Mum's Lingon Berry Christmas Cake

This cake has lovely seasonal flavours and the lingon berry makes it moist and gives it a fresh taste.

4,5 dl flour

3 dl dark muscovado sugar

2 tsp vanilla sugar

2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp bitter orange peel

2 tsp ginger

2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

2 dl lightly crushed lingon berries

2 eggs

1 dl double cream

1 dl kermaviili (or cream fraiche)

1,5 dl melted butter

- Mix all the dry ingredients together and then add the eggs and berries carefully.

- Mix the cream and kermaviili (or creme fraiche) in a separate bowl. Add the cream mix and butter to the dough.

- Pour the cake mix into a greased dish and bake low in the oven at 175 degrees for about an hour.

Spicy Lentil Soup

The spicy lentil soup is a perfect winter warmer.

1 onion (chopped)

2 carrots (chopped)

1 stick celery (chopped)

2 inches ginger (finely chopped or grated)

2 cloves garlic (finely chopped)

chili to taste

1/2 tsp turmeric

1/2 tsp ground coriander

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1 tin tomatoes

about 200 g red lentils

1 l vegetable stock

salt

pepper

(fresh parsley/coriander to garnish)

- Sweat the onion, carrot and celery in a soup pan until soft. At the end throw in the ginger, garlic and chili and cook them for about 5 minutes, add the rest of the spices and fry for a further minute.

- Add the tinned tomatoes and blend the mixture. Let it simmer for 20 minutes with the lid on.

- Add the stock and lentils and cook until the lentils are soft.