Sparkling Ink

{ chewy ginger cookies }

A moment of happiness - cup of coffee with homemade cookies. These cookies have just the flavor of ginger I love and great chewy texture. I return back to this recipe time after time.

Ingredients (makes 30)

- 100g butter, soft
- 1/3 cup (1 dl) sugar
- 1 tablespoon vanilla sugar
- 2 tablespoons dark syrup (or golden syrup)
- 1 cup (2 1/2 dl) flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger

Beat soft butter, sugar, vanilla sugar and syrup until light and fluffy. Combine flour, baking soda and ginger in a separate bowl, and mix it into the dough.

Form the dough into three flat bars (around 1/2 inch thick) on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Press stripes on the bars using a fork.

Bake at 350 F (175 C) for 15 minutes or until golden. Allow the cookie bars to cool for a few minutes. Cut them into slices and cool completely. Store in an air-tight container.

 

{ chili cashews }

Hello friends. Hello March. For the first time after the cold winter, I feel the approaching spring. I get so much energy from the light mornings and the warm feeling of the sun on my back when I'm walking on the street.

While B is traveling for work, I'm planning to read through food blogs, old cookbooks and magazines with spring food in mind. Sara's post is my first spring favorite. I'm also going to have a few after work drinks with friends. These chili cashews are perfect with a few drinks. A very addictive mix of saltiness and heat from the chili with a hint of sweetness.

Ingredients

- 300 g cashews (not salted or roasted)
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 tablespoon dark syrup
- 2 teaspoons dried chili flakes
- a generous pinch of salt (such as Maldon)

Heat oil in a large drying pan over medium heat. Add in cashews. Mix in syrup, chili flakes and salt. Toss the nuts around until they are fragrant and start to brown. Transfer in a bowl and serve.

 

{ best roast chicken }

On a cold Sunday, I needed simple and slow food. Cozy and warm time in the kitchen. My perfect roasted chicken doesn't need much extra. A bit of lemon and herb. Olive oli and butter. Oh, I could eat this all winter long.

Ingredients (serves 4)

- 1.4 kg chicken
- 2 tablespoons butter
- fresh basil
- dried oregano
- 1 lemon
- 4 carrots
- 2 onions
- 1 garlic bulb
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- coarse salt (such as Maldon)
- freshly ground black pepper

Take the chicken out of the fridge 30 minutes before putting it in the oven. Peel and roughly chop the carrots and onions. Break the garlic bulb into cloves. Transfer them into an oven dish or roasting pan, drizzle with olive oil and toss.

Push a little bit of butter under the skin. Rub more butter, chopped basil, dried oregano and a drizzle of olive oil all over the chicken. Liftit on top of the vegetables. Cut a washed lemon into four pieces and put the pieces inside the bird's cavity.

Bake at 430 F (225 C) for 1 hour. Lower the oven temperature to 400 F (200 C). Spoon liquid from the pan on the chicken, and bake for 20-30 minutes more until crispy and golden. Cover with foil and let rest for 15 minutes before serving.

 

{ blueberry lemon crumb bars }

The view from the window is a good reminder that fresh local berries are still months away. It's freezing cold and snowy! So, when it comes to berries, I need to think about what I have in my freezer. And to be honest, I find frozen berries quite tricky with baking. Have you made a pie or pastries that just turned way too wet and mushy? I have. Oh, many times. This recipe is different and perfect for frozen blueberries - they turn into a gorgeous, almost jelly like layer with the help of corn starch. They are easy to pack on the go - truly homemade tasting snack bars.

Ingredients (makes 20-25)

- 3 cups flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 lemon, zest and juice
- 8 ounces (225 g) butter
- 1 egg
- 2 1/2 cups blueberries, fresh or frozen
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 4 tablespoons corn starch

Combine flour, baking powder, sugar and salt. Grate lemon zest into the mixture. Cut in cold butter. When the mixture is evenly crumbly, add in an egg. Mix just until combined.

