Category Archives: ethnic food

Eat Indian tonight — start with Pakora

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My favorite guy had a birthday last week. We decided to make Mango Rice Pilaf and Pakora for the evening birthday meal. We had never even heard of Pakora until we ate at an Indian Restaurant in Fridley, Minnesota a month or so ago.

When I asked the server how the crunchy dumpling that tasted like well-seasoned onion rings was prepared, he mentioned chickpea flour and water, onions and I think he said chili powder.

When I got home, I checked my copy of “Sherbanoo’s Indian Cuisine: Tantalizing Tastes of the Indian Subcontinent,” by Sherbanoo Aziz. I found her recipe for Pakora. I knew it would be good. Several years ago, Sherbanoo came to Bemidji from her home in Moorhead to do an Indian cooking class for a small group of people. The food was amazing.

Sherbanoo told me when she moved to the Fargo-Moorhead area from Arlington, Virginia in 1996, not many people in the area were familiar with Indian food. She had a hard time finding the ingredients she needed for her recipes. Now many of those ingredients, such as chickpea flour, often referred to as garbanzo bean flour, are available in mainstream grocery stores. Sherbanoo reminded me that garbanzo bean flour has a low glycemic index making it a good choice for those who must watch their blood sugar levels, it’s a good source of protein and it’s gluten-free.

Pakora is similar to a fritter that’s fried until golden and crispy on the outside. Sherbanoo told me it is a generic food enjoyed as an appetizer or snack in India. Pakora can be made with a variety of vegetables and seasonings depending on where in India you are eating. In some parts of India the crunchy dumplings are called wada.

My favorite guy and I have been experimenting on our own with pakora. Sherbanoo’s

My favorite guy frying up pakora made with recipe from “Sherbanoo’s Indian Cuisine: Tantalizing Tastes of the Indian Subcontinent.”

recipe is one of our favorites. You can find our own blend of ingredients in the pakora recipe I share in my column this week. It’s a little different than Sherbanoo’s recipe, but we find it to be perfect for our tastes, with bits of minced jalapeno and cilantro mixed in with sliced onions. Click here for that recipe.

You will find more information about Sherbanoo as well as some of her Indian recipes on her website. Click here.

 

Pakora

  • 2 cups gram flour (most commonly called garbanzo bean flour when you see it in the grocery store)
  • 1 cup water
  • 2 medium onions, finely chopped
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground red hot chili pepper
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon crushed garlic
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 1/2 cups cooking oil for frying

In a medium bowl, whisk the flour and water until all the lumps are dissolved. Add the spices and the onions. Mix well. The batter will be of banana fritter consistency.

Pour the oil in a medium frying pan and place on high heat. When heated to 350 to 375 degrees Fahrenheit, lower to medium heat. Gently lower one teaspoon of batter at a time into the oil. Continue until the surface is covered. Fry for about 1/2 minute on each side. Remove and drain excess oil on side of the pan. Place on a plate with a paper towel to drain more oil. Pakora may be made ahead of time and served at room temperature or warmed up in a microwave oven prior to serving. Serve with hot chutney.

Makes 10 3-piece servings. Per serving: (with 1/2 cup oil absorbed) 164 calories, 12 g fat, 9 g carbohydrates, 9 g protein, 2.3 g fiber, 259 mg sodium.

Recipe from Sherbanoo’s Indian Cuisine: Tantalizing Tastes of the Indian Subcontinent, by Sherbanoo Aziz. 2001.

Wok Cooking with Stir-Fry Grace

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When we got married, my husband and I received a gift of a wok. It wasn’t electric, it wasn’t non-stick — it was made for function, not beauty. I looked at the metal  pan with the rounded bottom and wondered what I would do with something that wouldn’t even balance on a burner on our apartment stove. And, what would I do to prevent the thing from turning into a bowl of rust?

If only I had owned one of Grace Young’s cookbooks at that time.

I met Grace Young a couple of weeks ago when I attended a demonstration she did at the International Culinary Center in New York during the International Association of Culinary Professionals (IACP) annual conference.

