, fairly thickly. Place the meringue on top of that and cover THAT with chocolate whipped cream mixed with the chopped up pears. Place the top layer on top of that, and ice the entire cake with the rest of the chocolate whipped cream.
Arrange the 6 pear halves rounded side up on top of the cake, small ends in toward the center and the fat ends toward the edges. CHILL till shortly before you serve it.
A variation on the pear cake is to use TWO meringue layers (bottom and top layers) and ONE cake layer in the middle, with the whipped cream filling as above, and also the entire cake iced with same. Then cover the top of the cake with fresh grapes, strawberries, blueberries or other such, and kiwi fruit. Pretty, as well as tasty. ENJOY!
Rhubarb Jam
2 lbs 3 oz/ 1.1 kilograms (give or take)
rhubarb
2 lbs/ 1 kg. sugar
Wash the rhubarb stems (no leaves) and chop into thin slices and put in a large casserole. Do not use aluminum. Stir in the sugar and leave to stand overnight. Simmer gently for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, or until the jam is thick enough. Pour into clean jars and store in a cool place. Red-wine rhubarb is best for making rhubarb jam - this has really red stems. The rhubarb jam is excellent as pie filling or with foods such as waffles, pancakes, sponge cake, meatballs and roasted lamb, just to name a few.
Easy, isn't it??
In an Icelandic cookbook in Icelandic it says that you should use cold water for washing the stems, and should use rather high heat for cooking the rhubarb and sugar in an open pot. The amount of rhubarb determines about how long you cook it - 1 kg. of rhubarb (about 2 lbs) should cook at least 1/2 to 1 hour, and 5 kg. (c. 10 lbs) should cook at least 2 1/2 to 3 hours. Keep stirring so that it doesn't burn, etc. This later book also recommends using a preservative dissolved in 1 tablespoon of boiling water and mixed in well with the jam before you put it into hot, sterilized jars if you are going to keep it on a shelf. You won't need the preservative if you keep the jars in a cool place or fridge. BACK TO HOME
- 3 eggs
- 1 tbsp. hot water
- 1 cup white sugar
- 1 tsp. vanilla
- 1 tsp. baking powder
- pinch of salt
- 1 cup flour
1. Preheat oven to 375F.
2. Beat eggs with hot water at high speed of mixer until foamy.
3. Still beating on high speed, add sugar gradually until the batter is thick and ivory-coloured.
4. On low speed, add vanilla, baking powder and salt. Then gradually add flour, beating only until all is combined well.
5. Drop tablespoons of batter on a greased baking sheet.
6 .Bake only 6 at a time, until lightly browned, for about 8 minutes.
7. While hot from the oven: quickly loosen from pan and pinch together at one end to form a cone shape.
To serveFill with a spoonful of whipped cream (sweetened with a little sugar and vanilla). Garnish with a canned mandarin orange section (well drained) in the centre.
Lögberg-Heimskringla • Friday 18 June 2004
Take advantage of the berry season with homemade pönnukökur
Celebrate summer with the irresistible combination of sun ripened berries and pönnukökur — one of New Iceland's best loved coffee-time treats!
Sumardagurinn fyrsti (First Day of Summer) from the old Icelandic calendar has come and gone. This holiday falls late in April as the old Icelandic calendar marked only two seasons — summer and winter.
Pönnukökur, after they were introduced from Denmark. became popular in the I800's to serve for holidays including Sumardagurinn fyrsti.
However, with our new-world official first day of summer falling on June 21, now is the perfect time lo brush up on your pönnukökur-baking skills. Or, if you are a novice, give them a try! With a little practice you'll be ready to enjoy them throughout the berry season.
It may take a bit of trial and error as you learn to adjust the thinness and amount of batter to pour on your griddle pan, the "hotness" of the pan and how to quickly tilt the pan to spread the batter evenly.
The effort will be well worthwhile though, and forgivingly. even pönnukökur that do not look perfect will still taste wonderful. Pönnukökur are so irresistible I find you can never make too many.
They are made from a thin batter similar to a crepe. Practically speaking, the ingredients required are ones we usually have on hand — a bonus if you have unexpected guests. Spices and flavourings may be added according to personal preference; cinnamon and vanilla are the most common choices, but also customary are nutmeg, cardamom and lemon juice.
Pönnukökur may be served in a variety of ways:
• Sprinkle with brown sugar and cinnamon (optional), roll and then cut in half to serve. This is very popular especially with children
• Spread with jam or preserves and then whipped cream, fold in half and then (fold again to form a triangle.
• Arrange raspberries, blueberries, saskatoons or sliced strawberries (lightly sugared if desired) on one half of the pönnukökur, spread with whipped cream and fold over, add a dollop of whipped cream and garnish with additional berries.
• Pönnukökur prepared omitting the sugar, spices and flavourings can also be served with a savoury filling as an hors d'oeuvre or main dish.
Add spices or herbs to the batter that compliment the fillings. such us snipped fresh dill weed or fish-based fillings. While pönnukökur are very versatile and delicious all year long. I would like to suggest that you take full advantage of the berries in season while available and then reap the rewards of homemade berry jam in for the taste of summer on a cold winter day.
