October 4th The Day Of The Cinnamon Bun!

Today is the traditional day to celebrate the swedish cinnamon bun. The one I enjoy eating most is the vanilla version. But today is the day to eat them all, Cinnamon, Vanilla, Cardamon, Almond paste or why not try Blueberries.

You will need:

Dough: 

• 150 g Dairy Free Margarine
• 500 ml Vegan Milk
• 50 g Fresh Yeast (or dry yeast equal to 50g, read on packet)
• ½ tsp Salt
• 1½ dl (½ cup) Sugar 
• 2 tsp Cardamon (powder)
• 13 dl (5½ cups) Plain Flour

Filling: 

• Dairy Free Margarine
• Sugar 
• Vanilla Sugar

Topping: 

Vegan Milk and Pearl Sugar (optional chopped almonds)

How To:

1. Melt your margarine and add the milk. Heat until finger warm (37C / 98F)
2. Dissolve the yeast with the milk/margarine liquid in a big bowl. Add salt, sugar, cardamon and around 2/3 of the flour.
3. Work the dough until shiny and add more of the flour. Saving 1-2dl (½-3/4cup) for the rolling of the dough later on. The dough is ready when it isn't sticking to the sides of the bowl longer. (make sure you don't add too much flour, that will give you a hard and dry bun)
4. Sprinkle the dough with flour and cover with a clean kitchen towel. Leave to rise in room temperature with out a drag until the dough has doubled in size. (approx. 30-50min)
5. Once your dough has risen, put it on a floured work bench and knead.
6. Cut the dough in half and roll with a rolling pin. Leaving it around ½ inch thick and square shaped.
7. Spread your soft dairy free margarine over the square dough and sprinkle with alot of sugar and vanilla sugar.
8. Roll up the dough and cut into even sizes. (sometimes the ends will be a little smaller and can be put two in one paper)
9. Lay them with the cut side up in individual paper baking cups. (if you can't find paper cups with a low edge you can bake them just on a parchment paper)
10. This recipe should make between 45-55 vanilla buns.
11. Now leave them to rise in their paper cups, until they have doubled in size.
12. Brush them with your vegan milk of choice and sprinkle with pearl sugar. The bake for 8-10 min in a 225C / 440F  convection oven (fan based) or 250C / 480F conventional / deck oven.
13. They are ready once they get a light golden colour.

Vegan Vanilla Chocolate Chip Cheesecake

Yesterday we went to Åsele Market, a tradition we try to do every year in my family.

The car ride takes two hours, we then walk around the market, covering the small town of Åsele. We have fika on the way up, after the market and then drive for two hours getting back home again. This might sound weird, but the stop on the way up, all the weird things you can buy at the market and the possibility to see reindeers make it all worth the trip.

Me & my sister-in-law Emily taking photos at the fika-rest-stop

This year in our fika-bag I packed panriche-sandwiches made with lettuce, cucumber and garlic/parsley cream cheese, refreshing beverages and the...the...ba ba baaa...Vegan Vanilla Chocolate Chip Cheesecake!!! Oh it was so good. 

Here is the recipe
You will need:
Base:

•  2 dl (0.8 cup) Cookie or Biscuit Crumbs (like digestives)
• 1 dl (0.4 cup) Brown Sugar (Farinsocker in sweden)
• 1 dl (0.4 cup) melted Vegan Margarine

Filling (the filling can be baked in a double batch for a thicker cheese layer):

• 2½-3 dl (1-1 1/4 cup) Soy Cream Cheese (I use a brand called Tofuline, but Tofutti is good too)
• 1 dl (0.4 cup)White Sugar
• 1 dl (0.4 cup)Soy Milk
• 2 tbs Golden Syrup
• 1 tbs Corn- or Potato Flour (in some countries called corn- or potato starch)
• 1 tsp Vanilla (vanilla sugar or extract)
• 100g Vegan Chocolate (crushed)

1. Blend or stir together crumbs, margarine and brown sugar. Evenly spread the mix into a pie dish (spring tin, with removable sides) and bake at 250C/480F  for about 10 minutes. Let the base cool.
2. Mix the ingredients for the filling and spread evenly in pie shell.
3. Bake at 250C/480F for 10 minutes, then lower temperature to 180C/355F and bake about 15 - 20 minutes.
4. Let the cake cool completely and decorate with thin slices or grated chocolate.

I bought a Canada hoodie at the Åsele market, I say it is like Sweden but with them speaking english and french.

