Energy bars

On our hike to the top of Skoften yesterday, we brought along with us some delicious homemade energy bars...So should you go for a hike, you might want to consider making these ahead of time! The mixture of flavours, especially of syrup and peanut butter is really good! (But I may be biased, as I'm addicted to peanut butter!) Ok....lots of energy in these energy bars, and that energy comes from lots of calories...but by hiking before and after eating one of these, you'll burn those calories right off again!

Energy Bars
(makes about 20)

Ingredients:
3 dl crushed bran flakes / rolled oats
1 dl dried / shredded coconut
2 dl nuts (any type), coarsely chopped
1 dl sunflower seeds
1 dl raisins
1,5 dl peanut butter
1,5 dl dark syrup / agave syrup

Preparation:
1.) Mix all the dry ingredients in a medium sized bowl.
2.) Melt the peanut butter and the syrup in a pan on medium heat, whilst stirring continuously.
3.) Mix the melted peanut butter and syrup with the other ingredients.
4.) Pour into a small baking tray (20 x 30 cm) that is lined with baking parchment.
5.) Use the back of a spoon to flatten and spread out the mixture.
6.) Put the baking tray into the fridge for at least 20 minutes, to let the mixture set.
7.) Cut the mixture into squares and wrap each square individually with baking parchment.
8.) Put the squares into the freezer and just take out as many energy bars as you will need for each trip. They will thaw just enough during the first couple of hours of your hike, so that they can be eaten without breaking any teeth, yet still be sticky enough to not fall apart.

Hubby rating: 6-

Enjoy!

Coffee Walnut Cake

Today we'll be going out to the farm to celebrate (with sour cream porridge) that this year's grass harvest is done, and my father-in-law's 61st birthday (with lots of cake!). Whereas in The Netherlands it is the tradition that the person celebrating his or her birthday provides cake to the guests, here in Norway it seems to me that the tradition is the other way around - that the guests bring cake for the one we celebrate. Anyway, a great occasion to test out a new recipe - so I made Coffee Walnut Cake!

The recipe was originally for one layer covered with buttercream frosting, but it look so tiny to me - not at all like a big birthday cake.... So I made another layer to stack on top with buttercream frosting in between. Well....after carving a pretty big piece of the cake and having a bite or two or three....I understood that one layer would have done appetite-wise...This cake is rich!!!

Coffee Walnut Cake
(makes 1 cake of Ø 24 cm, consisting of 2 layers)

Ingredients:
- for the cake layers:
340 gr butter, at room temperature
280 gr sugar
6 eggs
280 gr self-rising flour
160 gr walnuts, chopped
5 tsp of instant coffee, dissolved in 2 tbsp of boiling water

- for the buttercream frosting:
4 tsp of instant coffee, dissolved in 4 tbsp of warm milk
190 gr butter, at room temperature
250 gr confectioner's sugar/powdered sugar

1.) Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius.
2.) Grease or line with baking parchment two springform pans of 24 cm in diameter.
3.) Start making the dough for the cake layers by mixing the butter with the sugar in a large bowl, until the mixture becomes light and creamy.
4.) Add the eggs one at a time.
5.) Sieve the self-rising flour and stir it into the butter/sugar mixture.
6.) Add the chopped walnuts and the coffee, and stir it into the mixture.
7. ) Divide the dough over the two springform pans.
8.) Bake the cakes 20 to 25 minutes on the middle rack of the oven.
9.) Leave on a rack to cool down.

10.) Make the frosting by mixing the butter, powdered sugar and coffee mixture.
11.) When the cakes have cooled down, spread a little frosting on top of one of the layers.
12.) Stack the other layer on top.
13.) Cover the rest of the cake with the remaining frosting.
14.) Decorate with walnuts (and chocolate).

Enjoy!

Chocolate Pine Nut Cantuccini

One of my best friends here in Norway bought her first own apartment a couple of weeks ago....and as she is a passionate baker like I am .... not to forget a trained culinary chef (which I am definitely NOT), the kitchen that came with the apartment didn't meet her demands. So, off we went to the nearest IKEA (a 4 hour drive from our village of Molde....yes, IKEA stores are far apart here in Norway, strangely enough) to get one of those flat packed kitchens.

Putting all the cabinets together wasn't a problem, but there were some electric sockets that either needed rewiring or to be moved, and some plumbing needed to be done. So, all of a sudden her apartment got run down by handymen. What keeps handymen happy? Coffee, cakes and cookies!

So I made some Chocolate Pine Nut Cantuccini in my own kitchen (which also could do with an IKEA make-over) to bring over....Ok, cantuccini might be a bit fancy, and not as butch as these handymen...but these are delicious! First the rich chocolate taste hits your palate, then the pine nuts add texture and right in the end....a hint of lemon. You really have to make these at least once!! The recipe is from the Dutch cookbook TIP Bakken, which unfortunately seems not to be available anymore.

Chocolate Pine Nut Cantuccini
(makes about 30)

Ingredients:
1 egg
2 egg yolks
175 gr sugar
175 gr all-purpose flour
40 gr cacao
1/2 tsp of baking powder
a pinch of salt
125 gr pine nuts
1-2 tsp of lemon (or lime) zest

1.) Preheat the oven to 190 degrees Celsius.
2.) Mix the egg together with one of the egg yolks and the sugar until it forms a light and airy mixture.
3.) Sift the flour, cacao and baking powder into the egg/sugar mixture, and add the salt, pine nuts and lemon/lime zest as well.
4.) Knead the mixture until it forms a dough.
5.) Shape the dough into rectangulars which are approximately 3 cm wide and 1 cm thick, and place them unto a baking tray lined with parchment paper.

6.) Whisk the last egg yolk with a fork, and brush the dough with it.
7.) Bake the cookies for 10 to 15 minutes on the middle rack of the oven.
8.) Remove from the oven, and let the cookies cool down a bit. Then cut the rectangulars up into smaller pieces, approximately 1 cm wide.
9.) Put the pieces back unto the baking tray lined with parchment paper, and bake them  another 15 to 20 minutes on the middle rack of the oven, until crunchy.
10.) Let the cantuccini cool down on a rack.

Serve these cookies with your favourite type of coffee....whether it's a latte or an espresso....dip them into the cofee and enjoy!