#boller

Fun fact, it's actually called skolebrød, but the language seems to be shifting towards skoleboller (as they are boller, not brød).

I would recommend foreigners boller, to do with as they please, skolebrød being a very interesting option.

Boller:

900 g flour

5 dl milk (make it fermented milk for extra juicy result) (doesn't have to be tempered, you can take it right out of the fridge)

1 egg

25 g/half a package yeast

150 g sugar

1 tsp cardemum

1/2 tsp salt (optional)

150 g butter (diced and tempered)

1 egg (for painting the buns. I do not know how to say this in English. Get a brush and paint, they will look good and their crust will be better)

(This is Trine Mikkelsen's recipe, an equally good one that I've had as much luck with and that is perhaps more beginner friendly is Det Søte Liv's recipe, it just takes more time as you have to wait for the milk to cool.)

A cooking machine is recommended but you can absolutely get this done manually, you'll just have to knead a lot.

Mix the ingredients, except for the butter and the last egg. If you're using fresh yeast, mix it out in the milk and if you're using dry yeast mix it out in a small portion of the flour before adding to the rest. You want the dough to release the edges of the bowl, your fingers if you're using your hands to knead, and be elastic, so add flour or milk if it's too wet or dry. After a few minutes of kneading you add the butter, knead for another five minutes until the dough feels right. Place it under a cover and leave to swell, I tend to go with an hour.

You now have a dough base, and can do a great many wonderful things with it, including just working it into little balls, leaving to swell for however long you wish, and then sticking them into the oven at 225 degrees celsius for 10-15 minutes and you will cheer at your homemade boller.

You can also:

The recipe above gives relatively few boller, you should double it

Make cinnamon buns (use a rolling pan to make a rectangle, as thin and straight edged as you can make it. Spread butter on it, then scatter sugar and cinnamon across it. Roll into a sausage, and cut it into rolls. Alternatively, you do not cut it, but either cut as is or use a scissor to cut a nice pattern into the sausage and present your cinnamon kringle to guests.)

Make apple cinnamon kringle (same as the above, you roll a rectangle, add... whatever eplemos is in English... you dice apples into tiny pieces, boil with vanilla, sugar, and water. Delicious, and then you put it on a bun dough alongside cinnamon. Roll up, and enjoy your fantastic kringle.)

Cinnamon knots (bit tough to explain, but: you have your rectangle, now you put butter, sugar, and cinnamon on one half of it. Fold the rectangle, and cut the dough into streams. Wind these streams into fancy knots, and you now have a very fancy-looking cinnamon bun)

Make raisin buns (you add raisins to the dough.)

Make skolebrød (you make indentations in the buns, NOT holes. Just a little indentation in the middle, and fill it with vanilla cream. Place in oven. When they're cool, you have two bowls before you, one is filled with frosting from powdered sugar and water (this is your glue) and the other with coconut flakes. Dip the buns into the frosting and then the flakes, and serve to awed guests. If you wish to freeze this, it is best to freeze them without the flakes.)

Make lemon curd skolebrød (lemon curd instead of vanilla cream)

Literally anything, the sky's the limit

Tips and troubleshooting:

If you use expired dry yeast, add more. You can also add water to it beforehand to rehydrate it, I haven't tried it myself but it has helped people I know.

Better to have the dough too sticky than too dry. The former will still taste good, and a too elastic dough can paradoxically be difficult to work with (in my experience).

If you're making raisin buns, the raisins should be in a cup of lukewarm water for about an hour before adding them to the dough. They'll taste better

If you're making raisin buns, do your utmost to stuff the raisins inside the buns. A raisin that stuck out of the bun and cooked for 10 minutes at 225 degrees will not taste great.

At last, my oc sheet! To think it all started with Raavi, over 3 years ago... Big wow!

Braided bread

My mother-in-law's recipe book has been invaluable over the more recent years of my cooking journey, and today's recipe (ever so slightly adjusted) is one that fans have been clamouring for: braided bread. This delicious, light brioche is sweet and fragrant- if you don't have saffron, try using a good amount of nutmeg, cinnamon, or any other spice you wish!

You will need:

900g flour, plus extra for dusting

200g butter, melted

500ml warm (not hot!) milk

50g dry yeast

1/2 tsp salt

250g caster sugar

1g saffron

2 eggs, beaten

Method:

Combine the butter, half the milk, and yeast. Stir thoroughly and set aside until the yeast is frothy.

Add the rest of the milk, sugar, and saffron once the yeast is frothy. Add one of the eggs to the mixture and beat on medium speed with an electric mixer with dough hooks if possible.

Once the mixture is smooth, add the flour, and crank the speed up to high. Continue to mix until the ingredients are well combined and you have an even, yellow dough. Cover with cling wrap and set aside in a large bowl for about 3 hours to rise. The dough may need a second proofing if it starts to spill over, but try to keep the rising time to about three hours to allow the saffron to infuse.

On a lightly floured surface, divide the dough into 3 even lumps, and roll each of them out individually into ropes. It's important that you don't over-flour the dough, as it's very buttery and really doesn't need any to prevent it from sticking. I like my strands to be at least an inch thick, so they get nice and fluffy when baking. If you prefer, you can divide the dough into two separate batches to make smaller breads- simply make 6 ropes instead of 3.

With the dough resting on a baking sheet lined with paper, pinch the tops of the three ropes together to join them, and braid your bread. It should neither be too tight or too loose- it should hold if you pick it up.

Summary:

Armed with an umbrella, half a litre of milk, and an iron will, I reenter the forest. I feel like I’ve stepped into a children’s book—here are the dark, twisted woods, branches snapping under my feet, and any moment a castle will loom up through the mist.

Although in this case, I’m not the hapless, unsuspecting hero. No, I’m that dark thing in the forest. I’m the shadow out for blood.

Baz is prowling and brooding, but then again, he's wearing jeans, so it can't be all that bad, right? Also Simon's buns are the best in the village... Not an innuendo (or is it?).

I have this chapter to thank for my incredibly good breakfasts lately. I did this for research. Obviously. 💕🥰

Recipe here and they’re topped with geitost, a Norwegian brown goat cheese!