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It was 20 years ago this exact date, May 16th, that I learned to make Norwegian boller (rolls or buns). I remember the occasion clearly because it was the day prior to Norway’s Constitution Day.

I had been invited to a Syttende Mai frokost (17th of May breakfast) by several classmates—I was studying in Bergen, Norway, at the time. This part gets somewhat fuzzy, but I imagine being a 20-something lassie, I was interested in impressing these strapping young Norwegian lads, no?

In a panic, I rang my friend Charlotte, affectionately called Chotti, an accomplished baker. How was I going to turn out a basket of buns that would sufficiently awe?  Within hours, my devoted chum Chotti arrived at the door with yeast and flour in hand. After much kneading, waiting, forming, and baking, we had an impressive pile of 30-plus large, perfectly round, golden rolls for me to take to the party. Even better than those buns though, was the gift I received from Chotti that day, something I’ve carried with me since: the Norwegian know-how of boller making. Standing by Chotti’s side, I learned the lengthy process first hand.

While I still appreciate classic yeast buns like those we made, skoleboller, or school buns, are truly my favorite. Some will argue that skillingsboller (cinnamon buns) are better, but of course there are also sommerboller (summer buns), prinsesseboller (princess buns—don’t even go there!), and rosinboller (raisin buns) to name but a few more.

In my opinion though, skoleboller, large, sweet yeast buns with crunchy coconut-covered edges surrounding big bright-yellow circles of luscious custard, are the ultimate Norwegian baked good.

So while Norwegians are parading the streets tomorrow in their bunader (national costumes), waving flags, and donning ribbons, why not bake up some buns in honor of this festive Norsk day?

Skoleboller

Makes sixteen 4-inch buns

Dough

1/4 cup warm water

½ cup plus 1 teaspoon granulated sugar

1 envelope active dry yeast (2-1/4 teaspoons)

1-1/4 cups whole milk

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 teaspoons ground cardamom

½ teaspoon salt

4 cups all-purpose flour

Pastry filling

3 egg yolks

1/3 cup granulated sugar

2 tablespoons cornstarch

2 cups whole milk

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Coconut topping

½ cup confectioners’ sugar

2 tablespoons whole milk

¾ cup finely shredded unsweetened coconut

1. If using a bread maker, place all the dough ingredients in a 1-1/2- to 2-pound bread maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions with the following two changes: Melt the butter and add with the liquid ingredients and replace the ¼ cup water with milk.

Run the bread maker on the dough setting and when it has finished its cycle, turn the dough out on to a floured surface, and skip ahead to Step 7.

2. If you don’t have a bread maker: Butter a large glass or ceramic bowl.

3. Pour the water in a bowl and add 1 teaspoon sugar. Stir to dissolve. Sprinkle the yeast over, stir again to dissolve, and let stand five minutes or until frothy.

4. Place the milk in a saucepan and cook over medium heat until it begins to steam and bubble slightly on the edges. Lower the heat and add the butter, the remaining 1/2 cup sugar, cardamom, and salt. Stir until the butter is melted and the sugar is dissolved. Remove from the heat and let cool.

5. When the milk mixture has cooled, add the proofed yeast and stir. Add the flour and continue to stir until smooth.

6. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead several times to form a soft dough. Sprinkle flour over the dough if it’s sticky and knead a few more times. Place the dough in the prepared bowl and cover with a dish towel. Set in a warm place to rise until double in size, about 1 hour.

7. Line two 11 x 17-inch  baking sheets with parchment paper.

8. After the dough has risen, punch it down and turn it out onto a lightly floured surface. Divide the dough into 16 equal portions: Begin by dividing the entire dough ball in two halves. Then divide one of the portions in half again, and continue to divide each portion into four more equal portions. Repeat with the second half of the dough.

9. Form each of the 16 dough portions into round, flat buns (about 4 inches in diameter) and place 1-1/2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets.

10. Cover the buns with a dishtowel, and let rise a second time, about 30 minutes.

11. Meanwhile make the custard: In a heat-proof bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, sugar, and cornstarch.

12. Put the milk in a saucepan over medium-high heat and cook until the milk starts steaming and bubbling. Remove from heat and slowly pour 1 cup of the heated milk in a thin stream into the egg mixture while constantly whisking. When that is smooth, gradually add the rest of the milk.

13. Pour the egg-milk mixture back into the saucepan and cook over medium-low heat until the mixture thickens and coats the back of a spoon, about 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from the heat and let cool.

14. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

15. After the rolls have risen, use the bottom of a glass (about 2 inches in diameter) dipped in flour to make a depression in the center of each bun. Fill each indentation with 1/8 cup of the cooked custard.

