Oreo Dream Cake

It's strange...but I still remember the first time I tasted an Oreo cookie. I was about thirteen years old and it was the first time I was in the United States. The friends we were visiting, probably thought that the tall and skinny girl from The Netherlands could use a couple more pounds and introduced me to all kinds of American sweets among which Twinkies, Ding Dongs and last but not least....Oreo cookies.

Of all the different sweets I got to taste, Oreo cookies definitely were my favourites. Not just because of the taste, but also because of the whole ritual of eating the cookie. I can't just pick up an Oreo cookie and eat it just like that. I have twist the two chocolate cookies opposite ways until one of them is released - then I lick the cream off, stick the cookies back together, dip them in milk (if milk is readily available) and finally...eat the cookies.

Oreo cookies were introduced to Norway in 2004 by "Deli de Luca" - a cross between a deli, a newsstand and a convenience store. The cookies became a hit, especially when fancy cafés started to use them to make Oreo Dream Cake - a type of cheesecake. With a lot of Norwegians loving to bake, it didn't take long before the larger supermarket chains began selling Oreo cookies as well. Whereas Deli de Luca only has stores in the larger cities, the supermarket chains made sure the cookies were available throughout the whole country. In 2005 the import of Oreo cookies came to a halt, which led to the launching of "Dots" - an Oreo cookie rip-off made by the Norwegian cookie company "Sætre"- in February this year. Finally I could make Oreo Dream Cake again.... or Dots Dream Cake to be precise.

Oreo Dream Cake
(cake tin Ø 24 cm)

450 gr Oreo cookies / Dots
100 gr butter, melted
225 gr Philadelfia cream cheese
2,5 dl confectioner's sugar
7 dl cream (27 % fat)
2 eggs
3 tbsp sugar
250 gr dark chocolate

1.) Keep 5 Oreo cookies aside for decorating the cake. Put the rest of the cookies into a plastic bag and crush them using a rolling pin.

2.) Mix the cookie crumbs with the melted butter in a bowl.

3.) Put the cookie butter mixture into a cake tin (Ø 24 cm) lined with baking parchment and spread out to cover the whole bottom of the cake tin. This will be the bottom of the cake.

4.) Mix the Philadelfia cream cheese with the confectioner's sugar until light and creamy.

5.) Whip 3,5 dl of the cream. When whipped, mix in the Philadelfia mixture.

6.) Use half of the Philadelfia cream mixture to cover the bottom of the cake. Keep the rest aside until later.

7.) Melt the chocolate au bain marie and let it cool down a bit.

8.) Whisk the eggs and sugar for approximately 5 minutes until light and airy.

9.) Whip the rest of the cream in another bowl.

10.) Fold the whipped cream into the egg/sugar mixture.

11.) Gentle fold the melted chocolate into the mixture.

12.) Use all of the chocolate mixture to cover the Philadelfia cream mixture in the cake tin.

13.) Cover the chocolate mixture with the rest of the Philadelfia cream mixture.

14.) Chill and serve. (The cake is at it's best when it has rested in the fridge for 24 hours. It can also be put into the freezer, to be served as an ice cake.) Before serving, crush the remaining Oreo cookies and drissle on top of the cake for decoration.

Enjoy!

The Rolls Royce of Lunchboxes

A couple of months ago at lunch break, one of my colleagues came into the lunchroom with what has to be the Rolls Royce of lunchboxes - the Bento System 2.0 (yes, I know, it nearly sounds like software for your computer, especially when you hear the brand name...) by Laptop Lunches. The rest of the week I would be sitting across the table from her, waiting anxiously for her to open up her lunchbox so that I could discover what goodies she had brought with her that day. It took me a whole week to realize that I just had to get my own Rolls Royce of all lunchboxes.

The Bento System lunchbox was designed by two Californian moms, who wanted to provide their children with wholesome, low-waste, appealing lunches. I guess their inspiration was the Japanese bento - the lacquered boxes used in Japan to bring along a single-portion, home-packed meal that normally consists of rice, fish or meat, and one or more pickled or cooked vegetables.

I have been using my Bento lunchbox ever since it arrived on my doorstep. Before I had this lunchbox, I would pack my lunch early in the morning - just grabbing a couple of slices of bread, puting some slices of cheese or cured meat on it, puting it into a disposable plastic bag - and run off to the office. I didn't bring any veggies, I didn't pack any fruit and was therefore probably not getting the nutrients I needed.

Nowadays my routine is completely different. I already pack my lunch the evening before, and the different containers force me to think more about what to pack. I normally fill one of the medium containers with yoghurt and one of the small containers with muesli to go along with the yoghurt. In one of the large containers I put slices of apple with a bit of orange juice to prevent the apple from turning brown, or a banana cut into halfs, or even some leftover fruit salad. With space left for another large container, I would pack a sandwich with some veggies, or some leftovers from dinner. Now I am definitely getting all nutrients needed, my portions are controlled and thus helping me to control my weight, plus I am producing a lot less waste by not using as many disposable bags.

