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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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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Clementine jelly with ginger.

When I was little my mother always had small packages of jelly in the kitchen closet. Small packages called Freia gelé which were incredible sweet and probably contained tons of artificial ingredients. The only thing you had to do was add boiling water to make jelly.

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Nowadays I have banned these packages from my life. They will never enter my life again now that I have discovered how simple it is to make jelly. And how much better it taste. When using fresh fruit or berries, jelly is a truly fine dessert.

You can make jelly from all sorts of fruits and berries (except kiwi and pineapple) or by using a quality fruit juice. Strawberries, raspberries or elderflower in the summer. Passion fruit, oranges or clementines in the winter. If you want to elevate the jelly dessert even more, you may add champagne or whole berries.

In Medieval England jellies were one of the showstoppers at banquets, but these jellies were a far outcry from what we are used to today. They were meatjellies containing fish or meat, sometimes hiding a whole fish. Everything to impress the guests and showcase the host. As time went by sweet dessertjellies became more common, but aspic is a ”leftover” from earlier times.

Before the production of gelatin was industrialized, it was a time-consuming and messy process that required the slow cooking of pig’s feet or veal knuckle. Still gelatin is made from boiling pigs or cattle (it is a byproduct of the meat and leather industry), but if you want a vegetarian option go for agar agar instead.

Here I make a winter jelly inspired by Jamie Oliver, clementine jelly with fresh ginger. Jamie serves the jelly with yogurt, but I opt for vanilla custard sauce. I also add some lime and oranges to enhance the flavour. Remember to make this dessert the night before, as the jelly needs the night to set.

Oh my darling Clementine.

Clementine jelly with ginger (makes 5-6):

400 ml orange juice (about 4 oranges)
small piece of fresh ginger (about 3 cm), grated
60 g sugar
300 ml clementine juice (about 10 to 12 clementines)
juice of 1/2 lime
5 leaf gelatin

1. Bring 100 ml of the orange juice to boil in a pan with the sugar and ginger. Let simmer gently for 10 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, squeeze the juice of the rest of the citrus fruits.
3. Soak the leaf gelatine in a bowl with cold water, about 5 minutes.
4. Remove the pan from the heat. Squeeze the water out of the gelatin and place in the pan. Stir well to dissolve the gelatin.
5. Add the rest of the citrus juice. Allow to cool, then pour into serving glasses. Leave overnight in the refrigerator.

Vanilla custard sauce (makes 5-6)

1 vanilla pod
500 ml full-fat milk
4 egg yolks
50 g sugar

1. Split the vanilla pod lengthways. Scrape out the vanilla seeds and place both seeds and the pod in a small pan with the milk. Bring to boil and take off the heat and leave to rest with the lid on.

3. Separate the eggs and leave the yolks in a bowl. (Do not throw away the egg whites. Use them to make pavlova or these Italian almond cookies). Whisk together the egg yolks and sugar with an electric hand mixer until fluffy (about 1 minute). Add the hot milk while beating with the electric mixer.

4. Pour the mixture back into the pan on low heat. Heat the sauce until it thickens while you continuously stir with a whisk. It is finished when it coats the back of the spatula. Do not allow the custard to boil, as it will curdle.

5. Leave the pan in cold water if you want the custard to cool down quickly. When cold, remove the vanilla pod.

If you are unlucky and the custard curdles, you may still use it. It will still taste wonderful.

More lovely citrus?

Heavenly fruit salad with clementines
Creamy rice porridge Suzette
Chocolate cake with caramelized blood oranges

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Mulled wine with honey and oranges

On the day before Christmas Eve, I finally wind down with a merry glass of mulled wine, ready to embrace Christmas.

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Few things are as stressful as vacation, and Christmas is no exception. In order to achieve all that coziness as you are supposed to have, you should start your preparations in January.

Even though I never bake much for Christmas, nor have any ambitions of being a perfect 50s housewife, I barely manage to keep my head above water. My short-time memory fails me, stress hormones are racing in my soul, and I lurch and stagger like a Christmas-zombie most of December.

But when the day before Christmas Eve arrives and the Christmas tree is standing there in all its splendor, when the little ones are sleeping, when a million snow stars are falling to the ground, when the cats are lying on woolen blankets and my glass is filled with mulled wine. At that moment it is finally Christmas.

Wish you all a Merry Christmas, wherever you are.

My beautiful little Christmas tree santa.

Mulled wine with honey and orange (makes 3-4)

500 ml high-quality juice (preferably black currant or apple juice, e.g. Danish søbogaard)
A thumb of fresh ginger
1 star anise
5 cloves
1 cinnamon stick
2 tbsp honey
2 organic oranges
red wine (optional)

Cut half an orange into thin slices. Squeeze the juice of the remaining oranges. Peel and slice the ginger thinly. Place all ingredients in a pan and bring to boil.

If you want to make the mulled wine without alcohol, let it barely simmer for an hour.

If you want to make it with wine, let it simmer for 15 minutes, then turn up the heat a bit and cook until reduced by one third. Measure the liquid and add an equal amount of red wine. Bring back to boil again and serve.

