Happy first of Advent!

Today is the first Sunday of advent, which means christmas is coming. We've put all our lights up and have spent the afternoon baking saffron buns with grandma and grandpa. Yummy and fun. Have you tried Swedish saffron buns yet? I have tons of recipes for it - check out some of these.

Saffron buns with white chocolate

Almond filled saffron buns

Lucia buns - plain saffron buns

Today, we made half plain buns - lussekatter - and half filled with butter and almond paste.

A great burger place in Stockholm - Franky's Burger

I can really recommend a tiny little burger place in Stockholm - Franky's Burger. It doesn't look like much but it's really high quality. If you happen to be nearby, do make sure you drop by. The address is Sveav�gen 77.



Super juicy burger, crispy and delicious fries and a smoky, spicy chipotle dip. Highly recommended


Here's what it looks like - just a small shack.

Roasted butternut squash soup

So, Halloween came and went. We had  a really fun party for the kids and their friends - 14 kids in total. They really enjoyed "mummy sausages dipped in blood", "grape caterpillars", "icy gummyworms" (one little girl sat petrified for several minutes, believing those were real) and "graveyard muffins". Lots of fun!

However, we didn't carve a pumpkin. I couldn't find a good one in time, and then I sort of just ran out of time. We had some other decorations, but Titus was disappointed since he had looked forward to a pumpkin soup. (Not that you actually want to make soup from your carved pumpkin, but he doesn't know that...) So, last night I made this lovely soup instead. Very yummy! Well, I thought so at least - neither the kids nor the husband were fans. Oh well...

Roasted Butternut Squash soup

1 small butternut squash - peeled and cut into large dice
1 onion, finely diced
1 carrot, finely diced
olive oil
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
about 1 litre chicken stock
100 ml cream
salt

Start by tossing the squash with a little olive oil and salt, and roast in a 200�C oven for 20-25 minutes. It should be lightly browned.

In a soup pot, heat some olive oil and saut� carrot and onion with coriander and cinnamon until soft - about ten minutes. Add the squash dice, and the chicken stock. Cook for at least ten minutes on low heat, make sure everything is nice and soft.

Use a blender, or an immersion blender, to make the soup completely smooth. Stir in a little cream if desired (always desired in my family), and season with salt and pepper to taste.

We served this with crispy fried bacon and sour cream and a nice sourdough baguette.

Slowcooked Chicken Parmesan Soup

I recently got a new crock-pot! It was sent by the Swedish crock-pot agent for me to evaluate, and since I love my old one as well, I was really eager to try it. The new one is much more advanced than my old and has saut� settings as well as settings for baking, roasting and cooking rice so I have quite a bit of experimenting to do.

However, for my first time cooking with the new pot, I wanted a simple recipe. I'd be out for most of the day and needed a quick dinner when I got home, so decided to do a chicken parmesan soup. It was really tasty - a hit for at least one of the kids and we adults enjoyed it a lot. I specify my cooking times below but it's adaptable, you could easily do shorter or longer. And I cooked the pasta separately because once we were home, we were in a hurry. If I'd had more time, I'd have added it to the pot maybe half an hour or so before eating. 

Slowcooked Chicken Parmesan Soup

2 chicken breasts

2 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 yellow onion, finely chopped

1 green pepper, chopped

400 g crushed tomatoes

800 ml water

2 chicken stock cubes 

4 stalks fresh oregano

1 tsp chili pepper flakes

2 large handfuls grated parmesan cheese

and to finish: 

1 handful grated parmesan cheese

2 tbsp finely chopped fresh basil

200 g cooked pasta, small shapes

100 ml cr�me fraiche

Place chicken, garlic, onion, pepper, tomatoes, water, stock cubes, oregano, chili and cheese in the slowcooker. Cook for about 4 hours on high, or 6-8 hours on low. We did an additional hour on low or so, but that was just for our convenience, it was done before that. 

Just before serving, shred the chicken, stir in the additional cheese, fresh basil, cooked pasta and completely optional, creme fraiche. Serve and enjoy!

