Middle Eastern Stuffed Peppers

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I always have the hardest time planning a menu when someone is coming over for dinner.  I know I have mentioned this before, but I go back and forth between a million different things and it is enough to drive a person crazy!  We were having some friends over for dinner and I somehow finally decided to make these stuffed peppers.  They caught my eye because they had a different filling than other stuffed pepper recipes that I have seen and I thought they would be part of a fun meal.  

I'm not sure if I like prepping the actual peppers in the microwave, but I followed the recipe and did it anyway.   I'm not really sure if this filling was the best thing to put in a bell pepper, because these were very hard to eat.  They were good, but it was very messy and took a lot of effort to get a bite that had part of the pepper as well as the filling.  Luckily our dinner guests were good sports and they didn't seem to mind too much. 

 The filling was very good and would make a great dish by itself, maybe with some chopped red bell pepper added to the mix.  

Middle Eastern Stuffed Peppers adapted from Family Circle magazine6 medium-size sweet red bell peppers1 cup whole wheat Israeli couscous1 15-oz can chickpeas, drained and rinsed1 seedless cucumber, chopped3/4 cup crumbled feta cheese3 large scallions, trimmed and chopped1/3 cup fresh parsley, chopped1/4 cup lemon juice2 Tablespoons olive oilsalt and pepper
1. Prepare couscous according to package directions.
2. Trim about 1/2-inch off the tops of the bell peppers. Seed and core peppers.Place the peppers cut side down in a microwave safe glass baking dish. Pour in 1/2 cup water and cover with microwave-safe plastic wrap, venting one corner. Microwave on high for 8 to 10 minutes or until tender. Remove peppers from dish and set aside.
3. In a large bowl combine cooked couscous, chickpeas, cucumber, feta, scallions and parsley.Add lemon juice and olive oil. Stir to combine. Season with salt and pepper.
4. Stuff peppers with an equal amount of couscous mixture, about a scant cup in each. Serve at room temperature or chilled.

Reese's Peanut Butter Banana Bread

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  I still have quite a problem with my bananas turning dark brown or black before I can use them all.  I don't buy them for any other reason than to make smoothies, but somehow they always get the best of me.  I'm super picky about eating a banana as is (it has to be fairly unripe and slightly green, not too sweet or mushy), so I feel like it is always a race against the banana.


 A few weeks ago, there wasn't any chance that I would use the bananas before they were ready to be transformed into a baked good.  I've made just about every variation of banana bread there is ( I think I have made every Cooking Light version), as well as cakes, muffins, etc., so when I saw this recipe on Pinterest, I immediately decided it would be the perfect way to use my bananas.  I knew I could send it to work with my husband, so there were not any worries about it being eaten.

I never, ever use more that a 1-2 Tablespoons of oil when I make quick breads or muffins.  I discovered that low-fat buttermilk can be a wonderful substitute that has less calories, less fat, but still makes things moist and delicious.   I always use this method and I have never had any problem. 

 I did cut a slice of this bread for my kids to try and I had a small bite.  It was pretty good.  It could never dethrone my favorite banana bread recipe, but it was a fun twist.  And, my husband brought home an empty plate, so I know that it was enjoyed by quite a few people.



Here is the recipe for Reese's Peanut Butter Banana Bread 
* I used low-fat buttermilk in place of most of the oil, all but 1 Tablespoon
* The mini Reese's stuck to the bottom of the pan a little bit, so I had to get creative and make a glaze to cover some of the holes and spots I had to patch up.


  

Homemade Spaghetti-O's with Meatballs

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  In April, I drove to Washington D.C. with my children for Spring Break.  My sister lives there with her children and it is always so much fun to visit them.  We go on tons of outings and see so many amazing things when we are there.  It's pretty great that so many of the museums, the zoo, and so many other activities are completely free!

On Friday night, my sister took me on a Girls Night Out to Georgetown.  The first thing we did involved enjoying gelato at Dolcezza  ( I had blood orange and  meyer lemon;  my sister had salted caramel and apple cider), ate at a delicious pizza place (but I can't remember the name of it!) and then we did some window shopping.  Our first stop was Dean & Deluca. 

