Rutabaga casserole - Lanttulaatikko

Christmas is just around the corner. So are the Christmas preparations. in Finland one of the traditional Christmas foods are different kinds of casseroles. 

Rutabaga casserole or lanttulaatikko, as we call it (lanttu=rutabaga, laatikko=casserole or box), is one of them and it is one of my all time favourites.  It tastes good on its own but even better with Christmas ham. This casserole takes a bit time to prepare but it is not difficult at all. Just try it. 

This recipe is my mother's and it is one of my favourite Christmas recipes even though it is not the most traditional one. I would say it is even better! Without this there really isn't a Christmas at all. 

I usually prepare this in the beginning of the December since it can be frozen. This way Christmas preparations are easier to handle and not make you dead tired. You even enjoy Christmas more if you aren't exhausted. Christmas should be joyful and not something you are forced to do. 

In this casserole you can clearly taste rutabaga and dark syrup. This is also one of the few recipes my family uses white pepper. Non of us truly enjoys that spice but in this, it is absolutely perfect addition.

3 kg of washed, peeled and cut rutabagas

enough water to cover the rutabagas in large pot

salt

about 3-4 g white pepper

about 400 grams dark syrup

(salt according to taste)

(some boiling water)

1. Wash, peel and slice the rutabagas.
2. Boil the rutabaga pieces in well salted water as long as the pieces become soft. Reserve part of the boiling water in case you need it later for the rutabaga mash.
3. Mash the cooked rutabagas with a potato pestel.
4. Add dark syrup and white pepper to the hot rutabaga mash. Don't add all at once since rutabagas taste a bit different each year and in some years you need to youse more syrup and some years less. Same with the white pepper. The amount are referential. Trust your taste since after all, you are eating it. Add some boiling liquid if the mash is too thick. It shouldn't be runny but not too thick either.
5. Butter the casserole tins and pour in the spiced rutabaga mash. If you wish you can make some pattern on the surface by using a spoon. Add a few smallish pieces of butter on the top. Bake about 3-4 hours in 125 Celsius degrees.

If you want to freeze the casseroles bake only about 3 hours since otherwise casserole dries too much .
Syrup will change the casserole darker each time you bake it since it caramellisizes.
I hope you enjoy the recipe!

If you are searching for a completely traditional version you prefer this one:

1 kg rutabaga
2 dl heavy cream
2 eggs

1 tsp salt

1 tsp ground ginger

¼ tsp allspice

¼ tsp ground nutmeg

¾ dl dark syrup

1. Wash, peel and slice the rutabagas.
2. Boil the rutabaga pieces in well salted water as long as the pieces become soft. Reserve part of the boiling water in case you need it later for the rutabaga mash.
3. Mash the cooked rutabagas with a potato pestel.
4. Mix all the ingredients, add some more if needed.
5. Grease the casserole with butter, add the mix and level. 
6. Add some butter pieces and breadcrumbs on the top.
7. Bake in 175 Celsius degrees for about 2 hours. 

Forest biscuit - Mettäkakko

Forest biscuits are something that people who lived in northern Finland used to take with them when they
went to work in the forest. Just by looking at the recipe you can tell it's old one since nowadays no one uses that much butter and sugar since it is considered unhealthy. Mettäkakko sure was a calorie rich eating! And it needed to be since the work at the forest was hard and lots of calories were needed. This was also easy thng to take with you and it preserved  for a long time. Sometimes it was made by using sour milk or mix of cream and milk (half and half). I made these by using milk.

These cookies are sort of mix between Finnish pulla and biscuit. It's crunchy like biscuit from the outside and inside it's beautifully mellow and when the first bite melts in your mouth you simply got to have another one. Surprisingly the biscuit is not overly sweet. I would have thought that with this much sugar in it it would be disgustingly sweet but it's not. And that's a good thing. Store them in an air tight container.

People used to bake a big batch of these and the dough was not divided in order to make a smaller portion so I made a big portion too just for the old times' sake. :)

1 kg ( 2.205 lb) milk
500 grams (1.102 lb) butter
1 kg ( 2.205 lb) sugar
2 kg (4.409 lb) all purpose flour
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder

1. Heat the milk and melt the butter and sugar in it. Don't let it boil. Mix the flour with baking soda and baking powder. After the it has cooled a little add the flour mix and knead it into the liquid.
2. Let the dough cool in the fridge over night and bake in the morning.
3. Roll out the piece of dough and roll it into 0.5 cm (0.2 inch) thick sheet and take pieces by using a drinking glass as a cookie cutter.
4. Put them on a papered baking tray and bake in 225°C (450°F) for about 10 minutes or until they get a tiny bit color.

