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Hangop
Hangop is a really authentic, Old-Dutch dessert recipe. So old-fashioned it’s in style again. It’s a very soft, creamy and rich dessert. The kind of dessert my grandmother used to make for me. Every Saturday morning she cooked something she knew I’d like—could be anything from Nasi Goreng to our families mashed cheese potatoes or pancakes—and she’d call our house and ask me to come over.
I’d then ride my little red bike over to grandma’s and spend a few hours eating, talking and singing songs while swinging on the swing my grandfather built for me against the majestic old chestnut tree. Wonderful memories. There’s a photo of me sitting on that swing in the cheese potatoes posting. My grandma died when I was 12. When I close my eyes and concentrate, I can still hear her voice on the phone asking me to come over.
Don’t you love how foods from your past are such a constant trip down memory lane? That’s also what I like about food blogs in general: the memories or stories attached to the recipes. It makes it all so much more personal than recipes from any given food magazine.
Ingredients:
4 cups full-fat yoghurt
1 cup heavy or whipping cream
5 tbsp sugar (or more)
1 large vanilla bean
fruit or nuts for topping
Directions:
* This is a really simple recipe. All you need is time.
We’re going to drain the whey so we’re left with a really thick yoghurt. Place a colander over a big bowl. The colander should not reach the bottom of the bowl.
And put a (clean) tea towel in there.
Pour the yoghurt into the towel. You could also do this with Turkish or Greek yoghurt. Lightly fold the towel over the yoghurt.
The whey will start dripping out immediately.
Put the bowl in your fridge and leave it to drain for as long as possible, but no less than 4 to 6 hours. Preferably overnight.
I went for 4 hours or my light would’ve been gone, normally I would have taken my time. The hangop could be much thicker, but you get the idea, right? Transfer the drained yoghurt to a big bowl.
Here’s the whey that came out of it. I’ve been told it makes for a great soup base. Have to try that sometime.
This was the first time I made whipped cream in my new gadget! One cup of cream. Don’t use the canned stuff, it’s gross!
Combined with sugar. Use more sugar than you normally would, so you’ll also sweeten the yoghurt. I opted for 5 tbsp, mildly sweet, use more if you have a sweet tooth.
’
There. Whipped cream.
Please, don’t use vanilla extract in hangop. It’s a venial sin (pretty low on the scale, but still). You need the real deal, a big vanilla bean. Open up the pod and scrape the insides to get the vanilla seeds out.
Add the vanilla seeds to the yoghurt and stir it in.
I love seeing those black specks that give away real vanilla was used.
Carefully spoon in the whipped cream.
And this is Hangop. Literally translated it means hang up.
I prefer topping mine with fresh fruit. But you can top it with all sorts of things: nuts and honey, warm fruit, fruit soaked in alcohol, caramelized walnuts, compotes. Anything you like.
UhOh hang op!
I almost forgot how delicious this was. Thanks Kay!
Hi Kay!
I really don’t know about this vanilla bean. What is it actually? And tell me a substitution for that. I don;t think I can find it here in sri lanka, even though I can find other ingredients easily.
@Nir:
A substitute for a vanilla bean? There is no such thing. I’m almost certain they sell vanilla in Sri Lanka as well :)
That looks absolutely delicious! I’ll have to try that with the quart of yogurt I have in my fridge that I don’t seem to get around to use.
How do you like the Electrolux? (Or is it Ankarsrum). I just sold mine and got a KitchenAid.
@Lotta:
It’s the Electrolux Assistant, and I love it. Being a total bread junkie this is the ultimate machine. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a machine make dough the way this one does. Not even a KitchenAid :)
OOOh, wow, looks yum!
Looks so delicious!
It looks so creamy! I agree on the vanilla bean. Lovely photos, Kay.
I love hangup Hangop, but use it often as a base for Greek dishes. For example: Tzatziki Sauce and as a replacement for Greek yogurt with honey and walnuts.
Using Greek yogurt for hangop is in my opinion wasting money… It is more expensive and has already a thick consistency.
@Patrick:
You’d be amazed at the amazing Hangop you get when using Greek yoghurt. It’s thick as is, but not the right consistency for a good Hangop unless you drain it first. It’s much richer than Hangop using a regular yoghurt.
I’d never use Hangop as the base for Tzaziki. That would be way too rich for me, I prefer a good Greek yoghurt for that.
This is so much similar to Indian Shrikhand
@Deesha:
I had to look it up, and it looks so tasty with all the spices. Put it on my to-do list!
Next time I will try Greek
Griekseyogurt again. By the way I striked out the word Griekse ;-)So I get to eat whipped cream and yogurt? And call it dessert? This is so much better than when I eat whipped cream straight from the bowl and call it dessert.
@Deanna:
You got it! Top it with slightly toasted nuts and honey and it’s even more indecent :)
What a great recipe Kay. It’s amazing how food links us to memories from our childhood. Making them it’s like a trip down memory lane.
Magda
Ik zit met tranen in je ogen je post te lezen. Niet uit verdriet, maar omdat herinneringen zo mooi kunnen zijn he. Mijn oma overleed toen ik 13 jaar was en ik was altijd zo graag bij mijn oma. Ik heb alleen maar goede herinneringen aan haar en ik was ook heel close met haar.
Ik heb weer een baksite geopend. Ik heb kokenboeken van mijn moeder gekregen die van mijn oma zijn geweest en ik ga uit 1 kookboek, die mijn moeder trouwens ook heeft, 100 taart recepten in 1 jaar bakken. Leuk he? Vooral speciaal omdat het een bakboek van mij oma is geweest. Geeft me zoveel motivatie. Nu lees ik dat jij ook fijne herinneringen aan je oma hebt en goh ja leuk. Kom je even kijkje nemen op mijn nieuwe site. Ben zo blij dat ik weer terug ben.
In je ogen…jawel…heel knap…ik bedoel in MIJN ogen…lol
This looks delicious. My husband used to live in Holland, and I think I might surprise him with this for dessert!
:-). I first whipped cream a few weeks ago for a Tiramisu-from-scratch. It was HEAVEN. Since then, it is my knew kitchen trick for making superb, light desserts. This is kind of like Haagse bluf is it?
When I saw this recipe and the texture, it reminded me right away to mascarpone. I should try to make hangop one day. Thanks.
I made this over the weekend and it was the best thing that I’ve had in a long time! We ate it with fresh strawberries and granola, heavenly! Thanks for sharing.
Oh my gosh, this looks killer!
I made this last weekend when we had company. I served it topped with strawberry-rhubarb compote and it was so, so delicious. Everyone love it. Thanks for the recipe
Hi Kay… I love your website. I’m first generation Dutch and living in Canada and was recently asked… “so what do dutch people eat? What’s a popular dutch food?”… so I was thrilled to find your website to refer people to. I’ m going to try this hangop for my dad this week-end.. I’ll let you know.
Just came from a conference in the Netherlands (Go Orange!) and enjoyed a performance of assembling a hang-op at an Amsterdam hotel. The server came to the table with a tray. He laid down a round of cookie (crispy like biscotti and the size of a rice cake), topped it with a cup of hang-op, cup of whipped cream, a generous spoonful of brown sugar, and a pinch of cinnamon. Then he mashed the whole thing, breaking up the cookie/bread. Ooooh! the joy! I ate the whole thing! And savored every lovely mouthful. Wish I had a recipe for that cookie/bread.