The Bento System I ordered, came with a with a sleeve and an ice pack, so that I can keep my food cold until lunch. I also ordered some extra inner containers, also called "Bento Buddies 2.0" (available in many different colours), which gives me more options to mix different sizes of inner containers and gives me the opportunity to wash some containers in the dishwasher while using others. All containers contain no phthalates, bisphenol A or lead.

I even ordered a Bento System for my husband, not sure whether he would really use it, but with manly dark blue inner containers (instead of the girly pink inner containers I have) and a ready made lunch waiting for him each morning, it was easy peasy!

Feel like owning your own Rolls Royce of all lunchboxes? If you are living in Norway, you can order your Bento System from Gode Stunder, like I did. If you are living in The Netherlands, you can order your own Laptop Lunchbox from the Dutch website of Laptop Lunches. For ordering from other countries, go to the American website of Laptop Lunches.

Have a nice lunch!

Kefir Waffles

Earlier this week my husband told me that he would eat "surmelk" (soured milk) with "kavring" (light, round, rather crumbly, twice-baked crispbread) when he was growing up. I couldn't really imagine what it would taste like, so the next time I was at the supermarket to get a whole weeks worth of groceries, I decided to get both ingredients so I could try this combination myself.

Kavring was easy to find, but I got confused in the dairy aisle because there are sold two different types of soured milk at the supermarkets here in Norway - "kefir" and "kulturmelk" (buttermilk). I decided therefore to bring a liter of each.

Back home again, it turned out that "kulturmelk" was the right type of soured milk. My husband prepared a bowl for me and I tasted it - although I have to admit I was very sceptical to begin with .... Well, guess what? It turns out that I actually grew up eating something very similar - but instead of using either kefir or buttermilk, we used yoghurt and added a couple of tablespoons of red berry syrup ("Roosvicee Original") to the yoghurt and crispbread. Memories came straight back to me!

Not a week goes by without waffles being eaten in our home, just like in many other Norwegian homes. Where Belgian waffles are rectangular, thick and crispy, Norwegian waffles are soft, thin and made in a heart shaped waffle iron. Normally I make the waffle batter with fresh milk, but with one liter of kefir left over I had to find a recipe for waffles using soured milk.

Kefir Waffles
(makes about 18)

4 eggs
6 tbsp sugar
1 ltr kefir
6 dl / 360 gr all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp ground cardamum
150 gr butter, melted

1.) Beat eggs and sugar until light and airy.

2.) Add the kefir and mix lightly.

3.) Mix the flour, baking powder and ground cardamum together, and add to the kefir mixture.

4.) Melt the butter and let it cool down a bit before adding it to the batter.

5.) Let the batter set for a while (preferably a day) before cooking in a waffle maker.

6.) After cooking in the waffle maker, let the waffles cool down (just a bit) on a rack. This will make sure that the waffles do not get soggy (which they will if you stack them on top of each other on a plate).

We serve the waffles with different types of yummy toppings: a couple of slices of Norwegian brown cheese, a spread of jam and sour cream, a spread of chocolate paste, a spread of speculoos (speculoos cookies turned into a spread) etc.

Enjoy!

Sætre's Oatmeal Cranberry Cookies

In 2009 the Norwegian cookie company called "Sætre" came with a new series of cookies - all marketed under the name "Café Bakeriet" (Café Bakery). They have been my favourites ever since, because these cookies just taste so good!!

I guess the one called "Sjokoladeterapi" (Chocolade Therapy) is a pretty good runner up, but my favourite one is the one called "Havre & Bare Bær" (Oatmeal and Berries). They are soft oatmeal cookies with raisins and cranberries.

Best of all, the recipe for the cookies is printed right on the package, so that everyone can have their own go at baking these crumptious cookies. So guess what I did today....I made my own batch of Oatmeal and Berries cookies!

Here's the recipe. Enjoy baking!

Sætre's Oatmeal Cranberry Cookies
(makes approx. 20 cookies)

Ingredients:
210 gr all-purpose flour
210 gr rolled oats
145 gr butter
55 gr dark muscovado sugar
90 gr sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp syrup (golden or dark)
110 gr raisins, chopped
75 gr dried cranberries, chopped
0,5 dl water


1.) Mix flour, baking powder, butter, sugar, rolled oats and salt in a bowl into a crumbly dough. Add syrup, cranberries, raisins and water and mix until it becomes a ball of dough.

2.) Shape the dough into a saucage, wrap with aluminium foil and let it rest in the fridge for 30 minutes.

3.) Cut the dough into disks of 1 cm wide and place them unto a baking sheet, greased or lined with parchment or wax paper.

4.) Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius. Then lower the temperature to 175 degrees Celsius and bake the cookies for 10 to 15 minutes on the middle rack of the oven. Cool on a rack. Store in air tight container.

Tea Time!

When I read fashion magazines, I normally don't immediately afterwards run to the nearest store to get some of the "hot new items" displayed (I'm definitely NOT a fashionista), but a couple of weeks ago I did just that!

