Cinnamon Inspirations

I love everything flavoured with cinnamon, especially during fall and winter. And since Christmas is approaching, and this spice is THE number one Christmas spice, I thought I'd give you some Cinnamon Inspiration from the blog world.


If you love Cinnamion Rolls but doesn't have the time or want to put in the effort of making a yeast based dough, this is a great option Cinnamon Roll Coffee Cake with Cream Cheese Glaze from Averie Cooks.






This Hungarian Cherry & Cinnamon Cake sounds amazing. From blogger Italy on My Mind






Or if you're a biscotti lover, why not pop over to blogger Cookie Crumble who has the recipe for these fab Cinnamon Biscotti's.






Mmm these Apple Cider Doughnuts looks absolutely super yummie! Blogger Carpé Season sure knows how to tease my tastebuds...






ENJOY!

Dried Fruit & Walnut Quick Bread

If you like a healthy yet sweet bread, then this is for you, a full flavoured Dried Fruit and Walnut Quick Bread. The dried apricots and raisins adds a nice sweetness to this quick bread and the walnuts and sunflower seeds ads to a crunchy texture. I love quick breads as they are super simple to bake and you can easily change the recipe to suit your personal taste.

This kind of bread is best the day after baking, to let it "set", and you can easily store it for about two weeks in a plastic bag.

Apricot, Raisin and Walnut Quick Bread

3 dl flour (300ml)
2 1/2 dl rye flour (250ml)
1 dl porridge oats (100ml)
2 dl crushed rye (200ml)
1 dl dried apricots (100ml)
1 dl raisins (100ml)
1 dl walnut (100ml)
1 dl sunflower seeds (100ml)
1 dl linseeds (100ml)
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp bicarbonate
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp fennel seed
1/2 tsp caraway powder
1/2 tsp aniseed
1 dl light molasses syrup (100ml)
4 1/2 dl butter-milk (or natural yogurt) (450ml)

Decoration: oats

Preheat the oven at 200 degrees C.

Chop walnuts and dried apricots coarsely and put into a bowl. Add all the dry ingredients including the spices and combine. Add syrup and yogurt. Mix it all together quickly.

Put the sticky dough into a greased 1 1/2 liters bread-tin. Don't let the bread-tin be filled more than 2/3 since the bread will rise in the oven. Sprinkle oats on top for decoration.

Bake the bread in the middle of the oven for about 90 minutes. Cover with foil if the loaf starts to get to dark.

ENJOY!

Blueberry Semolina Pudding

This pudding brings up so many childhood memories for me! My grandmother used to make this for me. In Sweden we usually make this with lingonberries but I wanted to try it out with fresh blueberries and I wasn't disappointed. If you don't make it overly sweet you can eat it for breakfast, but if you add lots of sugar and eat it with cream is more like a dessert.



Blueberry Semolina Pudding, serves 4
2 1/2 dl milk (200ml)
2 1/2 dl water (200ml)
1 dl semolina
1 dl fresh or frozen blueberries or jam
Sugar according to taste
2 tsp vanilla sugar


Pour milk and water into a medium pot and bring to a boil over medium heat. Slowly sprinkle semolina while continuously whisking. Remove from heat after 5-6 minutes. Add vanilla essence, blueberries and sugar if needed.  Pour into another bowl and whict with an electric mixer for about 5 minutes until fluffy. Serve with milk or cream and add extra blueberries on top.

ENJOY!

Healthy and Quick Lingonberry Loaf

I just love to bake no-yeast breads as it's so uncomplicated. You don't even have to kneed the bread. You basically just add all ingredients in a bowl, combine, spoon it into the loaf tin and bake. Who said it was difficult and time consuming to make homemade healthy bread? The dark corn syrup gives the bread a nice robust sweet flavour as well as making the bread darker in colour. Lingonberries adds a sweet and sour flavour and the sunflower seeds adds crunchiness. Eat with your favourite toppings as cream cheese, ham, tomato and cucumber.

