To me this pie is the epitome of Swedish baking. Okay, there is no cinnamon or cardamom, but the forest berries and the layered topping just screams Scandi baking. This pie was a classic growing up, and my mum always made it to perfection, like only mums can. Ice cream and pie are always a winning combination, but for the truly Swedish experience, I suggest the custard listed below. Make this pie for friends, family or yourself. Just bring a cup of tea a spoon.
Ingredients
Pie crust
150g of softened butter
200g flour
2 tsp baking powder
4 tbsp sugar
50ml cream
Filling
approx. 300g of frozen blueberries
approx. 200g of frozen raspberries
200ml sugar
2 tsp potato flour (or cornflour but add another tsp)
Custard (not pictured)
2 egg yolks
200ml cream
1 tbsp sugar
1 tsp potato flour (or cornflour, same amount)
2-3 tsp vanilla sugar (or essence)
Baking Time!
- Preheat the oven to 225C.
- For the pie crust, mix the butter, flour, baking powder and sugar.
- Remove about a fist full of the pastry and set aside.
- With the remaining pastry, add the cream and combine it.
- At the pastry to a medium sized pie dish and press it out with your fingers. You want the crust to be about 2mm.
- Blind bake the crust for about 10 minutes. Use either baking beans or poke holes throughout the crust to prevent rising. It should be very lightly golden when done.
- For the filling, combine all the ingredients. Add the potato flour last.
- Add the filling into the crust. Crumble on the remaining pie crust that you set aside earlier.
- Bake in the oven for another 20-25 minutes or until the filling feels set.
Custard
- Combine all the ingredients except for the vanilla.
- Bring to a simmer on a low heat or until you feel it is beginning to thicken.
- Remove from the heat and let it cool.
- Once cool, add the vanilla to taste.
This may be my favourite new salad if not my favourite new meal. I am also SO pleased with how the picture came out. This salad encompasses everything I love in a dish: crunchy, nutty, sweet, fresh, healthy and tangy. Everyone knows that berries pair really well with cheese; feta and blueberry make an excellent pairing. I would be lying though if I claimed any other part to be as delicious as the toasted pecans on top. I am a sucker for pecans. If only they were not so expensive. Walnuts or even almonds would make an excellent alternative, but nuts in general are pretty pricy. I wouldn't say fresh berries and nuts is a bargain meal, but since this a vegetarian dinner I feel like I can splash out and have some luxury ingredients from time to time. Rocket's peppery flavour helps balance the sweetness from the blueberries and balsamic glaze and the saltiness from the nuts and feta. Spinach would make a good alternative too. I put down a base of bulgur wheat to make this a substantial dinner; however, that is entirely optional. Quinoa would also make a good base, but the salad as a side or on its own is perfect and delicious.
Serves 2 / Approximate prep time: 10 minutes
Ingredients
150g of fresh blueberries
2 large handfuls of arugula or rocket
40g of feta
50g of pecans
2 sprigs of fresh mint
balsamic glaze, for drizzling on top
ground black pepper
salt
honey, about 2 tsp
Preparation
- Chop the pecans into small chunks.
- Toast in a frying plan on medium heat (no additional fat required) until you can smell their nutty aroma. Drizzle the honey on top. Season with salt. Mix the nuts to ensure even coating of honey. After about 20-30 seconds remove from the heat.
- Finely chop the fresh mint leaves.
- Evenly distribute the rocket, feta, fresh mint and blueberries between your plates. Or mix together, gently, in a large salad bowl.
- Garnish with the toasted nuts and freshly ground pepper. Drizzle balsamic glaze or balsamic vinegar on top.
- Enjoy!
Serves 2-3 / Cooking time 10 min
This recipe was a bit of an experiment. I had a lot of left over filo from my
salmon brik recipe and I thought these beauties would be an excellent way to use it up. They are very moreish and a quick and easy desert.
Ingredients
5 sheets of filo pastry
4 tbsp of blueberry jam (can use any you like!)
1.5 tbsp of ricotta cheese
1 tsp of lemon zest
Serve with: honey, greek yogurt and some sea salt
Preparation
- Combine your blueberry jam, ricotta and lemon zest.
- Cut each filo sheet in half.
- Place a heaped tsp of filling into the corner of your filo.
- Fold into a triangle. Repeat the triangle folds until you run out of pastry. Like this!
- Make sure to seal the pastry well with your fingers.
- Heat one 1 tbsp of olive oil in a non-stick pan on medium heat. Add the parcels and cook on both sides until golden and crisp. You may need to do this twice depending on the size of your pan.
- Serve with honey, yoghurt and a sprinkle of sea salt.
- Enjoy!
