Cherry pie from Moldova.

The online travel magazine Traveler’s Digest has ranked the 10 least visited countries in the world. With only 11 000 visitors a year Moldova is on the list. I visited the country in 2010. Here is my tale.

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The visit however was not my idea. I was dragged along by my better half who had a work assignment there. But I do not regret going although some of the hours there were among my worst.

Tourist attractions?

According to Traveler’s Digest there are no tourist attractions in Moldova. Moldova certainly does not have famous attractions the way we flock to New York to see the Statue of Liberty or go to Paris to gaze at the Eiffel Tower. Moldova does not have places and attractions you have longed for in your dreams and always wanted to see. But to me the fact that it is so little known turns the whole country into a tourist attraction. Everything in Moldova becomes something I yearn to see like a blind person who has regained his view.

Great expectations

For a tourist Moldova is like a black nothing. We were going to the capital, and because I was geography nerd at Primary School I know quite a few capitals of the world. But say the word Chisinau and I am clueless. It is the first time I have travelled to a city without knowing anything about it.

So I wanted to seek information in travel literature, but found little. In Lonely Planet’s travel guides Moldova was lumped together with Romania, and with only one small chapter. The little I discovered about the country was unnerving. Human trafficking. The poorest country in Europe. According to the official travel advice from the Norwegian government (landsider.no) and British Embassy (gov.uk) Moldova is relative safe but with low standard of health care and you were advised to ”Take out comprehensive travel and medical insurance before you travel”. I will come back to this later.

We travelled to Moldova from Latvia in the Baltic with a small Fokker 50 plane. The way you are greeted at the airport reveals something about the country you have arrived in. Would it be like the airport in Minsk, Belarus, where we were interrogated by personnel in military uniforms and personally locked into the airport (the airport was closed)? In contrast Moldova has ditched some of its former communism. This is exactly what had happened the year before when the communist government were ousted in elections. (Moldova was the first former Soviet republic to elect a communist party in 2001). We were greeted with smiles and civic personnel. Still the police were waiting as we embarked the plane.

This was at the time of the Swine flu pandemic and on the plane we had to fill out a form asking if you were coughing or having a runny nose. I suffered from both and pictured myself being deported the minute I set foot on Moldovan soil.

Chisinau without colours

We were driven to the hotel situated at what is called the Gates of Chisinau, two buildings looking like enormous lego bricks. The real journey could start. The capital Chisinau is a city of 800 000 inhabitants. An outsider has a look devoid of certain emotions, one only sees the houses’ shapes and colours without noticing they are also someone’s home. I could only see grey and worn apartments in a grey and dismal landscape. The weather only made it worse. It was February and one of the coldest winters in Europe this year with the temperature for a long period between 10 and 20 minus (14 to -4 Fahrenheit). There were no leaves to colour the landscape green. Only dull apartments blocks and traffic.

Wine and communism

Moldova lies sandwiched between Romania and Ukraine. It has no coastline and has a population of only 4 million. It has been part of Romania and has strong cultural and linguistic ties with its neighbouring country. About 2/3 of all Moldovans speak a Romanian dialect, but most people also speak Russian due to the fact it was part of the Soviet Union from 1940 to 1991.

Moldova is a fertile country and one of the world’s top exporters of wine. According to Lonely Planet there is no other place on earth where you can sample the same quality of wine at such low price. The country has close economic ties to Russia, but recently Moldova has signed a trade deal with the EU as a first step towards a possible EU membership. The courtship however led to Russian boycott of Moldovan wine and fruit as a punishment for looking to the West.

Those who live outside

Our hotel was a small building surrounded by big apartment buildings. From the hotel window I saw a street dog lying in the nearby bus shed. He was one of several street dogs and cats we encountered. Outside a church lived a dog with a puppy. In a central park lived two dogs under a shed of paper boxes. The first evening in Moldova I stood there in the window thinking about their life out there in the harsh cold. At last I went out to buy pet food to keep in my rucksack. How were they treated? I saw an ongoing campaign telling people not to beat their pet, but I also witnessed kind-hearted souls who fed the animals and gave them shelter.

Another group who live outside are the guest workers. 25 percent of the Moldovan population work abroad. Many of these are parents, leaving their kids back home where many of them end up at an orphanage. We met two of the guest workers in a village an hour drive from Chisinau. A couple that had worked in Norway and hoped to do it again. She was one of the foreign strawberry pickers in my country.

Sasha and his wife greeted us with tea, cookies and pancakes filled with cottage cheese. It was freezing cold, but only their living room was heated. The villagers had to fetch water from wells and their roads were dark as most roads in the Moldovan countryside. Sasha told us how we in Norway live, but here in Moldova they try to keep our life. You survive in the countryside by growing, keeping livestock and sending at least one (adult) child to work abroad. Sasha and his wife were educated people, still they could not find work and a future here.

The Moldovan writer Vladimir Lorchenkov who has written the book “The good life is elsewhere” where he describes the quest to get out of the country, tells in an interview that Moldovans do whatever it takes to survive, even selling your body or selling your organs.

To Gagauzia

There are two autonomous regions in Moldova, Transnistria and Gagauzia. Transnistria is a breakaway state with its own army, president, flag and a secret service still called the KGB. Here communism is alive as if the Berlin wall was still standing.

