Kitchen Love June 22

Hello, or Hej (Swedish hi) from Gothenburg, Sweden.

We arrived on 18 May and are staying in a temporary apartment. The apartment is fully furnished but only has basic kitchen tools and equipment. Yes, I am missing my Kitchen aid. We won't be reunited for another 6 weeks until we move into our permanent home. The rental market is extremely tough here, with more demand than supply, but the good news is we found an apartment last weekend, with a lovely white kitchen.

When we first arrived in Sweden, I was unwell with a cold and not much of an appetite. I was craving homemade comfort food. Then I thought of rice pudding. Rice pudding was something my mum made when we were sick. Homemade rice pudding is gentle on the stomach as it is easy to digest and the perfect alternative for breakfast served either warm or cold with some fresh banana or berries on top.

Sue Maree P style I wanted to reinvent a traditional rice pudding to be made with non-dairy milk, have a little spice and not too sweet. My new recipe tastes amazing like chia tea. Click the image below.

Amazing Non-Dairy Rice Pudding: Swedish Style

My new Amazing Rice pudding I created recently when I was sick and not able to eat a full meal as I didn’t have much of an appetite. Rice pudding is perfect for breakfast, lunch a snack or dessert.

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Flour, water & oil

I am still surprised at how many different recipes you can make with flour. On my baking to-do list for a while now is 3 ingredient flatbread; with only flour, water and oil is a simple way of making flatbread. Check out the recipe below.

Simple 3 ingredient spelt flatbread: flour, water and oil

A simple 3 ingredient spelt flatbread recipe; flour, water and oil. I have been testing. This flatbread is a quick and easy flatbread, no oven is required as this cooks in a frying pan.

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Have you heard of Japanese Milk Bread?

Oh my! These are the softest, fluffiest bread rolls I have ever made. Japanese bread rolls have been on my wish list for a while too. I first heard of these after seeing a Netflix show on Japanese bakeries. They stay soft and fluffy for days. Click the image below for the recipe.

Spelt Japanese Bread Rolls with Oat milk

The secret is in the first step to having the fluffy bread is making an Asian-style bread starter or water roux which is called a tangzhou (pronounced tan-jong) or yu-dane.

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Most Popular Swedish Fika Treats

What is Fika?
Fika is what the Swedes call a coffee break. Having fika is a big part of Swedish culture. It's common to say 'let's meet for fika'. Often a small sweet treat accompanies a coffee.

What you eat at fika is not really important. The food comes second to the connection, socialising and chatting with friends and colleagues. However, Swedish prefer homemade food over store-bought cookies or cake. Many team leaders in Sweden consider it important to regularly bake and bring it into work for fika. This is a great way for me to bake and send the baked good to my husband's work.

Here are some popular Fika treats;

Easy Swedish cookies: hallongrottor/ thumbprint with spelt flour

This is one of the most popular Swedish Cookie recipes. This easy melt-in-your-mouth Swedish cookie has a few names; hallongrottor which means Rasberry Cave Cookies or thumbprint cookies.

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Swedish Almond Cake Toscakaka with Spelt Flour

My Swedish Almond Cake is moist, buttery with a crunchy caramel almond topped cake; called Toscakaka or a Swedish visiting cake. A perfect simple yet impressive looking cake that is quick and easy to prepare.

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Swedish Chocolate Balls (Chokladbollar) no coffee + no-bake

My Swedish Chocolate Balls are gluten-free, coffee free, a kid-friendly recipe.

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Spelt Cardamom Cake Swedish style: kardemummakakka

Now living permanently in Sweden, I want to share more Swedish recipes. I have been testing a simple Swedish Cardamom Cake with spelt flour. This buttery cardamom cake melts in your mouth like a tea cake but with the very Scandi warming cardamom spice.