2 Kinds of Hveder - Wheat Rolls

Toasted rolls - ristede hvedeknopper

Even though I'm a expat, I do celebrate Danish Holidays. This gives me (almost) double-up on holidays, the more the merrier 😃

Store Bededag or Prayers Day is coming up on Friday. According to traditions everybody had the day off on Store Bededag even the bakers. You were actually meant to stop all work, play, travels and all games. To make up for not being able to get any fresh bread on Store Bededag, the bakers made an abundance of hvedeknopper (wheat rolls), to tie people over. And the tradition of eating the toasted hvedeknopper the night before Store Bededag was born. Ok people was meant to save the rolls to the next day, but who can resist a fresh-baked roll?

Hveder is one of my favorite rolls. The soft, sweet, fresh baked cardamom roll is so delicious served with some butter. Most people toast the rolls, but I prefer them not toasted. 

Here are my recipes for Hveder:

Traditional Hveder - hvedeknopper:

Hveder - sweet rolls

Grove hveder - 3-Grain sweet rolls:

Toasted 3-grain rolls - ristede grove hvedeknopper

3-Grain Sourdough Rolls

3-Grain Sourdough Rolls

I had to try to make 3-grain sourdough rolls, and they turned out great. 

Makes 8

Ingredients:

• 4 tablespoons mature sourdough (fed and fermented for about 8 hours*)
• 300 ml water
• 350 g all-purpose flour
• 50 g whole wheat flour
• 50 g flaxseeds 
• 50 g rolled rye 
• 40 ml cream or milk
• 10 g salt

Sprinkles:

• sesame seeds 

Directions:

Dissolve the sourdough in the water in  a large plastic bowl. I used a dough-rising bucket. 

Mix in the rest of the ingredients. You just have to mix the dough until all the flour is wet. Let the dough ferment in the bucket, lid on, on the kitchen counter overnight or 7-10 hours.

Gently pour the dough onto a well floured surface. Fold the somewhat wet dough into it self until the surface is firmed up, and the surface got a good tension. Divide the dough in 8 (about 100 g pr roll), roll the dough into a round ball, brush the dough with water and dip it in sesame seeds. Place the rolls on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

Let the rolls rise for 30-60 minutes, loosely covered with plastic wrap. I raised my rolls in my oven on the proof-setting.

Preheat the oven to 450℉ (230℃).

Place the rolls on the lower rack in the oven. Splash about ¼ cup of water in the bottom of the oven, and close the oven quickly. You need the steam to get the best oven spring and crust. Bake the rolls for about 22 minutes, until golden.

Let the rolls/rundstykker cool before serving.

Enjoy!

*To test the readiness of the sourdough, drop a spoonful into a bowl of room-temperature water. If it sinks, it is not ready and needs more time to ferment and ripen. If it floats, it is ready to use.

Kaffebrød - Coffee Bread

Kaffebrød - Coffee Bread

Kaffebrød or coffee bread might be a forgotten cake. It might not get as mush recognition as a lot of other Danish cakes. But I really like them. The crispy bread with a sweet slightly chewy topping, is really good with a cup of tea or coffee. 

Makes 12-15.

Ingredients:

Bread:

• 25 g live yeast (2 teaspoons dry active yeast)
• 250 ml milk
• 500 g all-purpose flour
• 50 g butter, salted
• 50 g sugar 
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon cardamom 
• 1 egg

Topping:

• 300 g marzipan
• 300 g sugar
• 3 egg whites 
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour 
• ½ teaspoon baking powder 
• 1 teaspoon vanilla paste 

Directions:

Bread:

Heat the milk till a little more than finger warm. Let the butter melt in the warm milk.

Mix the sugar with the yeast, the mixture turns liquid. If using dry yeast, dissolve it in the milk.

Add all the ingredients to the bowl of a stand mixer. Knead the dough for about 7 minutes. 

Let the dough rise for about 40 minutes. Divide the dough in two, and roll each part Into a large flat bread using a rolling pin. Let the breads rise on a parchment lined baking sheet for about 20 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 400℉ (200℃).

Bake he bread for 15-18 minutes, until golden brown.

Let the breads cool before slicing in 1-inch (2.5 cm) thick slices. Place the slices cut-side up on a baking sheet. Toast the slices for 5-7 minutes until light golden brown. 

Topping:

Mix marzipan, sugar, vanilla and egg whites in a stand mixer till you have a soft paste. Mix in flour and baking powder. Now you should have a thick paste, that won't run off the bread slices. Put the paste into a piping bag, and cut off so you have a large hole, so you just need one fat line of topping to cover the bread slices. Pipe one line on top of the toasted bread slices. Bake the slices for another 10-15 minutes until golden brown.

Let the coffee bread cool before serving.

Enjoy!

Head Cheese - Sylte

Head Cheese - Sylte

6th Day of Christmas.

Sylte or head cheese as it is called in English is a cold cut danes often eat around christmas time. It might be an old tradition and maybe young people will not carry this tradition on, but if the sylte or head cheese is well made, it is very good. My dad was the one who made the sylte in my house. I loved the homemade version, but the commercial version was to hard, fatty and salty for my taste. Originally the sylte is made from meat from the head of the pig. But it is easier to use more available cuts, such as hocks, loin roast or pork belly.
I made this sylte so I can have this traditional cold cut for my Christmas lunch. 

Makes 2 medium or 3-4 small

Ingredients:

• 750 g pigskin from the pork belly
• 1 hock, with skin and bone
• ½ gallon (2 liter) water
• 200 ml vinegar
• 12 bay leaves
• 3 pounds (1½ kg) pork loin
• 5 teaspoons (35-40 g) salt
• 10 peppercorns
• 4-5 sheets husblas or 8-10 g non-flavored gelatin powder

Directions:

Put water, vinegar, Peppercorns, cubed pigskin and hock in a large pot, bring it to a boil and let it simmer for about 2 hours.  Discard the pigskin. Add the cubed pork loin to the soup, and keep simmering for another 1-1½ hours, until all the meat has fallen of the bone tender.

Remove hock and pork loin, and let it cool for a while, so you can handle it. Strain the soup into a clean pot. 

Soak the husblas in cold water or bloom the gelatin according to package instructions. 

In a large bowl, season the pork loin and the meat from the hock with salt. Pull some of the meat a bit apart. Fill 2-4 loaf pans ¾ up with the meat. 

Melt the husblas/gelatin in the soup and pour it over the meat. Cover the loaf pans and let them rest for about 24 hours in the refrigerator before slicing. 

Eat the head cheese on Danish rye bread topped with mustard and pickled beets.

Enjoy!

December 8th

Æbleskiver, ebelskiver

December 8th.  - Fourth Day of Christmas

Today my maternal grandmother would have turned wow .... 113. The whole family had the tradition to celebrate her Birthday by having Gløgg and Æbleskiver (mulled wine and Ebelskiver) at her place. It was a nice tradition getting the whole family together before the christmas stress set in.

Even though both my grandmother and mom passed away, I always use this day to remember all the good times we had, and send them a lot of love.

Please spread a little love today and enjoy some ebelskiver and mulled wine.

Cheers!