Gagauzia lies is Southern Moldova. The Gagauz is a Turkish Christian minority who fled the Russian-Turkish war in the 18^th century. Their capital is Comrat, 92 kilometres south of Chisinau. Comrat has not much to offer besides the university (which was the purpose of our trip), a statue of Lenin and a museum. Thanks to few visitors we received a very private tour at the Ethnographic Museum with the address Lenin Street 162. The guides had a lot of history to tell, the only problem was the heat, or lack of. Although it was winter the museum was unheated and in the end our feet and hands were so numb we had to start to waddle to endure.

Sights in the city

One of the first days in Chisinau we went on the obligatory sightseeing tour. The main attraction – and source of great pride – was the statue of Ștefan cel Mare (Stephen the great). He managed to expand the Moldovan territory in a serious of battles in the 15^th century. A national hero, the main street in Chisinau bears his name. Far more interesting was the Victory Memorial and Eternal Flame to commemorate soldiers who died during WW2. During WW2 Moldova was occupied by Romania, at that time allied to Nazi-Germany, and the Jews suffered severely. According to an article in Der Spiegel the “Romanian holocaust” was a taboo in the Soviet era and largely swept under the carpet.

Our guide compared the city’s hills to the Seven hills of Rome, which I found hard to comprehend. It was difficult to see the beauty of the city. The beauty was in the people we came across.

Dinner with Steven Seagal

The highlight during the sightseeing was a visit to the restaurant Roata Vremii (Time wheel). The restaurant was an eclectic mix of folk museum, restaurant and stuffed animal exhibition. Some of the rooms pictured traditional farm life and how the harvest was pickled while other rooms were filled with stuffed animals with plastic squint eyes. And in the midst of it all, a picture of Steven Seagal proudly shown to us.

The food was excellent though, and during dinner I was asked about my marital status whereupon I answered I was unmarried. I rapidly added that it was totally normal to be 35 + and still single in Norway. When my wife returned from the rest room I nudged her and told her we were both unmarried. And this is how I managed to push us and our marriage inside the closet.

Kindness in grey landscape

In the dull winter landscape there was always kindness. We were taken great care of and people were curious about how we perceived Moldova. Human trafficking, poverty, orphans and stray animals were politely replaced with wine, fertile land and warmth.

The last days in Moldova took a different turn. My wife got sick and when we called our travel insurance agent it turned out they had made a mistake – they had no recommended doctor in Moldova but advised us to get a car for the neighbouring country, Ukraine. This was not possible. We had to face our worst fear and call the local ambulance. We spent the last days in a hospital in Chisinau where I had to retrieve the little I remembered of German: Vielen Schmerzen, vielen Schmerzen, Medizin, Medizin?

During our hospital stay friends came by with lots of food and one of the old ladies staying at the same room borrowed me her pillow. I slept sitting beside my wife’s bed with my head on her bead. Where I belonged. The marital status I had inflicted on myself – how we were only friends – could have turned ugly. Putting myself in the closet also excluded me as her relative.

View from the hospital taken with my mobile phone. How I wish we were not there.

The food in Moldova

We had a lot of good food in Moldova. I particularly remember the creamy milk and all the varieties of pickled food ranging from watermelons to pumpkins. The food has a lot in common with the food of Romania. In both countries mamaliga is the national dish. Mamaliga is similar to Italian polenta and is eaten as a side order with a salty cheese called branza.

What I remember the most is the cherry pie, placinte su visine, we had for dessert. In contrast to other pies, the Moldovan or Romanian pie (placinte) is made without a tart tin, it has a thin crust, is often pan or deep-fried and is dusted with powdered sugar. The savoury version is filled with cheese (branza), kale (varza) or potatoes (cartofi).

I have searched the Internet for a recipe akin to what I ate in Moldova, and it seems the pie dough is strudel dough. Because I want a dough just as easy to succeed with in a gluten-free version, I make a more traditional dough, except there is no water, just eggs. Although this recipe is not the most authentic recipe for placinte, it is truly inspired by the pie I ate there, a memory from Moldova.

Cherry pie from Moldova

Cherry pie / Placinte su visine (makes 6)

I use half and half sweet cherries and tart cherries, but do use what you want. Just adjust the amount of sugar a bit. It is definitely an advantage having a cherry pitter. A food stylist in Jamie Magazine once said that pies are always beautiful, not matter what you do. And I could not agree more. Pies are always irresistible. Also, the cherry filling is wonderful with wine and cheese.

Pie dough:
125 g flour (or gluten-free flour)
1 tbsp sugar
a pinch of salt
60 g cold butter in cubes
1 organic egg

Cherry filling:
200 g sour cherries
200 g sweet cherries
60 g sugar
zest of ½ organic lemon
1 tsp maizena + 1 tbsp water
icing sugar

1. Mix the flour, sugar and salt in a bowl. Crumble the butter into the flour. Whisk the egg and add it to the flour – but leave a spoon of egg for the finish. Mix quickly into a dough with your hands. Wrap in cling film and let rest in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

2. Wash the berries, remove the twigs and pit them. Place in a pan with the sugar and lemon zest. Boil on medium heat for 20 minutes, until thickened and the berries have partly collapsed. Mix the maizena with the water and add gradually while stirring. Allow to cool.

3. Divide the dough into 4 pieces. Place each piece between two parchment papers, and roll out the pastry with a rolling pin until thin. Let rest once more in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

4. Preheat oven to 175C/350F/Gas 4. Remove the top parchment paper and place about 3 spoons with cherry filling in the middle. Place the other pastry on top while you carefully tear off the parchment paper. Crimp the edges to seal. Use a fluted pastry wheel (or knife) to cut off excess pastry and make a nice circle. Repeat with the last pair of pastry.

