Brunsviger

In the summer of 2006, Justin had the opportunity to travel to Sweden and Denmark. Ever since then, he has had a a deep appreciation/love/obsession with Scandinavia, specifically Sweden. He always talks about how great it would be to own a summer home in Sweden. Last year for his birthday I got him The Scandinavian Cookbook that he had been wanting for a while. It is a very neat cookbook filled with authentic recipes from Sweden, Denmark and Norway. The cookbook also has amazing photographs of the Scandinavian countryside, cities, as well as the food.

Over the past year we have tried some of the recipes, including Biff Lindstrom with fried potatoes, Meatballs with thyme, green cabbage and lingonsylt (lingonberries), and Layer Cake with strawberries. The other night I decided to tackle another recipe: Brunsviger. This is a bread with a sweet and buttery glaze from Denmark. The recipe called for fresh yeast, and while I was out grocery shopping and couldn't find it, I knew the perfect woman to call- my sister-in-law Sarah. I call Sarah the "Yeast Beast" because she has become an avid baker, specifically with bread. I knew that she could help me out. FYI- if a recipe calls for fresh yeast, you can use active dry yeast, just use roughly 1/2 of what the recipe calls for. Here is the finished product!


The cookbook suggested eating the Brunsviger with a cup of coffee, which Justin for sure did! I decided to have it with a nice cup of English Afternoon Tea (Oh No! Do they make Scandinavian tea?) I thought it was the perfect time to pull out my teapot and cup and saucer. The cup and saucer was a wedding present from my Mumsie. The teapot was a gift from Nathanael and Emmy from London.

The Brunsviger was very good. Very soft and doughy. The only thing that I would change in the future is the glaze. The glaze was very buttery (1 cup of butter and 3/4 cup brown sugar). Next time I would cut it back. There are some other recipes for danishes and cakes that I would like to try out soon!