A while back we received an email from one of the editors at Bon Appétit Magazine, asking if we wanted to create a vegan and gluten-free Christmas menu for them, as a special web feature. We usually aren’t strictly vegan or gluten-free, but were so flattered by the offer that we didn’t have to think more than 2 seconds before answering them that we would happily take it on as a challenge (while dancing a silly dance and singing “We are working with BA, we are working with BA…”).

We came up with five different recipes; Cinnamon roasted root vegetables, Mustard kale salad, Spiced spinach tarts, Christmas falafels and a Pomegranate cheesecake. It is always fun to cook at Christmas since you get to use holiday flavors like saffron, clove, cinnamon, mustard and lemon. We hope that the recipes will be of some assistance in all the Christmas commotion, wether you make one dish or go for the whole menu.

The whole thing has been up on the Bon Appétit web for about a week now, and apparently it is on their top list of most popular articles (we’re dancing that silly dance again!). Click here to see it on Bon Appétit. You can also scroll down to read the recipes here.

Spiced Spinach and Mushrooms in Almond Tartlets
Makes 6 tartlets  

Our gluten-free tart crust has the subtle taste of almonds and fresh herbs, and it can be filled with just about anything. One of our favorites is this clove-spiced spinach and mushroom filling. Potato starch, tapioca starch, and all flours are available from Bob’s Red Mill.

Tartlet shells
½ cup superfine chickpea flour or garbanzo bean flour
¼ cup almond flour or almond meal
2 Tbsp. potato starch, tapioca starch, or cornstarch
½ tsp. sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 Tbsp. each finely chopped fresh rosemary and thyme
3 Tbsp. virgin coconut oil plus more for pans

Filling
2 Tbsp. virgin coconut oil or olive oil (for frying)
1 small red onion, finely chopped
½ tsp. ground cloves
4 cups fresh spinach
1 leek, thinly sliced (including green leaves)
12–15 crimini (baby bella) mushrooms, sliced
Juice of ½ lemon

special equipment: Six small tartlet pans

Making the Tartlet shells: Combine the first 4 ingredients in a bowl; season with salt and pepper. Add coconut oil and 3 Tbsp. ice-cold water. Using your hands, work dry ingredients toward the center until dough forms. Gather dough into a ball, wrap in plastic, and chill for 30 minutes. DO AHEAD: Dough may be made 1 day ahead. Wrap tightly with plastic and chill.

Preheat oven to 375°. Divide dough evenly into 6 portions. Form each portion into a ball and press 1 dough ball evenly onto bottom and up sides of each tartlet pan. Trim dough flush with edge of pans. Prick bottom with a fork to prevent it from bubbling as it bakes. Bake until golden, about 15 minutes.

Let tartlet shells cool slightly, then invert each pan and turn out shells onto a wire rack and let cool completely.

Making the filling  Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onion and cloves and cook until onion is lightly browned; add spinach, leek and mushrooms. Cook until spinach is brightly colored, 3–5 minutes. Add lemon juice and cook 2 minutes longer. Spoon 2 dollops filling into each tartlet shell and serve hot.

Baked Saffron Falafel
4–6 servings  

For this vegan and gluten-free dish, we were inspired by two Swedish Christmas classics—saffron buns and Swedish meatballs. Use red cabbage leaves to wrap individual falafel into small parcels; they’ll look like mini Christmas presents that you’ve set out for your guests. You might recognise this recipe since it is similar to our herb and pistachio falafels.

Falafel
½ cup raw shelled sunflower seeds
2 cups cooked or canned chickpeas, rinsed, drained
1 small onion, coarsely chopped
2 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped
3 Tbsp. olive oil
2 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
1 Tbsp. buckwheat flour
1 tsp. baking powder
¼ tsp. saffron threads

Tahini dressing and assembly
4 Tbsp. tahini (sesame seed paste)
4 Tbsp. fresh orange juice
1 garlic clove, minced
1 red cabbage, cored
1 cup salad greens
2–3 Tbsp. plain soy yogurt

Making the falafel: Preheat oven to 375°. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Pulse sunflower seeds in a food processor for about 30 seconds. Add chickpeas and pulse 1 minute longer. Add onion and remaining ingredients and pulse, occasionally scraping down sides of work bowl, until mixture is slightly coarse and well combined. Using your hands, form 24 small round falafels and place on prepared sheet. Bake, turning every 5 minutes, until falafels are evenly brown, about 15 minutes.

Making Tahini dressing: Using a fork, beat tahini, orange juice, and garlic in a bowl until creamy dressing forms. Set aside.

