Tag Archives: Art of Fika

CELEBRATING FIKA 5 YEARS

April 7, 2020 Johanna 2 Comments

Five years ago, Anna Brones and I released our book Fika: The Art of the Swedish Coffee Break. In honor of our 5th “book birthday,” we decided to put together a zine devoted to the basics of fika.

Maybe you have our book on your shelf, maybe you’re a fika aficionado, or maybe you’re entirely new to fika, the Swedish coffee break. Regardless of what your fika background is, we made this zine so that you can easily print it at home, color it in, and add your own drawings. There’s a recipe for chokladbollar, Swedish chocolate balls, too. We wouldn’t want you to go without a fika treat.

Why fika?

In this time when a lot of us are at home and socially distancing, fika seems like a good ritual to remind ourselves to take a little break from the onslaught of news, and find a little space to just be present.

Slow down.
Take a deep breath.
Re-calibrate.

Make a plan for a virtual fika
Fika is often a social affair, but you can fika and still practice social distancing. Why not use this as an excuse to call a friend and have a virtual fika?

Make “stay home and fika” your new mantra—click here to download and print the How to Fika zine. If you’ve never made a one-page zine before, it involves a little cutting and folding. Here’s a video that breaks down the process.

Trevlig Fika!
Anna (text) & Johanna (illustrations)

Please share your fika moment with us by tagging

#artoffika * #stayhomeandfika * #virtualfika
@johannakindvall & @annabrones (instagram)
@kokblog & @annabrones (twitter)

Selection of Fika treats on kokblog

* Cardamom Buns
* Cinnamon Buns
* Toscakaka (Swedish Caramel Almond Cake)
* M azariner (A Swedish classic)
* Cardamom Biscuits
* Fyriskaka with Pear
* Struvor (Swedish Rosettes)
* Ginger Spice Cake
* Hazelnut & Cinnamon Cookies
* Lussebullar (Saffron Buns)
* Ginger Lime Tart
* Apple & Lemon Galette
* Joulutorttu (Finnish Christmas Tarts)
* Marängtårta (Meringue Torte)
* Semlor (Swedish Fat Tuesday buns)

Celebrating Fat Tuesday with Semlor

February 24, 2017 Johanna 3 Comments

2017-semlor_2017-5 February is traditionally the month I would go from one bakery to another to hunt down the best semlor in town. But since moving abroad that task has been put on hold.

Semlor, also called fettisbullar, is a cardamom bun filled with almond paste and heavy whipped cream. Comfortingly delicious. Traditionally they should be eaten on Fat Tuesday before lent, but Swedes start having them as soon as they finished their Christmas’ ginger cookies and keep enjoying them until it’s time for Easter candy.

From a distance, I have noticed that in the last few years this wonderful almond paste filled cardamom bun has started to come in different varieties and flavors. Sometimes even in different shapes. As much as I love chocolate, princess cake, or licorice I think my favorite always will be the traditional combination of cardamom, almond paste and hand whipped cream.

This year, Fat Tuesday (Shrove Tuesday, Mardi Gras, Paczki Day or Pancake Day) falls on Tuesday, February 28. So its time to get the ingredients ready and start baking.
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Semlor
recipe from Fika: The Art of The Swedish Coffee Break
by Anna Brones and Johanna Kindvall

makes: about 12 to 16 buns

for the buns
7 tablespoons (3.5 oz, 100 g) unsalted butter
1 cup (240 ml) milk
2 teaspoons active dry yeast
2 eggs
1/4 cup (1.75 oz, 50 g) sugar
3½ cups (1.12 lb, 495 g) all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
2 to 3 teaspoons whole cardamom seeds, crushed

filling
2 cups (10 oz, 285 g) blanched almonds
¼ cup (1.75 oz, 50 g) sugar
1 teaspoon pure almond extract
½ to 1 cup (120 to 240 ml) milk

to finish
½ to 1 cup (120 to 240 ml) heavy whipped cream
powdered sugar

In a sauce pan, melt the butter and then add in the milk. Heat until the liquid is warm to the touch (about 110ºF/43°C). In a cup, dissolve the yeast in 2 to 3 tablespoons of the warm liquid. Stir and let sit for a few minutes until bubbles form on top.

