GUEST POST: BEETROOT CAKE WITH DATE SUGAR BY OUR FOOD STORIES / GÄSTINLÄGG: RÖDBETSKAKA MED DADELSOCKER AV OUR FOOD STORIES

I haven't been photographing food for a little while now because I've been so busy planning that workshop I told you about in the last post, but when Laura & Nora from Our Food Stories sent me these photos for their guest appearance here on the blog, I got so inspired to get back to it! There's something about the composition in their pictures that's always so spot on, and their photos are styled to the last detail without looking unnatural. I really like that "perfectionist" look. Our Food Stories have been a great inspiration to me for a long time, so I'm really happy that I can share a little interview with them today, and also this delicious, gluten-free recipe. It's a beetroot cake made with date sugar which sound soo yum to me! And of course it comes with a pretty, pink frosting ; ) But before the recipe I'm gonna let Laura & Nora talk for a little while!Scroll down past the Swedish translation to read the interview & recipe~Det var ett tag sen jag fotade något recept nu. Arbetet med workshopen jag skrev om i förra inlägget har tagit mycket tid. Men när Laura & Nora från Our Food Stories skickade bilderna till det här gästinlägget så blev jag inspirerad till att fota igen! De lyckas alltid få till så bra kompositioner i sina bilder, och jag gillar hur maten är stylad in i minsta detalj, utan att det ser onaturligt ut. Jag är svag för den där "perfektionistiska" looken i matfoto. Our Food Stories har varit en stor inspirationskälla för mig länge, så jag är superglad och stolt över att få dela med mig av receptet till deras rödbetskaka! Det är gjord på dadelsocker vilket låter så himla gott tycker jag! Har aldrig provat det, men jag kan tänka mig att det ger en mustig smak. Och givetvis kommer kakan med den obligatoriska, rosa frostingen ; ) Men innan vi ger oss in i receptet så ska vi få veta lite mer om Laura & Nora! Scrolla ner för att läsa intervjun : )Intervjun och receptet är på engelska. Måtten för receptet är dock enligt svensk standard så det borde inte vara så svårt att hänga med : ) Hi Laura & Nora! Can you tell us a bit about yourselves?

We’ve met each other 4 years ago, when we helped a friend during a film project. Nora, who studied fashion design, is working as a (food-)stylist now and Laura, who studied photography, is working as a photographer. We’ve been both born in Berlin and it will be always one of our favorite cities. It’s the city, where we grew up, met each other and fell in love with each other. Obviously we both have a big passion for food. And for photography, styling, reading and drawing. And many more things.

What is the story behind Our Food Stories?

We decided to write our blog while Laura was feeling really bad due to her gluten- and histamine-intolerance. We started to cook every day together and while we were looking for recipes we realized, that there were not a lot of recipes, that are low on histamine and gluten-free. This was how "our food stories" were born in summer 2013. Now things have changed a bit - Laura is feeling much better already and it´s even possible for her to eat things again, which are not low on histamine. Anyways, all our recipes are glutenfree and from time to time you will still find some recipes that are low on histamine as well.

How would you describe your food philosophy?

For us the most important thing is the quality of the food. We buy almost all our ingredients in the organic supermarket or at the local farmers market.

What do you guys wish to convey to your readers through your blog?

We would love to show our readers how easy it is to eat gluten-free. That you actually don’t have to pass on something, when you have to follow a certain diet.Your stunning food photographs and recipes have an aura of perfection and your styling looks curated to the last detail where nothing is left to chance. Is this how you think about your work too or is it only me? :) How does your creative process look like, from idea to finished recipe and blog post?Thanks for the compliment :) I think you are always more critical with your own work than other people see it. But I guess, that’s normal and can even be helpful in the creative process. Usually one of us comes up with a certain idea for a recipe and then we are thinking about the details together. Nora always bakes / cooks the recipes while Laura is doing the photography and editing the pictures. We usually do the styling together, but Nora does most of that part.Do you also work with styling and photography commissions other than food related?

We mostly have food related jobs, but recently started shooting interior as well. I think it’s a very nice variety, but our heart will always beat for food photography.Which 5 ingredients will one always find in your pantry? 

Rice flour, honey, coconut milk, different kind of seeds and dried fruits and coconut oil.

Do you have an all time favorite recipe you keep coming back to? :)

Definitely this glutenfree cheesecake with goat quark and berry jelly.

Tell us something about the recipe you guys are sharing today! Why this particular recipe?

We already posted a beetroot cake recipe last summer, but I think I love this recipe even more! We love vegetables in cake (like zucchini, beetroot or the classic carrot cake) and I think this is the perfect take-away cake. The best thing you can do during summertime is enjoy as many meals as possible outside.The recipe calls for "date sugar" which I haven't seen much of in Sweden. After some googling I could see that it's quite easy to make yourself. It's basically dried and mixed dates that becomes a grainy "sugar". As Laura & Nora writes, you can use regular sugar as well. I can also imagine dark muscovado sugar being a good substitute?-För den som undrar är "dadelsocker" helt enkelt torkade och fint mixade dadlar, så att det blir som ett grynigt och mörkt "socker". Jag kan tänka mig att mörkt muscovadosocker fungerar som substitut, eller vanligt socker som anges i receptet. 

Beetroot Cake with Date Sugarfor one 28 X 22 cm baking tin125g butter (room temperature)250g date sugar (or regular sugar, but then take less, because regular sugar is sweeter then date sugar)2 eggs (size l)200g rice flour1 dash of salt2 tsp organic tartar baking powder60g pomegranate seeds (and a few grams more for the topping)60g diced blanched almonds (and a few chopped ones for the topping)250-300g grated fresh beetroot300-500g powdered sugar (really depends on how thick you want the layer)a bit beetroot juice for the frosting (we took the juice from bought cooked beetroots)DirectionsPreheat the oven to 180'C top/bottom heat.Mix butter and date sugar. Beat the eggs for 2 min and stir in the butter-date-mix. Mix rice flour, tartar baking powder and salt then sift this in 3 portions to the butter-date-eggs-mix. Stir in the pomegranate seeds and diced almonds. Grate the fresh beetroot and fold into the dough. Butter your baking tin and line with baking parchment. Then fill the dough into the baking tin and bake for 30-35min at 180'C. Chill the beetroot cake on a cooling rack. Prepare the frosting by mixing powdered sugar and beetroot juice (not to much juice, otherwise it will be too liquid). Spread the frosting on the cake and decorate with chopped almonds and pomegranate seeds. Bon appétit!All photos and recipe in this post courtesy of Our Food Stories.