Finnish mince and cabbage gratin

You've already got the recipe for the Estonian cabbage and mince stew (recommended!), here's a Finnish version that's similar, yet totally different. Whereas Estonians like their mince and cabbage as a stew alongside some boiled carrots, the Finns throw in some rice (and syrup or honey - they've got a sweeter tooth!), layer it into a oven dish and bake it slowly until done.

Both are lovely. You could even make a large batch of the Estonian one, and use any leftovers for the Finnish version on the next day :)

The traditional condiment is lingonberry jam (you'll find a jar in your nearest IKEA store), but sour cream works just as well.

Finnish mince and cabbage gratin
(Kapsa-hakklihavorm riisiga)
Serves 6

150 ml short-grain "porridge" rice, uncooked
400 ml water
0.5 tsp salt

about 1 kg white cabbage, finely shredded
1 onion
400 g beef mince
1 tsp salt
0.25 tsp black pepper
1 tsp dried oregano or marjoram
1-2 Tbsp sugar syrup or honey (or use cornsyrup, maple syrup or even agave nectar)
400 ml beef stock

Place rice, salt and water into a saucepan, bring into a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer gently until the rice has absorbed the water. Remove from the heat and put aside.
Chop the onion. Put beef mince and onion into a large and heavy frying pan and fry until slightly browned. Season with salt, pepper and marjoram, then add to the rice.
Add the cabbage to the frying pan, season with a bit of salt and heat, stirring regularly, until the cabbage is slightly coloured and "collapsed". Season with syrup, then combine with the rice and the fried minced beef.
Pour into a medium-sized oven casserole dish, pour beef stock on top.
Bake in a preheated 200 C oven for one hour to one hour and 15 minutes. Use your judgement and cover the dish with a piece of foil at the end, if necessary.

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Estonian recipes: Alexander cake (Aleksandrikook)

Alexander cake, March 2011, dyed with sea-buckthorn juice concentrate

I'm dedicating February to various Estonian recipes, so if you've travelled to Estonia and want a specific recipe or two, let me know. Aleksandrikook aka Alexander cake has been requested here on Nami-Nami on several occasions, so it's about time to listen to my dear readers and post a recipe :)

To start with, Alexander cake is not actually Estonian in its origin, even though it's rather popular here and found in many traditional coffee and pastry shops. Our Nordic neighbours, Finns, claim the cake as their own. But then I've even come across recipes for Alexander cake in Latvian cookbooks, so it's popular in all over the North-Eastern corner of Europe.

Apparently its history goes back to 1814 or 1818, depending on your sources, when Alexander I of Russia, the reigning czar, visited Helsinki, and was served this concoction on his birthday. The cake is mentioned in Kullo manor's ledger books from 1819-1821. By 1850s, the cakes were sold in Café Ekberg (they still are, gorgeously pink in colour and sandwiched with apple spread).

In principle, it's a simple cake. Two layers of shorcrust pastry, sandwiched with thick raspberry (or other) jam, and topped with simple icing. However, as one talented Estonian food blogger has written somewhere, it's actually a tricky cake to do well. First, it's important not to overmix the pastry, as it won't have the right texture. It's important to roll out the pastry evenly, as otherwise it won't bake evenly. To lift one cake layer on top of the other is tricky as well - if you're unlucky, it'll break apart. If you're making this in a cafeteria, then you'll need to cut perfectly even-sized rectangles, and the glaze needs to be pretty and pink (or cocoa-brown, if you're opting for the cocoa glaze).

NOTE: this should be baked and put together a day before serving, otherwise it'll be too dry and crumbly!


Alexander cake, September 2009, dyed with fresh black aronia juice and white chocolate

I've included some links to Estonian and Finnish foodbloggers that have written about the cake - you'll find them at the end of this post.

