Swedish Fika pops up in Soho Square this week, 24 - 26 August. I'll be blogging via VisitSweden's UK blog from all three days.
Follow all the action here
VisitSweden UK
Thursday, 25 August 2011
Thursday, 18 August 2011
Spettekaka from Skåne
I have a very fond memories of going to my grandparents for family dinners when I was little. They lived in Helsingborg on the north western coast of Skåne (Scania) in a grand old fashioned apartment. My mum would dress me up in my red velvet dress with itchy white stockings and black little patent shoes and off we went. If there had been a particular occasion the dinner and coffee and cakes would then be followed by my grandmother bringing out a huge meringue looking cake decorated with pink and white icing sugar. For my five year old eyes this was the prettiest thing in the world!
The cake was a Spettekaka, a typcially Skåne cake and the crowning glory of any old fashioned birthday party or wedding celebration.
A Spettekaka (sometimes called Spettkaka or Spiddekaga in the local Skåne dialect) is made of eggs, sugar, potato flour and normal flour. It is slowly piped onto a rotating cone, attached to skewers (hence the name, 'spett' means skewer in Swedish) over an open fire and then left to dry before the next layer is added. As you can imagine this is a very time consuming way of baking.
After all the layers have been added and the cake has completely dried (this can take up to a day!) it is decorated with the icing. Usually it has pink and white icing but local varieties in colour exists and different areas will use different colour combinations.
Cutting a Spettekaka is quite tricky and requires a special tool. A knife with a very thin serrated blade is recommended and it takes a lot of practise to get the Spettekaka pieces to come out whole rather than just as a crumbly mess. You normally eat it plain with a cup of coffee but you can add anything, ice cream, clotted cream, berries etc etc.
I looked up the history of the Spettkaka and found that it is originally from Germany but became popular in Swedish court circles as early as in the 17th century. By the early 19th century the cake had become established as a celebration and wedding cake in Skåne. There are many theories of how the Spettekaka came to be so much associated with Skåne. One is that Skåne has always been a rich a fertile farming area, with eggs, sugar beets and potatoes in abundance, the perfect place to find the ingredients for a Spettekaka in other words!
The Spettkaka has been classed by the EU as a regional speciality and therefore a genuine spettkaka can now only be baked in Scania. There are 10 - 15 places in Skåne where Spettekaka is still made and generally these bakeries only use organic ingredients and traditional methods of baking.
The cake was a Spettekaka, a typcially Skåne cake and the crowning glory of any old fashioned birthday party or wedding celebration.
A Spettekaka (sometimes called Spettkaka or Spiddekaga in the local Skåne dialect) is made of eggs, sugar, potato flour and normal flour. It is slowly piped onto a rotating cone, attached to skewers (hence the name, 'spett' means skewer in Swedish) over an open fire and then left to dry before the next layer is added. As you can imagine this is a very time consuming way of baking.
After all the layers have been added and the cake has completely dried (this can take up to a day!) it is decorated with the icing. Usually it has pink and white icing but local varieties in colour exists and different areas will use different colour combinations.
Cutting a Spettekaka is quite tricky and requires a special tool. A knife with a very thin serrated blade is recommended and it takes a lot of practise to get the Spettekaka pieces to come out whole rather than just as a crumbly mess. You normally eat it plain with a cup of coffee but you can add anything, ice cream, clotted cream, berries etc etc.
I looked up the history of the Spettkaka and found that it is originally from Germany but became popular in Swedish court circles as early as in the 17th century. By the early 19th century the cake had become established as a celebration and wedding cake in Skåne. There are many theories of how the Spettekaka came to be so much associated with Skåne. One is that Skåne has always been a rich a fertile farming area, with eggs, sugar beets and potatoes in abundance, the perfect place to find the ingredients for a Spettekaka in other words!
The Spettkaka has been classed by the EU as a regional speciality and therefore a genuine spettkaka can now only be baked in Scania. There are 10 - 15 places in Skåne where Spettekaka is still made and generally these bakeries only use organic ingredients and traditional methods of baking.
