Medisterpølse – velbekomme!

You’ll often see it served as part of a traditional Danish Christmas lunch.  But my DDH (Dear Danish Husband) and kids can’t get enough of it – so it’s quickly becoming a regular for aftensmad (dinner).

It’s sold in a long ring – you’ll find it in any self-respecting Danish supermarket in packets of 500g.  My DDSIL (Dear Danish Sister-in-Law) taught me to push some cocktail sticks through it before it goes in the frying pan… 

One large medisterpølse sizzling in the pan…

Which makes it much easier to turn the whole shebang over, when you’re ready to fry the other side…ta da!

Medisterpølse – ready for the oven

I brown it quickly on both sides in the frying pan, then finish it off in the oven.  It’ll take about 20 minutes at 200c/400f.  If you’re serving it in the spring or winter, you’ll want boiled baby potatoes, lots of yummy sovs (gravy) and warm, red cabbage.  Great, hot, filling winter food.  In the summer I swap the warm, red cabbage for a simple salad of raw grated carrot and red cabbage.  Tastes good both ways!

Hope you have a wonderful Wednesday and a happy Kristi Himmelfart (Ascension)!

For now you can enjoy this delicious cake and learn it’s history, told and photographed by Mia Kristensen.

Over 50 years ago a lady in Jutland (the western part of Denmark) invented the recipe for this fantastic cake. Her granddaughter, Jytte Andersen, re-named it “Drømmekage” (Dream cake) and served it at a baking competition. The cake won the competition and that was the beginning of maybe one of the most consumed cakes in the history of Denmark, at least for the last 50 years.

A Danish classic – Always in top 10

It’s on the table at almost every birthday party, office coffee break, afternoon tea and bakeries – the mushy, light yellow sponge cake with a thick, brown coconutty caramel on top is so traditional that it has been on the top ten cakes since forever, firstly because the flavor is really good, but also because the recipe is very simple and the ingredients easy to get hold of, if you don’t have it all in your cupboard. I also asked Tove Færch, the recipe manager of one of the biggest and oldest recipe publishers/websites in Denmark, why she thinks is the story behind the popularity.

“Dream cake is adored by both children and adults. It’s very easy to prepare and a very appealing cake, with two very different layers and variation in texture. I think that’s some of the reasons, that it’s such a popular cake”, says Tove Færch, recipe manager at Arla Foods/ Karolines Køkken

Childhood memories and grown-up flavors

I like this cake, no doubt. The taste holds memories from childhood birthdays with friends and afternoon baking with grandma, but my adulthood adapted taste buds doesn’t really like the heavy sweetness of the sponge and topping. Well, in general it could sometimes need a twist. So what do you do, when the classic becomes too classic?

I decided to do a modern and Nordic inspired version of the grand old dream cake, hopefully ending up with a mouthwatering version a little more grown-up proof than the old one. Some might call it blasphemy, but it might just be the development of a whole new cake, who knows…

Nordic berries creates balance

The concept of the sponge cake under the chewy caramel works very well, so to balance the sweetness I added black currants and lingonberries. Both have a high content of fruit acid and a tad of bitterness, which is perfect in sweet cakes. In the autumn try making it with blueberries, seabuckthorn or cloudberries, they have some of the same characteristics and lovely flavors. The berries also add some moisture and prevents the cake from drying out and crumbling.

Flavorful flour

Flour is one of the main ingredients in most cakes, so of course it influences the taste. To get a deeper grain flavor in the sponge cake I used an old wheat variety called “Øland” wheat. I haven’t seen the name translated anywhere, but it’s similar to spelt, so use that or stone grinded flour instead. This makes a much more interesting sponge cake, less bland and sweet, more complex and grainy, with a beautiful color. Adding sweet woodruff as well makes up for the aromatic vanilla and gives an almost marcipan-like flavor.

Barley flakes instead of coconut

Barley flakes has a very mild grain flavor that is perfect in sweet dishes, so I substituted the desiccated coconut and used barley flakes. At the same time barley adds some of the same chewiness in the topping as the coconut. To avoid a bland taste in the topping I added another product from barley, malt – with beautiful coffee notes and a dark color. Normally used in beermaking, but absolutely perfect for desserts.