Chocolate Snickers Cookies

I made these awesome cookies for a party. Super simple to make and so delicious. I love the combination of sweet and salty, chewy and crunchy and of course, chocolate. Never too much chocolate! In fact, I think I'll drizzle these with dark chocolate next time...

I'm also thinking you can vary these with other candy bars - as long as you cut the into thin strips that will fit along the middle of the dough, you're golden.

I found the recipe at a Swedish baking blog - Fridas bakblogg. 

Chocolate Snickers Cookies
about 30

150 g butter
150 g sugar
225 g flour
3 tbsp golden syrup
3 tbsp cocoa powder
1,5 tsp baking powder
1,5 tsp vanilla sugar (or 1 tsp vanilla extract)

3 Snickers bars, each cut into three thin slices, length-wise
1 egg
handful of salty peanuts, coarsely chopped

Cream the butter and sugar. Add flour, syrup, cocoa powder, baking powder and vanilla. Mix into a nicely uniform dough - I use my Kitchen-Aid for this.

Shape two long, thin rolls of dough and place on a baking sheet. Score both down the middle. In this score, insert the thin planks of Snickers, and pinch slightly so that the rolls hold together.

Brush with eggwash and sprinkle with lots of salty peanuts.

Bake at 175�C for 10-12 minutes. Let the cookies cool slightly before cutting them at an angle, then let them cool completely before you attempt to move them. (Or eat them.)

Frozen Cheesecake with Dulce de Leche drizzle

This recipe is a real oldie. I've had it for ages and my mom often made it when I grew up - I think she got it from a neighbor when Philadelphia cream cheese was first introduced to Sweden. I've actually blogged about it before, but considering that was NINE years ago I think it's fine to do a re-post. I recently made it again, and inspired by a very similar-tasting paleta I had in Copenhagen last summer at Hija de Sanchez I decided to top the whole thing with a drizzled Dulce de Leche and some raspberries. Delicious.

Frozen Cheesecake with Dulce de Leche drizzle 
serves 12

200 gram cream cheese
3 eggs, separated into yolks and whites
200 ml sugar
300 ml heavy cream
1 tbsp vanilla sugar
finely grated peel of one big lemon

150 g digestive biscuits
50 g butter, melted

Use a springform pan. Blitz the digestive biscuits in a food processor. Add in the melted butter. Press this firmly into the base of your pan. Place in the fridge while you proceed.

Cream the cheese, egg yolks and the sugar with the lemon peel. Beat the cream until it forms stiff peaks. Carefully blend with the cheese cream. Beat the egg whites until stiff, and fold those in too. Pour carefully on top of the crust in the pan. Put in the freezer for at least six hours or overnight. On the day of serving, take it out and remove it from the tin - you might need to carefully run some hot water on the outside. Place on a serving plate and drizzle with dulce de leche.

Take out about twenty minutes before you want to eat and top with the berries. This keeps well in the freezer (but better without the fruit).

Cheesecake brownies with red currants

An update on my previous recipe for cheesecake brownies! These are less sweet because of the berries and a great afternoon treat with coffee.

Cheesecake brownies with red currants
makes a large pan - about 40 small pieces

Brownie base:
180 g butter
300 g sugar
140 g dark chocolate
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
pinch of salt
150 g flour

Cheesecake topping:
400 g cream cheese
2 egg yolks
120 g sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract

Red currants - mine were frozen but fresh are fine. Use as much as you want - I had two large handfuls.

Start with the brownie part - melt together butter and chocolate. I always do this in the microwave, but feel free to use a double boiler if you want to. Stir in the sugar, eggs, vanilla, salt and finally the flour. Pour into a well-lined pan.

Sprinkle over the berries.

Stir together all the ingredients for the cheesecake topping, and dollop on top of the brownie. Use a stick, or a knife, to swirl the together for a marble effect. (If you can be bothered. Honestly it's ok to skip it.)

Bake at 175�C for 30-35 minutes. It should just feel set, and a tester should come out fairly clean.

Cool completely before slicing.