Summer Strawberries, Two Ways

I am loving all the berries that are available this time of the year. We have been gobbling up as many blueberries, raspberries, and strawberries as we can. I have been making strawberry cake's, jordbær grød, and some delicious rice pudding with strawberry jam mixed in.

I wanted to try making jordbærgrød because Danes love making people say the phrase "rødgrød med fløde", because it is so difficult to say. The fiance has never actually had rødgrød before so I thought it would be fun to try it. Jordbærgrød is basically a runny strawberry jam that you eat hot or cold with cream poured on top. It was a nice afternoon snack and a different way to enjoy strawberries. I was a little weirded out by just pouring heavy cream over the grød but apparently that is what you do!

Jordbærgrød med Fløde (barely adapted from Din Baghave)
I halved the recipe to make 4 portions

500g strawberries
150g raw sugar
50ml water
1 tbsp cornstarch, mixed with a little cold water
heavy cream to serve

Pour the strawberries, sugar and water into a saucepan and bring the mixture to a boil over medium heat. (I crushed my berries a little at this point bit but you don't have to.) Let the strawberry mixture simmer for 5 minutes.

Take the saucepan off of the heat and stir in the cornstarch mixture.

Serve the jordbærgrød slightly warm or cold. Pour some heavy cream on top of each portion to serve.

Here is another Jamie Oliver recipe for you! I am really enjoying his "Jamie at Home" cookbook because he divides the book into seasons and shares recipes based on what produce is available or best in those season. So of course, strawberries were in the summer section of his book! I love a good rice pudding and this is a great way to enjoy it in the summer. This recipe takes some time, but really, next to no effort. Just a bit of stirring! It's delicious and I'm trying really hard not to eat it all before the fiance comes home from work today!

Creamy Rice Pudding with Strawberry Jam (from Jamie Oliver)
makes 6 to 8 servings

For the jam:
2lbs strawberries, hulled, washed and drained
1/2 cup raw sugar

For the rice pudding:
5 cups whole milk
200g medium grain rice (I used grød ris, could also work with risotto rice)
2 tbsp vanilla sugar

Start with making the jam. Place the strawberries in a large bowl and sprinkle the sugar overtop. Squeeze the strawberries so that it starts to turn into pulp and starts looking like jam. Pour the crushed strawberries into a pot and bring it to a boil. Simmer for 20 to 30 minutes on a medium heat and skim the foam off of the top of the jam every 5 minutes or so. Don't worry if the jam is still liquidy, it works well with the rice pudding and will thicken as it cools. Remove the pan from the heat and set aside to cool.

While making the jam, you can also get started on the rice pudding. Place the milk, rice and vanilla sugar into a deep pot. Bring the mixture to a medium simmer on put on the lid. Cook the rice for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until it is creamy, oozy and moist. If it is too thick, you can thin it out again with a little bit of milk.

To serve, spoon some of the rice pudding into a bowl and then top it off with a dollop of strawberry jam and some fresh strawberries. And then eat!

If you have leftovers, store the jam and rice pudding separately in airtight containers. The rice pudding will keep for 2 or so days in the fridge and the jam a little bit longer.

If you have other strawberry recipes to share, please do! Happy Tuesday!

Strawberry Summer Cake

Summer and strawberries go hand in hand! My sister made this cake for Father's Day a few weeks back and it has been on the back of my mind ever since. I picked up two boxes of Danish strawberries at the grocery store yesterday and although the boyfriend and I like strawberries, it would take us a few days to finish all of them. So, why not bake a cake with them! I just made this cake this morning and I've already had two slices! The cake is buttery and moist and the strawberries turn all gooey and taste like an amazing jam. It's so good! This really is summer in the form of a cake.

Strawberry Summer Cake (slightly adapted from Smitten Kitchen)
Makes 1 9-inch cake

6 tbsp or 85g unsalted butter, softened
11/2 cups all purpose flour
11/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
just under 1 cup sugar
1 large egg
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 pound or 450g strawberries hulled and halved
2 tbsp vanilla sugar (or white sugar)

Preheat the oven to 350F or 180C and butter a 9-inch springform pan.

Whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt together in a small bowl. In a larger bowl, beat butter and 1 cup sugar with an electric mixer until pale and fluffy. Mix in the egg, milk and vanilla extract and beat until combined. Add dry mixture gradually and mix until smooth.

