Let’s talk about koldskål (Danish chilled summer buttermilk soup recipe)!

How do I pronounce koldskål?

Er, best way I can describe it is colt-skoll; it means cold bowl.

What is koldskål, and why should I make it?

Koldskål is a refreshing (and addictive!) traditional Danish summer dish, made from buttermilk and yoghurt and flavoured with lemon and vanilla; I used to have it for breakfast or pudding as a little girl, but it really comes into its own on those baking hot summer evenings when you can’t really be bothered to eat a proper meal. 

Served chilled from the fridge with fresh berries, it is traditionally accompanied by kammerjunker, twice-baked little cookies that are crushed and sprinkled on top. They can be bought from supermarkets in Denmark but home-made are infinitely better; if it’s too hot to put the oven on to make the biscuits, we think gingernuts make an excellent alternative! 

My version uses raw egg yolks which add a lovely creaminess to the buttermilk but please feel free to leave them out if you prefer; the whites can be popped in the freezer for up to two months and make a great meringue. Don’t throw away the scraped vanilla pod either; bury it in a jar full of sugar and put it away for 3-4 weeks to make your own deliciously fragranced vanilla sugar. You can also squirrel away spent pods all year, then chop and add to Epsom salts to make beautifully scented bath salts to give as Christmas presents too!

Ingredients for the koldskål (makes 4 servings, or 2 if teenage boys are involved)

600ml buttermilk (our nearest Sainsbury’s sells buttermilk in 300ml pots, so I have to scale it up in 300s!)

600ml Greek yoghurt

3 eggs yolks 

50g caster sugar

1 lemon

½ vanilla pod (½ teaspoon of vanilla extract works very well too and is infinitely cheaper!)

To serve

250g fresh strawberries, to serve

Kammerjunker biscuits

1. Slit the halved vanilla pod open, flatten it out and scrape out the seeds using a sharp knife.
2. Either using a stand mixer or hand whisk, whisk the egg yolks, sugar and vanilla seeds until pale, thick and fluffy.
3. Stirring continuously, add the zest of the lemon juice and the yoghurt, mixing until throughly combined.
4. Add the buttermilk and mix again, before squeezing in the juice from half the lemon. 
5. Pop in the fridge to chill, while you wash and quarter the strawberries.
6. Serve the koldskål with the berries sprinkled over the top, along with a handful of crushed kammerjunker; sometimes I add a little chopped mint too.