Sourmilk bundt cake with dried fruit - a Christmas classic for a reason (vegan, kosher)

This moist sourmilk cake with dried fruit is a Christmas classic for a reason!

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This year, too, the Cat Blogger's Christmas table will feature some unlikely traditions (tzatsiki, Nigerian stew and one Hanukkah menora-wielding food blogger for whom 2 kilos of shrimps has already been stashed away in the freezer!) along with some more classic treats. 

One of them is this moist sourmilk bundt cake, the family heirloom recipe of which has now been trusted with me, too.

The recipe is so old it actually gives the measurements in coffee cups and the final product is baked over camp fire wearing a loin cloth. 

Ok, I might have added that last bit for dramatic effect, but you get the idea. It's old. But, as the oldies often come, they're classics for a reason. 

My recipe's been converted into a bit more precise measurements (how oh, very 21st century!) seeing how I don't even drink coffee, let alone own a collection of coffee cups. As for the dried fruit, you can use just raisins, or add some dates and/or figs in the mix, too. I use them all as... well, it's Christmas.

While not normally a massive fan of bundt cakes (they tend to be served by dry old ladies and the cakes seem to be every bit as dry and old) I do love this one. Last Christmas I had two six slices (somehow trying to make sense of the fact that not celebrating Christmas in my case seems to mean celebrating at least two of them each year). 

The batter comes together in the time it takes to pre-heat the oven and I've just been revealed that the version I so happily wolfed down last year was actually vegan. 

So, here you go - both versions of the cake! 

Buttermilk bundt cake with dried fruit:

4,5 dl all purpose flour

1,5 dl sugar

1,5 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp baking soda

3 dl raisins (and/or dates and/ or figs (I use 1 dl of each)

1,5 dl syrup

2,25 dl buttermilk (or same amount of soy milk mixed with 1 tbsp of vinegar)

1 egg (or 2 tbsp of chia seeds mixed with 4 tbsp of water)

150 g butter (or margarin), melted

Also:

butter (or margarin) and bread crumbs for preparing the tin

Pre-heat the oven to 175°c  (in convection oven 150° should do). Grease and dust the tin. 

In case using dates and/ or figs, cut them into smaller pieces. 

Combine dry ingredients and fold in the dried fruit.

Beat syrup with buttermilk and egg. Add into the dry ingredients. Finally whisk in melted and slightly cooled butter.

Pour the batter into the prepared tin. Bake at the lower part of the oven for 40-50 minutes (depending on the oven) until a skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean. 

Let cool in the tin and then turn it out onto a serving platter. Serve and be merry!

And along with this recipe the blog is going to bugger off for a short holiday. May you all have a wonderful Christmas/ Hanukkah/ Kwanzaa!

Meet you back here on December 27th, ok?  That's when I'll be presenting you last of the Bulgarian souvenirs!

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SHARING IS CARING!

Middle Eastern stuffed aubergines with soy crumbles (vegan)

In the first soy recipe of my meatless October I sought inspiration from Far East, now it's time for my beloved Middle East. Soy-based meat substitutes have a neutral taste, so they love spices and marinades - especially Asian flavours.

This time I had a go with dark soy crumbles which substitutes ground meat so well I challenge you to tell the difference!

Middle Eastern stuffed aubergines with soy crumbles:

Serves 4

2 smallish aubergines (á 300 g)

1 onion, finely chopped

4 tbsp oil

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp ground coriander

3/4 tsp ground allspice

1/4 tsp ground cloves

pinch of cinnamon

2 dl dark soy crumbles

2 dl vegetable stock

3/4 dl raisins

1/2 dl pine nuts

bunch of parsley, leaves finely chopped

salt, black pepper (to taste)

To serve:

Greek yogurt, the seeds of about 1/2 pomegranate

Cut the aubergines lengthwise in half, score the flesh (careful not to slice all the way through), season with pepper and wrap in foil. Bake at 200° until the flesh is done - depending on the size 30-40 minutes. In the meanwhile prepare the stuffing.

Sauté onion and spices in oil. When onion is translucent, add soy crumbles. Toast it for a couple of minutes in oil and let it absorb the spices. Then add vegetable stock, raisins and pine nuts. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes.