Mix blueberries, sugar and lemon juice. Add in corn starch and toss well. Press half of the dough into the bottom of an oven dish (9 x 13 inches / 20-30 cm) lined with parchment paper. Spread the blueberry mixture on top. Crumble the remaining dough evenly on top of the berries.

Bake at 375 F (190 C) for 45 minutes or until the top is golden. Cool completely, and after that preferably allow them to set in the fridge for a few hours. Cut into bars.

 

{ baked fruit }

How have you been? My February has started the same way my year did. I have been busy balancing between new projects at work and writing food posts for Lily. (It's only in Finnish but I'd love it if you stopped by to see my new column there!) I have sat in the train between two cities for work and went to the cottage with B last weekend.

Cooking after work has been very simple: a few quick curries, spaghetti and garlic tomato sauce (and maybe some take-away Chinese too). On a busy night, having an easy dessert recipe up your sleeve makes all the difference. This one is a real weeknight treat.

Ingredients (serves 4-6)

- 6-10 stone fruit; plums, nectarines, peaches
- 1 vanilla bean
- 3 tablespoons butter, melted
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- juice of 1 orange
- vanilla ice cream for serving

Halve and stone the fruit. You can cut the biggest halves into a few rough slices. Put the fruit into an oven dish. Slice vanilla bean in half lenghtwise and scrape off the seeds. Mix the seeds with melted butter, and add in sugar and orange juice. Pour the mixture on top of the fruit and toss to coat.

(Put the remaining vanilla bean into a jar of sugar - it will turn into fragrant vanilla sugar in a few days.)

Bake at 400 F (200 C) for 10-15 minutes until the fruit looks soft and juicy. Layer baked fruit and vanilla ice cream in small glasses and serve.

 

{ beet and tangerine salad }

The citrus fruits are incredible this time of year. Grapefruits, oranges, tangerines. Just seeing a bowl of them brightens up my morning. Year 2011 has started busy with more new challenges than I expected a few months ago. Doesn't new year just always make you rethink life? Change a few routines. Try something new.

This salad fits the January state of mind well. Beet, citrus, red onions and cranberry dressing are perfectly sweet and tangy together. Just what I need for a simple lunch or light dinner. A kind reminder to slow down and enjoy simple things. 

Ingredients (serves 4)

- 4 pickled red beets
- 3 tangerines
- 1 small red onion
- 1 large punch of frisee lettuce

{ dressing }
- 3 tablespoons cranberry juice
- 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

Slice pickled beets and peeled tangerines. Cut a small red onion into thin strips. Mix the dressing ingredients and pour some in a bowl full of lettuce. Toss until lightly coated. Add in sliced beets, tangerines and onion. Drizzle with a touch more dressing and serve.

{ recipe inspiration from bon appetit }

 

{ grape salsa and goat cheese crostinis }

Hope your new year has started wonderfully. I found a lovely and unexpected combination of flavors - grapes, onion, vinegar and goat cheese together are something that I will definitely return to again.

Let the new year be full of happiness, lovely surprises, new challenges, joy and dreams. Let it be about things that are important to us, things we love, enjoy and are passionate about. Let's make it our own. Happy 2011!

Ingredients (makes 15)

- 1 baguette
- 7 ounces (200 g) soft goat cheese

{ salsa }
- 18 ounces (500 g) red grapes
- 1 red onion
- fresh parsley
- 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
- salt & pepper

Slice the baguette and toast the slices quickly in the oven until crispy. Chop the grapes and onion. Finely chop some parsley. Mix in a bowl and add in red wine vinegar. Season lightly with salt and pepper. Spread a generous layer of goat cheese on the bread slices. If the goat cheese seems too stiff, mix in a splash of milk to make it more spreadable. Spoon a big spoonful of grape salsa on top and serve.

{ recipe adapted from sprouted kitchen }

 

{ cinnamon chocolate nuts }

Slow down, kick back and relax.
Have a warm Christmas time with lots of laughter, enjoying all the wonders of the season!