Pour batter into the prepared pan. Arrange strawberries, cut side down, on top of the batter and as close together as possible in a single layer. Sprinkle the 2 tablespoons of vanilla sugar over the strawberries.

Bake cake for 10 minutes and then reduce heat to 325F or 160C. Continue to bake until the cake is a golden brown and a tester comes out free of wet batter, this can take anywhere from 40 to 60 minutes. Check the cake at 40 minutes to decide whether or not it needs more time in the oven. Let cool on a rack before serving.

2000 + Chocolate Cake with Strawberry Swiss Meringue Buttercream

Two weeks ago, I reached 2000 hits on my blog. Compared to others, that's nothing, but for me it was a big deal! So thank you for following me on this little adventure of mine!

And to celebrate, I baked a cake! I made a mini 3-layer chocolate cake and tried out a new frosting recipe and technique. I started my cupcake posts with a chocolate cupcake topped with strawberry frosting but I wasn't very happy with the frosting then so I didn't write about it. I thought I would try it again now and although it is good, it's still not amazing to me. However, it is good. I just don't think I'm used to the swiss meringue buttercream texture yet compared to normal buttercream. It is very smooth but the texture feels a little "slippery" to me, and actually feels and tastes more buttery than a regular buttercream. Swiss meringue buttercream is loved by many bakers so I will have to try it out some more! I baked this mini cake with my 4 inch spring form pan. A recipe for a standard 12 cupcakes will be enough batter for the 3 layers.

Strawberry Swiss Meringue Buttercream (adapted from Sweetapolita)
Enough to lightly frost 12 cupcakes

2.5 large egg whites
3/4 cup sugar
170g unsalted butter, cut into cubes and cool
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup chopped strawberries, pureed
pinch of salt
a few drops of red food coloring (optional)

Puree strawberries in a blender until smooth and set aside. You can add more puree, all of this is to taste.

Whisk egg whites and sugar in a heatproof bowl over a pot of simmering water (not boiling). Whisk constantly but gently until the temperature of the mixture reaches 160F or 71C on a candy thermometer.

Pour the egg white and sugar mixture into your mixing bowl and start whipping until the meringue is thick, glossy, and the bottom of the mixing bowl is not longer warm but neutral. This can take from 5 to 10 minutes.

When the bowl is neutral to the touch, begin to add one cube of butter at a time on low speed, fully incorporating after each addition. Mix until reaching a smooth silky texture. If it curdles, just keep mixing and if it is too soupy, place it in the fridge for 15 minutes before whipping again.

Add vanilla and salt, continuing to beat until everything is well combined.

Lastly, add strawberry puree and food coloring until everything is silky smooth.

Thanks again for reading this little blog of mine. I had a great time making (and eating) this cake in honor of all you who are reading and following me on here!

Chocolate Cupcakes with Strawberry Buttercream Frosting

Although I consume cupcakes on a regular basis (it's not as much as you may think!), I've never really made my own cupcakes from scratch. I mean, when Betty Crocker's Devil's Food Cake tastes so, so, so, good, why bother?

There are two cupcake places that I visit in Copenhagen, Agnes Cupcakes and Serenity Cupcakes. I like different things about both companies. I guess you could say that Agnes does the box mix cupcake with some fresh fruit and other ingredients mixed into their batter and frostings to create their 30 different cupcakes. I like the simple, clean, and professional look of their cupcakes and to me, they taste wonderful! My favorite is the "Queen" cupcake. A chocolate cupcake with dark chocolate frosting, a coffee cream filling, and powdered raspberry sifted on top. And then there's Serenity. I like going to Serenity because of the environment. The cafe is really cosy and they have a great selection of tea's and drinks to go along with their cupcakes. Although their cupcakes are good, the texture of their cake and their cream cheese frosting is not what I prefer. Serenity makes all their cupcakes from scratch from quality ingredients, however, I've found that their cupcakes are a little dense like muffins and they only do cream cheese frostings. I am not a big cream cheese fan and in small doses it's ok, but there are many different types of frostings that could be used. For myself, I like Agnes for the taste of their cupcakes and for spending time in a cozy environment, I like Serenity.

