Whipped lingonberry porridge

Whipped porridge is typically something you would make in the fall when there are lots of fresh berries around. But you can just as well use frozen berries so it can absolutely be made all year round. Whipped porridge can be made using different kind of grains or flour. The recipe presented here is an easy version using regular wheat semolina.

Whipped lingonberry porridge (serves 4-6)

1 L water
1 1/2 dl regular wheat semolina
4 dl lingonberries
1 1/2 dl sugar
a pinch of salt

Bring the water to a boil. Add the rest of the ingredients. Cook for 5-10 minutes, while stirring. Let the porridge cool completely.

Whip the porridge with an electric whisk or in a food processor, until it gets a clearly lighter color.

The lighter whipped porridge to the left.

Serve with milk or cream (or a mix of both) and sugar on top.
This is a sweet porridge so it maybe isn't best suited as breakfast but can be a really good snack or dessert.

Alternatives

• You can boil the berries in the water first and pour it through a sieve so you don't get the actual berries in the porridge, just the taste. This makes for a fluffier texture.
• You can use other berries, blueberries, raspberries, black currants or whatever you want. Just remember that lingonberries are really tart, so if you use sweeter berries, put in less sugar. 

Our great grandmother was from Karelia in Eastern Finland. She used to make whipped porridge using rye flour. I remember this from my early childhood. She made a huge batch and we ate it for days or even weeks. As she got older the porridge got lumpier, but we still ate it because she worked so hard to make it. When she died there was no-one left to make her traditional rye-flour porridge. So of course now it is on my list to make and share with you!  Look out for that recipe coming soon ;)

Time moves faster than you can say PORRIDGE

What a crazy couple of weeks it's been. Linn-Sofie had her baby (and was served porridge in the hospital - as you would expect in Finland) and (slightly less monumental but still quite intense) I got a new job AND finally finished my master's thesis. We've both been eating porridge but it's been challenging to find time to write. We're still here though, and will be posting more recipes sooner than you can say… supercalifragilisticexpialidocious with porridge, please ;)

Porridge and family news

I finally got to meet the new addition to our family face to face. A healthy little baby girl came into the world two weeks ago. It feels strange to be a family of four, but we're off to a pretty good start.

I spent two days at the hospital where i was of course served porridge for breakfast. It was the kind of porridge served in institutions where there are people of all ages and in all kinds of health, including small children and people without teeth. Still, it was one of the tastier dishes served.

How to avoid sticky porridge

Sometimes porridge can be really icky. In Swedish we have a word - "klister", meaning glue but with connotations of being very sticky - this word describes very well what porridge can be like at it's worst. If this is the kind of porridge you've been served there's no wonder if you're not a big porridge fan.

If you're porridge comes out gluey, it can be be because the oats are from the end of the bag and contain lots of "oat-dust" which is essentially flour, and works the same way as when you use flour as a thickener. Adding more liquid will make it less sticky, but because of the flour content it will be less textured than porridge and more like gruel. So here are the top two things you should do to avoid sticky porridge:

• use oats that are in good condition, avoid the dust in the bottom of the package
• use enough liquid (with porridge there's always the option of adding more liquid at any time)

Good luck!

written by Charlotte