The Vanity of Vínarterta

Over the past 18 months I have been working from home like so many other people. I haven't yet returned to the office because my organisation is between offices. We will have a new office in the spring. 

I like to work with the Food Network channel murmuring away in the background. One day I spotted Paul Hollywood making vínarterta on one of his City Bakes programmes. I hunted down his recipe and included it on my to - make list.  One year later, I decided to give it a go. Yes my to - make list is very long, just as long as my to - read list (another story).

Vinarterta is an Icelandic layer cake but according to Paul Hollywood's recipie it is a biscuit. Either is good.

I made the cake/biscuit layers and left them to cool.
Then I made chocolate buttercream for the first time ever.
This stuff is yummy. Mostly icing sugar, butter and melted chocolate. All those things that I am not really supposed to eat! Anyway a lick here and there won't hurt. 😋
Next you have to stack the four layers and spread the butter cream between each layer and then you are supposed to wrap the huge slab of deliciousness in baking paper and then foil.


Alas as I did this some bits fell off because it is biscuit after all and a very yummy biscuit it is.

Waste not want not. I kept this for munching infront of Bake Off. 


I finally managed to wrap it all and the great unveiling will be on Saturday. Apparently it is supposed to become soft. If it isn't softer I won't be able to slice it. No problem I will simply eat the slab. 😋

There isn't really anything vain about vínarterta. I just needed the alliteration.

Big up the Icelanders! They certainly know what to do with 🍫 chocolate.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Cooking, Cooking and More Cooking

Image
I love cooking and this October we have a new book in the Jamie Oliver Cookbook Club. It is 'Bibi's Kitchen.' It is another great book and I have been cooking a few things here and there. I made Date Bread this morning and it was surprisingly easy to make. Over the past couple of weeks I made Zanzibar Pilau Rice. It is seasoned with Cardamoms and cinnamon stick and tastes really fragrant. You have to try and hunt for the Cardamom and Cinnamon and retrieve them before serving. I made Doro Wat to go.with the rice. This is a spicy stewed chicken which is supposed to be eaten with hard boiled eggs. I skipped the eggs because I am not really a fan. I also made stewed Spinach otherwise known as Zebhi Hamli. It is great to find a way to eat Spinach. I think mine had a bit too much Tomatoe but it still tasted great and went nicely with the Doro Wat and rice. I also beans which are called Kunde in the book and I made ...
Read more

The Ascension

Image
  Ascension Day Salisbury Cathedral 9/5/24 Acts 1: 1-11, Ephesians 1: 15-end, Luke 24: 44-end.   In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit   For many people Ascension Day is just another day. When you compare it to Easter or Christmas, it is    quite low key, but it is of vital importance to us because it is part of the story of our Lord’s redeeming work. We should be astounded by the fact that Jesus is alive in eternity, or the glory, or heaven. However you wish to describe it, Jesus is there, and he is alive. Ascension Day should therefore empower us, capture our imagination, and inspire us to live differently. It should inspire us to be Christ like. The Ascension is a bit like a victory lap after winning a marathon. It is a vindication or a response to all that Jesus suffered. Together with the Resurrection the Ascension is a response to his birth, and ministry and it is an astounding and life-giving response to the horror of his crucifix...
Read more

In Bibi's Kitchen

Image
Yay for this lovely cookbook. This is the October cookbook for the Jamie Oliver cookbook club and I love it. It us a great book full of stories and colourful pictures. The recipes are easy to follow and the ingredients are accessible. A few pictures below. I made Somali Spiced Tea (Shaah Cadays) It is like a very spicy chai, very spicy! Definitely a good one for winter. Chicken with garlic and ginger(Akoho Misy Sakamalao) from Madagascar.  Fish in a coconut sauce. Coril de Peix Coro) from Mozambique. and Kachumbari which is Tomatoe and Onion Salad but Kachumbari sounds nicer. The book doesn't say where the salad is from (unless I missed that part) but according to Google Kachumbari is popular in East Africa.  They are all tasty and easy to make.
Read more