Once the aubergines are done, scoop out the flesh leaving about 1 cm edge intact. Mash using a fork and combine with the soy mixture. Fold in parsley, check the taste and season.

Spoon the stuffing into eggplants and roast at 225° for 10 minutes. 

Serve with a dollop of Greek yogurt and scatter pomegranate seeds on top.

PS. You could also grate some cheese on top of the stuffed aubergines before baking them. 

And should you really want to spoil someone and serve wine with these, you know which way to go, don't you? Yes, a (New World) Pinot Noir. Try this New Zealand favourite of mine or this recent find (which, by the way, is vegan, too!)

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Mediterranean rice pilaf

You know us food bloggers, right? Always spot on. Night and day always scouring the net for the next Big Thing; continuously dining at the latest restaurants sniffing our for the up and coming trends? And even at home, we never eat the same thing twice. Oh no. Instead we spend our days confiting duck legs and extracting tomato water for that elusive Peruvian tomato risotto that only takes 2 days to make? 

Yeah, that's us. Let's take the week gone by. Yes, I've survived the nastiest break-up yet (better than I ever expected, I must say!) and rediscovered my appetite again. And yes, I've been going back to the same dish over and over again. Here it is. I've been having it with the Greek meatballs and sofrito, that Corfiot specialty that will be featured on the blog next. And on its own. And yes, there might have been days when it was the thing that saved me the day after a very heavy night before... (in case you're a Mormon, that means wine. A whole lot of it.) And it never fails to comfort.

Depending on your mood, the spices of pilaf will instantly transport you to East. Whether it's Middle of Far, is up to you. Therein lies the genius of this dish. Feel free to go crazy trying different variations and throwing in what ever left over veggies or herbs you might have lurking at the back of your fridge. Grate in a carrot, squeeze out he moisture and throw in the pan with the onion (coriander or mint really, really love carrot!)  That's the beauty of cooking:take a recipe and make it your own!

Personally I prefer the texture of basmati rice, but any long grained rice will work. Just make sure you follow the instructions on the packet as the liquid needed varies from one variety to another. 

As far as herbs go, use either parsley, coriander or mint. Or all of them. Let's face it: fresh herbs are like... well, sequns. Or re-runs of How I met Your Mother. Of bigasshairheavyrockstadionballades. We just can't get enough of them right?

Serves 4-6

Mediterranean rice pilaf:

1/3 dl oil

1 onion, finely chopped

1/2 tsp ground coriander seeds

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp turmeric

2,5 dl Basmati rice

5 dlchicen (or vegetable) stock

1,25 dl raisins

salt (to taste)

to serve:

100 g pine nuts

a large handful of parsley leaves, chopped (or coriander. Or mint. Or my fave: A large handful of chopped parsley leaves and half the amount of that finely chopped mint leaves)

Sauté chopped onions in the oil in a pot. Then add the spices and let them come to alive for a couple of moments. Add rice and, stirring every now and then, let it toast until the kernels start getting a bit of colour and start releasing that nutty aroma (that will take about 5-7 minutes). Add raisins and then the stock.

Bring the heat down and leave the rice to cook (covered) until the liquid's been absorbed (12-15 minutes).

Remove the pot from the heat, fluff with a fork, add the pine nuts and the herbs, cover with a tea towel and then top it of all with a lid. Leave to sit for another 10 minutes.

Check the taste,season as needed and serve.

Makes an excellent side dish for Greek meatballs, stifado, lamb chops Al-Andaluz or Marka hloua, that Tunisian classic. Or hey, for sofrito! Recipe for that one coming up next so stay tuned!

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Marka hloua - Tunisian lamb shanks

Yes. Lamb. Again. But I promise, for the last time in a while. Lately our culinary feasts have taken us to Andalusia in the form of these lamb shanks and this stifado brought Greece into our kitchen. This recipe sought inspiration from Tunisia - those people love their lamb at least as much as we do! This is the last slowly cooked stew in a very long time and with this we'll tuck our trusty Le Creuset away for some much needed rest and focus our attention to summer... and a lighter life.

The inspiration for this dish is marka hloua, a traditional Tunisian dish. The Arabic name means "sweet stew" and its gentle, aromatic flavour is rather unique. Ground rose buds lend a special perfume-like touch, but if you can't get your hands on any, don't worry. You're still in for a treat.

