For the Love of Food: Pulla – Finnish Cardamom-Spiced Sweet Buns

I feel like we have lost our connection with food. Our relationship with it is often confused and twisted. We tend to malign certain foods, like carbs, sugar, fat, dairy, and meat, while, at the same time, praise others. It's like we want to set strict rules so we can control at least one aspect of our lives. It's harsh, nasty, and, at the very least, exhausting.

I often find myself in places of confusion as I follow the talk about food around me. You know, I've never been a girl of extremes. I like moderation in almost any aspects of life. Food has never been a way for me to control life. Neither has it been an enemy I need to make strategic plans against. Food has been and still is my passion. I was fortunated enough to grew up in a family of food lovers where quality of food was always a priority. It was always about gusto. Never ever was it a thing to be fanatic about.

I want food to be exciting. I want it to inspire. I want food to bring joy, to give you butterflies in your stomach and make you smile. I want it to be a place of peace and comfort. I want food to leave a trail in your brain because memories built around food are special. I want food to take us to places yet unknown to us, to open the doors to different cultures. I want it to bring people together, to connect. I want it to challenge, not to stress. I want food to be the happy unicorn zebra you want to hug and hold dear. I want it to nourish both body and soul.

That's what I want food to be for me, for you. That's what I want this blog to convey.

For the love of food.

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Pulla | Finnish Cardamom-Spiced Sweet Buns

makes about 16 pulla

I could make these in my sleep. That's how well I know this lovely, traditional Nordic treat. Pulla, or bulle in Swedish, are probably the most loved baked good both in Finland and in Sweden. After 7 months (!!) of blogging, it's unbelievable that I haven't posted a single pulla recipe yet. Pulla are slightly sweet and spiced with cardamom, which is, with cinnamon, one of the most used spices in Scandinavian baking. Yes, Scandinavian cuisine is full of surprises as you would rather expect to come across these kind of spices in Indian rather than Scandinavian food. You can find pulla at every bakery, café, and shop around here. If there's a celebration, a variation of this Scandinavian sweet bread is most probably found on the coffee table. But by no means is this treat solely reserved for special occasions. The Swedes call it fika – you sit down together, drink coffee, chat, and usually eat something sweet. You know, here in the North coffee isn't just coffee. It's a way of life. [The average Finn drinks 12 kilos of coffee per year which makes Finland the country with the heaviest coffee consumption in the world.] But no worries: if you aren't that into coffee you can serve them with tea or a glass of cold milk. They will taste equally delicious.

This is the most basic pulla recipe but there are endless variations to discover – cinnamon rolls, braided loaves, "Boston cake" (which has, at least to my knowledge, nothing to do with Boston itself)... I'm eager to share them with you in the future!

A few notes:  For the best result, make sure that all your ingredients are at room temperature. You can leave the egg out and, furthermore, substitute the milk with water if you follow a special diet. However, as you can imagine, the most delicious and flavorful result is made with eggs and milk.
 

5 dl (2 cups + 2 tbsp) lukewarm milk (preferably whole milk)
50 g (1.8 oz) fresh yeast (or alternatively 16 g / 0.6 oz instant active dry yeast)
180 g (6.5 oz; 2 dl; ¾ cup + 2 tbsp) granulated sugar
1 ½ tsp fine sea salt
1 tbsp + 1 tsp ground cardamom (preferably freshly ground)
1 egg (M)
910 – 1050 g (32 – 37 oz; 13 – 15 dl; 5 ½ – 6 ⅓ cups) bread flour
170 g (6 oz) unsalted butter, at room temperature

for the egg wash:
1 egg
1 tbsp water

pearl sugar, to sprinkle
 

To make the dough
In a large mixing bowl (you can make the dough by hand, like me, or in a stand mixer), combine the lukewarm milk and crumbled yeast. [If using instant active dry yeast, skip this step. Combine the yeast with some flour and add to the warm, 42°C / 108°F, milk mixture before adding the rest of the flour.] Stir with a spoon until the yeast is completely dissolved. Add sugar, salt, cardamom, and egg and mix until combined. Gradually add about two thirds of the flour and knead. Add butter and knead until well combined. Continue to knead the dough, and gradually add just enough flour so the dough comes clean off the sides of the bowl and doesn't stick to your hand.

