Yummy!

I just have to tell you about this brilliant espresso liqueur - it's made from pure espresso, sugar and alcohol, and it's so incredibly tasty. Perfect with coffee, obviously, or instead of!

National Cinnamon Bun Day!

Today is National Cinnamon Bun Day!

It's that time of year again - Sweden celebrates national cinnamon bun day today, on October 4th. It might be a peculiar sort of holiday, but the cinnamon bun really is quite beloved. I'm away on a trip, so I won't be making any myself this year, but you certainly can - here's my best recipe! (I've published it before, but hey, I'm sure many of you haven't seen it.)

This recipe differs slightly from others I have used. First and foremost, it uses more yeast than others, and it has a pre-rise at a batter-like stage before it becomes a dough. It might sound fiddly, but it helped me get really light and fluffy buns, and I'd definitely do it again. The total rising time is no more than two hours anyway, so it's well worth it. The recipe calles for "raw sugar" which is here interpreted as demerara or possibly muscovado sugar. This gives the dough a slightly darker color, and a less intensely sweet taste - I like it!



You can use finely chopped or flaked almonds for the topping as well as the pearl sugar. The buns are delicious no matter what!

What makes these different from American cinnamon buns then? Well, while there are many recipes out there, I'll point out a few things. First - cardamom in the dough. Very important. Second, these are baked in a very hot oven for just a few minutes. This makes them light and fluffy, with a nice brown surface yet not dry or overbaked. Third, they're always baked in individual paper cups. (Bun cups - they're like slightly lower muffin cups.) Fourth, no glaze!

A few notes on the recipe. You might need a little more flour than stated. It's hard to give an exact amount, as it really depends on a lot of things, but the dough should be soft and never dry, but it shouldn't stick to your hands, either. Remember, you're going to roll this out, and you don't want it to stick to the rolling pin or whatever surface you're using. (You can use extra flour when rolling it out - but not a lot, or your buns will be tough.)

I don't have exact amounts for the filling - I just sprinkle on sugar and cinnamon until I have a fairly even amount on the whole dough. Don't worry, I'm sure you'll get it right, too.



Swedish Cinnamon Buns
based on a recipe from Bara Bullar of Åsa Swanberg

Makes 40

80 g fresh yeast
2 eggs
500 ml finger-warm milk (2 cups)
1 kg wheat flour
200 g demerara or muscovado sugar
150 g butter, softened
1 tsp salt
2 tsp cardamom

Filling:
80 g butter, softened
demerara or muscovado sugar
cinnamon

Decoration:
1 egg, beaten with 1/2 tsp water, and a tiny pinch of salt
pearl sugar

Crumble the yeast into a bowl. Add some of the tepid milk, and stir until the yeast is dissolved. Add the rest of the milk, half of the flour and both of the eggs. Leave to proof, covered, for one hour.

Add the rest of the flour, the sugar, salt, cardamom and butter. Work into a smooth and silky dough. Here's when you might need a bit more flour. Transfer the dough to a clean bowl, cover and leave to proof for 30 minutes.

Divide the dough into two. Roll out each part to a large rectangle. Spread with butter, and sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon. Roll each rectangle into a tight roll, starting at the long edge, and cut each roll into about 20 pieces. Place each piece in a paper cup on a baking sheet (covered with parchment paper so you won't end up with a mess), cover and leave to proof for 30 minutes.

Beat the egg with a pinch of salt and 1/2 tsp of water, and brush this carefully on the buns. Finish by a light sprinkling of pearl sugar.

Bake at 250°C for 6-8 minutes, until they're as golden as you like them.



Recipe in Swedish:
Bästa kanelbullarna

Apple Caramel Cupcakes

Lo and behold, an apple cupcake with salted caramel frosting! I missed Sugar High Friday, where the theme was cupcakes (do check out the round-ups over at Food Beam!), but I actually made these some time ago. I won't provide a recipe, since it's not something I'd make again, but they were still well received at a work function. I was actually aiming to make a WHOLE lot of cupcakes - a hundred or so - for my brother's birthday party, but after making these I decided it wasn't as much fun as I had expected. So, no huge cupcake bonanza for me!