Tuesday, 9 August 2011
Swedish Fika - the search for the perfect coffee and cake: Pop Up Fika Parlor and walk in Fika Picnic in Lond...
Swedish Fika - the search for the perfect coffee and cake: Pop Up Fika Parlor and walk in Fika Picnic in Lond...: "Come by to VisitSweden's free Pop Up Fika Parlor and walk in Fika Picnic! Where: Soho Square in London When: 24-26 August Time: 12.30..."
Pop Up Fika Parlor and walk in Fika Picnic in London!
Where: Soho Square in London
When: 24-26 August
Time: 12.30pm-2.30pm
A team from Skåne, led by world famous pastry chef Jan Hedh will be serving traditional Fika, the Swedish equivalent of high tea and sharing stories about the region.
Reserve a table by emailing reservations@fikasquare.co.uk or come by on the day.
Traditionally, 7 cookies are served as part of the Fika ritual, made from the finest natural ingredients, married with a fresh cup of coffee, it’s the perfect time to indulge and revitalizing. In the 19th century the ingredients for cookies were expensive and it was a sign of wealth be able to offer your guest several varieties of cookies. A competitiveness between hostesses developed and the custom for serving 7 varieties derived.
Find out more about Swedish Fika
Thursday, 16 June 2011
Is this the prettiest dessert in the world?
I recently flicked through the huge brick that is the Noma book, Noma: Time and Place in Nordic Cuisine (Phaidon, October 2010). The best restaurant in the world for the second year running has put together a beautiful photo and recipe book, celebrating Nordic food and all things natural and local in Scandinavia. As I flicked through page after page of artistically arranged dishes I suddenly saw it - the pretties dessert in the world!
And though I will most likely never try it or even attempt to make it at home, I still think this may be the best pudding I have ever seen:
Dessert of Flowers from Noma
And though I will most likely never try it or even attempt to make it at home, I still think this may be the best pudding I have ever seen:
Dessert of Flowers from Noma
Monday, 16 May 2011
Swedish Cinnamon buns recipe
Tried Nordic Bakery's cinnamon buns and want to make your own?
Cinnamon buns or Kanelbullar as we call them in Sweden are easy to make at home. They taste best on the day of baking but can also be frozen and enjoyed later after a few minutes in the oven.
Here is one of my favourite recipes.
Swedish Cinnamon buns
With fresh yeast break it up in a bowl. Then melt the butter in a saucepan, pour in the milk and heat it up to 37C, you can test this by putting your finger in the saucepan, if it’s the same temperature as your finger it’s about 37C. With dry yeast follow the instructions on the package.
Stir in a tiny bit of the milk and butter mix in with the yeast. Then add the rest of the milk and butter. Add salt, sugar and cardamom while stirring.
Cinnamon buns or Kanelbullar as we call them in Sweden are easy to make at home. They taste best on the day of baking but can also be frozen and enjoyed later after a few minutes in the oven.
Here is one of my favourite recipes.
 |
| Fredrik Broman, Cinnamon buns |
Swedish Cinnamon buns
Time: about 2 hours
Makes 25 cinnamon bunsDough
- 25 grams yeast, fresh yeast seems to work best but if you can't find it two packets of dried yeast works as well
- 75 grams butter
- 2 ½ deciliters milk
- ½ deciliters sugar
- 1 pinch of salt
- 1 tea spoon of grounded cardamom
- around 7 deciliters flour
- 50 grams butter
- ½ deciliter sugar
- 2 table spoons cinnamon
- one egg
With fresh yeast break it up in a bowl. Then melt the butter in a saucepan, pour in the milk and heat it up to 37C, you can test this by putting your finger in the saucepan, if it’s the same temperature as your finger it’s about 37C. With dry yeast follow the instructions on the package.
Stir in a tiny bit of the milk and butter mix in with the yeast. Then add the rest of the milk and butter. Add salt, sugar and cardamom while stirring.