So, all of this cupcake eating in Copenhagen has led me to making my own cupcakes. I want to create  fluffy and moist cupcakes from scratch and perfect different types of frostings. I have pinned a number of cupcake recipes on my Pinterest and for my first batch of cupcakes, I made Sweetapolita's Classic (One Bowl) Chocolate Cupcakes paired with Best Friend's For Frosting's Fluffy Strawberry Buttercream. For my first attempt and working with a hand mixer only, I must say I am really happy with Sweetapolita's One Bowl Chocolate Cupcakes. The texture is exactly what I am looking for and it tastes similar to Devil's Food Cake. The strawberry buttercream I made wasn't as smooth and as fluffy as I was hoping, but that may be because I did not whip it for long enough. However, it is a good recipe and I may try it again, just with a little less sugar perhaps. I am really happy with how my first venture into making cupcakes has gone and am excited to try out other recipes and flavors!

Classic (One Bowl) Chocolate Cupcakes (from Sweetapolita)

3/4 cup all purpose flour

3/4 cup white sugar

1/4 cup dark cocoa powder

3/4 tsp baking soda

3/4 tsp baking powder

3/4 tsp corn starch

1/2 tsp salt

1/3 cup buttermilk (can substitute with milk and a squeeze of lemon juice)

1/4 cup brewed coffee or espresso, hot

3 tbsp vegetable oil (or a similar type of oil)

1 egg at room temperature

1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350F or about 170C and line a muffin pan with cupcake liners. 

Sift all of the dry ingredients in the bowl that you will be mixing in. Sweetapolita suggests sifting with the electric mixer but I just did it by hand with a fork. 

Add all of the remaining ingredients to the bowl with the dry ingredients and mix for 2 minutes on medium speed and pour batter into the prepared cupcake pan until about 2/3 full (or just less). The batter for these cupcakes are quite liquidy but once they're in the oven they'll come out perfect!  

Bake for 15 to 17 minutes, or until a toothpick or skewer comes out with a few crumbs. Try not to overbake! Immediately take the cupcakes out of the muffin pan and place them on a wire rack to cool completely before frosting. 

Fluffy Strawberry Buttercream (from Best Friends for Frosting)

1 cup butter at room temperature (I used unsalted butter)

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/3 cup strawberry preserves (I used fresh pureed strawberries, and increased their amount and used 1/2 cup)

2 cups powdered sugar

Beat butter with mixer for 3 minutes until fluffy. Then add the vanilla extract and beat until incorporated. The strawberry preservers/puree go in next, and again, beat until incorporated. Lastly, add powdered sugar one cup at a time and mix until frosting is fluffy with medium peaks. 

Looking to take on a vanilla bean cupcake next and am constantly on the hunt for recipes, do you have a favorite cupcake recipe you'd like to share? 

Strawberry Vanilla Bean Jam

It is strawberry season here right now and I have been buying strawberries every week for the last month and a half. I've been eating them on their own, with skyr, dipped in chocolate, mixed in a fruit salad with watermelon and mint, in a peach crisp, and this week, I came across an amazing deal for strawberries. With three 500g cartons of strawberries at home, I decided to make some jam. The recipe I used for this Strawberry Vanilla Bean jam comes from Completely Delicious and it tastes amazing! The vanilla really comes through and although the addition of balsamic vinegar may seem a little strange, it helps offset the sweetness of the jam a little.

Strawberry Vanilla Bean Jam (from Completely Delicious)
Recipe says that this can make 6 cups of jam, but I only got about 4.

2 pounds (900 grams) strawberries, hulled and sliced
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
2 cups sugar (I used raw sugar)
1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise

Combine all of the ingredients in a large saucepan. Use a large fork or potato masher to break the strawberries into smaller chunks. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium high heat and stir frequently. Reduce heat and simmer mixture until thickened, this will take about 45 minutes to an hour. Skim foam off of the top, remove vanilla bean, and pour into containers for storage.

If you are canning the jam, don't forget to sterilize the jars in boiling water for 10 minutes. Canned jam can be stored for up to a year at room temperature, jam stored in the freezer can keep for several months, and jam kept in the fridge will keep for several weeks.

Now that I know how easy it is to make jam, it is hard to go back to the store bought stuff. I am tempted to buy some more strawberries this week to increase our stock but I think I will just enjoy and finish what we have first!