Don't overwork the dough or you'll end up with hard buns, not soft as we want them to be. Shape into a ball and cover with a clean kitchen towel. Let the dough rise in a warm, draft-free place for about 1 hour, or until it's double in size.

To shape and bake the buns
Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

Shape the dough into about 16 equally sized buns and place them on the two baking sheets, spacing them about half the diameter of a bun apart. Cover with a clean kitchen towel and let rise for further 30 minutes, or until they're double in size.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 225°C (435°F).

For the egg wash, whisk together the egg and water until combined. Before baking, brush each bun with the egg wash and generously sprinkle them with pearl sugar. Bake the buns on the middle rack for 10 – 15 minutes, or until golden brown. Repeat with the other sheet of buns.

Pulla are best eaten still slightly warm, on the same day. However, you can freeze them once baked and warm them up again when ready to serve.

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Real-life notes from a food blogger #1: Taking action photos solo is challenging, to say the least. But I love them too much to be able to stop taking them! Hope you like them too :)

Real-life notes from a food blogger #2: That spring light! Pure magic.

Sesame² & Poppy Seed Crispbread

“There are such a lot of things that have no place in summer and autumn and spring. Everything that’s a little shy and a little rum. Some kinds of night animals and people that don’t fit in with others and that nobody really believes in. They keep out of the way all the year. And then when everything’s quiet and white and the nights are long and most people are asleep
— then they appear.”

– Tove Jansson, Moominland Midwinter

Crispbread, the Scandinavian take on crackers, has been baked for centuries and can therefore be considered as a staple of Nordic cuisine. The most traditional version is shaped into a large round with a hole in the middle – this way the bread could be stored on long sticks under the roof. To sleep in an old log house under a crispbread sky...I definitely like the idea. And maybe, just maybe, one crispbread would have been offered to the shy creatures of winter.

You won't find many Scandinavian families who don't have a pack of crispbread at home at all times. It is one of the secrets of how we people of the North survive the long, dark winters. Forget its reputation as low-caloric diet food. It's so much more than that (and to be honest, I doubt any Scandinavian enjoys it because of it being "health food"). Crispbread is enjoyed as a midday snack simply buttered or with cheese and thin slices of cucumber. It's also great alongside a bowl of soup, like a hearty pea soup, or a green salad.

Nowadays, few people make homemade crispbread anymore. Maybe it's because you can find a ton of different varieties at your local grocery store. However, homemade crispbread is not only tastier but also easy and relatively quick to make. So why not make your own crispbread at home?

This slightly luxurious seed crispbread pairs especially well with cheese and a glass of full-bodied red wine...the kind of winter night I like the most.

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Sesame² & Poppy Seed Crispbread

dough slightly adapted from Elle Mat och Vin 1/2014, p. 90

3 dl (1 ¼ cups) lukewarm milk
25 g (1 oz) fresh yeast [OR 8 g / 0.3 oz instant active dry yeast]
1 tsp fine sea salt
165 g (6 oz; 3 dl; 1 ¼ cups) all-purpose flour
245 g (8.6 oz; 3 ½ dl; 1 ½ cups) coarse wholegrain rye flour

1 egg white
1 tbsp cold water
white & black sesame seeds + poppy seeds

In a medium-sized bowl, combine the lukewarm milk and crumbled yeast. Stir with a spoon until the yeast is completely dissolved. [note: if you use instant active dry yeast, mix it with the dry ingredients and heat the milk to about 45°C / 115°F} Gradually add the dry ingredients until the dough comes together enough for you to start kneading it. Knead until it comes clean off the sides of the bowl. Add more all-purpose flour if it sticks to your hands. Shape into a ball and cover with a kitchen towel. Let the dough rise in a warm place for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 250°C (475°F). Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.

