Lingonberries & lingonberry recipes

[stormylee]

Lingonberries, those little red gems of delightful tartness, are in season in Scandinavia! The humble vaccinium vitis-idaea is not too particular about its habitat and grows in forests, swamps, rocky terrains as well as on roadsides. It is extremely hardy and tolerates temperatures as low as -40 °F/C or lower, but grows poorly when summers are hot. A truly Nordic berry, then!

As tart berries, lingonberries work well in both savoury main courses and sweet desserts. They go particularly well with game meat and liver dishes – crushed lingonberries or unsweetened lingonberry sauce are the classics accompaniments to reindeer or elk stew and liver casserole, for example. Lingonberry preserves are, of course, just the thing to serve with Swedish meatballs and boiled potatoes! Try the preserves with pork dishes too.

In sweet recipes, lingonberries are often combined with rich dairy products (cream cheese, heavy cream, or sour cream) and plenty of sugar. The ever-so-classic Lingonberry Pie, with a sour cream filling, is a delicious pastry to serve with a cup of coffee. Or why not turn your lingonberries into a berry soup or sweet, Whipped Lingonberry Porridge (Vispipuuro)? Lingonberries also add a lovely, fresh edge (not to mention a beautiful blush of red colour!) to e.g. apple pies and juices.

Can’t get hold of fresh or frozen lingonberries? Not to worry: in many sweet recipes you can use that lingonberry jam from IKEA! Substitute 2/3 cup of jam for 1 cup of lingonberries, and cut down on the sugar in the recipe.

For more lingonberry recipes, click here!

[duonyte]

Oh, I love lingonberries. I have never seen them fresh. I do buy the lingonberry jam from IKEA, although sometimes I find it at the supermarkets - from Lithuania - Kedainiu jam and confectionery factory makes it and exports to the US, We call them bruknes, so the jam is called brukniu. I used to see it more often, but not so much latel - I love to buy this company's jams, as they are not loaded with sugar - fruit is the first ingredient. Not so common, not even with imported jams. I mostly buy the cherry, if I cannot find brukniu.

Anyway, I like to stir a spoon of lingonberry jam into hot water for a hot noncaffeine drink. And love it on pancakes and potato pancakes and as a side with pork or chicken.

We also make a crumb cake where you have a batter base, then spread jam or cooked pureed fruit over it, then large crumbs made from the rest of the batter and bake. A delicious cake.

[Linky]

I, too, have used IKEA Lingonberry jam. But I live several hundred miles away from the nearest store. However, I am in an area known for cranberry production. Can I substitute cranberries for lingonberries? (I believe they are similar, at least in the same genus!) Has anyone tried the substitution?

[duonyte]

Yes, I do that all the time. I buy cranberries when in season and freeze them, as I like to make my own sauce - a bit tarter than the canned ones and a little closer to how I view lingonberries. The taste is close enough to work in most of the recipes listed, although the berries are quite a bit larger.

[stormylee]

Yes, it does look like cranberries are in the US what lingonberries are in the Nordic countries - that tart berry that goes with both sweet and savoury things! Wild cranberries are abundant in Scandinavia too, but for some reason far less used than lingonberries... Cranberries mostly grow in wet, swampy areas, so I guess they are more tedious to pick than the omnipresent lingonberries?

I like the sound of that lingonberry jam drink, duonyte! What a lovely, simple idea! Crumb pies are my favourites too: I have to admit I don't like lingonberries au natural, but add a bit a batter and a lot of sugar, and, well... I found this recipe a few years ago and have been in love ever since: Lingonberry Crumb Pie.

[duonyte]

That crumb pie recipe looks good - I am thinking that using cranberries plus some lingonberry jam might be a nice way to bring the lingonberry flavor into it here, where I cannot get fresh or frozen lingonberries.

[stormylee]

Which spices or flavours do you think would go well with lingonberries, by the way? I was thinking of making lingonberry liqueur but would like to add a flavour dimension... so vodka, sugar and lingonberries... plus what? I have citrus in the blueberry liqueur, vanilla in the gooseberry, cinnamon in the apple, and chilli in the strawberry, but am drawing a blank here!

[duonyte]

I don't know - Lithuanians are not traditionally all that heavy on spices in things, but of course that is not a limitation today. I just bought another jar of lingonberry jam from Lithuania today - I will make my tissane or tea tonight and consider what would go well. -Maybe some cloves? Even a perppercorn or two might make a nice counterpoint.

[stormylee]

That's what I was thinking too - lingonberry recipes usually don't have spices in them (apart from vanilla, which tends to go into every baking recipe!). Lingonberries do have a strong flavour, so maybe it's better to just let them shine as-is??

I do like the clove idea though! Which got me thinking about cardamom too - the warm and aromatic thing just might work with the mighty lingonberry.

[duonyte]

What about star anise - that might be nice. I ended up gulping it as I was making lunches this morning. Cardamon, cloves, cinnamon, black pepper and star anise were my thoughts - warm spices all.Just a touch.

[Mia in Germany]

stormylee wrote:
Yes, it does look like cranberries are in the US what lingonberries are in the Nordic countries - that tart berry that goes with both sweet and savoury things! Wild cranberries are abundant in Scandinavia too, but for some reason far less used than lingonberries... Cranberries mostly grow in wet, swampy areas, so I guess they are more tedious to pick than the omnipresent lingonberries?

I like the sound of that lingonberry jam drink, duonyte! What a lovely, simple idea! Crumb pies are my favourites too: I have to admit I don't like lingonberries au natural, but add a bit a batter and a lot of sugar, and, well... I found this recipe a few years ago and have been in love ever since: Lingonberry Crumb Pie.

Oh, yum! I'm going to try this pie! We have plenty of lingonberries here, too, they're commonly eaten with venison and game. But I love putting them into cakes or use the preserves on quark or cream cheese
These ones were good, too:
Lingonberry Bars

[stormylee]

Ooh, lingonberries and pecans, I quite like the sound of that! Almonds would be lovely with lingonberries too - as in Martha Stewart's Linzer Tart With Lingonberry (Or Raspberry) Jam.

[Mia in Germany]

Already saved that one - I love Linzer tart but never had the idea to make it with lingonberry jam! Although it must be lovely, with the tartness of the lingonberries, perfect match to the sweet crust.