New workshop!

I have now set a new date for a workshop in digital photography for beginners, focusing on very basic interior and lifestyle photography. The course will be held this Octobre 15th. and 16th. in my hometown, Tofte, app. one hour drive from Oslo. At the old and charming Bikuben, we will learn, practice, eat and sleep from Saturday morning until Sunday evening. If you don´t have the chance to join both days, I have made it possible to do a one day workshop.

Sounds fun?

You can contact me here for more information and price.

Hope to see you there!

Image by Cuba Gallery on Flickr!

Low carb chocolate cake!

My mom makes the greatest "Texas" chocolate cake, which is always a huge hit when served. Since 

I´m trying to stick to a low carb lifestyle, I have tried to make her cake in a new, low carb, wheat free, dairy free and sugar free version. My version is also wonderful in taste 

(if you don´t use too much Stevia or Sukrin), and is wonderfully moist which  just gets better and better the longer it is kept in the fridge (easily 1-2 weeks!)

This is my version...

You do:

In a big pan, boil:

 400 gr of butter

4,5 dl water

8 tbsp cocoa

Remove the pan from the heat and add:

4,5 dl Sukrin (or other non sugar supplements)

2 tsp baking powder

3 tbsp coconut oil (Cocosa or other brands)

1 tsp salt

4,5 dl soy flour

4,5 dl almond flour (or grounded almonds) 

4 eggs

225 gr. soy sour creme (you can use regular sour cream if you prefer. NB! No low fat!)

1-2 tsp organic vanilla powder (can be bought in healthfoodstores)

Mix all the ingredients well. Cover a large baking pan with a baking sheet and pour mixture in. Turn the oven on 200 degrees Celsius and bake for 45-60 minutes. Make sure you don´t bake too long. The cake is supposed to be moist/raw when finished.

Frosting:

200 gr of butter

12 tbsp soy milk (vanilla flavoured is ok)

8 tbsp cocoa

250 gr Sukrin powdered sugar (or other powdered sugar alternatives)

2 tsp vanilla powder

3 drops Stevia Extract (vanilla or toffee), or rum essence if you can´t get a hold of Stevia (it is not sold in Norway)

Pour the frosting over the cake while still hot. Pinch small hole in the cake so the frosting will go deeper. Sprinkle with coconut flour and let it cool.

A great tip...

The cake is best when you freeze it and then defrost it again. A good advice is to slice the cake in to smaller pieces before you put it in the freezer. The cake is rich so you (or your guests) can usually only handle one piece of cake at a time (maybe two). The cake can be kept fresh and moist in an airtight container in the fridge up to two weeks.

Enjoy!

PS! I have only baked this cake twice so I advice you to check the cake while in the oven. I feel like things tend to bake faster in my oven than recipes say, so I always keep an eye out so things don´t get baked too long. You don´t want the cake to be burnt or dry!

And since I´ve been experimenting with the ingredients it still might not be perfect. Sukrin tend to have a bitter, "cold" aftertaste, but adding Stevia extract to the frosting tend to take the aftertaste away. Add more Stevia extract if you can still taste it.

F.Y.I!

Stevia can not be bought in Norway, only on the internet. Check out iherb.com or google Stevia.

Coconut oil, vanilla powder, soy- and almond flour can be bought in any healthfood store.

Soy products can usually be found in grocery stores.  If not, healthfood stores sell them :-).

Those were the days...

While growing up, I spent a few years in the back seat of a black Beetle. 

Don´t remember much else than the color, the "stiffness" of the car, and the rides being really cold during the winters.

Found this great images while Googling images from Norway the other day. Makes me think back of the sore rides in the back seat, on our way to the mountains. A real kidney killer!

Photographer unknown

Friday treat!

Friday is a good night to treat yourself to something special. Tonight, I am going to treat myself to this wonderful popcorn I tasted for the first time on a photoshoot for Kamille this summer.  It is easy to make and terribly addictive, but the good part is that it is healthier than any other snack out there, which make it easy not to get the quilty feeling us women tend to get when we "sin". 

The best popcorn ever...

You need:

A big pan

A big baking bowl

3 tbsp coconut oil 

1 dl popcorn kernels

5o gr.unsalted butter

1 dl maplesyrup or agave syrup

2 tbsp chopped rosemary leaves

1-2 tsp Maldon salt (or other sea salt flakes)

1/4 tsp baking soda

You do:

 Preheat the oven to 120 degrees Celsius (248 degrees Fahrenheit). On medium to high temperature, add the coconut oil and the popcorn kernels to a big pan. Put a lid on, and start to shake the pan. It will soon start to pop and when it is about 3 sec between each popping, remove the pan away from the heat. Pour the popcorn into a big bowl.

Melt the butter and the maple syrup (agave syrup) while stirring. If you have a sugar thermometer use this and heat until approxomately 105 degrees Celsius (221 degrees Fahrenheit), or if not, until the mixture has a brown, caramel colour.

Remove the pan from the heat and add salt, rosemary and bakingpowder while stirring. Pour the mixture over the popcorn and stirr well. Then pour the popcorn onto a bakingtray (covered with baking paper). Bake in the oven for app. 45 minutes, or until they are completely dry. 

Cool off and break the popcorn into small pieces.

The popcorn can be stored in airtight containers up to three days. 

 If you manage to keep your hands off them that long ;-)

Photography: Trine Thorsen

Food & styling: Hanne Buxrud

It´s me again!

This summer took a huge turn on July 22 nd when79 people, most of them kids, were brutally killed, and many more wounded for life. Norway was-and still is- in shock, sad, angry and devastated on what happened that Friday in July. Myself included. 

Blogging suddenly seemed so wrong and meaningless in the days and weeks to come, and writing about renovating, things on my wishlist and new things to buy had no meaning at all. So, I had to stop for a while. Now, 1 1/2  months later life is starting to get back "normal" (for some people it will never be the same again...), being caught up in work and daily routines, making "to do" lists  and wishlists and what not, and having blogging not seeming so negligible anymore.