Note: If you have a lot of leftover pastry, make mini galettes (free-form tarts). Just roll out the pastry, place the filling in the centre and fold the border over the filling – the centre should be open, not closed by pastry.

5. Glaze with the egg and bake in the oven for about 15 minutes until golden. Serve with icing sugar, and if you like, a doll-up of sour cream.

More travel stories? More recipes from places?

Jambalaya and greetings from New Orleans
Greek salad, Athens and Greek holiday memories
Frozen yogurt ice cream + North of Norway
Tips to London and Paris and a recipe for muesli

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Chocolate cake with blood oranges.

This post was supposed to be about chocolate cake, but instead I find myself yearning and longing for Sicily and the island’s unforgettable blood oranges.

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Chocolate cake for every occasion

Chocolate cake must be one of the most versatile for all cakes. There seems to be a chocolate cake for every country, season, mood and occasion. From the ubiquitous simple chocolate cake topped with shredded coconut or jelly fruits served at almost every Norwegian child birthday to the dark and classic patisserie style Sachetorte. From the American Mississippi mud cake with marshmallow topping to the centrepiece of a French Christmas dinner, the Bûche de Noël (Yule log). And in between the fudgy brownie so simple and quick to make it fits for any occasion.

Still, I rather choose other cakes. Since childhood I have been faithful to my one and only Kvæfjord cake with its almond meringue and vanilla cream. But as the saying goes, variation is the spice of life. Why not go for the classic combination with chocolate and oranges? To kill the last remains of winter blues, a bowl of blood oranges might be the perfect choice. Chocolate and oranges, companions forever and ever.

Piece of chocolate cake

King of oranges: Arancia Rossa di Sicilia

While berries reign the sweet kitchen in the summer, oranges and citrus fruits truly shine in the winter. And the brightest star of them all, the citrus fruits from Italy. Sample the word: Arancia Rossa di Sicilia. Red orange from Sicily. The King of Oranges come from Italy’s boot.

Arancia Rossa de Sicilia grows in the fertile foothills of the Mount Etna in eastern Sicily. Mount Etna is Europe’s highest and most active volcano. It has caused the devastation of cities but also made possible the growth of citrus fruits, peaches, cherries, apples, vine terraces, pears, chestnuts and a whole range of other nuts. At the foot of Mount Etna’s white powdered peak lies the city of Catania – Sicily’s second largest city after Palermo. This is where the dish Pasta alla Norma originates from, and probably also granita.

The orange arrived in Sicily from China in the 15^th century. Later an ordinary orange mutated. The blood orange was born; in the beginning very small and filled with seeds. Later bigger, sweeter and even without seeds.

Arancia Rossa de Sicilia has a protected geographical status. As with champagne from the Champagne district in France it all depends on what is called the terroir. Only the best blood oranges from eastern Sicily has the right to the name. What makes the orange magic is the fertile volcanic soil and the contrast between warm days and rather cold nights.

Blood orange: Arancia Rossa Sicilia

Tarocco – the sweetest of them all

There are three types of blood oranges: sanguinello, moro og tarocco. Looks can be deceiving. Moro has the appearance of a blood orange, but the orange skin of the tarocco hides the most lovely sweet flavour.

Moro is deep red, sometimes on the verge of black, aromatic and slightly bitter. Sanguinello is orange with red streaks and originates from Spain. The tarocco on the other hand is the most popular table option in Italy, in contrast to moro and sanguinello used mainly as orange juice. The tarocco has no seeds, the highest level of C-vitamins and the sweetest flavour of them all. The season for the tarocco is January until May.

Cold night, ruby colour

What creates the ruby colour of the blood oranges, the arance rosse, is a red pigment called anthocyanin. Cold temperature during the night is what activates the pigment. Anthocyanins is also a powerful antioxidant. Hence blood oranges contain more antioxidants than other oranges.

In Italy blood oranges are often served in a salad with red onions and fennel. For dessert however, the Sicilians who usually have a sweet tooth, serves the oranges plain with no adornment. I deviate from the rule and travel with my Italian blood oranges to France to make a caramelized blood orange sauce similar to the sauce the French serve with pancakes, Crêpes Suzette.

This chocolate cake is a little bit Norwegian, a little bit Italian and a little bit French.

To make the cake moist, the filling should be spread on the cake while it is still warm.

Dark and moist chocolate cake

Sponge:
135 g / 4,8 oz butter
75 g / 2,6 oz dark chocolate (70 %)
75 ml water
5 eggs
100 g / 3,5 oz light brown sugar
125 g / 4,4 oz caster sugar
135 g / 4,8 oz flour (or gluten-free flour)
2 tbsp cocoa powder

Filling:
50 g / 1,8 oz butter
50 g / 1,8 oz caster sugar
100 ml heavy cream
100 g / 3,5 oz dark chocolate (70 %)

1. Preheat the oven to 175C/350F/Gas 4. Line a baking tin (about 20cm/8in).
2. Melt the butter, allow to cool for a few minutes and add chopped chocolate. Stir and add the water.
3. Whisk the sugar and eggs with an electric beater until pale and fluffy.
4. Mix the dry ingredients and gently fold into the egg mixture, alternating with the chocolate mixture.
5. Pour the batter in the baking tin, and bake in the oven for about 45 minutes.
6. Meanwhile, make the filling. Melt the butter and sugar in a pan until the sugar is dissolved. Add the cream and chopped chocolate and stir until everything is smooth. Keep warm.
7. Allow the cake to cool for about 15 minutes, remove the parchment paper. Carefully divide the sponge into two, and spread the filling on the cut side of the bottom half. Place the top half of the cake on top and spread the rest of the filling.