Originally the dish is of Tunisian Jewish descent and was traditionally made for Shabbat. Since then, however, especially around the region of Bizerte, it's been adopted into the local culinary heritage at large and is still made to celebrate weddings and Muslim New Year.

Usually the meat used for this is boneless shoulder, but having developed a taste for them shanks that's what I used. 

Serves 3

Tunisian lamb shanks:

3 small lamb shanks

1,5 tsp cinnamon

1,5 tsp turmeric

1,5 tsp ground cloves

3/4 tsp ground rose buds

salt, pepper

7,5 dl stock

150 g dried apricots

150 prunes

150 g raisins

150 g chickpeas

Pat the shanks dry. Combine the spices and rub all over the meat. Heat a couple of tbsp oil in a large pot and sear the meat (add into the pan any spice mixture that might have fallen off). Season thoroughly.

Pour stock into the pot and bring to boil. Transfer, covered, into a pre-heated oven (150° , 130° in a fan-assisted one) and leave to cook for an hour. Then fold in the dried fruits (This way they won't overcook and disintegrate) and continue cooking for 1,5 hours. Finally add drained (and peeled) chickpeas and continue cooking for another half an hour.

Serve with rice, bulghur or couscous.

"Wow" sighed The Boy Next Door. "Like sitting around the camp fire on the hills of Gilead" (?) Any geographical discrepancies aside I can only assume the taste was pretty damn authentic. His favourite lamb dish, so far, apparently!

PS. How about cooking a full Tunisian fiesta and starting the meal with these fish keftas?

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Coleslaw with red cabbage and fennel

You think our life is all Foie Gras and Champagne? Oooh nooo. I never say no to a good sausage. But that's the key: it really needs to be The Good Stuff. I've yet to master the art of making my own, but that I can live with - especially since my butcher at Hakaniemi Market does it so well.

Last weekend was supposed to be hot and sunny. The reality was a lot rainier and grayer. We did empty the counter at my butcher and whaddayaknow - Sunday wasn't anywhere near as wet and gray! Time to fire up the Quattro BBQ!

As a supporting act for the true stars of our sausage fest: herby lamb sausage, Italian-style pork salsiccias and smoky porter the butcher talked us into, I made red cabbage salad. It's one of my all-time favourites at the Israeli dinner tables, loaded with different types of fresh salads. This time, to compliment the spicy sausages I gave mine a little heat from fennel, allspice and pomegranate molasses.

Yiddishe Mama showed up for lunch and for her I made gefilte fish sausages which were even better than the fish kebabs. More on those babeles later!

For dairy-free meal, just skip the yogurt and use only mayo. For a lighter life make the dressing out of Greek yogurt alone. Dried cranberries can be substituted with raisins.

As a side dish this is enough for about 8

1 small red cabbage
1 red onion
1 bulb of fennel
3 tsp red wine vinegar
3 tsp (brown) sugar
2 tsp salt
2 tsp black pepper

Dressing:

3/4- 1 dl good mayo
3/4 - 1 dl Greek yogurt
1 generous tbsp fennel seeds, toasted and crushed
1 tbsp allspice
3 tsp pomegranate molasses (can be found at ethnic shops specialized in Middle Eastern goods, but can also be substituted with balsamico syrup)
1,5 dl soft dried cranberries

Cut the cabbage in half, remove the hard core and outer, leathery leaves. Slice finely. Do the same to the fennel. Also finely slice the onion. Mix red wine vinegar with sugar and pour in. Let them mingle and macerate while you make the dressing, turning occasionally.

Toast fennel seeds on a dry pan and crush. (I finally managed to add a proper pestle and mortar into my collection of how to look like Jamie Oliver and appear you actually know what you're doing- props and man, I'm loving it!) Combine with rest of the ingredients to a smooth dressing and fold into the salad.

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Duck ragú

The confit operation that was needed for cassoulet left me with 2 duck legs with nowhere to go. So into the ragú they went. But much like cassoulet itself, making ragú is such a time-consuming enterprise that you might want to double the batch . If the legs are small (under 200 g) you might want to use 3 instead of 2.