Assembling: Gently separate leaves from cabbage; rinse and pat dry. Place 2 falafels in the center of a cabbage leaf. Top with a few greens; spoon a little dressing and yogurt over. Fold each side of leaf in toward center, about 1”–2”, then fold the end closer to you over the filling and tuck it under the falafels. Tie with kitchen twine to hold together.

Cinnamon Roasted Vegetables
4–6 servings  

This simple dish takes just a few minutes to prepare; then the oven does the rest of the work. You can throw any kind of vegetable in here; simply adjust the cooking time according to the size.

1 head Romanesco or cauliflower, trimmed, halved lengthwise, cut into small pieces
2 lb. carrots, halved if large
½ lb. parsnips, halved if large
2 medium sweet potatoes. Cut into thick sticks
2 whole garlic cloves, mashed with the end of a knife
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 Tbsp. ground cinnamon
5 2”–3” cinnamon sticks
sea salt

Preheat oven to 375°. Place vegetables and garlic in a single layer on a baking sheet and drizzle with oil; sprinkle cinnamon over and scatter cinnamon sticks around. Season with salt. Using your hands, toss vegetables to coat well. Roast until golden and crispy, about 1 hour. (Time will vary depending on size of vegetables.)

Mustard Quinoa, Cranberry & Kale Salad

4–6 servings  

Here is one of our absolute Christmas favorites. Red quinoa, with a mustard and lemon dressing, served with fresh kale, pomegranate seeds, cranberries, and roasted pecans is perfect for any holiday gathering. You don’t want to miss this one.

1 cup red or black quinoa
Sea salt
4 Tbsp. olive oil
Zest and juice of 1 lemon, preferably organic
2 Tbsp. prepared English mustard
4 large kale leaves, center ribs and stems removed, finely chopped
¼ cup dried cranberries, preferably unsweetened or sweetened with apple juice
¼ cup roasted, salted pecans
Fresh pomegranate seeds


Rinse quinoa in water. Drain and place in a medium size heavy pot; add 2 cups water and season with salt. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer until a curly string-like germ has separated from the circular part, 15–20 minutes. Let cool slightly.

Meanwhile, whisk oil, lemon zest and juice, and mustard in a bowl until smooth and creamy; season mustard dressing with salt.

Transfer quinoa to a bowl and drizzle with mustard dressing; toss to coat. Divide kale among serving plates; top with quinoa, cranberries, and pecans, dividing equally. Garnish with pomegranate seeds.

Frozen Pomegranate and Cashew Cake
8 – 10 servings  

This is a Christmas version of our Flower Power cake. We use soaked cashews that when blended become super creamy and smooth. The crust is sweet and crunchy with nuts and dates, and the pomegranate topping adds a fresh, fruity note to the Christmas spiced filling. Serve the cake cold but not deep-frozen.

Crust
1 1/2 cups raw almonds, walnuts, or hazelnuts
1/2 cup raw, shelled sunflower seeds
2 Tbsp. hemp seeds
12 fresh Medjool dates, pitted
2 Tbsp. virgin coconut oil
1 tsp. sea salt

Filling
1/3 cup virgin coconut oil
1/3 cup agave syrup (nectar)
2 cups raw cashews, soaked for at least 2 hours and up to 8 hours
Zest and juice of 1 large lemon
Zest and juice of 1 orange
2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. ground cloves
1 tsp. ground cardamom
1/2 vanilla bean, split lengthwise

Topping
Seeds from 2 medium pomegranates (you could substitute it with frozen raspberries to make it less expensive)
Juice of 1/2 lime

Special equipment: An 8”-diameter nonstick springform pan

Crust  Grind the first 3 ingredients in a blender or food processor for 1 minute. Add dates, oil, and salt and purée until mixture comes together. Place in springform pan and press evenly across bottom of pan. Chill.

Filling  Heat oil and agave in a small saucepan over low heat, whisking, until liquid. Place mixture in a blender or food processor; add soaked cashews, lemon juice and zest, orange juice and zest, cinnamon, cloves, and cardamom. Scrape in seeds from vanilla bean; discard bean. Purée until very smooth, about 2-3 minutes. Pour filling over crust and chill in freezer until set, about 30 minutes.

Topping  Place pomegranate seeds and lime juice in blender or food processor and blend until smooth. Pour topping over cashew filling. Chill in freezer until solid, 30–60 minutes. Let stand at room temperature 10–15 minutes before serving. Run a sharp knife under hot water to make it easier to cut the slices. DO AHEAD: Can be made 2 days ahead. Remove from freezer and let stand about 20 minutes before serving.