In a large bowl, whisk together one of the eggs with the sugar. Pour in the butter and milk mixture including the yeast. Stir until well blended.

Mix in the flour, baking powder, salt and cardamom. Work the dough until well combined. Transfer dough to a lightly floured flat surface, and knead until dough is smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes. The dough should feel moist so try not to add more flour to the dough (which could result in dry buns).

Place dough in a bowl, cover with a dampened tea towel and let rise at room temperature for 1 hour.

On a flat surface, divide dough into 12 to 16 equal pieces and roll each into individual rounds. Place them with 2 inches (2.5 cm) apart on a greased baking sheet (or line with a silicon baking mat). Cover with a dry tea towel and let rise for 30 to 45 minutes. (To test when they are ready to bake, poke your finger gently into one of the buns; the indent should slowly spring back, about 3 seconds).

Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).

When you are ready to bake, beat the last egg with a fork and brush each round all over the top. Bake until the tops of the buns are golden brown, 10 to 15 minutes. Remove the buns from the oven and transfer to the counter. Cover with a tea towel and let cool completely.

To make the almond paste, in a food processor grind the almonds until finely ground. Add in the sugar and almond extract and pulse until mixture sticks together.

With a knife, cut a “lid” off the top of each bun. Scoop out a portion of the inside and place the crumbs together with the almond paste in a large bowl. Mix it well together and add as much milk as needed to create a thick and smooth filling.

Fill each bun with the filling, followed by some whipped cream. Top with the “lid” and dust with confectioners’ sugar.

Brew some coffee and serve immediately.

Note: Semlor doesn’t store well, so if you are not planning to eat them all in one go, I suggest you only prepare as many as you need. Freeze the rest of the buns as soon they are cool.

Celebrating Fika with Marängtårta!

April 7, 2016 Johanna 2 Comments

One year ago, today, Anna Brones and my book Fika – The Art of The Swedish Coffee Break was released. I can’t believe how quickly this year has gone by. A year full of wonderful meetings with readers and enthusiastic bakers and cooks from all over the world.

By tagging #ArtofFika on social media we have been able to follow our reader’s wonderful fika moments and their delicious results when baking cakes, cookies and breads from the book. I also find it inspiring when I see readers creating delicious new versions of the recipes. Thank you all for sharing your fika with us.

I’m super thrilled to let you know that the Fika book is being translated into both Chinese and Korean. How cool is that? I can’t wait to see the result.

To celebrate, I’m baking a tweaked version of the Meringue Torte (page 104), which for some unknown reason in Sweden is called Pinocchiotårta or Brittatårta. In the cookbook we just calls it Marängtårta and bake it with hazelnuts and chocolate. Here below I suggest baking it with berries (fresh or frozen) such as strawberries, blueberries or/and raspberries. I also like it with a little fresh ginger in the merengue and instead of hazelnuts topped with slivered blanched almonds.

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Marängtårta (Meringue Torte)
makes one 9-inch (23-centimeter) torte

torte
6 tablespoons (3 ounces, 85 grams) unsalted butter
¾ cup (5.25 ounces, 148 grams) natural cane sugar
4 egg yolks
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
¼ cup + 1 tablespoon milk (75 milliliters)
¾ cup (3.75 ounces, 106 grams) all-purpose flour
1½ teaspoons baking powder

meringue
4 egg whites, room temperature
1/2 cup (3 1/2 ounces, 99 grams) natural cane sugar
about 1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger
a handful (or two) of slivered, blanched almonds

filling (and topping)
1 to 1½ cup (240 to 360 milliliters) heavy whipping cream
about 1 cup fresh (or frozen) berries (blueberries, raspberries or strawberries)

Preheat the oven to 300°F (150°C). Grease and flour two 9-inch (23-centimeter) round springform pans*.

for the torte
Cream together the butter with sugar. Add one egg yolk at a time. When it’s evenly blended, mix in the vanilla and milk. Lastly fold in the flour and baking powder with a spatula until you have a smooth batter.