I made a fairly basic cupcake with some diced apples and a little bit of cinnamon in the batter, and then used a recipe from Cupcake Bakeshop for salted caramel frosting. It was, however, a lot runnier than I expected, and tooth-achingly sweet. But delicious - I have some left in my freezer, and I think I'll use it to top an apple cake in the near future. These worked well as minis, since they were both rich and sweet. Those who wanted could take two, though!

Mixed Autumn Salad

A few days ago, I had friends coming to a somewhat unexpected lunch. Well, not *that* unexpected, but I wasn't well prepared and didn't feel like shopping. This is what I managed to scramble up - and it was a really big hit! You can definitely play around with the basic concept. I used a special sort of grain called "food barley" which I think is just wholegrain barley that's been pre-cooked. If you can't find that, use regular barley (but it will take quite a while to cook!), quinoa, bulgur wheat, cous-cous or even rice.

Serve with a simple yogurt sauce - thick creamy yogurt (greek style), mixed with a few drops of water, chili paste (I like sambal oelek), minced garlic and a spoonful of dijon mustard. Delicious!

Mixed Autumn Salad
Serves 4

200 ml food barley ("matkorn")
2 carrots, thinly sliced
200 g edamame beans (frozen are fine)
500 g mushrooms, divided into smaller pieces
70 g bacon, finely chopped
1 red onion, finely chopped
3 tbsp dried cranberries
3 tbsp roasted cashew nuts

Boil the food barley according to the package instructions - meanwhile, prepare all the other things. Fry the bacon until crispy, and let the onion and carrots cook along for the last few minutes. Remove to a bowl, and fry the mushrooms in what remains of the bacon fat. Boil the edamame (for frozen, I just basically cover them with water and bring to the boil) and squeeze out all the little beans from their casings.

Mix barley, carrots, mushrooms, bacon, onions and beans on a large platter, and top with the cranberries and cashews.

Recept på svenska:
Höstsallad med matkorn

Leg of lamb

A bone-in leg of lamb is pretty hard to carve up, as we discovered. But it tasted great. This particular lamb was raised by a friend of mine, and I knew it had a good life not very far from here. That might contribute some to the flavor - I don't know. What definitely help was a rubbing with olive oil, finely chopped rosemary and sage, and some scattered thyme and garlic slices in the roasting pan. I put it in the oven at a fairly low temperature - about 125°C - and let it sit until the meat thermometer showed 65°C.

It was *really* fast, a lot faster than I had expected - less than an hour for a two-kilo leg! So, I removed it, let it sit at room temperature for about an hour, then gave it a final 20 minutes in a 200°C oven to heat it up and cook just slightly more. It turned out really tender, so good move! Next time, I'll cook it at an even lower temperature, for longer.

Nectarine Almond Salad

Just so you don't think I eat like yesterday *every* day, here's a quick but delicious salad that's perfect as a small starter. I can still get nice nectarines, and if you can too, definitely try this. Omit the radishes if you want to, it's still really good.

Nectarine Almond Salad
Serves 2

1 nectarine, thinly sliced
50 g rocket (arugula)
2 radishes, thinly slived
15 almonds
parmesan, shaved

Dressing:
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp sugar

Toast the almonds in a dry frying pan. Whisk together everything for the dressing, and mix with the rocket and radishes. Divide on two plates, and top with the nectarines, almonds and shaved parmesan.

Recipe in Swedish:
Nektarinsallad med mandel

Really quite the gourmet

People ask me if I eat fancy food every day. There's a real simple answer to that: no. I often eat fun food, things that might not be very difficult or made from expensive ingredients, but that are nicely put together and often with little twists - sure. But I have to show you this plate of orange-ness, because it's what I had for dinner a few days ago. That's Kraft Macaroni & Cheese (one of my favorite foods in the world, by the way) and.. fish sticks. With a dollop of mayo.

Gourmet might not be my middle name. But this sure hit the spot!

What's your favorite not-so-fashionable-or-fabulous-food?