Amaro Montenegro Tiramisù

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Amaro Montenegro tiramisu with shaved chocolate topping

Tiramisù with Amaro Montenegro.
Photo JE Nilsson and C M Cordeiro-Nilsson © 2009

It was in Venice slightly more than a year ago, that I really fell in love with Tiramisù. It came as a wobbly cake served in a backlane restaurant of the labyrinth of Venice that would have been difficult to locate, if not for the recommendation.

Although many would today experience Tiramisù in the form of a cake slice, this Italian dessert had its beginnings during the 17th century in Siena, a northwestern Italian province of Tuscany, when the Grand Duke Cosimo de’ Medici III (1642-1723) had a somewhat similar dessert during his visit there in a custard consistency.
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January Epiphany in Frost

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Frosted windowpanes, Sweden, January 2010, Epiphany

Frosted windowpanes, for real.
Photo Cheryl Marie Cordeiro-Nilsson © 2009

Here are two postcards from the westcoast of Sweden today. Epiphany in Sweden is a public holiday, where most would by now, take down their Christmas decorations after 12 days of Christmas. The difference this year is that Epiphany arrived along with snow drift and gorgeous frosted windowpanes!

Snow weathered, Sweden January 2010, Epiphany

Weathered.

Growing up in Singapore, it was always spray painted snow on windowpanes that I saw come Christmas in the department stores. While the decorations were pretty, it failed to convey the real meaning of frost to one so tropical as I.

The windowpanes frost over when the outside is minus degrees and the inside gets from plus to a subsequent minus in temperature, thereby allowing the moisture on the glass panes to crystallize – it all sounds so technically simple. Of course. But fact is, it’s as cold indoors as it is outdoors!

Cheryl Marie Cordeiro reading Anthony Robbins

Some quiet reading with Anthony Robbins.

It being a public holiday and snowy outside, it gives perfect opportunity for me to fold up in front of a fireplace in warm woollen clothes and catch up on some of my favourite reads.

Chocolate gyllenmust

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Swedish gyllenmust, Vahlrhona cocoa powder, gingerbread cookies

Chocolate gyllenmust (oatmeal drink) with gingerbread cookies.
Photo Cheryl Marie Cordeiro-Nilsson © 2009

As with the United Kingdom, Sweden is experiencing some harshly cold weather these days, averaging a -10 deg C outside with strong winds.

What I find quite comforting for the weather is an oatmeal based hot drink that in Sweden is called Gyllenmust. The finely ground oatmeal once cooked, gives a wonderfully thick consistency that fills the stomach.

Milk in a pot, on a stove with cinnamon, ready for gyllenmust making

A dash of cinnamon into the warming milk starts the process.

Traditionally, Gyllenmust is made with milk and sweetened with raisins dropped in during the cooking process. I like to have mine unsweetened, with a hint of cinnamon and a more generous helping of cocoa powder. A cup of this chocolate oatmeal drink and some gingerbread cookies can make most anyone snug in the cold.

A Swedish westcoast New Year’s 2010

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Cheryl Marie Cordeiro, Swedish westcoast New Year's 2010

Ushering in 2010 along the Swedish westcoast.
Photo Jan-Erik Nilsson © 2009

New Year’s Eve 2010 was greeted along the Swedish westcoast by a bluemoon (a second full moon this month that happens once every 20 years) that hung low and glowed luminously. Beautiful sight!

Swedish westcoast New Year's 2010

Fireworks in the neighbourhood, Swedish westcoast.

In Sweden, it’s customary that people buy their own fireworks to set alight in their gardens. About fifteen minutes to midnight, people were already setting off their fireworks!

New Year's fireworks, Swedish westcoast 2010

A burst of purple and gold for 2010!

This year, our neighbours had a riot of a time with fireworks, with their children filling the air with excitable screams and shouts as each rocket took off.

1 am into the night and the odd set of fireworks box was still going off. Surreal.