   I realize that some people might not find this type of store exciting, but let me tell you that I could've stayed in there all day long.  It was fascinating to see so many beautiful foods and packages.   You might be wondering at this point what any of this has to do with Homemade Spaghetti-O's and Meatballs.    Well, when we were wondering around Dean & Deluca, I just happened to spy a cute little bag of ring shaped pasta.  Anelloni to be exact.   I had to have those cute little rings.  I had been looking for them because this particular recipe was on my to-make list.  (I will let you know that I did not pay as much for them in the store as the price that is listed online).

I had found my must-have item and my sister was trying to decide what kind of treat to buy from the bakery section (She settled on a ginormous peppermint brownie that we shared the next day with both of our entire families-10 people- after a hike) .  We made our purchases and went on our way.

My little ring pasta made it back here to Georgia and this recipe was one of the first things I made for dinner once we were home.

I didn't grow up eating canned Spaghetti-O's, but when I got married, I discovered that my husband really liked them.  But only the ones with meatballs.  I haven't eaten them, but he usually has some on hand, in case of an emergency.   As soon as I saw this recipe on Tracey's blog, I knew I would have to try it, if for no other reason than just so my husband could compare the homemade taste to the can.  

This homemade version is pretty easy and actually quite tasty.  My kids really liked it and my husband seemed to enjoy it too.  I made extra mini meatballs and froze them, so next time we want this yummy dish, part of it will already be ready to go.




  Here is the recipe for Homemade Spaghetti-O's with Meatballs
* I used ground chicken breast for the meatballs


  

Ellie Krieger's Shepherd's Pie

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 I have a confession to make- up until last week, I had never, in my life, made Shepherd's Pie.  I don't remember ever eating it before.  My mom never made these types of dishes growing up.  I've never been a "meat & potatoes" type eater, so it just never  was something I was interested in making.

 2 things changed that for me- Pie Week and Comfort Food Fix: Feel-Good Favorites Made Healthy by Ellie Krieger.  

  Ellie Krieger's recipes never, ever disappoint and I like that she uses a combination of cauliflower and potatoes for the mashed topping.    I made a few changes, like using lean ground turkey instead of lean ground beef, but that is just because of my personal taste preferences.

I actually put this together on a Saturday night and then covered it and put it in the fridge, so I could just pop it in the oven after church on Sunday and we wouldn't have to wait too long for a hot meal to be ready.

My family really liked this meal, (it is a meal in itself), and I was pleasantly surprised by how flavorful and fun it was.  While we were eating it, we took turns telling stories about how this dish might have gotten the name Shepherd's Pie.  For your sake, I won't repeat any of those stories.  :D

Here is the recipe for Ellie Krieger's Shepherd's Pie
* I used 94% lean ground turkey
* I used chicken broth
* I added 1/2 cup of celery to the veggies
* I added a few splashes of Worcestershire sauce to the filling
* I added some garlic powder, salt & pepper to the mashed potato/cauliflower topping and used an extra Tablespoon of butter

  

Elmo's Sweet Potato Biscuits

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 There isn't a child in my home who still watches Sesame Street, but that didn't matter to me when I saw the new book- B is for Baking . This cookbook uses the characters from Sesame Street and I couldn't resist it.  I have had C is for Cooking for quite a few years and we use it all the time.

 I made Sweet Potato Biscuits last fall that we really loved and I noticed the version in B is for Baking was a little bit different and that it didn't use butter at all.  I was intrigued and decided it would be the first thing that we tried from this cookbook.  I made them on a night that we had a family favorite for dinner.  Whenever I make this stew, we have some sort of bread/biscuit to go with it and  I  knew these sweet potato biscuits would be great with it.  They didn't have the exact texture of a normal biscuit, but they were soft and fluffy and we loved them.   I froze a few of the leftovers and we made breakfast biscuit sandwiches the next week.  I will be making these again!

