Many people have a cheesecake for Easter for desert or coffee. The classical Easter desert is Pasha (curd cheese desert), so cheesecake is not that far off the mark. The cheesecake is often flavoured with lemon or has a top layer of mango mousse. There are many recipes for this kind of cake. For decoration either decorate it with “willow cats” made from chocolate or with small chocolate easter eggs. Ingredients: Bottom: 100 g Melted butter 250 g Digestive Cookies Filling: 400

This is also a very classical recipe, and I love the crunch of those roses. Those roses were already known int the 17th century and can be found in the first Finnish cookbook from Cajsa Warg 1755. There she fried the dough in cleared butter and not in oil, but that is no longer fitting todays eating habits. Fat fried pastry is typical for Labour Day (1. May) celebrations. While most recipes allow some modifications and add here – change there, this one is not such a recipe. S

First of may is the celebration of spring. People go out into parks and have a picknick with sparkling wine, sima, and some Finnish style donuts or similar. People were their white hats which they received at graduating from high school. Sima is the meat of the Finn. Nowadays it is made with sugar, yeast, lemon and raisins. In the 15th century it was made with honey and yeast. It was then typically brewed by clerics, as they had bees for producing wax for the candles. Later t

Laskiaspulla are eaten during carnival, when its very cold outside and people go sledge ridding or skiing. People discussed whole evenings the fundamental question, which version is better. The one with the almond filling or the one with the strawberry yam filling. Diplomats tend to eat both and be happy. Ingredients 5 dl Milk 50 g Fresh yeast (one cube) 2 dl Sugar 1 Tbsp Cardamom 13-14 dl wheat flour 200 g Soft butter 1 tsp Salt For glazing: 1 Egg Granulated sugar For the F

The Oulun Loaf (Oulu limppu) is a traditional bread from Nothern Finland (Pohjois-Pohjanmaa).  It is not clear how old this bread really is, but digging through my books I found a recipe for it in the Tyttöjen Keittokirja (Girls Cookbook) from 1925, which was used in school kitchens. I used a slightly more modern recipe, as a large tablespoon of salt is properly no longer up-to-date with the eating recommendations.... The Oulu loaf is a slightly sweet bread, like many other t

The 5th of February is the Runeberg Day and named after the national poet Johan Ludvig who was born on the that day in 1804. He wrote the Finnish national anthem “Maamme / Vårt Land” (Our Land). This song was sung at every end-of-school-year closing celebration I have been. Runeberg was already very famous during his lifetime. His wife Frederika Runeberg invented the Runebering Torttu. She was a pioneer of women’s rights and one of Finland’s early novelists. In my very person