Caramelized oranges

5 blood oranges (or 4 ordinary oranges)
50 g / 1,8 oz caster sugar

1. Grate one orange to make zest. Bring the zest to boil in a little water and drain. Repeat three times. This process reduces the bitterness of the zest. Put aside.
2. Segment the oranges and save the juice. It should be about 200 ml juice. This post explains how to segment an orange.
3. Make the caramel: Place the sugar in a pan on medium heat and allow to melt. Be patient. Do not touch the sugar.
4. When the sugar has turned into caramel, add the orange juice and boil for 10 minutes until the sugar has melted and the sauce has reduced. Do not boil longer, then the taste will become somewhat bitter.
5. Allow the caramel to cool and add the zest and orange segments.

If you want to see wonderful pictures from Sicily, have a look at

La Tartine Gourmande

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Success tart (suksessterte) is a much-loved cake from Norway.

Suksessterte is one of the most cherished cakes in Norway.

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Success tart (literally success tart in Norwegian) is one of the cakes I grew up with. To me it symbolizes the North of Norway just as much as fresh fish does. My mother always made it and I took the cake for granted long after my childhood. I had to grow up and move 1400 kilometres away before I understood what a treasure my mother baked, Christmas after Christmas, year after year to us kids.

Success tart consists of layers of almond meringue with a yellow cream made of egg yolks, sugar, cream and butter. The cream is like a vanilla custard with butter. It is not only the taste that makes this delicious cake desired. Success tart is one of those extraordinary cakes that freezes well and is gluten-free and low carb. Because it freezes so well I called it ”ice cake” as a kid. I do not know many who has not fallen in love with success tart. It is, as a friend of mine once said, ”sinfully good”.

Thank you mum. Thanks for all the success tarts you have made through the years.

My mum! Nobody makes success tart like she does.

Note: You cannot use almond flour because it is too finely ground. Use a blender or food processor to grind the almonds.

Norwegian success tart

Cream:
5 egg yolks
100 ml / 3,4 oz heavy cream
80 g / 3 oz sugar
150 g / 5,3 oz cold butter in cubes

Almond meringue:
5 egg whites
250 g / 8,8 oz ground almonds
225 g / 8 oz icing sugar

Topping:
Grated dark chocolate

How to make the cream:
1. Place all ingredients (except the butter) in a heavy-bottomed pan on low heat while you constantly stir with a (flat) whisk until it thickens. The process will take about 15-30 minutes. The rule is the same as when making vanilla custard: Do not let if boil, then the eggs will curdle. The sauce is finished when it just starts to bubble!

2. Remove the pan from the heat and add the butter, a tablespoon at a time while you stir with the whisk.

3. When all the butter is incorporated into the cream, place the pan in cold water. If you want to do it like my mother then whip the cream by hand for about 10-15 minutes until fluffy. If not, use an electric whisk and whisk for about 5 minutes. Place in the refrigerator.

How to make the almond meringue:
1. Preheat the oven to 175C/350F. Line a baking tray with parchment paper. The baking tray should be about 30 x 40 cm (12 x 15 inches).

2. Grind the almonds using a food processor. Mix the almonds with icing sugar.

3. Whisk the egg whites until stiff, about 2 minutes. Fold in the almond flour and icing sugar.

4. With a spatula, spoon the meringue on the parchment paper. It should form the shape of a rectangle. Bake for about 20-30 minutes until golden brown on the outside.

5. Right after you take the almond meringue out of the oven and the meringue is still on the baking tray: Place a baking grid on top of the baking tray and turn upside down. Now you are able to remove the baking tray and the paper. While the meringue is lying on the grid, divide the cake into two even-sized rectangles. Allow to cool.

How to assemble the cake:
Place one of the meringues as a base. Spoon half the cream on top. Place the other meringue on top and spoon the rest of the cream. Finish with grated chocolate. When serving, cut into small squares.

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Banana cake with chocolate, almonds and spice.

Is banana cake the most tolerant cake in the world?

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This is my everyday cake. The cake I bake to have a sweet bite with my coffee. It has a lot of bold flavours without getting overtly sweet. There are many reasons to make banana cake. First of all it is extremely easy to make, even easier than brownie because it is almost impossible to bake too much in the oven. It is brilliant leftover food with the best result using overripe bananas. The sweetness of the bananas makes it possible to use less sugar. Finally, it is tolerant.

If you have food allergies, banana cake is a cake that is just as good without flour, dairy, nuts or eggs. Of all allergies egg allergy seems to me as one of the hardest to live with. What is breakfast without pancakes or eggs? What is a cake without the chemistry of the egg? By accident (I forgot eggs one time I was baking) I discovered that banana cake without egg works just fine. This is because the bananas do the same thing as the egg: They bind the cake.

