Buns

Today`s “semla” day in Sweden. I wrote about this cake a while ago and cause it`s that delicious I`ll do it again. “Semla” is a wheatbun (packed with cardamom) filled with whipped cream and almond paste. You cut the bun in half (the bottom part should be bigger than the top). Put almond paste on the bottom bun and top with whipped cream. Put the lid on and sprinkle icing sugar on it. You eat the lid first and you dip it in the whipped cream.

20170228_152528It`s “semla” day today but we begin eating it some months before this day. Many are probably tired of it by now cause they have eaten too many already. It used to be something you looked forward to and only ate for a short period of time. Now you can get it from christmas until whenever (almost). I think you can buy it for another couple of months which is not good. I think it only should be available for a short amount of time to keep it this thing you long for. Now after a “semla” season you think you will never eat it again because you`ve eaten too many.

 

Yummy!

 

Bread

This is what my mom got for free for her birthday! A grocery store where she does a lot of her shopping celebrated her by giving her a “smörgåstårta” or…….smorgasbord cake. I don`t think there is a better english word for this dish. Smorgas bord though I know they say in America and what it means is a table full of cold cuts and whatever you like.

20170227_155320A smorgasbord cake is bread in layers filled with smorgas bords things. This is a prawn cake. It`s prawns and lots of mayo between thin layers of bread.

20170227_155604This was a tasty smorgas bord cake!

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Cakes

We don’t celebrate Valentines Day in this family at all. Or we do but only with valentine cakes.

This cake is normally called “Princess cake” and the marzipan on top is usually green. Just because it’s Valentines Day the marzipan is pink and there’s a red heart made from marzipan on top of it all. It looks wonderful though!

I like this cake! All that whipped cream and vanilla cream is tasty. To make you get a hint of what it tastes like I will describe what’s in it. The whole cake is covered in marzipan which I love. I think marzipan makes all cakes taste good! Under the marzipan there’s spongecake, whipped cream, vanilla cream and raspberry jam.

Yummy.

Easiest

I love cinnamon. I especially like it in cakes and buns. I love to use it when I bake cause of the smell (and taste)! It smells good when you bake cinnamon buns for instance.

When it comes to cinnamon buns I would make them often if it wasn`t for how long it takes to bake them. The dough needs a lot of work and all that kneading takes a long time. Don`t get me started on the rising time. It`s a lot of rising involved. That`s why I`m excited I have found out how to make the easiest cinnamon buns.

I`ve made homemade pizza a couple of times and I always buy the dough. Everytime I make the pizza I think the dough feels like the dough you you get when you make cinnamon buns. I have thought about trying to make cinnamon buns out of the pizza dough and today I tried it.

20170212_154951The pizza dough.

20170212_155406I spread butter on the dough and sprinkled sugar and cinnamon on top of it.

20170212_162725I rolled the dough and cut it in pieces. I placed the pieces in cupcake paper (I don`t know the right word). I brushed them with beaten eggs and added some pearl sugar.

20170212_164221Cinnamon buns!

They are best eaten right away cause they get a bit too hard after a while.

Delicious.

Bacon

20170208_165912.jpgI’ve said it before and I say it again, I love bacon. When I don’t know what to make for dinner it’s easy to turn to bacon for ideas.

Today I made bacon and rice pudding pancakes. In Sweden we often eat rice pudding, or rice porridge. Especially at christmas. I often make the porridge myself but today I felt it would be too much and I bought it.

The pancakes are easy to make! The ingredients:

500 g rice pudding

2 eggs

2 dl almond flour

Mix the ingredients in a bowl.

Cook them like ordinary pancakes and use a lot of butter or oil in the pan. They tend to stick to the pan if it’s too dry. I made six pancakes from the recepy. And I also cooked three at a time in the pan.

Serve with bacon and lingonberry jam.

Cake

20170206_162851.jpgI love this dessert. It’s “Gooey chocolate cake” with berries and whipped cream.

I bought the cake this time because this one tastes just as delicious as if you would have made it yourself. The chocolate cake is, like the name says, a gooey cake. It’s chewy and very delicious!

If you want to bake it I think the best thing would be to make a fondant cake. I will make it sometime but if there’s any chocolate addict out there that can’t wait that’s what you can do until then. Yummy!

Pasta

This is a wonderful dish. It’s cheese filled tortellini and tomatoe sauce. I love pasta and a rich sauce. This is just that.

I boiled “dried” cheese filled tortellini and broccoli for a couple of minutes. After I had removed (I know there’s a word for that – drained?) the water from the pan I added tinned tomatoes, milk and cream to the tortellini and broccoli. I let it boil on low heat for a while.

In a oven tin I put peppers, tomatoes and onions. I added the tortellini and tomatoes. I baked it in the oven at 200 C for 20 minutes.

Tasty!

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Trying

I would like to mention a little something we all probably have said or been told. The “you haven`t tried mine” thing. For instance, I don`t like carrot cake. I told a friend and she said that I would if I “tried hers”. No I wouldn`t! Carrot cake is carrot cake and I think it`s disgusting.

When someone says “try mine” you know what`s coming. You have to sit at that person`s table and eat that cake or dish you don`t like. You have to force yourself to eat it and then say you like it. I never got to try my friend`s cake because she moved away and I`m happy with that (not that she moved but that no carrot cake had to be forced down). I know I wouldn`t have liked it. I`ve tried many of these cakes and no one has made me change my mind.

Salmon is something else I don`t eat. I`ve had to sit through many dinners pretending to have changed my mind when it comes to salmon. I don`t want to offend the host and I eat even though it makes me feel sick. They know my thoughts on that fish but I have to “try theirs”. I take as little salmon as possible and then I push it around the plate and leave as much as I can. As much as I can without offending anyone. I`ve never had both salmon and carrot cake at the same dinner but I know that day will come. Someone will say “I`ve made my salmon and carrot cake I said you would like”. I will smile and say I like it!

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Fish

I had a healthier fish and chips today. I baked fish fingers and potatoes in the oven. The fish fingers were made of filets of cod which tasted good. Some fish fingers contains fish and things that shouldn’t be there.

I bought the potatoes but it’s easy to make healthy french fries yourself. Cut potatoes in pieces and mix them with a little bit of oil and bake them in the oven. These potatoes I made today are delicious and only have a little bit of oil on them.

I think many vegetables this time of year don’t taste much. I often serve them cooked cause they taste better that way. Today I mixed peppers, tomatoes and cabbage with oil and baked them in the oven with the fish.

In Sweden we have a sauce that’s called “Cucumer sauce” which is perfect with fish. It’s essentially pickled cucumber with mayo. I often, like today, eat it with fish.

Delicious.

Dinner idea

I think every country has dishes that sounds crazy. Today we had “fish balls”. It makes no sense to name a dish that way. In Sweden we think of it like meat balls but with fish. It’s minced fish mixed with other things.

Often these balls (it sounds even crazier when you don’t put “fish” in front of that word) are cooked in a pan on the stove served with boiled potatoes. Today I decided to cook them a little different. I baked them in the oven mixed with sugar snaps. I served them with oven baked potatoes. This was tasty!

I don’t know how to make them cause I buy them but I think you begin with making a paté from fish. Then you boil them.

Delicious.