Traditionally these are made without sugar or almond toppings but I wanted to try out those too - just for a change. :)  Either way they are nice.

Finnish Blueberry Rooster - Mustikkakukko - Rättänä

 Mustikkakukko (Mustikka=blueberry, kukko=rooster) is a traditional Finnish dessert from the Savo region.  It is also called Rättänä which is totally impossible to translate! It's very simply and only a few ingredients are needed. In other words: a perfect dessert for busy people. What's great about it is that no wheat is needed either. The almost only "bad" thing for you in it is the sugar...well OK maybe a bit much butter too...  I know that some people make it without the sugar and they use 50 grams less butter so if you want a version with a little less calories, feel free to cut down the butter.  I could see it working like that too. But I still added the sugar and the whole amount of butter! :D Serve this fresh from the oven with whipped cream, ice cream or vanilla sauce or eat it just like that. Delicious in every way!

For the crust:

250 grams (8.819 oz) butter

140 grams  (4.938 oz) sugar

300 grams ( 10.582 oz) rye flour

1 tsp baking powder

For the filling:

250 grams (8.819 oz) frozen or fresh blueberries

80 grams (2.822 oz) sugar

(2-3 tbsp potato flour)

1. Melt the butter.
2. Mix the flour sugar and baking powder and add the little cooled butter with them. Mix well.
3. Take 8 ramekins, butter them lightly and cover the bottom and the sides of the ramekins with the dough. Don't add too thickly.
4. Mix the blueberries and sugar. If using frozen blueberries add 2-3 tablespoons of potato flour and mix. Add the blueberry mix on to ramekins.
5. Sprinkle the rest of the dough on top of the little "roosters". (I added a tiny piece of butter on top of each one before I put them in the oven.)
6. Bake in 200°C (400°F) for about 25-30 minutes. Or if you make one large one appr. 22 cm (9-10 inch) diameter then you need to bake it about 45-60 minutes or so.

Traditional Finnish Sourdough Rye Bread

Rye bread is something heavenly. Fresh from the oven, cut a thick slice of the loaf, spread some  organic butter on the slice and enjoy the rich taste of it.  The experience is beyond words.

Sadly not many bake their daily bread anymore. Especially rye bread is usually bought from the store since people feel it is complicated to bake. But it is not! I made these rye breads with my sourdough. Traditionally the rye bread is baked with 3 ingredients only. Rye flour, water and salt - and it's leavened by using the sourdough.  You don't need anything else. Some store brought breads here are made with sourdough starter but far too many use baker's yeast for leavening the rye bread. But you really don't need to. Rye bread is simple and heavenly at the same time.

Rye bread stores really well - most sourdough breads do. Wrap it in a baking towel so the crust doesn't become so hard. In old times people stored the rye breads like that.

Some people prefer this bread straight from the oven but others like it after it has matured day or two. Then it's less "sticky" when cut with the knife. Either way it's good! Spread some butter on the bread, cut a nice slice of cheese and maybe some cucumbers too. So good! It really is something else than those wheat breads. Rye bread has a character.

300 grams (10.582 oz) sourdough starter (I have starter with rye flour)

600 grams (1.323 lb) lukewarm water

appr. 1000-1100 grams (2.205 - 2.425 lb) rye flour

3 tsp salt

Mix the starter, water and salt. Add 1000 grams  of rye flour. Start mixing, add more flour if needed. Knead the dough on the baking board, add flours if necessary. Rye dough is different from wheat dough. It has no viscosity what so ever. You need to have relatively soft but firm dough in your hands. You have kneaded enough and added enough flour once it doesn't stuck on your hands anymore. Be careful not to add to much flour or you will end up having some really hard bread! Shape them into two breads. Leaven  them under a baking towel for about 6-8 hours. Then bake them in the 250 °C (480°F) for about 15 minutes and then lower the temperature to 200 °C (400°F) and bake them 60 to 75 minutes more. 

Serina biscuits - Serinakakut

Vase by Muurla

Serina biscuits are great. (Serina = Serina is a woman's name, kakut=cakes)  The demerara sugar gives it a bit more deeper taste and those little almond pieces on the top really crown the whole beauty.

