with brown cheese caramel
Cloudberries are known as a Norwegian delicacy. They have a strong and wild flavour, that's both sweet and tart.
They are also full of vitamin C and were therefore used to prevent scurvy back in the day.
These bright orange berries are the star in the traditional Norwegian Christmas dessert, cloudberry cream served with krumkaker.
This decadent and modern variety comes from the restaurant Maku at the high-end Sorrisniva Wilderness Lodge in Alta.
Sorrisniva means rushing river and Maku means taste in the Kven language. Kvens are a Balto-Finnish ethnic minority whose traditional homeland lies in the northern parts of Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Russia.
One of its chefs, Magnus Kristiansen, shares his tips and tricks for creating a lavish cloudberry dessert, with vanilla and cream cheese custard, caramelised pecans and a white chocolate and brown cheese caramel sauce.
It's as good as it sounds!
“My best tip is to really take your time when making this dessert, especially when it comes to the vanilla and cream cheese custard.”
Magnus Kristiansen
chef, Sorrisniva
Cloudberries
Fresh cloudberries (frozen are also an option)
Sugar
Vanilla and cream cheese custard
2.5 gelatin sheets
50 g egg yolks
0.5-1 whole vanilla pod
20 ml water
75 g sugar
250 g mascarpone or Philadelphia cream cheese
250 g double cream
80 ml milk
Caramelised pecans
350 g water
350 g sugar
210 g pecan nuts
Brown cheese caramel
100 g sugar
250 ml double cream
200 g white chocolate
50 g grated sweet Norwegian brown cheese
25 g butter
Pinch of flaky sea salt
Cloudberries
1. Gently mix the cloudberries with sugar until they're sweet enough for you.
Vanilla and cream cheese custard
1. Add egg yolks and vanilla seeds to a bowl.
2. Heat up the water and sugar in a pot until the mixture reaches 121°C. (Do not touch the liquid as it heats up).
3. Gradually add the sugar syrup to the egg yolks while constantly whisking for about 5 minutes, until the mixture has cooled down a bit.
4. Dissolve the gelatin sheets in a little bit of the milk and gently whisk in the egg mixture at a slow speed.
5. In a separate bowl, whisk cream cheese of your choice and gradually add the rest of the milk and the double cream. Use a spatula to scrape the sides in order to make sure that the ingredients are well incorporated.
6. Fold the egg mixture into the fresh cheese cream and put it in a piping bag. It should be a bit runny at this point. Leave the filled piping bag in a fridge for a minimum of 5 hours but preferably overnight.
Caramelised pecans
1. Heat up the water and sugar in a pot.
2. Add the pecans and let them boil for about 15 minutes or until they are completely coated in sugar.
3. Gently spread the pecans on a lined baking tray and let them dry out a bit while you heat up a large, wide pot of cooking oil.
4. Deep fry the pecans in small batches when the oil reaches a temperature of 160–170°C. Use a deep fryer ladle to submerge the pecans. The oil will bubble up around them. Leave them in the oil for about 5 minutes, until they're nice and golden. The time will vary depending on how hot the oil is. Make sure to keep your eye on the pot during frying.
5. Transfer the deep-fried pecans to a baking sheet, sprinkle them with some salt, and allow them to cool completely. Store in an airtight container.
Brown cheese caramel
1. Roughly chop the white chocolate.
2. Heat up the double cream and allow the sweet Norwegian brown cheese to dissolve in it.
3. In a separate pot, melt the sugar into a medium golden caramel.
4. Remove the caramel from the heat and whisk in butter, the double cream mixture, and white chocolate chunks.
5. Let the caramel cool before adding a pinch of flaky sea salt to taste. Transfer it to a piping bag and store it in a cool place.
Time to assemble the dessert!
1. Pipe the vanilla and cream cheese custard into a deep dessert bowl.
2. Top with fresh cloudberries and pipe the brown cheese caramel in different spots.
3. Sprinkle the caramelised pecans over the entire dessert and decorate with herbs like wood sorrel.
Cloudberries are a delicate berry that grow in marshy and mountainous areas in cold climates.
They grow in select spots in Norway and ripen during the autumn months, but can be hard to find.
They are difficult to cultivate, so they are usually just found in nature.
Norwegians can be pretty secretive about where they pick them, but don't worry, the berries can also be found in the freezer section of most supermarkets!
How about trying a completely different version of cloudberries?
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