Di-licious

These biscuits hold a very special place in my heart.  It's the first Norwegian recipe my mother gave me. Back in the day when I was a government PR girl, I would bake a big batch and gift wrap them in cellophane bags to give to my work colleagues.  After a couple of years they guys would get expectant looks on their faces in the last week of work - yes, they are that di-licious! I like to think of these as Norway's version of the Danish butter cookie you often see in gift tins at Christmas time except its made with love and not in a factory. The dough is really simple to make - cream the butter and sugar, add the egg and sift over the flour and mix til it forms a soft dough.  And when I say soft, I mean soft.  It has to be refrigerated otherwise its unmanageable. Ideally you would whip it up the night before and bake it the next day. You might also be interested to know that you can make these cookies with a heart smart margarine like ...

I'm ashamed to say that I’m not very fluent in Norwegian but I do have the important things down pat like chocolate - sjokolade , cake - kake , and thank you for the meal - takk for maten . Then of course there’s the important social greetings like “Hello” - Hei! “Happy Birthday” - Gratulerer med dagen , and Merry Christmas - God Jul . But there’s another part of the Norwegian language that I am slowly mastering – cookies. Cookies are the traditional language of Christmas in Norway.  Each year on Christmas Eve, families lay a feast which must include seven sorts of classic Christmas cookies.  My mum tells me the number varies according to the region you come from – she remembers her mum making twelve different cookies but these days seven is more common. These days most families buy their cookies for the Christmas table but there are still some husmors (housewives) who still bake the holiday favourites.  There are over twenty classic Christ...

It seemed like a good idea at the time. Drive to Byron Bay for my sister's wedding so we could transport the wedding cake I'd made her. A six day break where we spent four days in the car. Insane right? Did I mention I made a wedding cake? Not your quintessential tiered, fondant creation mind you.  In a nod to our Norwegian heritage, my sister asked me to make a traditional wedding cake called kransekake. If you haven’t seen one before, kransekake isn’t actually a cake; it’s a tower of eighteen sweet almond macaroon rings – think baked marzipan – ‘glued’ together with royal icing.  Instead of cutting the cake, the bride and groom lift the top ring.  The number of rings that stay attached to the top ring is supposed to signify how many children the happy couple will be blessed with.  The rings are then broken up into pieces (starting from the bottom) and served with coffee.  The dough is a cinch to make but its the baking that brin...

If you’ve been following my blog you’d know that earlier this week I celebrated Norway’s Constitution Day – hip hip hurrah!    The Norwegian Kitchen is a collection of traditional and new recipes from each region of Norway, presented by the Association of Norwegian Chefs.  Choosing just one cake recipe was hard but I decided to recreate a popular cake from my own childhood – apple cake. When I made the cake I thought three apples was a bit excessive and only used two. Once baked I regretted my decision – whilst still di-licious, the extra apple in the centre of the cake as well as on top would have provided a greater apple flavour and a moister cake. Definitely use two green cooking apples – in Australia we would use Granny Smiths. I made the cake the day of our afternoon tea so it was still slightly warm when served. The leftover cake was popped into an airtight container and consumed over a week. Kept in the fridge it stays quite fresh. To bring out the ...

It's Norway's national holiday today - hurrah! Whilst my Norwegian family were getting ready to head out to see the annual parade, back here in suburban Melbourne I held my own special celebration, dressing up Olive and baking a traditional treat. See this picture - that's me and my sister outside our old home in Sandefjord, on our way to the parade. I think I was 2.  The dress I'm wearing is called a bunad .   Based on traditional folk costumes, every region of Norway has their own special colours,  embrodiery and accessories. Fast forward 35 years and here's my daughter wearing that very dress and hat (and waving the same flag, albeit not quite so new looking now).  I love that my mum has preserved these touchstones of our culture. This year my parents are actually in Norway for my cousin's wedding and timed their arrival to be there for today's festivities. Rather than miltary parades, school children march through the t...