Scandinavian/North European baking books?

[Habbibu]

I'm starting to feel all festive and have the urge to bake, in a fake Scandinavian/Germanic Christmas stylee. Anyone recommend any baking books/favourite recipes for me to try?

I dont recommend scandinavian, at least not norwegian baking. It is totally tasteless and bland.

Nothing beats English Christmas foods, mince pies, fruit cakes, etc. Full of flavour.

Noooo! QS, I'm imagining lovely cardamomy buns, spicy biscuits, blah blah - don't burst my Scandy bubble! Am I just thinking German? What about Denmark?

I got this book out from the library and it had some nice stuff in, the sort of stuff you are talking about certainly.

I copied down some biscuit recipes from it somewhere.......

I can see QS's point. The Scandi stuff I've done has more subtlety to it, sure, German Christmas stuff I've tried is a bit heavy on the cinnamon and our stuff is full of fat and flavour.

Marking my place.

Can come back on later and post some Danish recipes if you like?

Here are some classics:

Brunekager

250g butter
200g sugar
200g Sirup (dark)
2 teaspoons potash
1 desertspoon water
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon ground ginger
500g flour (plain)

Melt the butter, sugar and sirup in a saucepan.

Dissolve the potash in the water and add to the saucepan. Let cool till lukewarm.

Stir in the rest of the ingredients and knead the dough well.

Roll into a couple of 'sausages' (around 5cm diameter), wrap in clingfilm and put in the fridge for a couple of hours, or overnight.

Slice into thin slices.

Bake for 6 mins (keep an eye on it though!) at 175 degrees.

ps, when slicing, don't let it get too warm (if the room is hot for example) as then it gets quite greasy and squashy and tricky to slice.

Also, some people add chopped almonds and sometimes crystalised fruit to the dough, or you can put an almond slice onto the top of each biscuit before baking.

Essentially they are supposed to look like <a class="break-all" href="http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=1.bp.blogspot.com/_4gkXnDi4JOo/TPQDftQ4w2I/AAAAAAAABRQ/sKOuwsLWfyY/s1600/028.gif&imgrefurl=strikmadogandetgodt.blogspot.com/&usg=__g2h-F05X2tKeYHwJPRxU_saI2ZE=&h=333&w=500&sz=123&hl=en&start=87&sig2=ij5ePRbMibX6pYz8q6dCEA&zoom=1&tbnid=nD9AgB5EynIJiM:&tbnh=147&tbnw=196&ei=6K4ATcjjFsKfOsevnKcC&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dbrunekager%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dsafari%26sa%3DN%26rls%3Den%26biw%3D1211%26bih%3D628%26tbs%3Disch:10%2C2584&um=1&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=285&vpy=274&dur=934&hovh=149&hovw=224&tx=123&ty=85&oei=wq4ATczWEMWs8QPFlLWcCA&esq=6&page=6&ndsp=18&ved=1t:429,r:7,s:87&biw=1211&bih=628" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">this

Mmmm they look nice Stockings - is potash salt or some sort of baking powder?

My recipes copied from that book I mentioned include:

• marzipan nougat delights
• swirl butter cookies
• apple trifle
• swedish almond cakes
• almond butter shortbread

You can probably see a theme. I love almond. I am now massively tempted to make the swirl butter cookies.

Pebernødder

½ teaspoon white pepper
½ teaspoon ground cloves
½ teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon ginger
250g flour
A pinch of ammonium bicarbonate (I think bicarb of soda would be fine as a substitute?)
100g butter
1 egg
100g dark muscavado sugar
50g demarara sugar
2 tablespoons cream (double)

Mix the flour with the spices and the bicarb.

Rub in the butter (so it looks a bit like a crumble topping).

Beat the egg and sugar together til a bit frothy and stir in the cream.

Knead this and the flour/butter crumble together into a dough.

Stick it in the fridge for at least an hour.

Then roll the dough into thinner 'sausages' (around 1cm) than for the brunekager and slice and onto a baking sheet with greaseproof paper (should look something like <a class="break-all" href="http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=farm3.static.flickr.com/2629/4200962793_fa68d7f737.jpg&imgrefurl=raaberg.blogspot.com/2009/12/hjemmelavede-smakager-og-peberndder-til.html&usg=__OW4zxcQPyfTroPImwncBwK5LXcc=&h=333&w=500&sz=119&hl=en&start=48&sig2=Yuh-nWqpC6xZhHneeK1TxQ&zoom=1&tbnid=4Fj5euZ_YVyfAM:&tbnh=161&tbnw=212&ei=wLMATdCMGMKfOsevnKcC&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dpebern%25C3%25B8dder%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dsafari%26sa%3DN%26rls%3Den%26biw%3D1211%26bih%3D628%26tbs%3Disch:10%2C1594&um=1&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=634&vpy=223&dur=3084&hovh=183&hovw=275&tx=121&ty=114&oei=u7MATbXfK4mu8gO_v92aCA&esq=4&page=4&ndsp=16&ved=1t:429,r:8,s:48&biw=1211&bih=628" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">this )

Bake at 225 degrees for 7 to 10 minutes.

