Cooking recipes

Its almost blueberry season in Iceland, so here is a recipe to try.

What we call bláber (blueberries) in Iceland are actually the related bilberries. Either bilberries or blueberries can be used in this recipe.

Bilberries in the wild:


250 g blueberries or bilberries, fresh or frozen
1 + 3/4 litre water
approx. 150 g sugar
30 g potato starch or cornflour
100 m cold water

Drop the berries into boiling water and cook on low until they burst, 3-5 minutes. Mix together potato starch/cornflour and cold water into a smooth paste. Add sugar to the soup and stir until melted. Thicken with potato starch/cornflour mix. Serve and enjoy.

-Use more thickening mixture to make a blueberry pudding. Pour into a bowl before it stiffens and sprinkle sugar on top. Serve warm or cold with milk or cream (or half and half).

Im back after taking a break from blogging to finish my masters thesis.

Todays recipe is for a soup that I like very much.

The nights have turned cold and this soup might have been invented for cold nights, as its wonderfully warming. Think of egg-nog, but without the alcohol.
The original recipe includes raisins or prunes, which I prefer to leave out.
Serves 5.

1 ¼ litre milk
2 tbs flour
1-2 eggs
1-2 tbs sugar or brown sugar
vanilla essence to taste

Break the egg(s) into a bowl or soup tureen and whip with the sugar until light and frothy. Mix together flour and 200 ml cold milk into a smooth paste. Bring the rest of the milk to the boil. When the milk boils, add the flour/milk mixture and bring it back to the boil. Cook on low for about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and pour slowly into the egg/sugar mixture, stirring constantly to prevent curdling. Add vanilla flavouring to taste. Sprinkle sugar on top to prevent a skin from forming. Serve immediately.

The original recipe:
Soak 2 tbs. raisins or 10 prunes in a little hot water for 5 minutes. When the milk is hot, but not boiling, add the raisins (pour off the water first). When the milk boils, add the flour/milk mixture and cook on low for 10 minutes. Finish the recipe as above. This is the original recipe, but since I dont like cooked raisins, I leave them out.

Floating islands:
To be used with either variation of the recipe. Use two eggs. Separate the yolks and whites. Mix the yolks with sugar as instructed in the recipe, and whip the whites until stiff. When the soup is ready, float spoonfuls of egg whites on top. If you have ovenproof soup dishes, put the soup into a hot oven with the broiler on and remove when the egg whites begin to brown.

To make a pudding:
Use twice as much flour. Serve warm with milk or cream and sugar.

Recipe translated from Helga Sigurðardóttirs recipe book, Matur & drykkur (Food & Drink), Mál og menning, Reykjavík, 1986 (1947).

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This is one of my fathers favourite dishes. He likes it best with heaps of sugar and cream.
It can be served hot or cold, as a meal in itself or as a dessert.

150 g. mixed dried fruit – the usual Icelandic combination is prunes, apples, apricots, pears and peaches. Or you can use one type of dried fruit.
100 g. sugar
900 ml. water
30 g. potato flour (or cornstarch) mixed with 100 ml. cold water

Cook the fruit in the water until soft. Press through a sieve or process in a blender if you desire a finer texture. Add sugar and thicken with potato flour mix. Serve hot or cold, with cream or half & half.