A Little Winter Fashion Tip

Just thought I'd share a little fashion trick with you all today! Well, one that is mostly for the girls. While I studied at Lund, some of the Swedish girls in my program taught me to layer my tights. Rather than wearing just one pair of 40 denier tights, double up! Or if you're like me, with two pairs of tights I am usually at 120 denier! Seriously, if you have skipped wearing dresses and skirts this winter because it is too cold out, try layering your tights. It provides a little extra warmth and protection from the cold cold wind out there! 

I Love

I love...

Weekends with this guy. How silly is he? I was going to take a picture of him napping but then that happened.

Lussekatter and saffron buns. I made a batch of saffron buns this weekend and split the dough in half. I added some crushed cardamom to half of the dough and filled them with a vanilla bean, butter and sugar mixture before twisting them into little knots. I'm so happy I finally mastered the knots! By the way, I've been planning on going gluten free but have been waiting to eat these guys up first before taking the leap! Stay tuned on that!

Finding new lunch spots. The fiance and I had lunch at District Tonkin on Saturday. We shared a Vietnamese banh mi sandwich and a bowl of hot and spicy beef soup. I really liked the modern and slightly industrial feel of this concept restaurant/shop. A great place to grab a bite for a really good price in Frederiksberg. Take a look at their menu here.

We had a really great weekend and I hope you did too. I've got a bit of a busy week ahead with Danish exams two days this week and for something fun I'm going to try on some wedding dresses for the first time on Thursday! What are you looking forward to this week?

Game Changer

I've only written about food this whole week. If you're not into that then I am sorry, and don't read on! I felt like getting away from Copenhagen after a not so wonderful week and my closest friend in Lund, Y, was free so I hopped on the train to spend some time with her. While I was visiting my home away from home away from home yesterday, I ate the most amazing thing. It's a real "game changer". I've mentioned St. Jakobs on here before as it is my favorite place to meet for coffee and have a little treat in Lund. I was really hoping that they would have some lussekatter (saffron buns) out, but I knew I was a little early as it isn't even December yet. So I was ordering my usual cardamom bun when the baker behind the counter told me that it was not just a cardamom bun. Wait for this. It was a cardamom saffron bun all in one. Two of my all time favorite bun flavors in one! It was d e l e c t a b l e! I brought two home and the fiance and I gobbled them up this morning.

Sometimes it is the little things that really wow you.

Kanelbullar

While I was living and studying in Sweden I had fika quite often with my friends and I've been missing that lately. Since I can't really hang out with my friends and have coffee with them in person right now, I thought I would try making some of the Swedish cinnamon buns, or kanelbullar, that we used to eat all the time. 

And I must say, these kanelbullar are really good! I wish I could tie them in the fancy knots like some Swedish bakeries do, but besides that, I think these are pretty close to the real thing. If you are looking for a little taste of Sweden, try baking these cinnamon buns!  

Kanelbullar / Swedish Cinnamon Buns (from Call Me Cupcake)

makes about 40 buns (I halved the recipe and got 16)

For the buns:

150g butter

5 dl milk

50g fresh yeast

1 dl sugar

1/2 tsp salt

2 tsp coarse cardamom (not finely ground)

850g flour

For the filling:

100g butter, softened

1 dl sugar

2 tbsp ground cinnamon

For decoration:

1 egg, lightly beaten

Pearl sugar or chopped almonds

To make the dough for the buns, melt the butter in a small saucepan. Add the milk and heat until it reaches 37 degrees celsius. Crumble the yeast in a large mixing bowl and stir until the yeast is completely dissolved. Add flour, sugar, cardamom, and salt and stir with a wooden spoon until the dough comes together. Work the dough with the dough hooks on your mixer for 5 minutes or knead the dough by hand for about 10 minutes. When the dough is ready, cover it with a tea towel and let it rise for 30 minutes. 

While the dough is rising, combine the butter, sugar and cinnamon for the filling. When the dough has doubled in size, knead the dough for a few minutes until it feels elastic. Divide the dough into 4 parts (or 2 if you halved the recipe) and roll out each part into a long rectangle on a well floured surface. Spread the filling over the rolled out dough and then roll it into a long roll/log. Divide and cut each roll/log into 8 to 10 pieces. Place cut pieces on a parchment paper lined baking sheet and cover them with a tea towel so they can rise for another 40 minutes.

Finally, brush each bun with the beaten egg and sprinkle some pearl sugar or almonds on top. Preheat the oven to 250C and bake them in the middle of the oven for 5 minutes, or until buns are golden brown. 

Let cool and eat them the same day or freeze them for later. 

(I'm sorry that the recipe is in deciliters but that is the system they use in Sweden and since I have a deciliter measuring cup on hand, I didn't need to convert any of the measurements.)

Happy Thursday!

Therese Sennerholt Prints

I really like the prints from Therese Sennerholt. I am a sucker for good quotes and simple design and she does exactly that. If you read any Scandinavian blogs that feature interiors and homes, I'm sure you have seen some of these prints already then.

I have seen Therese Sennerholt's prints for sale in stores while we were in Stockholm last summer but I haven't really seen them here in Copenhagen. While I was at Notre Dame this week however, I saw that they sold a few of her cards.

I love using cards as art work. They are the same designs, just in smaller form! I plan on switching out a few of the photos or the older cards I have in the gallery table and incorporating one of my new Therese Sennerholt designs!

*The first two photos are from http://www.theresesennerholtshop.se/