Elmo's Sweet Potato Biscuits from  B is for Baking by Susan McQuillan
1 large sweet potato, cooked and mashed to equal 1 cup1 cup all-purpose flour1 cup whole-wheat flour1/4 cup cornmeal1 Tbls baking powder1/4 tsp salt1 large egg1/4 cup olive oil1/4 cup skim milk2 Tbls honey

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
In a small bowl, whisk together dry ingredients (ap flour to salt).  In a medium bowl, with a wooden spoon, stir together egg, oil, milk, and honey.  Stir in the mashed sweet potato.
Gradually add the flour mixture to the sweet potato mixture and stir until just combined.
Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface.  With your fingers, gently pat the dough out to a 9*12-inch rectangle.  Cut into 12 squares.  Places biscuits on an ungreased baking sheet about 1 inch apart.
Bake 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. Cool slightly on rack and serve warm.




 

Cardamom and red currant cake

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The red currants are all ripe and ready now in our garden, and we're using them a lot for making different cakes and desserts. Here's the most recent one - a simple red currant cake, served with homemade and freshly churned red summer berry and mascarpone ice cream.  So simple and so delicious. The original recipe from a Swedish food magazine glazed the cake with a toffee-cream cheese topping, but we never got around to making the glaze - the cake was lovely the way it is presented here:



I must admit that not many of these berries make it to the kitchen, as both our kids love eating fresh berries straight off the red currant bush (the same fate falls upon black currants, raspberries, garden strawberries and small Alpine strawberries - and any other edible berries in our garden):
 
Aksel, 1 y 6 m (July 2012)

Here's our daughter (now 3 y 5 m) doing exactly the same thing last year:
Nora, 2 y 5 m (July 2011)

Cardamom works really well with red currants. If you're making this cake in Estonia or Finland and not podding and crushing your own cardamom pods, I suggest using Meira's ground cardamom - it's much more flavoursome than the other readily available competing brands, mainly because Meira's cardamom is not ground to a fine dust but left rather coarse.

Cardamom and red currant cake
Adapted from the Swedish Allt om Mat magazine (original recipe)
Makes 20-24 cake slices

 

150 g butter, melted
50 ml (3 Tbsp + 1 tsp) milk
3 large eggs
250 g caster sugar (about 300 ml)
275 g all-purpose/plain flour
1 Tbsp vanilla sugar or 2 tsp good-quality vanilla extract
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp ground cardamom
300 ml (a heaped cup) of red currants

Pre-heat the oven to 175 C/350 F. 

Whisk eggs and sugar until pale, thick and fluffy in a big bowl.
Mix melted butter and milk until combined. 
Mix dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, vanilla sugar and cardamom) in a medium bowl, then gently fold into the egg mixture, alternating with the butter and milk mixture.
Line a 25x35 cm cake tin with a parchment paper, spoon the batter into the cake tin.
Scatter the red currants on top.

Bake the cake in the middle of a preheated oven for about 25-30 minutes, until light golden brown on top. Remove from the oven and let cool either lightly or completely before cutting into squares and serving.

More excellent recipes using redcurrants:
Red currant meringue pie (Nami-Nami)
Simple and versatile redcurrant jelly (Nami-Nami)
Red currant jam (David Lebovitz)
Red currant tart  (Delicious Days)
Red currant mini cakes (La Tartine Gourmande)
Red currant sorbet  (Delicious Days)
Peach redcurrant crumble (Mowielicious)

Average Betty was here!

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Are you familiar with the American food blog called Average Betty? It's written by a lovely 30-something LA-based woman called Sara O'Donnell, who is even more known for her witty and catchy recipe channel Average Betty on YouTube. She was visiting Estonia last week and I had the chance to meet her and throw a party for her and her husband. It was supposed to be a garden party (my dear K. even managed to excuse himself from my aunt's husband's 65th birthday party as he had to mow the lawn and make sure the garden looks all nice and pretty when Sara and the guests arrive ;)), but alas, the weather wasn't on our side. Luckily we managed to fit all the 18 adults and numerous kids into our house as well.



