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!

Introduction

Hi!
My name is Josefine, but most people call me Joe.

Like most people when they start a blog I am doing this because I have an interest, an interest that I would love to document and share with others.

In my case it's Baking.

Fortunately for me(otherwise I would probably be the size of a house by now), my husband is diabetic, which means I don't bake very often. But the occasions that I do get...... I TAKE!

Just moved to Accrington in Lancashire England. I heard there was a baby shower for a lady in the church I attend, and hey presto I find myself baking cupcakes and sugarcookies till my kitchen looks like the third world war has hit... hence the name SLOPPY Joe.

I still have yet to get into diabetic baking. My wonderful sister who lives in Gothenburg sweden was wonderful enough to give me a cookbook about just that for my birthday(trust me that is definately more a gift to me than Nick my husband) together with a bag of Sukrin, a very expensive NATURAL sugar substitue. For those of you out there who are diabetic, Sukrin is basically sugar that does not, I repeat, does NOT affect your bloodsugar! It consists of Erythritol, which is a natural sugar substitute that can be found in grapes, pears and melons. It measures just like sugar and looks, feels and tastes just like it as well. It also has a zero GI value for those of you who follow that diet. If you are looking to get yourself some it is currently only sold in Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Germany, But if you are desperate for some you can still order some online from http://sukrin.net/shop/ Just follow the instructions.

I am very much looking forward to using it and will be posting the result here.


The cookbook is called "Bakgladje med LCHF" by Annika Rogneby.... unfortunately a swedish cookbook, and can not be found in english.. sorry...  LCHF can be, however! It stands for "Low Carb High Fat" it is an internationally known diet, that has revolutionised the way we think about diabetic diets and other dieting for that matter. Rather than bore you and explain it all here, look it up and have an open mind. When my husband has followed it, he has more than halfed his insulin intake! But if you don't want to read about it.. then it's all basically in the name... self explanitory really :-).


I am not a baking pro.

I am not a perfectionist.. or I am but a 1.4 yearold daughter has forced me out of that habit!

I WILL cut corners(for the same reason I'm no longer a perfectionist)... just so y'all know!

Now enough about me and on to some baking!

TO BE CONTINUED......