One can sense that spring has come. It's in the air. The smoke that is. There are little fires everywhere around town. Kids poking flames, people raking, trimming, clipping. Red cheeks and smiles all around.
Also, rhubarb has appeared on the shelves, flown in  from the Netherlands, a handful costing about 8€. It looked a bit languid and sere though.
Rhubarb in our garden is only about 7cm tall right now but looking well frisky. The newest variety, which I grew from seed last year, being the tallest.
On my windowsill there are two propagators with seedlings, planted about two weeks ago. You know, all the usual things, tomatoes, cucumbers, herbs, flowers and a couple experimental plants.

On the right, ice cream in the snow.

Peach ice cream soda.
Not a float since I pureed the peaches with the ice cream and then topped up with lemonade.
For one serving, puree one peach with one scoop of peach ice cream, pour into a glass and top up with about 200ml lemonade.



Caramelised peach ice cream

12 flat peaches
150g sugar
2 egg yolks
4 tbsp Amaretto
vanilla
100g mascarpone


Tip most of the sugar into a saucepan, reserving 2 tablespoons for the egg yolks. Place over medium heat and start chopping the peaches into rough pieces. As soon as the sugar starts to caramelise, turning light brown in colour, add the peaches and gently shake the pan to coat the pieces with caramel. Let bubble for a couple of minutes, shaking occasionally and then puree in a blender.
Whisk egg yolks, Amaretto and seeds from one vanilla pod over a bain marie until fluffy and starting to form ribbons on the surface.
Now, fold the sabayon into the mascarpone and then lightly mix with the peach puree.
Pour into an ice cream maker and let it rip.

For us, April began with snowfall and subzero temperatures. Like a true April Fools' joke.
Not very funny though. And it keeps on snowing!
Sadly the photo is a wee bit rubbish.

 Taken early in the morning with a mobile phone. It looked fantastic, like Christmas!

Miniature orange and pistachio bundt cake. 

Devilled eggs for Easter. Three flavours - ham, cheese and fish.

The traditional filling is with fish - using tinned Baltic sprats and the brine they are matured in. Some folk, like my dear gran, prepare their own brine of salt and spices (might include some or all of the following - black pepper, allspice, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, coriander seeds, bay leaves, cardamom, nutmeg) and cure the fish at home.
It's a real treat when done right, served with fresh potatoes, butter and sour cream. Or as a snack on a slice of dark rye bread smelling of caraway.
Somehow, for me, the smell of caraway is a key factor. Without caraway, bread just doesn't seem right.



Devilled eggs with ham

3 eggs, boiled
100g ham or leftover roast pork
1 tbsp horseradish
1 tbsp mayonnaise
salt and pepper

Halve the eggs. Scrape out the yolks, into a bowl of a food processor. Add the rest of the ingredients and let the machine run until it is all turned into a smooth paste.
Cut a tiny bit off the bottoms of the egg white halves, so they sit up straight, and fill with the meat paste.
For garnish I used tiny scraps of crisp fried bacon and slices of salted gherkins.



Devilled eggs with brined spiced sprats

3 eggs, boiled
3 brined sprats*, cleaned and filleted
2 tbsp brine
2 tbsp butter
fresh dill, finely chopped

Halve the eggs. Scrape out the yolks, into a bowl. Add the butter, strained brine and some dill. Mash with a fork until it is all creamy and thoroughly mixed.
Again, trim the egg whites and fill with the mixture. Pull the skin off the sprat fillets. By doing this the fillets will separate into two halves. Roll each half-fillet up into a "rose" and place on top.
For garnish, sprinkle with some extra dill.

*Sprats can be replaced with anchovies.

I have been painting and sketching. Weather has been sunny and I was able to finish a longtime painting project.
Baked poppy seed buns and blackberry friands.
Still working on the poppy seed bun recipe, not quite satisfied with the filling.
Here I used organic pistachio paste in the filling but it didn't live up to my expectations.

I've been wanting to try a crab burger ever since watching the SpongeBob cartoon. Seeing him flip those juicy krabby patties in the Krusty Krab kitchen worked wonders on my imagination.

I don't know the secret sauce recipe so I just made my own. A simple mayonnaise-based sauce with lemon juice, paprika, tomato paste, mustard, Tabasco and kefir. Could throw a few capers in there as well.

Although I've used Asian-style seasoning here, the patty can be flavoured differently, say with horseradish and mayonnaise.



Crab burger

170g white crab meat
3 tbsp coconut cream
2cm fresh ginger, grated
2 tsp oyster sauce
1 tsp fish sauce
fresh chilli, to taste
1 small egg
lime zest
3 slices of toast, crusts removed
panko or grated coconut

Pick through the crab meat, removing any bits of cartilage. Mix together the crab meat, coconut cream, grated ginger, oyster sauce, fish sauce, whisked egg, chilli, lime zest and crumbed toast slices.
Taste and adjust seasoning. Let rest in the refrigerator for a couple of hours.

Mould into patties, two large or four small ones. Roll them in panko (or grated coconut) and fry on a griddle or in a frying pan until golden on both sides. If you make very thick patties, then you might want to pop them in the oven after frying, for about 8 - 10 minutes.

Tuck a patty between a bun lined with fresh salad, adding some slaw and sauce on top.
Serve straight away.