Photos by: Johanna Frenkel

A while back we spent a weekend on the island Gotland in southern Sweden. One of their traditional dishes is baked saffron pancake with whipped cream and dewberry jam. The pancakes are made on rice porridge, mixed almonds, whole milk, eggs, sugar, flour and saffron. They taste incredible, but won’t win any healthiest cake awards. Whenever we come across a great tasting dessert we always ask ourselves: “How could we do this our way?“, and last week we decided to give this one a try.

We have replaced quite a few ingredients in our recipe. They are significantly healthier now, and as far as we can remember they taste quite similar to the original. Maybe a little more dense, but on the other hand you can now eat them as breakfast as well, even though they were originally intended as a dessert. That’s always a good quality from a dessert! The saffron, the pieces of almonds and the shredded carrots are just great together. Warm, sweet and saffrony.

Since dewberries almost only grow on Gotland we instead made a jam out of the only berries that you can get in Sweden this time of the year. Frozen. During the summer we fill our home with as many fresh berries as we can get hold of (and afford). Nothing beats fresh berries, right? But frozen berries are not to be underestimated. They are both beautiful and a real life saver during the winter. Make sure they are unsweetened (in Sweden most berries are). We made a 15-minute-jam with a bag of frozen forest berries (with the beautiful Italian name “Frutti di Bosco”) and only sweetened it with some dried prunes. Ridiculously simple. If you have the pancakes for dessert, a dollop of mascarpone cheese tastes a lot better than whipped cream. You could also go for some turkish yogurt.

Swedish Saffron Pancakes
Makes 6 tartlets 

1 banana, large and ripe
4 eggs
½ cup (1,2 dl) soy milk
½ cup (1,2 dl) rice flour
1 tsp baking powder
a pinch of salt
0,5 g saffron
2 carrots
½ cup (1,2 dl) almonds

coconut oil for the tartlets

Making the pancakes: Preheat the oven to 350F (175°C). Mash the banana with a fork, add the eggs and whisk together. Add soy milk, rice flour, baking powder, salt and saffron and stir around. Shred the carrots and chop the almonds roughly, add to the mixture and stir around. Grease the inside of 1 large baking tin or 6, 5-inch tartlet tins with coconut oil. Pour the batter into the tins and bake for about 20 minutes. Serve the pancakes while they are warm, together with forest berry jam and a dollop of mascarpone cheese.

Forest Berry Jam
Makes 1 small jar 

2 tbsp water
1 lime, juice
15 prunes, finely chopped
250 g frozen berries
1 tsp cardamom, grounded

Warm water, lime juice and chopped prunes in a small pot on medium heat. Let it boil carefully for 5 minutes while stirring. Add berries and cardamom and let it simmer for 10, stir occasionally.

Ps. Since today is Black Friday we have reduced the price for our iPad app to $0.99. Today only. So if you haven’t checked it out yet, today is a good day to do it. Download it here!

There is a special place in Stockholm where we go when we want to get closer to nature, and it is incredibly beautiful this time of the year. Rosendals trädgård is an organic garden on the island Djurgården in central Stockholm. They sell fresh seasonal vegetables, fruits and flowers. There is a cute café inside one of the greenhouses, a bakery, a gardening shop, a deli shop and a giant apple orchard. Unfortunatly we are not the only persons in Stockholm who visits Rosendahl, quite the opposite actually. On a sunny weekend it is often very very crowded, but once you are sitting there with your lunch under the apple trees everything else fades away and it feels like you are all alone.

A few Saturdays ago we decided to take the boat to Rosendals Trädgård to have lunch, play with Elsa under the apple trees, buy some fresh kale and pick a bouquet of organic autumn flowers for a cake idea that we had been talking about. Here are some pictures from our day, and if you scroll down we also share the recipe for the insanely delicious raw and vegan Flower Power Cake.

This cake started out with a conversation that me and David had about our lifestyle. We don’t eat meat. We drink plant milk. We love greens, herbs and seeds and we use flowers in our cooking and as food decoration. If we would have lived during the 1960′s there is no doubt that we would have been hippies. As we started talking about it, we admitted that we actually feel like hippies even today. Hippies of the 21st century ✌.  If you like and read our blog we are guessing that you probably are as well, right?

So in the name of peace, love and understanding we made this raw and vegan cake, packed with superfoods and decorated with a whole bouquet of flowers. It was just something we did for fun. Like a celebration. Little did we know that it would turn out to be one of the best cake we had ever tried. Crunchy, lemony, fruity and sweet. It’s not an exaggeration, this cake is crazy good. Make it tonight.