So Ready, set … this is how the recipe turned out, exactly as I imagined it (in my dreams…)… Not too sweet – with a fruity bottom layer and a chewy, flavorful caramel topping.

Dream cake with barley and berries

Serves: 12
A moist and sweet sponge cake balanced with nordic berries, topped with a chewy malt and barley caramel – serve it warm with a scope of ice or cold for afternoon tea.

Ingredients

275 g flour (try old wheat varieties e.g. Øland wheat or spelt)
3 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. dried sweet woodruff (optional, or use vanilla instead)
3 large eggs
300 g sugar
90 g butter, melted
200 ml single cream or whole milk
175 g fresh/frozen black currants, red currants, lingonberries or blue berries.

Topping

200 g butter
75 ml single cream or whole milk
375 g brown sugar
175 g barley flakes (or rolled oats)
3 tsp. dark malt flour (optional)

Instructions

Heat the oven to 185 degrees.
Sieve flour, baking powder and sweet woodruff into a bowl.
Whisk together eggs and sugar until pale and fluffy, it takes approx. 12 minutes.
Sieve (again) the flour and baking powder into the whisked eggs and fold it together.
Add the butter and cream and stir carefully until fully combined.
Lastly fold in the berries and tip the dough into the baking tin.
Bake the sponge for 30 minutes until firm.

While the sponge is baking, continue with the topping.
Topping: Mix all the ingredients in a pot and melt it until slightly bobbling.
Remove the pot from the heat and pour the caramel onto the pre-baked sponge.
Put the cake back in the oven and bake for 5-7 minutes at 225 degrees.
Let the cake cool a little for the topping to set before cutting.

My name is Aleksandra and I am a new blogger on blogs.denmark.dk , thank you, the team of Denmark.dk for letting me write on your site!

I address my blog to every person who is thinking of studying in Denmark. I am a student of University College of Northern Denmark and my blog post may be sometimes connected to my school. However every person who is interested in seeing what I am doing in Aalborg and what do I explore is obviously welcome here!

You can see my previous blog post on www.meyouucn.blogspot.com and now I am living you with the short post about water in Denmark and if it is important to save it! Enjoy!

We’re super proud of all the stuff that is happening for Blue Foundatio these days.

// Blue Foundation Hits #32 at CMJ RPM (Debut)

// Most important radio hits this week also came from WRAS, WFT, WNRN, WLUW, KVCU, KTUH, WUTK, WORT, KFAI, WRSU, WRIU, KSYM, KCNL, KDHX, CSCR and Buzz Track at savealternative.com.

// Blue Foundation got a great support from VICE, NOISEY, LA CANVAS, ELLENWOOD, THE BERRICS, PLAYGROUND MAGAZINE, NERDY FRAMES, SOUNDVENUE, LARGEHEARTED BOY, VINYL DISTRICT, THE OWL MAG, EAST VILLAGE RADIO, PREFIX, AOL SPINNER, IMPOSE…..to name a few.

Thank you so much. Hope to see you all at Cameo Gallery May 21 to our release part. We owe you a drink!

The topic hit home in many respects as in Denmark, there are several ways to express gratitude and say you are thankful: Tusind tak (a thousand thanks). Mange tak (many thanks). Tak for sidst (thanks for our last time), etc.

It’s funny since in Danish, we don’t even have a word for ‘please’, but gratitude and thankfulness is very important in everyday language and may provide an insight into why the Danes are so happy.

When you first learn to speak Danish, you realize how important gratitude plays into life and conversation here. Every day after dinner, most kids are expected to give ‘thanks’ (tak for mad) to their parents for making and providing dinner. Indeed, my daughter, a tweenager, expresses gratitude several times a day, in a very natural and authentic way – to the bus driver, to her teachers, to her classmates.

I have always felt that the word ‘thanks’ seemed disingenuous and insincere – but since I moved to Denmark and started seeing how it was integrated in nearly all conversations, I began to start using it myself also in English and feeling really good about it. Part of this could be the good karma that is created by filling my mind with thanks for all the wonderful things I have in my life so it opens the door for even more good things to come.

