Grilling desserts

As the weather warms up, Swedes tend to gravitate towards outdoorsy activities. The communal barbecue is a pertinent pastime and no student life would be the same without this cheap, easy, and entertaining form of cookery. As a beautiful welcome to the beginning of the mosquito season, a group of Kalmar friends gathered in the garden at dusk to bathe in the scent of smoking coals and good food. 

This citrus spoon cake is based on a simple pound cake recipe (1 lb butter: 1 lb sugar: 1 lb flour). With some leftover lemon icing, a little extra flour, some old cream that was beginning to sour, and one egg; the traditional pound cake was transformed into a soft and gooey mess that was absolutely scrumptious served with grilled pears leftover from The Scrap Lunch workshop event, and gingery apple syrup made with old apple juice and ginger peels.

Citrus Spoon Cake

250 g butter, at room temperature

250 g sugar

1 egg

zest and juice of 2 lemons

zest and juice of 2 oranges

350 g flour

2 dl cream

With an electric whisk, beat together the butter and sugar until creamy and pale.

Add the egg and whisk to combine.

Beat in the juice and zest.

Add the flour and stir it in gently with a spatula. Be careful not to mix it too much as the liquids will activate the gluten formation and will result in a rubbery cake.

Add the cream and stir it in until well combined.

Transfer the batter to a cake tin.

Bake at 160 degrees Celsius for 40 minutes. When it's ready, the cake will no longer wobble in the middle when shaken and a knife inserted into the middle will come out clean.

Gingery Apple Syrup

500 ml apple juice

1 tbsp ginger peels

Place everything in a small pot and let it simmer and reduce until you have a ginger-infused syrup left in the bottom of the pot. 

This syrup can be stored in the fridge forever.

Grilled Pears

use however many pears you and your friends want to eat

Slice the pears into cheeks (like a mango). You can save the rest for making jam or chutney, or a simple fruit salad.

Place the pears cut side down onto the grill over a low to medium heat. You don't want the temperature to be too hot otherwise the sugar content will cause the pears to burn before they becomes soft in the middle.

Turn the pear slices over and grill until both sides are golden brown and a knife can be inserted easily through the thickest part.

Spread the pears onto a plate and let them cool for 5-10 minutes.

Serve with citrus spoon cake, gingery apple syrup and whipped cream.

Cathy Xiao Chen