Plums play an important role in the Finnish Christmas tradition. Risto Mikkola developed an easy dessert from it.
If you want an easy and quick dessert, there is a chef Risto Mikkola solution to your problem.
– Here is a really simple dessert, says Mikkola.
He combines plums and lemon cream cheese mousse in the same dish. You get a good crunch in the dish if you sprinkle it with granola – either homemade or store-bought granola.
Mikkola encourages you to try making granola at home, because it’s amazingly easy. As a base, he has oatmeal, which you can mix with really anything: coconut flakes, nuts, dried fruits or berries, seeds, whatever you find in your cupboard.
However, Mikkola stresses that olive oil and a pinch of salt should not be left out of the granola. They give it a nice touch.
Plum is an important fruit during Christmas. In the Christian world, the general symbolic meaning of the plum is loyalty. Mikkola’s plum mousse differs from traditional plum delicacies in that it uses fresh plums
Colonial products also became cheaper in Finland at the end of the 1880s, when the proliferation of steamships reduced transport costs. This way, households could buy almonds, nuts, dried fruits and raisins for the Christmas table according to their means. The custom of eating raisin, plum or mixed fruit soup at Christmas spread to the most prosperous peasant households at the end of the 19th century. Mixed fruit soup became popular in the 1920s and 1930s on the Christmas tables of all classes.
Source: Ruokatieto.fi
Plum-lemon mousse
Lemon cream cheese:
200 g unflavored cream cheese
3.3 dl of whipped cream
Zest and juice of 1 lemon
3 tablespoons of powdered sugar
1. Put all the ingredients in a mixing bowl and whisk with a hand mixer until smooth, check the taste.
Flamed plums:
500 g of plums
50 g of butter
50 g cane sugar
50 g of rum/cognac
1. Cut the plums into 4 parts. Heat the butter and sugar in a pan, stir for a while and let it melt properly.
2. Put the plums in a frying pan and fry in the butter-sugar mixture for about a minute on all sides. Pour the alcohol into the pan, lift the pan out from under the hood, lean back a little and light the alcohol on fire. It’s easiest to do it if you drop a burning match directly onto the pan.
3. Swirl the burning plums in the pan for a moment. Put the plums in a serving dish, take the match out of the pan and also pour the rest of the butter-sugar mixture into the serving dish, squeeze the lemon-fresh cheese cream on top and sprinkle the granola on top, serve immediately.
Instant Granola:
3 dl of oatmeal
1 dl wheat bran
2 dl coconut flakes
1 dl sesame seeds
1 dl cane sugar
2 dl dried berries (lingonberry, blueberry, etc.)
½ dl olive oil
½ dl honey
1. Mix all the ingredients in a bowl, pour onto a tray lined with baking paper and bake in a 180-degree oven for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Chill and enjoy.
Note! You can make a larger amount of granola at once, it will keep in an airtight container for many months.
Drink recommendation
An honest Austrian with pure character Feiler-Artinger Beerenausbrase (€21.80) is made from late-picked and partially shriveled grapes. The light golden yellow wine is overflowing with exotic fruit such as apricot and mandarin, flowers and marmalade. Its sweetness is balanced by citrus acids, and the aftertaste is long and pleasantly elegant thanks to the concentrated grapes.