Monday 29 November 2010

My swedish Chirstmas Baking... part 1

Hi!
So on to some baking!

I have had the very odd experience of having a WHOLE day to myself, no husband and no daughter! I was able to Christmas decorate, bake "Lussekatter"(Swedish christmas rolls) a "Buttekaka" made with Saffron and Chocolate christmas chews(only half a batch as I didn't have enough cream). I've Washed my couch cover, and cleaned the whole downstairs! I haven't had a day like this since before Elinor was born... wow.. must admit it has been lovely!

So I was going to make some "lussekatter" and was searching the net for that perfect recipe... the one that just feels right somehow(this is probably something that is judged through the careful deliberation of seeing if the pictures look yummy). While I was doing this I happened upon a Saffron recipe for a "Buttekaka". A Buttekaka is a cake made up of usually cinammonbuns. This version however was made with (essentially) "Lussekatt" dough and Marsipan(the golden kind). I thought that that is perfect as I will then get some variation in what my freezer will contain for christmas. The recipe is in swedish and can be found at http://www.alltommat.se/recept/butterkaka-med-saffran-8990 I will of course translate it here for those of you who speak english.

Ingredients:
50g Fresh Yeast (25g Dried Active Yeast)
150g Butter
5 dl (1/2 of a Liter) milk
1,5 dl Granulated sugar
1 pinch of salt
1g Saffron
15 dl All purpose flour(good quality)

Filling:
250g Golden Marsipan
25g melted butter or 2 tbs water

You start by melting the butter and adding the milk, heating it to 37 degrees Celcius. Crumble the yeast into a large bowl or a kitchen machine(as in the pictures). Add the liquids over the yeast and make sure it disolves into it.

Add the sugar, salt and saffron, propperly chopped and soaked in very small amount of water to release the taste. I did the mistake of not doing this, and as a result my finnished product did not have the very yellow color that is the signature of saffron! Still tastes very much of it.. but unfortunately lacks the look! Add almost all the flour untill the dough releases from the bowl. Set to rise in a nondrafty warm place.. in other words not my kitchen!!!  I let it rise for just over an hour even though the recipe said 45min. I usually go by the dubble in size rule rather than time.

While the dough is rising, grate the marsipan into a bowl and add the butter or water. Because marsipan is mostly sugar, it will make a paste when you stir it, which will be easily spreadable!

After it has risen put the dough on a well floured worktop and start kneeding!! make sure to get ALL the air out. Deflate it! Flatten it! Beat the snot out of it! you get the picture :-)..

Roll it out to a square shape(half the dough, this makes 2 cakes). Spread the Marsipan paste all over it, make sure you cover the whole area. Roll it up and cut 3cm "coins" out of the log. Pack a previously greased tin full of the coins as in the picture and let rise for another 30 min.

Once it is risen put in a previously heated oven at 200C or slightly lower for fan ovens. leave in for 20-25 min.

Cool on a coolingrack. Once cooled you can drizzle over some icingsugar with water, just for decoration.



Now I only made one Cake and the rest of the dough I used to make the "Lussekatter" with. To make the Lussekatter, decide on a size(I like them quite small, like the palm of my hand), divide the remaining dough into that sized parts. Roll each part into a worm, hold each end of the worm and start twisting inward in opposite directions... Does that make any sense?! I'm sitting here trying to figure out what I actually do with my fingers, but when you see the picture it will hopefully make sense to you.



Now in "real" Lussekatter(there are a lot of quotationmarks in this one) there are supposed to be a rasin sticking out of each twisty bit.. but I DETEST raisins, and was not about to go down to the shop to buys something I would end up picking out anyway.. Soooo... No raisins in mine.

Hope you like the result, and our newly decorated home!


3 comments:

  1. The amazing Swedish baker and designer we always knew you would be! I'll be watching...

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hey Joe!

    How are you and the family? I love your blog! Your baking looks soooo yummy! I can't wait to see what you do next. :)

    Elizabeth

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hey!
    Thank you for reading my blog! I know It's been a while, but I'm back now and will keep it up to date ;-)! Thank you for your comments!
    xx
    Joe

    ReplyDelete