More Christmas recipes?

Creamy rice porridge “Suzette”
Rice pudding with stardust
Heavenly fruit salad with clementines
French toast with gingerbread ice cream

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Fruit salad with clementines, oranges, apples, walnuts and cranberries.

I love Christmas, and I welcome it by making a bittersweet and heavenly fruit salad with clementines.

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The scent of clementines is Christmas to me

My mother always put clementine peel on the stove filling our home with our own incense. Clementines were a staple in our fruit basket at this time of the year and at Christmas tree parties (juletrefest), where the kids always received paper cones with clementines and candy.

In Norway a common dessert is a fruit salad called heavenly stew (himmelsk lapskaus). This dessert, with its small pieces of fruit, raisins and nuts, is the sweet counterpart to lapskaus – a traditional Norwegian stew consisting of diced vegetables and meat.

I make the fruit salad with apples, walnuts and the flavours and colours I associate with Christmas: clementines, oranges and cranberries.

Instead of plain syrup I use the juice from the citrus and reduces it into a syrup with a beautiful yellow colour. In order to make the syrup you need to segment the oranges. The syrup is flavoured with the bitterness of the orange zest and the tart sweetness of the cranberries. If you want to make the fruit salad more luxurious, it is never a failure to add half a vanilla bean.

Altogether the fruit salad challenges your senses – it is tart, sweet and bitter. Just like childhood.

Fruit salad is often called himmelsk lapskaus (heavenly stew) in Norwegian.

Heavenly fruit salad with clementines (makes 3-4)

3 organic oranges
3 big apples
4 clementines
juice of 1/4 lime
2 tbsp sugar
½ vanilla bean (optional)
a handful dried cranberries
a handful walnuts

1. If you have a zester, make zest of two of the oranges. If not, peel one of the oranges (making sure you avoid the pit) and slice the peel thinly. Bring the zest to boil in a little water, and drain. Repeat three times. This process reduces the bitterness of the zest.

2. Segment the oranges, leaving the juice in a little pan and the segments in a bowl. The process of segmenting is more closely described in another post.

3. Squeeze the juice of one of the clementines and add to the pan with the orange juice. Peel the other clementines and cut big segments into two (like a butterfly).

4. Bring to boil the citrus juice (lime, clementine and oranges), zest and sugar. Add the seeds of the vanilla bean (optional). Boil until thickened into a thin sirup, about 10 minutes.

5. While the citrus syrup is boiling, peel and cut the apples into thin wedges. Place in the bowl with the citrus fruit.

6. When the syrup is done, add the cranberries and allow to cool.

7. Place the fruit on a plate (or serve in small jam jars) and add the syrup and walnuts. In Norway it seems like most people serve the salad with whipped cream or custard, but I think the best choice is vanilla ice cream.

More Nordic dishes?

Creamy rice porridge Suzette
Nordic apple trifle
Piece of cupcake

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I almost grew up at my grandparents’ house. Their house lied next to ours, and I often found myself in their creaky house with the many rooms and loving care.

My grandfather was born in 1903. He  was a fisher in the winter and a farmer during the rest of the year. Like many other men of his generation, he went to Greenland to go sealhunting. My grandfather was marksman on the boat, but at home he could never slaughter his own farm animals. He had to ask our neigbour to do it.

He married Jenny and they lived together all their life. They were young parents at a time when child mortality still was the harsh reality for too many parents. Their son died of Diphtheria on his second birthday.

My grandfather was not at home at the time, so my grandmother tried to get their little son to the doctor. The little kid, Lille Jon, died on the ocean on his way to the nearest town. While his son was put to rest in a coffin, my grandfather was on his way to the icy Arctic Ocean because he had to earn money. All the way out to the Arctic he lied in his bed mourning for the child he would never meet again.

The next year, in 1940, a little girl was born. Johanne Mari was named after her dead brother. Johanne Mari was was born the same year World War 2 came to Norway, and another boy came with the peace in 1945.

My grandfather to the left in the bridge.

My grandfather was to become and old man and he lived to become a great-grandfather. Although he was retired, he never stopped working. He trimmed the grass with a scythe and stood on a ladder high above ground painting the barn – even moving the ladder as he stood on it. At the time he was 85 – making my grandmother, who witnessed his daring act, almost faint with terror. They say he was lying in bed all they way out to the sea, crying for the son he would never see any more.

A working man needs fuel for his body, and every Saturday my grandmother cooked rice porridge for dinner serving my grandfather a tower of porridge. In my grandparents’ house there was no such thing as fast food. The porridge had been simmering on the stove for more than an hour making it wonderfully creamy. On Christmas Day the porridge became more luxurious – now the tower of rice porridge was topped with a layer of that distinctly Norwegian porridge, sour cream porridge.

My grandfather died when I was 19 years old. He died in his old wheel chair, in his own home. It had been two years now since his Jenny died, the woman whom he had been married to for 59 years.

Wedding day. My grandfather and grandfather were married for 59 years and had four children.

If you want to make the rice porridge my grandfather loved, you will find the recipe in this blog post.

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