Anna's pepparkakor- Anna's gingerbread

My sister came home from her trip in Stockholm and brought me gingerbread  in this beautiful cookie jar, with some of the traditional Dalarna patterns. It is a real summer cookie jar for me and I look forward to eating these with a glas of fresh buttermilk.... this is what I always did together with my grandma in Sweden. It was a little snack before we went outside to pick berries and cycling to the sea.

Update from last Year - Sweden

I promised to show you the things that has happened the last year. So here are my holiday pictures from Sweden last year. One of my favorite restaurants in the world: Rut på skäret.

It's one of the cosiest restaurants in the world and I look so much forward to returning in June:

Helsingborg:

Malmö:

Bakery in Ängelholm:

And of course Fish. This is also one of the best things, as I live in Munich you never get a chance to eat fresh fish from the sea. And then of course potatoes with dill. Yummy!

Filmjölk and Pepparkakor

Do you know this feeling when you come home hungry and you're just too tired to cook? Today for me this is one of these days. I just came home from work and I need something simple with sugar. The best thing for me in this case is filmjölk and pepparkakor ( gingerbread), the slightly sour taste together with the sweet cinnamon flavor is just perfect:

Filmjölk is something I only know from Scandinavia, haven't found it anywhere else yet. It's a similar taste to buttermilk, but still different. I can't describe the taste, you'll have to taste it yourself! :)

Kram,

Isabell

Wasa Kanel knäckebröd - Wasa's cinnamon crispbread

It's high time for all the good spices like cardamom and cinnamon! I found a shop online which has all the Swedish food I like and delivers it right home to me and one of the things I was really longing for is Wasa's cinnamon crispbread or how we call it in Swedish: kanel knäckebröd. The moment you open the package, you can smell the great flavour of cinnamon and you can just eat it like it is or what I do is to add salted butter. I love the mix of salty and sweet, be brave and try it ! :)

What I also like is of course the way the paper wrapped around the cripsbread is decorated, with the Swedish Lucia, Santa Clause, the Christmas tree... great to have it when you can't already start to decorate. It wasn't me  :)

Have a great evening!

Isabell

Homemade bread rolls for breakfast

Isn't it nice to have homemade bread rolls for breakfast? When I bake these Rosenbröd I always put some in the freezer immediately after they have cooled down and like this I can have fresh bread rolls everyday for breakfast. I simply put them in the microwave for 30 seconds. Some salted butter and they are perfect. This is the recipe for Rosenbröd and this time I've added poppy seeds.

Kram,

Isabell

My Swedish apple cake

I've made the Swedish apple cake today and used the old form that my grandma always used. It has an enamel coating and you can tell by the many scratches that it has been used a lot of times. I've eaten "äppelkaka" a hundred times from this from and I can see the white linen tablecloth on her table and a bouquet of wild growing flowers she has picked on her way home and the little blue plates. It's these beloved memories that makes me sad because I miss her so much but at the same times I'm so happy about having been able to experience them.

You see the recipe in my post below, it's such a nice autumn and winter dessert.

Kram,

Isabell

Rut på Skäret Restaurant

One of my favorite restaurants in Sweden is Rut på Skäret. It's such a cozy place and of course we went there this time too. The way to the restaurant is very nice and you can see part of the hydrangeas that are growing on each side and in the garden of the restaurant. Doesn't it look like coming to someone from Noisy Village? Normally we sit outside but this time it was too cold, for me it feels like autumn as it's quite cool here in Sweden and it rains a lot.

What I also like about it is the clean and simple design: a white tablecloth, salt and pepper, a hydrangea and a candle in typically Swedish candleholder:

And also a picture from the inside of the restaurant:

And the food is delicious here, so promise me to try it if you should be in Skåne!

Have a good evening!

Kram,

Isabell

3 MORE DAYS

... then I'm off to Denmark and Sweden. One of the things that I'm going to eat there as soon as I arrive is "blåbärssoppa" ("blueberrysoup"). There are some things that come to my mind when I think of Swedish summer and this is one of it and I miss it and look so much forward to tasting it! You can't get it anywhere here in Germany, as it's a typical Swedish dish, but of course you can cook it yourself:

Photo: Arla

Here is what you need:

4 dl water

1 dl sugar

250 g blueberries

1 msk corn starch

2 msk cold water

Please refer to my post about the Swedish measuring cups, for the dl and msk.

Bring the water to boil together with the sugar and add the blueberries, let simmer for approx. 5-10 minutes. Put the corn starch into a cup and add the 2 msk cold water, stir until smooth and add to the blueberry soup. Let simmer for another 2-4 minutes, let it cool down before serving. I like to add custard before serving, but of course you can also add whipped cream instead.

Have a great sunday evening!

