Porkkalaniemi, May 2012

What is it about summer that makes me want to stay up all night, watching the light fade slowly to dusk, and wanting to be there, a few short hours later, when it brightens back into dawn again?  What is it that compels us to jump on our bicycles at 11:30 PM and bike out to Kalasatama, to feel the warm breeze on our faces and blowing back our hair?  Why does it feel like every day is both longer and shorter than usual, with so much to cram into every moment, I can hardly take a breath for the simple beauty of it all?

Luhanka, south shore, Summer Solstice 2012, 11:00 PM

I have never felt the joy of summer with such great intensity as in this adopted, Northern country of mine.  I have never lived through winters so long and cold nor summers so short and precious.   The light comes up, and up, and up, and the sun seems to linger in the sky forever.  Gathering speed toward summer solstice, the days get longer and longer and brighter and brighter.

Bonfire for Summer Solstice, Lake Päijänne’s west shore, 1:00 AM

Simple joys:  a bowl of fresh peas

Heading out after summer solstice towards the inevitability of darkening days, I want to hold onto Summer with both hands and never let it go.  It used to be that Fall was my favorite time of year, but with the long, seemingly endless Winter biting on the heels of Fall, and Spring lasting just an eye-blink, Summer is what I long for with every ounce of my being.  If I have my choice, I want to spend every second outside, in the glorious green nature that surrounds me here.

Eggplant on the outdoor grill

And if I’m spending all that time outdoors, I either need to cook while I’m out there – often a great option – or I need to take advantage of Summer’s fresh ingredients, and makes something quickly so I can be back out the door again.  This Mint Pea Soup using ingredients fresh from the garden is perfect.

Grab a bag of peas, new potatoes and mint from the corner stand, your back yard, or the farmer’s market, and whip this together in less than 20 minutes.  Add a fresh loaf of bread while you are at it to make the perfect summer meal.   You’ll be back out on your bicycle in no time.

Just a few ingredients, fresh from the garden.

Summer Pea, Potato and Mint Soup

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
One  medium yellow onion diced, or two spring onions chopped into small pieces
4 cups / 1 liter water*
6-8 new potatoes, scrubbed but not peeled; cut into quarters
2 liters / quarts of fresh peas, shelled
2 branches of mint, leaves picked – depends on how much mint flavor you want here
Salt & Pepper to taste

In a medium pot, heat the oil over medium heat and add the onion.  Fry the onion until it is tender, about 2 minutes.  Add the water all at once, then the potatoes.  Bring the mixture to a boil, lower the heat to medium, and cook until the potatoes are fork-tender.  Remove from heat and puree the mixture with an immersion blender or remove the potatoes from the pot, mash with a potato masher or fork, and return to the pot.

Bring the potato mixture back to a boil and add the peas and mint.  Cook for 2 – 3 minutes until peas are bright green, but not too soft.  Remove from heat and add salt and pepper to taste.  Serve with a nice fresh bread.

Serves 4.

*Tip:  Don’t throw away the pea pods after you shell the peas.  Rinse; then toss them in a pot, cover them with water, bring to a boil and cook for 5 minutes.  Drain the water and discard the pea pods.  Use the pea pod water in replacement of the water above for added flavor.

Bilberry Almond Cake with Bilberry Sauce and Vanilla Ice Cream

It’s that time of year again:  the bilberries are ripe, at least in southern Finland.  On a mushroom picking trip earlier this week, Rio and I found very few mushrooms and a whole lot of bilberries.

And enough of these beautiful wild strawberries to make a batch of jam:

Wild Strawberries – the last of the season.

Bilberries, as you may recall from an earlier post, are often mistranslated as “blueberries”.  They are not blueberries, but rather their own little flavor-packed wild berry.  And while I love eating blueberries fresh & straight from the bush or basket, I have to say that bilberries (or at least very tiny wild blueberries) are my berry of choice when it comes to baking.  Since I didn’t have a blueberry picker (essentially a very large comb with a basket attached to catch the berries) with me when I saw the mother lode of bilberries (remember: I was equipped with a mushroom knife and basket!), I decided to satisfy my bilberry craving and made a sweet celebration cake yesterday using frozen bilberries.  After all, I need to clear all available freezer space for the incoming crop!

Happy Summer moments.  Or fill your freezer with bilberries and have this anytime.

This cake is good by itself for a simple snack; mouthwatering when you pour on the bilberry sauce, and seriously over the top delicious when you add a scoop of vanilla ice cream.  That’s all I’m going to say about that.  I’m going to cut myself another slice and then grab my berry pails and head for the woods again.

Bilberry Almond Cake with Bilberry Sauce and Vanilla Ice Cream

Bilberry Almond Cake with Bilberry Sauce


Heat oven to 180°C / 375°F

In a large bowl combine:
1 cup / 2 dl almond flour
3/4 cup / 1 1/2 dl farro (emmer) flour
1/2 cup / 1 dl wheat flour
3/4 cup s/ 1 1/2 dl sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon / ruokalusikka fresh lemon zest

Separate 3 eggs, placing the whites in a large bowl and the yolks into a medium size bowl.

Whip the egg whites with an electric beater or mixer until soft peaks form.  Add:
1/3 cup / 3/4 dl sugar

Beat again until stiff peaks form.  Set aside.

Beat the egg yolks.  Add:
1/2 cup / 150g creme fraiche
1/4 cup oil / 1/2 dl (olive or canola both work well)
1 cup 2% milk /  2 dl kevyt maito
1 teaspoon vanilla

The bilberries will sink as the cake bakes

Pour the egg yolk mixture into the flour mixture and stir with a spatula to combine well.  Add the egg whites and fold them in to the batter carefully so that the finished product is nice and fluffy.  Pour the batter into a greased springform pan with a removable bottom.  Spread the mixture so the top is even, then drop onto the surface:

1 cup / 2 dl fresh or frozen bilberries

Bake for about one hour or until the top is nicely browned and a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

While the cake is baking, make the sauce.

