The Chocolate Cake

The Chocolate Cake with black currant sorbet.

It's no secret that I'm married to a chocaholic. He will eat and love anything chocolate, and he will be very disappointed if you talk about chocolate notes in a whiskey, but all he feels is the burning alcohol.

Normally I'm not into cakes and desserts that are overly chocolaty, but this cake, has the right amount of chocolate to my taste. The texture is dense, with a slightly crispy crust. The small amount of flour makes it a little truffle like. The chocolate cake is perfect dessert cake, served with fresh fruit or fruit sorbets.

Serves 8-10.

Ingredients:

• 175 g dark chocolate, I used Valrhona
• 175 g butter, salted
• 175 g sugar
• ½ teaspoon vanilla paste
• ½ teaspoon strong coffee
• 4 eggs
• 1½ tablespoons all-purpose flour

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 355℉ (180℃). Grease a (8-inch by 8 inch / 20 cm x 20 cm) baking pan, and place a piece of parchment paper in the bottom, set aside. 

Melt butter and chocolate over low low heat (or in the microwave oven), until just melted. Stir in sugar, vanilla and coffee.  

Separate the egg yolks from the whites. Whip the whites until stiff peaks, set aside.

Mix the yolks with the flour, and mix it in the chocolate mixture.

Gently fold the egg whites in the chocolate mixture. Pour the batter into the prepared pan, and bake it for about 45 minutes. 

Let the cake cool completely before removing it from the pan. The cake will deflate somewhat.

Serve the cake with sorbet or fresh fruit.

Enjoy!

Danish Ham Salad - Skinkesalat

Danish Ham Salad

This is one the easiest lunch salads to make, and a very tasty one. If you like to get a lighter version, use half mayonnaise and half sour cream or yoghurt.

Serves 4.

Ingredients:

• 10 slices ham, diced
• 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
• ¼ onion, grated
• salt & pepper to taste
• chives, for sprinkling

Directions:

Mix ham, mayonnaise and onion in a bowl, season with salt and pepper. Serve the ham salad on a slice of Danish rye bread as an open-faced sandwich. Sprinkle some chopped chives. I love tomatoes with this salad, it give the sandwich a nice balance.

Enjoy!

Baileys French Toast

Bailey's French Toas 

Normally I like savory food  for breakfast, but sometimes I just have to have pancakes or french toast. 

We all know that Facebook is filled with videos with recipes, and this Baileys french toast is adapted from one of those videos, made by Taste. This was one recipe I had to try.
I tweaked the recipe a bit, and added the fresh berries. You need something healthy to at least try to balance the meal a bit.  

Serves 3-4. 

Ingredients:

Bailey's Whipped Cream:

• 100 ml heavy whipping cream
• 2 tablespoons Baileys 

French Toast:

• 100 ml heavy whipping cream
• 100 ml  Baileys 
• 3 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
• 1 teaspoon powdered sugar
• 1 pinch salt
• 4-6 slices brioche bread, sliced thick

Topping:

• raspberries
• grated chocolate

Directions:

Baileys Whipped Cream:

Whip the cream and Baileys in a bowl until medium stiff peaks, set aside

French Toast:

Mix eggs, cream, Baileys sugar, salt and vanilla in a shallow flat bowl.

Heat butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Give the brioche slices a quick dip in the in the egg-mixture. Fry the brioche until golden brown, then flip to cook the other side. Serve with Baileys whipped cream, fresh berries and a sprinkle of chocolate shavings.

Enjoy!

Baked Salmon with Sweet Mustard Sauce

Baked Salmon with Sweet Mustard Sauce

This is the best salmon ever. I know I've stated this before about a similar salmon recipe, but from now on, THIS is the way to cook salmon, no more adding any wine to the dish while baking!!

Normally I would serve a hollandaise, avocado hollandaise or a cold creme fraiche dressing with fresh dill with baked salmon. But this sweet mustard sauce was really good and paired really well with the salmon and spinach.

Serves 2-4

Ingredients:

Salmon:

• 2-3 portion-sized salmon, bones and skin removed
• ½ lemon, the juice from
• 1 teaspoon lemon pepper 
• ½ teaspoon olive oil, for greasing the baking dish

Sauce:

• 120 ml (½ cup) heavy whipping cream
• 120 ml (½ cup) Ravigotte sauce, or a sweet mustard sauce
• 40 g soft cream cheese, as a thickener 
• salt & pepper to taste

Directions:

Salmon:

Pre-heat the oven to 400℉ (200℃).

Place the salmon in the greased baking dish, drizzle with lemon juice, and sprinkle with lemon pepper. 

Bake the salmon for 12-18 minutes, until the salmon flakes easy with a fork. 

Sauce:

Mix cream cheese with cream and ravigotte sauce in a sauce pan, while heating. Season with salt and pepper.

Serve the salmon with boiled potatoes and a sautéed spinach and the mustard sauce.

Enjoy!

Pølsesalat - Danish Sausage Salad

Pølsesalat - Danish Sausage Salad

Pølsesalat, or Danish sausage salad, is a typical mayonnaise based lunch salad served on rye bread in Denmark. I remember standing at the butcher shop's deli section with my mom or dad, and the sausage salad would be my pick, if I had a say. And sometimes I was allowed to get it. I do believe that I was the only one in the family who liked it. As an adult, I still bought it now and again, for a trip down memory lane. Most deli's would have pieces of cold boiled potatoes in their sausage salad, but I left them out here. 

Serves 4.

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoons mayonnaise
• 1 tablespoon ravigotte sauce, or a sweet mustard
• 4 german franks, boiled, cooled, sliced
• chives, for sprinkle

Directions:

Put the german franks in a Bowl and pour over boiling water, let stand for about 5 minutes. Remove the franks and put them into a bowl with ice-water, set aside to cool.

Mix the mayonnaise and ravigote sauce together in a bowl. Slice up the franks, and mix them into the dressing. 

Serve the sausage salad on a slice of Danish rye bread, as an open-faced sandwich. Sprinkle some chopped chives on top.

Enjoy!