Alexander cake
(Aleksandrikook)
Cuts into 12 rectangles


Alexander cake, March 2011, dyed with sea-buckthorn juice concentrate

Pastry layers:
125 g caster sugar (150 ml)
300 g all-purpose flour (500 ml, about 2 cups)
1 tsp baking powder
200 g butter, at room temperature
1 egg

Filling:
250 ml (1 cup) thick raspberry jam

Glaze:
250 g icing sugar/confectioners sugar (about 400 ml)
3-4 Tbsp raspberry or black aronia juice

Make the pastry by mixing all dry ingredients in a large bowl. Add the butter, and using your fingers for mixing, mix until you've got large crumbs. Add the egg and quickly mix the pastry until it comes together.
Take a parchment paper that fits your baking sheet. Place the pastry on top of the paper and using a slightly floured rolling pin, roll the pastry to fit the baking sheet.
Bake in a preheated 175C/350F oven until dry and light golden brown (about 20 minutes).
Take out from the oven, and cut into two even-sized rectangles (the final cake will be half the size of your baking sheet). Cool lightly.*
Spread the jam over one shortcake base. Then very carefully lift the other shortcake layer on top of the one covered with jam.
Cut into squares (but don't separate the pieces) and leave to cool completely.
Make the glaze by mixing some colourful juice into the icing sugar until you've got a runny sugar glaze. Pour and spread that over the cake pieces and leave to set.

* Note that there is an alternative way of baking this cake - you'll sandwich two shortcake layers together with jam BEFORE baking (obviously you'll need to bake it a bit longer then). I've never tried this version.


Alexander cake, March 2011, dyed with sea-buckthorn juice concentrate

Fancy more? Here are some links to other foodbloggers' posts about Alexander cake - these give you a good idea about the different ways of glazing the cake.

ESTONIAN BLOGGERS:
Aniitram (a classic cocoa frosting and white frosting, zigzag pattern), MARU (Estonian designer and food writer), Qsti, Ragne, Liina, Sille

FINNISH BLOGGERS:
Kinuskikissa (one of the most popular Finnish foodbloggers, she used a cappuccino-flavoured glaze), Jaana

LATVIAN BLOGGERS:
Zitinja

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It's cinnamon bun day (kanelbullens dag)!

It's Cinnamon Bun Day in Sweden today. Cinnamon Bun Day was established in 1999, or 12 years ago, when Swedish Home Baking Council (Hembakningsrådet) came up with the idea when looking for a way to celebrate their 40th anniversary. Many Swedes rush to their favourite bakery today and buy some kanelbullar - or bake their own. You'll find a good recipe for Swedish kanelbullar over on Sweden.se site (written by Anne).

I've previously given you recipe for my traditional cinnamon rolls (with step-by-step photos), as well as the hugely popular cinnamon pull-apart bread. Today's recipe is for Finnish korvapuustit ('Slapped ears') - more or less the same thing, just shaped and braided slightly differently.

Korvapuustit/Finnish cinnamon buns
(Soomlaste kaneelisaiad)
Makes about 16 large buns



450 g all-purpose flour (about 750 ml or 3 cups)
85 g caster sugar (100 ml)
1.5 tsp ground cardamom pods
0.5 tsp salt
1 packet of fast-action dried yeast (about 11 g)
250 ml lukewarm milk (1 cup)
1 egg (divided)
75 g butter, softened

Filling:
50 g butter, softened
4 Tbsp caster sugar
cinnamon

Topping:
pearl sugar (optional)

In a large mixing bowl, mix most of the flour, sugar, cardamom, salt and yeast. Stir in the milk and about half of the egg (leave some for brushing the buns before baking). Knead in the softened butter and the rest of the flour, if necessary. Knead until you've got a soft and pliable dough that releases from the sides of the bowl. Cover with clingfilm or a clean towel and leave to prove for about 45-60 minutes, until doubled in size. (The place for proving should be warm and draught-free).
Turn the dough onto a lightly floured table, knead gently couple of times. Roll into a reclangle sized 30x60 cm. Spread soft butter over the dough, then sprinkle generously with cinnamon and sugar. Roll up tightly, starting from the long side, leaving the "seam" under the roll.