My husband's grandmother liked these a lot. And today when I baked these one of the children said that these are awfully good and I have to keep baking these more often. So I guess I will bake these more often then!

I found the Serina biscuit recipe from my grandmother's old cookbook. It was printed in a time when cookbooks had hardly any pictures. For some reason the lack of pictures does not matter when you read a really old cookbook but modern cookbooks seem somehow less interesting if they have very little photos. When baking and cooking photos are essential. It's nice to know how things are supposed to look like. At least I like to know. But in the end it's the recipe that really counts.

I am simply love old cookbooks. I have found a few from a antiquarian bookshop and a few I have found as a new editions. Those are great too but I do prefer the ones I can find from a antiquarian bookshops. They feel nicer, they have stories to tell and it's nice to give an old book a new home. Books are like good friends - they listen to you when you need an ear and they never abandon you - and in real good occasions they even give you a priceless advice.

Makes about 45 biscuits:

100g (3.527 oz) demerara sugar
200g (7.055 oz)  butter

1 egg

1 tsp baking powder

2 tsp vanilla sugar

225-250 grams (7.937 - 8.818 oz) all purpose flour

-----

egg

nib sugar

crushed almonds

1. Mix the butter and sugar into a foam.
2. Add the egg and mix well
3. Mix the dry ingredients and add them to the dough.
4. Take small pieces of the dough and shape them in to balls and put on the papered baking tray.
5. Brush with egg and sprinkle with chopped almonds and  nib sugar.
6. Bake them in the center of the oven appr. 10 minutes in 200°C (400°F).

And like always remember to enjoy!

Sourdough Starter

Sourdough Starter is like a family member - old times Tamagotchi one might say. Sure thing is that a starter does feel like a pet. At least it needs a lot of love and time. You leave it behind and it's dead. You forget to feed it and water it - it's dead. So it does sound awfully much like a pet to me!

Sourdough baking has been a traditional baking method in Finland. My grandmother used to bake all their breads in a big baking oven and she used sourdough.  Now it seems that sourdough has been forgotten in many places. That is sad. The bread made with sourdough starter tastes so much better than when commercial yeast is used to leaven the bread. Starter brings totally different world into your bread. And it's not that hard to use either. Hardest things is to get that starter running in a jar on your kitchen counter or some other place that is warm enough for your new pet. Give it a try and you get to taste the best bread in a whole world!

My own little sourdough starter has been in our family ever since this spring. I had done it before with moderate success but this time I had a real struggle to get that starter up and running. But finally I did it and ever since that my starter has been a really lovely.

I started it with 50 grams of rye flour and 50 grams of water. Before that I tried it with dls and cups but it just didn't work. And I ended up having sourdough that did not work like it was supposed to and smelled something totally different that it was supposed to. Trust me - you know from the smell if your sourdough starter isn't what it is meant to be. Good sourdough smells mildly acid and little fruity. Bad sourdough starter smells simply bad.

On the first day I added 50 grams of water and 50 grams of rye flour, mixed it well and started to wait. Baking is something that can really build up your patience. So I waited for about 24 hours, mixed it a little couple of times and finally  it was all bubbly and happy looking sourdough starter. Then I started to feed it. I removed half of the starter and added another 50 grams of flour and 50 grams of water, mixed it well and waited again. This time I needed to wait about 12 hours before it was all happy and bubbly. Then again I removed  half of it and added 50 grams of both water and rye flour. Then again the same thing after 12 hours. I continued this about a week and I had managed to create a working sourdough starter on my very own kitchen. You can start feeding it with some other flour too after 3-4 days. Tried that too and it works just fine. I gradually changed to flour though. Started half of rye and half of all-purpose flour. But in the end I went back to rye flour since I wanted to have a whole meal starter and I don't really want to keep several starters - at least for now.

Finnish Deep Fried Pulla - Finnish Doughnut - Munkki

It's time to deep fry the pulla! And it's going to be delicious!

In Finland the deep fried pulla is called munkki. In English munkki means monk. The word munkki is used of the ball shape version of the doughnut. We also have the ones with hole on the middle and that is called donitsi.

Doughnuts are eaten all round the year in Finland but especially in the First of May is the time to make pulla dough and dig up the deep fryer! Ok, you can also use a big pot and fill it with oil.

The First of May doughnuts are usually eaten with mead (sima) which is often prepared in 10 liter buckets at home. We make it almost every year too. Home versions have practically no alcohol (well at least if you make it such way) and they are usually suitable for children too.

