A New Year–New Hopes and Plans

I wish all my readers a Happy New Year.

May it be a blessed one for you.

Every year I start out with new hopes and new plans for my life, most of the time they disappear in becoming good intentions that fall flat. I was reflecting on why this happens and I think I know why.

I have never written my hopes and goals down ever so this year I will break my life down into bits and pieces and build goals on the different aspects of my life.

I will make one post per aspect and list my resolutions there with some inspiration to get it done found on pintrest.

Tips, tricks and encouragement is greatly appreciated as this will be a year of great changes for me and my family.

• We will be loosing our home soon and will have to find a temporary place to live.
• We will be moving to Norway this spring/summer with no jobs in sight as of now.
• We will be starting in new jobs this summer/fall in Norway and the kids will start in a new school/daycare.

Mor Monsen cake

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is a very rich cake that keeps well in a tight box or in the freezer. It is made at Christmas time as that was the time of the year when you would want to splurge on the good stuff.

You will need a metric scale for this and I do recommend the one at the bottom of this post.

• 300 grams Butter or Margarine
• 300 grams Sugar
• 8 eggs
• 300 grams All Purpose Flour
• 1 tsp Baking Powder
• Zest of 1 Lemon
• 100 grams Currants
• 50 grams Pearl Sugar (Swedish décor Sugar)

Cream butter and sugar together. Divide the yokes and egg whites and mix the yokes into the butter cream. Mix in the flour, baking powder and zest.

Whip the egg whites till stiff peaks form and gently cut it into the rest of the batter.

Put Parchment paper into a pan about 10 by 20 inches big and pour the batter in.

Sprinkle with currants and pearl sugar.

Bake sat 350 degrees Fahrenheit for about 30 minutes till it’s golden brown on top.

Norwegian “Kransekake” Almond Cookies

This recipe can in its variations be used for four things. Marzipan (almond paste), almond stick cookies, Kransekake and Sarah Bernard.

All you need is

• 250 grams Grated Almonds (some might have to be shelled)
• 250 grams of Powder Sugar
• 2 Egg Whites

Marzipan

Shell all the almonds by boiling them for a few minutes and then draining them. This should make the brown skin on them swell up so that you can just pop the almond right out of its shell. Let the almonds dry for a few days before grating them. Grate the almonds as fine as possible. Mix well with the Powder Sugar and add two egg whites. The end result should be an almond paste that is coarser than normal, but with lots of texture and flavor. Form into shapes, dip in Chocolate or enjoy as is.

Almond stick cookies and Kransekake

Shell half of the almonds and let dry for a couple of days. Grate them all together and mix just like the marzipan. Roll out to long thumb thick snakes and cut 1 inch long sticks. Bake till they are a nice light brown color all over at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for about 10 minutes. When cool dip in Dark Chocolate.

For the Kransekake please follow the directions on the Forms that you have.

Sarah Bernard

Make the Almond stick, but form the paste to little balls that you press to flat little disks. Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for about 10 minutes till they are evenly brown. Put on a cooling rack and let cool.

Make a butter cream of

• 200 grams Butter
• 3 deciliter Powder Sugar
• 3 Egg Yokes
• 100 grams grated Dark Chocolate
• 1 Tbsp Dark Semi Sweet Chocolate Powder

Mix well till it is nice and creamy. Put a dollop on every disk, making sure they stick well.

Glaze

• 200 grams of Dark Chocolate
• 2 Tbsp Shortening

Melted together.

Dip the cookie into the glaze with the dollop first.

Let sit till it hardens. Keep cool and enjoy.

Norwegian Christmas Oatmeal Cookies

These cookies are a must at my house for Christmas. I usually make two or three batches of them and are always giving these away as gifts.

They have a mildly spiced and nutty flavor to their crunch and they somewhat melts in your mouth. With them being bite size they are the perfect little treat for big and small.

• 4 cups Old Fashioned Oats
• 2 cups All Purpose Flour
• 2 cups Sugar
• 1 3/4 cup Melted Margarine
• 6 tsp Baking Powder
• 1 tsp Cinnamon

Mix it all together with a spoon and put balls the size of a teaspoon or half a tablespoon on a Parchment Paper.

Bake at 400 degree Fahrenheit for about 10 minutes till they are browned at the edges.