The petite, dark-haired woman handles a wok the way a seasoned pizza maker handles dough — with ease, confidence and passion. Grace Young, also known as Stir-Fry Grace, calls herself a certified wok therapist. If you’ve got any problems having to do with woks or wok cooking, she is the person you need to contact.

What did I learn from Grace Young? Lots. But here are five things everyone should know:

1. Never use a non-stick wok. They don’t hold up to the heat necessary for stir-fry cooking. Grace Young claims she has a non-stick radar. Watch out.

The home cook should use a 14-inch carbon steel flat-bottom wok.

As a traveling cooking teacher, Young packs her carbon-steel wok in her carry-on bag. It sends the security agents into a frenzy. Eventually, she makes it through.

Grace Young suggests two New York Chinatown Wok Sources:
Hung Chong Imports Inc.
14 Bowery
New York, NY 10013
212-349-3392
An excellent source for flat-bottomed carbon-steel and the traditional Chinese made castiron woks. Also, carries sandpots, spatulas, bamboo steamers, and a large selection of
Western cookware. Be careful when shopping as they do carry nonstick woks.
KK Discount Store
78 Mulberry Street
212-513-7043
This small shop is packed full of Chinese cooking equipment including 14-inch flat-bottomed carbon-steel woks. Their prices for woks tend to be a little less expensive than Hung Chong.

2. Wok cooking has been around for 2,000 years. In ancient times, the wok was used for drying grains and tea leaves. Now, there are 8 uses for the wok: pan frying, deep frying, boiling, braising, poaching, smoking, steaming and of course, stir-frying. In other words, a wok is a sort of all-purpose pan.

3. Because stir-frying vegetables, meat and seafood over high temperatures takes little time, it’s very important to use fresh, in-season ingredients.

4. Use an oil with a high smoke-point. Peanut oil and grapeseed oil are good choices for stir-fry cooking. Be sure the wok is hot before adding the oil, swirling it down the sides of the wok.

5. It’s important to season your wok. Grace Young calls it wok-bonding time. In the photo at the top of this blog, she is showing our group how to season a carbon steel wok.

 

Seasoning a Carbon-Steel Wok with Scallions and Ginger

by Grace Young

1 bunch scallions
1/2 cup sliced unpeeled ginger
2 tablespoons canola or grapeseed vegetable oil
1. Wash the inside and outside of a carbon-steel wok with hot water using a stainless steel
scrubber and liquid dish-washing soap. Rinse with hot water. Dry the wok on a burner
over low heat for 1 to 2 minutes until no water droplets are visible.
2. Open the windows and turn the exhaust fan on high speed. Heat the wok over high heat
until a bead of water vaporizes within 1 to 2 seconds of contact. Swirl in the oil and add
the scallions and ginger. Reduce heat to medium and stir-fry 15 to 20 minutes, pushing
mixture up sides of the wok to the edge. If the mixture becomes dry add an additional
tablespoon of oil. Remove from heat and allow the wok to cool. Discard the scallions and
ginger.
3. Wash the wok with hot water. Dry the wok on a burner over low heat for 1 to 2 minutes
to make sure the pan is totally dry. The wok is seasoned and ready for cooking.

6. (a bonus!) I must go shopping for a carbon-steel flat-bottom wok and purchase Grace Young’s most recent cookbook, “Stir Frying to the Sky’s Edge: The Ultimate Guide to Mastery, with Authentic Recipes and Stories.” The cookbook won the 2011 James Beard Best International Cookbook Award.

Grace Young prepared Classic Dry-Fried Pepper and Salt Shrimp as part of her demonstration. She was adamant that we eat it immediately after it came out of the wok. That is when you will experience the best wok hay. In Cantonese, hay means energy, life force or breath. Wok hay is the highly prized but elusive taste that food achieves when properly stir-fried in a wok and served immediately.

Learn more about Grace Young and her cookbooks and find some of her recipes at her website. Click here.