While I regularly entertain rather big groups of people at our home, I decided to play it safe this time and organise a potluck party instead, asking each local guest to contribute a dish. We did agree beforehand that the dish has to be pretty Estonian and more or less summery, and we ended up with a rather lovely spread, if I may say so myself. I think Sara and Lee agree, and I saw them at least tasting each of the numerous dishes - quite an achievement considering that they came to the party straight from the meeting with a famous local chef Dmitri Demjanov, which included a full meal at one of his restaurants.

 
Sara and me checking out some of the delectable dishes available.

I had invited a group of local food bloggers to the party, as well as my favourite pastry chef and good friend Heidi Park (who just happens to be an American based in Tallinn) and another good Estonian friend who currently resides in Washington DC (but is visiting home for a few weeks). The local bloggers were a mix of good foodblogging friends and some rising local foodblogging stars, and based on the quality of the dishes they brought along, I just might invite them over again soon ;)

Here's the bi-lingual menu (ignore the bottom part of the blackboard. I told you the house was full of kids ;))

 

On the photo below you see a beetroot salad (thank you, Mann!), a salt pork and onion flatbread, specialty on our largest island, Saaremaa (baked by Kirsike). Fried Baltic herring and a sour cream dip was brought along by Vernanda, the barley soda bread by Tuuli (I've blogged about this delicious Estonian bread here). You can get a glimpse of various local charcuterie on the left and of local artisanal cheese at the bottom. Finally, there's a selection beautiful tomatoes from our greenhouse (various cherry tomatoes - mainly Suncherry and Sungold varieties - are in a beautiful white bowl designed by a young Israeli Tal Zur of Studio Trixie), large tomatoes are next to chopped green Siberian chives, all from our garden as well:


Here's Sara taking photos of our cute tomatoes (she's a foodblogger, after all):

See that pale blue enamel pot just behind the charcuterie selection on the photo below? The pot contains a huge pile of delicious breaded and fried turkey steaks in marinade. These were made and brought along by Ragne, and it's a lighter version of this popular Estonian pork dish.


Marinated saffron milkcaps, courtesy of my K's mum:

I baked one of my favourite chantarelle quiches, flavoured with tarragon and paprika (recipe in Estonian):


Other savoury dishes included a wonderful Estonian rye bread and herby home cheese (Tuuli) and a layered smoked ham, egg and cucumber salad (Kätrin).

Sara looks happy with a glass of Estonian bubbly (see note at the end of the post), and our son is helping himself to some of the dishes:


We obviously also had quite a few sweet dishes, though in the midst of the hustle and bustle we forgot to photograph them all :) Heidi, the Tallinn-based American pastry chef, brought along a  passionfruit cheesecake - a perfect balance of acidic fruit and sweet cheesecake. Kirsike made a batch of toffee-covered kama cereal balls (Estonian recipe here), and my friend Liis brought along a proper Estonian kringel (baked by her sweet diplomat husband Kristjan, who couldn't make it to the party himself), and Kätrin made a küpsisetort, a layered Estonian cookie cake (I've posted a recipe for my favourite version here).

Kaare, who drove to the party all the way from Tartu, brought along a very popular curd cheese cake - a shortcrust base, with a raisin and curd cheese topping:
 

Oh, and there was also a bowl of wonderful sweet-yet-tart yellow gooseberries that Triin brought along from Tartu.

Finally, I'd love to say a huge thank you to our drinks sponsors. Coffee was provided by Nami-Nami's long-time supporter Meira, who's also representing Segafredo Zanetti coffees in Estonia. Meira kindly gave us a Segafredo capsule coffee machine for the party (a huge thank you also to our barista Natalie :))

A le Coq sent us a selection of juices (plum nectar, banana-pear nectar and orange juice) and their Organic Beer (the first locally produced organic beer in Estonia)! By the way, the banana-pear nectar has two of Nami-Nami's recipes printed on each carton :):



There was another first-and-only at the party. We enjoyed chilled FEST - the first Estonian sparkling fruit wine, made from local apples. This semisweet apple wine is definitely very squaffable, if you ask me :) A huge thank goes to the producer, Põltsamaa FELIX. Another local drink company - Värska Vesi - had just re-introduced their mineral waters and still and sparkling drinking waters in beautiful glass bottles, and they kindly sent us a box of each.

