Kokoskuler – chocolate balls

Tags

Candy, Chocolate balls, Christmas candy, Christmas traditions, Coconut balls, Food, Kokoskuler, Recipe, Sjokoladekuler

Growing up I had a friend from whom I was inseparable. We spent (almost) every day of many years together until we eventually grew apart. During our first years as teens, and also as tweens, we had a regular shop we used to go to whenever we had a few kroners. The shop didn’t really have a good selection of candy, but they had these coco and chocolate balls (how I prefer the Norwegian word ‘kuler’ instead of balls for these as ‘kuler’ does not invoke associations to male genitalia).

I found the recipe in a christmas magazine at my mother-in-law’s a few years ago, and have made it my mission to make these every christmas thereafter. This year though, I have a confession to make: Son made these almost all by himself (yes, they’re that easy!) I helped measure and to crack the egg, but the mixing was all his work! Here is the recipe:

• 1 dl of sugar
• 2 dl of rolled oats
• 1,5 dl of grated coconut
• 2 tablespoons of cacao powder
• 2 teaspoons of vanilla sugar
• 2 tablespoons of melted butter
• 1 egg (my mixture was a little dry, so I added a second egg)

Mix everything together until you’re left with a dough-like texture. Leave it in the fridge for a while (mine was only left for a few hours). Then roll out small ‘kuler’ and cover them in grated coconut. Delicious!

Lussekatter

Tags

Baking, Christmas traditions, Dough, Food, Lussekatter, Norway, Recipe, Yeast

I am rarely able to bake and display in one day, but today will be an exception to that rule; today is the night before Lussi (the day of Saint Lucia). Living in a country that is predominantly protestant, there has never been much focus on saints. There is also very little focus (if any) on religion in the celebration of Lussi.  For me, Lussi has meant school or kindergarten celebrations (I’ll elaborate in a bit) and the baking of Lussekatter.

In kindergartens or school (the lower grades) Lussi is celebrated by kids dressing in white and parading through the school or kindergarten or through a care home to entertain the elderly. Every kid is dressed in white and holding a white candle. One girl, often with long blond hair, is crowned Lucia and leads the parade. She wears a crown holding candles.

It is a celebration of light in the darkest time of the year. The Christian traditions have mixed with old heathen traditions resulting in a tradition now that I believe most Norwegians would not be able to connect to any religion or faith. What is obvious though is the symbolic white and bright in a time of darknes, where there is a bit christianity mixed in with the mentioning of St. Lucia, and the devil through the lussekatter (lussi cats – referring to Lucifer the cat), and the lighting of candle and dressing in white to bring light in order to scare off the heathen creatures of the underworld lurking in the night.

Anyway, the reason why we bake these lussekatter might not be interesting at all (especially not with such an inadequate introduction), but the main reason is the tradition itself (at least it is to me). And the fact that the lussekatter are bright, ocher-y yellow also adds to the fun.

Today Son and I have spent some good, quality time together, dancing along to christmas songs while kneading a bright, yellow dough. I think I had more fun than him! I’ll give you the recipe in case you want to try it yourself:

• 2,5 dl of milk (the more fat the better)
• 25 grams of fresh yeast
• 75 grams of butter
• 0,5 grams of saffron or 1 teaspoon of turmeric
• 1 teaspoon of cardamom
• 1 egg
• about 6 dl of flour

Cook for 5-8 mins at 250 degrees celsius.

This year I made one batch with saffron and one with turmeric. I have never tried saffron before, for reasons unknown to me. The saffron was a nice change, it gave a better colour, better smell, but is still a little new to me. The turmeric smell and taste is what I’m used to. But I think saffron might win in the long run…

Yule goats (Julegeiter)

Tags

Baking, Christmas traditions, Food, Norwegian Cuisine, Recipe, Yule goats

Roll out as regular rolls, a little more oblong, then make a cut in each end

This is a local type of sweet rolls associated with the yule season. I don’t know how common it is outside the city boundaries, I have grown up with it living in a small town across the fjord, but many of the people I’ve met living in the outskirts of the city have never heard of it. It could also be decreasing in popularity, or the younger generations are less fond of it than their parents and grandparents. I have often been met with questioning faces when asking for it in the local supermarkets, but they usually sell the rolls in every one of them.

Dette er en lokal bollelignende gjærbakst som vi spiser til jul. Jeg vet ikke hvor vanlig den er utenfor byens grenser, jeg har vokst opp med dem i en liten by over fjorden for Stavanger. Mange jeg treffer fra utkanten av Stavanger har aldri hørt om dem. Kanskje er de ikke like populære som de en gang var, eller så er den yngre generasjonen ikke like glad i dem som sine foreldre og besteforeldre. Jeg har ofte blitt møtt med spørsmålstegn av ansikter i butikkene her, men likevel ser det ut som de fleste dagligvarebutikker selger dem til jul.

I don’t know what gives these rolls their peculiar name, yule goats, but one theory is the cut end of them resembling the hoof of a goat. The only thing that makes these rolls different to regular sweet rolls is the rye flour and the syrup.

Jeg vet ikke grunnen til det noe spesielle navnet, men en teori er at kutten i endene ligner på en geits hov. Ellers er den kun sirupen og rugmelet som gjør disse bollene annerledes fra vanlige boller.

Mother demonstrating the correct technique for rolling out the rolls

 

The how-to of the dough is the same as here, except the syrup which is added with the liquid.

Tilberedning av deigen er lik som den her, bortsett fra sirupen, som enkelt tilsettes væska i begynnelsen.

5-6 dl of milk

A bit of yeast, amount depending on how much time you have to let it rise

4-5 tablespoons of syrup

About 650 grams of wheat flour

200 grams of rye flour

5-6 dl melk

4-5 ss sirup

Litt gjær, mengden avhenger av hvor lang tid du har til heving

Ca 650 g hvetemel

200 g fint rugmel

100 g smør

Cook at about 225 degrees until tanned. Eat with brown goat cheese for ultimate Norwegian experience.

Stek på 225 grader til de er blitt gyldenbrune. Spises med brunost og godt smør.