Home.

Thank you to Pretty Prudent for including our veggie tanned leather keychains / luggage tags in their Holiday Gift Guide amongst some of our favorite other companies.  We love their ideas on gifts for the traveler!

Every year we add more of our favorite classics to our R.T.Co. Holiday Playlist (there’s even some great Icelandic ones)

Feel free to share with others & listen while you’re driving out in the cold or cozy inside baking or wrapping gifts! 

Happy Holidays from our families to yours.
-R.T.Co.

We took a small hibernation from social media. The time spent learning, exploring, camping, crafting & collaborating (amongst vast amounts of fine coffee) has put us back on the right track to move forward. Many great things have & will be announced soon…

But say hello again to one of our favorite veg tanned leather keychains / luggage tags that has seen the world over but always gets us back home safe to Iceland.

Get outside this weekend…

mono1984:

Catching sea salt with chefs Gunnar Karl Gíslason & Ólafur Ágústsson

We love using our Weck jars for storing food, as flower vases, & of course, canning but we found out recently they are oven-safe & can be used as single-serving bakeware. This Black Walnut Morning Cake baked in Weck jars is made using foraged black walnuts & topped with a drizzle of chocolate sauce. We found it is really great for dinner parties or brunch desert.

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Recipe: Black Walnut Morning Cake in Weck

Crumble Ingredients:

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup packed light-brown sugar

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Zest of 1 lemon

1/2 teaspoon coarse sea salt

1 1/2 sticks cold unsalted butter, cut into 1 inch cubes

1 1/4 cups chopped black walnuts

Cake Ingredients:

1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature (plus extra for greasing Weck jars)

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon coarse salt

1 cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Juice from one lemon

1 cup sour cream

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 cup chopped dates

Extra brown sugar for center of cake

Caramel or chocolate sauce to drizzle on top

4 19.6 oz. Weck jars

Method:

1. Butter Weck jars and lightly coat with flour. Set aside

2. To make the crumble topping: In a medium bowl, mix flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt. Mix in the lemon zest. Using a pastry cutter or two butter knives, cut in the butter until small to medium clumps form. Mix in black walnuts. Set aside in the refrigerator until ready to use.

3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into a medium bowl.

4. In a separate bowl, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs 1 at a time until well combined. Add vanilla and lemon juice.

5. Beat in flour mixture in 3 additions, alternating with 2 additions of sour cream (starting and ending with the flour). Beat until well combined.

6. Fill each Weck jar about 1/3 way full, then sprinkle with brown sugar and chopped dates. Top with remaining batter and spread evenly using an offset spatula or back of a spoon. Sprinkle crumble topping mixture evenly over batter.

7. Bake cakes until golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 50 minutes. Let cool completely. Top with caramel or chocolate sauce if you’re feeling extra decadent! If you want to take the cakes out of the Weck jars, just run a knife around the sides to loosen (once cooled). Makes approximately 4 cakes.

Recipe from Terrain

A few months ago we did some custom work at our favorite restaurant in Iceland: Dill.  Images of our pieces coming soon. Until then, enjoy some interior photos shot by Anthony Bacigalupo for an upcoming book.

Spiced Apple Layer Cake with Goat Cheese Frosting paired with Autumn weather: Check.  This recipe is definitely for a weekend gathering with friends & family.

Recipe: Spiced Apple Layer Cake with Goat Cheese Frosting & Caramel

For the Cake

Ingredients:
3 1/4 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1/4 teaspoon ginger
pinch nutmeg
1/2 cup whole milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup butter, at room temperature
2 cups sugar
4 large eggs, at room temperature
1 1/2 cup applesauce

Method:
Preheat oven to 350. Grease and flour four 8-inch round cake pans. Line the bottoms with parchment paper. In a large bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, baking soda and spices. In another bowl, mix milk and vanilla extract. In a third bowl, beat together butter and sugar until light. Add eggs, one at a time, and beat in. Alternately in increments, add wet and dry ingredients to the butter mixture and incorporate fully each time. Fold in applesauce. Pour your mixture into your pans and bake in the oven for about 25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Remove and let cool about 10 minutes. Remove from pans and cool completely on a cooling rack.

For the Goat Cheese Frosting

Ingredients:
6 ounces goat cheese
8 ounces mascarpone
2 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Method:
Beat all ingredients until well incorporated. Refrigerate for one hour.

For the Caramel

Ingredients:
1 cup sugar 
6 tablespoons butter, cut into pieces 
1/2 cup heavy cream 
2 tablespoons bourbon
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
pinch allspice 

Method:

In a saucepan, bring sugar and 1/4 cup water to a boil over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Boil for about 10 minutes, until caramel is a deep amber color. Reduce heat and add butter and stir until smooth. Stir in cream, bourbon and spices. Stir until smooth. Remove from heat and let cool.

To assemble cake, place one layer on a cake plate and frost generously with goat cheese frosting. Add each layer, alternating cake and frosting, finishing with a top layer of frosting. Smooth or scrape down sides of cake to expose the sides of the layers. Top with caramel sauce, allowing it to drizzle down the sides of your cake.

Recipe from Anthropologie

We’ve been working hard on private projects for restaurants, hotels, bistros & residences in Iceland & California the last few months so we’ve been sleeping a tad on the social media posting & focusing on making & crafting…

Lots of new goods are coming just in time for Autumn / Winter as well as the public launch of our web shop! Feel free to share & inquire about pieces through us or one of our many stockists around the world. Enjoy the weekend.