We both have hockey!, nature and animals that are similar.

Midsummers! Strawberry Cream Cake

Midsummers is the celebration we swedes celebrate as our national day. Yes our national day is on June 6th, but this is the day we all love and enjoy the most. People go and see the tradidional maypole, dance around it singing old songs about "The Small Frogs" and other great tunes.
We truly come alive on Midsummers, we love our country, our traditions, the weather and the people around us. This is the day the swedes act unswedish.

My fiancé Andrew & sis-in-law Emily

This Midsummer was also my sister in laws first ever, seeing as she and my finacé are from Australia she had never celebrated midsummers before. The day started at home, we got all our food ready. Marinated the soyfillets and mushrooms, made the cake, packed all the things we would need for the day and left to go to my parents house. There me and my sister in law picked birch tree branches and flowers to make ourselves a traditional hair-wreath (a krans), to keep in our hair all day. Then we all left for a traditional Midsummer celebration with tons of other celebrating people, we saw the maypole getting decorated and raised, the old music played by a man on a accordion and sung by another, people dancing with their families and more people having picknics on blankets in the grass. This is true swedish summer! 


We also looked at the old house on the homestead/ folk museum and after that went to my aunt and uncles summer house for a nice midsummers with the family. There we had some fika, cooked a nice bbq dinner and had the strawberry cream cake for dessert. Leaving us all feeling very full. 

After the cake me and my sister in law went to the forrest so she could pick herself seven different varieties of wild flowers. There is this old swedish tradition, that if a single woman picks seven flowers and then sleeps with them under her pillow, she will dream of the man she is to marry. So that is what we did. After the flower picking we were on our way home. On the drive home the people in the car screams I have to stop, there was a moose in the forest next to us. My sister in law was on cloud 9, she has been wanting to see a moose for a while and there it was. Standing still just a few meters away, just staring at us and then turning around and running further into the woods until he wasn't visible any longer.

Moose

So the recipe from this midsummers is Strawberry Cream Cake, YUM!


You Will Need:


For the sponge base (for a tall cake bake two batches of this):

• 50-75 grams (≈ 0.5 stick of margarine/ 5 1/4 tbs) Dairy Free Margarine (melted)
• Egg Replacer (I use Orgran "No Egg") equal to 2-3 eggs
• 2 dl (0.8 cup) White Sugar
• 3 dl (1 1/4 cups) Plain Flour
• 3 tsp Baking Powder
• 2 tsp Vanilla Powder (or essence)
• 1 dl (0.4 cup) Vegan Milk or Water

1. Start with baking the sponge base by mixing all the dry ingredients in a bowl and then adding the melted margarine, milk or water and the egg replacer (mixed according to the packet). Mix with a beater until smooth.
2. Grease and bread crumb a round baking tin. Pour in the batter.
3. Bake the cake at 200C / 390F for 40-50min in the lower part of the oven. Leave to completely cool down, over night or from morning to night is good.

Filling/ Topping:

• 4-5 servings of Vegan Vanilla Custard (I use a powder/cooking one called Ekströms "Marsán" and mix with vegan milk option)
• 2-3 ripe Bananas
• 2-3 boxes of Vegan Whip Cream (I use GoGreen "Visp") Mixed with a sprinkle of vanilla powder and sugar.
• Lots of Strawberries

1. If you are using the cooking custard make it and leave it to completely cool down before using.
2. Cut the cake so you have three layers of sponge.
3. On one layer you spread half of the custard  and top with sliced banana.
4. Place another sponge layer and then top that with the rest of the custard and either sliced or mashed up strawberries.
5. Place the lid layer and cover the entire cake with a good layer of cream. The cream is best whipped cold from the fridge. (If the cake isn't to be eaten right away store it un decorated in the fridge)
6. Then decorate the top with strawberries. You can dust with icing sugar if desired, but remember to decorate the cake just before serving it. If not the strawberries can bleed and make the white whip cream around the strawberries pink.

Our hair-wreaths 

3x4 leaf clovers

The Vegan Swedes BIG Taco Pie

What do I say about this recipe, swedes love their tacos and this is in my eyes the best way to enjoy them. Yummy and LARGE taco pie! Filling and tasty.