Hönsafest i juletid 2009: homecoming party aboard the Swedish East Indiaman Götheborg III ship

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Jan-Erik Nilsson, Anders and Berit Wästfelt, founders of the Gotheborg III ship project, Sweden

Founders of the Swedish East Indiaman Gotheborg III ship project: Jan-Erik Nilsson (right), Anders and Berit Wästfelt (left). They’re standing with Stefan Andersson (in 18th century attire), who provided the main entertainment for the ship’s homecoming party.
Photo JE Nilsson and CM Cordeiro-Nilsson © 2009

Definition of Hönsafest by Västsverige

It was with their lives that sailors put out when they set sail to China during the 1700s aboard the Swedish East India Company vessels from the port of Gothenburg. Crew members had to endure storms, pirates, shipwrecks and sudden death. The attraction for them were money, adventure, the smell of warm spices and the possibility of a romp or two with exotic women from distant lands. All crew had to pay a mandatory hösapengen or homecoming money once the vessel reached the Equator. This money went into a big party when they came home again. Perhaps it was the idea of this feast, which lasted for three weeks, that kept up the spirits for the sailors when their teeth fell out in the aftermath of scurvy.

It couldn’t have a been better time to throw a staged homecoming party for the Swedish East Indiaman vessel Gotheborg III than in the wintry months of Sweden, when the ship is safely tarpaulined and docked.

Looking like a large white Christmas package at dockside, guests to the Hönsafest i juletid event that began in late November and continues through December 2009 in Gothenburg, were first invited for refreshments at the main warehouse before boarding the ship.

Continue reading “Hönsafest i juletid 2009: homecoming party aboard the Swedish East Indiaman Götheborg III ship” →

Knäck – the classic Swedish Christmas candy

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Julgodis, knäck, Swedish toffee, Cheryl Marie Cordeiro

Swedish classic Christmas candy – knäck.
Photo Jan-Erik Nilsson © 2009

Not too complicated to make, always appreciated, but demanding of your patience is the Swedish classic Christmas candy – knäck. It’s similar to English toffee but still not quite. Nothing sets the Christmas mood as well as a full tray of knäck. Here is how we made it this Christmas:

Julgodis, knäck in pot, Swedish toffee, Cheryl Marie Cordeiro

To use a large pot and to stir all the time is an essential trick of the trade. Possibly more failed candy are eaten straight out of the pot then actually perfected ones. But no worries, as it’s all part of the fun.

You can make knäck with or without nuts. Our batch this year was smooth, without the crunch.

Swedish classic Christmas candy – knäck
3 dl cream
3 dl sugar
3 dl light syrup
2 tbs butter
2 dl sweet almonds peeled and chopped (optional)

1. Chop the almonds. Lose the smallest particles.
2. Mix all ingredients minus the almonds in a large pot.
3. Boil while stirring until it reaches 125 centigrades, don’t even look away.
4. Add almonds
5. Fill the paper tins (ca 100). Don’t let the pot get cold.
6. Store on an open tray.

Julgodis, knäck filling up in paper forms, Swedish toffee, Cheryl Marie Cordeiro

Find a small good suitable spoon for filling the paper tins or they will topple.

Some useful tips when making knäck:

Use average, not too hot a flame. Stir absolutely all the time. Find a small good suitable spoon for filling the paper cups or they’re prone to toppling over by the weight of the seductive goo. Avoid stacking the filled paper cups since they will stick together. There is a “drop test” in water that you can use to see if the temperature is right.

Enjoy!

Chocolate Mousse and Peppermint Chocolate drops

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Chocolate mousse with brownie in the middle, strawberries on top and white chocolate, Cheryl Marie Cordeiro

Chocolate mousse with shaved white chocolate and strawberries on top.
Photo Jan-Erik Nilsson for CMC © 2009

The Swedish julbord or Christmas Table is not complete without its array of sweet desserts. In this blog are two of what we had made at home, the first is a Chocolate Mousse cup, filled with a rum soaked brownie in the middle, topped with sliced strawberries and white chocolate shavings.