As far as the prep goes, there are two ways of doing it: either stewing it in the sauce until it's fall-off-the-bone tender or roast it first and then finish cooking over slow heat. Since this recipe from Jamie (I would love to think I and Mr. Oliver were actually on first name basis...!) also made use of the crisp duck skin (which, let's face is sort of the best part anyway!) in the form of pangritata; a crisp crumble made of the duck skin and some stale bread sprinkled on top of the ragú, I, too, went for roasting. Ragú could also be made in the oven in low temperature: just forget it in there for a couple of hours and let it come together!

Recommended wine for this is Italian Chianti, which our extensive wine reservoirs (at the time down to one bottle of Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon) didn't stock. The most ideal pasta would be pappardelle, which I was sure we had. Turned out we didn't (who the hell is running this production?!), so tagliatelle it was. You could of course make your own pasta too - see the recipe here!

Serves 2 (fairly generously)

The duck:

2 (large) duck legs

2 large garlic cloves

4 sprigs of thyme (or a couple of sprigs of rosemary)

olive oil, salt, pepper

Rub salt and pepper onto the ducks. Peel and gently bruise the garlic cloves with the back of a knife. Place them, along with the herbs into a small roasting tin/ oven dish that snugly accommodates the ducks. Roast at 180 for an hour until the skin is crisp and duck is done. Baste a couple of times with the duck fat that seeps into the bottom of the dish. If your ducks don't really have any fat, drizzle some olive oil on top.

Remove from the dish and let cool for a while. Drain the fat (use it for sweating the sofrito). Peel the skin off the duck and pull the meat apart.

Rinse the oven dish with a dash of red wine, scraping off any bits stuck to the bottom - we want to get all the flavours out.

The sauce:

1 onion

1 small carrot (or 1/2 larger one)

1/2 celery stick

1 (cassia)cinnamon stick

4 allspice peppers

1,5 dl red wine

2 bay leaves

5 sprigs of thyme (or a couple of sprigs of rosemary)

1/2 dl raisins

1 tin of crushed tomatos

1/2 tin of water

1 tbsp game fond (or 1/2 chicken stock cube)

Prepare sofrito: finely chop the onion and dice celery and carrot into small cubes. Sweat them in either olive oil or duck fat until soft - about 15 minutes. Then pour in red wine and let reduce for about 15 minutes. Then add rest of the ingredients along with duck meat. Let simmer over moderate heat for 1,5 hours or so until the sauce has reduced, thickened and is fairly dry.

Cook pasta according to the instructions on the packet, toss into the ragú and scatter the pangritata on top. Oh yeah, and some parmesan.

Pangritata:

The skins from the ducks

small slice of stale bread (or 1 generous tbsp bread crumbs)
1 tbsp fresh parsley or thyme
1 small garlic clove

Blizz the ingredients in a blender. Heat a small pan and toast the crumbs until very crisp (use either olive oil or duck fat) over medium heat. Scatter on top of the pasta.

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Marc Aulén's Soups

Soups are held in such high esteem that at one point an entire day was dedicated to them each week in this blog: Soup Sunday.

They are incredibly versatile: some are quick and easy, some get their soul from slow roasting. They can be light or rich enough to feed an army. The world is your oyster when looking for an inspiration for travels on a plate: from Asian laksa to Morrocan serrouda. Chilled soups such as gazpacho, salmorejo and ajo blanco keep you cool in the sweltering heat, while roasted tomato soup with basil oil, chicken and corn soup, taco soup, cabbage soup and borsch warm you up when the temperatures drop. Some, such as vichyssoise can be served both hot or cold. They make an excellent dumping ground for leftovers as minestrone and Italian wedding soup prove. They are also a great way to smuggle more veggies into the diet of the most committed bacon-lover - one of my all time favourites is the minty pea soup.

So, Marc Aulén's restaurant Soppakeittiö (that's Soup Kitchen in Finnish) that serves soup and only soup has, over the years, become a familiar haunt. And yes, I, too, always go for the bouillabaisse, celebrated as the best in the country. These days he also operates a restaurant called Qulma in the beautiful, nautical neighbourhood of Kruunuhaka - the venue for our next Saturday's brunch. He has also found time to collect his soups into a book which I received as a welcomed present form its publisher. My review of the book (in Finnish) can be found here.