 

All in all, I hope that Sara and her husband had great time in Estonia and that we managed to make them feel very welcome here.

Sunday pancakes with crushed berries

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If you're thinking that those are tiny green gooseberries and our famous cloudberries, you're wrong. The green berries are actually blackcurrants* (Ribes nigrum) - yes, you read it correctly - and perfectly ripe ones at that. The green blackcurrant variety is called "VERTTI", and it was released by MTT Agrifood Research Finland in 1986. The berries have the typical pleasant blackcurrant flavour, but are sweeter, a bit milder and less sour - perfect for eating straight off the bush! (On the upside - the birds don't seem to want them, as they're having hard time spotting them in the first place. More berries for us!).

The yellow berries are simply golden raspberries or yellow raspberries, an albino variety of your regular red raspberry (Rubus idaeus). It's a local variety called "HELKAL", developed at the Polli Horticultural Research Centre in Southern Estonia during the last century and officially registered in 2004.

Once you've filled your stomach with the fresh berries au naturel, you can get a wee bit more adventurous and mash some of the berries with some sugar:

 

And enjoy with your Sunday morning pancakes. Isn't it just a glorious and unusual colour?

Enjoy! Bon appetit! Head isu! :)

* I came across this interesting bit of information about blackcurrants in the US. Fascinating!

Blackcurrants were once popular in the United States as well, but became rare in the 20th century after currant farming was banned in the early 1900s, when blackcurrants, as a vector of white pine blister rust (männi-koorepõletik, mida põhjustab roosteseen, mille vaheperemeheks on sõstrapõõsas), were considered a threat to the U.S. logging industry. The federal ban on growing currants was shifted to jurisdiction of individual states in 1966, and was lifted in New York State in 2003 through the efforts of horticulturist Greg Quinn. As a result, currant growing is making a comeback in New York, Vermont, Connecticut and Oregon.  However, several statewide bans still exist including Maine and New Hampshire. 
Since the American federal ban curtailed currant production nationally for nearly a century, the fruit remains largely unknown in the United States, and has yet to regain its previous popularity to levels enjoyed in Europe or New Zealand. Owing to its unique flavour and richness in polyphenols, dietary fibre and essential nutrients, awareness and popularity of blackcurrant is once again growing, with a number of consumer products entering the market. 

Source: Wikipedia

Watermelon and feta salad with roasted pumpkin seeds and balsamic vinegar

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August 2012

Watermelons are at their best just now - juicy and sweet, very flavoursome. Coincidentally, we've also had few rather warm days here in Estonia, with temperatures reaching 30 C. I imagine the watermelon vendors are doing a brisk business, and our family and friends are helping them rather nicely.

 
August 2010

I had some girlfriends over for an al fresco lunch at our patio on Tuesday, and they brought along a large watermelon. We ate half of it au naturel, but were too stuffed to finish the rest. I cubed it, and chucked the cubes into the fridge. Yesterday, my mum and two of my aunties came over for an al fresco lunch (yes, it's that time of the year - and as I do like entertaining, my extended family and friends are all very welcome), so I used those chilled watermelon cubes to
 a) make a simple watermelon juice (process the fruit until smooth, then press through a sieve and serve over ice cubes, diluted with some soda water, if too thick).
 b) make this watermelon salad.  It's an old favourite of mine that I've been making for years, and yes, the recipe was included in my first cookbook. The salty feta, juicy-fresh watermelon and nutty crispy pepitas - all drizzled with a piquant balsamic dressing - are simply wonderful together. 