Lingonberry Loaf
3 dl wheat flour (300ml)
1 dl porridge oats (100ml)
2 1/2 dl rye flour (250ml)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
2 tsp bicarbonate
1 tbsp bread spices (1/3 anise, 1/3 fennel, 1/3 caraway)
1 dl lingonberries (or lingonberry jam) (100ml)
1 dl dark corn syrup (100ml)
3 dl yogurt (300ml)


Preheat the oven at 150 degrees. Combine all ingredients in a bowl. You don't have to kneed the dough, just combine. Grease or place grease-proof paper in a 1 1/2 litre loaf tin. Spoon the sticky dough into the loaf tin. Bake at the bottom of your oven for about 50-60 minutes or until a stick comes out clean. Let it cool before slicing.


Enjoy!

Quick Berry Jam

When I make berry jam, I always make a quick jam. I let my berries simmer in a saucepan for a while and then I add my desired amount of sugar. I don't want my jam to be to sweet, I prefer it to be as "healthy" as possible cause then I can eat more of it:-) And, I want my jam to have maximum flavour from the berries and not from sugar. It literally takes 10 minutes to make this quick jam. However, I watched a TV-show with this Raw-food expert and she said that lots of the vitamins are lost when cooking the berries. And since berries are one of the healthiest and yummiest things you can eat, she suggested to make raw jam. So this Raw Cloudberry Jam that I made, is even quicker than my before so called quick jam.

This is how to do it: Add the berries in a bowl, no cooking, just raw and fresh berries, or defrosted frozen berries, add the desired amount of sugar, stir, taste, maybe add some more sugar and voilá, you have a super healthy raw berry jam. The sugar help to preserve the berries, but of course since no preservatives are added, you can't have it forever in your fridge. I tend to eat it rather quickly, in my porridge, yogurt or as a dessert with a smooth and creamy vanilla ice-cream. Yum Yum!

 

ENJOY!

My Sweet Party - My Top 3 Favourite Pies

I've picked out my three favourite pies from your link ups and as always, it was difficult to choose from all the yummy stuff you've baked. If you wanna have a look at all contributions for My Sweet Party - July and the theme, My Favourite Pie, check them out here.

First we have this amazing looking all American Blueberry Pie from In Her Chucks. The pie crust is said to be foolproof and the key ingredient seem to be vodka?! I've never made a pie crust with vodka before but apparently it's essential for the texture of the crust. I'm curious and this Blueberry Pie is bookmarked!




I also picked out this creative Chocolate and Raspberry Pie from The Chocolate Box. It's a Swedish blog but you can use the google translation button at the right hand side. The pie is filled with fresh raspberries, smooth chocolate cream and on top of that goodness is a thick layer of oat crumble. Sounds intriguing to me!





And finally I picked this summery and rustic looking Italian breakfast pastry, Fresh Peach Crostata from The Boot. I just love the look of this pie; simple, fruity, summery, fresh and absolutely my cup of tea. Eating a slice of this for breakfast on a warm summer morning I can imagine the feeling of being transported to Italy...

Enjoy!

My Sweet Party JUNE - Top 3 Summer Fruit Favourites

It has been difficult to choose my top three favourites from My Sweet Party - June - Summer Fruits, you've linked up amazing and tempting sweets! If you would like to check out all Summer Fruit contributions, do so here.

First up is a very summery Strawberry and Cheese French Toast made by Jennifer at Peanut Butter and Peppers. I am a big fan of her blog and always feel inspired when browsing around her blog and drooling all over her delicious recipes. I recommend you to check out her blog and her amazing weight loss story. This Strawberry and Cheese French Toast must be the perfect start on a lazy summer weekend.