Flower Power Cake
The cashew filling is inspired and adapted from these cakes from My New Roots and Roost, the crust is inspired by our Frozen Pink Cheesecake. It is completely volontary to eat the flowers. We used them mainly because they are pretty. 

Crust
1 1/2 cups (225 g) almonds,
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
2 tbsp hemp seeds
12 fresh dates (medjool), pitted
2 tbsp virgin coconut oil
1 tsp sea salt

Filling
1 ½ cups raw cashews, soaked for at least 2 hours, longer if you have the time
2 organic lemons, juice & zest
1 tsp grounded vanilla powder or 1/2 vanilla pod
1/3 cup (0,8 dl) coconut oil, melted
1/3 cup (0,8 dl) honey or agave nectar
1 tbsp rosehip powder (optional)

Topping
2 medium size pomegranate, seeds
1/3 cup (0,8 dl) frozen raspberries
1/2 lime, juice

Decoration
Organic & edible fresh flowers

Making the crust: Grind nuts and seeds in a blender or a food processor for about a minute. Add dates, coconut oil and sea salt and run the processor until it all comes together. Flatten it out on the bottom of an 8-inch non-stick spring form. Store in the fridge while you make the filling. Clean blender or food processor well.

Making the filling: Warm coconut oil and honey in a small saucepan on low heat until liquid. Whisk to combine. Place soaked cashews, lemon juice and zest, vanilla, coconut oil, honey and rosehip in blender or food processor and blend on high until very smooth (this make take a couple minutes so be patient). Pour the filling over the crust and place in the freezer for 30 minutes or until set. Clean blender or food processor well.

Making the topping: Place pomegranate seeds, raspberries and lime juice in a blender or food processor and blend until smooth. Pour the topping on top of the cashew filling, place the cake back in the freezer for about 30 minutes.

Serving the cake: Remove from freezer 30 minutes before eating. Decorate the cake with fresh organic flowers. Run a smooth, sharp knife under hot water and cut into slices.

Edible flowers: Viola-type flowers, Calendula, Roses, Rosehip, Dandelions, Carnations, Lavender, Cornflowers, Pea flowers, Day Lilies, Chamomile and many more.

☮

Ps. If you look in the top right corner you will find a new link to a site about our upcoming iPad. We will have photos, previews and an instruction video there soon. But right now you can leave your email there if you want to be in on the latest. Hopefully it will reach the app-store within the next couple of weeks.

Are we the only ones fantasizing about crazy ice cream combinations with only natural ingredients? We know that there is a whole world of healthier ice cream recipes out there just waiting to be revealed, and with our brand new ice cream maker (thank you uncle Sven, we love it!) we are going to start exploring it. This was actually our first try with the machine and we stumbled upon an interesting combo right away.

Have you tasted fig ice cream before? You probably have. We actually hadn’t tried it, but considering our love for this sweet and juicy fruit we imagined it would make a buon gelato. We used coconut milk instead of cow milk or cream, which was one of the ideas that we have fantasized about. It was exactly as good as we imagined it, and since we made it without eggs it is also vegan!

This is somewhat of an ice cream for grown ups (even though we hate that expression). The flavors are pretty fruity and complex, not at all like a standard sugar and cream recipe. Make sure to use ripe figs (preferably mission figs), they taste sweeter.

Have you got any favorite ice cream recipes of your own, without heaps of sugar? Leave a comment, we would love to know what it is.

Fig, Coconut & Blackberry Ice Cream
Makes around 4 cups (1 liter)

This recipe is not super sweet, that is how we like it. Taste it while it cooks and add more honey if you prefer.

10 fresh ripe figs
6 tbsp water
lemon zest, from 1 lemon
1/3 cup dried shredded coconut, unsweetened
fresh ginger, 1 inch (2,5 cm), minced (optional)
1/2 cup (1,2 dl) honey (vegans use agave nectar)
2 cups (5 dl) coconut milk
lemon juice, from 1/2 lemon
2/3 cup (1,6 dl) fresh blackberries
lemon balm

Start by removing the ends from the figs. Cut each fig into 8 pieces. Put them in a saucepan, add water, lemon zest, coconut flakes and ginger. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, for about 10 minutes until the figs are tender. Add honey and around 10 blackberries. Continue to cook for about 15-20 minutes (you might want to lower the heat a bit) until it reaches a jam-like consistency. When it’s done, remove from the heat and let cool to room temperature. Use an immersion blender or food processor to quickly mix it together with the coconut milk and lemon juice. Don’t mix too hard, it’s nice with some fruit pieces here and there. Chill well in the fridge (otherwise you will have yourself a fig milkshake, we have tried that…) before you put the mixture in an ice cream maker for about 25 minutes or however long your brand of ice cream machine suggests. Serve with fresh blackberries and a few leaves of fresh lemon balm.

