Skyr brulée

Ages ago I promised to find a recipe for skyr brulée – well I finally found one!

The recipe comes from a chef: Steinar Þór Þorfinnsson of the restaurant Einar Ben.

I haven’t tested it, but here goes:

Skyr- and white chocolate crème brulée with blueberry schnapps

Skyr-crème brulée:
100 g cream
100 g pure skyr

40 g egg yolk
40 g sugar
80 g white chocolate
The juice of 1/2 lime
1 vanilla pod

Split the vanilla pod lengthwise and put in a saucepan with the cream. Bring to the boil, remove from the heat and add the skyr.

Melt the chocolate in a double boiler and add to the warm skyr mixture.

Stir together the egg yolk and sugar and add to the skyr mixture along with the lime juice. Put into crème brulée ramekins and bake in a water bath at 120 °C for 30 minutes. Cool.

Sprinkle with demerara sugar and melt the sugar with a crème brulée torch.

P.S.
Before making this, please take a look at the review in the comment.

Blueberry schnapps:
125 g puréed blueberries
500 ml water
125 g sugar
0,5 dl vodka

Cook together the sugar, water and blueberry purée untilt he sugar is melted and syrup is slightly thickened. Cool and add the vodka. Freeze. Just before serving, purée the frozen schnapps in a blender to a slusky consistency and serve on the side with the brulée.

Rhubarb drink

This is somehting I plan to try when the rhubarb is sufficiently grown for harvesting:

1 kg rhubarb stalks
1,8 ltr water
450 ml sugar
Juice of one big lemon

Cut the rhubarb into small pieces and cook in the water for 15 minutes. Don’t stir it. Strain and throw away the rhubarb pulp.

Add the sugar and lemon juice to the rhubarb juice and bring to the boil. Cool and bottle. Keep refrigerated. Serve cold and thin with water as desired.

Engifermjólk - Ginger milk

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.

Caraway coffee - Kúmenkaffi

Brew some good, strong coffee, adding some caraway seeds before brewing. If you grind your own, throw some caraway seeds in the grinder along with the coffee beans. I'm not going to offer any measurements, as people's tastes vary widely where coffee in concerned, and the amount of caraway should be adjusted to taste.

-For a truly adult version of caraway coffee, make a "Black Russian" with fresh, hot coffee and use brennivín instead of vodka. To add a bit of brennivín ("að gefa út í") is a tradition still honoured by some Icelanders, and there are stories of caraway coffee sometimes arousing the (happy) suspicion that the hostess has put "a little something extra" in the coffee.

Sólarkaffi - Sun Coffee

Because of Iceland's northerly location, the sun rises very low over the horizon during the winter. The country has many deep, narrow fjords and valleys where the sun does not rise above the mountains for many weeks during the darkest winter days. When the sun finally does show itself for a few minutes, it is a cause for celebration for the inhabitants of those dark valleys and fjords.

These days, the inhabitants of some towns and villages will get together in the gathering hall to celebrate the arrival of sunshine. Others will celebrate individually in their own homes. There is no specific sunshine day, since the sun will appear on different days in different locations. And there should be no cheating: even if you know that the sun has risen above the mountains, there is no celebrating until the weather actually allows it to be seen! This tradition is widespread in Iceland, especially in the east and west fjords, but also in some fjords and valleys in the north.

The Sun Coffee is traditionally served with pancakes, cream cake and any other cake you want! (This includes just about anything from the Cakes, pancakes and cookies page). Many will make caraway coffee for this occasion.

Sunshine day is also a cause for celebration and remembrance among those who have moved away from the fjords and valleys, usually to Reykjavík. Many of these people have formed clubs that are open to anyone coming from the "old place". They will pick a day close to the time when they know the sun will appear in the old place. A number of volunteers will each bring one cake, or a pile of pancakes or a plate of flat bread with hangikjöt, and they will have a feast with the cakes and drink freshly brewed sun coffee. Sometimes there will be entertainment.

I don't know when this sunny tradition started, but it is clearly a modern version of the ancient midwinter festivals, like Yule and Þorrablót. People look up to the skies and thank God that the sun is back and another winter will soon draw to an end.

Súkkulaði - Hot chocolate

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.

Icelandic Christmas cocktail - Jólabland

This mix is, as far as I know, purely an Icelandic invention. In the first half of this century not many people could afford to buy ale and fizzy drinks, and they were therefore something to be enjoyed at festive occasions, such as Christmas and birthdays. Mixing the drinks together was probably believed to make it even more enjoyable to drink. The taste is sweet, malty and mellow. This is a comforting drink that always makes me think of Christmas.

Take equal measures of an orange flavoured fizzy drink (Fanta will do) and brown ale (Guinness is supposed to be good) and mix together. Be careful to pour the orange drink first, and pour the ale carefully to avoid it getting too frothy. Drink with the Christmas meal. To get an authentic flavour, the orange drink should be the Icelandic Egils Appelsín, and the brown ale Egils Malt. Some people (like my family) like to add some cola, usually Coke.

Bibliophile's summer refersher

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.