Take about a third of the dough and roll it into a very thin rectangle. The thinner you roll it, the crispier it becomes. With a knife, cut the rolled out dough into about 21x2,5cm (8x1") strips. You can also cut it into different shapes, like triangles (mine were about 6,5 cm / 2.5") or rounds. Transfer to a baking sheet.

Prick each piece all over with a fork. This will keep the crispbread from puffing up in the oven. In a glass, whisk together the egg white and water. Brush each piece of crispbread with the mixture and sprinkle generously with the seeds.

Bake for about 6 minutes. The crispbread will be crisp and start to brown at the edges. Let cool on a wire rack. Continue to prepare the rest of the dough but remember to keep an eye on those in the oven.

Once cool, store in an airtight container. They will keep for a couple of weeks, even for several months.

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Hope you all have a great start to the first week of February which, by the way, is my favorite winter month!

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Coldness – Arugula salad with pears, feta & pecans

I can hear the snow crunching under my feet. I breathe out and white mist forms before my face. I smile and my heart jumps in the air. Finally, it's winter again. For a moment I feel like a child wanting to make snow angels in the shallow snow – lie on my back and vigorously move my arms up and down and my legs from side to side. Honestly, when was the last time I made one?

But then the cold arctic wind hits me. Hard and freezing cold. I'm talking about -20°C (-4°F) cold. So yes, really cold. Soon I can't feel my nose anymore. Cheeks? Nope. And my ears? Well, I should have put a woolen hat on... By the time I'm back home they might have fallen off. Maybe not really likely but the thought alone makes me panic a little so I rub them with my hands. Thank God I'm wearing mittens. Then I look down. My favorite ankle boots and bare legs. Well, they're not really bare. I wear thick(ish) tights. However, this isn't quite what one could call cold weather clothing. Women! What was I thinking?

Oh winter. I think we do have a stormy love-hate relationship.

But hey, let's talk about today's recipe...cause there's so much more than coldness and maybe it's 40°C in your corner of the world (hello Oz!). I'm not going to share a recipe for a warming soup or comforting stew. No, today we're having a simple, quick-to-make salad. And I don't post this recipe because I'm on a post-Christmas diet spree. I post it just because it's delicious.

This is a variation of a salad we often make at a get-together with friends (thanks to my friend M.). The "original" version calls for blue cheese and walnuts. I, however, used feta and pecans instead. If you want to have a more filling salad, you can pimp it up with red quinoa. I should also tell you that after I took these shots I remembered that I still had a pomegranate sitting on my countertop. The pom seeds were really lovely sprinkled on top! 

Arugula Salad with Pears, Feta & Pecans

serves 2

You'll end with more dressing than you need but it'll keep in the fridge for a couple of days.

2 large handfuls of arugula, washed & dried
2 pears, thinly sliced
100 g (3.5 oz) feta, crumbled
handful of pecans

for the dressing
3 tbsp full fat plain yogurt
½ tbsp whole grain mustard
½ tbsp white balsamic vinegar
a drizzle of honey
salt & freshly ground pepper, to season

For the dressing, combine yogurt, mustard, vinegar, and honey. Season with salt and pepper. Set aside.

In a large bowl, toss together arugula, pears, and feta. At this point you can either mix in the dressing or, like I do, serve it separately. Sprinkle the salad with pecans to make it look even prettier.

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Last Day(s) of Summer - Salt Roasted New Potatoes with Dill

I'm a summer girl. No denying that. I love the blue skies and the warm summer breeze. I love how life is lived outside. I love having a barbecue night with family and friends. I love drinking my morning coffee from a paper mug at the farmers market {which I do way too seldom!}. But most of all I love the light. Oh that light! The one that can't be found anywhere else in the world. When the sun never really goes down, I think to myself "Life doesn't get better than this".

I wanted to celebrate the last day(s) of summer with the last new potatoes of the season. New potatoes are best bought at the farmers market where they most likely have seen the sunlight for the first time only a few hours before. How do you know if your new potatoes are fresh? The skin should come off easily when you rub it with your fingers. I firmly believe that the smaller the potato, the better the taste so I always dig for the tiny ones... Oh and select the dirty ones - the dirt protects them from harm. In this case dirty is beautiful.

