WANTED

The traditional Swedish cheesecake is nothing like the velvet smooth American cousin, but a grainy almond flavoured pudding similar in consistency to baked cottage cheese. It's served warm, plain or with jam. I adore it. 

Homemade always taste better, but is time consuming. I don't mind cheating with cheese cake or ostkaka from  Frödinge, the dairy company founded in 1929. 

Imagine how badly I've been wanting to sample the ostkaka with saffron, the Swedish christmas spice No.1. Gah! It's enough to consider a christmas in Sweden next year. 

IMAGE: PRODUCT IMAGE ORKLA FOODS, CC

A COOKIE TIN FOR GRANDMA

         

3 kinds of cookies from Arbro Ångbageri are now available at Slottsboden at the Royal Castle in Stockholm. The perfect gift for great aunts and grandma!  

IMAGE: PRESS IMAGE ARBRO ÅNGBAGERI, FOTOGRAF KATARINA HANSSON

OCT 4 - THE DAY OF THE CINNAMON BUN

It certainly isn't the most important day of the year to observe, nor the most charitable cause to support. But my son is grateful that I make cinnamon buns at least one day each year. Not that my baking compare to grandma's, he's made that pretty clear.

LUCKY NUMBER SEVEN

Nobody knows why Swedish tradition demands seven different kinds of home made cookies if it's to be considered a proper cookie platter (usually accompanying coffee). It's a custom that suddenly gained popularity in the late 1800's, and its origin remains a mystery to this day.

What we do know is that food and retail company ICA dates back to 1917. In 1945 one of its subdivisions held a competition for cookie recipies yielding more than 8000 entries. The best recipes were compiled into a collection that quickly became a household staple in Sweden. By 2005 the 84 continually revised editions had sold 3,4 million copies over the years. An edition in English was released in 2008 and is the ultimate christmas gift for any baker with a Scandinavian heritage or interest. 

Available anywhere in Sweden, for example here (Swedish), here (English) and here (Swedish). Preview available at Amazon.com.
IMAGE: TANT GUL, USED WITH PERMISSION

CHEWS WISELY

Homemade soft caramels and toffees are lovely and tasty and pretty and what not, but I just never muster up the energy to start a volatile sugary process that most likely will lead to failure at first attempt. My shortcut is Hemkola from Karamellpojkarna. Their retro-style packaging looks great heaped in bowls, as well as in cones on the tree.

IMAGES: PRESS IMAGE FROM CLOETTA

POLKA DOTTED

I love a good shortcut. As fantastic as homemade candy is, this is the candy that I go to in my read-a-christmas-magazine-moments or write-the-last-christmas-cards-moments or wrap-the-gifts-moments. It's simple enough and christmassy enough. It also works as a cleaning-up-after-christmas-until-midnight treat. 

POLKAGRISAR

Polka pigs is the literal translation of candy cane in Swedish. No one knows the reason for the name only who invented the recipe: Amalia Eriksson, a poor widow from Gränna, Sweden in 1859. In Gränna more than 10 million traditional canes are made, most by hand. They're perfect stocking stuffers.

A traditional Gränna-type cane bakery has finally opened in Stockholm. I'm really excited about it!
It's such fun to see how they are made. Visit Gamla Stans polkagriskokeri at Nygatan 10, in the Old Town.
IMAGES: GAMLA STANS POLKAGRISKOKERI'S FACEBOOKPAGE

KONFEKTYR

It's driving me nuts that I'm too far away to be able to taste this Salty Liquorice taffy från Pärlans.
A stylish stockingstuffer nonetheless.
BILD: PÄRLANS KONFEKTYR