Recipe: Swedish mead

As I'm sure is no surprise to some of my more long standing reader friends, I'm into Swedish everything- the culture, the food, the design. Lotte Jansdotter has created  a beautiful book that is strikes a perfect note for me- she focuses on small space living, crafting one's home, and focusing on friends, family, and make the most of what you have. The sketches, the photos, the projects and the recipes are all exactly the kind thing that I love to see; the kind of lifestyle that I try to create in my own life. I can't recommend the book highly enough, really.

I had lots of fun trying out the recipes, but I was particularly taken with the recipe for Swedish Mead, which I had never seen before and required ingredients that I always have in my kitchen. So I got to work!

Swedish Mead
from Lotte Jandotter's Handmade Living, with permission

Ingredients:

• 17 cups or 4.25L of water
• 3/4 cup or 185 g packed dark brown sugar
• 3/4 cup or 185 g of granulated sugar, plus 6 teaspoons
• zest and juices of 2 lemons
• 1/4 teaspoon of active dry yeast
• 18 raisins

Directions: In a large stockpot, bring the water to a boil. Stir in the brown sugar, granulated sugar, lemon juice and zest.  Remove from heat and let cool from hot to warm (105-115F). Stir in the yeast until dissolved. Let stand, uncovered and at room temperature, for at least 12 hours.

Put 1 teaspoon of sugar and 3 raisins in each wine bottle(I used pop bottles, personally), strain mead through a sieve and pour into the bottles. Cap tightly, and store in a cool dark place for 1 t 2 days, until the raisins float to the surface.  Store in the refrigerator until ready to serve.

I usually forget these things, but if you happen to notice the super fun fox t-shirt I'm wearing, I got it here. 

 I've made a few batches of the mead now, and I honestly love the stuff. It's so refreshing in the summer, and it was my first time experimenting with making something carbonated. It does have some alcohol in it, but the content is low (depending on how long you let it sit, I suppose!). This doesn't taste like lemonade- more like a shandy. Served ice cold on a hot summer's day, I can't think of anything better:

Happy Anniversary, Love

(taken at Niagara Falls March 7, 2009- the day after we got married, hours before we left for our honeymoon)

One year ago today, I married the most wonderful man I have ever known. G is a fantastic husband, and I'm so ridiculously lucky. Since we started dating, and even now that we're married, he often tells me something that never fails to make me smile:

I can't wait to spend the rest of my life with you.

Me too, Guy. I can't wait to spend the rest of my life with you.
Happy Anniversary, my love.

Link Love .... and a Madeleine Quest!

Since the demise of Domino and Blueprint (which were pretty awesome shelter magazines for the stylish/ modern/eco-friendly/DIY set), I've noticed that there are some fabulous online shelter magazines cropping up- notably Lonny and Nesting Newbies. People have mixed opinions about online magazines: I personally love them because then I can read magazines at work the embedded links make it a snap to click and discover new shops, designers, and information out there in the vast realm of the internet. Not to mention it means that it is way cheaper to produce issues, so the likelihood of folding reduces significantly.

 

So, if you are looking for a little home decor/ lifestyle magazine fix, click away! The Nesting Newbie link takes you to their website, and the magazine is on the right hand side f the screen. The Lonny link takes you straight to the magazine.  

Now, onto baking!!

I'm on a quest for the perfect madeleine recipe, something that makes each lovely scalloped beauty a delight on the tongue. I had never even thought of them before Christmas, when I received two silicone baking sheets from my in-laws specifically for these shell shaped wonders.

Now, I can take hint. My in laws want madeleines. And who am I to argue with that?

My first attempt with this recipe yielded mediocre results. Okay, I over baked them by about a minute, but that wasn't really the problem- they lacked flavour. Truly a disappointment, because I loved the actual performance of the recipe- The kitchen was lush with the fragrance of melted butter infused with lavender earl grey tea, and muddling the freshly grated lemon zest with the sugar until it smelled like absolute heaven. So why the heck couldn't' you taste the lemon or the earl grey once it was baked? It was as though no earl grey, lavender, or lemon were ever in the same room as these things. Mysteries of the universe, I tell you.

Then I tried this recipe, and I got tasty results, but ugly madeleines- they weren't baked enough, the crumb was really big and muffin-like, and they just needed a bit more finesse. So, I  adjusted the recipe until it was just right.

(my glaze was too runny, and I didn't have any more icing sugar at the cottage to thicken it up. Learn from my mistake!)

Julie's Orange and Cardamom Madeleines
(makes 15-18 madeleines)
Ingredients:
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
1 tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
3/4 cup icing sugar
2 teaspoons finely grated orange zest, plus 2 tablespoons strained orange juice

Directions:
1. Lightly grease and flour your madeleine pan(s). Set aside.
2. Melt the butter in a small saucepan on the stove, adding in the honey, vanilla, and  orange zest. Once butter is melted, remove from heat and let cool (about 15 mins).
3. In a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, cardamom, and salt. Set aside.
4. In your mixing bowl, beat the sugar and eggs on medium high with an electric mixer for 2 minutes.
5. Fold in dry ingredients into the sugar and egg mixture. Then pour the melted butter mixture in, and stir until well combined. Spoon batter into the madeleine tray(s).
6. refrigerate tray(s) for one hour, or overnight. If you refrigerate overnight, press plastic wrap against the trays, covering the batter tightly.
7. When ready to bake, preheat your oven to 350C. Remove plastic wrap if you used it, and pop them directly into the oven for 8-10 minutes.
8. once they are removed from the oven, Allow them to cool briefly in the trays, and then pop them out on to a wire rack to completely cool.
9. mix together the icing sugar and orange juice, to make a thick glaze. Add the orange juice a little at a time, to keep the glaze thick. I also added a bit of vanilla, which worked well. Once madeleines are cooled completely, tip the tip of each madeleine into the glaze, and put onto a plate.
10. Now try to eat only one. Really- I dare you to stop at one.


In my research, it's evident that people are passionate about madeleines. Apparently, with the die-hards you can't even call them cookies. To be fair, they are a lot more cake-like than cookie like. And the batter that is produced is definitely on the wet side... it reminded me of pancake batter. Which led to me wondering if you could bake pancake batter in the madeleine moulds, and then dip them into maple syrup.

Turns out, you can. G and I had an amazing breakfast one morning feasting on scalloped shaped pancakes dipped in small bowls of pure maple syrup. It was so tasty, I didn't think to grab a photo. but trust me on this- madeleine pancake are seriously awesome. Use whatever pancake batter you like best, then bake them in the madeleine pans at 350C for about 7 minutes (I'd check them at 5, in case your oven runs really hot). Enjoy!!