More watermelon salad recipes:
Watermelon, feta and lime salad @ Nami-Nami 
Watermelon, feta and olive salad @ Nami-Nami
Watermelon Salad Thing  @ Lootie + Doof (very cool!)
Tomato and watermelon salad @ Steamy Kitchen
Kurgi-arbuusisalat mündi ja basiilikuga  @ Pisike ja Pisut Segi

 
August 2010

Watermelon and feta salad with roasted pumpkin seeds and balsamic dressing
(Feta-arbuusisalat röstitud kõrvitsaseemnetega)
Serves  8 

Balsamic dressing:
1 dl balsamic vinegar (a good supermarket brand is ok, nothing fancy)
85 g (100 ml, 7 Tbsp) caster sugar

Salad ingredients:
3-4 Tbsp pumpkin seeds (hulled, of course)
1 smaller watermelon
200 g feta cheese
handful of fresh mint and/or basil leaves

Start by making the dressing. Combine sugar and balsamico in a small saucepan and bring quickly into a boil. Let bubble on a high heat for a minute, then transfer the balsamic syrup into a small bowl or jug and let cool.
Toast the pumpkin seeds on a hot skillet until aromatic and toasty. Take care not to burn them!

Cut the feta cheese and watermelon flesh into cubes (re: the size - it's up to you). Transfer onto a serving plate or shallow bowl, drizzle with balsamic dressing and scatter pumpkin seeds and mint/basil leaves on top.

Serve immediately, and let everybody help themselves to more balsamic dressing, if they want.

HINT: if you're in a hurry, you can omit the balsamic syrup bit and simply drizzle the salad with a good aged balsamic vinegar or use one of those thickened balsamic syrups from a bottle. 

 
August 2010

Blueberry Cheesecake recipe

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Need a rich and gorgeous-looking cake to serve with coffee or finish your next dinner party? I wholeheartedly recommend this chocolate-blueberry-sour cream cheesecake. There's a Digestive and dark chocolate base (graham crackers would work just as well), topped with blueberry and cream cheese layer. These two layers are baked in the oven. When the cheesecake is cooled, it's topped with a third layer, a sour cream jelly layer, which provides a stunning contrast in colour as well as a cooling flavour and texture contrast. Our family and friends were very pleased with the cake.

You can use both blueberries (Vaccinium corymbosum) or bilberries (Vaccinium myrtillus) for making this cake. The first are more common in the US, are larger and whitish inside, the latter are more common in Europe (Scottish blaeberries, French myrtilles, Estonian mustikad), are smaller and blackish-blue inside (see here for a very good comparison of the two). I used the latter - simply because it's the bilberry season just now, and it's a very good year for local bilberries (reflected also in the prices at the market.


Note that the anthocyanin content of fresh bilberries is almost 4 times higher than in blueberries, so if you can choose between the two, go for the smaller wild berries. 

The cheesecake keeps for a few days in the fridge.

Blueberry Cheesecake
(Mustika-toorjuustukook)
Adapted from Allt om Mat (a Swedish food magazine)
Serves 8 to 12

 

Cookie base:
200 g Digestives or graham crackers
50 g dark chocolate, chopped
75 g unsalted butter, melted

Cream cheese layer:
400 g cream cheese
200 g sour cream/creme fraiche
100 g caster sugar
250 g blueberries/bilberries
2 Tbsp cornflour/cornstarch
grated zest of 1 small lemon
1 tsp vanilla extract or vanilla sugar

Sour cream jelly layer:
200 g sour cream
170 g caster sugar (200 ml)
3 gelatine leaves

Pre-heat the oven to  175 C/350 F.
Cover the base of a 24 cm/10'' springform tin with parchment paper.

Make the cookie base: Place Digestives and chopped dark chocolate into your food processor and process till fine crumbs form. Add the melted butter and process again till combined and moist. Press the cookie mixture onto the base of your prepared tin. Bake for about 10 minutes in the pre-heated oven.

Meanwhile, make the cheesecake layer. Use a kitchen tissue to wipe the bowl of your food processor clean. Place all the ingredients into the bowl and process till smooth and dark purple in colour. Spoon the cheesecake mixture onto the pre-baked cookie base, smoothing the top. Return to the oven and bake for about 40 minutes, until it looks set (it'll set further when cooling).
Remove from the oven, let cool to the room temperature, then cover with kitchen foil or clingfilm and place into a fridge or a cold larder overnight (or for at least 4 hours).

