…or veiled peasant girls. Don’t look at me like this, I didn’t invent that name.

When I announced that I would take part in VeganMoFo, I promised to post some Norwegian recipes. But the truth is, I have no clue about Norwegian food. I lived in Oslo for a year to study there and learn the language, but sadly I never got much into Norwegian food. I was a poor student and Norway is pretty expensive, so I tried to eat at home as much as possible, where my flatmates (other exchange students) and I cooked our meals from scratch. We had one Norwegian flatmate, who taught us a lot about the Norwegian language, the culture, the history, and Oslo, but not much about food, as he ate this pizza most of the time. (It even has a wikipedia entry, because it is the most famous – and if you ask me, grossest – pizza in Norway.)

Now you might wonder how I came across this recipe. Well, not long ago I watched an episode of “norsk for nybegynnere” (Norwegian for beginners), a tv programme about five people who immigrated to Norway or who study there. It was so funny to watch as I could totally relate to these people and how they tried to find their way though Oslo, the Norwegian language, the culture, the administration and everything else. One episode was about one of those people trying to make a Norwegian dish for her mother in law. She chose tilslølrte bondepiker although she didn’t know what it was. She had an ingredient list written by – I think – her mother in law and she tried to find the items at the local grocery store. She had no idea what most of the words on that list meant and so she asked someone from the store to help her. After she had found all the ingredients, she went back home. Then her and her friends googled for a picture of tilsørte bondepiker because they had no idea how it looked. As some of you might know, reading a recipe in a second language can be very difficult because of special food or recipe preparation terms and even special grammar. But they managed it and in the end they had made a very delicious Norwegian food.

The name stands for a Norwegian dessert, which consists of the following ingredients: applesauce, kavring (rusk made from rye bread) and cream. These ingredients are, similar to a trifle, arranged in layers. With these few basic ingredients, there is much room for variation and creativity. If you can’t find kavring, you can also use white breadcrumbs as in this recipe. Other substitutions for the kavring include cookie or biscotti crumbles. For the cream, you can either use soyatoo or you can make you own cream based on nuts.

I decided to make two versions of this simple dessert. The first version can be put together in a few minutes, as it consists of applesauce, soyatoo, and Zwieback. There’s not much more to do than to arrange these ingredients in a glass and serve them to your guests, while mentioning the Norwegian name of the dessert. Everyone will be impressed and think that for something with such a fancy name, you must have spent ages in your kitchen. And they won’t change their minds because this tastes fantastic!

Tilslørte bondepiker, version one, based on this recipe

Ingredients:

applesauce
soyatoo (I use the rice milk version)
4 slices zwieback or rusk
1 1/2 T sugar
1 T coconut oil (or margarine)
1/4 t cinnamon

Crush the zwieback. Heat a small saucepan and combine coconut oil, sugar, cinnamon, and zwieback. Cook over medium heat until golden brown. Stir constantly. Set aside to cool.

Take out a nice glass and fill it with 4-5 tablespoons of applesauce. Top with a layer of zwieback and soyatoo. Serve.

Tilslørte bondepiker, second version:

This is more decadent and with 100 % homemade ingredients. I am really proud to introduce a sweet version of my curd cheese with this post. (If you would like to know what curd cheese is, read this entry.) These bondepiker are made with pear compote, curd cheese, and crumbled cookies.

Pear compote, hazelnut cookies, creamy curd cheese, white chocolate chips for decoration.

Ingredients for the hazelnut cookies (makes 24 cookies. You will only need 1-2 cookies for each glass, so be prepared to have tons of cookie leftovers):

1/2 cup margarine
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup white sugar
1 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/3 cup chopped hazelnuts
1/2 t baking powder
1 T soy milk
1 pinch salt

Preheat oven to 350°F, Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a bowl, cream together margarine and sugar, then add other ingredients. Knead until all the ingredients are incorporated. Divide dough into 24 balls and flatten them into disks. Place on baking sheets. Bake for 7-10 minutes or until golden brown. Set aside to cool. (Don’t remove from baking sheet before completely cool).