Spread the batter equally into the 2 prepared springforms. It should be spread as a thin even layer all the way to the edges.

for the meringue
In a grease free metal or glass bowl, whisk the egg whites until soft peaks form. Continue whisking while adding sugar little by little and whisk until stiff peaks form. Lastly add the fresh grated ginger.

Divide the meringue equally between the two pans and spread out so it covers the cake batter completely. Sprinkle with slivered blanched almonds on top.

Bake the cakes for about 40 minutes, until the meringue and almonds are crispy and golden brown. Remove from the oven and let cool.

When the cakes are cool, carefully remove the cakes from the springform.

assemble the torte
On a serving plate, place one layer and spread the berries and whipped cream on top. Place the second cake layer on top and (if you like) top the cake with more cream and decorate with some extra berries.

Serve immediately.

*You can also bake this in a single rectangular pan lined with parchment paper, and cut in half to make the individual layers.

related links

Fika: The Art of the Swedish Coffee Break (Behind the Scenes)
and here you can see Anna Brones behind the scenes story

Scandi food: why Swedes do midsummer and coffee breaks best
by Diana Henry

Images from my book release party

Anna and Johanna talking Fika on Heritage Radio

more Fika press

Tea Paired with Swedish Cookies and Treats

March 23, 2016 Johanna Leave a comment

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A week ago, I hosted a tea pairing event in my kitchen with Rachel Safko and Ulrika Pettersson (Unna Bakery). Rachel, who’s a writer and tea specialist, selected six different teas and paired them with traditional Swedish treats baked by Ulrika and me.

The three of us ladies got to know each other by talking and tasting a lot of coffee, tea and treats for an article Rachel wrote for Edible Manhattan, issue No 44, 2016 about the Swedish tradition of fika. We’d hosted a small fika for the Edible crew back in the fall that became the cover of the drinks issue (photographed by Scott Gordon Bleicher) and felt inspired to host a larger tea & fika event.

We were so happy and honored to share these with such wonderful guests on a late winter day in New York and hope this list will give you a sense of the surprising and very delicious flavor combinations that can come from pairing tea and Swedish snacks.

Tea Paired with Swedish Cookies and Treats
written by Rachel Safko

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Elderflower herbal infusion from In Pursuit of Tea with Unna Bakery’s dream cookies: A springlike aperitif, with rich, delicate elderflowers complementing the sparkle of Unna’s airy cookies.

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In Pursuit of Tea Tung Ting Oolong with Unna’s raspberry cave cookies. A nice transitional snack from late winter to spring: this green, woodsy, medium-oxidized charcoal-roasted oolong has darker undercurrents of smoke and sweet berry jam that suit the cookie’s marvelous mix of tart and sweet.

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Joseph Wesley Assam tea with sharp cheddar, Johanna’s cardamom skorpor and handmade orange-thyme marmalade. The cinnabar-esque brightness and warmth of this classic Indian Assam stand up to the cheddar’s bite and bring out the orange and cardamom notes in this traditional Swedish snack, matching its complexity. You can find a similar recipe (with caraway seeds instead of cardamom) in Fika: The Art of the Swedish Coffee Break by Anna Brones & Johanna Kindvall–just switch out the caraway seeds for 4-5 teaspoons of freshly crushed cardamom.

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Joseph Wesley Keemun with Unna’s gingersnaps and blue cheese. This elegant, mellow Chinese Keemun tames the punch of the blue cheese and the cookie spices, “calming the palate like a blanket.” A surprising winter hors d’oeuvre—terrific for parties.

