Icelandic cooking, recipes and food

My mother sometimes makes this delicious bread. We usually eat it while it's still hot out of the oven, with butter and cheese. 500 g flour OR 400 g flour and 100 g whole-wheat flour 6 tsp baking powder 1 1/2 tsp sugar 300-350 ml milk, OR a mixture of water and milk 1 1/2 tsp salt milk or egg for brushing Sift together the dry ingredients, and add most of the milk. Knead until smooth, adding milk as needed. Form into a loaf. Make shallow cuts into the top of the loaf. Brush the loaf with milk or beaten egg. Bake immediately. Bread should be baked on the lowest rung in the oven, at 175°-200°C, for about an hour. It will be crusty and tastes best while warm. It's very good with butter and cheese, but I prefer to eat it with just butter.

I don't care much for puffin and other sea-birds as food, but many people love them and eat them whenever they can. This recipe resembles the recipe for rock ptarmigan, in that the birds are cooked in milk. 4 puffins 50 g smoked bacon 50 g butter 300 ml milk 300 ml water to taste salt Puffins should be skinned or carefully plucked and singed. Remove the innards and discard. You can use the breasts alone, or cook the whole birds. Wash well in cold water and rub with salt, inside and out. If you are using whole birds, truss them. Lard the breasts with bacon fat. Brown the birds on all sides, and stuff them tightly into a cooking pot. Heat the milk and water and pour over the puffins. Bring to the boil and cook on low for 1-2 hours (test the birds for softness). Turn the birds occasionally. Remove from the cooking liquid and keep warm while you prepare the sauce. The sauce: 30 g butter 4 tblsp flour 400-500 ml cooking liquid to taste salt and pepper as needed caramel/sauce colouring t

An old family favourite, and the first cake I learned to make - in fact I know the recipe by heart. This is a very versatile recipe. The recipe can also be used to make an apple-cake, spice cake, or a batch of muffins. 3 cups flour 2 cups sugar 2 tsp baking powder 3 tbs dark cocoa, or more, to taste 150 g margarine, melted 2 eggs 1-1 1/2 cups milk 1 tsp vanilla essence Mix the dry ingredients well together in a bowl. Add the eggs and milk and then the melted margarine and mix well. Although this batter is supposed to be just mixed, I prefer to whip it slightly - it makes the cake wonderfully light and fluffy. Pour into a greased oven-pan (a deep, square one), and bake at 175° C for about 30 minutes in the middle of the oven. The cake is done when it feels firm when you press gently on it with your hand. Allow to cool and spread with cocoa icing. Varieties: -Leave out the cocoa, and make a white cake. Spread with cocoa icing when cool. - Cinnamon cake: Make a white batter a

It's rhubarb season, so here is a recipe to try. Rhubarb grows in abundance in almost every vegetable garden in Iceland, right alongside the potatoes. In the summer, it is mostly used for soup and grautur (compote). It is preserved mostly as jam, but it also freezes well, and tastes excellent when preserved in syrup. There are many homes where rhubarb soup/ grautur is eaten throughout the winter. It is also good for desserts (especially pies and compotes) and chutneys, and it makes excellent wine. My mother used to make rhubarb compote about once or twice a month through the summer when I was little, but after my brother decided that he didn't like it, she hardly ever makes it anymore. 3/4 litres water 3-3 1/2 tbs potato starch/cornflour 250 g rhubarb 100 ml water, cold 200 ml sugar Wash the rhubarb and chop into small pieces. Drop into cold water and bring to the boil. Cook until the rhubarb pieces separate. Add the sugar and thicken with the potato starch. Don

This is one of the cakes my mother always makes for holidays like Christmas and Easter, and for birthdays and other special occasions. 500 g flour 350 g sugar 250 g margarine or butter 2 eggs 3 tsp ground cloves 3 tsp cinnamon 2 tsp baking soda 2 tbs dark cocoa as needed milk Cream together the sugar and softened margarine or butter. Mix in the eggs. Sift the flour with the spices, baking soda and cocoa. Add to the margarine mix, one tablespoonful at a time. Alternate with splashes of milk, and mix well in between (batter should be medium thick). Pour into cake tins and bake at 190°C until firm. Cool. My mother makes these cakes about as thick as her thumb, and uses three layers of cake and two layers of vanilla butter icing . Tastes great with whipped cream. Freezes well.