Couple of hours before serving, cover the the cheesecake with the sour cream jelly layer.  Soak the gelatine leaves in cold water for about 5 minutes.
Mix sour cream and sugar in a small saucepann and heat slowly on a low heat, stirring regularly, until the sugar has melted. The mixture should be about 60-70 C (140-158 F). Now squeeze the gelatine leaves dry, one at a time, and stir into the sour cream mixture until amalgamated.
Pour the sour cream mixture carefully on top of your cooled cheesecake and return to the fridge for an hour or two.

To serve, carefully transfer the cheesecake onto your serving tray. Decorate with more berries and serve, cutting into slices of your preferred size.

More blueberry/bilberry recipes:
Blueberry and sour cream tart
Blueberry and lemon friands
Simple coconut and blueberry cake
French blueberry tart
Blueberry pancakes
Baked semolina pudding with custard and blueberries
Blueberry syrup
Blueberry jam

More cheesecake recipes:
Nami-Nami's favourite cheesecake 
Raspberry cheesecake brownie
Rhubarb ripple cheesecake
Sea-buckthrorn and Amaretto cheesecake
Cold wild strawberry coulis with warm marzipan cheesecake
Baked rhubarb cheesecake
Baked lemon cheesecake
Chocolate cheesecake
Lingonberry cheesecake

Coconut and Blueberry Cake

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I'm on a blueberry mood just now. As I told in my previous post (baked blueberry cheesecake with a sour cream jelly topping, remember) we're having a very good year of blueberries and bilberries in Estonia just now, so the amount of blueberry dishes that are being cooked and baked in Nami-Nami kitchen just now is quite considerable (take note of these yeast rolls with blueberry, vanilla and curd cheese filling, for instance). And the season is not even over yet, although other lovely berries - tart lingonberries/cowberries, for instance, are ripening quickly.

This simple coconut and blueberry cake was featured on our table twice during last week alone. Simple, quick, tasty, and has already received positive feedback from my Estonian readers, so it comes with good recommendations. Because of its simplicity, I'd describe it as rather a midweek cake and not a fancy weekend affair.

Coconut and Blueberry Cake
(Kookoshelbe-mustikakook)
Serves 10
Adapted from the Swedish food magazine Allt om Mat.



75 g butter, melted
2 large eggs
100 g caster sugar
100 g all-purpose/plain flour
100 g coconut flakes (unsweetened)
1 tsp baking powder
a pinch of salt
half a lemon, juice and finely grated zest

Topping:
200 ml (about a cup) blueberries/bilberries
2 Tbsp (demerara) sugar

Butter and line the base of a 24 cm springform tin with parchment paper.
Mix the dry ingredients (flour, coconut flakes, baking powder, salt) in a medium bowl.
Whisk the eggs and sugar in your mixer until light, thick and fluffy. Gently stir in the melted butter and the dry ingredients, then season with lemon juice and zest.
Pour the batter into the cake tin. Scatter the blueberries on top, sprinkle with demerara sugar.
  

Bake in the middle of a preheated 175 C/350 F oven for 30 minutes, until the cake is fully cooked and light golden on top.

Cool a little, then cut into slices and serve.



More blueberry/bilberry recipes:
Blueberry and sour cream tart
Baked blueberry cheesecake with sour cream jelly topping
Blueberry and lemon friands
French blueberry tart
Blueberry pancakes
Baked semolina pudding with custard and blueberries
Blueberry syrup
Blueberry jam

Estonian cookie cake (küpsisetort)

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Here's a true Estonian classic - a layered cookie cake. If you've been reading Nami-Nami blog, you may remember that an Estonian cookie cake was also featured at the festive spread we served for Average Betty few weeks ago. It's a popular cake on children's birthday parties and on September 1st (the day all Estonian kids go back to school).

I suspect these are the main reasons for its popularity:
* There are just a few ingredients.
* It's pretty cheap and affordable.
* It's yummy :)
* There are endless variations - you can use different flavoured cookies, different cream, different decorations.
* The cake takes about 10-15 minutes to assemble, and every kid can make it, even small ones.