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In Pursuit of Tea Shu Puerh with Unna’s chocolate-caramel cookies. With earthy, barnyard flavors characteristic of teas from China’s Yunnan province, this coffee-like dark tea melds with the deep richness of the cookies; its barnyard notes are also somewhat soothed by waves of pure caramel and big, bright bursts of sugar.

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Surprise pairing for a late winter day on the cusp of spring: Bellocq Shire Antlers white tea with Johanna’s cardamom cake. This unusual white tea combines light delicate notes with underlying chocolate and rose, offering a lovely backdrop for this spicy yet delicate cake, made with hand-crushed cardamom pods. You can learn how to make it from Johanna’s book Fika: The Art of the Swedish Coffee Break.

We hope this inspires you to make your own fikas at home and to try new kinds of tea! We’d also be delighted to help if you’d like to host any events with tea and Swedish snacks. The three of us can be found here: Rachel, Ulrika and Johanna.

Enjoy spring!

related links

The Harmony Of Tea + Fika by Sara Shacket (a review of the event)
Pairing Tea and Food by Rachel Safko, Fresh Cup
Global Tea & Food Traditions: Russia by Rachel Safko
Ulrika Pettersson & Unna Bakery at Food52 (about Unna Bakery)
Unna Bakery & dream cookie at Edible Brooklyn
Savory Caraway Crisps (from Fika book), by Anna Brones @ The Kitchn
A New Cookbook Imparts the Art of the Swedish Coffee Break by Lindsey Tramuta, T Magazine, NYtimes

Fika with Tea

February 6, 2016 Johanna 5 Comments

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On Sunday, March 13, I will be hosting a Tea and Fika event in my kitchen with tea specialist Rachel Safko and Swedish cookie maker Ulrika Pettersson from Unna Bakery (NYC).

Rachel, who recently wrote an article about the Swedish Fika tradition for Edible Manhattan in their latest drink issue, will share some of her knowledge about tea and suggestions for pairing tea with snacks. Ulrika and I will share our experience of fika (Swedish for coffee break) and the Swedish cookie tradition. Together we will guide you through a tasting menu consisting of five different teas paired with treats.

So if you want to learn more about the art of tea and Swedish treats, you are most welcome. We have limited spots for this cozy gathering. Hope to see you there.

SUNDAY, MARCH 13
4-6 p.m. (Please arrive at 4 o’clock)
location: Clinton Hill, Brooklyn (you will receive directions with ticket order but it’s close to both C and G).
price: $30 person

SOLD OUT!!!

Please note that the tickets are transferable but not refundable!
If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment below.

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We will set up a special shop prior to the event, where we will have Unna Bakery cookies and signed Fika books for a special price. Johanna is also planning to have a few Fika and Tea related prints available. If you already have the Fika book, please bring it along and she will sign it.

A little background about your hosts

Rachel Safko is a Brooklyn-based journalist and tea specialist, who writes about everything from French couture to ancient Yixing teapots. Her most recent articles include a feature on tea and food pairing for Fresh Cup Magazine and the Swedish art of fika for Edible Manhattan.

Ulrika Pettersson is a Swede who’s been living in New York for the last five years. To honor the Swedish heritage she started Unna Bakery with the purpose of making traditional Swedish cookies. Unna Bakery cookies are handmade in Harlem and use mostly organic ingredients for uncompromised quality.

Johanna Kindvall is an illustrator and recipe creator from Sweden who lives in Brooklyn. Her latest book is Fika: The Art of The Swedish Coffee Break (Ten Speed, 2015). The book was a collaboration with food writer Anna Brones. Johanna is also the creator of the illustrated cooking blog Kokblog.

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Similar events

Glöggmingel with Madame Fromage, 2015
How to host a Fika & Cheese Party (Madame Fromage), 2015