Icelandic cooking, recipes and food

I loved cocoa soup and cocoa pudding when I was a child. The soup would be served with zwieback that we would crumble into coarse pieces into the bowl and then we would eat the soup while there was still some crunch left in the zwieback. On special occasions cocoa soup would be served with whipped cream and then it was like thick cocoa, only you ate it with a spoon. It was wonderful to come in from the chill of a winter's morning and sit down to some hot cocoa soup for lunch. Cocoa pudding was poured into a large bowl prior to serving, sugar was sprinkled on top to prevent a skin from forming, and then we would eat it warm or cold. I never liked it much cold, preferring cold chocolate pudding made with Royal pudding mix, served with whipped cream mixed into it so it looked marbelised. My mother never used cinnamon but sometimes she put a little bit of vanilla essence into the soup. 2 tbs baking cocoa 2 1/2 tbs sugar 250 ml water 1 cinnamon stick or vanilla pod (optional) 1 litre m...

Serves 2. My own invention. This sweet ginger-milk drink is wonderfully calming if you have an upset stomach. Ginger-root is a well-known nature medicine, and is especially recommended for stomach ailments and motion sickness. 250 ml (1 cup) milk sugar to taste 1,5 cm fresh ginger root OR 1/2 tsp dried, powdered ginger Peel the ginger and grate it into a saucepan and add the milk, OR put the milk into a saucepan and add powdered ginger and stir to mix. Bring the milk to the boil. Pour through a sieve or tea strainer into mugs, add sugar and enjoy. -You can vary the amount of ginger according to taste. Just don't put too much or the milk may curdle.

Deliciously warming on a cold winter's day – and whe have had some chilly ones lately – this is my favourite hot drink. Preferably made with Síríus Konsum chocolate, but you can use any semi-sweet chocolate available. 250 g semi-sweet chocolate* 250 ml water 1 ltr milk 1 tsp butter sugar and vanilla essence to taste *I use semi-sweet chocolate, but bitter chocolate will do - just use a bit more sugar. Break up the chocolate into pieces and put in a cooking pot with the water. Heat gently, stirring until the chocolate is melted. Add the milk in smallish portions, allowing it to boil before adding more. Add sugar and vanilla essence to taste, and melt in the butter just before serving. -Serve in mugs with whipped cream ( and your favourite cake or cookies on the side). -Alternatively, serve with a dollop of vanilla ice-cream floating on top.

Like macaroni soup , this is a comfort food for me. The smooth texture of the pudding makes it feel like soft velvet on the tongue - thus the name. Serves 6. 175 g butter 250 g flour 2 ltr milk 2 tsp salt Melt the butter and add the sifted flour and mix well. Add boiling milk, portion by portion and mix well in between (just like making white sauce – which this really is, only thicker). Cook on low heat for 5 minutes. Adjust flavour with salt. Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar and serve with milk or sweet berry juice (make from berry syrup or use sweetened juice).

This was a very popular soup in my home when I was little. Every time I taste elbow macaroni in sweet milk, it brings back childhood memories. 1 1/2 litre milk 60 g elbow macaroni 1/2 litre water 1 1/2 tbs sugar 1 12 tsp salt cinnamon sugar Cook the macaroni in the water as indicated on the packet. Add the milk, sugar and salt and heat to boiling. Skim and serve with cinnamon sugar. The mother of one of my friends calls this "englaballagrautur" which translates as "angel dick soup" - I suppose because it's white, sweet and the elbow macaroni kind of look like little penises.