I have wanted to bake a layer cake for some time now. So when my best friend invited us up to their house for a little pre-Easter lunch, I decided to finally bake a layer cake. I chose a simple chocolate cake with fresh mango mousse and frosting infused with orange zest and juice. I does take some time from start to finish but I found each step quite simple. So if you have the time and energy, this is a great cake to bake and bring to a lunch or dinner.

Christmas holiday is just around the corner, and I cannot wait! I have a week and a half off, and all I’m doing is seeing family and loved ones, eating, drinking and exchanging gifts. It’s the best, yes a bit stressful at times, but nevertheless an amazing time of year. Sillas and I are kicking the holidays off with an open house get together for all our friends on Sunday. Drinking mouled wine and eating Danish Christmas cakes all day. Fun fun fun! I’m spending Christmas Eve with my parents. My mum asked if I would bring some of my homemade Christmas candy. And of course I’ll do that, we always have homemade candy in the house for Christmas, it...

You have to have a bunch of cookies ready in December for whenever you have guests over. At least I think so.  My mom used to make three different cookies each Christmas, usually vanilla cookies with chocolate, hazelnuts and a swirly cookie of vanilla and cocao. This year I have only baked two kinds of cookies; the Danish gingerbred cookies Brunkager and these orange/marzipan cookies with almond chunks. I love when a recipe only calls for one bowl and you just stir everything in there. And this is one of those recipes. Grated, chop, stir, done! And the result is really yummy too. Again I used one of Odense Marcipan’s flavored marzipans, but you could use regular marzipan and add...

It’s not just marzipan and chocolate us Danes eat during December as sweet snacks. Dates, figs and all sorts of nuts are also very popular. And this little snack is a perfect combination. They are super easy to make. And if you have children they would easily be able to make them as well. A nice little candy project you could have together. I don’t have kids yet, so I made them myself and decorated them with a bit of green glitter to make them a bit more festive and Christmassy. Here’s the recipe:

Marzipan, soft hazelnut nougat and chocolate, are a huge part of Danish Christmas candy. We make all sorts of creations with these three ingredients; marzipan balls covered with chocolate, nougat squares with almonds, marzipan animals, snowballs, marzipan logs. During December, we can’t get enough, and I am very Danish in that sense. Every year I spend at least one day creating my own Holiday treats with lots and lots of marzipan, nougat and chocolate as well as all sorts of buttons, sprinkles, liquors and fruits. It’s the best time and I enjoy it so much. I end up with melted chocolate all over the place and on a major sugar high. It’s one of my favorite traditions that I look...

I am really getting into the Christmas spirit here on Frederiksberg. I spent most of the afternoon in the kitchen baking and making holiday candy, with my iPod blasting Christmas music, everything from Mariah Carey to Ray Charles – Love it!  The holidays are always busy and full of wonderful events, but I love having a day off, where I can just be me in the kitchen doing what I love. Today I baked a batch of the traditional Danish Christmas cookies, Brunkager. They are a variation of gingerbread cookies, full of different spices such as ginger, cloves and allspice and candied oranges. The name, directly translated is not great – brown cakes. I don’t know why anyone has chosen...

It’s the 27th and a whole lot of Christmas celebrations have been done the past week, and we are still not done here. Today it the only complete day, Sillas and I have to ourselves between Christmas until the 1st of January. And it has been amazing, lots of sleep, relaxing, building a few pieces of IKEA furniture for the apartment and looking at all the amazing presents we received over Christmas. Looking at my presents, you can see that my friends, family and not least Sillas really know what a cooking and baking nerd I am.  I received some great great gifts. As well as make-up, clothes, books I received  lots of glitter, gel colors, fondant tools, cookie cutters,...

I found this dessert recipe on Valdemarsro’s blog last month. I looked and sounded so good, that I decided to give it a try myself. Traditionally Ris a ala mande is the dessert we eat Christmas eve or at one of out Christmas lunches during December. I don’t know why it is a French inspired name since it’s a Danish dish, maybe we wanted to be a bit fancy back in the 19th century when it was first served. But fact is that it comes from the french riz à l’amande meaning “rice with almonds”. Cherry sauce is what we usually serve with it, so I thought that this orange sauce was a nice change. And crunchy honey glazed almonds...

It is not a Danish Christmas without risengrød. Risengrød is a rice porridge or pudding  served with a dollop of butter in the middle and cinnamon sugar sprinkled on top. Some families, like mine, eat it on the 23rd of December others on the 24th. We make usually a huge portion, so that we have enough left over for another dish we eat as dessert on Christmas eve; Ris a la mande. Another amazing dish that we absolutely have to have each year.  It is a wonderful mixture of rice porridge, whipping cream, almonds, and vanilla and topped off with warm cherry sauce.  I will show that recipe another day. Tonight’s dinner was risengrød ( I know that it may...

If you like Bounty bars and mixed with almonds, then you will love these. I made them for the first time last year when I wanted to make some sort of candy and used what I had n the kitchen. And now I’ll make sure always to have these things in the kitchen over Christmas. And they are so easy to make, all you need at three simple things;