Bilberry Sauce

In a small saucepan, combine:
1 cup / 2 dl bilberries
enough water to completely cover bilberries


1/2 tablespoon / ruokalusikka fresh lemon zest

Bring the mixture to a full boil.  Remove from heat.

Combine in a small bowl:
1/4 cup / 1/2 dl water
1/2 tablespoon potato flour or cornstarch

Return blueberry mixture to heat.  When the mixture begins to bubble, immediately add the potato flour mixture.  When the mixture begins to bubble and thicken, remove from heat.  If it is too thick, add a little water and bring to a boil again.  If it is too thin, add a little more potato flour.  You want it to be slightly runny so that it will pour.

To the cooked blueberry mixture, add:
1/2 cup / 1 dl fresh or frozen bilberries

Stir well to combine, transfer to a pitcher with a spout, and set aside to cool.

To serve:
Top one slice of bilberry pie with a generous pouring of bilberry sauce and a scoop of vanilla ice-cream.

Serves 12-14, unless you are really hungry!  You may want to make a double batch of the bilberry sauce if you are serving a crowd.

You may feel a strong need to go back for seconds.  Pour another cup of coffee while you are up!

Summer Strawberry Salad with Strawberry Vinaigrette

Last week, Paola and I made the trip out to an organic strawberry farm in Rajamäki called Mattilan Luomumansikkatila.  Set out in the countryside between horse pastures and wheat fields, this family run farm has seven varieties of organic strawberries that they sell by the kilo:  you can pick them yourself or place an order and they will pick them for you.

We picked our own – so delicious!

We told the friendly lady at the picking shack that we were looking to make jam with some and to freeze the rest.  She pointed us in the direction of Jonsok for jam (a sweeter, slightly softer berry) and Honeoye for freezing (and drying) because they are slightly tarter and firmer and keep their shape well.  Both are early summer berries (that would be July here in Finland!) – which means there are five other varieties ripening out there, waiting to be tried.  For those of you in the Uusimaa region – this place is highly recommended.  The berries are beautiful, of excellent quality, and just sitting out in the field picking berries in that tranquil setting is a small bit of therapy all by itself.  According the lady at the farm, you can still get fresh berries there for 3 more weeks before the season ends.

Jonsok Strawberries

Jonsok Strawberries (top) and Honeoye (bottom)

There are so many things I made with those gorgeous berries that I may need to post about them more than once!  But let’s start with the salad.

Strawberry White Balsamic Vinegar

In the summer, I eat a lot of salads.  The ingredients are fresher than at any other time of the year, and quite often, I’m getting all of the ingredients directly from the farmer.  As luck would have it, two weeks before my trek to the strawberry farm, I’d bought a liter of strawberries and had infused them into some white balsamic vinegar.  A trip to the cabin brought us by a local farm where we picked up a giant head of fresh lettuce and some cute, crisp cauliflower heads.  A visit to the cabin garden delivered spring onions, and I had all I needed for a gorgeous summer salad…with the addition of a little fresh basil from the countertop at home.

Here’s how you do the vinegar:

Strawberry Vinegar

2 cups / 4 dl of finely chopped fresh, organic strawberries
2 cups  / 4 dl white balsamic vinegar

Wash, hull and finely chop fresh strawberries to make 2 cups.  Place strawberries in a glass jar that has a tightly fitting lid, and set aside.  Heat 2 cups of white balsamic vinegar in a non-reactive pot on the stove until it just reaches a boil (a few bubbles so you know it’s hot; that’s it).  Remove from heat and pour the vinegar over the strawberries.  Cover the jar tightly with the lid.  Allow the mixture to cool to room temperature, and then refrigerate for 2 weeks, shaking the jar every day.  Strain the mixture through a fine-mesh sieve to remove the berries and discard the pulp.  Heat the strawberry vinegar in a non-reactive pan until it reaches a full boil and immediately remove from heat.  Decant into a bottle or jar and enjoy.  The vinegar will be good for a long time in a cool, dark cupboard, assuming you don’t consume it all right away.  This is really good stuff.

This strawberry vinegar & the resulting vinaigrette have a lot of possibilities on any salad, even in the winter.  But with fresh greens and fresh strawberries, this salad is all about summer – right here and right now.

Summer Strawberry Salad

Strawberry Salad with Strawberry Vinaigrette

1 head of lettuce, washed and torn into pieces
1.5 cups / 3 dl chopped fresh cauliflower
2 green (spring) onions, greens chopped
2 cups / 4 dl of fresh strawberries, hulled and halved
About 20 basil leaves, julienned

Combine all salad ingredients in a large bowl and toss a few times with your hands to combine.  Add a few whole strawberries and a basil sprig for garnish.  Serve with Strawberry Vinaigrette on the side

Strawberry Vinaigrette

Strawberry Vinaigrette

1/4 cup / 1/2 dl strawberry vinegar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
2 teaspoons of honey (more to taste if you want it sweeter)
1/2 cup / 1 dl extra virgin olive oil

Combine the vinegar, salt, pepper and honey in a glass jar, cover it tightly with a lid, and shake vigorously to dissolve the ingredients in the vinegar.  Add the olive oil and shake again to combine the ingredients well.  Serve on the side with the strawberry salad.

The vinaigrette can be refrigerated for up to 2 weeks.  Shake before serving.

Serves 6 – 8