I made the comment in my introduction to "The Cullinary Saga of New Iceland that there are as many subtle variations for pönnukökur as there are New Icelandic women.
The recipe I chose came to me from my Aunty Sylvia. It is the first pönnukökur recipe that I ever attempted and have always found it to be reliable. I hope you will also try it with great success.
Sylvia Sigurdson's Pönnukökur
- 2 eggs
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 1/4 tsp. salt
- 1/2 tsp vanilla
- 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp. soda
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 1 1/2 cups flour
- 1 tsp. baking powder
- 2 cups milk
1.) Beat eggs lightly. Mix sugar, salt, vanilla and cinnamon.
2.) Dissolve baking soda in a little boiling water and mix with sour cream. Add to the first mixture.
3.) Stir in flour and baking powder sifted together. Beat well. gradually stirring in milk.
To bake:Use fairly heavy griddle pan. Rub bottom of pan with butter tied in a small cloth. Lift pan off heat while you pour about 1/3 or 1/4 cup batter on it. Tip griddle around until the entire bottom is covered. Set back on the heat as quickly as possible. Then turn and bake on other side. Sprinkle with brown sugar and roll.
"Additional information I have found helpful: the ideal pan is an 8" diameter pönnukökur pan with a 1/2-inch lip, found or made in Iceland. I place the pönnukökur as I bake them on a pizza pan that I have placed aluminium foil on, large enough to cover over top to keep them warm until they are ready for rolling. Also with some pans it is necessary to place a little butter on top of eachpönnukökur before turn ing. I also find that when bubbles have appeared on the first side it is a good time to turn them.
"This recipe first appeared in a cookbook published in the 1930s by the Dorcas Society of the First Lutheran Church in Winnipeg. The contributor was Mrs. B. B. Jonsson. the wife of a long-time minister there. So it is truly an old recipe. I have used it for some 35 years."
Sylvia Sigurdson
Surrey, BC (previously resided in Riverton, MB)
For a special dessert consider the Following recipe. Fresh berries or fruit may be substituted for the mandarin oranges.
Pönnukökur with Mandarin Oranges
Cream Filling:
- 18 oz. pkg. of cream cheese
- 1 cup skyr or sour cream
- 2/3 cup sugar (less sugar may be used)
- 1 tsp. vanilla
- 1/4 tsp. cinnamon
- 1 cup whipping cream
Reduce or increase the amount of cream filling that you make according to the number of servings required.
Pönnukökur: Prepare as directed in preceding pönnukökur recipe.
Cream filling: combine cream cheese, skyr or sour cream, sugar, vanilla and cinnamon. Beat until smooth.
Whip cream until thick. Fold whipped cream into cream cheese mixture.
Chill.
To serve:
Warm prepared pönnukökur in oven, wrapped in foil.
Lay pönnukökur on serving plate. Spoon cream on one pönnukökur Arrange mandarin orange slices across. Fold pönnukökur in half.
Put another dollop of cream on top, a few more orange slices.
Sprinkle with toasted slivered almonds. Lastly pur over top a small amount of orange liqueur. (Optional.)
More information can be found in Kristin's book. The Culinary Saga of New Iceland, at local bookstores or at Coastline Publishing
Lögberg-Heimskringla • Friday 18 June 2004
Simple old-fashioned goodness
Sometimes simple is best. Rúlluterta, or jelly roll, is a dessert or coffee-time treat that pleases all ages. It is quick, easy and made with ingredients that are on hand. If you want to fancy it up, consider unusual jellies or jams for the filling and top with complementary flavoured whipped cream or ice cream.
My only advice is that you watch it carefully while baking and don’t answer the phone (as I have done) after removing from the pan. You do have to work quickly.
Ingibjorg Olafson’s Rúlluterta (Jelly Roll)
- 3 large eggs
- 1 1/4 cup white sugar
- 2 tbsp. cream
- 2 tbsp. cold water
- 1cup flour
- 2 tsp. baking powder
- 1 tsp. vanilla
- 1/4 tsp. salt
Preheat oven to 325º F. Prepare cookie sheet, 11 x 17 x 1 inches, by lining with wax paper.
Beat eggs until foamy and add 1 cup of the white sugar a little at a time and beat until thick and creamy.
Blend flour and baking powder with the salt and stir half into the egg mixture. Add the cream, water and vanilla and stir well (do not beat). Add remaining flour mixture and stir until well balanced.
Pour into lined cookie sheet and bake in preheated oven for approximately 20 - 25 minutes or until the cake begins to pull away from the edge of the pan.
Immediately turn out onto a tea towel, which has been sprinkled with 1/4 cup white sugar. Allow to cool slightly. Spread with strawberry jam and gently roll using the tea towel to help in rolling. Then continue to roll the tea towel around the filled cake and let cool completely. Any kind of jam that you may prefer (e.g. strawberry, raspberry, lingonberry, cherry or lemon filling) may be used as fillings. Serve in slices. It may also be garnished with whipped cream or ice cream as desired.
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