When you speak to Danes they are genuinely grateful their health, home, family, sports and their jobs. People are so grateful for a sunny day, a freshly baked rugbrød or an invitation for a walk in the forest.

Even little things like collecting the minuscule Spring wildflowers called Vintergækken brings joy to Danes. These ever so tiny flowers (sprout up in the cold, miserable weather) are gathered, dried and sent with a riddle from an anonymous sender – if you guess the sender, you shall thank them with a chocolate egg for Easter.

In my diary, I try to write a list daily of the small things that I too, am grateful for — starting from the small things: bit boring…I really liked my breakfast tea to… wow, I recently got a promotion and a pay raise.

Numerous studies suggest that grateful people are more likely to have higher levels of happiness and lower levels of stress and depression. Grateful people have more positive ways of coping with the difficulties they experience in life, being more likely to seek support from other people, reinterpreted and grow from the experience, and spend more time planning how to deal with the problem.

Indeed gratitude has been said to have one of the strongest links with mental health than any other character trait.
Studies also find that gratitude is correlates with economic generosity, which works quite well with the large tax state in Denmark. Thankful people are more likely to sacrifice individual gains for communal benfit supporting that Danes have immense gratitude, have empathy and are generous with their income to help others in the samfund (welfare state).

So what can you do, besides give thanks numerous times a day? Think about things that you are grateful about – a person who has touched your life, write a thank you letter BY HAND, make a gratitude jar where you deposit a post-it note with a thankful message every day or week and then open and read it on a rainy or depressed day.

‘’Gratitude is not only the greatest of the virtues but the parent of all others.”

I told him that dinner would be Skibberlabskovs (“Skipper Stew”) – a very old-fashioned traditional Danish dish.  He and my husband had no idea what it was.  (They were confusing it with Forloren Skildpadde “Mock Turtle Casserole”.)  Hmm, I sometimes feel that I’m more Danish than the Danes… 

Skibberlabskovs.  The finished dish…not pretty. But tasty!

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Anyway, it’s a (relatively) cheap, hearty dish (very similar to stovies that we eat in Scotland).  And easy peasy to make.  Cut up about 500g or a pound of oksebov (beef shoulder) into cubes.

Put the cubes of water into a pan, add enough water to cover, throw in about 10 peppercorns, 1 teaspoon of salt and a bay leaf if you happen to have one.  Then bring to the boil.

When it’s bubbling away, use a spoon to skim off the scum.  (Not Danish skum!) 

Turn down the heat to a very low simmer.  At this point you can either tip the meat/liquid into your crockpot/slowcooker/stegeso or just leave it in the pot.  Cover the meat/liquid with a layer of 2 chopped onions…

And then cover that with a layer of chopped or sliced potatoes.  Use floury potatoes because you want them to disintegrate!  About 7 or 8 potatoes should do the trick.

Then put on a lid.  If you’re doing it on top of the stove, it’ll take about one hour.  If you’re using a crockpot, it’ll take about 4 hours on high, or all day on low.  It’s ready when the meat and potatoes have gone soft.

You can then mash it up further.  Remove a bit of the gravy, if you think there’s too much.  It’s all down to personal preference. Salt and pepper to taste.  Then serve with ryebread, butter and lots of pickled beetroot.

As you can see, it’s not the most attractive of dishes.  I thought it needed a touch of green, so I topped it with a bit of chopped ramsløg. What’s ramsløg?  Daaaaarlings, ramsløg is the new black!  You can’t eat in any self-respecting-trendy-new-Nordic-Danish restaurant without finding it on your plate.  A terribly hip wild leaf – which looks alarmingly like tulip leaves – and tastes like a cross between spring onion and garlic.  Can be used like spinach – raw or cooked.

There you have it.  Skibberlabskovs with ramsløg.  Traditional, yet with a modern twist…  Eek!  That ‘new Nordic’ thing is spreading…

 Velbekomme!

 Have a wonderful Wednesday!

