torsdag 19 juni 2014

Graduation Buffet


Graduation Buffet with Hispanic, Norwegian and Swedish touch!

Norwegian Kransekake

Chocolate Cup Cakes with Chocolate Frosting

Sugarcookies

Norwegian Marzipan Sponge Cake with Vanilla Filling


Posole Rojo

Pan de Campo


M & M Cookies

M & M Cookies



Ingredients
1 egg
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup cornstarch
2 cups flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar
3/4 tsp kosher salt
1 tbsp vanilla
1 1/2 cup M&M
3/4 cup butter

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375°F/190 degrees Celsius

Beat sugars and butter in large bowl on medium speed until fluffy, about 5 minutes. Beat in vanilla and eggs; beat in flour, salt and baking soda on low speed. Stir in candies. Drop dough by teaspoon about 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheet or roll with your hands. Flatten slightly with fork.

Bake until edges are light brown, 8 to 11 minutes. Let stand 3 to 4 minutes before removing from cookie sheet.

Cookies made with butter will flatten more and tend to be somewhat darker along the edges, but are more flavorful. Watch carefully to prevent burning.


If you prefer higher cookies that spread less, vegetable shortening may be substituted for the butter, or use half of each. A higher temperature (400°F/205 C will help cookies set before spreading).





Marzipan Sponge Cake with Vanilla Filling


Marzipan Sponge Cake with Vanilla Filling


For my daughters graduation buffet I also made a Norwegian Marzipan Sponge Cake with Vanilla Filling. However I wanted to make it with a personal twist for her. So I made it in three parts, the Graduation hat, the future at Univeristy of Texas - Pan American, UTPA and the emblem and the horse in their logo. I also made the part with the horse with icing, in case someone did not fancy marzipan. And than the third piece, the soccerball since she is a soccerplayer. I did have a lot of fun figuring out how to make the three parts. Inside the cake is sponge cakes and the filling is with vanilla cream. I have the recipe for this cake and the filling and the marzipan on my blog since before and here is the link to how to make it. And have fun making up your own personal cakes according to the occation.


Marzipan Cake recipe  
http://ohemmabjorg.blogspot.se/2013/04/norwegian-marzipan-cake.html

onsdag 18 juni 2014

Norwegian Kransekake



Norwegian Kransekake

Kransekake, the main piece on a Norwegian partytable. This time I made it for my daughters graduation party. And since she is also a soccerplayer and going to the USA to study at college and play soccer I made a special twist on the cake, just for her. So instead of only flowers I made graduation hats and soccerballs for decoration as well as roses. It is all made in marzipan and colored and painted with eatable colors. The decorations I made and than dried. This is order to be able to glue them to the cake. The glue is melted sugar. I have put the recipe for the Kransekake on my blog before, so here is the link to making the cake. Here you can also see how it can be decorated in different ways according to the occation. 












Posole Rojo





Posole Rojo


It’s somewhat of a feast, Posole. I guess you could make smaller batches, but since you have to cook it for several hours, it just makes sense to make a large amount, and then have lots of friends over with whom to enjoy it. Posole (or Pozole) is a traditional soup in Mexico, often served Christmas eve, and in many parts of the country on Thursdays and Saturdays all year round. This Posole Rojo, or “red” posole, is made with pork shoulder or shanks, red chiles, and lots of hominy corn.

Typically just the simple soup with pork and hominy is served, and the add-ins, or garnishes are set at the table for all to pick and put in their soup as they wish. The soup itself should be rather thin, or brothy, because you are going to load it up quickly with shredded cabbage, thinly sliced radishes, chopped avocados, cilantro, onions, and wedges of lime. More hot sauce or chiles can be added for more heat. Posole is all about the garnishes.

Prep time: 30 minutes
Cook time: 3 hours
Yield: Serves 12, plus plenty for leftovers.

Ingredients
4 ounces (113 g) guajillo, ancho, or a combination of both, chili pods
Salt
1 large (108 ounce, 6 lb 12 oz, 3 kg) can white hominy, drained and rinsed 
3 lbs (1,3 kg) pork shoulder (preferably with bone), cut into 1 to 1 1/2 inch cubes (can also use pork shanks), make sure to use a cut well marbled with fat
8 cloves garlic, 4 cloves roughly chopped, and 4 whole cloves
3 bay leaves
1 teaspoon ground cumin
2 Tbsp of dry oregano (Mexican oregano if available)

Garnishes 
(can prep while pozole is cooking):
Half a small cabbage, thinly sliced
One bunch cilantro, chopped
1/2 white onion, chopped
2 avocados, chopped
4 limes, quartered
A bunch of red radishes, sliced thin
A couple dozen tostada shells* or taco chips

*Tostadas are crispy fried corn tortillas. They are sold packaged and can often be found in the same section of your grocery store as fresh tortillas, or can be found at Mexican markets. You can make your own by frying stale corn tortillas (or tortillas that have dried out a bit in a warm oven), in hot vegetable oil until stiff.

