I’ve known for some time now that I’m a food lover. I take almost indecent delight in cooking, baking and experimenting in my kitchen, and few things make me happier than sharing the cakes, cookies or breads I make with friends. Yet the true measure of my ‘foodieness’ was revealed only this past weekend, when I returned from a week-long visit with family in San Diego, California - because while we left with three suitcases, we returned with an extra duffel bag I’d stuffed with some 20 lbs of tortillas from Mexico (flour & corn), tamales (sweet corn, pineapple, and jalapeño cheese), and jars of nopales (prickly pear cactus). Ok it was 33lbs. But can you blame me when quality tortillas, tamales and nopales are so difficult to find in Connecticut? I think not.

Seeing my family after nearly 3 years apart was such a joy, though of course the trip ended too soon. We went to Disneyland, visited relatives, and spent time enjoying good food and conversation. I taught my parents how to make my honey-vanilla challah, which they had never tasted before; my Mom and Nana how to make the baked rigatoni my Mom so infamously poured hot sauce on several years ago (she now says it definitely does not need hot sauce); and even convinced my brother to learn how to make pizza from scratch. This last bit was a feat because my brother is one of those guys who refuses to learn how to use a kitchen. My Mom is an accomplished cook, as is his girlfriend, so he figures: why bother? But for pizza he made an exception and for the record it was delicious. He got such a kick out of eating a pizza he made himself, as opposed to the frozen or delivery variety he’s always had in the past. I hear his girlfriend has already set a date for him to demonstrate his newfound culinary prowess in her kitchen, which if you ask me, is pretty darn cute.

My husband and I arrived back in Connecticut around 5am on Sunday morning and I had every intention of getting to work in the kitchen so that I could post on Monday. But then the homesickness hit, not to mention the tiredness, and a wee cold… the result being that I didn’t do anything until yesterday evening. Vetekrans, a kind of Swedish tea ring, was my recipe of choice for several reasons, not the least of which being its tempting combination of cardamom and cinnamon. I could just imagine the aromatic fragrance of these two spices, and was curious to see if cardamom (a member of the ginger family) would enhance the flavor of cinnamon in the same way that ground ginger does. I was also intrigued by the author’s method of dough preparation, which requires no kneading and asks you to refrigerate the dough for up to 24 hours. So I put the dough together, then popped it into the fridge before relaxing with a book and hitting the sack shortly after the New Year arrived. This morning I rolled the dough out, spread it with butter and cinnamon-sugar, then rolled it up jelly-roll style and bound the ends together before cutting into the dough with sharp scissors. The whole process took less than an hour (including resting time) and the end product was the scrumptious tea ring you see featured here. The cardamom undertones gently enhanced the cinnamon, creating something that is, in a word, decadent: like the best cinnamon buns you’ve ever had strung together in a fragrant cardamom spiced wreath, then drizzled with an almond glaze. Oh. Yea.

I initially planned to post a review of The Great Scandinavian Baking Book, from whence this Vetekrans recipe comes, in this entry. However, I’m going to wait until my next post. True, I’ve made four things from this book and could certainly formulate a review based on the results… but then I wouldn’t have an excuse to share another delectable recipe with you, would I? Yet I will reveal the winner of the the raffle in which I gave away one copy of The Great Scandinavian Baking Book: Deborah (#43) of Taste and Tell! Thank you to everyone who participated in my Holiday Cookbook Giveaway, I only wish I could have sent cookbooks to each and everyone one of you.

Have a wonderful New Year’s day!

Vetekrans (Swedish Tea Ring)
Reprinted with permission from The Great Scandinavian Baking Book by Beatrice Ojakangas.

Ingredients: Makes 1 large ring

• 2 packages active dry yeast
• 1 cup warm water, about 105 degrees to 115 degrees F
• 1/2 cup melted butter
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 3 slightly beaten eggs
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cardamom
• 4 to 4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (I ended up using closer to 5 1/2 cups of flour)
• 1/2 cup softened butter
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 1 cup blanched almonds, finely chopped (optional)

For the Glaze:

• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 2 tablespoons hot coffee or milk
• 1/2 teaspoon almond extract

In a large bowl, dissolve the yeast in the warm water and let stand 5 minutes. Stir in the 1/2 cup melted butter, 1/2 cup sugar, the eggs, salt, cardamom, and 4 cups flour until dough is smooth (it took about 5 1/2 cups of flour for my dough to achieve a smooth, soft texture). Cover and refrigerate for 2 to 24 hours. (I refrigerated mine for about 12 hours. When you take it out of the fridge the dough will be very firm and may break apart as you remove it from the bowl. This is normal, just remove all the pieces then gently press them back together. Allow the dough to rest on your counter top for about 20-30 minutes before proceeding.)