I was on my way home from work and saw in the Norwegian women's magazine "KK" (aka "Kvinner og Klær"; "Women and Clothes") that the Dutch / Norwegian design team behind the jewellery brand Arts & Crafts was launching a jewellery line called "Tea Party" - a range of necklaces and bracelets with very cute cupcake pendants. With my love for baking cupcakes, I just had to have these necklaces. So I ran to the nearest store and ordered my favourites from this jewellery line. Last week they finally arrived.... :-)

Happy Easter !

Easter is - just like Christmas - a holiday full of traditions.

Here in Norway a lot of people spend Easter holiday at the family cabin ("hytte"). Those who own a cabin up in the mountains, spend Easter on skis enjoying the last bits of decent snow. Nowadays a lot of these cabins have all modern comforts - electricity, internet and last but not least, running water. Back in the days though, you had to heat the cabin using the wood stove, you had to melt and boil buckets full of snow to be able to drink water and wash yourself, and you had to put on shoes and plough through the last bits of snow to be able to go to the toilet in the outhouse. I guess those were the days that one of the Norwegian Easter traditions - the tradition of reading crime novels - began. Without TV or internet available, you had to entertain yourself during the evening either by reading books or playing games. Norway has a couple of renowned authors of crime novels, one of them is Jo Nesbø. This Easter I have read his debut novel "Flaggermusmannen" / "The Batman", which is the first of several novels about detective Harry Hole. Most of his crime novels are available in English, so next time you are at the book store...you might want to consider a novel by Jo Nesbø.

During the day, a lot of Norwegians spend time outside on their downhill or cross country skis. When out and about, there are three items most Norwegians bring in their backpacks - oranges, chocolate bars called "Kvikklunsj" ("Quick lunch") and sun lotion. At this time of the year the sun is finally returning after several dark winter months, and it seems like we all are desperate to get a bit of a tan. But why the oranges and the "Kvikklunsj"? Even after nearly nine years of living in Norway, I haven't gotten a proper explanation. I guess though that it's beacuse these food items back in the days were a luxury. Norway was at the beginning of the 20th century one of the poorest countries in Europe. It's was first in the late 1960s with the discovery of the oil fields off the coast of Norway, that Norway started to become one of the richest countries in the world.  My Norwegian father-in-law, born in the late 1940s, grew up with eight siblings. He has told me several times that if he was given an orange or a chocolate bar when growing up, he would have to split it nine ways and share with his siblings.

The chocolate bar "Kvikklunsj" was launched by the Norwegian chocolate brand "Freia" in the late 1930s as THE chocolate bar to bring along when hiking or skiing in the mountains, and has been associated with the outdoors ever since - especially because there are printed suggestions for different hikes right on the back of this chocolate bar. Statistics show that nearly 25 % of the yearly production of 50 million bars is eaten during the Easter holiday!!!

Some of the other Easter traditions seem more international. Even though my husband and I have grown up in different countries, we are both used to decorating the house with handpainted eggs hung from fresh tree branches; a big Easter breakfast with either omelette, egg salad, fried or boiled eggs; some form of lamb for Easter dinner, and an Easter egg hunt out in the garden (although I can imagine that it was harder for him than for me to find the eggs with all the snow). I try to keep some of these traditions alive, to unite past and future generations and because when they are gone, what will we have left?

Of course, I try to give the traditions a personal touch as well... The tree branches are mixed with tulips (by the way, you know you are a Dutchie living abroad when you are paying 13 euro for 15 tulips!!!), the boiled eggs at Easter breakfast are covered with home knitted, bunny-shaped egg warmers; and Easter decoration newly bought at the Easter markets in Cracow is used side by side with decorations from previous years.

Now I am off to the kitchen to bake an Easter cake and start marinating the leg of lamb that will be for dinner this evening, as my brother-in-law will be dropping by later today. That leaves me to wish you all a Happy Easter!

Zakhor. Al Tichkah. - Remember. Never Forget.

Last week I was in Cracow, Poland, on a business trip and used one of the days I had time off to travel to Oświęcim/Auschwitz to learn more about this dark part of history that never should be forgotten.

I really had to fight back tears after seeing the baby clothes and the suitcases of little Hanna - born in 1941 - and Clara - born in 1944 - which were collected after their arrival at the camp.

Just a couple of days before this visit to the Auschwitz Birkenau Memorial and State Museum, I had started to read Sarah's Key written by Tatiana de Rosnay after recommendations from both a colleague and one of my sisters.

Paris, July 1942: Sarah, a ten year-old Jewish girl, is arrested by the French police in the middle of the night, along with her mother and father. Desperate to protect her younger brother, she locks him in a cupboard and promises to come back for him as soon as she can.

Paris, May 2002: Julia Jarmond, an American journalist, is asked to write about the 60th anniversary of the Vel' d'Hiv'--the infamous day in 1942 when French police rounded up thousands of Jewish men, women and children, in order to send them to concentration camps.

Sarah's Key is the poignant story of two families, forever linked and haunted by one of the darkest days in France's past.

It is one of the most moving books I have ever read and at the same time a horrible reminder of what people can be capable of doing to others. Therefore, as Sarah wrote herself: Zakhor. Al Tichkah. - Remember. Never Forget.