Summer crostini with feta cheese and strawberries

Heres a truly summery crostini from one of my favourite food magazines, Swedish Lantliv Mat & Vin. Im really sorry I got the magazine issue and came across the recipe just last week, as the Estonian strawberry season has come to an end. I can just imagine how lovely it would have tasted with just-picked sun-kissed strawberries as opposed to those much less pleasant imported ones. Still, these were wonderful and come highly recommended.

Crostini with feta cheese and strawberries
(Krõbesaiad maasika ja fetaga)



sourdough bread (ciabatta, baguette)
extra virgin olive oil
feta cheese
strawberries
fresh basil leaves
freshly ground black pepper

Slice the bread thinly, halve the slices, if necessary. Brush or drizzle with a little bit of oil and toast in a pre-heated 220C/450F oven until golden and crisp.
Slice the cheese, divide the cheese slices on hot bread.
Garnish with sliced strawberries and basil leave, grind some black pepper on top.
Serve.

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Chocolate date cake with strawberries and cream

Frú Hnallþóra: So delicious!
Originally uploaded by Netla.

A friend of mine made this cake for her sons birthday party in August.

Heres the recipe:

Chocolate-date cake with strawberries

The most common way of serving this kind of cake is with bananas, but since the photo is of one with strawberries, I am putting strawberries into the recipe instead.

4 eggs
150 g sugar
50 g flour
1 tsp baking powder
100 g dark (semi-sweet is best) chocolate
100 g dates

Whip together eggs and sugar until light and fluffy. Add sifted flour and baking powder by the spoonful until fully mixed. Chop chocolate and dated (raisin-sized pieces are good) and fold into batter.

Line two round baking tins (approx. 22 cm in diameter) with baking paper and put in the dough. Level dough with a spatula. Bake at 180°C on the middle rack of the oven for 15-20 minutes, or until firm when poked gently with a finger.

Filling and decoration:
1 small or medium box fresh strawberries (depending on how much decorating you plan to do) OR 1 small can strawberries in syrup OR 2 bananas
250 ml cream

Whip the cream stiff. Mash a handful of strawberries or one banana and fold into the whipped cream. Put between the layers of the cake. Decorate the cake with the remaining strawberries or banana (sliced). Its good to dip banana slices into lemon juice to prevent them from going brown.

Some prefer to smother the cake in frosting:
3 egg yolks
4 tbs icing sugar
100 g dark chocolate

Whip together the egg yolks and icing sugar. Melt the chocolate over a water bath and mix well into egg/sugar mixture. Fold in 2-3 tbs of whipped cream.
Frost one half of the cake with about 1/3 of this icing before adding the cream. Then cover the cake with it and decorate with strawberries or banana slices.
My friend adds a bit of melted chocolate as well.

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