SUGARCOATED MUNKKI (Donuts)

In Finland everybody's going crazy right now and partying :) not me though. I'm abroad in a beautiful place called Antibes. However, I prepared for the Vappu (Labour day) celebrations a bit beforehand. I've already eaten my share of donuts or Munkki like we call them. Munkki is a bit different to the American donuts and if I'm really honest I prefer these sugarcoated greasy balls of fluffy sweet dough.

We eat these all around the year but I mainly just make them on this day. You can make them into a donut shape, a round ball or a big ball filled with jam or nutella if you like.































Here's how it's done

(Will make up to 30 donuts depending on size, I think I even got 40 since I made them quite small)

This is me a year ago on Vappu making donuts dressed as a fluffy bunny

You will need:

1 l Vegetable oil for deep frying (I used rapeseed)


DOUGH
(Will make up to 30 donuts depending on size, I think I even got 40 since I made them quite small)

5dl milk (42°C)
50g fresh yeast (or substitute with dry yeast in Finland 50g fresh yeast resembles 2 bags of dry yeast)
1 dl granulated sugar
1 dl brown sugar/Fariinisokeri (optional...you can also just use granulated sugar...2 dl in total)
2 tsp cardamom (but if you really love the taste add double like I do)
2tsp salt
1 egg
150g melted butter (add in the end)
15 dl all purpose flour

1) warm up your milk to 42°C
2) mix in the yeast
3) add sugar and spices
4) add the egg
5) add half the flour and knead
6) add the rest of the flour
7) and finally add the butter a little at a time

You will have to knead the dough quite a lot to get all the butter in. It might seem impossible at first but it will mix in.

























8) let the dough rest for atleast half an hour until it has doubled in size. Cover the bowl with a kitchen towel or cling film not to let the dough dry too much.

9) when the dough has rested shape the dough into small balls to the size you like. To make donut shapes make a ball and put your finger through the middle and twirl like it was a hula hoop around your finger. Remember to make the hole big enough because the dough will expand and puff up when frying.

10) heat up the oil to 170°C
11) fry the donuts or Munkkis in the oil for a few minutes and turn in between to get them evenly golden on both sides
12) remove from the oil and put on a paper towel to get rid of the excess fat.
13)put some granulated sugar in a bag and throw a few donuts around to get them evenly sugarcoated.

Try also to add some cinnamon to the sugar mix.

The same dough can be made into cinnamon buns or any flavoured buns of your choice if you bake them in the oven on 225°C

Why not make some cute Mousey Donuts as well :)
I got inspired by a pic of Pusheen donuts that I saw in the Fork to Belly blog and had to make my own Mousey version. I will write more about them later. The reason I think the mice are suitable for me is that my mum always calls me Mira Muruhiiri which in English is Mira Crumble mouse (basically meaning sweetie). My friends just call me the mouse (Hiiri) nowadays.

Aren't these just too cute?

AAH! What a better day to make these to celebrate also my name day...I almost forgot!!! Today the reason everyone is celebrating is not only because it's Vappu but it's Mira day as well :)


I Hope you enjoy! Now I'm not going to write anymore because I need to go out and explore the beautiful old town Antibes in the French Riviera! Au Revoir!

MEAD - VAPPU SIMA

Labour day is here or Vappu as we like to call it in Finland. It's a day when most Finnish people get out of their shell and basically dress up and get wasted. The streets are so full of people that I often wonder where they all came from.  No matter what the weather is or how cold it is the Finns gather into parks and have picnics.

It's a two day celebration. On Vappu eve (30th April) after 6 p.m. the streets start to fill up with people wearing their graduation hats. A white hat which you wear on this day from the year you graduated. You can imagine they will not be too white after 50 yrs :) especially if they drink champagne or Mead out of them.

May day is the day for picnics,  brunches and Sillis (the swedes version of a herring brunch) to soothe the feeling of the day after heavy celebrations.

The celebration goes on on streets, in restaurants or at home with friends. It's a happy festivity for both young and old. A celebration filled with balloons, Serpentine paper twirls, colourful wigs, funny sunglasses and loads of good food including the most traditional being the Donuts or MUNKKI.

Also there is no Vappu without Mead, a fizzy sugar drink called SIMA.