The recipes in this book will be revisited a lot - that I can tell. The book also features the recipe for that legendary French fishermen's classic, but I chose to put the author's personal favourite to test. Ladies and Gentlemen: Sikamakeekaali. Which roughly translates as Übercoolcabbage. You get the drift, I think. And with it, his special relish called Nordic dynamite which he recommends for... well, absolutely everything.

Our endeavour begun with The Boy Next Door sent to fetch a pot big enough for this. The recipe fails to mention how many people it serves, so be prepared. With a big pot. And I mean BIG - this feeds at least 10 people. Easily.

The cabbage soup:

appr. 1 kg pork shoulder or another, meaty bit still on the bone
300 g sliced onions
900 g shredded red cabbage
rape seed oil for sautéing
3 tbsp finger salt
3 tbsp balsamico
3 litres cloudy and preferably acidic apple juice

Fry the pork in a pan so it gets a nice colour. Add salt and some black pepper. Place in that massive pot of yours. Fry the onions until golden and dump into the pot too. The sauté cabbage and add into the pot along with rest of the ingredients. Bring to boil  and let simmer for about 2 hours - at this point the meat should be falling off the bone. Remove from the broth with a slotted spoon and shred the meat to chunks of desired size. Return to the pot and serve. Beer is the recommended accompaniment.

Nordic Dynamite:

3 tbsp lemon juice
0,7 litres cloudy, preferably acidic apple juice
2 dl raisins
2 dl lingonberries or cranberries
1 tsp crushed ginger
10 habanero chillis, stalks removed and halved
10 cubes brown sugar

Measure the ingredients into a pot, boil for 20-25 minutes and blizz into a purée. Keeps well in the fridge.

And the verdict? Interesting. The kind of comforting concoction that warms your body and soul and combines many great things:it's easy to make, makes most of the cheaper cuts and only requires a handful of ingredients. And that Nordic Dynamite compliments it beautifully adding depth and heat to it. It's also suitable for those avoiding carbs and it's gluten-free. And if only vegetarians ate meat, this would work for them as well. Like many soups, this only gets better in the following days after the meat really soaks the flavour from the broth. I highly recommend - both the book and the soup!

The Boy Next Door, specialized in spontaneous comments that defy the limits of context (and often, understanding) that tend to raise eyebrows and evoke some serious eye-rolling where ever he goes, started waxing lyrical.

"Winter. This tastes of winter. Tall chimneys pushing smoke into the frozen sky. And workmen, climbing on ladders." A quick search on my mental Google translator revealed this to be a good thing. Though the fact that by now he was already onto his fourth plate sort of hinted in that direction, too.

Nordic Dynamite was received with equal enthusiasm. "Well, it is a fact that the soup carries some deep, dark and leathery tones. You know, base-like. To which this relish lends an entirely new layer of high notes." (Understand that eye-rolling now...?)

*The book was received for free through blog for reviewing purposes*

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Quark cake

Crikey - lately my kitchen has looked like a scene from the Great British Bake Off! This time I baked one of my (and Finland's favourites): quark cake. Traditionally this is made using the sweet bun dough, but since for me it's all about the filling, I want to maximize that and keep the doughy bit to minimum. So I made mine using the pie dough I used for the berry pie too. 

If you prefer lemon over orange, use the zest of 1/2 lemon instead and plump the raisins in hot water.

Base:

3,5 dl all purpose flour
1 dl sugar
125 g butter (cold)
3-5 tbsp cold water

Rub the ingredients (apart from water) to a crumbly mixture. Be quick so it won't get too warm. Then start adding the water little by little until the dough starts sticking together, Wrap tightly in cling film and let rest on the fridge for half an hour.

Roll in thinly to a sheet a little bigger than the dish you're using. Roll it around the rolling pin and transfer to the dish. Or press it onto the bottom and the sides using your hands. Trim off the excess. My tin, the one I also used for the kale quiche, measures 22 cm in diameter so the edges came to 5 cm high.

