Food History

You need to meet a new cookbook today. Truly, you do. Swedish Cakes and Cookies was given to me at Conflux by some very discerning friends, one of whom has just launched a publishing house. You especially need this book today because it means I can point you to the online course I’m teaching for Eneit Press.

Mostly, though, this book is important in its own right. This is why Mark and Etina brought it for me from Sweden (along with a bar of Swedish chocolate, which I’m saving for a special occasion). It’s a translation of the classic book on Swedish cakes and biscuits and very important in reviving a cultural tradition that I’m told was in danger of being lost. Homecooking, basically. Cuisine grandmère.

The inside cover of this small hardback has 24 pictures of biscuits and cakes and my immediate thought was how similar they are to many you see in Australia. Some of them are reasonably pan-European, but with local names and slight differences in method or ingredients. Others are peculiarly Swedish.

The book may be small, but the contents pages are delectable. I can feel my waistline expanding as I read the four pages that list the recipes. It’s a lot of good cooking, squished into a small package. The publisher has made excellent use of illustration and set up the pages nicely so that nothing (except the contents pages) feels crowded, this despite a very respectable number of recipes.

What are the categories? Sweet breads and rolls. Rusks. Cakes. Rolled Cakes. Cookies. Other bakes goods. Cakes and tortes. Baking without an oven.

Every page I open I want to get to and bake. This makes it very hard to find a recipe or two to let you get a real feel for the book. I was brought up baking for afternoon tea for a large family, and every picture brings back that urge, fourfold, even though I seldom eat sweet biscuits any more. Next time I get asked to ‘bring a plate’ (a very Australian custom) you can be certain that plate will be full of Swedish baked goods.

I’m going to open the book at random and give you the first recipe my eyes see. If you demand another couple in the comments, I will understand. In fact, I’ll hold off putting the book away for a few days, just in case. If I could give you the whole book, I would, but that would infringe copyright. Three recipes for review purposes are fair use, however. Here’s one of them.

Cardamom Lengths

Oven temp: 200 degrees C (convection 175 degrees C)

150g stick margarine or butter
500 ml milk
50 g fresh yeast or 2 tbs active dry yeast
½ tsp salt
100-150 g sugar
2 tsp ground cardamom
1 egg
1.5 kg *(approx) plain flour
Brushing and garnish
1 egg, lightly beaten
pearl sugar, if desired*

Melt the butter in a saucepan. Add the milk and heat to 37 degrees C (if using active dry yeast heat to 45 degrees C). Crumble the yeast in a large bowl and add a little of the milk mixture, stirring until dissolved. Add the remaining ingredients, but only a little over half the flour.

Knead the dough until shiny, porous and elastic. Knead in the remaining flour by hand, reserving a little for later. Knead until the dough no longer sticks to the side of the bowl.

Sprinkle with flour. Cover and let rise for 30-40 minutes.

*Does anyone know pearl sugar? I’ve not seen it. Stephanie, maybe you can help?