I apologize in advance for the long silence (3 months!) since the last (flash) post about my worries of time flying, which were easily fixed with a nice, big slice of Lemon-cream pie.
Busy time left behind. Even busier yet to come. But, I had a very good time in the past months.
Family visiting (dad first in June; mum second in July; and little sis with bf last week). It was lovely to have them all here.
In June I went to London for an Erasmus reunion with most of my Swedish family – too bad my two Canadian besties couldn’t make it. What a great time with them as well! And so many memories.
Of course, I had to keep up working on my PhD stuff. But I also deserved some holidays, as all human beings, so this year I decided to not go to Italy but let Italy coming to me. In this way, I could finally spend my summer holidays somewhere else than in the motherland. After 3 years, I went back to my lovely Sweden.
Being back in Malmö was such an experience that I can’t tell by words. So many memories and feelings, but I don’t want to become emotional now.
Then, I met my Swedish friend E. (the one of so many Aroma di Cannella’s adventures, like the lussekatter, the smulpaj med äpple, Saftig Tigerkaka, Halloween stories). I visited her in her hometown and then we traveled around in the Southern part of Sweden: the island of Öland, Göteborg and surroundings. And finally, I went to my lovely Stockholm, where I met another Swedish friend.
After 10 days spent traveling around, I can just say that Jag älskar Sverige, I love Sweden. As the first time.
I stop it here with emotional stuff, otherwise this post turns into a huge, caloric, sick-sweatness sugar bomb. And familiar readers of the blog might probably know that’s not really my writing style.
So, to honor my lovely (unfortunately-not-residence(yet)) country, today I share with you two new recipes that are perfect for a traditional Swedish fika. The Italian buddies can easily read back the post I wrote about fika during my Erasmus time in Sweden. For other readers, in super short, fika means having a coffee with pastries. During my holidays, I learnt something new, that is, people traditionally bake 7 different types of cookies to accompany fika. Unfortunately, E. and I didn’t have time to bake such a big variety of cookies (luckily, we were forced by the pouring rain to spend a day inside only once). However, we baked some delicious bondkakor (almond pastries) and a havregömda rabarber smulpaj (rhubarb crumble pie). Just amazing.
So, here we go with two new recipes to accompany your next fika!
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Bondkakor
Ingredients
5 1/2 dl = 3oo gr of flour
2 dl = 160 gr of sugar
1 msk = 1 table spoon of syrup (we used the one for backing, but marble syrup or stroop for Dutchies is fine as well)
1 tsk = 1 tea spoon of bicarbonate or baking powder
1 msk = 1 table spoon of water
3/4 dl = 50 gr of almonds (chopped)
200 gr of butter
Procedure
Put the flour on the table and make a hole in the middle, like a “volcano” shape. Next, add all the other ingredients (remember to cut the butter in cubes) in the middle and knead the dough until smooth.
Then, divide the dough in 2 parts and roll it till make a “salami” shape with a diameter of 4-5 cm. Wrap the 2 salami dough forms in plastic cling and put them in the fridge to cool down for a 1 or 2 hours. The longer, the easier will be to cut the dough.
Once ready, cut the dough in slices of 5 mm each. Put the cookies on the oven trait covered by baking paper and bake the cookies in the over for 5-7 minutes at 200° (static).
Delicious and lovely almond flavor!
Havregömda rabarber smulpaj
Ingredients
4-6 rhubarbs
150 gr butter
2 dl = 100 gr of oats
2 dl = 110 gr of flour
1/2 tea spoon of baking powder
2 1/2 dl = 180 gr sugar
1/2 dl of syrup (for alternatives, see as above)
1/2 dl of whipped cream
Procedure
Chop the rhubarbs in pieces of 5 cm and put them as a bottom layer in a baking tin.
Put all the other ingredients in a pot, heat it with low heat and keep stirring until all ingredients are melted and smooth. Add this mix on the top of the rhubarbs.
Bake the pie in the oven (175°, static) for 30 minutes.
Perfect to eat with ice-cream or whipped cream!
Aroma di cannella 