Kram,

isabell

Semmlor or Fastlagsbullar recipe - Swedish Cardamom buns recipe

My Dad and I made so-called “Fastlagsbullar” or "Semmlor" ( Swedish Cardamom buns) this weekend. And of course I would like to show you the result and give you the recipe, because it's a  traditional pastry that people bake in Sweden during this time of the year and it’s really delicious! It was also great fun to have my Dad here, helping me with it.

This is our Fastlagsbulle Recipe (for approx. 20 buns)

• 75 g butter
• 3 dl whole milk
• 25 gram yeast
• 0.75 dl sugar
• 1 pinch of salt
• 2 teaspoons ground cardamom (I even take more of it because I like the taste of cardamom)
• 1 egg
• 9 dl wheat flour
• 1.5 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 egg for glazing

Filling
Almond paste
Whipped cream

Icing sugar

How to prepare the buns:

Melt the butter and add the milk. Pour mixture into mixing bowl and allow to cool until “finger-warm” (still quite warm, but just cool enough to touch). Stir in yeast and let sit for 10 minutes. Add sugar, salt and cardamom.

Mix 7-8 dl flour into liquid and then the egg. Add enough of the remaining flour to form a soft dough (just until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl. Don't add too much flour as the dough gets dry). Put the dough to a large bowl and cover it with a clean towel and allow to rise until doubled, approx. 1 hour.

Put the oven on 225 degrees celsius. Mix the baking powder with 1 dl of flour and add it to the dough. Knead the dough well and make 12 round buns on a floured table. Let them rise again
for approx. 20- 30 minutes. Beat the egg and glaze the buns just before you put them into the oven for approx. 10 minutes.

Let the buns cool down and cut off the top. Make a hole in the other part and fill it almond paste and whipped cream, add the top and dust it with icing sugar.

Hope you will like it!

Kram,

Isabell

Skånsk äggakaka recipe - Swedish "egg cake" recipe

One of the easiest dishes to prepare, which I know is "äggakaka", it's a Swedish dish that comes from the southern part of Sweden (Skåne). Historically it was served to workers who helped with the fall harvest. I was very practical as could easily be packed into a sack to be eaten in the field. You could translate it as "egg cake" but it's not really a cake, it's more like a thick pancake but fluffier and you eat it for lunch or dinner.

Here is what you need (please refer to my post about the Swedish measuring cups if you need help concerning the measuring):

• 4 dl milk
• 4 eggs
• 11/2 dl flour
• 1/2 tsk salt

• bacon 
• and of course lingonberries (That's important in Sweden :))

Mix the salt and the flour. Use a big bowl for the eggs and add the milk and whisk, add the salt/flour mix bit by bit and keep on whisking until all the flour is added.

Put a pan on the oven and fry the bacon the way you like it (Soft or crispy), take them out of the pan and keep warm.

Use the same pan and maybe add some oil or butter and then add the äggakaka mix, use a wooden spoon to always lift the ground of the mix a little bit in the entire pan, so that the mix doesn't get burned and so that all of the liquid gets cooked bit by bit. Lower the heat of the oven.

As soon as the liquid has gone and you have checked that the colour on the side of the äggakaka that is frying in the pan is brown, take a huge plate that is bigger than the pan and put it on the pan like a lock and press against the pan.

Now turn it upside down, so that the uppside of the äggakaka (which has not been fried) in the pan is now downside on the plate.

Remove anything that is left in the pan from the äggakaka, add some butter or oil and let the äggakaka glide back into the pan slowly from the plate. Now the other side of the äggakaka gets fried, keep the temperature of the oven low, so that the other side doesn't get burned and don't use the wooden spoon for this side, just leave it and only check if the underside is ready and brown.

Serve the äggakaka directly from the pan, topped with the fried bacon, eat it together with the lingonberries.

Bon apetit!

Isabell

Swedish Dillkött

Tim and I just came back home from my parents' home, as they had invited my sister, my brother and his girlfriend and us. My parents haven't met Tim on Christmas Eve so they had a present for him and they made "Dillkött" for us. We all love it and it's perfect for this part of the year. You could translate "Dillkött" as "dill meat", it's either veal, beef or lamb you can choose.

Photo: lantmannen

This is my grandma's recipe, which I've translated:

Here is what you will need for 6-8 portions:

· 1 kg beef, veal or lamb with bones
· enough water so that it has the same level as the meet in the pan
· 2 tsk salt per liter of water
· 6 white peppercorns
· 1 bay leave
· 1 carott
· 1 parsnip
· 1 leek
· 1-2 dill branch

For the sauce:

· 4 dl bouillon ( you will get it by cooking the meat)
· 2 msk wheat flour
· 1 msk butter
· 1 bunch of fresh dill
· salt and peppar
· 1 yolk


Preparation:

1. Rinse the meat and put into a big pan and fill with water until it has the same hight level as the meat, boil upp, skim the foam from the surface ( I use a spoon ) and after all of the foam has been put away add the spices, the salt and the dill branches.