Now use a sharp knife to cut into buns, following the scheme here. The buns should be about 2 cm wide on the narrow end and 5 cm on the wide end.



Transfer onto a parchment-lined baking sheet, placing them upright. Using your thumbs or a large pencil, press a dent into the middle of each bun, just like this:



Cover with a kitchen towel and leave to raise for another 30 minutes in a warm place. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 225 C/450 F.

Brush with egg wash and sprinkle with pearl sugar. Bake in a preheated oven for 10-15 minutes, until the buns and golden brown.

Take the baking sheet out of the oven, and cover the buns with a kitchen towel and let them cool (a little) - this way they remain nice and soft.

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Bruschette with chantarelle pesto

We've had another wonderul wild mushroom year in Estonia. With two small kids, I've only made it to the forest twice myself, but friends and family have supplied us with plenty of different wild mushrooms. Chanterelle is one of the most popular wild mushrooms - they're easy to recognise, versatile and taste lovely, and I've had more than my fair share of chantarelle dishes this summer. Chantarelle bruschetta, boiled potatoes with fried chantarelles, creamy chantarelle sauce, chantarelle quiche - you name it, I've had them all. Again. And again. So when I spotted a recipe for chantarelle pesto in the Finnish Kotiliesi magazine, it immediately caught my attention - something new, something that I hadn't tried with chantarelles before..

It turned out to be a lovely mushroom spread that I'll be making over and over again when I get fresh mushrooms.

Chanterelle pesto
(Krõbesaiad kukeseenepestoga)
Serves 4 to 6



Chantarelle pesto:
250 g fresh chantarelles
1 Tbsp butter
1 small garlic glove, coarsely chopped
salt and freshly ground black pepper
80 g toasted pinenuts
1 small bunch of fresh basil
5 Tbsp freshly grated parmesan
about 5 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

To serve:
ciabatta or baguette
olive oil
garlic

Clean the mushrooms, avoid washing them, if possible. Transfer onto a hot dry non-stick frying pan and heat, until the liquid has evaporated.
Add butter and garlic, fry for a few minutes. Remove from the heat, season with salt and pepper and cool
Place the basil and pinenuts into a food processor and blitz for a few seconds. Add the cheese, fried mushrooms and about 2-3 Tbsp of oil. Process until you've got a coarse paste. Fold in the rest of the oil, check for seasoning.
 To make bruschette, cut the bread into thin slices and sprinkle with some oil. Bake under a grill until lightly golden and crispy, then smear some garlic over the bread slices.
Spread the chantarelle pesto on top, garnish with some Parmesan cheese shavings and serve.

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Cottage Cheese and Egg Salad

Egg Salad (called 'munavõi' or 'egg butter' in Estonian) is a popular sandwich spread in Estonia. The traditional version contains just softened butter and boiled eggs, seasoned with salt. However, I've come to prefer this slightly lighter version over the last few years. In addition to the butter and eggs, this version contains cottage cheese or farmer's cheese. As far as the herbs go, I love chives here, but dill, parsley, savory would work as well.

It can be kept in a fridge for a few days, covered, but it tastes best when freshly made. If you do make it in advance, then bring to the room temperature 15-20 minutes before serving. Serve with boiled potatoes, on home-baked rye bread, or as a sandwich filling.

Cottage Cheese and Egg Salad
(Kodujuustu-munavõi)
Serves four to six



3 to 4 eggs
100 g butter, softened
150 g cottage cheese
sea salt
fresh chives, finely chopped

Hard-boil the eggs using your favourite method, cool to room temperature, then peel. Separate the cooked egg yolks and whites.
Place the butter and egg yolks into a bowl and use the back of a wooden spoon to cream the mixture (that gives the gorgeous yellow colour!).
Finely chop the cooked egg whites, stir into the rest of the ingredients alongside the chives. Season with salt.

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