Kefir jelly with oh-so-sweet wild strawberries

2010 is an exceptional year, everything is ready too early. For example, the first autumn mushrooms came out already a few weeks ago. And some days ago we found ripe blueberries near our gate. The peas are a few weeks ahead of their time. Well, it is normal, that the wild strawberries are ready, but they are so abundant and this surprises me! And, of course, makes me really happy! My theory is, that the summer dishes shoul be really quick and easy, as you do not want to stay in the hot kitchen for a long time. You want to sit outside in the sun, drink a glass of cold wine and eat something light and tasty. This dessert is perfect in that sense, it is so easy that it´s hard to believe :). You need (for 4-5):

300 ml kefir

3 gelatine leaves

6 tsp of sugar

seeds of 1/2 vanillapod

1/2 tsp of grated lemon peel

150 gr of wild strawberries

Add sugar, vanilla seeds and lemon peel to kefir, mix through. Soak te gelatine leaves in cold water for a few minutes. Squeeze out the excess water and melt the gelatine, stirring continuously, on low heat. Pour in the kefir, still stirring until even. Add some wild strawberries to every ramekin you are going to use. Pour the kefir on top of them. Cover with cling film and put to fridge for a few hours. Serve with some more strawberries!

Keefiritarretid metsmaasikatega (4-5-le)

Vaja läheb:

300 ml keefiri

3 lehte želatiini

6 tl suhkrut

1/2 tl sidrunikoort

1/2 vanillikauna seemned

150 gr metsmaasikaid

Sega keefir, suhkur, vanilliseemned ja riivitud sidrunikoor. Lase želatiinil mõned minutid külmas vees seista, pigista üleliigne vesi välja. Kuumuta pidevalt segades, kuni kogu želatiin on sulanud. Vala keefir peene joana želatiini sisse, ise pidevalt segades. Pane igasse ramekinvormi mõned metsmaasikad ja vala peale keefirisegu. Kata toidukilega ja pane mõneks tunniks külmkappi. Serveerimisel lisa veel maasikaid!

Really rich knights

Remember the sweet eggy fried breads that are called "poor knoghts"? If we believe Wikipedia, then it is eaten in almost all the countries of the world, with slight variations and under different names. Well, we eat it here in estonia, too. But if you add a thick yoghurt with roasted strawberries and vanilla flavoured whipped cream and sprinkle over some chopped hazelnuts, then it would be very unfair to name them "poor". I would say, they are very rich, tasy and glamorous!

You need:

8 thick slices of good white bread

2 eggs

200 ml milk

2 tbs sugar

Mix the eggs, sugar and milk well. Dip the slices of bread in the mixture, hold for a few seconds and fry in hot butter on a pan until they are golden on both side.

200 ml thick natural yoghurt (or buy the usual natural yoghurt and drain it)

150 ml fresh strawberries

3 tbs brown sugar

a few drops of balsamico

1 ts grated lemon zest

Halve the strawberries, put them on a baking tray, sprinkle over with brown sugar, lemon zest and a few drops of balsamico. Cover with foil and bake in the oven of 180 degrees for about 20 minutes until they are soft. Strain away the liquid (makes a delicious drink with water and lemon). Push the strawbrries a bit with a fork and mix with the yoghurt.

150 ml whipping cream

2 tbs of sugar

seeds from one vanillapod

Mix the sugar, vanilla seeds and the cream. Whip until firm.

Serve the fried bread, putting a tablespoon of strawberry yoghurt and another of vanilla cream on them. Sprinkle over with a tablespoon of chopped hazelnuts. Makes a beautiful weekend breakfast for strawberry season!

Tõeliselt rikkad rüütlid

Vaja läheb:

8 lõiku head saia

2 muna

200 ml piima

2 spl suhkrut

Sega munad, piim ja suhkur. Kasta saiaviilud segusse ja hoia mõned sekundid. Prae kuumas võis mõlemalt poolt kuldseks.

200 ml paksemat maitsestamata jogurtit (või nõruta tavalisest liigne vedelik välja)

150 ml värskeid maasikaid

3 spl pruuni suhkrut

1 tl riivitud sidrunikoort

mõned tilgad balsamico äädikat

Poolita maasikad. Pane ahjupannile, raputa peale pruun suhkur, sidrunikoor ja mõned tilgad balsamicot.

Kata vorm fooliumiga ja küpseta 180 kraadi juures ca 20 minutit kuni maasikad on pehmed. Suru maasikaid kahvliga pisut puruks, nõruta välja vedelik ja sega maasikad jogurtisse.

150 ml vahukoort

2 spl suhkrut

vanilliseemned ühest vanillikaunast

Sega vahukoor suhkru ja vanilliseemnetega. Klopi korralikult vahule.

Serveeri praetud saiad, tõstes neile peale lusikatäis maasikajogurtit ja teine vanilli-vahukoort ning raputa peale veidi haitud metspähkleid. Suurepärane nädalalõpuhommikusöök suviseks maasikahooajaks!

