The land of Vikings, Skiing and Fjords.  Norway has the greatest length of any European country with almost one third of the country situated north of the Arctic Circle.  It has Europe’s deepest lake (Hornindalsvatnet – 514m), highest waterfall (Vinnufossen – 860m) and longest coastline at over 21,000km.  The Lærdal Tunnel, opened in 2000, is the longest road tunnel in the world (24.5 km).

Some interesting facts about Norway:

– Norway has won more Winter Olympic medals than any other country on Earth, with a grand total of 303 medals (including 107 gold medals) as of 2012, 50 more than the USA.

– The U.S. has more people of Norwegian descent than Norway.

– Norway will be the first country to turn off FM radio in 2017 and switch completely to digital.

– All prisoners in Norway have internet in their cells.

– Norway gets 98-99% of its electricity from hydroelectric power, more than any other country.

– The Vikings of Norway are well known, however they did not have helmets with horns. In fact, it is not clear if Vikings used helmets at all. While tens of thousands of Viking weapons have been uncovered, only one helmet from around the Viking period exists.

Norwegian cuisine is known for fish dishes; Smoked salmon Gravlaks, Rakfisk (fermented trout) and Mølje (poached fish, roe and liver).  Other dishes include Lapskaus (similar to Irish stew), Fårikål (mutton stew) and Smalahove (made from sheep’s head).  I was in the mood for something sweet, so I opted to cook the very simple Vannbakkels (choux buns) filled with vanilla cream.

Rating: 8/10

Prep time: 5 mins
Cook time: 10 + 35 mins baking

Choux:
250ml water
125 g butter
125 g plain flour
4 eggsCream filling:
200ml double cream
1 tbsp icing sugar
1 tsp vanilla essencePlace the butter and water in a saucepan and bring to boil.
Remove from the heat and sieve in the flour slowly until all the flour is mixed in and it forms a smooth ball.

Preheat oven to 190c.
Let the batter cool slightly then beat in the eggs one at a time until mixed well.

Spoon tablespoons of batter onto a baking sheet lined with baking parchment and bake for 30- 35 minutes or until golden brown and well risen.
Once cooked pierce each bun open, just enough to let some steam out.
Leave to cool on a wire rack.
Whip the cream with the vanilla essence & icing sugar.
Once the vannbakkels are cooled, spoon or pipe in the cream filling.

Enjoy!