Classic Dry-Fried Pepper and Salt Shrimp

used with permission from Grace Young

There are many versions of this beloved dry-fried stir-fry. The absence of liquid in the stir-fry allows you to experience a concentrated shrimp flavor accented by the garlic, ginger, chilies, and Sichuan peppercorns. For this reason it’s imperative to use the freshest ingredients. Frozen shrimp will work just make sure it’s quality shrimp. (GY)

  • 2 tablespoons plus ½ teaspoon salt
  • 1 pound large shrimp, peeled and deveined
  • ¼ teaspoon sugar
  • ¼ teaspoon roasted and ground Sichuan
    peppercorns
  • 2 tablespoons peanut or vegetable oil
  • 1 tablespoon minced garlic
  • 1 tablespoon minced ginger
  • 1 teaspoon minced jalapeno chili, with seeds
    1. In a large bowl combine 1 tablespoon of the salt with 1 quart cold water. Add the shrimp and swish the shrimp in the water with your hand for about 30 seconds. Drain. Add 1 more tablespoon salt to the bowl with 1 quart cold water and repeat. Rinse the shrimp under cold water and set on several sheets of paper towels. With more paper towels, pat the shrimp dry. In a small bowl combine the remaining ½ teaspoon salt, sugar, and ground peppercorns.
    2. Heat a 14-inch flat-bottomed wok or 12-inch skillet over high heat until a bead of water vaporizes within 1 to 2 seconds of contact. Swirl in 1 tablespoon of the oil, add the garlic, ginger, and chili, then, using a metal spatula, stir-fry 10 seconds or until the aromatics are fragrant. Push the garlic mixture to the sides of the wok, carefully add the shrimp and spread them evenly in one layer in the wok. Cook undisturbed 1 minute, letting the shrimp begin to sear. Swirl in the remaining 1 tablespoon oil, and stir-fry 1 minute or until shrimp just begin to turn orange. Sprinkle on the salt mixture, and stir-fry 1 to 2 minutes or until the shrimp are just cooked. Serves 2 as a main dish with rice or 4 as part of a multicourse meal.

Hungarian pancakes with ricotta filling

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My menus for Christmas weekend included a breakfast of Hungarian Palacsinta stuffed with sweetened ricotta. It’s a breakfast I seldom have. When my husband makes the thin crepe-like pancakes, they are consumed in no time by our family. Palacsinta is a favorite of our grandchildren. With no palacsinta leftover, there are no roll-ups the next day.

Unfortunately, the flu bug paid a visit to our house on Christmas weekend. Many of the foods intended to be served are still in the refrigerator and freezer. No one had much of an appetite at my house. It was a tough couple of days.

On Saturday morning, before the bug hit, we had palacsinta for breakfast. With the few that remained, I planned to make roll-ups for Monday morning. Couldn’t happen.

I wound up preparing the roll-ups for our evening meal tonight. We’ll see who can eat it.

Years ago my mom typed her recipe for Hungarian Palacsinta on a card for my husband, who is not Hungarian but is the best Palacsinta-maker. One line in the recipe, typed in all caps and underlined for emphasis, says: DENNIS: LET THIS RECIPE BE OUR SECRET OKAY. So, we’ve guarded her exact recipe.

A couple of years ago Dennis did a demonstration on how to make the thin Hungarian pancake. This is the recipe he used and the crepe-like pancakes were almost as good as those made with the secret recipe.

Hungarian Palacsinta

  • 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • About 1 1/2 cups whole milk
  • 2 eggs

Put milk and eggs in blender. Give it a whirl to blend. Add dry ingredients and blend until mixed.
Use about 3 tablespoons batter for each pancake. The larger the pan, the more batter you will need. My mom always used a 10-inch skillet to make pancakes as big as a plate. Melt a little lard in pan and add batter. Rotate pan until batter covers the bottom. Brown pancake on one side, then carefully flip with a spatula to brown other side. Stack pancakes until all are cooked.