Filling:

2 tubs (á 250 g) of quark

2 dl cream

3 eggs

80 g raisins

zest and juice of 1 orange

1 dl sugar or more, to taste

2 tsp vanilla sugar

2 tbs potato starch (or corn starch)

Finely grate the orange zest and squeeze the juice. Cook the raisins in juice until plump and soft. Whip the cream and combine with the rest of the ingredients until smooth. Pour over the base and bake at 175° at the lower part of the oven until the cake starts getting a nice golden colour - 30-40 minutes. Turn off the oven and continue cooking in the residual heat for another 20 minutes. Let cool (preferably until the next day) before serving.

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Sticky buns

Food blogger doesn't get praised too often in our family. It doesn't matter how you can clean a squid even with your eyes closed or how well versed you are in Asian and Middle Eastern cuisines - these people are hard ones to impress. "What do you mean you've never made cinnamon buns?!"

So, I suppose it was time to get out of the way, too. And there's no better day for that than today: apparently today marks the 7th annual National Cinnamon Bun Day in Finland. A bit of a national favourite, that. But in order to shakes things up just a little bit I sought inspiration form Ameeerica, where everything is bigger and sweeter and stickier and crunchier and nuttier: sticky buns it was!

The dough itself was the traditional bun dough that probably comes imprinted in every Finn's DNA. I made mine without egg, as that apparently makes the buns stay softer and chewier for longer. Traditionally a layer of butter, cinnamon and sugar would be spread to sheet of dough which is then rolled and cut to pieces, but I made a fleur de sel caramel sauce. And sprinkled a generous quantity of dry roasted pecan nuts on top. Then you roll it, cut into slices, place them cut side up into a loose bottom pie dish (leaving some space in between as they will increase in size!) , let rise covered for another 15 minutes or so, brush with beaten egg and bake. And then, once they've cooled a bit, you glaze them. And oh my goooosh, how yummy they are!

The other half of the batch I made into traditional cinnamon buns and the other one into sticky caramel and pecan-filled buns (you can go nuts with any variety you fancy though). In case you just want the supercharged American kind, double the amount of caramel and pecans given below. And my colleagues' verdict? "Best buns evah!"

The buns:

1/2 l milk

1 package (50 g ) fresh yeast

2 dl sugar

2 tl salt

1,5 tbsp ground cardamom

14-15 dl flour

200 gr butter

1 egg for brushing

Warm milk to 37°. Crumble yeast into it and mix well. Then add sugar and cardamom. Then start adding flour 1 dl at a time mixing well. After the couple of first dl of flour add salt. When the dough gets too thick to manoeuvre by machine or whisks, start doing it with your hands. Around 11th dl of flour pour in the melted and cooled butter and work thoroughly into the dough. Continue adding flour as needed until you've got yourself a smooth, soft and elastic dough. Cover well and let rise in a warm, draft-free place until doubled in size. In the meanwhile make the caramel.

Salty caramel:

2 dl sugar
2 dl cream
50 gr butter
fleur de sel

Let sugar melt in a pan and then whisk in cream. Mix until smooth and the add butter. Continue cooking for a couple of minutes and let cool before stuffing the buns.

Divide the dough into 2. Roll both portions into rectangular sheets as thinly as you like (the thinner the sheets, the more stuffing the swirls hold!). Then add either

1. a little shy of 100 g butter spread onto the sheet topped with a couple of handfuls of cinnamon and sugar. I also like to add raisins (that you can plump up by soaking them in a bit of rum first) OR

2. the caramel topped with a generous sprinkling of fleur de sel and topped with 125 g pr dry roasted pecans, roughly chopped.

Roll the sheet and cut into chunks of about 5 cm thick. Place into a pie dish (loose bottom or not) and leave some space in between - the buns will expand. Cover and let rest for another 15 minutes until the oven has reached the desired temperature. Beat the egg and brush the buns with it. Bake at 200°. If you want, you could add some almond flakes or coarse sugar on top before baking. 

Baked like this the buns will take longer than individual buns - around 15-20 minutes.

Let cool and decorate with icing sugar glaze (optional but... why stop now?)

The glaze:

1 dl icing sugar

a couple f tsp cold water

Incorporate water into the icing sugar a little at a time until you have a thick, white, shiny mixture. Using either a spoon or a piping bag decorate the buns as you like. 

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