My banana cake is not all about tolerance. It is also delicious with a rich flavour and delicate texture. Again, the bananas play a substantial role. The cake is moist while caramelized and crunchy on the outside. I have baked and baked to find the perfect taste, and to me it is the addition of coconut palm sugar, almond flour, chocolate chunks and a subtle hint of spices. I use coconut palm sugar instead of refined sugar to achieve a more caramelized taste and because it is has a low GI index. If you are allergic to chocolate and nuts, just omit them. The banana cake still retains a lot of flavour.

Looks may be deceiving. Banana cake with chocolate. Perfect with coffee or tea.

This makes one little loaf tin or a little bundt pan.

Banana cake

75 g / 2,6 oz butter
3 small or 2 big overripe bananas
1 egg (optional)
75 g / 2,6 oz coconut palm sugar
75 g / 2,6 oz almond flour (or wheat flour)
50 g / 1,8 oz flour (gluten-free or wheat flour)
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground cardamom
1/3 tsp ground cloves
a pinch of salt
40 g / 1,4 oz dark chocolate (70 %), chopped

1. Preheat the oven to 160C/320F. Place parchment paper in a loaf tin or a little bundt pan.

2. Melt the butter and allow to cool a bit.

3. Mash the bananas with a fork in a bowl. Add the melted butter and egg and combine until blended.

4. Add the sugar, flour and the rest of the dry ingredients and stir to combine. Pour in the tin and bake for about 30-45 minutes.

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Cinnamon biscuits (Berits brune pinner).

In my handwritten book from 1991 where I kept my best baking and dessert recipes, I have written down my mother’s recipe for cinnamon biscuits.

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In Norway they are called Berits brune pinner (Berits’ brown sticks). Their delicious flavour is due to brown sugar, dark syrup and a generous amount of cinnamon. What would baking be without cinnamon? What is an American pie without cinnamon? What would a cinnamon roll taste like without cinnamon? What would Norwegian rice porridge be without cinnamon?

Cinnamon is probably the most cherished of all spices. Cinnamon biscuits are one of the easiest Norwegian Christmas biscuits. There is no rolling-pin or cookie cutters involved. So make the biscuits and sit down with a little glass of mulled wine or do something quaint like writing a letter to someone you love or take them with you and visit someone who is lonely at Christmas.

Cinnamon cookies all dressed up for Christmas with powdered sugar and cranberries.

Christmas cinnamon biscuits (makes 2 trays):

This recipe is also suitable gluten-free. Just substitute the flour. Also, I substitute 25 % of the brown sugar with palm sugar because it is low glycemic and has a nice caramel flavour.

200 g / 7 oz softened butter
150 g / 5 oz dark brown sugar
50 g / 1,7 oz organic palm sugar
1 tbsp golden syrup
1 egg and 1 egg yolk (free-range)
2 tbsp ground cinnamon
about 300 g / 10 oz flour
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

To decorate:
1 egg white
1 big handful of finely chopped almonds

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4. Line two baking trays with parchment paper.
2. Cream together the butter and sugar. Add the syrup and stir.
3. Add the egg and the egg yolk and stir well.
4. Sift together the flour, bicarbonate of soda and cinnamon and blend. Knead until it comes together as a dough.
5. Divide the dough into four parts. On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough into sausages thick as a woman’s finger. Lift each finger onto the baking tray and press it down with a knife.
6. Glaze the dough with generous amounts of egg white. This will also ensure that the almonds stick to the dough. Scatter the almonds on top.
7. Bake for about 10-12 minutes until golden-brown. While still hot, cut them into sticks. Traditionally they should be cut diagonally.

More Nordic dishes for Christmas?

Heavenly fruit salad with clementines
Mulled wine with honey and orange
Rice pudding with berry sauce and stardust
Black pudding with sirup
Wild autumn stew with chanterelles

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Three Nordic cupcakes.

It is piece of cupcake to make your own assorted cupcakes.

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I have never liked cupcakes much. I made an attempt when I was in London this summer and by accident came across the one and only Hummingbird Bakery in Islington. The bakery was situated not far from what must be the most beautiful name of any London tube station, Angel Station.

Assorted Nordic cupcakes with passion fruit icing, almond praline topping and apples

To me cupcakes resemble the hair fashion of the 17th and 18th century

A time when men from the European aristocracy wore perfumed wigs powdered with flour. Cupcakes may look lavish, and to top it all, they are often photographed in a high key setting. But in the end cupcakes are quite ordinary. I would rather prefer a down-to-earth muffin or a British fairy cake. I like cakes with the same on the outside as the inside.

My cat Doris.

One simple sponge will provide you with three varieties

So, I hereby introduce my mockingbird cupcakes! It looks like you have spent the whole evening in the kitchen baking, but you have not. Here I make a late autumn and early winter variety with this season’s last Norwegian apples, another with almond pralines and a third with passion fruit icing. Make your own assorted collection of cakes and give them as a gift.

A trick I learned from Jamie Oliver in one of his cookbooks was to substitute the water with orange or lemon juice when making icing. This way you add flavour and a little splash of colour to the icing. I choose my ultimate favorite fruit, passion fruit. Just remember the passion fruit is mature when it is wrinkled.

Almond praline cupcake (or toscakake in Norwegian)

Tosca cake is a Nordic sponge cake with an almond praline topping

As a child I did not like the sponge, so I only ate the topping. My mother, like most parents, did not approve of my action. Therefore I add the almond pralines both in the top and the bottom. This cake is to every kid out there who never had enough almond praline topping in their childhood.

