These recipes have been translated, augmented and published without permission. The root text is taken from the 48th edition of "Hemmets kokbok" edited by Lena Haaglin. Copyright 1980 by Lundellska fond- stiftelsen, Uppsala. The conversions to American measurements were made by Heather Madrone (madrone@cruzio.com) as part of her homeschooling project. --Ceci (ceci@lysator.liu.se) 950127 ******************************************************************** Nyponsoppa -- Rosehip soup ========================== Children and grown-ups alike enjoy rosehip soup as a dessert or a snack. Its vitamin C content makes it excellent for treating a sore throat. The soup is served hot or cold. Hot soup is often served with vanilla ice cream and/or macaroons. Cold soup can be somewhat diluted to make a nice thirst-quencher. 6-8 servings. 1 litre (1 liquid quart) fresh rosehips _or_ 8 Deci litre (3,5 cups) dried ones. 2 litre (2 liquid quarts) water For 1 litre (1 liquid quart) of rosehip pulp: 15-30 milli litre (1-2 tablespoons) sugar 10-15 milli litre (1 tablespoon) potato flour 50 grammes (1/4 cup) almonds Rinse the rosehips. Crush dried hips. Boil in water till soft. Press through a colander. Measure the pulp and dilute with water if necessary. Bring the pulp to a boil and add sugar. Add more sugar if it is too tart. Mix potato flour with some cold water. Thicken the soup while you stir and bring to a boil. Add blanched and shredded almond. Pepparkakor -- Gingersnaps ========================== These are the gingersnaps that are ubiquitous in Sweden around Yule. It takes a lot of time to bake out all the dough. NB: This is a two-day recipe! ^2^ 150 pieces Oven temperature: 200C (375-400F) for 5-10 minutes. Watch them closely, they get burnt very easily! 300 millilitre (1 1/4 cup) sugar 100 millilitre (1/2 cup) water 50 millilitre (scant 1/4 cup) treacle (molasses) 7 millilitre (1 1/2 teaspoon) ground cinnamon 7 millilitre (1 1/2 teaspoon) ground ginger 7 millilitre (1 1/2 teaspoon) ground cloves 200 grammes (3/4 cup or 1 1/2 sticks) butter or margarine (Optional: 30 millilitre (2 tablespoons) brandy) 1000 millilitre (4 1/2 cups) wheatflour (not selfraising) 10 millilitre (2 teaspoons) bicarbonate (=baking soda) Bring sugar, water, treacle (molasses) and spices to a boil. Let cool. Add fat little by little (and brandy, if used). Stir vigorously. Add flour mixed with bicarbonate. Work the dough quickly and let it rest in the refridgerator till the next day. Roll out the dough to a thickness of 1-2 millimeter. If it's too dry you can add up to 1/4 cup more water. If you let the dough get too warm, it will stick to the roll. This is best done on the non-stick paper. Punch out the desired forms with cooky cutters* and carefully remove the remaining dough. Bake. Repeat until no dough remains. Dough can be stored for at least a week in an airtight container in the refridgerator. No adverse effects are reported from eating moderate amounts of dough. :) *Traditional shapes of cooky cutters are: woman, man, heart, pig. Other common shapes include: goat, star, spruce, circle. Let the gingersnaps dry and cool for an hour or so before storing them in airtight containers. They are usually served as they are but the can be decorated with white icing. Common decorations include adding more "realistic" detail to shapes such as pigs. A new idea would be to make five-pointed stars and inscribe a pentagram or a circle with an equal-armed cross. Wishing on pepparkakor ====================== Place a heartshaped pepparkaka in the palm of your hand. Firmly knock on it once with the knuckle of your other hand. If it breaks into exactly three pieces, you can wish on the pepparkaka. It's important that you make your wish silently and not tell anyone about it, or it won't work. Saffransbroed -- Saffron bread ============================== This cake is traditionally served for Lucia, December 13. The ways it is formed are numerous. The most commonly seen are the "lussekatt" and the wreath form. See the file saffransbroed_forms for details. Saffransbroed gets dry very easily. For this reason I always freeze them as soon as they are cold. I bring out only the number I will use on the same day. They are delicious when defrosted in the microwave oven. To get an even stronger saffron flavour and colour you can crush the saffron and then mix it with the fat. Let it stand for a couple of hours. This way the fat brings out more of the saffron flavour. In my experience crushing the saffron with some sugar actually lessens the saffron flavour. Use only saffron of the highest quality you can afford. The woeful tales about people who are miserly at Yule time are numerous. ;) Makes 2-3 wreaths or 36-42 buns Oven temperature: 200-225C (375F) for 15-20 minutes for wreaths 225-250C (400-425F) for 5-10 minutes for buns 100-150 grammes (2-3 tablespoons) butter or margarine 500 (2 1/4 cups) millilitre milk 50 (2 teaspoons) grammes yeast 1 gram saffron 2 milli litre (1/2 teaspoon) salt 100-150 millilitre (1/2 cup) sugar 1-2 eggs (For wreaths: 1-1.5 Deci litre (1/2 cup) seedless raisins) 1500-1700 millilitres (5.5 - 6 cups) wheat flour (not self-raising) egg and raisins for garnishing Melt the fat. Add milk and warm to fingerwarmth (37C). Mix out yeast in some of the milk. Crush the saffron in a mortar and pestle, or dissolve it in the milk. Mix milk, yeast, saffron, salt, sugar and whisked egg (and raisins if used) with most of the flour. Work the dough until it lets go of the bowl, adding more flour if necessary. Spread some flour over the dough and cover it with a clean towel. Let it rise to double its size. Work the dough lightly on a floured surface. It should be a light, pliable and rather loose dough. Form wreaths or buns. (See separate instructions.) Put them on a non-stick oven paper on an oven tray and let rise for 30-40 minutes. Brush with whisked egg and garnish with raisins. Bake. Saffransbroed -- Saffronbread ============================= Forms ^^^^^ The most common form of saffransbroed is the "lussekatt". Make two rolls 4 inch long and 1/2 inch in diameter, turning the ends in towards the middle, and joining them back to back. Garnish with one raisin in each of the 4 holes. Brush with whisked egg before putting them in the oven. Another common is the "kuse". Take a 4" roll and turn the ends in towards the middle on either side so that the "kuse" forms an s. Garnish with raisins in the 2 holes. Brush with whisked egg before putting them in the oven. A common large form is the wreath. There are several ways to make one. This is a plaited wreath: Divide the dough into 3 equal parts and roll them out into 24" long rolls. Start plaiting from the middle. Alternately put the right and left roll _over_ the middle roll. Finish the other half alternately putting the right and left roll _under_ the middle roll. Tuck in the ends and let rise. Brush with whisked egg before putting them in the oven. Rough sketch of a "lussekatt". Place the raisins in the place of the *. _ _ (*II*) (*II*) ~ ~ Rough sketch of a "kuse". Place the raisins in the place of the *. _ (*I I*) ~