Sweet curd cheese donut-balls

I still remember my happiness every time my mom decided to make those delicious little curd cheese donuts when I was a child. If you are looking for them in Estonia, look for something called "kohupiima pontšikud". They look so beautiful in their golden brown colour and tender icing sugar cover. The curd cheese in the batter gives a subtle sourness to them that suites so perfectly with the sweetness of the sugar. If you cannot get the curd cheese, then try to replace it with the cottage cheese (pushed through a sieve) or Petit Suisse (as my good friend Mari, who has lived in France, suggested). You need:

200 gr of curd cheese
1 ts baking powder
2 eggs
10 tbs milk
4 tbs sugar
400 gr wheat flour
a bit of grated nutmeg or orange peel
pinch of salt
icing sugar for serving
Rapeseed oil for deep frying

Mix curd cheese, eggs and milk. Add baking powder, sugar, flour and salt, mix until smooth. Season with nutmeg or orange peel. Heat oil (enough to cover the donut balls) up. Test if it is hot enough putting a wooden spoon in, if small bubbles start to come up, the oil is ready for frying. Take a bit of batter with tablespoon and pop the batter to oil. Repeat the same over and over again, until you have many little donut balls getting a golden skin in the oil. Remove the donuts and put them on a kitchen paper, to get rid of the extra oil. When the sweet little balls have cooled down, serve them with some icing sugar sprinkled on! Lovely with a big cup of fesh cold milk!



Kohupiimapontšikud

200 gr kohupiima
2 muna
1 tl küpsetuspulbrit
10 spl piima
4 spl suhkrut
400 gr jahu
riivitud muskaatpähklit või apelsinikoort
suts soola
serveerimiseks tuhksuhkrut
Rapsiõli pontšikute praadimiseks

Sega kokku kohupiim, munad ja piim. Lisa küpsetuspulber, suhkur, jahu ja sool. Sega ühtlaseks ja maitsesta muskaatpähkli või apelsinikoorega. Kuumuta õli potis. Et õli kuumust testida, pista puust lusikas õli sisse, kui selle pinnalt hakkavad üles tõusma väisked mullid, on õli piisavalt kuum. Vala supilusikatäied tainast õli sisse ja prae, kuni nad on kuldpruunid. Tõsta köögipaberile nõrguma. Serveerimisel raputa nad üle tuhksuhkruga. Maitseb imehästi tassikese külma piimaga!

Curd cheese bar with chocolate and raspberry sauce - children love it

There is a very typical estonian sweet snack, in estonian the name is Kohuke, in english it means something like chocolate glazed curd cheese bar (translation from Nami-Nami). The real thing looks like a little roll, covered everywhere with a thin layer of chocolate. This is something all the estonian children are craving for when they are away from here. And adults also, I have to admit. It is a good kind of snack, as it is not that unhealthy as the snacks usually are. I like the taste of a good kohuke - having a slightly sour curd cheese with a bit bittersweet chocolate, sometimes with just a few drops of berry jam inside. So I decided to turn this trio of tastes to a dessert and serve it after lunch. You need (for 4 servings):

For the bar:

200 gr of curd cheese

50 gr of unsalted butter

100 gr sugar

0,5 ts of grated lemon peel

seeds from one vanilla pod

For the coating:

100 gr od dark chocolate

50 gr of butter

For the rasperry sauce:

100 gr (frozen or fresh) raspberries

50 gr sugar

0,5 ts of grated lemon

Mix together the curd cheese and butter. You might need to soften the butter slightly in microwave or leave it out to room temperature for a while. Mix well, you don´t want to have pieces of butter in your dessert. Add the sugar, vanilla seeds and lemon peel. Mix through. Roll it to tin foil and keep in freezer for about half an hour (until it is firm). While the curd cheese roll is in freezer, melt the chocolate and butter on bain-marie. Remove the rolled curd cheese from freezer and cut to 4 nice pieces. Put the curd cheese bars to serving plates and let a big spoonful of melted chocolate to flow over the edges. Keep in cool place for a couple of more minutes and cover with sauce made of crushed raspberries, sugar and lemon peel.

Šokolaadi ja vaarikakastmega kaetud kohupiimadessert kohukese ainetel

Vaja läheb (4-le):

200 gr kohupiima

100 gr suhkrut

50 gr võid

vanilliseemned ühest vanillikaunast

0,5 tl riivitud sidrunikoort

Šokolaadikatte jaoks:

100 gr tumedat šokolaadi

50 gr võid

Kastme jaoks:

100 gr vaarikaid (külmunud või värskeid)

50 gr suhkrut

0,5 tl riivitud sidrunikoort

Sega kokku kohupiim ja pehme või. Sega hästi, et võitükke sisse ei jääks. Lisa suhkur, vanilliseemned ja sidrunikoor. Sega uuesti läbi, aseta foolimile ja rulli pikaks toruks. Pane pooleks tunniks sügavkülma. Samal ajal sulata veevannil šokolaadvõiga vedelaks. Tõsta kohupiimatoru välja ja lõika sellest 4 ühesuurust väikest toru. Aseta desserditaldrikutele ja vala igaühele peale suur lusikatäis sulašokolaadi. Pane veel paariks minutiks külmikusse tahenema ja vala enne serveerimist peale vaarikakaste purustatud vaarikatest, suhkrust ja sidrunikoorest.