Chocolate mousse takes very little time to make, though you do need to put aside some time for it to set. What I like about this particular dessert is that you can put this together hours before guests arrive, even the day before, so on the evening of the party, all that is left to do is glide over to the refrigerator and bring out these gorgeous things for serving.

A good chocolate mousse recipe can be found at The Joy of Baking website.

Peppermint and chocolate drops, julgodis, Cheryl Marie Cordeiro

Chocolate Peppermint Drops – a Swedish Christmas classic!

A candy classic found in many Christmas markets in Gothenburg would be Peppermint Chocolate Drops. You’ll recognize it by a white, sometimes near translucent peppermint base with a drop of dark chocolate on top. Chocolate coupled with peppermints, like After Eight mints, are always popular with guests.

We made ours by whipping together 300 g of icing sugar with about 3-4 egg whites and a squeeze of lemon juice. After the whipping is done, we dropped in about 3-5 drops of Japanese peppermint oil because it contains 85% menthol. If you don’t wish for the peppermint flavour to be too pungent, you could try using English peppermint oil with 60%-70% menthol or American peppermint oil, with about 50%-60% menthol. You could rather also use less peppermint oil in the mix altogether.

The chocolate drops came from unsweetened cooking chocolate with about 70% cacao. We used them as is, with no sugar added, to counter balance the sweetness of the icing peppermint base.

Enjoy!

Swedish Christmas ham

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Julskina recept Christmas recipe, Swedish westcoast, Cheryl Marie Cordeiro

Honey mustard baked ham.
Photo Jan-Erik Nilsson and Cheryl Marie Cordeiro for CMC © 2009

Baked ham is perhaps what Sweden and Singapore share most in common at the Christmas table, the difference being that in Singapore one could easily order it over the counter at the shops, whilst in Sweden, each household is more likely to bake their own.

Boneless gammon in pot, Swedish Christmas ham, julskinka

Salted gammon in the pot.

What you’ll need if you’re going to do a homebaked ham is to purchase cured ham or boneless gammon that is readily available at the grocer’s. In Sweden, a little recipe follows each netted packaging of salted, raw ham.

The entire boneless gammon goes into a pot of water and simmered for about 3 hours. We dropped bay leaves, peppercorns and some carrots in our pot. Most recipes recommend that the inside of ham should reach between 70 and 74 deg C, you could go higher or lower, depending on how cooked you want your ham.
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Pickled beetroots for the Christmas table

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Beetroots after boiling, Swedish pickled beetroots

Beetroot’s natural rich vibrant burgundy color adds festive culinary cheer to the Christmas table.
Photo Jan-Erik Nilsson and Cheryl Marie Cordeiro for CMC © 2009

Christmas is typically one such time of the year when you risk letting your general enthusiasm go completely overboard and you start looking into age-old things that more sensible relatives gave up decades ago – like making your own pickled beetroots. It was Asta, my Swedish mother-in-law, who used to make this, so how we’re doing it here is as she used to do it. The entire project takes just about a few minutes once the beets are boiled. Continue reading “Pickled beetroots for the Christmas table” →

Christmas stollen

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Christmas stollen, Cheryl Marie Cordeiro

Homebaked Christmas stollen.
Photo for CMC © JE Nilsson, CM Cordeiro Nilsson 2009

I think most would spend the better half of the year waiting for the festivities of year end Christmas, but when the holiday season arrives, it seems all too soon over because of the rush of it all.

Baking seems an integral part of the year end Christmas and New Year’s activities, of which one of my favourites are the rich fruit cakes and fruit breads. My mother has the tradition of baking rich and dark fruit cakes at Christmas, the type where the fruits soak in cognac for weeks prior to baking. My father has the tradition of baking sugee cakes at Christmas.

In Sweden today, we managed a fruitbread or a Christmas stollen, dusted over decadently with icing sugar. I’ve always loved fruit filled cakes and breads since I was a little girl and it was only ever at year end that I got to eat the cognac or brandy filled ones, tasting the variations of the cakes and breads whilst visiting relatives.

We made our fruit bread this year with a generous dash of orange liqueur and found that this bread goes well with a good orange marmalade.