Voileipäkakku - Finnish savoury sandwich cake

My grandmother and Mum did the catering for our wedding. It was an intimate affair at my Mum’s gorgeous abode with family and our closest friends. Our dear friend Owen was in charge of the bar (a job he did well and with pride) and my Mum was the hostess extraordinaire. From as long as I can recall the women in my family have always put on a good spread, Finnish women are born with that natural culinary flair!

One of the dishes my grandmother made which impressed the most was Voileipäkakku, which translates to 'sandwich cake'. It is traditionally a long loaf of bread, sliced horizontally, then layered with various savoury fillings and fabulously garnished. My grandmother made two varieties for our wedding – meat and seafood. Once the layers are filled the cake is covered in cream cheese or dip and decorated with caviar, cherry tomatoes, cucumber, parsley and various other toppings. The cake is sliced vertically to reveal all the layers and the array of colours of the filling.

I wanted to make Voileipäkakku for my Mum’s visit last weekend, but I knew if I made an entire loaf I would wind up eating whatever she didn’t. So instead I made smaller individual cakes. I didn’t follow the traditional Finnish recipe for Voileipäkakku, which involves brushing the day old bread slices with stock, filling, and leaving overnight. This is my own technique based on the idea of Voileipäkakku, without following the traditional method. I made it minutes before my Mum arrived. She devoured it minutes after arriving.

Of course you can use whatever meat and vegetables you like to fill and top Voileipäkakku. I made a meat one for my Mum and a seafood one for my husband. The following ingredients make one individual cake.

Ingredients:
4 slices of white bread

2 slices Jarlsberg cheese

2 slices ham

1 slice sandwich salami 

Cherry tomatoes

Continental cucumber

Mayonnaise

Spreadable cream cheese

Using a large round cookie cutter cut round circles in each slice of bread. Discard the crusts. (I don’t have a cookie cutter so I used an egg ring.)

Place the first layer down, and spread mayonnaise on top. Place ham on the first layer of bread. Place the second slice of bread on top and cover with mayonnaise and slices of jarlsberg cheese (I cut mine into small slices to fit the circle shape, however you can cut bigger slices with the cookie cutter to make circle shapes). Place the third slice of bread on top, cover with mayonnaise and another slice of ham. Top with the fourth slice of bread. Gently cover the entire sandwich with cream cheese. 

Using a vegetable peeler cut long strips of cucumber and place gently around the edge of the sandwich to cover the sides. Garnish the top of the sandwich with any vegetables you like. Radish circles look great, as do halved cherry tomatoes. Top with herbs to add some green colour. I had an idea to cover the sides with thinly sliced boiled egg, however I wasn’t sure if they would stick as well as the cucumber.

This is how it looks cut in half.

For the seafood one I layered the centre with smoked salmon and cheese, and garnished the top with caviar and dill. 

I used fresh white bread however it would be nice with rye bread alternated with white bread. My Mum also suggested making smaller bite size portions, how appealing would they look on a platter with all the colours of the garnish!

Eventually I will make a traditional Voileipäkakku, and of course I will post the recipe. Until then, give this easy but impressive treat a go.

Toscakakku - Finnish almond-topped cake

My Mum lives about 1200km away, so on the odd occasion she comes to town I get a tad excited. When she called to say she would be in town AND she was going to visit, I got to thinking about what I could prepare for her. Being a recent convert to baking, a Finnish treat was the natural choice. I dug into my Nordic Bakery Cookbook and decided to make a Tosca Cake, otherwise know by the Finns as Toscakakku. My grandmother used to make Toscakakku but she used to make it into more of a slice. This version of Toscakakku is a thicker cake variety.

As with most Finnish recipes this one calls for few ingredients, all of which I already had in my pantry and fridge, and is as simple as a cake can get. The smell of the almond/butter topping fresh out the oven is amazing! The husband wanted a slice immediately, I had to disappoint him by telling him he had to wait until the mother-in-law arrived. 

Toscakakku is the perfect morning or afternoon tea accompaniment. I actually pulled out some of my grandmother’s fine china to enjoy it with, the two (cake and china) went hand in Finnish hand. I recall my grandmother baking Toscakakku for her friends when she used to entertain, it is an old reliable favourite.

* Recipe from Nordic Bakery Cookbook with variations to cream and almond portions.