My birthday was just a few days ago. I turned 30. Most people would take this as an opportunity to arrange a kick ass party. For a long time I thought I would too. But after attending some of my friends impressive 30-year old parties that went on for days, I suddenly choked. So I decided only to celebrate it with my family. Or at least that was what I thought. Luise (who was tired of me acting like a grumpy old man) had secretely called in all my friends and relatives from Sweden, London and Denmark, and last Saturday they all surprised me with a big party. Not only did all these people show up, but each and everyone had also brought a dish that they had made from Green Kitchen Stories. Can you believe it! We had never seen so many of our recipes cooked at the same time. It was awesome.

Thank you all of you who came and made it a great day. And thank you Luise for arranging an amazing party. Jag älskar dig.

Now let’s move on to these cupcakes. They started out with a simple craving for carrot cake. We love carrot cakes. I think I have baked them since I was seven or eight years old. But every now and then it’s good to move on, try new things, grow up! So when we craved carrot cake this time Luise reached for a zucchini instead. She baked them on spelt flour, only sweetened them with a banana and some maple syrup and then added many different spices. The zucchini made them juicy, the nuts gave them crunch and the spices gave them flavor. But hey hey hey, let us not forget the frosting … the frosting made them simply irresistable (I write while I take a bite on my fifth cupcake today).

Zucchini Cupcakes
Makes around 12 muffins

1 banana
3 eggs
4 tbsp maple syrup
1 2/3 cup (4 dl) spelt flour
1 vanilla bean, scraped
2 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp cardamom
2 tsp cloves
1 tsp allspice
2 tsp baking soda
2 cups (5 dl) zucchini, shredded
1/2 cup (1,2 dl) rapeseed oil or coconut oil
2/3 cup (1,5 dl) walnuts or cashews, chopped

Zucchini & Lime Frosting
200 g natural cream cheese (we used dairy free soy cream cheese)
3 tbsp honey
1/2 organic lime, juice and zest
1/3 cup  (80 ml) zucchini, shredded

Making the muffins: Preheat the oven to 350°F/180°C. Mash the banana in a bowl, add eggs and maple syrup and whisk it together. Sift dry ingredients together and stir in the wet mixture. Then add zucchini, oil and nuts and mix well. Spoon batter into muffin cups or a cupcake pan and bake for around 25 minutes or until golden brown and firm.

Making the Frosting: Add all ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Place in the fridge while baking the muffins.

Serving: When the muffins have cooled, serve them with two spoonfuls of frosting topped with a pinch of freshly shredded zucchini. Enjoy!

Have you ever seen a group of people jumping like frogs around a leaf covered pole? You have?! Then you must have been visiting a Swedish midsummer party (or you have some weird channels on your tv). We know that it sounds like a strange tradition. It is. And we won’t be able to tell you the story behind these traditions, since we have absolutely no idea why we do it. It’s just … tradition. Normally we don’t take these things very serious, but this year we visited some close friends that had arranged everything. Even the pole and the frog dance. We had a blast. Dancing around the midsummer pole, making frog sounds, acting like our parents did when we were kids (and we swore that we would never do the same).

Swedish midsummer celebrations are a lot like our crayfish parties, except for the pole dancing. We cook, we eat, we drink, we sing. Instead of crayfish, most people eat pickled herring and small homegrown potatoes. We had prepared vegetable muffins, this time loaded with goat cheese, broccoli and olives. We also made a no-bake summer cake topped with freshly picked wild strawberries and blueberries. Here are a few photos from our midsummer, and if you scroll down you will also find the recipe for the cake.

Summer Berry Cake
Makes 1 big cake or 8 small

The crust in this cake has a very rich and sweet taste, so we kept the filling pretty natural with fruit and a fat yogurt. We love it like this, but if you have a sweet tooth you might want to add more honey to it. Also, if you won’t eat it immediately we recommend that you make edges on the crust that will keep the filling in place, since it might melt a bit after a while in the sun.

