Buckeyes And Other Baking

Rachel here.

So, we spent the better part of the weekend in the kitchen here in California. As you know, I've had some serious baking lurking in my to-do list. So, John and I rolled up our sleeves and set to work.

The first thing in the oven was Mjuk Pepparkakor. I accidentally put 5 tablespoons of cinnamon in instead of 5 teaspoons. Of course, I did this into a bowl that contained the final contents of our flour jar and, of course, I did this immediately after returning home from the grocery store.

Ummm...I burst into tears. And called my mom. And announced that Christmas was ruined. It was all totally prepubescent. It was also awesomely cathartic. I can't remember the last time I cried. Forget spilt milk--too much cinnamon is my undoing.

Things dramatically improved after that, though. We made fabulous snowball cookies (I'll post about those later this week, so stay tuned if you're even remotely interested in a cookie that's insanely easy to generate, isn't super sweet, and makes 4 dozen cookies that you can fit in your oven all at once...really, tune in; you'll thank me) and we adapted our own buckeyes recipe after reading 9000 others online that all seemed outlandishly sweet and completely un-mailable.

Evidently recipes that yield 4 dozen of something are my culinary rabbit's foot, because this buckeyes recipe did just that and so did the snowballs recipe and, just like that, I had boxes and tins and jars filled with treats for our friends and family, all brimming with things I think are completely and utterly delicious.

Mjuk Pepparkakor

Hey Rachel

Long ago and far away, I was, as you know, married to someone else. We were good people, just not good for each other. But a happy side note to that short-lived relationship were the Swedish recipes from his mother, who was a wonderful baker. At Christmas time in particular, she made certain Swedish treats. Her pepparkakor (paper-thin gingersnaps) were made in shapes for each child (she was quite artistic). I remember one Christmas when mine was shaped like a horse. I have never even attempted that for you all. Cookie cutters have worked just fine for the pepparkakor thank you.

But even better than the pepparkakor was the mjuk pepparkakor — basically Swedish gingerbread — a recipe that has attained superstar status in our family ever since you all took your first bite and one that has never failed to elicit rave reviews from anyone who ever put a bite in his or her mouth. I've had many ask for the recipe over the years, but only you have been lucky enough to receive it.

Now, I'm throwing it out there to the blogosphere. Make this. I guarantee you will love it, as will anyone who ever takes a bite. God Jul to all and to Jenny, tack sa mycket, for originally sharing this recipe.



Mjuk Pepperkakor
makes two loaves...which is a good start

ingredients
1 3/4 sticks melted butter
4 eggs
4 deciliters brown sugar (I use a liquid measuring cup for all — yes, dry ingredients too — and actually use the milliliter lines; so 4 dl is actually 400 ml on my cup. Don't try to convert to metric, folks. Just use the liquid measuring cup and the ML lines and you'll be fine)
4 deciliters white sugar
7 deciliters flour (or 700 ml)
5 teaspoons cinnamon
2 teaspoons cloves
1 3/4 teaspoons ginger
3 teaspoons baking powder
3 deciliters heavy cream

method
Heat oven to 375 degrees.
You must use two bowls and follow these directions to a tee. Believe me, I have tried doing my normal who really cares if they say mix in different bowls etc and it has not fared well. I am now a convert--for this recipe anyway.

In one bowl combine the eggs and sugars.

In a separate bowl combine the flour, spices and baking powder.

Add the butter to the sugar bowl and mix. Then add the flour and cream alternately, about half at a time, mixing well in between.

Grease two loaf pans. Pour the mixture into the two pans. Bake for 45 minutes. Then, place some aluminum foil on top of the loaves because they will be brown but not quite done. Bake for another 5-10 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean. Freezes well.