Add the flour and work the dough into a smooth and elastic dough. You should work the dough for a least 7 or 8 minutes if you are doing it by hand.
Cover the dough with a kitchen towel and let it rise for about 45 minutes.
Set the oven to 225C.
Use a rolling pin and roll out the dough to a rectangular flat cake, about 20 cm x 50 cm and 1cm thick.
Once rolled out you can use a cheese slicer and slice the butter (make sure the butter is cold if using a slicer) all over the dough. The sprinkle the sugar and cinnamon on top. If you would like more filling just add more of the butter, sugar and cinnamon. Make sure you cover the dough evenly with the filling.Roll up the dough and cut it in slices that are around 1 ½ centimeters thick.
Put some grease proof paper on a baking tray. To get that lovely sticky bottom of the bun, put bits of butter and some sugar on top of the greaseproof paper. Then put the buns on the paper with enough space in between each bun so they can rise. Cover with a tea towel again and let the buns rise again for about 30 minutes Whisk the egg and glaze each bun with a little of the egg mix.
Cook in the middle of the oven for 8 – 10 minutes.
Enjoy!
Sunday, 15 May 2011
Fake baking at home...
I love cinnamon buns or kanelbullar as we call them in Sweden. I must have tried hundreds of different kanelbullar in various cafes but the ones you make at home yourself are still the best. Here in Dubai I came across a place called Cinnabon, no doubt very American and despite the ridiculous packaging and horrible fast food chain look of the shop these cinnamon rolls are actually really good.
The other day I found a package of make your own Cinnabon in Waitrose and decided that while it is too hot to bake properly out here I might try a pre made version for a laugh. It is the easiest thing, just peel off the wrapping and out pops eight perfectly formed cinnamon roll dough balls, shaped and ready for the oven.
Well, here's how I got on:
The 'tantalising' Cinnabon packaging, though not 100% sure about icing my cinnamon roll it looked sort of pretty.
Well I am not sure what to say... Hopefully they'll look a lot better once cooked!
Looking a little better but perhaps not very cinnamon roll like yet. Better cover them up in some of that icing!
A cinnabon cinnamon roll, with icing. Not too bad looking though somewhere underneath that icing is a dry looking kanelbulle hiding.
Final verdict. These cinnamon rolls have a funny bitter taste, hidden well by the sweetness of the icing. I am very surprised to find that the icing is essential as otherwise the bun isn't sweet enough. I missed the gooiness of the cinnamon filling that you get in your normal homemade cinnamon buns and also in the Cinnabon shop. These pre-made buns have specks of dry cinnamon inside the dough, which tastes ok but makes it a bit dry.
All in all, best to get that yeast and flower out again to make my own. I will post my favourite recipe shortly including some tips of how to get that lovely chewy bottom of the bun right.
The other day I found a package of make your own Cinnabon in Waitrose and decided that while it is too hot to bake properly out here I might try a pre made version for a laugh. It is the easiest thing, just peel off the wrapping and out pops eight perfectly formed cinnamon roll dough balls, shaped and ready for the oven.
Well, here's how I got on:
The 'tantalising' Cinnabon packaging, though not 100% sure about icing my cinnamon roll it looked sort of pretty.
Well I am not sure what to say... Hopefully they'll look a lot better once cooked!
Looking a little better but perhaps not very cinnamon roll like yet. Better cover them up in some of that icing!
A cinnabon cinnamon roll, with icing. Not too bad looking though somewhere underneath that icing is a dry looking kanelbulle hiding.
Final verdict. These cinnamon rolls have a funny bitter taste, hidden well by the sweetness of the icing. I am very surprised to find that the icing is essential as otherwise the bun isn't sweet enough. I missed the gooiness of the cinnamon filling that you get in your normal homemade cinnamon buns and also in the Cinnabon shop. These pre-made buns have specks of dry cinnamon inside the dough, which tastes ok but makes it a bit dry.
All in all, best to get that yeast and flower out again to make my own. I will post my favourite recipe shortly including some tips of how to get that lovely chewy bottom of the bun right.
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