16. Bake for 12 to 14 minutes or until lightly golden on the edges. Remove from the oven and cool.

17. While the buns are cooling, stir together the confectioners’ sugar and milk, whisking until smooth. Using a pastry brush, cover the sides of buns with the glaze and then sprinkle generously with coconut to cover the edges surrounding the custard. Continue glazing and sprinkling the buns with coconut one at a time to ensure the coconut adheres.

What could be more appropriate than a heavenly cake for your mother the angel? (“Yeah, right,” says my teenage daughter as she rolls her eyes!)

Well, like my daughter, I may not have always thought my mother was an angel, but after I made it through those awkward years and realized the strength of unconditional love (oh Mom, thanks for not giving up on me) I could think nothing less of my mother. Angel? How about saint?

This ethereally light cake, which is my mother’s favorite, is the perfect Mom dessert. It’s essentially fat free (the cake that is, not the cream!), is even better with loads of berries, and takes just a few minutes to make—separating the eggs consumes the most time.

Two important things to remember when making angel food are 1) don’t grease the pan
2) invert the pan while allowing the cake to cool (you can place the center of the tube pan on a long-neck bottle). Turning the pan upside down during the cooling process helps maintain the cake’s delicate structure, ensuring the cake doesn’t collapse or compress.

The cake can be served plain, but I like to spread thick cream over the entire cake (I whip up about a pint and add several tablespoons of powdered sugar and a teaspoon of pure vanilla extract) and top with strawberries.

I also cut up about a quart of strawberries, gently mash up half of them, add in a few teaspoons dark brown sugar dissolved in several teaspoons lemon juice, add back in the  berries that weren’t mashed, and allow them to sit for an hour or so before serving. The berry-cake-cream combo is divine.

I hope you find this recipe from my great-grandmother just heavenly.

Heavenly angel food cake

1 cup cake flour

1-1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar

1-1/2 cup egg whites (about 12 large eggs), at room temperature

1-1/2 teaspoons cream of tartar

¼ teaspoon salt

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Fresh berries

Whipped cream

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.

2. Sift together the cake flour and the confectioners’ sugar into a small bowl.

3. Place the egg whites in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat on high for 1 minute until slightly foamy. Add the cream of tartar and salt. Continue beating on high until soft peaks form. Add the granulated sugar and beat another 30 seconds until stiff peaks form. Then using a rubber spatula, very gently fold in the flour-confectioners’ sugar mixture 1 cup at a time. Add the vanilla extract and continue to fold the batter ensuring that all the dry ingredients are fully incorporated.

4. Spoon the batter into an ungreased 10-inch tube pan and bake for 40 minutes.

5. Remove the pan from the oven and invert it upside down onto a bottle to cool, about 1 hour. When completely cool, loosen the sides of the cake from the pan with a knife and unmold. Serve with berries and whipped cream.

 

To find out more about these playful, affordable favors, please click here to read my most recent Babycenter post. (You can put each one together for about $2.50 per guest.)

 

I felt utterly spoiled and simultaneously delighted when  Roscoe (food stylist extraordinaire) handed me these breathtaking blossoms. He’d brought them to a Saturday night dinner celebrating the Sweet Home cookbook crew—and I was the one who was supposed to be thanking them.

The large pink garden roses that anchor this arrangement are accented with  gooseneck loosestrife, blue thistle and other equally extraordinary floral blooms and leaves. The composition was so perfectly natural—a little wild yet balanced, loose but still lush.

Some of you in the Hudson Valley area may already be familiar with The Green Cottage (1204 Route 213, High Falls, NY). If you’re not, the shop, in an adorable Hudson Valley hamlet, is more than just flowers. You’ll find an array of goods including jewelry and decorative home and gift items. It’s most definitely worth a visit if you’re in the area.

For those without access to a sweet store like Green Cottage, don’t underestimate the value of pretty packaging. A simple bouquet of daffodils bought from the grocery or corner market can be aggrandized with a sheet of parchment and piece of ribbon.

A hand-wrapped bouquet has much greater impact than flowers secured with a rubber band and wrapped in cellophane with the remains of a price sticker. It’s akin to decanting syrup  into a pretty pitcher before serving at breakfast. It elevates the ordinary and makes the recipient feel special.

Whether florist-designed or home-spun, flowers are a feel-good gift!

Will you be in the Woodstock-Saugerties, NY area on Saturday, May 12? If so, please join me for a crafts class at the very cool FiberFlame studio. It’ll be a fun afternoon of creating and recipe sharing.

We’ll be making a John-Derian–like collage plate or recipe box. The finished piece makes a wonderful Mother’s Day gift.