Crust:
300 g (2 cups) walnuts
10-12 fresh dates, pitted
2 tbsp coconut oil
a pinch of salt

Filling:
1 cup fresh (or frozen) summer berries, we used blueberries and wild strawberries
juice from 1/2 lemon
4-6 tbsp honey, agave syrup or maple syrup
2 cups greek yogurt or quark
1 tsp cardamom

Topping:
1 cup fresh summer berries

Grind walnuts in a blender or a food processor for about a minute. Add dates, coconut oil and salt and run the processor until it all comes together. Flatten it out on the bottom of an 8-inch non-stick spring form or in small muffin cups. Store in the fridge while you make the filling.

Mash the berries for the filling slightly, add lemon juice and honey. If you use a thick yogurt or quark you can use it as it is, but if the yogurt feels too loose and runny you can strain it through a cloth or a coffee filter. Stir together the strained yogurt and the blended berries in a large bowl. Pour it on top of the crust in the spring form and put it in the freezer for around 30-45 minutes (you want it cold but not deep frozen) .

Top the cake with fresh seasonal berries. Serve immediately.

Ps. We recently got the “Sites We Love” award by Saveur Magazine! Read the interview here.

After six months of traveling around the world, our life has now finally settled back to normal. And that is when we realize that we don’t know what normal is anymore. Even though me and Luise have been living together for a couple of years, it feels like our life as a family starts now. Just like Elsa, we are taking our first trembling steps towards our new family life. Right now we have no idea how that life will turn out, how we will find a balance between work and family, or even in which country our life will take place during the next couple of years. You might say that we have some figuring out to do. One thing that we do know, is that we will keep on sharing our favorite recipes with you. Like these Chai & Hazelnut Brownies that Luise made the other day. We would be lying if we called them healthy, but they are at least vegan, raw and gluten free. And they taste – pardon my french – fingerlickin’ good!

Before moving on to the recipe, we want to give you some basic tips when baking with dates.
1. Always use fresh dates. They should be dry on the outside, and very soft and sticky on the inside.
2. If you have to use dried dates, you need to soak them in drinking water a couple of hours before baking with them.
3. If you can’t find dates at all you can try using raisins, figs, dried plums or dried apricots (remember to always soak dried fruit first).
4. When you blend dates they should turn into a very sticky paste, so you need a strong food processor or blender.

Raw Hazelnut & Chai Brownies (adapted from the danish cookbook “Raw Cake”, by Caroline Fibæk)
Makes around a dozen brownies

What makes this cake special is that it is spiced up with chai spices, it gives it such an unique taste! Use normal tea bags, cut them open and just pour them in the dough, isn’t it easy? -and you can choose green, black or herbal chai tea!

2 cups (5 dl) fresh medjool dates, remove the seeds
4 tbsp coconut oil (room temperatur)
2 tbsp maple syrup
6 tbsp raw cacao powder, or ordinary cocoa powder
1 tsp vanilla powder (not sugar) or 1 vanilla bean
3 chai tea bags, cut them open (we use Pukka or Yogi)
2 tbsp grounded flax seeds (you can buy grounded or use a coffee grinder)
two pinches of sea salt
1/2 cup (1,2 dl) hazelnut, roughly chopped (you can use any kind of nuts or seeds)

Put all ingredients, except the hazelnuts, in a high speed blender. Add the chopped hazelnuts and work the dough by hand. Take a brownie tin or a plate, cover it with plastic wrap and press down the dough to whatever thickness you prefer (ours are about 1/2 inch high). Rub a bit of coconut oil on your hands to prevent the dough from sticking on them. Put the cake in the fridge and let it set for a least half an hour.

Slice it up in pieces, sprinkle with cacao powder and garnish with whole hazelnuts.

Photos by: Johanna Frenkel.

We are back in our kitchen. Trying new recipes. Thinking back on six unbelievable months. While it is snowing outside. Snowing. In April. That is weird even for Sweden.

As you can imagine we are boosted with Asian inspiration. We have for example got a major crush on lemongrass, look out for it in our future recipes. But for a while now we have decided to take a short break from everything Asian. You know when you have been out traveling, and all you can think about on the plane home is a peanut butter & jam sandwich in the morning? That was us a couple of days ago. Except from that the sandwich in our case was rye bread. And instead of peanut butter & jam we dreamed of this super delicious Apple, Ginger & Cardamom Compote. Apart from being perfect on a piece of rye bread, it can also be used in a tart, or enjoyed as a fresh dessert together with some yogurt. It is sweet, but not sweetened. How sweet is that!?

Apple, Ginger & Cardamom Compote
Makes 2 jars
This compote is completely without sugar and preservatives, therefore it needs to be in the fridge in a closed glass jar. As long as you don’t open it, it will stay fresh for weeks (maybe even months), but after it is opened you probably want to finish it within a week.