Ingredients:

4 eggs

170g caster sugar

100ml cream

100g unsalted butter, melted, cooled

1 tsp vanilla bean paste (or 2 tsp vanilla extract)

2 tsp baking powder

260g plain flour

Tosca topping:

75g unsalted butter

75g caster sugar

50ml cream

25g plain flour

100g flaked almonds

Method:

Preheat oven to 200^oC. Grease 29cm springform tin. 

Whisk eggs and caster sugar well with electric whisk until mixture is fluffy and lighter in colour. Gently fold in cream, melted butter and vanilla bean paste.

In a separate bowl sift flour and baking powder together, fold into the egg mixture. Pour mixture into cake tin and bake for 30-35 minutes.

While cake is baking heat Tosca topping ingredients in a saucepan over low heat, mix well and bring to the boil.

Once cake is cooked remove from oven and gently spread Tosca topping over the top of the cake, return to the oven for a further 15 minutes or until the topping is golden in colour and slightly caramelized.

Cool, slice and devour with a good cup of coffee!

Oatbake with berries

Being the last day of my holidays I decided to see it out with some good old hearty baking. And what makes me happier than baking? Finnish baking! As I have previously mentioned I am in love with my Nordic Bakery Cookbook so when I stumbled across some delicious looking berries I grabbed some knowing the Nordic Bakery Cookbook would deliver. Berries of all sorts are very popular in Finnish baking, as a kid my Mum used to go and pick the berries for my grandmother whenever she was about to bake. Oh how I wish I could go skipping into the forrest with a basket to hand pick berries!

Anyhow, this is what I bought.

They're pretty special. I have not actually ever seen fresh blackberries at the grocer before and have only ever purchased the frozen ones.

The recipe I decided on from the Nordic Bakery Cookbook was oatbake with berries. In the original recipe they use blueberries and raspberries however I substituted the blueberries with blackberries. Aside from the berries I followed the recipe to the T, which I usually do when I am first trying a recipe out.

Ingredients:

100g rolled oats

300ml hot milk

100g unsalted butter, at room temperature

60g caster sugar

50ml honey

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 egg, lightly beaten
120g plain flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 punnet blackberries

1 punnet raspberries

Icing sugar for dusting

Preheat oven to 180^oC and grease loaf tin.

Place oats into a bowl with hot milk and allow to sit so the oats absorb most of the milk and to cool slightly. In another bowl cream butter and sugar with a wooden spoon until fluffy and light in colour. Stir in honey and vanilla extract. Gradually add egg in portions, mixing after each addition. Sift flour and baking powder together, then fold into the butter mixture. Strain remaining fluid from oats and stir into the butter mixture. Pour combined mixture into a greased loaf tin and top with berries.

Bake for 50-60 minutes, until an inserted skewer comes out clean. Leave to rest in the tin for 10 minutes then turn onto a wire rack. Once cool dust with icing sugar, slice, serve and enjoy! 

*The Nordic Bakery Cookbook suggests adding a dollop of whipped cream or custard if that's your thing however I like it as is. The berry flavours go hand-in-hand with the oats. Ihana!

Finnish Blueberry Tart

I am a sucker for a good Finnish dish. I haven't tried one I don't like yet...although I wasn't a fan of Kaalilaatikko as a kid which is a cabbage bake. I remember my brother and I cringing when we knew it was coming knowing it was cabbage, although I do recall I didn't actually mind the taste. I think I would like it now though, I will try it out myself one day.

A few months ago I got my hands on a cute little cookbook called the Nordic Bakery Cookbook, I wrote about it here. I decided to try the blueberry tart a few weekends back. Although I don't recall ever eating blueberry tart as a kid my Mum has said my grandmother often made berry desserts when she was a kid and she had to go out and collect the berries herself. We don't have that luxury here in the city, unfortunately, however in Finland the forrests are full of berries so berry based desserts are very popular.

In the Nordic Bakery Cookbook they use a rye crust however I decided to use my grandmother's famous ricotta pastry (quark pastry). You will find this pastry appears in quite a few of my recipes, sweet and savoury, and they are the basis for the Finnish Christmas Jam Tarts known as Joulutorttu. The pastry calls for a whole 250g block of butter, and as much as I can hear my arteries screaming out NOOO, my taste buds are screaming out YEEES! The pastry simply melts in your mouth. Although initially I wasn't sure how this quark pastry would tie in with the crème fraiche filling of this tart I was very pleasantly surprised. Of course after I had a wee slice (or two) I took the rest into the office, and the compliments were abundant. So I can confirm now the pastry was a hit with this very light but tasty filling.

