This is a lovely cheesecake, rich and smooth. It is commercially available in Iceland. I just love it, and I'm grateful for
them for providing the recipe for the public. The cake is relatively
cheap when you buy it ready-made, but I think making it yourself adds to
the enjoyment of eating it. Serves 10-12 (or 6-8, depending on how much
self-control you have :-)
1 2/3 cup
graham cracker crumbs
5 tblsp
sugar
5 tblsp
butter, soft
90 gr.
lemon gelatin (Jello or Royal for example)
1 cup
boiling water
500 gr.
cream cheese, unflavoured, softened at room
temperature
1 tsp
vanilla essence
1/2 cup
sugar
1 cup
cream, whipped
1 can (480 gr.)
mandarin orange sections
1/2 cup
juice from mandarin oranges
2 tblsp.
lemon juice
2 tsp
unflavoured gelatin powder
OR
2 sheets
unflavoured gelatin
Mix together cracker crumbs, 5 tblsp. sugar and soft
butter. Press into a the bottom and slightly up the sides of a spring mold
(22 cm in diameter). Bake for 8 minutes at 175°C.
Remove and cool.
Dissolve the lemon gelatin in boiling water. Cool. Be
careful, you don't want it to set completely!
Mix together cream cheese, 1/2 cup of sugar and vanilla
essence. When the lemon gelatin is about half-set, mix carefully into the cheese
mixture, little by little. Fold in the whipped cream and pour into the
mold over the crumb shell. Cool for about 1 hour.
Drain the mandarin oranges well, reserving 1/2 cup of the
juice. Add lemon juice. Warm up the juice and dissolve the flavourless
gelatin in it. Cool, stirring occasionally.
Arrange the orange sections on top of the cheesecake in a
pattern. Gently spoon or brush the mandarin gelatin over the top. Cool
until set.
My mother always makes this for Christmas. It is very rich and creamy,
and absolutely delicious!
1/2 litre
heavy cream
5 ea.
egg yolks
75 gr.
sugar
vanilla essence to taste
Mix egg yolks, sugar and vanilla essence*.
Stir stiffly whipped cream into mixture. Pour into a mould and freeze.
Use the egg whites to make meringue tops to serve with the ice-cream.
*Remember that a little goes a long way. The
vanilla taste is stronger once the custard has been frozen. You can also
use vanilla sugar or a vanilla bean (soak it in the milk).
Variations. Experiment with different
flavourings and extras: chocolate chips, small pieces of preserved
fruit, liqueurs, flavour essences.
Goes well with: Crème de Menthe and
Mint Chocolate liqueurs, chocolate sauce, Mars sauce (melt a large Mars
bar in cream and mix well), hot fudge, hot caramel sauce, meringue
tops, preserved fruit in syrup.
A recipe that rarely gets used more than once a year (at least in
my parent's home).
In Iceland, the first
Monday of Lent is called Bolludagur, or Bun Day. On this day, we stuff ourselves with delicious,
sweet buns, and many families eat meatballs or fishballs for dinner
("bolla" means "bun", but also refers to other round
foods). Two kinds of buns are made, one recipe uses yeast for rising, the other uses eggs. My mother
always makes egg buns, and I have never been able to acquire a taste
for yeast buns. I'm including the recipe here with the desserts and sweets,
because (in my opinion) this is pure candy.
125 g.
margarine
250 ml.
water
125 g.
flour
4 ea.
eggs
400 ml.
heavy cream
Put the water and margarine in a saucepan and heat until margarine is
melted. Sift the flour into the mixture and stir until the dough is
smooth and thick. Keep the saucepan on the hotplate while stirring.
Remove from the hotplate and allow to cool a little. Break the eggs into
a glass, one at a time, and stir to break the yolk. Pour into the dough
and mix well.
Drop on to an oven-plate with two tablespoons, keeping a good space
between the blobs. Bake at 200°C, in the center of the oven, for 20-30
minutes, or until the buns are a pale golden colour. Do not open the
oven for the first 12-15 minutes, or the buns will fall. Allow to cool
before slitting open and filling with whipped cream and jam, and top
with cocoa glaze or melted chocolate.
Variations:
-Mash fruit or berries, such as strawberries, bananas, blueberries or
peaches and stir into whipped cream and use as filling.
-Add small chocolate chips to the whipped cream before filling the buns.
Leave out the glaze.
-Experiment with different flavoures of icing, such as maple syrup,
caramel, lemon or vanilla.
-Party food: Make tiny buns and fill with flavoured cream-cheese
or tuna dip (mash tuna into mayonnaise and flavour with garlic and
pepper). Make a small hole in the side of each bun and fill, using an
icing tube. Serve as nibbles or appetizers.
Jo's
Icelandic Recipes