Yesterday was Shrove Tuesday and bakers all over the country (and all over the Nordic) were, and probably still are, whipping up fluffy lenten buns. I made my own this year. Two times even. The first version seemed to be too buttery and not airy enough. Wasn't happy with the shape either. After careful consideration and armed with a scientific approach, I tweaked the recipe to alter the structure of the bun. Second try resulted in perfectly round buns with a texture quite similar to the ones you'd get from shops or good bakeries. I do not consider it to be perfect, yet, but still very close.

I prepared two different fillings. After quaffing them all down, most of the family expressed their preference for the classic marzipan.

 Toast Skagen (couldn't find löjrom!) and a muffin made of leftovers.

Last week, during a casual trip to the small grocery store on the corner of the street, I found this darling bottle of milk.
I couldn't have been more excited! Organic whole milk from Riido Farm, produced less than 8 km from our house.
Cute as a button, too!

Semlor - Swedish lenten buns


30g butter, melted
2 quail eggs or 1 small egg white
160ml milk
15g fresh yeast
50g sugar
1/2 tsp ground cardamom
1/8 tsp salt
300g flour
milk and a bit of sugar, for brushing


Sieve flour into a bowl. Heat milk to 38°C. Mix yeast with sugar and warm milk. Pour into the flour, add cardamom, salt, quail eggs and butter. Mix it all together and knead into a smooth dough. About 7 minutes with a machine or a bit longer by hand. Cover and let rise in a warm place for about 50 minutes.

Divide the dough into nine equal pieces. Briefly kneading each piece between your palms, roll the bits of dough into beautiful spheres and place on a baking tray, leaving enough space between them. The buns will be double the size after rising and baking. Cover the tray and leave to rise in a warm place for 30-40 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 210-220°C. Brush the buns with sweetened milk and bake in the oven for 8 minutes. Do keep an eye on them as they will brown quickly. If the buns are not done after about eight minutes, then the oven is not hot enough. If the buns seem to get burnt then the oven is too hot.

After removing the buns from the oven brush them again with sweetened milk. This prevents the crust on top from going too brittle or tough while cooling.


Traditional filling

135g quality marzipan, ca 60% almonds
3-4 tbsp milk
300ml double cream
icing sugar, to taste

Finely chop or grate marzipan into a bowl. Add three tablespoons of milk.
With a serrated knife, cut the tops off the buns. Not too much, about half a centimetre is enough. Now dig a hole into each bun, removing a spoonful of crumb from each. Place half of the breadcrumbs into the bowl, discarding the rest. Using a fork, mash the marzipan and crumb mixture into a nice soft paste. Add a bit more milk if it is not soft enough, but it should not be runny.

Use this marzipan paste to fill the cavities of the buns.
Sweeten double cream with icing sugar, about two-three spoonfuls, and whisk until fluffy.
Top filled buns with a good heaping of whipped cream and replace the bun caps on top.


The most common alternative filling consists of whipped cream or curd cheese paste mixed with some sweet and sour jam, like cowberry, cranberry or blackcurrant.


Serve alongside a steaming cup of coffee or on a deep plate, submerged in warm milk infused with vanilla.

About two weeks ago, the big chill rolled in and unfolded its fluffy white blanket.
The temperature dropped from a rather tame -8°C to a toe-curling -25°C (even colder on the mainland), and on clear days the air was literally sparkling, as if filled with diamonds! Right now it's snowing, again.

If this continues as it has done thus far, we should be able to visit our neighbouring island by driving across the frozen sea. In a couple of weeks, perhaps. It is always great fun! Especially when the ice moves due to the wind and therefore develops some bumps, cracks and splits along the way. People will then place wooden boards over the largest splits to avoid losing their cars to the bottom of the sea. As sometimes does happen.

I find ice ferns on the windows mesmerising. Found these gorgeous creations on the eastern window in the sitting room. Keep gazing at them every day. Checking the progress. Sadly, ice flowers are becoming quite rare in this day and age since more and more people opt for hermetic plastic windows.

Art director at work. Showing me the ropes.

Tehumardi apple juice from Saaremaa.

Probably my favourite juice. Apple juice, produced right here on the island, from specially selected apple varieties.
I could ramble on and on about its superior taste with hints of meadows and peaches. And it looks fab as well!

I had a bit of marzipan left over from December (really!) and with the help of some glamorous rhubarb, turned it into muffins.

Rhubarb marzipan muffins


120g flour
1 tsp baking powder
60g sugar, plus extra
60g butter, melted
120ml buttermilk
1 egg
120g rhubarb, chopped
80g good quality marzipan, not the overly sweet stuff


In a bowl toss together flour, baking powder and sugar.
In a jug mix together melted butter, buttermilk and the egg.
Line a 6-hole muffin tin with paper cases.

Cut 50g of the marzipan into small dice, toss it in a spoonful of caster sugar, just enough to cover the bits with some glittery sugar granules. Measure the rest of the marzipan (30g) into 5g pieces and roll these into six perfectly round balls.
Sprinkle rhubarb with about two teaspoons of sugar and toss to cover evenly.
Preheat the oven to 190°C.

Pour wet ingredients from the jug into the dry ingredients in the bowl. Mix a little. Add rhubarb and mix through. Don't fret if it looks a bit lumpy, it's fine, you don't want to overwork it. Drop two fat spoonfuls of dough into each of the six cases, then sneak in a ball of marzipan and cover with the rest of the dough. Sprinkle the sugared marzipan bits on top and bake for 25 minutes, lowering the temperature by 15 degrees after the first five minutes.