Mead needs to be prepped a few days before to get the yeast going.
Nowadays you can find a lot of different varieties of mead but I prefer to stick to the traditional recipe like I used to have as a kid. I always thought my mum made the best mead...however I found out that it's probably one of the most popular recipes that most mums have made, since its the one on the sugar package :D

How to make your own Mead (from the dansukker sugar package)

4l Water
500g Brown sugar ( refined sugar to which molasses has been added, a sugar with a sticky soft texture)
2 Lemons
1/5 tsp Yeast (the size of a pea)
Raisins

(You can also use only white sugar or make half and have...but I prefer the color and taste with only brown sugar)

Bring half of the water to boil and pour over the sugar. Add the rest of the water and lemonjuice and let it cool until about 37°C (or body temperature). Dissolve the yeast in a small amount of liquid and add to the mead. Let the Mead rest in room temperature for atleast 24hrs. Pour the mead into bottles and add a tsp of sugar into each bottle and a few raisins. The raisins will start to float when the yeast has activated and made it into a fizzy lemonade. The mead will be ready in room temperature after 3 days and in the fridge after a week.

Keep the ready Mead in the fridge and consume within a week.

Make sure not to close the lids too hard in the beginning when the yeast is activating. The pressure can get too intense and cause the bottles to explode.

Try and be experimental with flavouring the Mead. One which is really nice is to add Ginger to it. or why not try seabuckthorne berries with rosemary. Go wild!

HAUSKAA VAPPUA - HAPPY LABOUR DAY!


Check out my Donuts in a separate post!

Lemongrass-Coconut Pannacotta with a Refreshing Fruit Salsa

I didn't use to make a lot of desserts before...but now I've decided not to just buy something readymade in the store. Besides, this way I can make the perfect ending to my dinner parties with the same theme.

So, we have just finished eating a refreshing Vietnamese dinner of Phô, Bò lá lôt and rice paper rolls filled with pineapple and lots of different herbs. To stay with the theme I prepared lemongrass- coconut pannacotta with a refreshing fruit salsa of pineapple, passionfruit and mango. I also had a green sponge...but this was mainly me being experimental (I don't feel this added anything other than color to my dish). I was flipping through a few recipes and fell in love with the playful look of a really vibrant sponge cake...however I quickly realised I didn't have a siphon nor a microwave which was needed to make this cake super fluffy just like one of those wash sponges. I didn't give up and contacted a really good chef who I know makes great desserts. He told me to make a regular sponge but replace the wheat flour with gluten free flour (this will make it more airy). What did I have to loose...nothing. Next time however I will make sure to add some more flavour to it.

The Lemongrass-Coconut Pannacotta

2 gelatine sheets
2dl coconut milk
1 dl cream
2-3 stalks lemongrass
1 dl sugar (I will try to put a bit less sugar next time because it ended up being quite on the sweet side)

1) Soak the gelatine in cold water
2) Beat the lemongrass stalks to release more flavour
3) Heat up the cream, coconut milk, sugar and Lemongrass until the flavour of the lemongrass is strong and the sugar has dissolved
4) squeeze excess water from the gelatine sheets and mix into the hot liquid, mixing until even,
5) strain and cool down a bit, mixing once in a while
6) for into molds of your choice (I used silicone holds meant for making cake pops because I like the small size)
7) Put into the freezer to set (you can also put them into the fridge to set but I find it easier to take them out of the moods when frozen)

You can make the pannacotta days before which saves you the time on the day of your dinner party.

Green Sponge

2 eggs
1.5 dl (90g) powdered sugar (maybe you just call it icing sugar)
100g almond flour
2 egg whites
2 tbsp caster sugar
0.5dl glutenfree flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
2 tbsp melted butter

1) whisk the eggs, powdered sugar and almond powder until airy and light ( I left out the almond flour this time cause I didn't have any)
2) in another bowl whisk the sugar and egg whites to a foam
3) combine the two folding them to keep the air in.
4) strain in the gluten free flour
5) add also the melted butter and mix until even
6) mix in some food colouring of your choice. I put in a drop of green.
7) for the mixture into a cakemold about 3-4 cm high (I might try to bake it in a smaller told next time to make the cake thicker)
8) bake in the oven 200° C until it doesn't stick to a toothpick....if the cake is becoming too brown reduce the heat and bake longer. You don't to loose the vibrant colour.

Tropical Fruit Salsa


1 Slice of pineapple (approx 2cm thick)
1/2 mango
1 passion fruit
1/2 lime
1 stalk lemongrass
mint leaves
sugar if needed

1) Dice the fruits into small equal side cubes
2) add lime zest and juice
3) chop the lemongrass finely
4) slice the mint finely just to add a bit of colour and hint of flavour
5) add sugar if needed

I like the salsa to be refreshing and not too sweet to accompany the other sweet components.