Turn dough onto a lightly floured board and roll out to make a 20×20 to 24×24 inch square. Spread with a thin layer of softened butter right to the edge. Mix 1/2 cup sugar with the cinnamon and sprinkle over the butter. Sprinkle the almonds over the cinnamon sugar. Roll up as for a jelly roll. (Beginning with the bottom edge closest to you, gently roll the dough away from you, pinching the ends together to prevent cinnamon sugar from spilling out.)

Grease a baking sheet and place the roll on the sheet, shaping it into a ring. Pinch ends together to close the circle. With scissors, cut almost through the ring at 1/2 inch intervals. Turn each piece so that the cut side is exposed. Let rise until almost doubled (about 1 hour in a warm location).

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until just golden. (I baked mine for 15 minutes, then rotated it in the oven and baked it for another 5 minutes). While the ring bakes, mix the glaze ingredients. Brush the ring while hot with the glaze.

Tomorrow morning marks the beginning of final exams at school and, ungodly amounts of studying aside, you know what that means: comfort food… and lots of coffee. Stuffed pizza pie, banana bundt cake, spiced cream coffee, pumpkin spice lattes, chocolate … anything yummy, sweet or caffeinated is especially welcome in my home this time of year. Recently I added dumph noodles to my arsenal of stress reducing edibles and let me tell you: this dish actually made me smile between bouts of studying for a Biblical Hebrew grammar final that has me feeling mighty nervous (by which I mean petrified). The moment I placed a spoonful of this bready, crème anglaise covered goodness into my mouth was culinary magic made manifest - like eating monkey bread drizzled with warm vanilla custard. I served the dumph noodle in one of my prettiest baking dishes on a red tablecloth, accompanied by a large mug of chocolate-vanilla coffee (recipe below). It was all very zen, very in the moment, very lose yourself in the festive presentation and sweet flavors and try not to think about exams for a moment. That’s what I call a break. Then a friend called and I had the pleasure of telling her I just ate a dumph noodle, to which she responded, “You ate a dumb what?”

I have to admit that I had a similar reaction when I first came across the title for this recipe in Indulge: 100 Perfect Desserts by Claire Clark. “It sounds like a name you’d call someone,” I told my husband, “Like, ‘Omg, you are such a dumph noodle.’” (I know, I can be a silly American sometimes huh? Forgive me my European friends!) I was curious about the name though and after some snooping on the ChowHound boards discovered that Dumph Noodle is the Anglicized word for “dampfnudel,” which is German for “steam noodle.” It’s a simple bread dough that’s cut into small pieces and rolled into walnut sized balls before baking, either with steam or with a conventional oven. Dampfnudel is usually served as a savory main dish accompanied by mushrooms, white sauce or cabbage, but there is also a sweet variety (seen here) that’s smothered with vanilla custard, jam or poached fruit. So there you have it…. though I’m still not sure why a bread-based dish is described as a noodle. Is it a case of lost in translation?

It’s almost 6 o’clock and that means it’s time I get back to studying - but before I go, guess what: I’m raffling off another cookbook in this post! One copy of Indulge: 100 Perfect Desserts to be precise, which is a lovely book filled with recipes for things like chocolate-dipped gingernuts, old-fashioned eccles cakes, spiced pumpkin custards and dumph noodles. For a chance to win this book answer the following question, which I acknowledge was selfishly conceived on my part: What do you do to relax when time is short and stress is high? Share your response in the comments section of this post and I’ll randomly select a winner sometime between today and December 15th. Only comments that answer the question will be entered into the raffle.

That’s it for now folks - I’m off to do battle with the mighty forces of biblical grammar. I plan to channel my six-year-old days as the awesome She-Ra, Princess of Power. (Can you believe the stuff my Mom has on me? Good thing I got hitched before my husband saw this photo - now he’s stuck, haha!)

Dumph Noodle
Reprinted with permission from Indulge: 100 Perfect Desserts, by Claire Clark.

Ingredients: Serves 8

• 13 oz strong white flour (bread flour, but I used all-purpose flour)
• 1 oz fresh yeast (I used active dry yeast - it’s essentially the same thing except most of the moisture has been removed, which makes the yeast dormant and extends its storage life)
• 7 fl oz milk (I used whole milk)
• 2 1/2 oz unsalted butter
• 2 1/2 oz caster sugar (superfine sugar, though I used confectioners sugar)
• 1 tsp salt
• grated zest of 1 lemon
• 2 medium eggs

For the topping:

• 2 oz unsalted butter
• 2 oz double cream

Grease the base and sides of a 8 x 12 inch baking tray, 1-1 1/2 inches deep. (Or grease the base and sides of individual ramekins or oven safe baking dishes.)

