Sweden

 Welcome to Sweden!  Ever since I read the American Girl books on "Kirsten", I loved Sweden.  Their traditions (Christmas) fascinated me, their food always looked lovely, and I loved Kirsten!  And then, they invented IKEA.  What could be better?!  Sweden is the fifth-largest country in  Europe, and is the second-most technological advanced country in Europe.  Anyways, according to Google, Sweden has 10.38 million people, and the capital is Stockholm.  Their national dish is...

 

Kardenmummabullar!

Try to say that!  Ha!  They are Swedish Cardamom Rolls.  Essentially cinnamon rolls, but with cardamom instead of cinnamon.  The pictures looked decadent, and I couldn't wait to try them.  Since they aren't really a meal, we decided to make Swedish Meatballs and mashed potatoes with them.  Talk about a carb-heavy meal!  Here's what I did:

 KARDENMUMMABULLAR 

Dough

1 C + 1 tbsp milk, heated to 110 degrees

1 envelope active dry yeast

1/3 C brown sugar

3 1/4 C gluten free flour

1 tsp cardamom

1/4 tsp salt

5 heaping tbsp butter, room temp

Cardamom Filling

4 1/2 tbsp butter, room temp

1/3 C brown sugar

1 1/2 tsp cardamom

Cardamom Topping

1/4 C water

1/4 C brown sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla

1 tsp sugar

1/2 tsp cardamom

Dough

1. Pre-grease a large bowl and set aside.
2. In a small bowl, add the yeast to the warm milk and 1 tsp brown sugar, and stir until the yeast is dissolved, and let activate for 10 minutes.
3. In the bowl of a stand mixer with the whisk attachment, mix gluten free flour, brown sugar (less 1 tsp), cardamom and salt.
4. Change the attachment to the dough hook.
5. Add the yeast/milk mixture to the flour mixture and mix on low until dough begins to come together.
6. Increase the speed to medium-low and add butter in handfuls.
7. Once all the butter has been added, increase the speed to medium-high and knead for 5 minutes.  The dough should be loose.
8. Scrape the dough onto a lightly floured surface and shape it into a bun.
9. Place the bun in the greased bowl, cover with a clean towel, and place in a warm spot to rise for at least 40 minutes.

Cardamom Filling and Topping

1. Cream together butter, brown sugar, and cardamom seeds until creamy and smooth.  
2. Set aside for forming the rolls.
3. For the topping, heat water, brown sugar, and vanilla in a saucepan on high until the sugar has completely dissolved. 
4. Remove from heat.
5. In a separate bowl, combine cardamom and sugar.  Set aside.
   

Forming

1. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Roll the dough into a rectangle on a lightly-floured surface.
3. Spread the filling onto the rolled out dough to cover the entire surface.
4. Fold the dough into thirds, on top of each other (fold the left side 1/3 of the way and the right side the other 1/3 of the way, so you now have 3 layers).
5. Rotate the dough so the open ends are on the sides, and roll the dough slightly.
6. Using a sharp knife, cut the dough into 2cm strands.
7. Lay the strands on the baking sheet, cover with a kitchen towel, and let rise for 30 minutes.
8. Preheat the oven to 435 while the dough is rising.
9. Bake for 8 minutes, until the tops are golden brown.
10. Immediately brush the tops with the syrup and sprinkle with cardamom sugar.
11. Enjoy!

(Source: Kardenmummabullar)

 

SWEDISH MEATBALLS

Meatballs

1 lb ground beef

1 lb ground pork

2/3 C whipping cream

1/4 C gluten free breadcrumbs

2 eggs, beaten

1 tbsp butter

1/2 onion, finely chopped

2 tsp nutmeg

1 tsp salt

3 tsp pepper

 

Gravy

3/4 C whipping cream

1 tbsp gluten free flour

1 1/2 C beef broth

1. Put the cream into a large bowl with the breadcrumbs, and set aside.
2. In a large skillet, melt the butter and add the onions, and cook for about 3 minutes.
3. Add the onions, meats, egg, salt, pepper, and nutmeg to the cream and breadcrumbs.
4. Mix until combined - do not overmix!
5. In a skillet, melt 4 tbsp butter on medium heat.
6. Form the meatballs into 1 inch balls and place them in the hot skillet.
7. Cook on each side until they are cooked through, about 4-5 minutes.
8. Place the cooked meatballs in a warm oven on a baking tray while the others are cooking.
9. For the gravy, mix the cream and gluten free flour into a slurry.
10. Heat the beef broth in a small saucepan, and slowly add the slurry.
11. Stir until thick, and add salt and pepper to taste.
12. Serve and enjoy!

(Source: Swedish Meatballs)

    

 

The verdict?  I don't like baking with gluten-free flour.  It doesn't seem to work the way it is supposed to.  These were supposed to be rolls, but the dough was so crumbly, and not at all elastic, so they ended up being cardamom strips instead.  The dough was very good, and I really enjoyed the taste all together, but they just weren't at all what I expected.  I found a recipe for "the best gluten free cinnamon rolls", so I'm going to try this recipe again, using the other recipes base for the dough.  Stay tuned!  The meatballs were delicious.  They were tedious to make, and I think I would just use ground beef next time (no pork), but they were delicious.  I didn't make the gravy the way the recipe said to make it because there was so much oil and burned bits at the bottom that I thought that the gravy would taste burnt.  I think it was still very good.  Handsome Husband loved the meatballs as well!

ME

Taste of Kardenmummabullar (1 is terrible, 10 is amazing): 5

Spicy (hot) (1 is not at all spicy, 10 is uneatable): 0

Flavor (1 is no flavor, 10 is packed with flavor): 6

 

HANDSOME HUSBAND

Taste of Kardenmummabullar (1 is terrible, 10 is amazing): 5

Spicy (hot) (1 is not at all spicy, 10 is uneatable): 0

Flavor (1 is no flavor, 10 is packed with flavor): 4

 

ME

Taste of Swedish Meatballs (1 is terrible, 10 is amazing): 8

Spicy (hot) (1 is not at all spicy, 10 is uneatable): 0

Flavor (1 is no flavor, 10 is packed with flavor): 7

 

HANDSOME HUSBAND

Taste of Swedish Meatballs (1 is terrible, 10 is amazing): 8

Spicy (hot) (1 is not at all spicy, 10 is uneatable): 0

Flavor (1 is no flavor, 10 is packed with flavor):7

 

Thanks for joining us!  We're heading to Africa next time - Angola!