Lately

The past two weekends have been full of friends, sunshine and food! Things I have been enjoying lately:

The morning light in our room.

This delicious Moroccan inspired vegetarian dish for brunch at Kalaset. That and a spicy chai is a nice spin on the usual brunch/breakfast food!

New little succulent plants.

I love avocado everything and we've just started experimenting with them in our smoothies! Love the extra creaminess it adds and the nutritional factors are a big plus.

We finally tried Tapa del Toro, the little tapas restaurant/stand at Torvehallerne, on Sunday. I saw calamari on their menu and I just had to have it! Normally it is packed but we just got there after a rush so we got seats up at the bar. Reminded me of our honeymoon in Spain! Seriously though, really good calamari and the medister dish was delicious!

What are you enjoying these days?

A Little Visit to Fuglebjerggaard

After our week in Spain, the husband still had a week off before returning to work at the beginning of August. We spent a few days in Copenhagen meeting up with my family again before they took off for different parts of the world. After my parents and sisters left, we drove up to the northern part of Zealand and stayed at my in-laws' summer house for a long weekend. Having driven past quite a few farms, I wanted to see if we could visit one and buy fresh vegetables or eggs or something. So I did a little search for a "gårdbutik" or a farm shop, and found Fuglebjerggaard. 

Fuglebjerggard is located in Helsinge just a little drive away from Copenhagen. It is actually owned by Camilla Plum, a Danish cookbook author. I had checked their website before going there and knew that you could pick your own fruit, depending on what was in season, and that they had a store and a cafe there. I mostly wanted to pick our own fruit!

We got to Fuglebjerggard at around 10:30 on a Saturday morning and set out to pluck some berries. Fuglebjerggard has a special section just for visitors to pluck (and pay for) their own fruit. While we were there, they mainly had some red and white currants as well as some gooseberries. There wasn't a lot of fruit left for us to pick, so next year we know to go a little bit earlier n July. In the fall though they will have lots of apples. We walked past rows of apple trees before getting to the berries.

We paid for our berries and then bought some chili seeds in their shop (to plant our own little chili plants) before heading to their cafe for some coffee and cake. The farm is a really great place for the family to go and visit on the weekend. You can wander through Camilla's gardens and see all the different organic fruits and vegetables she is growing. You can also buy many different seeds in her shop if you would like to plant your own veggies. They also serve homemade food with homegrown vegetables from their own farm at the cafe. I'm really looking forward to going again next summer and picking more berries! Going strawberry picking is a pretty common thing at home so I've been really wanting to do that here in Denmark. We missed it this season but will hopefully get to it next summer!

Fuglebjerggaard

Hemmingstrupvej 8

3200 Helsinge

Birthday Weekend

We celebrated the fiance's birthday on Saturday! There were balloons, a pavlova cake, and presents of course! We spent the afternoon with some friends before having dinner with his family at Barbie and then coming back to our place for cake.

The fiance loved his birthday cake so I thought I would share the recipe with you! The pavlova is almost the same as my chocolate almond meringue recipe, just with a little extra thrown in!

Chocolate Almond Raspberry Pavlova Cake (slightly adapted from Nigella)
Makes one 9-inch, 2 layer cake

6 large egg whites, at room temperature
300 g granulated sugar
1 tbsp vanilla extract
3 tbsp cocoa powder
1 tsp balsamic vinegar
50 g dark chocolate, finely chopped (I used 80% cacao)
50 g almonds, coarsely chopped

400 ml heavy cream
200 g skyr or greek yogurt
1 tbsp sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
500 g raspberries, washed and dried
50 g dark chocolate, finely chopped

Preheat the oven to 180C or 350F. On a piece of parchment paper and with a pencil, trace the bottom of a 8-inch cake pan twice for your two pavlova layers. Leave some space between the two circles if possible because the pavlovas will expand in the oven. Turn the parchment paper over so that the pencil marks will not touch the meringue mixture later.

Beat the eggs on high with a mixer until you reach soft peaks. Add the vanilla extract, gradually add the sugar, and continue to beat until the meringue is stiff and shiny. You should be able to turn the mixing bowl over with anything spilling out. Sift the cocoa powder over the meringue and throw in the balsamic vinegar, the chopped dark chocolate and almonds. Gently fold everything into the meringue.

Divide the meringue mixture into two and spread it out on the baking tray over the two circles you have drawn. Place the baking sheet into the center of the oven and immediately turn the heat down o 150C or 300F and bake the meringues for 1 hour and 15 minutes. When it is ready, the meringue should look crisp around the edges, dry on top but still marshmallowy in the center when you touch it. Let the meringue cool in the oven, with the oven door left slightly open. You can store the pavlovas in an airtight container for a day or two before serving.