2. Simmer the meat and leave the lock on the pan until it's tender (approx. 1- 1 1/2 hours). Add the vegetables when 30-40 minutes of cooking time is left.

3. Strain the bouillon for the sauce. Chop the fresh dill. Melt the butter over medium heat, slowly add the flour to the butter, whisking constantly. Put the pan away from the oven and add the bullion keep on whisking constantly add the yolk and the chopped dill and stir. Within 2 to 3 minutes the roux will have a consistency of a sauce.

4. Cut the meat into small cubes and the vegetables into slices.

5. Eat Dillkött together with cooked potatoes


Have a lovely sunday!

Kram,

Isabell

Lussekatter- Swedish Saffron Buns recipe

My parents have just left and it was a really nice evening. As promised I show you the lussekatter (Swedish Saffron Buns) I baked after a really old recipe from my grandma. They are soooo good, you can get addicted. I already look forward to eat them again tomorrow morning for breakfast. :)

Here is what you need:

Ingredients:

• 150 g butter
• 1 g saffron threads, finely crumbled
• 5 dl milk
• 2 dl sugar
• 0.5 tsk salt
• 50 g yeast
• 1 egg
• 15 dl flour

decoration

• 1 egg
• raisins or currants to decorate

Preparation:


Melt the butter and add the milk. Pour mixture into mixing bowl and allow to cool until “finger-warm” (still quite warm, but just cool enough to touch). Stir in yeast and let sit for 10 minutes. Add sugar, salt and saffron.

Mix 7 dl flour into liquid and then the egg. Add enough of the remaining flour to form a soft dough (just until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl. Don't add too much flour as the dough gets dry). Put the dough to a large bowl and cover it with a clean towel and allow to rise until doubled, approx. 1 hour.

Take the dough after 1 hour and knead two or three times on a floured surface. Take small handfuls of dough and roll into "lines." Shape the lines into various forms like an "S" for example. Place on a baking sheet that is covered with a backing paper and cover the lusserkatter with the towel again, and let rise until doubled (approx. 1 hour).

Decorate buns with raisins, brush with beaten egg, and bake in preheated 250 °C oven about 7-10 minutes, just until brown.

Have a good Lucia day!

Kram,

Isabell

Mjuk pepparkaka recipe - soft pepparkaka recipe

I just made a really delicious cake, you're going to love it! This is a nice recipe if you like spices like cinnamon and clove. In Swedish it's called "mjuk pepparkaka" which means "soft gingerbread cake", it has the same spices as if you bake gingerbread.

This is what you need:

100 g butter
2 eggs
2 dl sugar
1.5 dl sour cream
1.5 tsk ground ginger
1.5 tsk ground clove
2 tsk ground cinnamon
2 tsk baking powder
3 dl flour

For the measuring cups mentioned here like dl etc., please refer to my post about Swedish measuring cups.

Preheat the oven to 175 °C and butter a cake pan and put some breadcrumb in it :

Melt the butter and let it cool down. Use a mixer to cream the eggs and the sugar together until light. Add the sour cream, ginger, clove, cinnamon and baking powder and stir with the mixer. Now add the flour and the melted butter, stir until you get a smooth consistency and everything is mixed.

Fill the dough into the cake pan and put it into the oven for approx. 45 minutes.

Test to see if the cake is ready by putting a skewer into the middle, If it comes out clean, the cake is done. Let the cake cool down a little before you remove it from the pan.

I've put some icing sugar on top of it.

I can tell you our apartment has this nice flavour of cinnamon right now. I love the nice smell when cakes get out of the oven...

You can eat the cake with whipped cream and lingonberries, it's delicious!

Kram,

Isabell

Rosenbröd recipe - Swedish bread roll recipe

Today for breakfast I wanted to bake Swedish "Rosenbröd". That's a a bread roll made of yeast dough and really delicious! I eat them when they still warm but not hot and put some salted butter on it. Be sure to be addicted ;)

Here is what you need for approx. 13-15 bread rolls:

25 g butter

2.5 dl milk

25 g yeast

0.5 tsk sugar

1 tsk salt

6.5 dl flour

1 egg

Melt the butter in a pot and add the milk. Let it cool down a little bit as the yeast will die when it's too hot. Crumble the yeast into it and stir. Add the sugar and the salt and finally the flour and knead the dough until it feels smooth and has an elastic stretch. You might need to add more flour, but be careful don't add to much if you don't want to have stones ;).

Put the dough into a bowl and cover the bowl with a clean dish towel and place it in a warm draught free place for approx. 50 Minutes. The warmth will cause the dough to rise. Preheat the oven to 250 °C.

