Notes about Recipes in this book

• Cinnamon and cardamom buns (Vetebullar)

  • stockholm28 on March 01, 2016

    VETEBULLAR - KANELBULLAR och KARDEMUMMABULLAR (Cinnamon and Cardamom Buns), page 26 - These buns are really delicious. I made the cinnamon variety which was very heavy on the cardamom and thus tasted a bit closer to a cardamom bun. Also, I used ceylon cinnamon rather than cassia cinnamon, so the cinnamon flavor was mild. The dough was quite easy to handle. The only pain was shelling all those cardamom pods to get the seeds out; it took me at least half an hour to get the 3.5 tsps of seeds that I needed. I shaped them into the fancy, twisted version shown on the second page of the recipe. Next time, I might just try the plain, rolled like a snail version. While the twisted ones looked beautiful, I had to cook them about 10 minutes to get the centers done and that made the bottom of the buns slightly more done than I wanted. I think the rolled version would cook more evenly. These are definitely best right out of the oven. I put the leftovers in the freezer.

• Cardamom cake (Kardemummakakka)

  • TrishaCP on April 17, 2016

    This is the first recipe that I wasn't wowed by from this book. Even though I love cardamom, I just didn't like the texture of the whole cardamom seeds- maybe I didn't crush them enough but I found them to be jarring. My husband liked it though-so this could just be a personal preference kind of thing. I would make this cake again, because the texture was lovely (particularly the outer edges that brown-delicious!), but I would grind the cardamom first. I also didn't like the lemon juice at all and would definitely omit it in the future. I found it provided a distinct lemony note that was unpleasant and just unnecessary. ETA: The lemon juice flavor fades over time, which made the cake taste MUCH better IMO.

• Märta's sliced chocolate cookies (Märtas skurna chokladkakor)

  • stef on May 05, 2017

    Nice crisp cookie dough was still sticky even after being in freezer. Had to flour marble to roll into log. Otherwise followed recipe

• Nutmeg slices (Muskotsnittar)

  • inflytur on April 01, 2018

    Shortbread texture. A spice cookie without the molasses taste of American versions. Next time I will take the lazy option of simply cutting slices off the cookie dough log instead of rolling the log flat and slicing the cookies after they are baked.

• Hazelnut crisps (Hasselnötsflarn)

  • Lepa on February 22, 2017

    These are easy to whip together and taste great. Do distribute the batter far apart on the baking sheet, as these cookies spread a lot.

  • TrishaCP on March 20, 2016

    I agree that these are completely addictive. They remind me of a nut version of a tuile, but no shaping involved. Perfect if you just want one small bite of something sweet. Either I did a horrible job estimating the "teaspoon" drops of cookies, or the yield is off. I doubled the recipe and only got about 40 cookies (I should have had 60 per the recipe.)

  • stockholm28 on March 01, 2016

    Hasselnötsflarn (Hazelnut Crisps), page 48 I highly recommend that you make these. In 20 minutes, you can have one really delicious cookie. They are thin and crisp flavored of toasted hazelnut and vanilla. These are also gluten-free if you have to accommodate a special diet. These are so simple and they are just addictive. The author suggests that they are nice with ice cream.

  • Rutabaga on March 04, 2018

    So good! If you like hazelnuts, you will probably love these cookies. They are rather addicting, so it's a good thing they're so thin and light. My two-year-old is nuts for them. While they are very simple, they make an elegant light dessert, especially paired with coffee.

• Hazelnut coffee cake (Hasselnötskaka med kaffe)

  • stockholm28 on April 04, 2016

    The flavor of this cake was just superb. I followed Caitlin's tip to brown the butter (thank you Caitlin) and I highly recommend making this change. It tasted almost like toffee with hazelnut and a hint of coffee. Mine fell slightly when I took it out of the oven, but it was still wonderful. This is a keeper.

  • TrishaCP on March 13, 2016

    This is outstanding, albeit very plain looking. (I dressed it up by serving with vanilla-flavored skyr.) The coffee flavor (I used espresso) was a back-up note only, subtly highlighting the hazelnut flavor in a beautiful way. I needed exactly 30 minutes, and I didn't need to cover my cake. I didn't get a lot of rise from the cake, but it was enough, and was light and moist. I will definitely make this again.

