ScandiKitchen: Fika and Hygge

Any ideas what the words fika and hygge mean? I’ll give you a clue: one word has something to do with coziness in winter and the other one – something with extremely tasty breaks. Yet as I’m not a specialist in Scandinavian languages or culture I will tell you more about these two words while we browse a lovely new book – ScandiKitchen: Fika and Hygge by Bronte Aurell.

As you can already see this is a cookbook. And the best thing about it is… It’s full of wonderful desserts! By the way, keep reading if you’d love to have a go at making a special Banana Cake which isn’t “like all the others”; at the end of this post you will find its recipe. But first of all lets find out more about Scandikitchen and its owners.

Scandikitchen is actually a cafe and a grocery shop in London’s West End. It was “born out of pure homesickness and a need to find a space where people could meet for a fika – a cup of coffee and a bite of something sweet to eat”. The owners Bronte and Jonas Aurell come from Denmark and Sweden, so their shop is full off food that can only be found in these countries and their cafe menu lists traditional Scandinavian buns, cakes and little pastries. It’s a wonderful place where “anyone can feel a sense of hygge, a state of content coziness with friends where nothing else seems to matter”.

Sadly I haven’t been to Scandikitchen, but it is one of the places I’d love to go to when I’m in London next. Meanwhile I’m really glad I have their book. Short dark winter days are perfect for drinking hot coffee and sneaking in desserts (I’ll worry about the extra kilos later…). Thinking about it, in the next few days I might bake Real Cinnamon Buns and Danish Pastry Kringle… hmm… Blondie with Lavender and Lemon sounds good as well! No need to be jealous, I can guarantee you’d also find what to make as this book offers plenty of lovely recipes for cookies and biscuits, traybakes, little fancy cakes, celebration cakes and even breads.

You might not be a keen baker, but I’d still recommend this book, especially if you’d like to know more about Scandinavian culture. Reading it you will find out what English word Danish hygge might be related to and that there actually are a few different kinds of fika, also you’ll be introduced to the most important Scandinavian winter celebrations – Sankta Lucia and jul (Christmas), oh, and seven kinds of biscuits and even a cookbook that you would find in every Swedish household.

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And here’s the promised recipe for That Banana Cake. I’m sure you’ll love it! (SERVES 8–10)

You will need:

3 ripe bananas
1 teaspoon lemon juice
125 g butter, softened
300 g caster sugar
3 eggs
200 g plain flour or cake flour
50 g cornflour
1/2 teaspoon salt
11/2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons vanilla sugar OR extract OR use the seeds from 1 vanilla pod
250 g Greek yogurt, OR natural yogurt OR 250ml filmjölk

ICING:
125 g butter, softened
125 g cream cheese
1 teaspoon vanilla sugar OR extract OR use the seeds from 1 vanilla pod
freshly squeezed juice of 1/2 lime
300 g icing sugar, sifted
chopped pecan nuts, to decorate

a 23-cm springform round cake pan, greased and lined with baking parchment

Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F) Gas 4.
Blend the bananas with the lemon juice in a food processor to a purée and set aside.
Cream together the butter and sugar in a stand mixer (or using a hand-held electric whisk) until very smooth, light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well with each addition.
Sift the dry ingredients together in a separate bowl and then fold into the batter. Add the banana purée, bit by bit, and fold in. Then gently fold in the yogurt or soured milk until combined.
Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan and bake in the preheated oven for around 50–55 minutes or until golden brown and springy to the touch. A skewer inserted into the middle should come out clean. The baking time with this cake varies depending on the size of the bananas that have gone in, so keep checking.
Turn out the cake and leave to cool on a wire rack. It must be completely cool before adding the topping, so ideally make it several hours in advance.
For the icing, whisk together the butter, cream cheese, vanilla, lime juice and icing sugar for several minutes until very smooth and creamy. If it becomes too soft then chill in the refrigerator for 20 minutes before use.
Spread the icing generously onto the cooled cake and decorate with a small handful of chopped pecan nuts.

Let me know how quickly this cake disappeared in your house!

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Taken from ScandiKitchen: Fika & Hygge by Brontë Aurell, published by Ryland Peters & Small. Photography by Peter Cassidy © Ryland Peters & Small.

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