They are supposed to look like <a class="break-all" href="http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=www.weblogs.arla.dk/appl/HJ/HJ401/HJ401D03.nsf/WeblogpicturesName/44C185E2B245AC55C125767900340D12/%24FILE/pebernødder&imgrefurl=www.shop.arla.dk/C1256FA800483D00/O/pebernoedder-skal-vaere.html&usg=__BYCoSrNUB8YfqZ6cMUWbozDD_sw=&h=296&w=470&sz=29&hl=en&start=0&sig2=_e0fqphcIZGclXwqIMalWQ&zoom=1&tbnid=NSdgpdvBG0iUCM:&tbnh=123&tbnw=196&ei=ILQATbHRIc6cOoitmNgE&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dpebern%25C3%25B8dder%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dsafari%26sa%3DN%26rls%3Den%26biw%3D1211%26bih%3D628%26tbs%3Disch:1&um=1&itbs=1&iact=rc&dur=472&oei=u7MATbXfK4mu8gO_v92aCA&esq=7&page=1&ndsp=15&ved=1t:429,r:0,s:0&tx=135&ty=89" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">this

Taffeta - think it is like a sort of bicarbonate of soda? It makes the biscuits crispy anyway!

If you like almond, then I'll have to post the recipe for kransekage which you eat at New Year

(also have a very nice recipe for lemon butter cookies if you fancy, although that's not specifically Christmas - mmm, love buttery biscuits!)

The best gingerbread recipr I've found is Donna Hay's from "classics"... will post it this evening Habbs.

Kransekage

100g almonds (chopped, or ground, or somewhere between the two depending on how you like it)
100g sugar
1 1/2 pasteurised eggwhites
500g marzipan

Icing:
200g icing sugar
1/2 pasteurised eggwhite

Mix the almonds with the sugar and knead together with the eggwhites and marzipan.

Stick it in the fridge for a few hours.

Roll into a sausage around 5 cm thick (yes I know, there is a big theme in Danish baking involving sticking things in the fridge and rolling dough into sausage shapes ) and make it into circles of varying sizes.

Bake at 190 degrees for 10 - 12 mins. Cool.

Put the rings on top of one another and mix the icing together to decorate.

Supposed to look something like <a class="break-all" href="http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=www.kirstensdanishbakery.com/assets/images/gallery/cakes_wedding/wedding-danish-1.jpg&imgrefurl=boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php%3Ft%3D535751&usg=__-rirguzR9SZBFL-RsQWdiRhvTdI=&h=884&w=700&sz=151&hl=en&start=91&sig2=6L1nTrjuY_m15DlDY9ebFA&zoom=1&tbnid=uGMKrgLaLMSd0M:&tbnh=143&tbnw=113&ei=WLgATd-LGYmZOt7i4KYB&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dkransekage%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dsafari%26sa%3DN%26rls%3Den%26biw%3D1211%26bih%3D628%26tbs%3Disch:10%2C2659&um=1&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=125&vpy=271&dur=1537&hovh=252&hovw=200&tx=111&ty=177&oei=FLgATZmfCoex8QOdx-2aCA&esq=6&page=6&ndsp=17&ved=1t:429,r:11,s:91&biw=1211&bih=628" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">this when finished. (Flags optional - Danes love their flags) You eat this at New Year, at midnight, when drinking your champagne.

stockings - rofl @ ammonium bicarb and potash - potash making biscuits crispy, it all sounds a bit mad inventor with bubbling test tubes

Would love recipe for kransekage if you get a minute.

Well that will teach me to gas on phone and not concentrate on posts here

Thanks

no flour in kransekage?

I know :o - you just buy the stuff in sachets here and no-one thinks twice about it. My parents live in the UK and I just bring a whole load of sachets over with me so have never thought about UK substitutes until now.

I wouldn't worry about it too much, just add bicarb and hope for the best? Leave it out altogether? Try both and see which one is nicer? (Mmm, experimental baking - now there's an excuse for stuffing biscuits, not that I need an excuse or anything!)

Dan Lepard is doing a cherry stollen in the Grauniad on Saturday:
see here.

And IIRC, doesn't Nigella do some nice cinnamony Scandiwegian Santa Lucia buns and the like in Domestic Goddess?