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Salt Roasted New Potatoes with Dill
serves 2-3

500 g (1 lb) new potatoes {the smaller the better}
zest of 1 lemon
2 tsp fine sea salt
1 tbsp dill, chopped {I like to simply cut it with my kitchen scissors}
olive oil

Preheat oven to 225°C (435°F).

Wash (but don't peel) potatoes and put into a roasting pan. Toss potatoes with lemon zest, sea salt and dill as well as just enough olive oil to coat the potatoes evenly.

Roast on the middle rack for 30 minutes, or until potatoes are tender and golden brown. If the salt crust is too thick for your liking, just remove any excess salt.

Serve as a side dish for any grilled meat or fish. I enjoyed mine with a piece of warm smoked salmon and a green salad.

Note: You can of course use regular potatoes for this dish. Just try to get small ones or you will need to adjust the roasting time or even pre-boil your potatoes before roasting.

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A Moment of Late Summer Bliss & a Red Currant Tart

It’s all about berries these days. And somehow, although I’ve been berry picking multiple days a week for the past 3 weeks, I’m not bored. Not a bit. Summer is good to us and we should embrace it.

A couple of days ago I made a small trip to the countryside to the summer house of my dear great-aunt and her husband. A red wooden house surrounded by woods, water, and….berry bushes! Red, black, and white currants. Some blueberry bushes too.

Currant picking is quite a straightforward business. No scratches all over your arms or small worms nesting in your goodies like when raspberry picking. Nor are there stained fingers or that awful pain in your back which you get from picking bilberries. Oh and no mosquito air force waiting to drain the blood from you.

So I picked currants with a smile on my face. I went to the sauna and cooled down on the porch with a glass of homemade red currant juice in my hand. I listened to bird songs. Peaceful. A moment of late summer bliss.

Now I have my freezer and fridge full of currants (I came home with nearly 10 liters!). I’m still figuring out what I’m gonna make from all of them. I think there will be some jam making sessions and some will be saved for cold winter days. I’m also intrigued by the idea of making black currant juice. I’ll see.

I decided to start with this red currant tart. My great-aunt served quite a similar, simple but oh so delicious, tart and I couldn’t resist making one at home too. I especially love the tartness of it and the small vanilla seeds in the filling. So pretty!

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RED CURRANT TART

Crust
85 g sugar
200 g unsalted butter, cold and diced
1 egg (M)
pinch of fine sea salt
185 g all-purpose flour
115 g whole grain barley flour

Filling
85 g sugar
120 g quark
120 g sour cream
1 egg (M)
½ tsp natural vanilla paste or ½ vanilla pod (sliced lengthwise and seeds scraped out)
250 g red currants (or any other currants or berries)

In a medium-sized bowl quickly rub the butter into the sugar with your fingers (or a pastry cutting tool or alternatively pulse in a food processor) until well incorporated and crumbly. Add the egg and mix. Add salt and both flours and knead until everything has come together. Avoid over-working the dough - try to work as fast as possible. There should still be some small butter pieces left. The dough should feel quite crumbly but stick together. Form the dough into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least an hour.

Preheat oven to 175°C (350°F). Roll the dough out and press into a 26 cm (10”) tart mold. If the dough cracks, don’t worry, just pinch it back together. Cut off any excess. With a fork, poke several holes in the bottom of the tart dough. Bake on the middle rack for 10 minutes. {I didn’t use baking weights and my tart came out perfectly.}

In the meantime prepare the filling. Remove currants from stems, wash them and dry with a kitchen towel or household paper. Beat the sugar, curd, sour cream, egg, and natural vanilla paste (or vanilla seeds) in a small bowl until smooth.

Pour the mixture into the prebaked tart. Top with the red currants. Bake for 25-30 minutes until the edges start to brown and the filling has set. Let cool down a bit before serving.

Serve with vanilla ice cream or vanilla sauce, if desired – especially if you want to balance out the tartness. I have to say that in Finland we would always enjoy this alongside a cup of freshly brewed coffee. We are, after all, a coffee nation.

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