Mustikkakukko - Blueberry Rooster (Rye-Crusted Blueberry Pie)

There is something so comforting about familiar flavours. I cannot think anything more Finnish than rye and blueberries and this special treat combines the two in such a clever, delicious way. Blueberry Rooster, a rye-crusted blueberry pie, is quintessentially Finnish and takes me straight back to my home country.

Tutuista mauista syntyy parhainta lohturuokaa. Mustikkakukossa yhdistyvät kotoisat raaka-aineet mitä herkullisimmalla tavalla.

 Mustikkakukko

120g rye flour

50g raw sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking powder

100g unsalted (organic) butter

350g blueberries (fresh or frozen)

2 tablespoons raw sugar

2 tablespoons potato flour (potato starch) 

1. Preheat oven to 200C and grease two small/medium size (or one bigger) oven dish.

2. Combine flour, sugar and baking powder in a bowl. Add soft butter and rub it in to the flour-sugar mixture. Mix into a smooth dough.

3. Take 3/4 of the dough and press the dough on the bottom and the sides of the oven dish. Top with blueberries and sprinkle sugar and potato flour on top. Roll the rest of the dough into a round disk and place on top of the blueberries. Pinch the edges to seal the "lid". 

4. Bake for 45-60 minutes. Cool on a wire rack, serve warm with ice cream or yoghurt. 

Sunnuntai Sämpylät - Sunday Bread Rolls

 

 

Sunday mornings call for baking. When the smell of fresh bread filled my kitchen I knew the day had started just right. Warm bread rolls smothered with fruit spread and a big cup of tea was perfection. Peaceful and lazy Sunday was exactly what I needed ahead of a busy week.

Sunnuntaiaamut kutsuvat leipomaan. Eilen aamulla sämpylöiden tuoksu täytti pienen keittiöni ja tuntui kuin päivä olisi lähtenyt juuri oikein käyntiin. Lämpimät sämpylät hedelmäisellä hillolla ja iso kuppi teetä – täydellistä! Rauhallinen ja laiska sunnuntai tuli tarpeeseen, viikosta on tulossa kiireinen.

 

Sunday Bread Rolls

(makes 16-20)

(recipe adapted from pirkka.fi)

500ml warm water

11g dry yeast

150g rolled oats

1 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons treacle

about 400 wholemeal flour

about 200g plain flour

50ml olive oil

1. Mix yeast with rolled oats and add warm (42C) water. Add salt and treacle.

2. Knead flour in bit by bit until you get a soft dough. Add oil and knead until smooth. Cover and leave in a warm place to double in size.

3. Roll the dough into buns and place on baking sheets lined with baking paper. Cover and leave to rise for about 20-30 minutes.

4. Preheat oven to 200C. Bake the bread rolls for 12 minutes or until browned from top and the bottom.

Friday Bites: Mushroom Lasagne

Here's a rare treat for you - a pasta recipe! You might remember that I'm really not the biggest fan of pasta and tend to only cook it for my husband who is not as fussy as I am. Although tasty, I must admit that even this dish was mainly demolished by him and not me. Regardless, I wanted to try making a dairy-free (and vegan) lasagne and this turned out surprisingly well.

 

The trick is to use a lot of mushrooms for a hearty result. You could even use more than I did, up to, say 700 grams. Add flavour with capers, olives, sundried tomatoes and (dried or fresh) herbs and use wholemeal lasagne sheets for a nuttier flavour.

 

 

Mushroom Lasagne

(serves 4-6)

olive oil for the pan

1 onion, finely diced

1 clove garlic, grated 

3 small carrots, finely diced

500g mixed mushrooms (button, shiitake, portobello), sliced

2 tins diced tomatoes

2 tablespoons tomato paste

2 tablespoons French capers
olives, sundried tomatoes, optional

salt, pepper, to taste

1 teaspoon paprika

grated nutmeg
fresh or dried herbs (rosemary, thyme, oregano), optional

300-500ml vegetable stock

300g silken firm tofu

pepper to taste

2-3 tablespoons plain flour

100-150ml cold water

wholemeal lasagne sheets

1. Heat oil in a large pan and add onion, garlic and carrots. Cook for a few minutes, then add mushrooms. Cook for a further 3-4 minutes and add rest of the ingredients. Leave to simmer on low heat for about half an hour.


2. Bring vegetable stock to a boil in a medium sized pot. Use a hand blender to blend in the tofu. Season with pepper. Whisk flour with cold water and stir into the stock. Stir until the sauce thickens, then remove from the heat.

3. Preheat oven to 200C and grease a baking dish with olive oil.

4. To assemble the lasagne, spoon some of the tomato sauce on the bottom of the dish. Add a layer of lasagne sheets, then some of the white sauce, tomato sauce and more lasagne sheets. Continue for a few layers. Finish off with a layer of white sauce and tomato sauce. Bake for 40-45 minutes and leave to cool for at least half an hour before serving.

Scandi Foodie Turns Three, Queen Muffins

Three years ago today I published my first blog post. It was a poem my mum used to read me in the mornings to wake me up. I started the blog to keep in touch with my parents, to show them the Finnish treats I was baking and the vintage Scandinavian design pieces I had found. Very soon I realised blogging had opened up a whole new world to me; a world of recipes I had never tried before, ingredients I had never even heard of, flavours I had never tasted and people I had never met. I loved sharing pieces of my everyday life to my imaginary audience. I had no idea if anyone apart from my parents ever read my blog, but I kept posting new recipes day after day. 