For Filling:

  • 1 1/4 cups ricotta cheese
  • 1 egg yolk from a large egg
  • 2 tablespoons sugar plus a little more for sprinkling over the top
  • 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 1 to 2 tablespoons sour cream for spreading over the top

Place all ingredients except sour cream in a bowl and mix well with a spoon to blend. Lay one pancake down on work surface. Spread a few tablespoons of filling over the pancake. Roll up. Place in buttered casserole dish. Repeat procedure with each pancake. Pack them tightly together in the casserole dish. Top with a thin layer of sour cream. Sprinkle with more sugar. Cover with aluminum foil and refrigerate overnight. In the morning, uncover and bake in a preheated 350-degree oven for about 45 minutes or until heated through. The pancakes will puff up and they will be steaming hot. Serve immediately. They can also be baked as soon as they have been filled and rolled. Bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes.

Apple Kuchen In Disguise

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German grandmothers mixing up sweet yeast dough to form coffee cakes filled with fresh fruit of the season and rich, creamy custard made with real cream have been passing along the kuchen tradition for generations.

If authentic kuchen, which is a German word for “cake,” has been a common thread weaving through your family for decades, you probably won’t appreciate this recipe. The only kuchen my family eats comes to our table as a gift from an expert peach kuchen-maker who works with my husband.

The simplicity of this Quick Apple Kuchen recipe caught my attention as I browsed through an old cookbook I inherited from my mom’s extensive library. The book is so old, it refers to margarine as oleo. Up until 1952, U.S. law required margarine producers to label their product “oleomargarine.” But, the book is not so old that bakers couldn’t find cake mix in their grocery store.

Yes. Cake mix. Kuchen made of cake mix will be considered sacrilegious to many. Since I don’t have a recipe that’s been handed down through the ages, I thought it was worth a try.

It took minutes to combine dry yellow cake mix with butter and flakes of coconut to form a crust. While the crust bakes alone, a rich mixture of sour cream, eggs, sugar and cinnamon gets mixed together. Poured over apple slices that have been arranged over a slightly baked crust, the lightly sweet and creamy mixture bakes to a pudding-like consistency.

My kuchen-clueless family devoured the German imposter. They especially loved the crust that became crunchy with a slight caramelized flavor. The filling of apples and custard is not too sweet with just enough cinnamon to remind you it’s autumn.

If you don’t know better, you’ll love this German dessert in disguise. If you do know better, just give it a try. And call it Quick and Delicious Apple Dessert.

If you’re in the mood for baking with apples, check out the Caramel Apple Bundt Cake in

my column this week. A click here will take you right to that

recipe.

Quick Apple Kuchen

(Slightly adapted from a recipe in “Thou Preparest a Table,” a compilation of recipes from Pekin United Methodist Youth Fellowship in Pekin, New York)
 
  • 1 (18.25-ounce) yellow cake mix
  • 1/2 cup butter
  • 1/2 cup coconut
  • 1 1/4 pounds apples, peeled and sliced, about 3 cups of slices
  • 1 egg
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1 cup sour cream
  • Whipped cream, for serving

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 9- x 13-inch baking dish. Set aside.

Blend dry cake mix and butter together with pastry blender or knives, just as you would do for pie crust. Use clean fingers to work in coconut. Press the mixture into the prepared baking dish. Bake in preheated 350-degree oven for 10 minutes.

While crust is baking, beat egg, sugar and cinnamon together until well blended. Add sour cream and blend.

Remove crust from oven. Arrange apple slices in a single layer over the top, covering the crust. Pour sour cream mixture over the apples. Return to oven and bake for about 30 minutes, until crust is golden and apples are fork-tender. Remove kuchen from oven and allow to cool. Serve slightly warm, chilled, or at room temperature with whipped cream.

Makes 8 very generous servings for hardy kuchen-loving appetites or 12 lady-like servings appropriate for a luncheon dessert or 16 something-sweet-sized servings that would be appreciated at a brunch.