2,2 lb (1 kg) apples
1 1/2 cups (4 dl) water
2 tbsp fresh ginger, finely chopped
2 tbsp cardamom seeds
2 tsp cinnamon grounded
2 cinnamon sticks
30 leaves of lemon balm, chopped
1/2 lemon, juice & zest

Chop the apples (with peel). Place apples, water and the rest of the ingredients in a pot. Bring it to a boil, then turn down the heat to medium and let it simmer for 40 minutes. Stir occasionally. The compote is done when the water is gone and the apples are tender. Clean the jars in boiling water. Pour the compote in the jars while it is still warm and seal the jars right away.

Photo by: Johanna Frenkel

Our little baby turns 1 today, so this text is to her. Maybe in a couple of years, she can go back and read this (if our blog still is online). But until then, don’t be a stranger, read it, leave her a comment, and dig in on some pancake cake!

Dear Elsa, if one word would define your first year, it must be Change. During this year, you have learned how to breath, nurse, point at, laugh, sit up, eat, crawl, play, grab, kiss, hug and walk. Every skill learned was soon replaced with a new one. It has been a constant evolvement. A constant change. And as we went on this trip around the world with you, change got a whole new meaning.

You have been flying 15 times during your first year. You have been on 3 different continents. You have been moving from 80°F heat one day, to 5°F and snow two days later, and then on to 100°F one week after that. During this trip you have slept in 47 different locations. 47! Imagine being 9 months old and being put in a new bed, in a new room, in a new city, twice every week. And we haven’t even counted how many time zones that you have crossed. When we think about it, we realize that you could have been seriously messed up by know. But how have you instead reacted to all this change?

Like a total angel. It’s unbelievable. You hit the high score in The-Most-Perfect-Baby-With-A-Backpack-Contest. On the airplanes you always put on a show; you stand up in your seat, wave your hand like a princess, and smile at everyone. And every single person on the airplane always waves back at you. It’s hilarious to watch. You have made new friends everywhere, and at the age of one, you have also become a global food enthusiast. You have been playing in the snow, in the ocean and on the beach. You are not fond of playing alone, but as long as we are close, you are happy. And you have been sleeping for 12 hours each night, no matter where you were. You adapt to change like a chameleon. If you would have been different in any way, this trip would have been much more complicated, or even impossible.

Thank you Elsa for putting up with all these changes, and for changing our world. Happy birthday, we love you more than anything.
/Mom & Dad

Now, let’s eat birthday cake!

We can go on and on about how you should not give small children sugar, sweets or even anything that is sweetened with refined sugar. They don’t need it and they don’t have any natural craving for it. Come to think about it, we will actually go and on about it, but not today. We will save that for another post.

Since we didn’t want to give Elsa a traditional sugar-flour-jam kind of cake, but we did want to give her a treat that she loves, this pancake cake was perfect. It was also perfect since it was the only cake that we could make without an oven or a blender. It is gluten free and sugar free. It is topped with a lovely thai-inspired coconut cream, and served with lots of fresh fruit. You might remember that we also did a pancake cake for Luise’s birthday, you could use that almond & date filling in this cake too.

Coconut & Banana Pancake Cake
10-12 pancakes (6 inch)

4 bananas
6 eggs
1/2 cup (1,2 dl) coconut milk
2/3 cup (2 dl) dried coconut flakes (unsweetened)
coconut oil
fresh fruit

Mash the bananas with a fork in a bowl, whisk in the eggs, add the coconut milk and flakes and stir around. Heat coconut oil in a pan and fry the small pancakes a couple of minutes on each side. Let the pancake cool off, one by one, on a big plate. To arrange the stack of pancakes, you start with one, place some mashed fresh fruit, nut butter or jam of your desire, add the next pancake and so on. We varied mashed papaya and mashed mango between the layers. Pour over the Coconut Cream (recipe below) just before serving. Garnish with flowers, Happy Birthday!

Coconut Vanilla Cream (inspired by a recipe on Honest Fare)

2 cups (5 dl) coconut milk
1 vanilla pod
1 stick cinnamon
1 thin slice fresh ginger
2 dates (divided in half)
2 tbsp corn starch, tapioca starch or arrowroot

Put coconut milk, vanilla, cinnamon, ginger and the dates in a pot. Let it boil on medium heat, while stirring, then turn down the temperature so that it simmers. Mix starch with 2 tbsp water in a small bowl, add to the cream and let it boil for another 20-30 minutes. Remove the cinnamon stick, vanilla pod, ginger and the dates. Transfer the cream to a bowl and put it in the fridge for about 30 minutes. It will become a little thicker when it’s cold. Enjoy this super tasty Coconut Vanilla Cream, it is the perfect match to a fruit salad or a cake!