My next favourite also include strawberries in the recipe, it must be THE summer fruit all times, strawberries are so delicious, and sweet and colourful. Ambreen from blog Simply Sweet n Savory linked up these lovely and yummy looking Strawberry Jam Ring Cookies. Buttery cookies, sandwiched together with strawberry jam and dusted with icing sugar. I love cookies with jam so this is definitely a must try.

I LOVE MANGO! Which means that this Mango Lime Tart from blogger Julie at White Lights on Wednesday had to be in my top three favourites. It sounds absolutely fantastic! make sure to stop by her blog to be inspired for more amazing treats.

ENJOY and don't forget to link up your favourite pie to My Sweet Party-July.

Vanilla Bean-Cloudberry Ice-Cream with Waffles

I bought and ice-cream maker a few weeks back and now I’ve finally tried it out and made my own ice-cream. I was surprised how simple it was!! My ice-cream maker is a low-budget brand but still worked really well and the ice-cream was amazing! I’m definitely going to make my own ice-cream from now on. The recipe below is for a Vanilla Bean Ice-Cream and then I just added my favourite Cloudberry jam. You can use whatever fresh or frozen berries you like or jam. Cloudberries in Sweden are also known as “Gold of the Forest” because of their golden colour. When the sun hits the berries, they shine!

A friend of mine asked if I wanted to come by after work for waffles, and since I’m a big fan of waffles….amongst many other sweet things, as you may know by now, I said yes straight away! And since I know she’s a big fan of Cloudberries too, I of course brought my homemade delicious ice-cream with me.

Vanilla Bean Ice-Cream with Berries

4 egg yolks

3/4 dl sugar (75ml)

1 vanilla pod

3 1/2 dl whipping cream

2 dl your favourite berries or jam (200ml)

Mix egg yolks and sugar in a bowl until sugar dissolves and the mixture is creamy and fluffy. In a separate bowl, add whipping cream and vanilla seeds. Whip until fluffy. Combine both mixtures carefully and add your favourite berries or jam.

Pour the mixture in your ice-cream maker and follow instructions according to your brand. If you don’t have an ice-cream maker, pour the mixture in a plastic container and let it freeze for a couple of hours. Stir occasionally to minimize the amount of ice particles.

Eat it like it is or serve it with additional fresh berries, waffles, pies or whatever you fancy.

ENJOY!

Raspberry Squares with Coconut-Caramel Topping

HAPPY MIDSUMMER'S EVE!!!! Today we celebrate Midsummer's Eve in Sweden, it's a solstice celebration where we celebrate the longest day of the year. It's one of our greatest celebrations of the year, almost as big as Christmas. So, yes, today we have holiday in Sweden and we eat a lot of food like; soused herring, the year's first potatoes, chives, sour cream, snaps, beer and the first strawberries of the season is a vital ingredient on the menu. If you're interested to know more about Midsummer's Eve, check it out here.

We usually eat a Victoria sponge cake, first layer filled with mashed bananas or thick vanilla custard and second layer with strawberry jam. Spread the cake with whipped cream and top with lots of fresh strawberries. That's a traditional Swedish Strawberry Cake. It's also very common to eat this kind of cake on birthday's.

But I wont bake a traditional Midsummer's Cake this year because we're having a picnic and the cake would most likely be ruined. But I will definitely eat a lot of strawberries today!:-) But plain fresh ones instead, not too bad:-).

I've baked Raspberry Squares with Coconut-Caramel Topping and I think it will be a great substitute:-) However for me it wont be squares because I couldn't find a disposable squared baking tin at the supermarket, only round ones. But hey, the taste will be the same:-) And I assure you, this is amazing! Sweet, summery, a little bit sticky and the coconut-caramel topping tastes like a sunny afternoon. I bet these squares are delicious too, without the topping and instead eat it with a creamy vanilla ice-cream:-)

Raspberry Squares with Coconut-Caramel Topping
150 gram raspberries, fresh
125 gram butter, room-temperature
1 1/2 dl sugar (150ml)
2 eggs
1/2 dl milk (50ml)
3 1/2 dl flour (350ml)
2 tsp vanilla sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1 pinch of salt

Coconut-Caramel Topping:
3/4 dl cane sugar (75ml)
1/2 dl golden syrup (50ml)
3/4 dl double cream (75ml)
100 gram dessicated coconut
40 gram butter


Preheat oven at 175 degrees C.