Hungarian Mushroom Soup

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The first time I saw the word Hungarian describing mushroom soup, I was perplexed. I am a descendent of grandparents who came to the United States from Hungary when they were young adults. My mother was 100% Hungarian. I don’t remember ever seeing mushroom soup on the dinner table. No, I’m sure if I’d grown up eating Hungarian Mushroom Soup, I would have always enjoyed eating the earthy fungi.

The truth is, I’ve never cared for mushrooms. The texture, the taste — not for me. Since last August, that’s all changed. My transformation from mushroom-challenged to fungi-infatuated began with an unexpected hunt for chanterelles when I was in Duluth. It developed further when a farmer in Frazee, Minnesota shared some of his freshly-harvested shiitake mushrooms with me. A recent weekend at Fall Mushroom Camp at Little Elbow Lake Park on the White Earth Indian Reservation clinched it. Done deal. I’ve become a lover of fresh mushrooms. Stuffed, stir-fried, paired with pasta or simmered in soup, I eat them. I’ll admit, it’s a remarkable transformation.

At Mushroom Camp, I thought it best to try to learn to identify just two or three edible wild mushrooms. I focused on Shaggy Manes, Lobster Mushrooms and Honey Mushrooms. Now, after spending time at Camp with very experienced mushroom foragers as my teachers, I feel confident I can safely harvest and eat these three mushrooms.

Morning walks with my dog, Gracie, have become forays. I wear my hiking boots so we can veer into the woods when I spot oak trees, a honey mushroom’s favorite place to propagate. With my “mushroom eyes” turned on, I hunt for honeys.

I was surprised to find honey mushrooms growing right in my own yard. I discovered a large cluster of the mushrooms growing at the base of an oak tree.

As I circled around the tree, I continued to find more honeys.

In no time, I had a small basket filled with honey mushrooms from my yard.

I made a pasta dish with some of the mushrooms. That recipe is in my column this week. Then, I dug out my Hungarian cookbooks in search of a recipe for soup. Last week I hosted my Simple, Good and Tasty Book Club for our monthly meeting. We decided on a mushroom potluck dinner. One of the members brought Hungarian Mushroom Soup. The recipe I’m sharing with you is an adaptation of that recipe combined with a couple of variations in my Hungarian cookbooks.

I served my Hungarian Mushroom Soup with Bacon, Green Pepper and Tomato Sandwiches today. Full of creamy mushrooms, dill weed and paprika, the soup is marvelous.

I looked back at some pictures I took when I was in Hungary a few years ago. Sure enough, I spotted honey mushrooms in a shot I took at Central Market Hall (Nagy Vasarcsarnok) in Budapest.

I’m not sure why the woman selling them looked so unhappy — maybe just tired after foraging for all of those wild mushrooms.

 

 

 

 

 

I’m hooked on mushrooms. I find it thrilling to forage for them — it’s a wonderful way to enjoy a Fall day of sunshine and crisp air.

And, my Hungarian taste buds relish this Mushroom Soup.

Hungarian Mushroom Soup

  • 4 tablespoons butter
  • 1 cup chopped onion
  • 1/2 cup chopped green pepper
  • 1/2 cup chopped carrot
  • 1 tablespoon minced garlic
  • 1/2 pound mushrooms, stems removed, sliced (honey mushrooms, shiitake mushrooms or cremini mushrooms work well)
  • 2 teaspoons dried dill weed
  • 1 tablespoon sweet Hungarian paprika
  • 1 tablespoon soy sauce
  • 4 cups vegetable, chicken or beef broth, divided
  • 1 cup milk
  • 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
  • 1/2 cup sour cream, plus extra for serving
  • Salt and pepper, to taste
  • 1/3 cup chopped fresh parsley

Melt butter in soup pot. Add chopped onion, green pepper and carrot. Saute 5 minutes, until vegetables are tender. Add garlic. Saute 2 or 3 minutes more. Add mushrooms. Saute 5 minutes.