• Chocolate balls (Chokladbollar)

  • TrishaCP on December 26, 2016

    Made for my Christmas cookie assortment, these had a mixed result, but I was not one of the fans. They were really easy to make, but they weren't sweet enough for my liking. I did roll them in the (unsweetened) coconut instead of the pearl sugar, so maybe that is why? My sister really liked them though.

  • Rutabaga on October 03, 2016

    No-bake, no-cook, and made from standard pantry staples - it doesn't get much easier than this! Plus, these chokladbollar are really yummy; I especially like them frozen.

• Sticky chocolate cake (Kladdkaka)

  • TrishaCP on April 03, 2016

    This tasted great (like a fudgey brownie) but I think I need to try it again. First, I used the 9 inch pan called for, but I think you are better off using an 8 inch pan, because it was very thin. I baked the cake for 20 minutes, but I think it may have needed more time because it was really sticking to the bottom of the pan (I greased it) and seemed a bit "too" gooey-even though it is supposed to be sticky.

• Rhubarb cordial (Rabarbersaft)

  • Rutabaga on May 21, 2017

    This cordial is simple to make and produces a beautiful syrup to use in drinks. I used just a scant less sugar than called for, and would probably decrease it even further next, at least if the rhubarb is very ripe, as I like the tartness of the rhubarb to really shine through.

• Blackberry almond cake (Mandelkaka med björnbär)

  • bching on July 25, 2016

    The taste to effort ratio is very positive! It's like a large blackberry studded shortbread cookie. Now that I've discovered this, I'll make it over and over with all sorts of berries.

  • Rutabaga on June 24, 2016

    As the other commenters have said, this cake is both simple and quite tasty. It's well worth having on hand during berry season when you need to pull a dessert together quickly.

  • ccav on March 26, 2016

    Agreed that this is very easy and tastes very good, not too sweet. I used blueberries and they worked well; cherries might be interesting, and raspberries will be good to try.

  • TrishaCP on March 02, 2016

    This is a really tasty and simple cake- I was worried because of the lack of baking powder, but it rose just fine and like the recipe indicates- it does bake fast. I used blackberries per the recipe, but any berry would really work.

  • eliza on January 26, 2019

    Very easy and tasty cake. I used frozen blueberries and baked 30 minutes convection. I would reduce the almond extract slightly next time. Will definitely make again.

  • stockholm28 on March 01, 2016

    Mandelkaka med björnbär (Blackberry Almond Cake) Nice simple cake when you want something fast. This takes about 10 minutes to make. I substituted blueberries for the blackberries.

  • Dewnie on January 13, 2019

    How easy is this recipe?!! It whips up in no time and is so delicious!

  • stef on March 21, 2018

    Can't believe I haven't made a note on this cake. It really is delicious and I always make it when grandsons are visiting. They call it morning cake. I make it in a 9" springform

  • janeh9 on March 21, 2018

    I've made this with blue berries and blackberries, and last night made it with some nice organic strawberries that were languishing in the fridge....terrific, my new favorite!

  • MmeFleiss on December 30, 2018

    I like this recipe a lot so I decide to make this with my son today adding a scant teaspoon of baking powder and a pinch of salt. It was good as always and my 4-yr-old was pleased to do all of the mixing.

  • Lepa on February 26, 2017

    Another happy baker here. The cake is really simple and quick to pull together and it tastes good. We ate it with fresh whipped cream that had a touch of almond in it. Delicious!

• Classic apple cake (Fyriskaka)

  • TrishaCP on October 22, 2016

    We loved the cardamom flavor of the cake, but it is quite strong. I made sure to thoroughly crush the cardamom seeds, because I did not do so sufficiently for the cardamom cake, and I preferred the results here. I only needed about half of the apples specified, and I'm not sure why- maybe I cut them too thinly? I ended up overlapping apple slices to fit in as many as possible. Like with some of the other cakes in this book, this was quite a flat cake. Not sure if that was intentional or whether I had issues with the cake rising properly, but it still tastes good.

  • Astrid5555 on October 09, 2016

    No unanimous verdict. While I loved the pronounced cardamom taste, the rest of the family found it too grown-up. On the plus side, very quick to make.