Now you can form small rolls, but take care to not form them too big, as the dough will rise again. Place them on a backing plate that is covered with backing paper and use scissors to cut a cross on the top. Cover the entire backing plate again with a clean dish towel and let the dough rise for another 30 minutes.

Beat a whole egg in a bowl and use a baking brush to apply the egg wash to the rolls. Bake in the oven for approx. 10 minutes. (The colour should be like the one in the picture above.)

Hope you like it as much as I do!

Kram,

Isabell

Swedish meatballs- Köttbullar

Today is a bank holiday in Germany and we will visit my mother-in-law in Nürnberg so I decided to prepare something very simple and quick: Swedish meatballs or "köttbullar":

You need:

250 gr minced meat

1 egg

1 grated onion

1/2 dl breadcrumb

milk

salt and pepper

approx. 200 ml cream

1 bouillon cube

potatoes

lingonberries

Put the breadcrumb into a cup and add a shot of milk to get it to swell a bit. Mix the minced meat, egg and grated onion, salt and pepper and add the breadcrumb. Use your fingers to mix all ingredients, if it is too liquid add some more breadcrumbs (without milk) and form small meatballs.

Roast the meatballs at medium temperature from all sides and if they have a brown colour on every side add the cream and a little bit of the bouillon cube and let it cook gently. Cooked or roasted potatoes and lingonberries are great together with them.

It's my grandmother's recipe and while preparing it, I think about her and how many times she has prepared these. She used to have them in a metal bowl in her fridge when we came to Sweden. Even when she had turned 90 years and she had problems with her fingers, it was important to her to have some in the fridge for us, even the last time I saw her. She was a very special and warm person, that taught me many things about life and I really miss her. 

Nyponsoppa - Rose hip soup

Nyponsoppa or rose hip soup is typical Swedish. You can either eat it hot or cold, as a snack or dessert. Eat it together with vanilla ice-cream or cream and of course almond biscuits (mandelbiskvier). It will keep you healthy during autumn, as it contains a lot of vitamin C

Nypponsoppa really belonged to my childhood, as a child I've always felt like an artist mixing the orange coloured Nyponsoppa with the white cream.

Foto: trivia.se

I've just seen that IKEA offers something similar, but I guess it's only similar. Will try it and keep you informed if it tasts the same. :)

Foto: Ikea

That's the original package: I really love it and as soon as I see this picture I'm sitting in my grand ma's kitchen, creating small pieces of art in my soup plate.

Foto: Ekströms

If you can't buy it anywhere, how about cooking your own Nypponsoppa?
Go for a walk on a sunny afternoon and pick some, they grow almost everywhere.

Here is how you can do it yourself:

The best thing is to wait until after the first snow frost has covered the rose hips, the frost gives the rose hips a sweeter flavor.

Use a knife to slice the rose hips in half. Remove the seeds from inside the rose hips. These seeds should not be eaten. Trim the stem and also the end of the blossom.


Preheat the oven to 100 °C and put the rose hips on a backing tray on the lower part of the oven and leave the door open , dry for 1-2 hours

For Nypponsoppa you need:

6 dl dried rose hips
ca. 1 l water
1 dl sugar
ca. 1 tablespoon starch floor

Cook the dried rose hips for 30 minutes, stir and crush them. Use a sieve and a new pot to collect the soup. Add the sugar and the starch flour and bring to a short boil.


Mandelbiskvier (Almound biscuits) approx. 50 pieces

100 gr marzipan paste
1/2 dl coconut flakes
1 drop bitter almond essence
1-2 table spoons whipped egg whites

Grate the marzipan paste into a bowl and add the coconut flakes and the essence. Fold the egg whites into the mixture. Put backing paper on the backing plate and form small drops (approx.1,5 cm high)
Bake for approx.30 minutes at 125 °C.


Kram,

Isabell

Swedish recipes and measuring cups

As I'm going to show you a lot of Swedish recipes in this blogg, it is about time that I show you the Swedish measuring cups, that you will need for any Swedish recipe.

What is that? You might have asked yourself while shopping in Ikea and I guess you haven't bought it :).

In Swedish these measuring cups are called "Matmått", which means "measuring for food" and like in the US or GB it's easier to prepare food with these measuring cups. In Germany people use kitchen scales for the recipes.

The biggest measuring cup is       1 dl = 1 deciliter  (1liter equals 10 dl) = 100 ml 

the 2nd measuring cup is           1 msk = 1 matsked (Swedish for table spoon) = 15 ml

the 3rd measuring cup is            1 tsk = 1 tesked (Schwedish for teaspoon = 5 ml

the smallest measuring cup is   1 krm = 1 kryddmått (Schwedish for measuring spices) = 1 pinch    

Kram,

Isabell