A few weeks ago Andreas sent me a link to a pear tart recipe that his dad follows. I thought ‘great, I’ll keep that one in the bag for when I need a more relaxing week’. As you can see, in the end, I did not make that said pear tart…
The change of plans was due to the fact, last week, out of the blue, Andreas proclaimed that I should also make his granny Agnete’s famous Marzipanhorn. Even though I love all words that contain ‘pan’, I’m not a big fan of marzipan. However, he played the granny card so I conceded. I thought I would save it for Friday evening as a way to unwind. The weather forecast said it was going to be 36 degrees in London. As they can’t even predict rain precisely on the day, I didn’t think much of it. However, Friday came, it was indeed a heatwave, and I regretted everything.
Before turning to my misery, let’s hear from Andreas - the source of that misery. He wrote it before the heatwave and my refusal to bake the pear tart.
"Dansk mad er kedelig, forældet og tung"
- de flotte ord fra min australske partner, da jeg bad hende om at beskrive vores madlavning.
Da kogte kartofler, stuvet rødkål og frikadeller er højdepunkterne i vores køkken, finder jeg hendes beskrivelse svært at argumentere imod.
De to desserter, som Xinyue skal lave i denne uge, er ikke anderledes fra ovenstående, men jeg synes, de er perfekte eksempler på, hvorfor danskere stadig har et soft spot for traditionelle retter i vores dags sundhedsfokuserede globaliserede køkken.
Både min fars Pæretærte og min bedstemors elskede Marzipanhorn bringer minder fra en tid tilbage, hvor ernæringsmæssige værdier og daglige indtagelsesanbefalinger var abstrakte koncepter, som jeg ikke kunne have været mindre interesseret i og det eneste der betød noget, var den fantastiske følelse af at bide ned i den søde søde smørfyldte skorpe.
Jeg håber, at denne følelse kan oversættes ikke går tabt i panslation. Men det er Xinyue der bager, så hvem ved hvad der vil ske. Andreas er den bedste.
“Danish food is boring, outdated and heavy"
- the eloquent words of my Australian partner when asked to describe our style of cooking.
With boiled potatoes, stewed red cabbage and frikadeller (Danish meatballs) being the highlights of our cuisine, I find her description hard to argue.
The two desserts Xinyue will be cooking this week are no different, yet I think they are perfect examples of why Danes still have a soft spot for traditional dishes in today's age of the health focused globalised kitchen.
Both my dad's signature Pæretærte and granny's beloved Marzipanhorn bring back memories of a time where nutritional values and daily recommended intake recommendations were abstract concepts that I couldn't have cared less about and all that mattered was the unmatched feeling of biting into that sweet sweet buttery crust.
I hope that feeling comes across and isn't lost in panslation. Then again, it's Xinyue cooking, so who knows what will happen.
Shade from Andreas aside, turns out, granny Agnete doesn’t fuck around to get that “sweet sweet buttery crust”. Her recipe calls for 250g of cold butter i.e. the whole block. Not sure if my face or the butter melted quicker in the heat…
I have included her translated recipe, my marked-up remarks/edits and corresponding explanations. Whilst I did not make the pear tart, I linked it in the further reading section.
Marzipanhorn recipe:
Explanations:
Flour - you’ll need more. The dough was too wet to handle with just 200g so keep the flour bag at hand and keep incorporating until it is a formable/rollable piece of dough
Yeast - in Denmark, fresh yeast is common. DO NOT PUT 50G OF DRIED INSTANT YEAST IN. DO YOU WANT TO EXPLODE? (actually I have no idea what would happen but better not try). I used a yeast conversion chart and settled on 12.5g (ish) of dried instant
Marzipan filling - no need to add the 100g of extra butter and 50g sugar, you can see my shock in the form of ?!?!?! - I’m not a fan of marzipan but Andreas suggested I make my own. It turned out quite edible - recipe found here (only made a third)
Salt - 1 tsp is too much, 1/2 tsp should be good. Maybe granny uses some low sodium one, who knows
Cardamom - I used only 1 tsp. Bashed a few pods in a mortar + pestle
Glazing - one egg is sufficient and don’t bother measuring out the chopped almonds, just keep the bag on the side and add as much as you want on top
Instructions or as Agnete says - the “long messy explanation of what to do”:
Explanations:
As the dough was wet from the butter disintegrating quickly into a soft mess, I covered the dough and placed in the fridge for a bit to firm up. Or I just advise against baking during a heatwave, up to you
I did not dip in the egg mixture but simply just brushed it and placed the chopped almonds on top
The horn construction is the best part
For those in need of photographic aid, see my Instagram highlights under “Lost in Panslation”.
Lastly, we need to address the marsipangris (marzipan pig) in the room. (I just want to go on a tangent and end this issue by talking about this pig, I realise I can only doodle twerking pigs).
At Christmas, a traditional Danish dessert called risalamande is served. It contains cream, vanilla and chopped almonds. The person preparing the dessert will leave one almond unchopped. This whole almond is mixed into the pudding and whoever gets served/finds the whole almond wins a prize and often the prize takes the form of a marsipangris i.e. marzipan shaped into a little piggie.
Maybe one day a marsipangris will make it’s way onto my Christmas dinner table. Who knows? Maybe I’ll even invite Andreas. Then again, that would depend on me forgiving him for making me bake on the hottest day of the year…which will be when pigs fly.
Further reading
Cecilia has a recipe for the classic Danish cake called Lagkage - check out her insta @platetalks too
Risalamande - danish rice pud with cream and almonds (recipe in English and in Danish)
P.S. @Andreas - I know you added an extra “Andreas is the best” at the end of the Danish version. You cannot bamboozle me.