Note! These are just as good with gluten-free flour.

Yields about 12 cupcakes (four of each type).

Cupcake with passion fruit icing.

Cupcakes with tree different toppings

The basic sponge:
175 g / 6 oz softened butter
175 g / 6 oz caster sugar
175 g / 6 oz flour
3 organic eggs
1 organic lemon
1 tsp baking powder

1. Preheat the oven to 175C/350F/gas 4. Take out the muffin tins.
2. Cream the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Add one egg at a time and incorporate well before adding the next one. Fold in zest of one lemon and sifted flour with the baking powder.
3. Now make each of the different types – see below.
4. Bake in the oven for about 20-25 minutes.

Almond praline topping:

40 g light brown sugar
40 g butter
1 tbsp flour
2 tbsp milk
60 g blanched almonds

Prepare the almonds first. You do not have to blanch the almonds, you can also roughly chop them. Melt the butter and sugar in a small pan. Add the flour and milk while stirring and boil for 5 minutes. When finished, add the almonds.

Place a generous tablespoon almond praline in the bottom of the muffin tin and add some of the sponge. About 10 minutes before the cakes are done, place another tablespoon of almond praline on the top, and continue baking until finished.

Apples and cinnamon:

1-2 small Norwegian apples (or Granny Smith with some lemon juice)
1 tbsp sugar
1 tsp cinnamon

Mix sugar and cinnamon in a little box and toss well. Peel and slice the apples. Push them into the batter and sprinkle with the cinnamonsugar.

Passion fruit icing:

1 passion fruit
lemon juice
powdered sugar

Place a small colander (or an open tea strainer) on a coffee cup. Slice the passion fruit into two parts and scrape out the pulp with a teaspoon into the colander. ”Scrape” out the juice (so the pulp remains in the colander and the juice in the coffee cup). Add gradually powdered sugar until thick and not runny. If it is too thick, just add a few drops of lemon juice. Place the icing on the cupcakes when they are cold. If you are going to serve the cakes soon, place some of the pulp on top of the icing.

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Brownies with salted caramel sauce and sugared pecans.

How to make brownies with salted caramel sauce and pecans on the side.

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Baking powder, flour, eggs and sugar. This is what we are taught most cakes need. But not brownies. Brownies chooses its own road. It does not want baking powder and is not fond of flour. Instead it helps itself with some extra sugar, steals some chocolate and flirts with Peggy Pecan.

Brownies are ubiquitous, but not all brownies are brownies. Some are fudgy chocolate cakes. In my opinion brownies should be a mix between chocolate cake and cookies. They should not be too dark, and they should contain so much sugar that the edges are slightly crispy but still moist and chewy on the inside. If you decrease the amount of sugar (and believe me I have tried) it will turn into a chocolate cake, not brownies.

The hardest thing about brownies is bake it just right. Long enough to avoid a mud cake, short enough to avoid it getting dry. In this respect, lots of sugar come in handy. The rich amount of sugar makes it more difficult to bake the brownies dry.

My version of brownies is pretty childish and becomes even more childish when served with ice cream, caramel sauce and pecans. If you want to make an easy dessert easier, skip the brownies and just serve ice cream with pecan nuts and caramel sauce. It is still a dessert that will haunt your guests. Buy the ice cream but make the caramel sauce yourself.

The rule of making your own caramel sauce is a spoon of butter and twice as much heavy cream as sugar. Drizzle the sauce on top of the ice cream while still warm. Also, you can easily substitute the flour with gluten-free flour. Brownies is one of those cakes that easily bares the transition from gluten to gluten-free. And the cake is also suitable for those allergic to nuts since the nuts are served on the side.

The cake is suitable for those allergic to nuts since the nuts are served on the side.

Brownies (makes 4-5)

150 g / 5,3 oz butter
50 g / 1,8 oz dark chocolate (70 %), chopped
200 g / 7 oz sugar
2 organic eggs
75 g / 2,6 oz flour
2 tbsp cocoa powder

1. Preheat oven to 175C/350F. Melt the butter in a pan. Remove from the heat and allow to cool. Add the chopped chocolate. Stir until blended.

2. Whisk eggs and sugar until pale and fluffy, then add the melted chocolate and butter. Fold in sifted flour and cocoa powder.

3. Pour the batter in a small pan with parchment paper. Bake in the oven in the lower position for about 25-35 minutes. In contrast to other cakes, brownies should not come clean when you insert a skewer in the center of the cake. The skewer should come out with wet crumbs.

Salted caramel sauce

40 g / 1,4 oz sugar
100 ml / 3,4 oz heavy or double cream
1 tbsp butter
1/2 tsp flaky salt (e.g. maldon sea salt)

1. Place the sugar in a heavy-based pan and shake the pan so the sugar distributes evenly. Let stand on medium heat until the sugar melts into a light brown caramel. Have patience and do not stir. It may take about 5-10 minutes for the sugar to dissolve. Keep your eyes on the pan the whole time. When the sugar first starts to melt, it will turn from brown to burnt in just a few seconds.

2. Right after the sugar has turned brown, add the cream and stir well. The caramel will first harden and splutter. Keep cooking while you stir until the caramel has melted. Remove from the heat, add the butter and salt.

Sugared pecans

A generous handful of pecans
1 tbsp icing sugar
1 tsp water

1. Heat a frying pan on medium heat and add the pecans. Toast the nuts for about 5 minutes while you shake the pan often. They are finished when they start to smell.