People who are travelling to their summer cottages often stop by on a gas station or similar place to have a cup of coffee and in many times they also buy some sort of doughnut. It may be called "monk", "monk pig" or something totally different but all in all it has been prepared from the same dough - it just looks different and may have a different filling. And believe it or not even though they are made from the same dough they do taste a little different. I guess the amount of dough you are deep frying effects on the result. So big doughnuts and small doughnuts taste a little different. I know that the feet in the "monk pig" do taste different that the rest of that doughnut.

500 grams (1.102 lb) milk

50 grams (1.764 oz)  baker's yeast

1 egg

2 tsp salt

 150- 200 grams (5.291 - 7.055 oz) sugar

1000-1100 grams (2.205 - 2.425 lb) all-purpose flour

200 grams (7.055 oz)  melted butter

1 tbsp cardamom

(apple or raspberry jam)

1. You need lukewarm milk so heat it up. 

2. Take a big bowl and pour a little warm milk into it and add the yeast. Mix well.

3. Once the yeast has dissolved add the rest of the milk, the spices and the egg.

4. Add 7 dl of flour and keep mixing with wooden spoon. Mix as long as the dough starts to look like a runny porridge. 

5. Add another 7 dl flour. Mix now with your hand. Keep kneading/mixing it as long as you have a nice dough in your hands. Then add the melted and cooled butter and knead some more. Once the butter is well in the dough continue kneading on the baking board.  Remember to knead well. Once you have nice smooth  dough with good viscosity in your hands you can put the dough into a bowl and cover it with a baking towel and let it rise until it doubles. That will take an hour or so.

6. Put the dough on a baking board. Divide the dough into 24 equal size pieces and shape them into
buns or if you want smaller ones divide it to about 40 pieces. The bigger ones are easier to fill with jam.

7. Let the doughnuts rest under a baking towel for about 30 minutes before starting to fry them.

8.Temperature of the oil should be 170 - 180°C. (340°F- 360°F) I often use olive oil. Fry each one about 3 minutes or so. Watch the colour, that will tell you a lot. Remember to turn the doughnuts once in the middle of the frying. Fry only a few at the time so that the oil will stay hot enough. These are ready once they get nice golden colour.

If you want to make doughnuts with holes in them make round balls and put your finger through the center and make the hole and then circle you finger in the hole to shape the doughnut. You can also roll a rope and turn that into a circle - use which ever method you prefer. End results may be a bit different though.

Once you have fried the doughnuts, let them cool down a while and when they are still a bit warm, roll them in the sugar and they are ready to be eaten. These are great when still a little warm but still very good when they have totally cooled down. You can also fill the doughnuts with the jam. Use a suitable piping nozzle and bag.

Fork Biscuits - Haarukkaleivät

My mom has baked Fork biscuits (haarukka=fork, leivät= breads) for as  long as I can remember. They are actually one my oldest's  favourite treats and one of my favourite recipes. The recipe is not complicated at all, it does not require many ingredients - mostly just basic ones which can almost always be found  in the pantry.

These biscuits have that childhood flavour in them and they reminded me of this old doll I got when I was tiny. The doll carries a lot of memories and stitches. It does not only remind of these biscuits but it also reminds me of my granddad who died almost 30 years ago. When I visited him at the hospital for the very last time I left this doll for him. So in a way I was with him till the end and he was with me.

It is funny thing that so many memories are connected with baking. Different scents bring different memories and today this was the memory that floated into my mind. It's a dear memory.

200 grams (7.055 oz) soft butter

175 grams (6.173 oz)  sugar  

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla sugar

2 tsp baking powder

490 -  520 grams (1.080 -  1.146 lb) all-purpose flour

1. Beat the sugar and butter into a foam.
2. Mix the dry ingredients and add them into the butter-sugar mix.
3. Divide the dough to two pieces and make a "rope" which you divide into 20 pieces. You should have about 40 pieces from the two "ropes".
4. Shape them into balls and put them on the papered baking tray.
5. Do the same things to the second piece of the dough.
6. Once the all biscuits are on the baking tray press a fork pattern on each. Then another one from another direction so that the patterns will cross.  Please, see the photo to get a better idea.
7. Bake in the center of the oven in 225 °C (450°F) for about 7-9 minutes.

Many times we make the biscuits bigger than these. Then this recipe makes only about 20 biscuits but they are really great like that. Then you need to bake them a little longer 10-15 minutes should make it.

