Swedish Chokladbollar
Fika and Choklabollar - I'm not entirely sure anymore which one I learned about first, but you'll soon notice the two are very intertwined in Swedish culture. Sweden is in
fact one of the top 10 countries of the highest coffee consumption in
the world. Coffee is a big part of fika and the Swedish fika a lot. Fika very basically means taking a coffee break - usually this means going out, but you can do it at home too. Often friends are involved, as is Swedish pastry. You don't NEED to have chokladbollar, a kanelbullar, prinsesstårta or kladkaka with
your coffee, but more often than not you'll have one anyway. These
sweets are so much a part of Swedish fika that most of them have a
holiday of their own - the 11th of May is Chokladbollens dag. We missed it.
But don't worry! Chokladbollar are not bound to any season, so you will find them all year round in roughly every coffee place in Sweden. Everyone knows what chokladbollar are. Delving into the history of this incredibly easy-to-make 'bonbon' I found some very interesting things - Chokladbollar are a Swedish/Danish confectionary, which seems to have first appeared as a written recipe in 1943 in a Swedish magazine and in a Danish book of the same year. The Swedish coffee break is a little older - fika was introduced in the 19th century. Kaffi is an outdated word for coffee (now the word kaffe is used) and by turning the word over and omitting and f you get fi-Ka (from Ka-ffi).
Perhaps it had something to do with the several bans on coffee Sweden has seen, so there was a need for an underground code-word for coffee. Since the last ban ended in 1822 and fika was introduced somewhere in the 19th century, it is possible. But it would not likely have had the meaning of fika as we know it today. Nowadays, rather than referring to coffee specifically, fika is slang for 'coffee break'.
If you want to learn more this video and in fact the whole series were incredibly insightful to me. If you want more experimental recipes -like chokladbollar with matcha or with strawberries inside-, try to get your hands on the book "In Search of the Best Chokladbollar" by Alaine Handa. I don't have it myself, but considering how much chokladbollar I make (it's just so fast and easy when I have unexpected guests!) I feel like this might just help me up my game and impress even more people with this incredibly delicious treat!
I was very surprised when I heard 'all Swedish kids know how to make chokladbollar. It's what you do when you come home from school and feel like a snack'. Is it common for young swedish people to know how to bake things like chokladbollar and kladkakka or budapest rolls? Because my understanding of the Dutch population is that most grown-ups barely know how to bake an apple-pie. I understand several of the traditional Dutch recipes require a bit more skill or effort to create than something like chokladbollar, but good heavens - we are worlds apart. I find it fascinating to know that somewhere baking isn't something you have to do on birthdays, but can also be an every day activity to enjoy!
What's the baking culture like in your country? Do you have something quick and easy to serve or snack on like chokladbollar?
But don't worry! Chokladbollar are not bound to any season, so you will find them all year round in roughly every coffee place in Sweden. Everyone knows what chokladbollar are. Delving into the history of this incredibly easy-to-make 'bonbon' I found some very interesting things - Chokladbollar are a Swedish/Danish confectionary, which seems to have first appeared as a written recipe in 1943 in a Swedish magazine and in a Danish book of the same year. The Swedish coffee break is a little older - fika was introduced in the 19th century. Kaffi is an outdated word for coffee (now the word kaffe is used) and by turning the word over and omitting and f you get fi-Ka (from Ka-ffi).
Perhaps it had something to do with the several bans on coffee Sweden has seen, so there was a need for an underground code-word for coffee. Since the last ban ended in 1822 and fika was introduced somewhere in the 19th century, it is possible. But it would not likely have had the meaning of fika as we know it today. Nowadays, rather than referring to coffee specifically, fika is slang for 'coffee break'.
Chokladbollar
makes 25-40 - from Arla
150 grams butter
1,5 dl sugar *
1 teaspoon vanilla sugar
3 tablespoons cacao **
2 tablespoons coffee (optional)
4 dl oats *
Extra oats, dessicated coconut, cacao or sprinkles for coating
1. Knead the butter and sugars until everything is combined.
2. Add the cacao, coffee and oats and knead until everything is combined.
3. Roll into bite-sized balls and coat with more oats, dessicated coconut or sprinkles to coat completely. The butter melts easily at warm temperatures, so keep in the fridge and take out an hour (or less in warm climates) before serving to serve at roomtemperature. For optimal results, leave for an hour in the fridge before serving.
*Swedish use dl as their measurement rather than cups or grams, so since I have a measuring cup I stuck to the original measurement system. Using conversion calculators I found: 1,5 dl sugar equals 125 grams or almost 2/3cups sugar and 4 dl oats equals about 1 3/4 cup or 160 grams.
** This is a very basic recipe and playing with the measurements is adviced. I love the dark flavour of cacao to offset the creamy butter and sugar, so I use 3 heaping tablespoons (around 5 normal spoons).
makes 25-40 - from Arla
150 grams butter
1,5 dl sugar *
1 teaspoon vanilla sugar
3 tablespoons cacao **
2 tablespoons coffee (optional)
4 dl oats *
Extra oats, dessicated coconut, cacao or sprinkles for coating
1. Knead the butter and sugars until everything is combined.
2. Add the cacao, coffee and oats and knead until everything is combined.
3. Roll into bite-sized balls and coat with more oats, dessicated coconut or sprinkles to coat completely. The butter melts easily at warm temperatures, so keep in the fridge and take out an hour (or less in warm climates) before serving to serve at roomtemperature. For optimal results, leave for an hour in the fridge before serving.
*Swedish use dl as their measurement rather than cups or grams, so since I have a measuring cup I stuck to the original measurement system. Using conversion calculators I found: 1,5 dl sugar equals 125 grams or almost 2/3cups sugar and 4 dl oats equals about 1 3/4 cup or 160 grams.
** This is a very basic recipe and playing with the measurements is adviced. I love the dark flavour of cacao to offset the creamy butter and sugar, so I use 3 heaping tablespoons (around 5 normal spoons).
If you want to learn more this video and in fact the whole series were incredibly insightful to me. If you want more experimental recipes -like chokladbollar with matcha or with strawberries inside-, try to get your hands on the book "In Search of the Best Chokladbollar" by Alaine Handa. I don't have it myself, but considering how much chokladbollar I make (it's just so fast and easy when I have unexpected guests!) I feel like this might just help me up my game and impress even more people with this incredibly delicious treat!
I was very surprised when I heard 'all Swedish kids know how to make chokladbollar. It's what you do when you come home from school and feel like a snack'. Is it common for young swedish people to know how to bake things like chokladbollar and kladkakka or budapest rolls? Because my understanding of the Dutch population is that most grown-ups barely know how to bake an apple-pie. I understand several of the traditional Dutch recipes require a bit more skill or effort to create than something like chokladbollar, but good heavens - we are worlds apart. I find it fascinating to know that somewhere baking isn't something you have to do on birthdays, but can also be an every day activity to enjoy!
What's the baking culture like in your country? Do you have something quick and easy to serve or snack on like chokladbollar?
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