Ingredients for the curd cheese:

1/2 cup cashews, soaked and drained
1/2 cup soy yoghurt
2 T sugar
1 T lemon juice
1 pinch salt

Combine all ingredients in a food processor, process until creamy, and set aside.

Ingredients for the pear compote:

2 small pears, chopped
2 T lemon juice
1 T water
1 T maple syrup
1 pinch cinnamon

Combine all ingredients in a saucepan and cook covered over medium heat until pears are soft ( 10 minutes). Set aside.

In a nice glass, layer compote, 1-2 crumbled cookies, and curd cheese. Top with cookie crumbles and / or white chocolate chips. Serve.

This is my entry for the sweet vegan challenge by Vaishali at holy cow!

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German Version / Deutsche Version

…verschleierte Bauernmädchen. Ein einfach herzustellender norwegischer Nachtisch, der sehr lecker schmeckt. Ich habe gleich zwei Versionen gemacht. Mit der einen Version kann man Gäste beindrucken, obwohl man nur ein paar Zutaten und wenig Zeit braucht. Mit der zweiten kann man auch sich selbst beeindrucken.

Tilslørte bondepiker, Version 1, (basierend auf diesem Rezept)

Zutaten:

Apfelmus
Soyatoo (z. B. mit Reismilch)
4 Scheiben Zwieback, zerkrümelt
1 1/2 EL Zucker
1 EL Kokosfett (oder Margarine)
1/4 TL Zimt

Zwieback, Zucker, Kokosfett und Zimt in einem kleinen Topft bei mittlerer Hitze anbräunen, dabei immer rühren. Beiseite stellen. 4-5 EL Apfelmus in ein Glas füllen und etwa die Hälfte der Zwiebackmischung dazugeben. Darauf die Schlagcreme verteilen und mit etwas Zwieback dekorieren. Sofort servieren.

Tilslørte bondepiker, Version 2

Birnenkompott, Haselnusskekse, selbstgemachter Quark (basierend auf dieser Version), weiße Schokoladenchips zur Dekoration.

Zutaten für die Haselnusskekse (für 24 Stück, für jedes Glas werden nur 1-2 Kekse benötigt, so dass am Ende noch eine Menge übrig sind. Sie halten sich gut in einer verschlossenen Dose):

110 g Margarine
60 g brauner Zucker
60 g weißer Zucker
150 g Vollkormehl
35 g gehackte Haselnüsse
1/2 TL Backpulver
1 EL Sojamilch
1 Prise Salz

Ofen auf 175 ° C vorheizen und zwei Backbleche mit Backpapier auslegen.

Margarine und Zucker schaumig schlagen, dann die anderen Zutaten hinzufügen und kneten bis alle Zutaten gut vermischt sind. Teig in 24 Stücke aufteilen, zu Bällen formen und flachdrücken. Auf Backblechen verteilen und 7-10 Minuten backen, oder bis die Kekse goldbraun sind. Die Kekse ganz abkühlen laasen und erst dann vom Backblech nehmen.

Zutaten für den Quark:

75 g Cashewnüsse, über Nacht in Wasser eingeweicht und abgetropft.
140 g Sojajoghurt
2 EL Zucker
1 EL Zitronensaft
1 Prise Salz

Alle Zutaten in einem Multizerkleinerer oder mit einem Pürierstab zu einer cremigen Masse verarbeiten. Beiseite stellen.

Zutaten für das Birnenkompott

2 kleine Birnen (ca. 230 g), gewürfelt
2 EL Zitronensaft
1 EL Wasser
1 EL Ahornsirup
1 Prise Zimt

Alle Zutaten in einem kleinen Topf bei mittlerer Hitze ca. 10 Minuten weich kochen.

Kompott, zerkrümelte Kekse und Quark in einem Glas übereinanderschichten und mit Kekskrümeln und / oder weißen Schokoladenchips dekorieren. Sofort servieren.