Nope just pure sugar, almonds and marzipan baked. Some people even dip the bottoms of the rings in chocolate for extra sugar.

Doesn't even pretend to be faintly healthy :o

Mmm... Lucia bread. I've never tried to do those myself.

But you have to eat them with candles in your hair

that should have been a wink not a grin. Not that it really matters...

midnight - that looks interesting. I have seen lots of baking recipes recently using Quark. I made Nigella's cinnamon buns. They were stodgy and a bit meh.

stockings - oh the kransekage sound divine, all that marzipan. And without the need for the chemist's ingreds.

Yeah - surely they could have worked some chemicals into that recipe or called the sugar 'edible crystalline carbohydrates' or something?!...

He says the quark gives the crumb a nice soft texture. And who am I to argue with him.

Was it the Santa Lucia buns you made? Hang on, I should go and get the book.

OK, not there, just the cinnamon buns. Must be imagining it.

Good Lord! Thank you all. Was hoping QS's response was due to (understandable due to circs) current jadedness with Norway. But maybe Denmark (thanks, Stockings!) and Germany the way to go. Maybe I should crash the German thread too? And then of course there's pannettone...

I can give you a few Norwegian recipes, but they are very subtle, dry and bland. I am getting my friends to post me mince pies. I am also making my own fruitcake here, ready to cover in marzipan and icing.

Here is a picture of <a class="break-all" href="http://www.google.no/imgres?imgurl=www.pastrychef.com/assets/images/large/kransekake_forms_large.jpg&imgrefurl=www.pastrychef.com/KRANSEKAKE-FORMS_p_1232.html&h=319&w=350&sz=35&tbnid=JBUyovV0ZxiF2M:&tbnh=109&tbnw=120&prev=/images%3Fq%3DKransekake&zoom=1&q=Kransekake&hl=no&usg=_YmO3hRkbmUe5-y2DjNmh1jDm4s=&sa=X&ei=S-QATYnvFZaQ4gbhqvjzAg&ved=0CEYQ9QEwBw" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> Kransekake. It is the ONLY Norwegian Christmas cake I can truly recommend. It is also gluten free. You dont have to make the rings though, you can make snakes, and dip each end in melted chocolate, and then in dessicated coconut. Yummy. Like this or <a class="break-all" href="http://www.google.no/imgres?imgurl=www.stabburet.no/eway/imgstore/6e4be04aa1.gif&imgrefurl=www.stabburet.no/eway/default.aspx%3Fpid%3D226%26trg%3DMain_4901%26Main_4751%3D4789:0:10,2008:1:0:0:::0:0%26Maincontent_4789%3D4901:0:10,2009:1:0:0:::0:0%264092%3D4867:7%26Main_4901%3D4902:46192::1:4867:25:::0:0&usg=__t73e5U1-4JwOozgxxWbzsFC9yuk=&h=275&w=607&sz=99&hl=no&start=0&zoom=1&tbnid=wwrLVNxF9o4jlM:&tbnh=94&tbnw=207&prev=/images%3Fq%3DKransekakestenger%26um%3D1%26hl%3Dno%26sa%3DN%26biw%3D1599%26bih%3D815%26tbs%3Disch:10,347&um=1&itbs=1&iact=rc&dur=399&ei=8-QATd_GIIKp8QPlv5WbCA&oei=8-QATd_GIIKp8QPlv5WbCA&esq=1&page=1&ndsp=28&ved=1t:429,r:27,s:0&tx=119&ty=67&biw=1599&bih=815" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">like this

Otherwise, this is a selectio of <a class="break-all" href="http://www.google.no/imgres?imgurl=minvri.files.wordpress.com/2008/11/julekaker.jpg&imgrefurl=minvri.wordpress.com/2008/11/27/julekaker/&usg=__YgI0vAqYWKpXWGjBFUg-1zBncDY=&h=609&w=900&sz=641&hl=no&start=0&zoom=1&tbnid=CBLDYSXIdWaa3M:&tbnh=144&tbnw=213&prev=/images%3Fq%3DKransekakestenger%26um%3D1%26hl%3Dno%26sa%3DN%26biw%3D1599%26bih%3D815%26tbs%3Disch:10,346&um=1&itbs=1&iact=rc&dur=407&ei=8-QATd_GIIKp8QPlv5WbCA&oei=8-QATd_GIIKp8QPlv5WbCA&esq=1&page=1&ndsp=28&ved=1t:429,r:21,s:0&tx=89&ty=28&biw=1599&bih=815" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Norwegian Christmas biscuits.

See, now, they look gorgeous to me. I've never been a fan of the traditional British Christmas cake - too rich, and overkill on the sugar front. I do make a good mince pie, though. The Kransekake looks amazing!