Mix butter and sugar until soft. Add one egg at a time while mixing and thereafter milk.

Combine flour, vanilla sugar, baking powder and salt in a separate bowl and then add to the butter mixture along with raspberries. Combine carefully and try not to crush the raspberries. The mixture will be rather thick.

Grease and flour a squared baking tin or cover with oven paper, and spread the mixture evenly. Bake just below the middle of the oven for about 40 minutes, or until a stick comes out clean.

Meanwhile, prepare the coconut-caramel topping. Place all ingredients in a saucepan, let simmer on low heat for a couple of minutes, while stirring.

Take out the cake from the oven and spread coconut-caramel mixture evenly onto the cake. Adjust temperature at 200 degrees C. Place the cake just below the middle of the oven and bake for another 15 minutes, or until coconut-caramel topping is golden. Let the cake cool and cut into squares.

Don't forget to link up your contribution to My Sweet Party . The theme this month is Summer Fruits.

ENJOY and HAPPY MIDSUMMER'S EVE!

This was my contribution for Sweets for Saturday and Foodie Friday.

Blueberry Snickerdoodles

I'm in LOVE!!!!!! With these Blueberry Snickerdoodles! OMG!! If you are going to bake something this weekend I definitely recommend these cookies. Soft, delicate and flavoured with cinnamon and blueberries. Mmmm!!! Yummie!

This is the first time I baked snickerdoodle cookies and the name sounded so cute, I had to give them a try. And of course, I really like both blueberries and cinnamon:-)

Have you submitted a contribution to my first My Sweet Party ? The theme of my first party is chocolate and I would love you to join!

Blueberry Snickerdoodles, 2 dozen
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 large egg
2 heaping cups flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp vanilla sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup fresh blueberries
1/4 cup granulated sugar & 1/2 tbsp cinnamon for rolling cookies in

Preheat oven at 200 degrees C.

Beat together butter, vegetable oil, granulated sugar, powdered sugar and egg. In another bowl, combine flour, baking soda, vanilla sugar and salt. Slowly beat flour mixture into butter mixture.

Gently fold in the blueberries, being careful not to crush them. Otherwise you'll end up with purpleish-blue cookies.

In a small bowl, combine 1/4 cup granulated sugar and cinnamon. Shape dough into 1-inch balls, the roll in cinnamon-sugar mixture. Place balls on a greased baking sheet. With a flat-bottomed glass, slightly flatten cookies. Be careful not to crush the berries though. Again....blue cookies. Sprinkle some extra cinnamon-sugar mixture on top.

Bake for 11-13 minutes, or until edges being slightly brown and a tooth-pick inserted into the center of the cookie  comes out clean. Allow to cool.

Because of the fresh blueberries, these cookies are best eaten within 3-4 days of making....but I doubt they will last that long:-)



ENJOY!

Strawberry Flap Jack

I've never really understood what a Flap Jack is when I've seen them in stores around London. Is it a sweet bar or is it a health bar?! I did my research and found out that it's a sweet bar made of a mixture of golden syrup, porridge oats and butter. If you serve them with vanilla ice-cream or whipped cream I would definitely say that a Strawberry Flap Jack is a dessert. But if you on the other hand eat it it like it is, I would say it's a sweet bar. So you pick! :-)

I really liked these Strawberry Flap Jacks! They are super simple and quick to bake and I love the crunchiness from the muesli. My muesli had a lot of sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, hazelnuts, walnuts, rolled oats and wheat bran, which made my Flap Jacks quite healthy:-) But then, I served it with a creamy vanilla ice-cream and that ruined the healthy aspect, but on the other hand it tasted delicious:-)





Strawberry Flap Jack, 12 squares
1 1/3 cup porridge oats
1 3/4 cup granola or muesli (I used muesli)
1/2 cup dessicated coconut
140 ml golden syrup
130 grams unsalted butter
300 grams finely chopped strawberries

Pre heat the oven at 190 degrees C. Prepare an 9 inch square tin by lining the base and sides with parchment paper.