Devil's Cake with cocoa icing. This devilishly good chocolate cake is very popular all over Iceland, and you can buy a slice in most cafes and bakeries, although they are usually covered with buttercream icing and sprinkled with dessicated coconut. I like it best when it has been frozen and thawed before glazing, because the cake will then be nicely moist. Ingredients: 1 3/4 cup flour 1 1/2 cup sugar 1 tsp salt 2/3 cup milk 1 tsp baking soda 2 eggs or 1 egg and egg 2 yolks (if you're making Angel's créme icing) 1/2 cup dark cocoa * (or more, if you prefer your cake really dark and chocolatey. Proper Devil's cake should be almost black in colour) 100 g margarine/butter (soft) 1 tsp vanilla essence Mix together the dry ingredients. Add milk and mix well. Add eggs, soft margarine/butter and vanilla essence and mix well. Pour into two cake pans and bake at 175° Celsius until firm (usually 25-30 minutes). Remove gently from pans and cool.

Since I am about to start posting some cakes and cookies that require butter icing, here is the recipe for this excellent substance. 125 g sweet butter or margarine 125-200 g icing sugar 1 egg yolk to taste: flavouring (see notes) 1 tbs cream (optional) few drops food colouring (optional) a pinch of salt (leave out if you're using salted butter) Soften the butter at room temperature, or put in the microwave for a few seconds. Whip together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Adjust amount of sugar according to how sweet you want the icing. Add the egg yolk and flavouring, and cream, if using (will make the icing smoother). Frost the cake and enjoy. Notes : Vanilla essence is the usual flavouring for white icing, but many other flavours are excellent. Rum, sherry, amaretto/almond and hazelnut are good flavours for many kinds of cake. Fruit, berry and flower flavours, such as orange, lemon, strawberry, cherry, peppermint or rosewater, are good with vanilla-flavoured cakes.

I don’t know where the name for this yummy cake originates, but I think it’s a good one. I learned to make it in home economics class when I was in elementary school. 200 ml Oatmeal 100 ml Whole wheat flour 100 ml Flour 100 ml Brown sugar, well packed 1/4 tsp Baking soda (optional) 100 g Butter/margarine, semi-soft 1 Egg As needed: Rhubarb jam or stewed prunes (go to he bottom of the page) Mix the dry ingredients together in a bowl. Add the butter/margarine and mix well with your hands. Add the egg and mix well. Press the dough into a round baking tin, saving some (a small handful or so) for the topping. Spread with the jam and crumble the rest of the dough over the cake. You can also use the leftover dough to make a pie lattice for the cake (reserve more dough for that)). Bake at 200°C for approx 20 min. or until the cake takes on a dark, golden color. Delicious hot or cold.

Probably not Icelandic in origin, but we have certainly made it our own. Although we call it Christmas Cake, we actually enjoy it all through the year. My mother usually bakes up a big batch of these cakes in one go. They freeze well, and are always popular with guests. This versatile recipe is also good for making tea buns, and, with minor changes, Marble Cake, Lemon Cake, Sand Cake, Fruitcake and Spice Cake. Christmas cake is traditionally made with raisins, but as neither I or my mother like raisins in cakes, we usually substitute them with chocolate chips. Ingredients: 150 g margarine, soft 150 g sugar 1 egg 250 g flour 2 tsp baking powder 150 ml milk 100 ml raisins or chocolate chips or 50/50 of both (optional) 1/2 tsp lemon, cardamom or vanilla essence Margarine, milk and eggs should all be at room temperature. Beat together sugar and margarine until it takes on a pale, almost white, colour. Add the egg and continue beating until light and fluffy looking. Add flavour

It's almost blueberry season in Iceland, so here is a recipe to try. What we call bláber (blueberries) in Iceland are actually the related bilberries. Either bilberries or blueberries can be used in this recipe. Bilberries in the wild: 250 g blueberries or bilberries, fresh or frozen 1 + 3/4 litre water approx. 150 g sugar 30 g potato starch or cornflour 100 m cold water Drop the berries into boiling water and cook on low until they burst, 3-5 minutes. Mix together potato starch/cornflour and cold water into a smooth paste. Add sugar to the soup and stir until melted. Thicken with potato starch/cornflour mix. Serve and enjoy. -Use more thickening mixture to make a blueberry pudding. Pour into a bowl before it stiffens and sprinkle sugar on top. Serve warm or cold with milk or cream (or half and half).