Noisey premiered Blue Foundation’s new short documentary “Broken Life.” The film follows Pepper, a charismatic homeless man living on the streets of California for the last 30 years. The video is directed by Colin Kennedy and Daniel Duarte.
The track is from their forthcoming album, In My Mind I Am Free, out May 22nd through Dead People’s Choice Records.

Monitoring nest boxes on the Quantock Hills in Somerset last year.

I threw on the rest of my clothes went out into the garden and the eager cat soon withdrew it’s forces and retreated. Yesterday I had taken a peep in the box and was absolutely delighted to see (and hear!) 4 tiny great tit chicks among the eggs in the box. When they are born they are blind, naked (a funny pink) extremely vulnerable and have HUGE mouths so the parents can easily feed them. New life had begun in our garden, and I was determined to try and protect it.

A female blue tit (blåmejse) keeps her eggs warm - Somerset, England April 2011.

But this morning, when I opened the box it was completely different. When I looked in I couldn’t make sense of what I saw. It appeared that the nest was on it’s side and I couldn’t figure out where the birds, chicks or eggs were. I panicked! Distraught I called Rasmus from his bed and asked him to help me. At first he didn’t understand my ramblings, but when he looked in the box he understood. He was braver than me and described what he could see. The adult birds and chicks were at the bottom of the wooden box below the nest.

I was really in shock and didn’t know what to do. If we left the nest and baby birds in this way there is no doubt that they would die. The tightly woven nest keeps the chicks warm and in the right place. I considered phoning a friend to ask for his advice, but it was 7am on a Monday morning, I didn’t think he would appreciate it.

Pied flycatcher chicks - how it should have looked! Somerset April 2011.

I made the decision, we had to fix this, we had to try and fix this. We worked together quickly and carefully to try and restore “normality”. Firstly we needed to remove (or flush out) the adults who were desperately trying to keep the chicks warm (temperatures had dropped below freezing last night). I carefully put my hand into the box and removed one of the birds and placed it in a small cotton bag. This is a technique used when ringing birds, to keep them safe while waiting to ring them. When we attempted to remove the second bird, it flew out to safety.

With the adults out we carefully removed the nest and placed it in a safe place. It is very well constructed, almost solid and was easy to handle. Then we started with the tiny chicks. They were about 3cm long and I was afraid to pick them up using my hands so we got a tea spoon from the kitchen. We warmed it up and used it to carefully pick them up and put them into the cup of the nest. At the start I could only see two of the chicks moving but as I picked them up one by one they wiggled a little and I was relieved to know they were still alive.  There was one unhatched egg left, so it was placed in the cup of the nest also.

Tit nest with eggs - Somerset, April 2011

Once they were back in the nest we carefully positioned nest with chicks and egg back into the box. We repositioned the box and I placed the adult bird back into the box. It was all done very quickly and hopefully harmlessly. We breathed a small sigh of relief and crossed our fingers.

We aren’t exactly sure what happened. My guess is that the cat climbed up to the box and either got it’s paw into the hole or somehow opened the lid and attempted to take the adult or one of the chicks. I am a little shocked at how angry it has made me. I know that domestic cats kill millions of small birds every year, but I am going to do my best to prevent them taking the ones in my garden (I refrain from calling them mine, they are wild birds after all).

The nest gets very full when the chicks grow up!

Thankfully after I returned from Danish class this morning all seemed to be back to normal.  I listened closely to the box and could hear the chicks little “peep peep” calls and watched the adult birds take it in turns to carry food into the nest. The crisis this morning (and our intervention) doesn’t seem to have disturbed them to much. They adults do seem very cautious about entering the nest, spending quite a bit of time moving around the garden before going inside. Maybe they are making sure it’s safe before going inside, where they are almost trapped in a way.

We have made a few alterations to the box and it’s surrounds, in the hope that it might be a little more “cat proof”. I have also purchased a weapon (water gun!) to assist in deterring the enemy from attacking again.

Weapon for war – Odense May 2012!

It’s been a very stressful morning but fingers crossed things will progress as they should over the next few weeks and the chicks will get to see the big bad world. I didn’t want to disturb the birds and more than necessary, so have no photos from today.