On gentle heat, melt butter and golden syrup. Remove from heat and stir in oats, granola/muesli and coconut.

Transfer half the mixture into the tin and press evenly and level the surface. Add the chopped strawberries and spread evenly. Add the rest of the mixture and press evenly levelling the surface.

Bake until edges start turning brown and the top is golden brown. Allow to cool for 10 minutes and cut into squares. carefully remove the squares from the tin and cool completely on a wire rack.

Serve with vanilla ice-cream, whipped cream or eat it like it is, just nice plain and simple.

ENJOY!


Have you submitted a contribution to my first My Sweet Party ? The theme of my first party is chocolate and I would love you to join!


This is my contribution to the Sweet of the Month party at the Swedish blog  Söta Saker.

And also to Foodie Friday's weekly party.

 

American Pancakes

Today I made American Pancakes for the first time! Why haven't I made them before?! Honestly, I have no idea. In Sweden we make thin pancakes, and those I've eaten many, many times:-) And I love them! But American Pancakes, I've eaten them only once or twice before, but never made them myself. I definitely have to make them again, they are light, fluffy and great when you're in the mood for a lazy weekend breakfast. OK, it's not a weekend today, but I had my day off, so I could enjoy a loooong and lazy breakfast anyway:-)

Top your pancakes with your favourite berries, maple syrup and you're set for a fabulous start of the day.






American Pancakes, serves 4
2 1/2 dl flour (250ml)
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp sugar
2 1/2 dl milk (250ml)
2 tbsp melted butter + butter for cooking
1 egg

Mix the dry ingredients in a bowl. in a separate bowl mix together the milk and egg, then whisk in the melted butter.

Pour the milk mixture into flour mixture and beta until you have a smooth batter. Any lumps will soon disappear with a little mixing.

Heat a non-sticking pan and add a knob of butter. When melted, add about two tablespoons of batter for each pancake - add another ladle of batter or more if it fits in your pan.

When the top of the pancake begins to bubble, flip it over and cook until both sides are golden brown. Repeat until you used up all your batter.

Serve immediately with maple syrup and fresh berries.

This is my contribution to Breakfast Ideas Mondays.

Enjoy!

Blueberry Mousse Cake with Chocolate Base

I'm so excited today! I made this insanely good cake and can't wait to share it with you. It's actually pretty simple to bake. It has a chocolate and almond base with blueberry mousse topping. Make sure you make the cake the day before, to allow it to set in the fridge overnight. This is definitely my favourite cake and you can use whatever berries you like; raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, strawberries, or mix different berries. The mousse is light and fresh and marries the the chocolate base, it's wonderful. My friends loved the cake and it disappeared very, very quickly:-)

Chocolate and Almond Base
75 grams dark chocolate
100 grams almond paste
2 egg yolks
2 egg whites
1/2 dl sugar (50ml)
1 1/2/ tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder

Blueberry Mousse
1 vanilla pod
1 1/2 dl water (150ml)
1 dl sugar (100ml)
300 grams blueberries
5 gelatin leaves
4 dl double cream (400ml)

Pre-heat the oven to 175 degrees C.

Use a 24cm spring form. Cut and place oven paper at the bottom of the spring form. Grease the edges with butter.

Melt the chocolate in the microwave or over hot-water bath. Set aside to cool down.Grate the almond paste using a grater. Whisk almond paste and egg yolks into a cream. Add cocoa powder and blend well. Add the melted chocolate and combine.

