Recipe Tyrni kiisseli / Buckthorn-Berry dessert

Kiisseli is a typical Finnish dessert made with berries, either with one type of berry or a mixture of frozen or fresh berries such as strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, redcurrants, whitecurrants, blackcurrant, lingonberries, cranberries, and cloudberries. Tyrni (buckthorn) is a type of berry not so well known by foreigners. It has a beautiful orange color with a robust sour flavor, creating a special and unique dessert worth trying.

In Finland, kiisseli is usually eaten with porridge. However, it is also suitable as a dessert, or one can also eat it as a light meal with nut muesli or other cereal breakfasts. It's common in schools and daycares as well.

Ingredients:

• 0,5-liter water

• 3 dl / 200 gram /half a cup tyrni; fresh or frozen

• 1 dl sugar

• 2 spoons potato-starch-flour

• 1 teaspoon vanilla sugar (optional)

Instructions:

1. Cook the berries with sugar and water for 10 minutes.

2. Use a strainer to remove and filter away the seeds and the skin of berries so that only the liquid remains.

3. Adjust the sugar if you need to add more, and transfer the liquid back into the pot.

4. Mix the potato-starch-flour with 0,5 dl cold water (5 spoons cold water), and then pour it into the berry liquid and cook for 3 more minutes while mixing with a wooden spoon continuously.

5. Add vanilla sugar if using.

6. Let it cool.

7. Enjoy alone as a dessert or with oat porridge/muesli for breakfast.

Tips:

• If you wish to use other sweeteners, you can replace white sugar with maple/date syrup or unrefined-brown sugar.

• If you want to create a more fancy aromatic dish, especially for kids/guests, you can replace water with orange/pineapple juice, cook the berries in your fruit juice, and continue according to the recipe. You can use orange or pineapple juice alone or mix both juices (half each). Since orange has a fantastic aroma, the result will undoubtedly be an excellent special kiisseli to enjoy.

• You can also use kiisseli as a topping to eat with ice cream and decorate some fresh buckthorn-Berry on top.