2. Add the icing sugar and water, shake the pan well and remove from the heat.

More sweet delights?

Roasted plums with cookie topping
Cupcakes three ways

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Raspberries with cookies and custard.

Raspberries are still standing in the shadow of their bigger brother, strawberries. Most Norwegians eat them as jam. But close your eyes and taste. They taste like sweet lemons.

What is your relationship with raspberries?

I used to like sweet desserts, desserts with caramel and lots of sugar. Desserts like deep-fried bananas or brownies. But something has changed. It started with my girlfriend. While I had a sugar tooth, she was more into desserts with a sour kick. So I embarked on a journey one summer promising that I make her ten different desserts with berries. I tried desserts ranging from the classic Danish Rødgrød med fløde (cooked berries with cream) and Swedish pancake torte to Britain’s Eton mess. Since that time I have made many more berry desserts.

The Norwegian raspberry season is in July and August – now is the time to use them straight from the fields. But do try to eat them as more than raspberry jam. Serve them with custard in a raspberry jam jar.

“Pastry cream or crème patissière is to chefs what concrete is to builders” (French chef Raymond Blanc)

Pastry cream or custard (vaniljekrem) is one of the most versatile creams in every chef’s kitchen. It is served as a filling in a whole range of pies and pastries, including “Verdens beste”, the cake considered Norway’s best cake. In contrast to custard sauce (vaniljesaus) it is also easy to make. So try pastry cream next time instead of whipped cream.

For this dessert I serve the raspberries with havreflarn, a Norwegian oat biscuit

It is sweet and chewy and a cross between an American oat cookie and a French tuile. Make a batch of these Norwegian cookies and store in a box for later. They are accessories in your kitchen’s dessert pantry – put them on top of ice creams, strawberries and whipped cream – or bake them in the oven with plums or peaches. Like accessories in clothing they add the little vow factor to your presentation. Havreflarn  taste like they have been made by the best French pastry chef – but they are easy as pie to make!

Raspberries with custard in a jam jar.

Havreflarn (Norwegian oat biscuits) (makes 14)

100 g / 3,5 oz butter
100 g/ 3,5 oz sugar
100 g / 3,5 oz oats
1 organic egg
25 g / 1 oz flour (gluten-free or ordinary flour)
1 tsp baking powder

1. Preheat the oven to 175C/350F/Gas 4. Line a baking tray with parchment paper.

2. Melt the butter in a pan and mix with the oats. As with most cakes, you have to be strict about the measurements, in this case particularly the butter.

3. Add the baking powder to the flour and mix well. Whisk the egg and sugar pale and fluffy (eggedosis) with an electric hand mixer. Mix the oats with the whisked eggs and gently fold in the flour.

4. With a tablespoon, place the batter on the baking sheet leaving some space around them. Bake for about 6-7 minutes until golden. When finished, leave to cool.

The raspberries

500 g / 18 oz raspberries
3-4 tbsp sugar

Mix the raspberries with the sugar and crush them slightly with a fork, leaving some for garnish.

Custard or pastry cream (recipe by Eivind Hellstrøm):

200 ml / 6,8 oz double or heavy cream (Norwegian 38 % kremfløte)
300 ml / 10 oz whole milk
1 vanilla pod
4 egg yolks
50 g / 1,8 oz sugar
4 tbsp cornflour (corn starch or maizena)

1. Cut the vanilla pod in two and split lengthways. Scrape out the vanilla seeds and place both seeds and the pod in a small pan with the milk and the double cream. Bring to boil and take off the heat and leave to infuse with the lid on.

2. Separate the eggs and leave the yolks in a big bowl. Whisk together the egg yolks, cornflour and sugar for two minutes with an electric hand mixer.

3. Add the hot milk while whisking with the electric mixer. Then pour the mixture back into the pan. Bring to boil while you continuously stir with a spatula. Boil for at least 1 minute. Leave the pan in cold water if you want the custard to cool down quickly. When cold, remove the vanilla pod.

You can always spot true vanilla: Watch for the vanilla spots.

To serve: Use a glass or a jam jar, spoon a little bit of raspberries into the glass, then some custard. Repeat. Garnish with a few raspberries and the oat biscuit (either crumbled on top or divided into two).

P.S: Do not throw away the egg whites. Use them to make another berry dessert, Eton mess.

Music: Lana Del Rey’s Gods and monsters

If you have leftover oatmeal cookies, put them on plums:

Roasted plums with cookie topping (havreflarn)

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Rhubarb tart 1938.

She once was engaged to a man, but it was not to last. She lived her life as a spinster taking care of other people, baking cakes for her brother, for her sister’s grandchildren, for another woman’s husband.

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My great-aunt, my grandmother’s sister, was born on June 11, 1914, on a small island in the North of Norway. She was one among seven siblings. As a young girl she had the same hopes as other girls, but she did not get far.

For seven years she was engaged to a man from the same little place as herself, but he moved to the city and found somebody else. My great-aunt was left on the island. She lived in a household with her extended family. Her brother, her sister and her sister’s husband. Her brother suffered from tuberculosis that attacked his spine. He survived the disease also called the white plague – but his height decreased from 1.90 meters to 1.50 and put him in a wheelchair. My great-aunt took care of him, fed him and washed his clothes.

When her brother died, she was left with her sister and her brother-in-law. My grandparents. She was a bystander to their marriage, their children and their grandchildren. How strange it must have been to live alongside their happiness and sorrows.