Add dill weed, paprika, soy sauce and 2 cups of the broth. Bring soup to a simmer. Cover pot and simmer for 15 minutes. Whisk milk and flour together until mixture is smooth. Pour into soup, stirring well to blend. Cover pot and simmer soup for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add remaining 2 cups broth and lemon juice. Stir. Heat to a simmer. Take pot off of heat and add sour cream, stirring until completely blended into the soup. Return pot to heat and warm soup until hot. Do not allow the soup to boil. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Ladle hot soup into heated bowls. Add a small dollop of sour cream and a sprinkling of parsley to each serving. Makes 6 to 8 servings.

 

 

Hungarian Stuffed Peppers

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It was always this time of year when my Hungarian grandmother would set her enormous enameled pots on the table in her farmhouse kitchen. She’d pile dark green bell peppers, just picked from her large garden, in the deep kitchen sink. After a good rinse, the peppers got cut in half from stem end to blossom end. It didn’t take much time for my experienced grandmother to pull out the white membrane and seeds from each half pepper with a swipe of her fingers. With her strong hands, she mixed ground beef and pork, chopped onions and lots of paprika in a huge bowl.

“Come, Susie. Help stuff the peppers.” As a little girl, I loved pulling the stool my grandpa made up to the table so that I could reach the proper height to help my grandmother stuff the peppers.

It was that kind of happy experience with my grandma that sparked and nurtured my love for cooking, baking and eating.

I carry on the stuffed pepper tradition that was imprinted in me by my Hungarian grandmother and my Hungarian mom. When I prepare a large batch, I mix some ground pork into the meat stuffing. But for just 3 peppers, I use only a pound of ground beef.

For some reason, the ones I make just never taste quite as good as the ones prepared by my grandma and my mom.

But, still, they are a delectable meal that bring comfort and sweet memories.

You’ll find my recipe for untraditional, unstuffed peppers in my column this week. Click here to get that recipe.

 Hungarian Stuffed Peppers

  • 3 green bell peppers
  • 1 pound lean ground beef
  • 1/3 cup uncooked rice
  • 1 medium onion, chopped
  • 1/2 teaspoon sweet Hungarian paprika
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 egg
  • 1 (46-ounce) bottle tomato juice
  • Flour for coating meat mixture in peppers
  • Shortening, paprika and flour to thicken gravy

Wash green peppers. Cut in half lengthwise and remove seeds and white membrane from each half. Set aside.

In large bowl, mix ground beef, rice, onion, egg, paprika and salt. Firmly pack meat mixture into pepper halves. Dip all exposed meat in flour. Place stuffed peppers in pot. Pour in tomato juice. Peppers should be completely immersed in juice. Cover pot and bring juice to a boil. Turn down heat and simmer until rice is cooked. Can also form balls of meat mixture, roll in flour and immerse in juice. People who don’t care for green peppers will appreciate the meatballs.

To thicken gravy, melt 2 or 3 tablespoons of shortening in a small pan. Add 1/2 cup chopped onion. Cook until onion is soft. Add enough paprika (about 1 tablespoon) to make mixture in pan red. Add 1 or 2 tablespoons of flour. Cook and stir. Don’t let mixture get too thick. Remove pepper pot from heat. Stir in flour-paprika mixture. Return pot to heat and simmer just until gravy thickens, stirring often. Makes 6 stuffed pepper halves.

 

 

Weekend Baking: Scandinavian Almond Strawberry Shortcake Bites

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A Scandinavian Almond Cake pan has been tucked into my cupboard for several years. I remember tasting the sweet cake with texture of buttery pound cake and fragrant with almond at a friend’s house. She shared her recipe with me. I went straight to Stabo, the Scandinavian store at the local mall, to purchase one of the long, narrow, ridged and rounded pans of my own.

I think I’ve used the pan once.