I've come a long way in three years. I've experienced both sides of the blogosphere, the good and the bad, I've found new friends along the way and I've learned a lot about food, styling and photography. Blogging has also opened up a new career to me as a stylist and a freelance writer and I couldn't be happier and more thankful for it. 

However many changes there have been along the way, this blog has remained first and foremost a personal account. There have been very few commercials and I've never been interested in making money with this blog. I continue to write content that feels comfortable to me and I don't feel a need to publish something only to attract more readers. I am open to feedback, but for the above mentioned reason I don't take criticism very well; it always feels as a personal attack and sometimes I feel that some people tend to forget that there is a real person behind every post.

I thank you for following and I plan to continue blogging for as long as it feels right and doesn't become a chore. I have many more recipes to try and I definitely still have a lot to learn, so I feel no need to stop now. I hope you will continue reading and sharing your thoughts - thank you again.

 Queen Muffins*

(makes 12)

2 apples (Granny Smith)

1 banana

1/4 lemon, juiced

180g wholemeal flour

1 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon pure, ground vanilla

30g raw vanilla sugar

50g raw caster sugar

60ml olive oil
150g fresh or frozen raspberries and blueberries

natural, unrefined icing sugar to serve

* In Finland we call the combination of berries 'kuningatar' (queen), hence the name! :-)

1. Preheat the oven to 175C and line a 12 cup muffin tray with paper cups (or use oil to grease). 

2. Finely grate peeled and cored apples and put in a bowl with chopped banana and lemon juice. Puree with a hand mixer until smooth. Set aside.

3. Combine all dry ingredients in a separate bowl. Add oil into the dry ingredients and stir, then add the fruit puree. Stir briefly to combine and carefully fold the frozen berries in to the batter. 

4. Divide the batter evenly between the cups and bake for 20-25 minutes or until a tester comes out clean. Leave to cool on a wire rack before dusting with icing sugar.

Muhammara - Roasted Capsicum and Almond Spread

We are getting closer to leaving for Finland - only about a week and a half to go now! We are trying to get everything ready for the wedding and the trip, needless to say life's been a little hectic lately! I must apologise in advance for the lack of posts in the coming weeks. I will try to keep the blog going whilst I'm away, but I can't guarantee as regular posts as I've been able to do now. I'm sure you'll understand!

I've been wanting to make this red capsicum dip ever since I first heard about it in Colleen's podcast. I must admit I don't make dips very often and since I don't tend to eat bread or crackers, dips aren't usually in my list to try. There was something about this particular spread, however, that caught my attention and of course I had to give it a go.

I've used raw almonds instead of more traditional walnuts, which, I'm sure would be just fabulous for this recipe. I've also taken the liberty to add some cinnamon in the mixture, to give it that warm hum. You could certainly add some pomegranate molasses, too. I believe that's actually part of the traditional Syrian recipe. In any case this spread was definitely worth making and it's equally tasty on crusty sourdough or crispy raw vegetables.

Muhammara - Roasted Capsicum and Almond Spread 

(Adapted from Colleen Patrick-Goudreau)

 2 red capsicums

200g raw almonds (or walnuts)

50g fresh bread crumbs

1 clove garlic

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

a pinch of chilli flakes

juice of one lime or half a lemon

2-3 tablespoons water

pinch of salt

1. Roast the capsicums either in a really hot oven (under the grill) or directly over the flame of a gas stove until the skin is blackened. Place the roasted capsicums in a plastic bag for a few minutes before peeling off the skin. 

2. Place all ingredients in a food processor and blend until smooth. Add water if necessary. Serve the spread on bread, crackers or with veggies. Store in the fridge for about 3 days.

Vegan Banana and Walnut Bread

Good old banana bread! I haven't made a loaf in ages, but Mother's Day called for a sweet treat and one can always count on banana bread to deliver just that. I love the fact that this particular loaf is not only dairy-free and egg-free (and thus, vegan), but reasonably low in sugar too. Bananas are naturally sweet so a few tablespoons of rice syrup is really all the added sweetness it needs.

This is a really quick and well-tested recipe. The result is a soft and moist loaf that is definitely sweet enough, but perfect for both breakfast table and afternoon tea. Feel free to swap almond milk to soy milk and use whole wheat flour instead of spelt flour. You can even add a touch of cardamom in the mix, if you wish. Macadamias or hazelnuts would be a great alternative to walnuts, too.

Vegan Banana and Walnut Bread

(recipe adapted from Caroline Marie Dupont)

260g spelt flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon pure, ground vanilla

a tiny pinch of salt

5 bananas (500ml mashed)

50ml almond milk

6 tablespoons olive oil

4 tablespoons rice syrup

120g chopped walnuts

1. Preheat oven to 180C. Grease and lightly flour a medium size loaf pan.

2. Combine all dry ingredients in a bowl. 

3. Mash the bananas really well and in a large bowl, whisk them with almond milk, oil and rice syrup. 

4.  Add the dry ingredients to the banana mixture and mix lightly to combine. Finally fold in the chopped walnuts. 

5. Pour the batter into the tin and bake for 40-45 minutes or until a tester inserted in the middle of the loaf comes out clean. Leave to cool on a wire rack before cutting into slices. Serve fresh or toasted.