The cookie cake above was made with the help of my 3,5 year old daughter - she did all the cookie-dipping and cookie-placing, I was left with spreading the sour cream between the layers. And she's made this cake before - here's a family portrait taken in January - few days before our son's first birthday and few weeks before our daughter's third birthday:


Photo by Hele-Mai Alamaa (Pere & Kodu) as part for the cover story back in February. 

I make two main versions - one with halva and sour cream filling, the other with plain sour cream filling. That's right - plain, unflavoured sour cream - the cookies are sweet enough and there's absolutely no need to sweeten the cream that goes between the cookies. However, there are lots of people who add thinly sliced bananas between the layer, but I haven't tried that myself. I guess I like the classics remain classic :)

As far as the cookies go, you need rectangular unfilled cookies - either plain or chocolate-flavoured or any other flavour you like. The cookies shouldn't be more than 5-6 mm (1/4-inch) thick. In Estonia any flavour produced and distributed by Estonian Kalev or Latvian Selga would work, elsewhere you could try with Bahlsen Leibniz's Butter Biscuits, or LU's Le Petit Beurre biscuit cookies, for instance.

Sounds familiar? There's a similar, yet different popular cake in Germany, called Keller Kuchen (Cellar cake) or  Kalter Hund (Cold Dog), or radiokaka in Sweden, where butter cookies are layered with chocolate and coconut butter cream.

NB! Make this cake at least 4 hours earlier, preferably day before, so the sour cream has time to soften the cookies and make the cake more cakey. You can top the cake with chocolate glaze and decorate it just half an hour before serving.

Estonian cookie cake
(Kõige parem küpsisetort)
Serves 12 to 15

 

4 packets of square/rectangular cookies (180 g/6 oz each)
100-200 ml milk or coffee for dipping the cookies
750 g thick sour cream (about 20% fat content)

Chocolate glaze:
100 g dark chocolate
50 g unsalted butter
4 Tbsp double cream

To decorate:
crispy pearl sugar
fresh berries
coconut flakes/shredded coconut

Dip 12 to 15 cookies into the milk or coffee and place onto a suitable cake tray (I usually use 3x5 cookies or 15 in total, depending on your cake tray, you may prefer 3x4 pattern, resulting in 12 servings).
Now spread about a third of the sour cream evenly on top of the cookies. Continue with 3 more cookie and 2 more sour cream layers, finishing with the cookie layer.
Cover the cake with a cling film and place into the fridge to soften.

To make the chocolate glaze, break the chocolate into pieces and place into a small saucepan with butter and fresh cream. Slowly heat on a medium heat, stirring regularly, until the glaze is smooth and glossy. Spoon over the cake, spreading it evenly all over the top. (If using shredded coconut or pearl sugar for garnish, do it now, so it sticks into the chocolate glaze). Place back into the fridge to harden.

To serve, cut the cake into neat squares (or rectangles, if your cookies weren't square), or smaller slices, if you prefer. Garnish with berries, if you wish (I used the wonderful green variety of blackcurrants, Vertti, that I was talking about in a recent post).

Here's exactly the same cake, using chocolate-flavoured cookies and garnished with crispy pearl sugar granules:


Similar recipes in English-language foodblogs: 
Easy 7-layer cake  @ Steven and Chris
Kellerkuchen / Cellar cake  @ Light Recipes

Similar recipes in Estonian foodblogs:
Küpsisetort kohupiimakreemi ja banaaniga @ Sööme silmadega (Dagris)
Å okolaadine küpsisetort  @ Kiilike köögis (Anneli)
Kohupiimakreemiga küpsisetort  @ Siit nurgast ja sealt nurgast (Mari-Liis)
Vale-napoleoni kook  @ Kokkama Ragnega (Ragne)
Šokolaadi-toorjuustukook küpsistega @ Kokkama Ragnega (Ragne)
Hapukoorekreemiga küpsisetort @ Tassike.ee (Marju)
Küpsisetort  @ Magusad fotod (Marit)
Kohvimaitseline küpsisetort  @ Hea toit, parem elu! (Merit)
Küpsisetort @ Head asjad (Neve)
Halvaa-küpsisetort @ Maitse asi (Jaanika)