If you can’t make the class, please stop by for a sweet treat from 4 to 6 pm—a book signing and dessert tasting will follow.

And, you should stop by FiberFlame at some point regardless. This expertly-run crafts studio offers classes and individual instruction. You can even just drop in and start creating. The quality materials range from wool and wax to precious stones and metals. No pre-made plaster Disney forms here, this place is the real deal. Kids and adults alike can design and experiment in an artist’s milieu.

Hope to see you on May 12!

My heart surged at the first glimpse of the The Newlywed Cookbook (Chronicle Books, 2012).   I mean really, look at those cookies above. I knew immediately this book, with its impressive photography and clean design embellished with swirls and swooshes, would find a home in the kitchens of many.

Yes, the book is written by a friend of mine, so I feel a certain affinity for it, but friend or not, Sarah Copeland has created a cookbook masterpiece.

While the title tends to target those fresh from the altar, this book is really for anyone who likes to cook with and for others.

“Cooking together and for each other is a loving act, one of the most enduring ways to nurture each other…” says Copeland in her introduction. So many of her sentiments apply not just to couples, but families and those who like to cook for friends too.

The pages of this large, coffee-table–like book are filled with glorious photos of beautifully plated foods; fresh, tantalizing produce; and even a helpful how-to for her Thousand-Layer Chocolate Chip Cookies, shown above too.

The first few chapters thoroughly cover kitchen essentials, from pantry ingredients to cooks’ tools. Copeland, who blogs about food, gardening, and good living at edibleliving.com, also includes a useful chapter on seasonal ingredients and how to grow your own. She writes with green living in mind.

One of the last chapters, Gatherings: Feasts for Friends and Family, puts together menus using recipes in the book and is one of Copeland’s many thoughtful additions to the 135+ recipes that make this book a worthwhile purchase.

From breakfast and brunch to easy lunches and dinners, Copeland, a recipe developer and Food Network veteran, covers the gamut: Oatmeal-yogurt Pancakces with Blackberry Crush, Summer Corn Soup, Southern Shrimp & Grits, and Shaved Zucchini with Ricotta and Walnuts to name a few.

The dessert section is full of delectable sweets including  a Bittersweet Chocolate Tart with Smoke Sea Salt and an Olive Oil Cake with Tangerine Marmalade.

Although the recipes go far beyond what one may imagine to be the newlywed basics of yesteryear (like the cream chicken on toast and hamburger macaroni casserole that were part of my mother’s repertoire, oy!), none  are particularly challenging, and most can be easily accomplished within a reasonable amount of time.

With June weddings right around the corner, need I say this book makes the perfect wedding gift? Perhaps pair it with a sauce pan or baking tool from the couple’s registry.

That said, although ideal for newlyweds, this cookbook is also a sweet love story, the charming writing tugged at my heartstrings and brought a tear or two to my eye—but I’m also a big sap.

Newlywed or not, sap or not, this book about good living and eating is one to own.

The Newlywed Cookbook is available for purchase from Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

This egg sandwich recipe sang out to me because it wasn’t until about my fifth year of marriage that I learned the proper way to cook an egg so the yolk is deliciously runny like the photo above. Six minutes is the golden number, just as Copeland directs for cooking time.

When you’re looking for a light meal, egg sandwiches are ideal. Like Copeland says, “the best thing about being grown-ups is that you get to make your own rules…there’s no one there to insist that meat and potatoes is the most wholesome meal.” “Some nights,” she says, “you just need a little meal.”

Open-Face Soft Boiled Egg Sandwiches (from The Newlywed Cookbook, Chronicle, 2012)

4 farm-fresh or organic eggs

2 tbsp best-quality extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling

2 thick slice nutty whole-wheat/wholemeal bread

Herb Mayo (see recipe below)

1/2 bunch arugula, torn

Sea Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Sweet or smoked paprika

Place the eggs in a large bowl of warm water. Bring a small pot of water to a simmer over medium heat. Gently lower the eggs into the water, using a spoon. Set the timer for 6 minutes and keep eggs at a low simmer.

Meanwhile, heat a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Ad the olive oil and the bread, toasting until golden on both sides, about 1 minute per side. Transfer to small plates.

When the timer goes off, immediately remove the eggs from the pan and rinse under cool water. Carefully remove the shell from all the eggs.

Spread the toasted bread with mayonnaise, then top with arugula. Split the eggs in half with a sharp knife and place the halves on top of the arugula. Season with salt and pepper and add a pinch of smoked paprika for color and heat. Drizzle the whole thing with your finest extra-virgin olive oil and serve immediately.