Traditional oatcookies with chocolate-hazelnut twist

Oatcookies are the kind of cookies that every mom in Estonia has made when children have wanted something sweet. They´re quick and easy to make. This time I added a special twist to those traditional cookies, to make them more festive. Hazelnuts and dark chocolate are both also very estonian things. In fact you can pick hazelnuts from the forest everywhere in Estonia during autumn. So, if you´re in a hurry, you want something sweet, but at the same time healthy, here it comes. You need (for two big bakingtrays):

500 gr of oatflakes (preferably not the instant-porridge ones)

250 gr sugar

200 gr of butter

200 gr wheat flour

6 eggs

50 gr of hazelnuts

100 gr ofdark chocolate

Mix sugar with butter. Add eggs, one by one, mixing constantly. After the eggs, sift in flour and mix in the oatflakes. Mix through. Cover the bakingtray with bakingpaper and put spoonfuls of cookiebatter on. Push a hazelnut or two to every cookie and pinch the batter to cover the nut. Bake in preheated 180 C oven for about 20 minutes or until golden. Remove from oven and let it cool down. Melt the chocolate on bain-marie and cover every chocolate with a teaspoonful of melted chocolate. Sprinle some chopped hazelnut on top. Serve when the chocolate has become hard again.

Kaerahelbeküpsised metsapähkli ja tumeda šokolaadiga

500 gr kaerahelbeid (mitte kiirpudruhelbeid, kui võimalik)

200 gr võid

250 gr suhkrut

6 muna

200 gr jahu

50 gr metsapähkleid

100 gr tumedat šokolaadi (nt Bitter)

Sega või ja suhkur pehmeks vahuks. Lisa ükshaaval munad, pidevalt segades. Sõelu sisse jahu, lisa kaerahelbed ja sega korralikult läbi. Kata ahjupann küpsetuspaberiga, tõsta sellele supilusikatäied küpsisetainast. Suska igasse taignakuhja pähkel või kaks. Näpista tainast pealt nii et pähkel saab kaetud. Küpseta 180 kraadises ahjus umbes 20 minutit või kuni küpsised on ilusti kuldsed. Lase jahtuda. Sulata šokolaad veevannil ja tõsta igale küpsisele teelusikatäis šokolaadi. Puista peale hakitud metsapähkleid ja lase šokolaadiglasuuril tahkuda enne serveerimist.

The good old Spotted dog

Here comes a really really traditional estonian dessert. When I was a child, this was one of the most common (and waited) treats on birthday tables. It is easy to make and easy to change according to your own preferences.

The last time I made this, was actually in Thailand. My 4-year old daughter went to kindergarden there and every child had to bring a dish from her home country for the Christmas party. It doesn´t need baking and you can get all the ingrediences probably everywhere in the world. You need:
600 gr of cookies of your own choice
250 gr unsalted butter
50 gr of dark chocolate (over 70 %)
A bit of chopped sour marmalade
A bit of chopped marshmellows
A bit of chopped nuts, dried fruits, raisins, meringue, halvah if you like
3 tbs of cacao powder
A bit of milk, if needed

Smash the cookies. Melt the butter, mix in the cookies and all the chopped ingridiences. If the mixture is too dry to shape, add a little bit of milk. Mix well. Roll a long and round roll, cover with plastic and let it stay in the fridge for at least 4 hours. Then remove plastic and cut quickly to about 5 mm thick slices. Keep in fridge until served. Goes well with fresh coffee ot tea.


PS! Inspiration for this recipe came from a beautiful estonian foodblog Pisike ja pisut segi



Vana hea kirju koer

Vaja läheb:
600 g küpsiseid
250 g võid
50 g tumedat šokolaadi (ca 70%)
peoga haput marmelaadi, tükelda
peoga vahukomme, tükelda
soovi korral mandleid, pähkleid, kuivatatud puuvilju, rosinaid, halvaad, beseetükke, vms.
3 sl kakaod
vajadusel tilgake piima

Purusta küpsised. Sulata või, sega küpsisepuru ja muude lisanditega. Kui segu on liiga kuiv ja voolimatu, siis lisa tilgake piima. Rulli toidukile sees pikaks ümmarguseks vorstiks. Lase külmkapis seista vähemalt 4 h, et Koer piisavalt tihke tuleks ja teda lõigata saaks!