Nordic Pancake Cake From Josephine of A Tasty Love Story

I'm not sure how or when I stumbled across Josephine's blog, A Tasty Love Story, but I am ever grateful to have done so. Living in Denmark, Josephine takes a sincere approach to whole foods, giving a Nordic twist to the recipes that grace her table. Josephine understands ingredients in such an honest manner and uses her camera to tell their story. I know you'll love her stories, too.

This is my very first guest post – and wow I never imagined that it would be at one of my absolute favorite blogs. The Pastry Affair is an eternal source of inspiration, with dashing pictures and original recipe. So proud to be a part of it today…

I grew up in a house where food played a big role. We have always been involved in deciding what to eat, grocery shopping and talking about the food we ate together. I remember summers spent in a strawberry field and cozy autumn evening spent with peeling apples and baking pies. My mom has played the leading role when it came to health, whole grain and vegetables. She has always stuffed us with colorful veggie juices, porridge, fish and all good things from the garden. I guess I was the one child out of three who enjoyed this the most, and still does!

But we had those special nights where my dad was home alone with us, and he always asked us what we wanted… and we always wanted pancakes! My dad’s famous and fabulous pancakes. He made a thick batter filled with eggs, flour and foamy beer. He fried up a huge stack of thin and crispy pancakes – and we all had eyes as big as baseballs, just ready to dig in.

On pancake nights there was one important rule. You needed to eat at least two pancakes with a savory filling – and then you could have all the dessert-y and sweet ones you wanted, every kid's dream! My brother always went for the sugar and jam ones, but I have always been my dad’s dairy girl, so I followed him and made one of the special creamy ones he created. My dad’s special trick was to add a big dollop of sour cream and a spoonful of blueberry or blackberry jam, roll it together and nicely enjoy every bit with fork and knife. I loved this. Loved how the soft cream dripped down the sides and made a beautiful swirl with the jam. Food filled with love, color and flavor.

My love of food and indulgence definitely has its roots way back and I can’t thank anyone enough for this. Because I feel so privileged to get so much satisfaction out of something as natural and important as eating.

That is why this cake is not only a celebration of seasonal berries, Nordic cooking, pancakes (the fact that they exist) but, just as importantly, a celebration of the love of food – and the love food brings us!

The pancake cake is a classic Nordic, and especially Swedish, thing. It is a wonderful concept really, where you just layer pancakes with your favorite filling in between and enjoy all of it as one big cake. It is perfect for birthdays, dinner parties and to impress kids and adults – because, let’s face it, who does not love a huge stack of pancakes.

As you might have guessed I have filled my cake with soft cream and jam, just as when I was a kid. The cream is half sour cream and half whipped cream, just to have some of that lovely cultured flavor combined with the fluffy and soft texture from whipped cream. The jam has been upgraded a bit and we now have a homemade berry compote, where the sugar content is moderate and we get some texture from the healthy and famous chia seeds.

Remember that this cake can be made in all different ways and adapted to all seasons. For autumn and winter you can spice your pancake batter with warm spices as cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg and spread the layers with apples and cream cheese frosting. And spring provides you with rhubarb – to make a tangy compote and combine it with sweet vanilla cream! Furthermore the pancakes and compotes can easily be made a day ahead and then it is quick and easy to assemble just before serving… Enjoy!

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Peaches & Cream

Sometimes we all need a little simplicity in our lives. Life has a sneaky way of quickly becoming a list of things that need to be done—a giant checklist that seemingly never ends. The list is filled with work and chores. Dinners to make and dishes to clean. Clothes to be washed and clothes to be put away. Deadlines to meet and cookies to bake.

Oh so many cookies to bake.

I've been feeling overwhelmed lately. I've been working between 12 and 15 hours a day for the last few weeks. To say that it's draining would be an understatement. I'm exhausted. My list of things to do each day ends up rolling over onto the next. And the next. And soon my list of things to do is so long and intimidating, I wish I could hide it and pretend it didn't exist. Just the other day I scheduled in an hour of "fun time" (aka television watching) to let loose, but I was too busy stressing over the to-do list that "fun time" wasn't really... fun.

I guess you can't force yourself to de-stress between the precise hours of 8 and 9 pm.

When life gets crazy and hectic, it can be easy to forget to keep things simple. Even if you have a list the length of a football field of everything that needs to be done, it won't hurt to take a moment to breathe and allow yourself to relax (I know, easier said than done!). In fact, you just might find that those few moments of peace are exactly what you needed to recharge.

Tonight I plan on sitting back, eating a bowl of Peaches and Cream, and forgetting my list of things to do, if only for a minute. Work will just have to wait. Peaches are more important tonight.

This week is all about simple desserts. So simple, in fact, that you hardly need to follow a recipe to make them (but I'll share them with you anyway!). A common misconception seems to be that simple desserts are also plain desserts. Such lies! I'll set out to prove that even the simplest of desserts can pack the most flavor (just check out this easy recipe for roasted pineapple).

Even you can find time in your busy schedule to whip up this dessert. Yes, you.

Peaches and Cream is a simple, yet elegant dessert. Fresh, ripe peaches are peeled and sliced before being placed in a bowl and lightly covered in heavy cream. The peaches are then sprinkled with cinnamon and almonds. This dish is uncomplicated and easy to prepare (in fact, you could have done so in the time it took to read this post!). Peaches and cream are a simple match and make an ideal dessert.

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