Whisk egg whites into foam, add sugar while whisking until you have stiff peaks. Add a little bit at a time, to the chocolate batter and blend carefully.

Pour and spread the batter into your spring form and bake for about 15 minutes in the middle of the oven.

Let the base cool down completely.

For the mousse:

Place the gelatin leaves in cold water. Mix the berries. Whip the cream

Divide the vanilla pod, scrape out the vanilla seeds and place both the pod and the seeds in a saucepan. Add sugar and water and bring to boil until sugar dissolves. Remove the vanilla pod, add gelatin leaves and blend well. Add mixed berries and whipped cream and blend carefully.

Spread the blueberry mousse on top of the chocolate base and place in the fridge overnight to allow it to set.

Garnish with fresh berries, chocolate, almond flakes etc. before serving.


ENJOY!

Raspberry Cake

This cake may not look that spectacular, but I can assure you, it is!! :-) It's something between a cake and a pie spiced with cinnamon, and who can resist that?! I served the raspberry cake with vanilla ice-cream and that was a winner combo.

You bake this cake in no time and it is supposed to be a little bit gooey. I had mine a little bit too long in the oven, but the cake was still delicious and no one complained...need I mention that the cake disappeared very quickly...:-)


Raspberry Cake
2 eggs
2 dl sugar
2,5 dl flour
1 tsp cinnamon powder
2 dl raspberries
50 grams butter

Pre-heat the oven to 175 degrees C.

Whisk egg and sugar until white and fluffy. Add flour and cinnamon and combine. Butter and flour a 24 cm baking tin. Pour the batter into the baking tin.

Sprinkle the raspberries on top and then cover the cake with thin slices of butter.

bake the cake for about 25 minutes, the cake should be a bit gooey inside when it's ready.

Best served with vanilla ice-cream or whipped cream.

Enjoy!

Vanilla and Blueberry Cupcakes with Blueberry Frosting

I was browsing recipe sites the other day, which I do, a couple of days each week for inspiration... :-) I found lots of cutie cupcakes on Baker Girl and I instantly felt that I just had to make my own batch of cupcakes. I went for Vanilla and Blueberry Cupcakes with Blueberry Frosting. Blueberries gives the frosting such a pretty natural colour without using any artificial colourings.

Since I'm a big fan of these sweet and delicious berries, this is my contribution for the Swedish blog Söta Sakers, monthly challenge with the encouragement of baking something personal.





Vanilla and Blueberry Cupcakes, 12 large
3 eggs
3 dl sugar
75 grams butter
1,5 dl milk
4,5 dl flour
2 tsp baking-powder
2 tsp vanilla sugar
2 dl blueberries

Blueberry Cream Cheese Frosting
60 grams butter, room-temperature
5 dl icing sugar
1 tsp vanilla sugar
100 grams cream cheese
Blueberries


Pre-heat the oven to 200 degrees C.

Whisk egg and sugar white and fluffy. Melt butter, add milk and bring to boil. Add to the egg and sugar mixture.

Combine flour, baking-powder and vanilla sugar. Add to mixture and carefully combine. Do not mix as this will give you dense cupcakes. Pour the mixture in muffin cups, fill it to 1/3, add blueberries and fill the muffin cup to 2/3 with mixture.

Bake in the oven for about 20 minutes.  Let the muffins cool-down before decorating with  Blueberry Cream Cheese Frosting.

Blueberry Cream Cheese Frosting:

Whisk butter, icing, sugar and vanilla sugar into a smooth cream. Add the cream cheese and blueberries according to what colour you would like to achieve. Maybe you have to add more icing-sugar depending on how much fluid there is in the blueberries. Spread the frosting on your cupcakes and decorate with sprinkles, blueberries etc.

This is also my contribution to the  Foodie Friday virtual cookbook.

Enjoy!