I am home after my weekend away and ready to begin the culinary challenge I set myself.
The Euros are well and truly underway and it is rather nice to have matches to look forward to after a day at work.
Since I decided to do this, my mind has been spinning with recipe ideas and I have had lots of good suggestions from friends…I think the hardest part is going to be fitting it all in before the final!
I had a fabulous food-filled weekend away celebrating my lovely friend Nat’s pending nuptials.
We had lots of cake:
Sunshine:
Ice-Cream:
Vino and champagne:
Enjoyed beer gardens:
The beach:
Even a quick pedalo adventure!
And all of this in a beautiful Purbeck stone cottage:
However, it was quite a struggle getting up for work today and I am sporting a rather attractive sunburnt nose!
Today’s recipe is from Denmark and I decided to tackle this country first simply because I drew Denmark in my class sweepstake and it may bring me a bit of extra luck!
Now, I said I would blog about any successes and failures and this recipe falls somewhere in the middle. The proper name for these biscuits is Mandelsmørboller, which I believe translates to ‘Almond Butter Balls’. However, during the cooking process these ceased being balls and turned into normal biscuits.
The good news is that they still tasted delicious so I’m not writing my efforts off as a total failure!
The recipe I used was translated from a Danish site, so I don’t doubt its authenticity, but they used American measurements which I always find a bit tricky. One of the measurements was 1-2 cups of flour which my online research told me ranges from 130g to 250g! This probably explains why my biscuits turned out flat instead of spherical so I would probably have to have a play around with amounts if I made these again.
Ingredients
230g of butter, at room temperature
5 tablespoons of caster sugar
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
1 teaspoon of almond extract
150g of plain flour
100g of chopped almonds
How to make it
- Begin by preheating your oven to 180°C, Gas Mark 4
- Cream together the butter and sugar
- Add the flavourings and mix well
- Add the flour and almonds and combine
- Roll the mixture into small balls and place directly on a non-stick baking tray
- Bake for 20 minutes, or until evenly browned
- The recipe I used recommended sieving some icing sugar laced with a pinch of cinnamon over the top but I found them to be perfect just as they were and delicious with a cup of tea!