When you are ready to serve the cake, beat the heavy cream until you reach soft peaks. Add the tablespoon of sugar and vanilla extract and beat again until you have whipped cream. Fold the skyr into the cream. Place one pavlova on a large plate or cake stand and spread half of the cream on top of it. Place half or your raspberries on top of this first layer before stacking the second pavlova on top. Spread the rest of the cream over top and add the remaining raspberries. Garnish with some more chocolate and serve immediately. If you are in Denmark or celebrating a birthday, top the cake with some little flags and a candle!

This Week's Flowers

We helped out at our apartment's "work day" yesterday. I had the job of clipping some of the rose bushes that were getting too wild in our backyard. We knew it wasn't the proper pruning season but still wanted to tame them a bit. Plus most of the roses were past their prime.

These gorgeous white roses were some of my casualties. The delicate petals and the lovely rose scent that they give off is just delightful. I wish we had our own garden where I could grow my own flowers and bring them in to our home when they are in season. Maybe one day. I do love reading about how it is to run a flower farm over at Floret. Endless blooms, all year round. How lovely! I told the finace yesterday that maybe my alternate, alternate career could be to be a gardener?

Hope you've been having an awesome weekend!

Long Weekends are Pretty Awesome

Good Morning! We are just coming off of a long weekend here in Denmark. We spent the entire weekend eating ice cream, spent Friday at the summerhouse, we explored Helsingør with friends on Saturday, and I also swung on a hammock for most of Saturday afternoon. Oh, and of course there was some baking!

It was Store Bededag or Great Prayer Day here on Friday, it is a day that the Church of Denmark introduced to consolidate a few other minor holidays that the Church observed. For Store Bededag, Danes like to eat a cardamom spiced bun called a hveder. Traditionally, people buy hveder on Thursday and eat it on Friday when all the bakeries are closed for the holiday. I decided to bake my own hveder rather than buy them from the bakery this year. I used this recipe from Claus Meyer and I think they turned out really well! We shared our hveder with the fiance's parents and some friends. To eat them, slice the buns in half, toast them and spread on some butter!

On Saturday, we spent the day in Helsingør where our friend M grew up. Another Danish city to check off of my list! We took a walk around Kronborg and the city center and walked through some of the colorful and very old apartment buildings in town. Helsingør is really lovely, it is a cute little city surrounded by water. We took a really nice walk down by the beach and through some forest areas as well. Later in the day, M made us a lovely dinner and we also baked and enjoyed this raspberry mousse cake for dessert. The fiance and I also took turns on M's parents' hammock. I think we need one at our place!

Yesterday was a bit quieter around here because it was raining most of the day. The fiance and I ran some errands but mostly spent the day inside reading and researching places to go for our honeymoon!

What did you get up to this weekend? It should be another sunny week here in Copenhagen so I'm looking forward to spending more time outside! I hope you have an awesome week! 

We Made Kimchi!

Yesterday afternoon, the fiance and I met up with our friend Y and we made kimchi! The fiance tried some Korean food in Vancouver and really enjoyed it and since Y has been in Copenhagen, we've been getting to taste more and more things.

I wish I could tell you exactly how to make this kimchi but we didn't really follow a recipe and the fiance and I just followed Y's instructions. But basically you need a lot of garlic, some ginger, a few heads of napa cabbage, a large daikon radish, a lot of Korean chili powder, a little bit of sugar, some chopped spring onions, a few tablespoons of glutinous rice flour heated up with some water, and some preserved baby Korean shrimps and its juice. There are many recipes online so I'm sure you'll find some good ones out there!

We are letting the kimchi sit on the counter for another day or so for it to ferment before we put it into the fridge. I'm really excited to actually taste the kimchi! I tried a bit of the chili sauce yesterday and it was really hot! Have you tried kimchi and do you like it? Plus it is super healthy for you.

If you want to make kimchi here in Copenhagen, Den Kinesiske Købmand sells the Korean chili powder and you can easily find the napa cabbage (kinakål in Danish) and the daikon radish at Føtex as well!

That Summertime Feeling

 

The last two weekends in Copenhagen have been absolutely amazing. The sun has been shining, the temperatures have risen, and that summertime feeling has arrived. It's so refreshing having fresh air traveling through the apartment, being able to finally dig out all of my favorite t-shirts, and best of all, being able to enjoy going outside! This past weekend the fiance and I stopped by Ipsen & Co. for some lemonade and ginger ale before meeting up with a friend of ours, grabbing some ice cream, and having dinner outside in our backyard. Last night the fiance and I made a quick dinner and took our plates down to the yard again just because we could. I'm looking forward to many evenings outside in the backyard this spring and summer. 

How was your weekend? Are you getting that summertime feeling yet?

Industrial Cool

Scenes from yesterday. The fiance, his parents and I went for a walk in the Holmen/Refshaleøen part of Copenhagen yesterday afternoon. The sun was out, the streets we walked down were quiet and I loved walking between all the different, old and abandoned buildings out by these former shipyards. We also took a walk to the beach on Amager while we were at a friend's place for dinner. The fiance used to live a 10 minute walk from the beach so we would go there a couple of times during the summer for dips in the sea but now that we live in a different neighborhood we don't visit the beach as much.

