GINGERBREAD / PEPPARKAKOR

I am finally back :)
It is December again and what would be xmas time without the smell of gingerbread in the house.

This xmas will be special with my newborn baby boy and my husband. I know my child is still too young to really understand what is going on around him but I am happy to introduce him to many of the xmas traditions I know.

The thin crunchy gingerbread (called pepparkakor in swedish and piparkoogid in estonian) cookies are very popular in Nordic countries during the xmas time. They are different from the more soft cookies in Germany and Switzerland.

INGREDIENTS

2dl syrup
2dl muscovado sugar
1 tbsp ground cinnamon
1 tbsp ground cardamom
 2 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp ground ginger
2 eggs
250g butter
ca 700g flour
2 tsp baking powder

Mix the sugar, syrup with spices and bring to boil. Add butter and remove from heat and cool. Add eggs, one at the time. Mix flour with baking powder and add to the syrup mix.

Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least one day and max up to 2 weeks.

Preheat the owen 200 degrees C.

Roll out part of the dough very thin on the lightly floured surface. Cut into desired shapes and bake in the middle of owen 4-5 minutes.

BUTTERMILK PANCAKES

-18C this morning.

I think I am the only one in Switzerland at the moment who is not complaining about the cold weather.

I love it.

I am really enjoying it.

I don't want it to get warmer.
Not yet.
It is so nice.

I love the real cold snow sounds.
Crunch Crunch Crunch

And I am eating buttermilk pancakes with soft cheese and salmon as the snow falls softly outside my window.

Ingredients

3dl Buttermilk

2 eggs

2 dl plain flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon sugar  
1 tsp baking powder

oil/butter 

Smoked salmon
Soft cheese

Beat eggs with sugar. Add buttermilk and salt. Mix flour with baking powder and add it to milk mixture. Whisk everything together and (if you can ;)) let the batter rest for 20 minutes.

Heat a frying pan on medium heat and add some oil or butter. Pour some mixture into the pan and swirl gently. Cook until golden from both sides. Set the pancakes aside.

To serve add some smoked salmon with soft cheese.

PANCAKES IN ALPS

Saas Fee is a winter wonderland in swiss Alps. Beautful white mountains surrounding this charmy little village. The best thing is to go there with some good friends and have some fun together. I love cross country skiing and took some girls with me to try some white slopes in the nature. It was great fun. I am proud of a good friend at http://unasemplicepassione.blogspot.com/ who did cross country first time in her life and really liked it.

Passionate food lover as we are there were many evenings of cooking together and trying some swiss culinary winter highligts in nearby restaurants. It is not possible to have skiing holiday in Alps without trying swiss Fondue. Every village in Alps making their on one with local cheese. Yummy.

The other local speciality is the Apfelstrudel. I thought it was an austrian speciality but in Saas Fee I had the best Appelstrudel ever. I had to go back to this little apfelstrudel cafe every evening after cross country skiing and enjoy this piece of heaven mmmmmmm.

One evening we had a pancake evening.  The best thing with pancakes is that you can eat it them with almost everything: jam, cheese, salmon, cottage cheese, fruits, ice cream.

I grow up with pancakes. We had them almost every weekend. My dad made always big thin ones and my mum little fat ones with buttermilk. In Saas Fee I made the big  thin pancakes with salmon and cottage cheese.

Soulfood:
Wham
Last christmas


SIMPLY PANCAKES

Ingredients

Basic pancakes:

3dl milk

2 eggs

2 dl plain flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon sugar  

oil/butter

To add:

Smoked salmon
cottage cheese
dill
or
ice cream and fruits

Beat eggs with sugar. Add milk and salt. Add flour to milk mixture. Whisk everything together and (if you can wait ;)) let the batter rest for 20 minutes.

Heat a frying pan on medium heat and add some oil or butter. Pour some mixture into the pan and swirl gently. Cook until golden from both sides. Set the pancakes aside.

To serve add some smoked salmon, cottage cheese, dill and fold the pancakes together.

Ice cream and fruits are a good sweet alternative.