Coconut drops These little drop cookies are more like sweets that cookies, especially if you dip them in melted chocolate. This recipe makes about 20-25 cookies. 2 eggs 150 g sugar 225 g desiccated coconut Whip together the eggs and sugar until light and fluffy. Fold in the desiccated coconut. Drop by the teaspoonful on a greased cookie sheet, and bake at 200°C until light golden brown (approx 10-12 minutes). Serve as is, or dip the bottom half of cooled cookies in melted chocolate. Coconut cake This cake is delicious by itself (especially when made with chocolate chips), or you can layer it with jam/jelly and decorate with whipped cream. 200 g margarine or butter 200 g sugar 2 eggs 200 g flour 180 g dessicated coconut 1 tsp baking powder chocolate chips to taste (optional) Beat together softened margarine and sugar, until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one by one and mix well. Mix together flour, coconut and baking powder, and chocolate chips (if using). Add to sugar-egg-margarine m

A chocolate version of the delicious snake cake. Plain version 3 eggs 125 g sugar 50 g potato starch or cornflour 2 tbs dark cocoa 1 tsp baking powder Cream together the eggs and sugar. Add the dry ingredients (sift them first) and mix carefully. Bake like the other snake cake. When done, turn over onto a sheet of baking paper sprinkled with sugar. Roll up with the paper to store. When you want to serve the cake, gently unroll and smear one side with fruit jam, and top with whipped cream (about 150 ml is suitable). Slice and serve. Variations: -Instead of cream and jam, use vanilla buttercream or cream with mashed fruit. Banana is especially good. -Smooth half-frozen ice-cream custard on the cake, roll up and freeze before serving. Recipe taken from Helga Sigurðardóttir's "Matur & Drykkur", Mál og Menning, Reykjavík, 1986 (1947).

This is a flavourful sauce that I use for chicken, fish and pasta. This makes a meal for two. 1/2 onion, chopped 50-100 g mushrooms (less for chicken and fish, more for pasta), sliced 10-15 slices of pepperoni, quartered (from the smaller kind of pepperoni sausage. If you have the big slices where one is enough to top a slice of bread, halve the amount and cut into more pieces), OR equal amount of bacon (will be less flavourful) 1 tbs tomato purée 150 ml cream garlic to taste salt, if needed 200 g chicken (breasts or thigh meat) or white fish, cubed 1 cup of rice (or more if you simply love rice or need to make the meal bigger) salt, pepper and your favourite chicken or fish spice blend Additional for fish: ½ cup flour cheese, grated or sliced OR enough pasta (farfalle or rotini) for two people Heat oven to 180°C (170°C if you have a convection oven like I do). While the oven is heating up, cut the chicken or fish into bite-sized cubes and prepare the onions, mushrooms and pepperoni. I

This is THE Christmas dish in many Icelandic homes, although not in mine. I must admit that I have never tasted ptarmigan, but this is such a typical Icelandic Christmas dish that I had to include it here. Some of my friends claim that there wouldn't be any Christmas in their homes without it. For some, it has to be birds shot by their father, brother or uncle, but these days more and more people don't feel like going through the whole process of shooting, hanging, plucking and cleaning the birds. They people simply go to the next supermarket and buy the birds ready to cook. 3 rock ptarmigans, plucked, cleaned and ready for cooking 75 g fatty bacon 90 g butter/margarine 450 ml boiling water 450 ml boiling milk 2 tsp salt 300 ml cream 2 tbs flour caramel colouring for the sauce - optional Cut slits into the bird's chests and lard with strips of bacon fat (this is to ensure that the flesh will not be too dry). Truss the birds. Melt the butter in a cooking pot and brown

29 shops in the Whole Foods Market chain in the Mid-Atlantic states are now offering Icelandic skyr (vanilla and blueberry flavors, with strawberry and unflavoured coming soon), cheeses and lamb. Icelandic chocolate (Síríus Konsúm) will be available soon, and fresh Icelandic fish will be available in the fall. The Icelandic exporter expects to start selling the same products in Whole Foods Markets in the North-east USA, including Boston and New York, in September. Source: Morgunblaðið

Here's a refreshing summer drink that has a taste reminiscent of a popular Icelandic soft drink, Mix , only not quite as sweet. 1 part pure pineapple juice 1 part Sprite Zero (or regular Sprite or 7up if you prefer it sweeter) ice decorations (optional): pineapple ring, paper umbrella, straw Pour the pineapple juice into a highball glass, add the Sprite and top up with ice. Decorate and add a straw. For a sunset effect, pour a little bit of Grenadine down the side of the glass after you pour the Sprite and allow it to settle on the bottom before you add the ice.