Month: May 2021

225g cold butter cut into small cubes
300g golden caster sugar
2 eggs
360g flour
1 teaspoon cornstarch
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
250g chocolate chips
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 200C degrees.
In a large mixing bowl, cream together cold cubed butter, sugar, and vanilla extract for 4 minutes or until creamy.

Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each one.

Stir in flours, cornstarch, baking soda, and salt. Mix until just combined to avoid overmixing. Stir in chocolate chips.

Separate dough into large balls and place on lightly colored cookie sheet. They are bigger than you think! You will fit 4 cookies on one large cookie sheet. The dough makes 8 extra large cookies.

Bake for 9-12 minutes or until golden brown on the top. Let them rest for at least 10 minutes to set.

Egg Salad
8 Hard boiled eggs finely chopped
2/3 cup Mayonnaise
2 green onions finely chopped
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp Lemon juice
1/2 tsp Paprika

German Ham Salad
170 g Black Forest Ham finely chopped
1 cup Dill pickles finely chopped
2 tsp Pickle juice from the jar
1/2 cup Mayonnaise
1/2 cup Cream cheese
1/2 tsp White sugar

Smörgåstårta
20 slices Bread (mix of rye and whole wheat)
1 1/2 cups Cream cheese
1 1/4 cups Sour cream
1/2 cup Mayonnaise

Garnish
3 tbsp Dill chopped
2 tbsp Chives chopped
1/2 cup Cucumbers thinly sliced
1/4 cup Radishes thinly sliced
1/2 Lemon thinly sliced
1 cup Cherry tomatoes quartered
2 tbsp Capers

Prepare Egg Salad: In a mixing bowl add chopped hard boiled egg, mayonnaise, green onions, mustard and lemon juice. With a wooden spoon mix ingredients until fulled combined. Keep cold in the fridge until ready to assemble.

Prepare German Ham Salad: In a mixing bowl add chopped ham, mayonnaise, pickles, cream cheese and sugar. With a wooden spoon mix ingredients until fulled combined. Keep cold in the fridge until ready to assemble.

Prepare Smörgåstårta frosting: In a mixing bowl use a wooden spoon to combine cream cheese, sour cream and mayonnaise and dill. Keep cold in the fridge until ready to assemble.

Slice bread loves horizontally to assemble an easy rectangular layered sandwich cake. Cut off the crusts.

Place the first slice of whole wheat bread on a rectangular serving platter. Spread some of the Smörgåstårta frosting all over the bread slice. Top with egg salad mixture and spread evenly.

Add a layer of rye bread and gently press onto egg salad. Top with more Smörgåstårta frosting and top with German ham salad.

Continue alternating whole wheat bread slices and rye bread slices with the two creamy cold salads.

Once you’ve added the last bread slice to the top of the sandwich cake, smear with creamy frosting.

Surround the rim of the cake with quartered cherry tomatoes. Decorate the interior space with thinly sliced lemons, cucumber and radish.

Use a palette knife to smear the remaining icing on the sides of the cake. Lightly pat finely chopped chives to the sides of the cake. The fresh herbs should stick to the icing.

Store Smörgåstårta in the fridge until ready to serve.

85g unsalted butter
1 large bunch chives or 1/2 cup tender herbs like mint, basil, or dill
1 tsp. Morton kosher salt, plus more
450g whole-milk fresh ricotta
1 large egg
2 large egg yolks
1.5 tsp. freshly ground black pepper, plus more
1/2 cup pre-grated Parmesan, plus more for serving
125 g all-purpose flour, plus more
280g frozen peas
1 lemon

Cut unsalted butter into small pieces. Place in a small bowl and chill in the fridge until ready to use. (It’s important that the butter is cold because that will help it to emulsify into the sauce later on.)

Thinly slice 1 large bunch of chives crosswise into rings. You should have about 1/2 cup. (If you’re using another herb—like mint, basil, or dill—roughly chop.) Set aside.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cover with a lid and keep hot over low heat while you make the gnocchi.

Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone mat and dust lightly with flour.

To make the gnocchi dough, scrape whole-milk fresh ricotta onto a clean flatweave towel or a double layer of paper towels; wrap up to enclose cheese or place more paper towels on top and forcefully press down on ricotta to draw out excess moisture. If you don’t draw out moisture now, you’ll have to add more flour later, which can make for tough dumplings.

Transfer ricotta to a medium bowl. Add egg and egg yolks, salt, and several generous grinds of black pepper and mix well with a heatproof rubber spatula to combine. Mix in Parmesan followed by all-purpose flour. If dough is sticky, add more flour by the tablespoonful until dough is workable—it should still feel very light and pillowy (the amount of flour you need will vary depending on the moisture level of your ricotta—it could be 1–4 Tbsp. more).

Transfer dough to a floured work surface and knead a couple of times to bring together. Cut into 6 pieces. Roll out each piece to make a 3/4″-diameter strand, dusting with more flour as needed if dough is too sticky to work with.

Using a chef’s knife or a bench scraper, cut strands into 3/4″ pieces (flour your knife or scraper to make the process easier). Transfer gnocchi to prepared baking sheet as you go.

Now it’s time to cook your gnocchi. Bring the reserved water back to a vigorous boil over medium-high heat, then use parchment paper underneath gnocchi to gently, delicately, and carefully add gnocchi to boiling water (it’s okay if some flour gets added too).

Stir gnocchi gently with a slotted spoon to make sure they aren’t sticking to the pot or one another. Cook until gnocchi rise to the surface, about 45 seconds, then cook 1 minute more. Using a slotted spoon, scoop out gnocchi and place on baking sheet—it’s okay if you transfer some cooking water as well.

To make your sauce, pour out pasta cooking liquid, reserving 2 cups, and wipe pot clean. Set pot over medium heat and pour in 1/2 cup reserved pasta cooking liquid; add frozen peas and a big pinch of kosher salt. Cover pan and cook until peas are bright green and warmed through, about 3 minutes.

Remove lid and bring water to a simmer over medium-high heat. Using spatula, vigorously stir in reserved chilled butter a piece at a time, adding the next piece only after the previous piece is melted. You should have a smooth buttery sauce when you are done.

Slice 1 lemon in half. Cut 1 half into wedges and set aside for serving. Finely grate zest from remaining half into sauce, then squeeze in its juice. Add 1.5 tsp. freshly ground black pepper and mix well to incorporate. Add gnocchi and toss, adding up to 1/2 cup pasta cooking liquid as needed, until sauce clings to and coats gnocchi. Toss in most of the reserved chives or herbs and cook 20 seconds.

Divide gnocchi and sauce among shallow bowls and top with remaining chives or herbs and more Parmesan and pepper or crushed red pepper flakes. Serve with reserved lemon wedges for squeezing over.

2 cups all purpose (290 g)
1/4 cup granulated sugar (60g)
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 3/4 cups milk, (440ml)
1/4 cup butter, (60g)
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 large egg