Swedish Cakes and Cookies

by ICA Test Kitchens, Birgitte Rasmusson (Editor)

Known in Sweden as "Sju sorters kakor," this little book is a modern classic. It has featured cookies, cakes, breads, tortes and other delights of the Swedish cake table since 1945. Available in English for the first time, this book has been modernized and improved over the years. Today's edition, with almost 300 recipes, is a combination of new, modern cakes and pastries, as well as classic favorites. Full-color photographs on every page will inspire even the most reluctant baker to whip up a batch or two of Swedish cookies!

Genres: Cookbooks, Cooking, Food, Nonfiction, Swedish Literature, Reference, Scandinavian Literature

192 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2005

Reviews

[Juli Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Old-fashioned (in a good way) and encyclopedic.

[Sofia Brito · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love this book and I am certain I will be going back to it many times. Lovely and easy to make cakes. Try Minnie's Almond Cake and the Chocolate cake. They are perfect to have with tea and indulge yourselves in a kind of Granny's inspiring atmosphere.

[Annelie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book, with authentic Swedish cookies and cakes.

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

A lot of tasty recipes included.

[Dray · Rating 4 out of 5]

The title sells this book short...it has danish and other pastries, bars, fruit and much more. Quite a collection and well worth reading.

[Allyson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I tried one recipe from this book and it came out terribly (the cookies spread...a lot). Haven't tried any of the others, but there are definitely cookie recipes I'd like to try. The recipes are rather old/traditional, so I'm not sure how tasty they would be to most people these days (specifically, Americans who are used to chocolate chip cookies and the like). Three stars because the cookies I made sucked, and I think the amounts listed were sometimes vague.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an unexpected gem, with really good, concise step-by-step instructions and photographs. A lot of the recipes are older, and surprisingly simple (though the pastry chapter isn't for the novice). Especially if you're looking to try some new cakes and breads over the holidays, this is worth checking out. The highlights for me were the butter cake and cookie chapters. There's Bundt cakes aplenty here!

[Rose Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

6/26/2013 -- Made the Simple Danish Pastries, instead of the more complicated Danish. Don't waste your time with the simple ones. They were terrible! I'll try the real ones next time, I'll keep you posted!

[Sandy Weir · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not my regular genre, but with Christmas closing it, I was asking a Swedish friend who tells about her cakes? She suggested this basic book and it is sterling! Basic instructions on a wide range of classic cookies, cakes and temptations. Beautifully illustrated and great suggestions. A treasure!

[Kathleen]

There is a recipe in here for something called "radio cake." Love it!

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really like the idea of having coffee in the afternoon with 7 different kinds of pastries. I think I will buy a copy of this one.

[Mandy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has inspired my new "Need to Own" shelf.

[April Sotomayor · Rating 4 out of 5]

currently reading/currently drooling/currently wishing i tried more pastries in sweden.

[Caroline · Rating 5 out of 5]

The soft rolls filled with vanilla cream chase me in my dreams. I hope they catch me one of these nights.

[Salvatore · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solid Swedish treats recipes, no nonsense or excess. Though you may want to consider salt in some of the recipes.

[Mckinley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Someday I will try making some of these.

[Debbie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Made Cookies Russ loved them!
It is a book I will buy.

[Tiffiny · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yum!

[Lily P. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this on Kindle--so page formatting was sometimes a little odd.

However, the recipes (and accompanying photos) are inspiring. Several items are classics and I can see derivatives of these recipes in Upper Pennisula 1950's and 1960's church cookbooks. There are many decedents of Sweden, Norway and Finland immigrants in this area of the U.S.

I note that similar recipes in the U.S. call for consistently more sugar. (often the Swedish version is 1/3 cup sugar compared the 1/2 cup sugar in the U.S.). And there's a lot more usage of potato starch (or corn starch) in the recipes.

Lots of almonds--but that's cool because I LOVE almonds.

Have tagged over 50 recipes as ones I'm highly interested in trying. Including how to make your own puff pastry, cream puff pastry and butter cookies.

This book is a great companion for fans of the Great British Baking Show. You'll learn the difference between sponge cake and genoise cake--and how to make each. There's even a recipe for Pinocchio Cake. With the current state of politics here, I might have to try making one of those.