Strawberry and Rhubarb Pie with Cardamom

I think I'm having a love affair with sour and sweet mixed together. There is nothing like a really good strawberry and rhubarb pie on a sunny day. I told my friend here in Israel that I'm so happy that the rhubarb season is here, because I waited all winter just to make this pie. She thought I was totally weird! In Sweden strawberry and rhubarb pie is very popular during the summer. I've added cardamom to the crust in this recipe just to give it a little twist. Yummmmmyyy!  

Strawberry and Rhubarb Pie with Cardamom

Ingredients
2 cups of flour
200 g of butter
2 tbs caster sugar
1 tsp of vanilla sugar
1 tbs grounded cardamom
3-4 stalks of rhubarb, cleaned and cut to approx. 2 cm slices
500 g  strawberries, cut in to two three pieces each depending on size
2 dl caster sugar
2 tbs potato flour

1. Heat the oven to 200°C
2. Put the flour, sugar, vanilla sugar, cardamom in a bowl. Add the butter cut into small cubes, and mix with your hands until the dough starts to crumble.
3. Place 3/4 of the dough at the bottom of a pie plate and press it out. Put it in the fridge while you prepare the strawberries and rhubarb.
4. Cut the strawberries and the rhubarb. Mix the fruit with sugar and potato flour.
5. Place the fruit in the pie plate and spread what’s left of the dough crumbs on the top.
6. Place in the oven for about 30 minutes or until the pie gets a nice golden color.
7. Take it out and let it cool a bit. Serve with vanilla ice cream. 

Enjoy!

 
© 2012 Jill Schweber and Channa Waje, all rights reserved

Apple Cake with Cardemom and Cinnamon

Here is an easy to make, delicious cake with apple, cardamom and cinnamon. You won’t be disappointed, I promise, this is a cake that doesn’t just taste good – it also looks good. The secret ingredient of this recipe is the cardamom that makes the cake exceptionally good. Cardemom is a commenly used spice both in Scandinavian cooking and Middle Eastern cooking. Try it, it's my favorite apple cake! 

Ingredients 
3 eggs
1 cup casted suger 
75 g butter, melted 
1,5 tbs baking powder (don’t be afraid of using baking powder, it makes the cake pop)  
1 tbs vanilla suger 
1 tbs ground cardamom 
150 ml milk 

Filling 

3 large apples, peeled and sliced 
3 tbs cinnamon 
3 tbs dark brown sugar 
 
Topping: icing sugar
 
1. Warm the oven to 175°C.
 
2. Grease a round baking tin with loose base, and sprinkle with bread crumbs so that the cake won’t stick.
 
3. Beat egg and sugar pluffy. Add flower, baking powder, vanilla sugar, cardamom, melted butter and milk.  
 
4. Place the sliced apple pieces, dark brown sugar and cinnamon in a plastic bag. Close and shake until all the apple pieces are covered. 
 
5. Place a little piece of the batter in baking tin just to cover the bottom, place a layer of apples and then put in the rest of the batter. Press down the first layer of apples, and then add another layer on the top in a nice pattern (see step-by-step pictures). 
 
6. Bake in the oven for 40 min. Don’t worry if it’s a little sticky in the middle. 
 
7. Let the cake cool and sprinkle icing sugar on top of it.
 
 Enjoy! 

© 2012 Jill Schweber and Channa Waje, all rights reserve 

step by step: how to layer