This recipe is adapted from the Nordic Bakery Cookbook using my grandmother's famous quark pastry.

Pastry:

250g butter, cubed at room temperature

250g ricotta

250g plain flour

Mix butter and flour together with your fingers to form a crumby consistency.  Add ricotta and combine well to make dough. Roll out into a disc shape, wrap in cling wrap and place into the fridge for 30 minutes.

Take the pastry dough out of the fridge and roll out on a floured surface, fold into three (like an envelope) and roll out again. You need to make a circular shape to cover a 25-27cm flan tin, at about 10mm thickness. You may need to add a bit of flour to the dough to make it workable and less sticky. Once rolled out gently lift the dough with rolling pin and place into the greased tin. Press into the sides and cut off any excess.

Filling (adapted from the Nordic Bakery Cookbook):

150ml crème fraiche

150ml sour cream

1 egg, lightly beaten

40g caster sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

250g blueberries

To make filling simply place all filling ingredients except the blueberries into a bowl and mix well.

I didn’t blind bake the pastry case before adding the filling but I would recommend you do so. Cover the base with baking paper and baking weights or a handful of rice and bake in preheated oven at 180^oC for 10-12 minutes, until slightly golden. Remove from oven and add filling, top with blueberries and bake at 200^oC for 25 minutes or until set and crust is golden brown.

Pulla - traditional Finnish sweet bread

Traditional Finnish Pulla is sweet, cardamom flavoured bread that encapsulates the essence of Finnish baking. It is simple to make with few ingredients, but tastes like home. When I made my very own first batch of Pulla the smell of cardamom brought childhood memories flooding back. My Mum used to make Pulla when we were kids and is one of my longtime favourites. In the past I have made scroll type Pulla with cinnamon as posted here, and the traditional (although mine took on a somewhat rogue shape!) Korvapuusti shaped Pulla as posted here.

Kneading Pulla dough isn’t for the faint hearted. I estimate it takes a good 15 minutes of kneading to get the dough perfect. My Mum’s tip is the softer the dough, the softer the Pulla. There is quite a bit of mixing prior to kneading as well. I have recently heard that the Thermomix makes light work of the kneading, and my sister in law uses a dough hook on her Kitchen Aid and that reduces the risk of RSI that comes from kneading. I must say the kneading does not turn me off, clearly, since I made Pulla on Sunday and again today.

My son has decided Pulla is a must-have for his lunchbox. My son has great taste.

Ingredients:

500ml warm milk

2 eggs

150g sugar

1tsp cardamom

1tsp salt

900g plain flour

6tsp dry yeast

200g melted butter

Sugar to dust on top

30g flaked almonds

1 egg (to brush on top)

** You can add a handful of raisins to the dough before you roll it out if you like.

This recipe makes 2 Pulla loaves. You can halve the ingredients if you wish to make 1 loaf but I prefer to make 2 loaves after the effort of kneading. Pulla freezes well in an airtight freezer bag and can be defrosted in the oven.

Method: 

Mix warm milk, 2 eggs, sugar, salt and cardamom together until the sugar has melted.  In a separate bowl mix the flour and yeast together.  Using your hands start adding a little of the flour and yeast mixture by kneading it through the mix.  Keep adding the flour a little by little until the dough comes off your hand (don’t worry if you have not used all the flour).  Add slightly cooled melted butter and keep kneading until it is all absorbed into the mix. *Note: when you first add the butter the dough seems to float in it, keep mixing, the butter will absorb into the dough. If the dough is too moist and sticks to your hand, add a little more flour. Knead the dough for about 15 minutes until soft.  Cover the kneaded dough with a tea towel and let it rise to double its size in a warm place, away from draft, for about 30 or so minutes.

Once risen, punch the dough, then pour out onto a lightly floured work bench.  Divide into 2 to make 2 loaves. Divide the first portion into 3 pieces and roll out each piece into a long rope shape approx 50cm in length. Place each piece onto a baking tray side by side, press one end of all 3 rope pieces together then plait. Tuck both ends under to make loaf neat. Cover with a teatowel and let rise for about 15-20 minutes.  Brush the top and sides of the loaf with beaten egg, then sprinkle sugar and a handful of flaked almonds on top. Bake in a preheated oven at 225^oC for about 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. Do not overcook as the Pulla will dry out.