The week before I was scheduled to do a cooking demonstration at the Lakes Area Farmers Market in Detroit Lakes, I paid a visit to the farmers and food vendors to see what I would have available to cook with. It was there I met Elsa, bread-baker extraordinaire. She owns Bethlehem “House of Bread.” My eyes lingered over racks of fresh, puffy loaves of bread, alluring caramel rolls and bags filled with substantial-looking granola. My eyes stopped at a few small, clear plastic bags filled with bite-size cubes of Scandinavian Almond Cake. I immediately thought of strawberry shortcake made in parfait glasses for individual servings with layers of these sweet bits of almond cake, fresh juicy strawberries and light, luscious sugar-spiked whipped cream.

I commented on a what a nice seasonal idea this was to sell Scandinavian Almond Cake cubed, ready to be served shortcake-style or layered into trifle. Elsa explained the cubes were an accidental result of almond cakes that didn’t quite release from the pan in perfect manner.

I remembered something the store clerk told me on that day long ago when I purchased my Scandinavian Almond Cake pan. “Use margarine when you make the cake. Don’t use butter. The cake will stick to the pan if you use butter.” She was adamant.

Me use margarine? There’s just no way.

I used butter. I allowed the cake to cool completely in the pan. When I was ready to turn the cake out of the pan, I held my breath as I slightly twisted the pan. I tipped it over. The cake stuck to the pan as if it were held by dried concrete. I turned the pan upside down and started whacking it on the counter covered with a clean kitchen towel. After several whacks, each one getting a bit more heft behind it, the cake finally came out of the pan — all in one piece.

This time of year, when local berry farms are harvesting strawberries and raspberries, Scandinavian Almond Cake sprinkled with powdered sugar, is a perfect accompaniment.

I cubed up a small portion of Scandinavian Almond Cake and carefully pushed them into strawberries (from a berry farm very near to where I live) that I’d sliced open with a sharp paring knife to form something that looked a bit like a tulip. A swirly squirt of an orange-almond-cream cheese topping completed the sweet little dessert.

Any cake with the texture of pound cake can be used for these one-bite strawberry shortcakes. For convenience, use frozen pound cake. I’d be tempted to brush frozen pound cake slices with some amaretto before cubing to give nice almond flavor.

Thanks, Elsa, for the inspiration. And, thanks to my friend Roberta for the Scandinavian Almond Cake recipe.

Scandinavian Almond Strawberry Shortcake Bites

  • Fresh Strawberries, rinsed
  • Small cubes of Scandinavian Almond Cake (recipe below) or pound cake
  • 1 (3-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
  • 1/4 cup slivered almonds, toasted, chopped fine or ground up in food processor
  • Grated zest of 1 orange
  • 1 to 2 tablespoons half-and-half
  • Mint leaves or thyme blossoms, for garnish

In a mixing bowl, beat cream cheese with almonds and orange zest. Add half-and-half to thin the mixture a bit for easier piping. Spoon into a pastry bag with a number 10 metal tip, or a plastic zip-top bag with one corner snipped off.

With a sharp paring knife, slice stem end away from strawberries, creating a flat base. With flat side on work surface, cut 4 slits into tip of each berry, without going all the way through.

Gently push a cube of cake into the center of each cut berry.

Pipe cream cheese mixture over the top to cover the cake. Garnish with mint leaves or thyme blossoms.

Tips from the cook

  • These Bites can be prepared early in the day you will be serving them. This will allow for the cake to absorb some strawberry juice. Store, covered, in the refrigerator.
  • Toast slivered almonds in a preheated 350-degree oven for about 5 minutes. Cool completely before chopping or grinding in the food processor.

Roberta’s Scandinavian Almond Cake

  • 1 1/4 cups sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons pure almond extract
  • 2/3 cup milk
  • 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 cup butter, melted
  • Powdered sugar, for serving

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Generously grease cake pan and set aside. (Roberta sometimes sprinkles some finely chopped almonds in the pan, too.)

In large mixing bowl, beat sugar, egg, almond extract and milk together. Add flour and baking powder, mixing at low speed to blend. Add melted butter and mix well.

Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake 40 to 50 minutes. Be sure to bake until fully done.

Cool cake in pan. Cross your fingers and turn the cake out of the pan.

Sprinkle with powdered sugar, slice and serve.