Cinnamon chocolate nuts (7 ounces)

- 7 ounces (200 g) walnuts and almonds
- 4 ounces (115 g) dark chocolate
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon
- 1/2 tablespoon cocoa powder

Toast walnuts in 300 F (150 C) oven until fragrant. Let cool completely. Melt roughly chopped chocolate in a bowl over steaming pot of water on low heat. Stir on heat until melted and smooth. Toss the walnuts and almonds a few at a time in the melted chocolate, and transfer onto a parchment paper to set.

Mix cinnamon and cocoa powder in a small freezer bag. Toss the set chocolate covered nuts in the powder until evenly coated.

{ recipe adapted from Green Kitchen Stories }

{ chocolate fruitcake }

Fruitcake is not usually my favorite but I still want to make one every Christmas. I have been testing and combining different recipes over the years, and this year, I'm especially pleased with the result. In addition to chocolate fruitcake, you could as easily call this recipe boiled cake. The trick of the flavorful and fragrant cake is that the batter is all prepared in a pot and boiled gently before baking it in the oven.

You can choose your own favorite combination of dried fruit. My mixture was dried apricots, raisins, dates and cherries. Cocoa powder gives the cake an incredibly smooth chocolaty flavor. For a finishing touch, the cake gets a delicate layer of powdered sugar on top. I used a homemade paper snowflakes as a stencil to make the fruitcake look as Christmasy as it tastes like.

Ingredients (16 pieces)

- 3 cups (7 dl) dried fruit
- 1 cup (2 1/2 dl) brown sugar
- 4 1/2 ounces (125 g) butter
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- generous pinch of nutmeg
- 1 1/2 cup (3 1/2 dl) cold water
- 1/2 cup (1 1/4 dl) freshly squeezed orange juice
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 eggs
- 2 cups (5 dl) flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 2 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
- powdered sugar for dusting

Roughly chop the dried fruit. Combine dried fruit, brown sugar, butter, cinnamon, nutmeg, cold water and orange juice in a large pot. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium heat. Reduce the heat a bit and simmer gently for 25 minutes.

Remove from heat and mix in baking soda. Let it bubble and cool for 10 minutes stirring a few times. Add in eggs one at a time and mix. Combine flour, baking powder and cocoa powder and stir in the batter. Scoop the batter into a greased cake pan (around 11 inch, 28 cm) and smooth out the top. Bake at 320 F (160 C) for over an hour until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean and the top has browned beautifully. Allow to cool and remove from the pan.

Cut a snowflake stencil from paper, and place it on top of the cake. Dust the cake with powdered sugar and remove the stencil.

 

{ holiday bread pudding }

To me, bread pudding is the most inviting and cozy winter dessert. I thought I would do some brainstorming of how bread pudding could dress up for the holidays. I love the result. Chocolate, nuts, currants and powdered sugar make the classic dish beautifully festive. You can find this recipe and much more Christmas inspiration in the new issue of G2K. One week to go until Christmas. Can't wait.

Holiday bread pudding (serves 6-8)

- 8 slices white bread
- 450 ml (2 cups) milk
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 130 g (4 1/2 ounces) chocolate
- 2 eggs
- 100 g (3 1/2 ounces) sugar
- 1 tablespoon vanilla sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- a pinch of nutmeg
- pecans, currants, chocolate shavings for the top
- powdered sugar for dusting

Toast bread slices at 150 C for 10 minutes until crispy. Tear the bread into pieces and transfer into a greased oven dish. Heat milk, butter and 100 g chocolate in a sauce pan stirring constantly just until melted. Remove from heat. In a bowl, whisk together eggs, sugar and vanilla sugar. Add in cinnamon and nutmeg. Mix in the milk chocolate mixture and pour over the bread.

Bake at 150 C for 25-30 minutes. Let cool for a few minutes and decorate with pecans and currants. Shave the remaining chocolate and sprinkle on top. Dust with powdered sugar.