Best eaten fresh out the oven. I can guarantee you won’t be able to resist, the smell of freshly baked Pulla is amazing! Accompany with freshly brewed coffee for a delicious afternoon tea treat.

Don’t forget to pop some into your kid’s lunch box!

Vegetable & blue cheese tart with traditional Finnish pastry

Finns have a penchant for blue cheese so I have noticed, however I don’t recall being served blue cheese as a kid, unless Mum snuck it in! As I have recently reduced meat in my diet I have started to really enjoy trying out new vegetable dishes.

This recipe was inspired by the Nordic Bakery Cookbook and is simply divine! You can fill it with any vegetables you like. And for even the die-hard meat lover that is my husband, it was a hit. He ate it for breakfast. If you don’t like blue cheese you can omit it and just add cheddar. I use Mersey Valley crumbly vintage which is just dreamy.

I use my grandmother’s traditional ricotta pastry which is used in a lot of Finnish pasties and pastry sweets. This is the same pastry I use to make Finnish Joulutorttu as featured here.

250g plain flour

250g unsalted butter, cubed, at room temperature

250g ricotta

Mix the flour and cubed butter together with your fingers to make a crumby consistency. Once crumbs have formed add the ricotta and combine well to make dough. Roll out into a disc shape, cover with cling wrap and place into the fridge for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile roast the vegetables. I roasted the following vegetables however you can add whatever vegetables you like. I would avoid overly watery vegetables otherwise your tart may wind up soggy.

1 punnet of cherry tomatoes, halved

1 bunch of broccolini

8 mushrooms, halved

½ zucchini, diced

½ brown onion, chopped

1 clove garlic, crushed

Place into a baking dish with generous lashings of olive oil and freshly ground sea salt and pepper. Roast for approx 15 minutes at 200^oC. Don’t overcook as the vegetables will cook more in the pastry case. Strain, put aside to cool slightly.

Take the pastry dough out of the fridge, roll out on a floured surface, fold into 3 like an envelope and roll out again. You need to make a circular shape to cover a 28cm flan tin, at about 10mm thickness. Once rolled out, gently lift the dough with the rolling pin and place into the greased tin. Press into the sides and cut off any excess. Place the strained vegetables into the pastry case, cover evenly with 50g crumbled blue cheese and 100g grated cheddar cheese, bake in oven for approx 25 minutes. The pastry will need to be slightly golden brown and crispy to touch.

The aroma of this tart fresh out the oven is just mouth-watering!

Korvapuusti - Traditional Finnish Cinnamon Buns

As I have recently discovered, traditional Finnish pulla dough can be used to make all sorts of various delectable treats. I have indulged in making Korvapuusti on numerous occasions, which is essentially the pulla dough with cinnamon added. In our family the original Korvapuusti shape wound up into a scroll instead, like this. This weekend I decided to try out the traditional Korvapuusti shape like my Mum used to make in my much younger days. This pulla dough is the same recipe as my previous post.

Ingredients:
500ml warm milk
2 eggs, lightly beaten
150g sugar
1tsp cardamom
1tsp salt
900g plain flour
6tsp dry yeast
200g melted butter
Cinnamon, sugar and margarine to smother over the dough
1 extra egg (to brush on top)

2 tbs milk (to brush on top)

Mix warm milk, 2 eggs, sugar, salt and cardamom together in a bowl until the sugar has melted.  In a separate bowl mix the flour and yeast together.  Using your hands start adding a little of the flour and yeast mixture by kneading it through the milk mix.  Keep adding the flour a little by little until the dough comes off your hand (don’t worry if you have not used all the flour).  Add slightly cooled, melted butter and keep kneading until it is all absorbed into the mix.  If the dough is too moist and sticks to your hand, add a little more flour.  Once the dough has formed into a workable state, roll onto a floured surface and knead for about 10 minutes. Mind the shoulder. The dough should take on a flexible texture. ** Mum's tip: the softer the dough, the softer the pulla. Then, place dough back into the bowl and cover with a tea towel and let it rise to double its size in a warm place, away from draft, for about 1 hour.

Once risen, pour the dough onto a floured surface. Knead a little to get the air out. Cut into 3 portions, roll out the first portion into a rectangular shape. Spread a little margarine all over the surface of the dough, sprinkle generously with cinnamon and sugar. Roll the sheet up to make a long, log shape, then make alternate 3cm diagonal cuts like shown below.