Sift the flour into a large bowl and make a well in the center. Crumble the yeast into the well. Warm the milk to 98 degrees F or until it is just lukewarm, then pour it over the yeast. Stir the yeast and milk together so the yeast dissolves. Take a little of the flour from the outside of the well and sprinkle it in a light, even layer over the yeast mixture. Cover the bowl tightly with saran wrap and leave for 15 minutes in a warm, but not hot, place until the flour on top of the yeast mixture shows signs of cracks.

Melt the butter and mix with the sugar, salt, grated lemon zest and eggs, combining all the ingredients well. Add to the flour and yeast and mix with your hand to form a smooth, soft dough. Turn it out on to a lightly floured work surface and knead lightly, just until it is no longer sticky. (You could do all this in an electric mixer fitted with a dough hook.) (I should note that when I reached this stage of the recipe I had to add about 1/2 a cup of flour to achieve the proper consistency, but I also used all-purpose flour instead of “strong flour,” which is known in the US as bread flour. The change in type of flour and differences in humidity probably account for the additional flour needed.) Return the dough to the bowl, cover with cling film and leave in a warm place for 20-30 minutes, until the dough has doubled in size.

Knock back the dough by kneading it gently on a lightly floured work surface. It should be smooth and shiny and not sticky. Working in a warm, draft-free environment, shape the dough into a long sausage, 1 1/2 inches wide. Cut it into pieces about 1 inch thick and role these into balls. To make neat balls, cup your hand around a piece of dough on the worktop and move your hand in a circular motion, keeping the dough on the worktop and pressing gently while spinning the dough. This should smooth the surface of the ball and make it rounder at the same time. Place the dough balls in the greased baking tin to form neat lines. They should be just touching.

Place a piece of lightly oiled cling film over the baking tray. Take care that the cling film is resting on top of the dough balls and not stretched over the edges of the tin itself, so the dough can rise freely. Leave in a warm place for a further 15 minutes, until doubled in size. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Melt the butter for the topping. Remove the cling film and very gently brush the melted butter over the surface of the buns, reserving any leftover butter. Place in the oven and bake for 15 minutes, then reduce the heat to 350 degrees F and continue baking for about 15 minutes, until the buns are golden brown. If you are unsure, pull one of the buns from the tray and break it open; it should not be doughy in the middle. (Note: if your dumph noodles are browning too quickly loosely cover them with a sheet of aluminum foil. This will allow them to continue baking on the inside without adding more color to the outside.)

Brush the remaining butter and the double cream over the tops and return to the oven for 3 to 4 minutes. Serve piping hot with lots of crème anglaise.

Crème Anglaise
Reprinted with permission from Indulge: 100 Perfect Desserts, by Claire Clark.

Ingredients: Serves 8

• 1 vanilla pod
• 18 fl oz whole milk (or, for a richer sauce, 9 fl oz double cream and 9fl oz milk)
• 6 medium egg yolks
• 4 1/2oz caster sugar (superfine sugar, I used confectioners sugar)

Slit the vanilla bean down its length with a small knife and scrape out the seeds. Place both the seeds and the pod in a saucepan with the milk and bring slowly to the boil over medium heat.

In a bowl, lightly mix the egg yolks and sugar together with a whisk. Do not leave the sugar sitting on the yolks without mixing them together straight away. If you do, you will notice tiny specks of egg yolk in the mixture; this is known as burning and even if you strain the sauce afterwards, the specks will remain.

Gradually pour the boiled milk on to the egg yolk and sugar mixture, stirring well. Return the mix to a clean pan and cook over a gentle heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until you can see it begin to thicken slightly; it will change from a watery consistency to a smooth sauce and should be thick enough to coat the spoon. Run your finger down the custard on the back of the spoon - the path should remain separated. It is vital that you do not let the sauce reach boiling point or it will split and curdle.

As soon as the sauce thickens, pour it through a fine sieve into a bowl,then place the bowl over a bowl of crushed ice. Serve hot or cold.

The vanilla pod can be washed, dried and put in a jar of sugar. You will be amazed how it takes on the aroma and flavour of the vanilla. Use the sugar to make pastries and desserts.

Chocolate-Vanilla Coffee (My Recipe)
Ingredients: Serves 1

• 1 tbsp chocolate syrup
• 1/4 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup brewed coffee (Use 2tbs of coffee per 1 cup of water when brewing)
• 1/4 cup whole milk
• 1-2 tsps sugar, according to taste
• Whipped cream

Brew coffee using 2 tbs of ground beans per 1 cup of filtered water. As the coffee finishes brewing, gently heat 1/4 cup of milk on the stove top or in the microwave (about 30 seconds in the microwave). Add the chocolate syrup and vanilla extract to a large mug, then add the hot milk, then the coffee. Stir well and taste, add 1-2 teaspoons of sugar depending on how sweet you like your coffee. Top with whipped cream.