Say hello to The Alkaline Sisters, our guest posters for this week. The Alkaline Sisters is a beautiful blog run by two sisters – Julie and Yvonne – who both have changed their lives from inside and out, by eating alkaline foods. If you are not familiar with the alkaline diet you can learn more about it on their blog. You will also find loads of great recipes, colorful photos and some truly fascinating life changing stories. Today they share two recipes with dragon fruit, which we think is great since it has become our new favorite fruit here in Asia. We leave the word to Julie:

Lately the dragon fruit has been calling my name and I can’t get enough of it. The juicy, mildly sweet flavour and that gorgeous aesthetic of fuschia and white with black–I just love how this fruit looks, let alone tastes! And with David and Luise enjoying these daily with little Elsa I thought it would be fun for you to have some too! While we’re at it we gain the benefits of a big dose of vitamin C, lots of fibre, B1, B2, Protein, Calcium, even Iron, to mention just a few. With all these nutrients the dragon fruit can help improve memory and digestion, prevent formation of cancer causing free radicals, decrease bad cholesterol, strengthen bones and teeth, assist in healing cuts & bruises and… moisture & smoothen your skin. How about that!

I’ve been enjoying them in a variety of salads, desserts with other fruits, and just sliced on their own. They contain many alkalizing minerals and antioxidants and their sugar content is extremely low while the water content is quiet high. A salad of this nature is an excellent meal to balance your alkaline intake as it is recommended to consume 70-80% alkaline foods at every meal in order to optimize and energize your body and avoid disease. The macadamia nuts and the pomegranate are slightly acidic, although very nutritious, and the greens are highly alkalizing and assist in the digestion of the nuts. With a double dose of omega oils 3 & 6 from the avocado in the salad & the dressing, a nice hit of protein via the dragon fruit & avocado too, over all, you have a very healthy and hydrating meal versus a heavy, low water content, concentrated cooked meal that leaves you feeling sluggish. I always feel fabulous after a delicious salad like this and I am not the least bit hungry for quite some time which is what many people fear when they only eat a tiny side salad with cucumber and tomato.  Pump up your salad with tasty things like dragon fruit and you will come to crave your yummy, healthy meals.

The unique clean flavour of dragon fruit lends itself nicely to many different flavour directions. Do experiment cuz you might be surprised at the wonderful results you create.  Maybe give the Dragon Fruit Creme recipe below a try for your dessert!

Salad of Dragon Fruit, Pomegranate & Macadamia with Creamy Mint & Lime Dressing
Yield: 2 large salads

The salad
4 cups fresh greens, I used mache
1 dragon fruit, skin removed and diced
seeds of 1 fresh pomegranate
1/2 cup raw macadamia nuts
1 avocado, sliced

Method: Divide greens between 2 large bowls or plates and top with remaining ingredients.  Serve with dressing on the side and add as needed.

The dressing
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
juice & zest of one fresh lime
juice of 1/2 lemon
5 stems fresh mint, leaves and stems
1/2 avocado
2 tsp agave or as you may (I like to replace 1 tsp with 3 drops liquid stevia)
pinch sea salt
2-3 tbsp filtered water for consistency

Method: Place all ingredients in a blender and combine until mint is pureed.  Mmmm… this dressing is sooo yummy! I like it with papaya and greens too–try it with some of your favourite salads.

Dragon Fruit Creme
This is a little treat that I concocted that you might like for a simple dessert or with an afternoon cup of tea.

Method: Blend well in high speed blender, garnish with a piece of dragon fruit with the pretty skin on and serve. This tends to thicken a bit if it stands for a while but is best served same day to benefit from all the fresh nutrients.

I hope you will give the pretty dragon fruit a try if you haven’t already.  You’ll be glad you did.  It is often found in Asian markets as is the young coconut.  I have even seen young coconuts for sale already opened with the fresh meat and the coconut water packed separately at places like Whole Foods if you have one near you. This is a bonus cuz it can be tricky to open those coconuts but soooo worth it!  Here’s a really helpful link on how to easily open a young coconut if you so decide to whip up this yummy treat. It’s been a delight sharing with you, a BIG thank you to David and Luise for this guest post! Safe travels. /Julie

Text & photo by The Alkaline Sisters