It's nice to get "out" of the city sometimes and explore some of the quieter parts of Copenhagen. 

Flowers and More at De Fire Årstider

Yesterday the fiance and I were in Lyngby for a little bit. And whenever I am in Lyngby, I just have to visit my favorite flower shop, De Fire Årstider. Sometimes just looking at all the flowers is enough. Yesterday I walked out of the store empty handed, but it was just so fun to see all the different cut flowers they were selling and I love going inside the store because they also sell a lot of beautiful decor items. It's my happy place!

De Fire Årstider
Lyngby Hovedgade 70C
2800 Lyngby

Happy Sunday!

Raw & Rustic

The fiance and I went out for lunch a few weeks ago at Raw & Rustic on Gammel Kongevej in Frederiksberg. I had heard that they served some gluten free treats and I knew that they served a lot of raw foods as well so we decided to try it out one Sunday afternoon.

The fiance got a falafel sandwich while I ordered a small salad. For someone who is not a salad person, I really enjoyed the two types of salad I got. I tried a cauliflower and dill salad as well as a kale and green lentil salad. (There were more ingredients in them but I can't remember them all now!) It was nice to get some inspiration for how I could make some more exciting salads at home.

And for the first time ever I tried a chai latte with almond milk! I don't have a dairy allergy but it was fun to try a different kind of milk. They have a handful of milk alternatives that you can try. I was there again the other week for coffee with Elaina from Fint og Dejlig and I tried a hot chocolate with hazelnut milk.

Normally they carry some gluten free baked goods like cinnamon buns and breads but they've always been sold out when I've gone. I will have to visit them again and hopefully snag a bun or a baked treat! They do also offer a lot of different raw cakes and if I'm ever brave enough, I'll give them a try!

 

If you are gluten free, dairy free or on a raw diet, Raw & Rustic is a great place to go! Even if you don't have food allergies or on a particular diet, they are a great place to visit for a quick and healthy lunch. Plus how awesome is their plant wall? 

Raw & Rustic
Gammel Kongevej 113
1850 Frederiksberg

A Light and Simple Chocolate Buckwheat Cake

Baking is so relaxing for me and while the fiance was still sleeping yesterday morning, I whipped up this light and simple Chocolate Buckwheat Cake. It was such a simple, quiet, and beautiful morning. The sun was shining through our kitchen window and it was just me, Ellie Goulding playing on my laptop, and my cake batter.

Now back to this cake. I made the cake to bring to a girl's dinner and movie night with two of my friends. I didn't actually try the cake before serving them so I was a little nervous. When I cut through the cake, I saw that it looked a little dense, but I snuck a little bite before everyone sat down for dessert and it tasted like a light chocolate sponge cake. Phew! The cake was spongy and moist. The chocolate flavor isn't so strong like in a rich chocolate cake but definitely still there. I might try amping up the chocolate flavor next time either by melting some more chocolate or adding two tablespoons of cocoa powder, or even just top it with a chocolate ganache. Nevertheless, this is a wonderful light chocolate cake. Perfect after a delicious and filling dinner!

Chocolate Buckwheat Cake (from Smitten Kitchen)
Makes one thin 9-inch cake, or a thicker 8-inch cake (which is what I did)

7 tbsp or 100g unsalted butter
100g bittersweet dark chocolate (70% is ideal), chopped or broken into smaller pieces
4 large eggs at room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
a pinch of sea salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup buckwheat flour
1/4 cup almond flour

Powdered sugar, whipped cream or ice cream, and/or berries to serve.

Preheat oven to 350F or 180C. Butter a 9 or 8 inch cake pan and line the bottom with a circle of parchment paper.

Melt the chocolate and butter together in a double broiler or in short bursts in the microwave, stir frequently. Set aside.

In a mixing bowl and with a stand or hand mixer, beat together the eggs, sugar, and salt until light, pale, and doubled in volume. This can take anywhere from 5 to 9 minutes. The eggs need to be light and fluffy as it contributes to the cake's crumb and texture later on.

Gently fold in the vanilla extract and the chocolate mixture. Sprinkle the buckwheat and almond flours over the batter and fold gently to combine. Pour into prepared pan and bake for 20 to 30 minutes. For my 8 inch cake, it took the full 30 minutes. However, check at the 20 minute mark and then add time from there if needed. A tester inserted into the center of the cake should come out clean/dry.

Let the cake for 5 minutes before inverting it onto a rack. Remove the parchment paper from the bottom of the cake and place on a serving plate.

Serve the cake in wedges dusted with  powdered sugar, a dollop of whipped cream and a scoop of berry sauce. And then dig in!