Instructions
1 Fill a large 10-12 quart stockpot with 5 quarts (4,7l) of water. Set on heat to bring to a boil while you proceed with the next steps.

2 Remove and discard the stems, seeds, and large veins from the chili pods. Heat a cast iron pan on medium high and lightly roast the chili pods for a couple minutes, until they begin to soften. Do not let them burn. While the chilies are heating, bring a medium pot with 3 cups of water to a boil. Once the chiles have softened, submerge them in the pot with the 3 cups of hot water, cover the pot and remove from heat. Let the chiles soak in the hot water for 15 to 20 minutes.

3 Heat a tablespoon or two of olive oil (enough to coat the bottom of the pan) in a large sauté pan on medium high heat. Pat the pork pieces dry with paper towels. Sprinkle them generously with salt. Working in batches, taking care not to crowd the pan or stir the meat much, brown the meat on all sides. Right at the end of browning the meat, add 4 cloves of roughly chopped garlic to the pan with the meat, let cook with the meat for about a minute.

4 Once the meat has browned, transfer it to the large stockpot of boiling water. Scrape up any browned bits at the bottom of the pan, and any garlic, and add those to the pot as well. Add the rinsed hominy. Add bay leaves, cumin, and oregano. When you put in the oregano; smoosh together with your hands, so the oregano breaks up more as it goes in. Add a tablespoon of salt. Bring to a simmer, reduce the heat and cook for 15 minutes.

5 Prepare the red sauce by puréeing in a blender the chilies, 2 1/2 cups or so of their soaking liquid, a teaspoon of salt, and 4 cloves of garlic. (To prevent the blender from creating too much pressure, it's probably best to start with the chiles and garlic and only a cup of the liquid in the blender, and then adding the rest of the liquid.) Strain the red sauce through a sieve, discarding the tough bits of the sauce.

6 Add the red chili sauce to the pot with the pork and hominy. Add another couple teaspoons of salt. Return to a simmer, lower the heat to just high enough to maintain a simmer, partially covered. Cook for 3 hours until the pork is completely tender. Skim away excess fat. Taste for seasoning and add more salt to taste (you will likely need more than you expect, perhaps a tablespoon or more.) The resulting soup should be rather brothy, as you will be adding a lot garnishes. Add more water if necessary.


7 When getting ready to serve the pozole, you can prep the garnishes (slice the cabbage, chop the cilantro, etc.) To serve, arrange the garnishes in bowls on the table and serve the pozole soup into bowls. Let your guests pick and choose which garnishes they would like on their pozole. Serve with tostada shells (or tortilla chips if you can't find tostada shells).





















söndag 1 juni 2014

Sugar Cookies



Sugar Cookies


Ingredients
1 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 large egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoons salt

Directions
In a bowl, with mixer on medium, beat butter and sugar until fluffy; beat in egg and vanilla extract. On low, beat in flour and salt.

Divide dough in half; shape each half into a 1/2-inch-thick disk. Wrap in plastic wrap; chill until firm.
Heat oven to 175 degrees Celsius, ( 350 degrees F).


On floured surface, roll dough, 3 mm (1/8-inch) thick; cut into shapes. Transfer to ungreased baking sheet(s). Bake until lightly golden around the edges, 10 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes on sheets; transfer to racks to cool. Decorate as desired; store in an airtight container up to 2 weeks, or freeze, undecorated, up to 3 months.


Icing


2 large egg whites, or more to thin icing
4 cups sifted confectioners' sugar, or more to thicken icing
Juice of 1 lemon
Makes about 2 1/2 cups
Food coloring of your choice


To make the icing, whisk the egg whites and add the confectioner sugar, pass lemon juice through a fine sieve, to remove any pips or bits. Mix the icing sugar with the lemon juice, (if too thin add more confectioners sugar, if too thick add a little water till you have the consistency you want) Mix the ingredients and divide into different bowls and add the color you like to each bowl. Mix and pour the icing into bags for decorating your cakes.

Decorate the cakes with the icing and leave to dry and harden. Takes 12 hours or more.