Place the pieces onto a baking tray, long side down, and press the centre of each one firmly so that the sides push out, as such:

** Note: now what I did not do, which ultimately shapes the Korvapuusti correctly, is push the dough right in. As the dough rose my buns pushed back out of shape as I hadn’t pushed them down far enough in the centre.  According to the Korvapuusti extraordinaire (my Mum) you need to push the centre right down. Clearly mine are a bit misshapen (but not lacking in taste I might add).

Cover the tray with a tea towel and let rise again for about 30 minutes. You may need to press the centres down again once risen. Brush the Korvapuusti with combined lightly beaten egg and milk, and sprinkle with pearl sugar, or white sugar. Repeat with the other 2 portions of dough.

Bake in oven at 225^oC until a nice golden brown colour for about 10-15 minutes. Do not overcook as this will make them too dry.

My Korvapuusti have a mind of their own!

** Suitable to freeze, simply pack in airtight freezer bags and when you have unexpected company warm them up in the oven for a superb last minute baked treat!


** Tip: I personally think these are best fresh out of the oven. If they have been sitting for awhile, simply warm up in the microwave for 10 seconds prior to eating, yum!

Muna-riisi pasteija - Mummi's Finnish pasties

After getting my hands on my new Nordic Bakery cookbook, I decided I had to get my Finnish bake on! First stop: my grandmother's famous Finnish pasties. Her version of this recipe has mince and rice as the filling, however I was inspired by the Nordic Bakery cookbook to add egg instead of mince. I have to say I am slightly obsessed with homemade pastry lately, and the pastry in these little treats is divine! The following is my grandmother's recipe with a slight variation as inspired by the Nordic Bakery cookbook.

Ingredients:

250g plain flour

250g unsalted butter, chilled and cubed

100ml very cold water

Filling:

1 cup short-grain rice, boiled (should be slightly sticky)

3 eggs, boiled and diced 

30g unsalted butter, melted

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 extra egg, lightly beaten, for glazing

Put flour and cubed butter into a mixing bowl, mix with your fingertips to make a breadcrumb consistency. Gradually add the water, mixing with a round-bladed knife until a dough forms. Wrap dough in clingwrap and leave to rest in the fridge for at least 2 hours.

To make the filling combine diced boiled eggs and cooked rice. Season with salt and pepper.

Preheat oven to 220^oC. Roll pastry dough out on a lightly floured surface to about 3mm thickness. If the dough is sticky dust more flour on the surface. You may need to sprinkle more flour onto the dough to soften it and make it easier to roll. Using a 10cm diameter round cookie cutter make circles in the pastry. Add a tablespoon of filling into each circle, then fold the circle in half to make a semi-circle shape and pinch the edges to seal the pasties. Brush with beaten egg to glaze, then prick with a fork. Bake in preheated oven for about 15 minutes or until golden brown.

Try stopping at one!

** Makes 16 pasties.

** My grandmother doubled her pastry portions which would make approx 32 pieces. Perfect for freezing and whipping out when company arrives. Simply defrost and pop into the oven until hot.

Monday Musings - Nordic Bakery

I have recently discovered that I just love cooking and baking, who knew! I am so eager to try all kinds of Finnish recipes, it has opened up an appreciation for my heritage and traditional Finnish fare. I am now listening intently to my Dad’s stories of what they ate as kids and am finding Finnish and foodie blogs so inspiring.

I stumbled across this book on the weekend featuring recipes from Nordic Bakery, and was so excited! Nordic Bakery is located in London and serves Scandinavian food *love*. I sure wish they had one in my neighbourhood. I've taken some photos of images in the book (with my iphone, apologies for the quality) to show you how lovely it is! You really should get yourself a copy, if not to try the recipes just to ogle the images.

Vegetable and blue cheese tart

Karelian pies (Karjalanpiirakka)

 

Cardamom doughnuts

Christmas star pastries (Joulutorttu)

Little butter buns

Boston cake (Bostonkakku)

Needless to say a few of these dishes will be making (or already have made) an appearance on my blog. You know I am going to try them out. You also know I am going to share. Some of the recipes vary a little from those that I have acquired from my grandmother and Mum, I am up for variety so will appreciate being able to sample them.

During my search for inspiration I also came across this lovely blog. Not only are the dishes featured AMAZING the photography is sublime. Enjoy!

** This is not a sponsored post but I would welcome with a smile any samples Nordic Bakery would like to send my way. Image rights: Ryland, Peters & Small.