Best Tip Ever For Opening Jars and Cloudberry Jam

SBBrownell 2013

 Keep reading to find out why this jar has duct tape all around!

Several years ago thanks to Gordon Prestoungrange, Scottish Baron of Prestoungrange, I had the opportunity to visit Helsinki.  On that working trip, I attended banquets/local restaurants and sampled the local foods. Among the local delicacies, I tasted was something called a cloudberry.

Cloudberries are not native to Florida and in fact, you must be high up in the mountains especially, the arctic in order to find or pick cloudberries.  They are usually hand picked and when you do find them, you will also find mosquitoes in packs.  According to http://mylittlenorway.com/2011/07/guide-to-cloudberries/," it takes about 7 years for a seed to grow to blossom and they will only do that in the perfect situation. Mostly cloudberries are also highly prized as part of the Norwegian culture. Cloudberries are also part of Norwegian traditional cooking.  Cloudberry bløtkaker, cloudberry cream/yoghurt and cloudberry sauce wouldn’t be the same without cloudberries. Traditionally they would keep their berries in reindeer milk as it is so full of fat that it can preserve the berries."

For those of us that have had no previous exposure to cloudberries, I can tell you that they have seeds like raspberries and the texture is a bit similar as you can feel their juice explode (like blackberries) in your mouth when you eat them.  The taste is a bit like a Chinese sweet and sour although some say it is more like a Riesling wine taste.

This week my husband and daughter had reason to drive several hours to go shopping at IKEA.  They brought back much loved favorites for me: Swedish pancakes and a jar of cloudberry jam!


Here is the traditional way to serve:

SBBrownell 2013

• Open the pancake 
• Add the fruit (cloudberry jam here)
• Roll and top with whipped cream

So what's with the duct tape??

Yesterday, I had my pancakes without the cloudberries because I could not get the jar open by myself.  I mentioned it to my daughter and she had an absolutely brilliant solution:

**Simply wrap a strip of duct tape around the lid. I could have even torn the strip lengthwise so it was a narrow strip around the lid, grip as usual and it opens easily.

In Norway, where cloudberries grow they would say, "God jobb Katherine!"

Please try this at home!

 Recipe for Swedish Pancakes:

2 cups instant flour (Wondra Flour)
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups half-and-half (Room temperature)
1 1/2 cups seltzer                                                                                                                                      9 tablespoons sweet butter, melted and cooled                                                                                     1 teaspoon salt                                                                                                                                           2 large eggs plus 2 yolks, lightly beaten (Room Temperature)                                                          1 can of whipped cream or powdered sugar

 1. To make the batter first

•  Combine flour, sugar, and salt in large bowl.
• Now, carefully and slowly, I add half-and-half, seltzer, 4 tablespoons butter, eggs, and yolks into flour mixture until I have whisked so that the batter is smooth with no lumps.

2. I melt a teaspoon of butter in a 10-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat. Tilt pan to coat sides also.

• When butter stops hissing, pour a ladle of batter into the pan and again tilt pan so that the batter is evenly distributed. 
• Cook until golden brown, 1 to 2 minutes on each side. 
• Transfer to plate and put parchment paper between pancakes if you aren't going to serve immediately. 

3. Place a pancake on the plate.  Spoon about 1 1/2 teaspoons of preferred filling ( cloudberry jam, lingonberry jam, any canned pie filling) onto top quarter of pancake--spread evenly and roll pancake over until in a loosely wrapped tube.  Fill 2-3 pancakes and place on plate alongside each other.  Add whipped cream or powdered sugar (or both) and enjoy!