You Will Need:

• 500g Vegan Mince
• 2 bags Taco Spice Mix
• 2 Bellpeppers/Capsicum (colour of your choice)
• 1 jar Taco Sauce (medium or hot)
• 1-2 Yellow (brown) Onions 
• 2-4 Tomatoes
• 2-3 dl (200-300ml) Vegan Sour Cream (I use sour supreme)
• 4-6 tbs Vegan Mayo
• 2-4 pinches Black Pepper
• Salt

Dough:

• 8 dl (3+1/3 cups) Plain Flour
• 4 tsp Bakingpowder
• 100g Dairy Free Margarine (room temperatured)
• 1 tsp Salt
• 3 dl (300ml cooking milk/cream)

1. Fry the vegan mince with the taco spice mix (according to directions on packet)
2. Cut the capsicum/bellpeppers och onion into smaller chunks.
3. Slice the tomatoes.
4. In a bowl mix sour supreme, mayo, salt & pepper. Taste!
5. In a large bowl mix all the dry ingredients for the dough, then add the margarine and cooking cream using your hands or a kneader with dough hooks.
6. Spread/roll the dough evenly in a large oven tray.
7. Top with the mince, then onion, bellpeppers/capsicum and the slices tomatoes.
8. Drizzle the top with both taco sauce and the mayo mix.
9. Bake in the oven at 225C / 440F for 25-30min until golden.
10. Serve with a fresh salad and I also like having pineapple and guacamole with it aswell.
11. ENJOY!

Vegan Oven Baked (gratinated) Falu-Sausage (Ugnsbakad Falukorv)

Traditional swedish dish, normally not vegan. But this took me back and made me very happy. Easy to make and very easy to eat. Love it. The lightly smokey flavour of the vegan falu-sausage mixed with tomato, pineapple, roasted onions and cheese/mustard sauce all baked together in the oven. Eaten with home made mashed potatoes and a trio of steamed veggies. (info on the meat version of falukorv can be found here)

You Will Need:

• Thick Vegan Sausage, Falu-Sausage Style (I used Astrid & Apornas Jättekorv)
• Fresh Tomatoes
• Pineapple
• Roasted Onions (or other onion of your choice)
• Vegan Cheese Sauce with Mustard (I made my own) 

Cheese Sauce: Melt 50g margarine in a sauce pan, add 2 tbs plain white flour, 1 veggie stock cube, black pepper, 200-250 ml vegan cooking cream, 2-4 slices Vegan Cheese and 1-2 tbs yellow mustard. Add water to the sauce until it reaches a creamy smooth liquid stage. (do it all on a medium heat)

1. Cut the sausage and tomatoes into slices and start layering them in an oven tray in a row.
2. Top the sausage with pineapple, onion and last cover with the cheese sauce.
3. Cook in the oven on 225C / 440F for 20-30 min or until golden.
4. Eat with steamed veggies and mashed potatoes.
5. ENJOY! Very tasty!

Swedish Easter With The Vegan Swedes 2012

This easter was my sister in laws first Swedish easter. So we focused on the decorations and the cosy feeling. I am not sure how other countries do, if all of you decorate your homes in the same way as we swedes do. In Australia you don't so it was fun for me to show her some of out traditions. Enjoy!

We had påskris (easter branches picked and decorated), filled big paper eggs (all have one that get filled with their favourite candy), picked spring flowers and more.


Here are some photos of my home this easter.

This is our påskris. It is a mix of branches (normally birch tree) decorated and put in a vase with water to have the green leaves representing the green to come.

Our ceramic hen-bowl filled with candy.

The 3 paper easter eggs (15cm) that decorated out home over easter, also filled with great swedish sweets.

Left: The decorated kitchen table with påskris, easter eggs, a hen and a small egg cup filled with picked spring flowers (purple crocuses and yellow coltsfoot).

Right: Our bay window with a ceramic rooster I got from my mum.

I had some hot chocolate out of my Pippi Långstrump (Longstocking) mug from my childhood.

Earth Hour Hot Chocolate 2012

Earth Hour 2012 with The Vegan Swedes

We had our Earth Hour with candles and hot chocolate. As many of you might know being vegan helps the environment alot already, but the more we can help the better. 

Hot Chocolate with Vegan Whip Cream

You Will Need:

• Non Dairy Milk (I use Alpro Soya Natural)
• Vegan Friendly Chocolate Powder
• Dairy Free Whip Cream (+a pinch of vanilla sugar or essence & sugar, optional)

1. Heat the milk and mix with wanted amount of chocolate powder.
2. Fill a cup with the chocolate milk and top it off with a few spoons of whipped cream.