Finnish bun - Finnish Pulla

Moomin cup "The Groke" by Arabia

Today is one of those rainy and cloudy days. The weather is warm but you just need something to cheer you up and since there is no sun shine to do that it was time to do some quick baking. I am glad that the rain did stop for a while so that  I could take some photos under the birch tree.  Even now when I am writing this I can hear the rain drops making that little sound on our roof. Summer rain -  it's sort of romantic.

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Pulla in all forms has been in the Finnish coffee tables probably from the beginning of time. It is sold in all stores and baked in most homes. Pulla can be really bad or it can be really delicious - it depends on the baker and the ingredients.

The scent of pulla is what makes home, a safe feeling, it brings memories from the childhood - probably even to those whose mother did not even bake! It's like a national scent I might say. OK, maybe I am exaggerating a little but that's how it feels. Pulla is the big part of Finnish baking traditions.

I don't like to use any machines when  making the pulla dough. Sure if you have Kitchen Aid or Kenwood it makes things easier and you get that viscosity in a heart beat. But you also lose the feeling. And in many times baking is all about a feeling. There is nothing more relaxing than kneading the dough, feeling the softness of it.  It's like you can sink all your troubles into the dough and then bake them in the oven and  turn them into something that smells and looks beautiful. And somehow it takes your troubles away at least for a while. Pulla is all the things that home is.

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You can make lots of different shapes with pulla dough. Use your imagination! Hedgehogs, cinnamon rolls, braiding, Boston pulla and tons of other possibilities are just around the corner! In the future I will add recipes for my Boston pulla and I will make some hedgehogs  - and something else too but I'll let that be a secret for a little longer.  So stay tuned! Now it is  the basic version called pikkupulla - literate translation is small bun.

This is the very basic Finnish pulla  recipe. If you want more festive and even more delicious version of the pulla, add 2 more eggs, 50g more butter and if you want you can add additional 0,5-1 dl of sugar too. This will make pretty great pulla dough!  You may have to add a bit more flour after all the other additions. I can guarantee this is going to be delicious!

Good ingredients can save even the worst baker - well at least they help a lot.  Pulla may not look pretty but with well chosen ingredients it at least tastes good! Please, if possible use butter instead of margarine. Olive oil I have tested a few times and it's all right but the texture of the pulla will change and the crumbs feel different than when baked with butter. Trust me - butter is the bakers best friend.

I have known people who make pulla dough into water. And the pulla tastes a little like water too and the end product even looks sort of grayish. Not pretty at all! And the taste which is the most important thing is ruined. Of course allergies are totally different story but even in those cases you can usually find something else than water. Rice milk, almond milk - have a try with something that suits your needs - well even that water, if it is the only option left. 

500 grams (1.102 lb) milk

50 g (appr. 2 ounces) fresh yeast

1 egg

2 tsp salt

150-200 grams (5.291 - 7.055 oz) sugar

1000-1100 grams (2.205 - 2.425 lb)  all-purpose flour

200 grams (7.055 oz) melted butter

(1 tbs cardamom) 
(raisins 130 grams/4.586 oz - if using add with the rest of the milk)

1. You need lukewarm milk so heat it up. 

2. Take a big bowl and pour a little warm milk into it and add the yeast. Mix well.

3. Once the yeast has dissolved add the rest of the milk, the spices and the egg(s).

4. Add 7 dl of flour and keep mixing with wooden spoon. Mix as long as the dough starts to look like a runny porridge. 

5. Add another 7 dl flour. Mix now with your hand. Keep kneading/mixing it as long as you have a nice dough in your hands. Then add the melted and cooled butter and knead some more. Once the butter is well in the dough continue kneading on the baking board.  Add some more flour if needed but be careful - too much flour will make the pulla hard and not that tasty. Softer dough makes better pulla but remember to knead well. It is the viscosity we are after when baking pulla. Once you have nice smooth pulla dough with good viscosity in your hand you can put the dough into a bowl and cover it with a baking towel and let it rise until it doubles. That will take an hour or so.

6. Put the dough on a baking board. Divide the dough into 24 equal size pieces and shape them into buns.
7. Let the buns leaven on a baking tray under a baking towel. After they have almost doubled their size brush with  egg (or with strong coffee) and sprinkle some nib sugar (and almond flakes) on the top.
8. Bake in the center of the oven in 200 °C (400°F) about 15-20 minutes until the pullas are golden brown.

If you want to make smaller pullas you can divide the dough into 40 pieces and bake them in 225 °C (450°F) about 10 minutes.