My great-aunt (to the right) and her sister.

In 1938, when she was 24 years old, she entered school to study Home economics (husmorskolen). Cleaning, nutrition, handicrafts and cooking were parts of the curriculum. Then WW2 came to Norway and to our little island. Every little island and remote area was invaded by the Germans. But in contrast to the northernmost parts of Norway, this part of Norway escaped Hitler’s policy of scorched earth.

Later she joined the Home Mission Movement. Religion brought her God but also off the island. Every summer she joined the missionary boat sailing along the Norwegian coast. She made the journey with her friend. The two spinsters found each other.

My great-aunt was the last one in our family to live in the big old wooden house. The house with the view to the fjord and the mountains of the Senja islands. There are no wedding photographs from her life. Nor pictures of toddlers opening up their christmas gifts. Still, she became a grandmother for us kids.

Was she happy? Was this the life she wanted? I never asked her.

All I have is her cookbook from 1938. All recipes from her year at Home Economics school she wrote down in her cookbook. One of them was a tart with rhubarb or almonds. Today it is a memory of my great-aunt.

The rhubarb jam has a slightly brownish colour before oven baked. After that it turns dark red.

This makes one big tart or about four individual tarts. Making individual ones is easier when dealing with gluten-free dough as it easily breaks. In contrast to traditional French tarts with shortcrust pastry, this pastry is easier to succeed with and does not require blind baking. The pastry, which consists of butter, flour, sugar and eggs, resembles sweet shortcrust pastry (pâte sucrée). It is filled with slow-cooked and caramelized rhubarb jam.

Rhubarb tart

Rhubarb jam:
600 g / 21 oz peeled rhubarb
200 g / 7 oz sugar

Sweet pastry:
1 egg
75 g / 2½ oz sugar
120 g / 4½ oz butter, softened
250 g / 8½ oz gluten-free or ordinary flour
1 tsp baking powder

1. Cut the rhubarb in pieces and place them in a pan with the sugar. Let the rhubarb rest overnight – the sugar will produce rhubarb juice. When you boil the jam you do not add any water so this  ”juicing process” is important.

2. The next day boil the rhubarb for about an hour on medium heat without cover. If you use green rhubarb, the colour should be brownish red. Cooking sugar this long will darken the colour and thicken the jam. When finished, let the jam cool.

3. Preheat the oven to 170C/340F/Gas 4.

4. Cream the butter and sugar together in a bowl until pale colour. Beat in the egg until fully incorporated. Mix in the flour and the baking powder until the mixture comes together as a ball.

5. Roll out 2/3 of the dough on a lightly dusted surface. Transfer it to a flan ring, ideally with a removable base. Spoon over the jam.

6. Roll out the remaining 1/3 of the dough on a lightly dusted surface. Use a rolling-pin and a pastry wheel to make a nice top.

7. Bake for about 45 minutes (or 30 minutes if individual pies).

More recipes with rhubarb?

Pink rhubarb lemonade with lime
Rhubarb crumble with oats and nuts

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Godt Brød, the best organic bakery in Oslo.

Godt Brød is an organic bakery in Oslo, serving the best buns and sandwiches in the city. It is a must to try the Norwegian classic bun, skolebolle.

Norway still lags behind when it comes to organic food though much has changed the last years, especially with the rise of the organic restaurant, Maaemo, to the culinary Michelin stars. If you want a cheaper option, the organic bakery “Godt Brød” serves the best Norwegian buns and sandwiches in Oslo.

Cheap food still goes for many Norwegians despite the fact that we have never spent less of our income on food than now. Even Christmas is no exception where people go mad in search of pork belly cheap as a two bottles of milk. But there are exceptions.

“Godt Brød” is a Norwegian bakery chain serving organic bread since its opening in 1995. At that time organic products were mostly found in health food stores. They serve the finest skoleboller (school buns), a quintessentially Norwegian bun with custard in the middle and icing topped with desiccated coconut. It resembles the English Manchester tart, though the jam and bananas are omitted.

School bun (skolebolle), best of Norwegian bakery.

Visit their store in Grünerløkka where you can sit in the backyard in the summer. The building and backyard was once a stable for “tram horses”. The first trams in Oslo were drawn by horses until the trams turned electric in 1900.

Godt Brød bakery is situated in Grünerløkka, one of the most urban, historic and green neighbourhoods in Oslo with many parks and buildings from the 19th. century. In 2013 Grünerløkka was, along with the likes of Shoreditch in London and Williamsburg in New York chosen by Lonely Planet as one of 10 neighbourhoods in the world with an incredible makeover. Moreover, Grünerløkka is also neighbour to a long stretch of the Akerselva River, an 8 kilometer long city river offering one of the best strolls in Oslo.  In fact so much New York Times named it one of 12 favourite city streets in Europe.

Note! If you want a feinschmecker coffee to go with the bun, Norway’s best barista and supplier to the restaurant Noma, Tim Wendelbo, is just a block away, address Grüners gate 1.

Godt brød at Grünerløkka

Address: Thorvald Meyers gate 49
godtbrod.no

What is nearby?

Tim Wendelboe, best but (expensive) coffee in Oslo
The Aker River, perfect for a stroll
The Food hall of Oslo (Mathallen)

More Eating Oslo?

Classy and cheap at Olympen restaurant
The cheapest fish restaurant in Oslo

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