Herb Mayo (from the Newlywed Cookbook, Chronicle, 2012)

1 packed cup fresh parsley, dill, mint, basil or chive leaves, coarsely chopped

1/3 cup Greek yogurt

3 tbsp olive-oil or regular mayonnaise

1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

2 to 3 tsp freshly squeezed lemon juice

Sea salt

Freshly ground pepper

Blend the herbs, yogurt, mayo and olive oil in a mini food processor or blender until smooth and flecked with green. Pulse in the lemon juice, adding just enough to give the right balance for you. Taste and season with salt and pepper. Store in the fridge for up to 4 days.

And what level is that? A higher one!

Check out my post over at Babycenter to find out how you, too, can elevate kids’ party food.

At times when I was recipe-testing for Sweet Home, my new dessert cookbook, no joke, we had cakes, cookies and pies on every counter surface.

I swear, when my neighbors saw my number on caller ID they avoided answering the phone fearing I would inundate them with more plates of sweets. We all (my neighbors included) were on sugar overload. Even my kids had had enough. At one point, my twelve-year-old daughter Anna asked if we could have a “really healthy dinner” every night for a week. “No desserts!” she said.

Mind you, we generally eat quite healthfully. However, this was my chance. You see, Anna was quirky when it came to salmon. She ate it raw and smoked, but would not touch it grilled or roasted. No cooked salmon for her (and I never forced the issue because she ate any other cooked fish).

I was determined though because as much as I like to please my family, it drives me nuts when I’m forced to be a short-order cook. Whenever I made fresh salmon, I always prepared something else for my quirky gal.

“Hmmm, salmon is extremely healthy Anna, in fact, it’s one of the healthiest fish you can eat. How about if I make it slightly undercooked, so it’ll taste almost like raw?” She bit. “Sure, I’ll try it.” I was speechless, but went with it.

And because she likes all things teriyaki, I made salmon with a simple soy sauce glaze. It had to be easy so I had little invested in the meal. I didn’t want the disappointment of slaving over the stove only to hear, “I don’t really like this Mommy.”

I also cooked up some soba noodles—my all-time favorite go-to pasta because it cooks in about three minutes—and veggies in case she just couldn’t down the fish.

Guess what though, she did—and exclaimed how much she liked it.

The lesson I learned: Never give up. When you are certain a family member won’t try something, still casually offer. (Even my 80-some-year-old father-in-law swears he hates blueberries yet he still downed two servings of blueberry crisp last summer. I just served it up and he ate it. We’re not sure if this was sheer forgetfulness, did he forget for a short moment that he doesn’t like blueberries, or has he had a change of heart late in life?). Anyway, just keep trying!

This meal may take you all of thirty minutes. If you mix up the sauce and prep the vegetables in the morning (wash and chop them), you can be done in fifteen, which leaves time to make dessert! Oh, that’s right, this is part of the healthy dinner week. Okay, maybe top off the meal with a small serving of fruit sorbet instead. Enjoy.

Teriyaki Salmon and Soba Noodles with Vegetables

1/2 pound soba noodles

1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil

1/2 cup low-sodium tamari soy sauce

1/2 cup mirin

1/4 cup rice wine vinegar

2 tablespoons dark brown sugar

2 pounds center-cut wild salmon fillet

1/2 cup baby carrots

1/2 head bok choy, coarsely chopped

1 pound asparagus, trimmed and cut into one-inch pieces

1/3 cup chopped scallions, plus extra for garnish

1. Preheat the broiler. Boil the soba noodles according to the package directions and drain. Toss with the sesame oil and set aside.

2. Steam or boil the vegetables for 3 to 5 minutes or longer according to your preference. Drain and set aside. (I actually just toss the noodles and veggies together and boil, but if you like your vegetables cooked longer than 3 minutes, cook them separately.)

3. Meanwhile, stir together the tamari, mirin, rice wine vinegar, and brown sugar in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat and continue to simmer until the mixture becomes slightly thicker and reduced by about one third. Remove from the heat and stir in the scallion.

4. Heat a lightly-oiled grill pan or oven-safe skillet over high heat. Put the salmon skin-side down in the pan. Reserve 1/4 cup of the soy mixture and brush the top of the salmon with about 1/2 of the remaining soy mixture. Cook for about 5 minutes. Brush the fish with the remaining mixture (not the 1/4 cup you set aside). Transfer the pan to the oven and broil for another 3 to 7 minutes depending on desired doneness. Remove from the oven and let rest for a few minutes while you toss the noodles.

5. Place the drained noodles and vegetables in a large bowl. Pour the remaining soy mixture over the noodles and toss.

6. Cut the salmon fillet into 4 or 6 pieces, sprinkle with scallion, and serve with a heaping pile of soba noodles.