Once the pullas have cooled a little you can serve them with a big glass of cold milk. In my opinion that is the most delicious way to eat these but I have been told that coffee and tea are tasty too. And some people like to have these with cold or hot cocoa.  Well, what ever your choice is just remember to enjoy!

Gentry's Biscuit - Herrasväen Pikkuleipä

Small bowl "Kastehelmi" by Iittala
Platter Teema by Arabia

Gentry's biscuits are known as Herrasväen pikkuleivät in Finland. (herrasväen= gentry's, pikkuleipä=biscuit)

These biscuits are really nice to make. Traditionally they have been circles but I like to make heart shaped ones and nowadays people make what ever shape they like to. Cookie cutters are great! These are quite small in size - after all they are called pikkuleipä, small bread. The filling is usually  raspberry jam or marmalade but I have tried these with apple marmalade and they were heavenly! The dough is good too and sometimes I think I have eaten half of it before I am done with the biscuits!

My mother-in-law bakes these almost every time when we visit there and she also bakes these to almost every occasion. Many people make these for Christmas only but it's a shame to bake these only once a year. They are so delicious!

When we got married we had these biscuits on our coffee table. So there are quite a few memories to go with these. Maybe that's one of the reasons I like to make hearts instead of circles.

Makes about 60 biscuits.

400 grams (14.110 oz) soft butter

250 grams  (8.819 oz) sugar

2 eggs

480 grams (1.058 lb) all-purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder
(2 tsp vanilla sugar)

1. Whip the butter and sugar into soft foam.
2. Add eggs one at a time.
3. Add mixed all purpose flour and baking powder through a colander. Mix only what you need to get all mixed. We don't want the viscosity for this dough.
4. Cover the bowl with a plastic wrap and let the dough cool in the fridge about an hour or so.
5 Roll out half of the dough. You need it to be about 3mm thick.
6. Use a cookie cutter to make the biscuits. Put them on a papered oven tray and let the tray with biscuits cool in the fridge for a while. That way biscuits keep their shape better.
7. Bake the biscuits in the center of the oven in 200°C (400°F) appr. 6-8 minutes. They need to stay light and not to get any colour what so ever so don't wait for them to turn into golden brown.
8. Once the biscuits have cooled so you can touch them, spread some jam or marmalade on a biscuit by using a small palet knife or cutlery knife. Don't add too much jam or it will mess the biscuit. Put another biscuit on the jam and roll the whole thing  in the caster sugar.
9. Store the biscuits in an air tight container.

Sissi's Date Cake - Sissin Taatelikakku

Christmas is my favourite time of the year so when my mom baked this cake during the summer months, in the middle of the heat wave,  it made me wish Christmas would already be here. And in a way it is, the scent in the house is wonderful and it is tempting me to listen to some Christmas songs...well, maybe next month...

This is my mother's recipe and she bakes this cake to us every Christmas and sometimes in other occasions too but during those cold wintry months around Christmas time this is the most wonderful scent in the house.

The cake preserves really well so this is usually made a couple of weeks before we are planing to eat it and it's best to store the cake in the fridge or in the cellar. As long as you store it in the cool place, wrapped in a plastic,  it will last easily a month or even more. The flavor gets better and better when the cake is stored this way and on Christmas it will be full of that flavor that is one of the building blocks of the childhood Christmas.

Many people in Finland make date cakes during the Christmas time and there are just as many recipes as there are bakers. This one is a bit different to many others I have tasted. My mother's cake has darker colour and more intense flavour and no cream, milk or coffee is used. I like this one more than the others since this is the cake which in  you can really taste the dates. There is no need to mix any other flavour in it. Cream and coffee will only take a crown away from the dates.

250g (8.819 oz) dried dates

200 grams (7.055 oz) water

175 grams (6.173 oz) sugar

200 grams (7.055 oz) butter

2 eggs

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

2 tsp vanilla sugar

230 grams (8.113 oz) all purpose flour

1. Add the dates, water, sugar and butter into a pot. Boil them as long as it needs to get dates break.

2. Let the mix cool down and prepare the bundt cake pan in the meanwhile. Butter it well and dust with dark cocoa powder or a mix of all-purpose four and cocoa powder.

3. Whip the eggs into the mixture, one at the time.

4. Mix the dry ingredients together and then add them to the batter. Mix as little as possible.

5. Bake about 55-60 minutes in the center of the oven in 175°C (350°F).