Food: Summering in Sweden with Swedish Summer Cake

For the past few years, my wanderlust has been firmly fixated on Summer time in Sweden.  I'm not sure if this is because I imagine they have the same long summer nights that we do, being close to the Arctic Circle, or if I just want to get my fish-crazy chow on in a lovely country known more for their social advancement and flat pack furniture than their history, but I have a serious jones on for some Sweden in the summer.

Summer cabin outside of Stockholm via freecabinporn.com

That being said, I also am firmly planted in the camp of not wanting to travel internationally with 2 small kids.  Canada is a big enough country, and just heading West to see my own family is an effort of Herculian patience and fortitude, so, yes flying internationally is not my current cup of tea.  Which means, I can just dream instead.

available at amazon

I've been stoking my Swede-love by reading Marcus Samuelsson's 'Yes, Chef', which I find hard to put down, (I love a good memoir, and I love reading about food as well, so...BAM!)

Also, to make use of the one million delicious fruits and berries produced in Ontario and Quebec this time of year (since these are the ones we get up here), I've been making my version of Nigella Lawson's Swedish Summer Cake from her Kitchen cookbook. 

 My love of cookbooks knows no bounds, and I remember reading the recipe sometime in the deep dark winter, and feeling intrigued, with the hopes of exploring it during a warmer season.  The other day we were having an amazing mid-summer, mid-week feast consisting entirely of barbecued peel and eat shrimp and corn on the cob, when I decided we were looking at the perfect time to test out the Swedish Summer Cake.  I couldn't remember if it was a Sophie Dahl recipe or a Nigella recipe, but once located, I decided to make a few changes.  The differences being, mine's easier:  Where Nigella splits her cake into 3 tiers, I stick to 2.  And while Nigella prefers a gooey, eggy custard for her middle layers, I stick to the ultimate in simplicity, Nature's icing, whipped cream and Nature's sprinkles, fruit.

Here's my adaptation, converted from grams, so excuse the wonkiness of that!

Swedish Summer Cake

 (adapted from Nigella Lawson's Kitchen: Recipes from the Heart of the Home)

                                                            356 F for 35 minutes

3 eggs

1 heaping cup of white sugar (like, pyramiding at the top heaping)

90 ml recently boiled water

1.5 tsp of baking powder

0.8 cup of all purpose flour

half a small carton of whipping cream (35%)

1 tsp vanilla

1 tbsp honey

1 9-inch springform pan with removable bottom

parchment paper

strawberries, peaches, blueberries, raspberries, etc. (the fruit and quantity of your choice, really)

Preheat the oven to 356 F.  This is me being finnicky, but when I converted 180 celsius to fahrenheit via google, 356 F is what I came out with.  I bet 350 F would work just as well, but you might need another minute.

Prep the springform pan by cutting the parchment paper round to fit the bottom, and then spray or grease the sides of the pan.

I used my Kitchenaid mixer to whip this cake up, starting with the 3 eggs and sugar.  It is important to whip it fast and long, as you want the egg/sugar combo to double in size and become pale and velvety.  Once it gets there, turn the mixer down a notch while you pour in the 90 ml of water.  

In another bowl, mix up your baking powder and flour.  When they're mixed, start adding them to the still whisking mixer, stopping only to scrape down the sides to ensure everything is well combined.  

Pour the batter into your springform pan.  Into the oven it goes, and keep the oven light on so you can check on your progress.  It should take about 35 minutes, but you should really be basing the doneness on how golden brown the top is, and if you get a clean cake tester out of it.  

While it's baking, clean  up your Kitchenaid bowl and whisker, then completely dry it off.  Pour the whipping cream into the bowl once it and the whisker are securely attached to your machine again, and start whipping.  I like to put my vanilla in early, but I like to leave the honey until the cream starts to form soft peaks.  Keep whipping until the whipping cream forms stiff peaks, then stop.

Once the cake is baked, take it out to cool for 10-15 minutes before very carefully running a butter knife around the edge of the cake.  Then spring open your springform.  I like to pull the cake out and pull the parchment off the bottom before letting it cool a little more on a cake plate.  

Right before serving, use a serrated bread knife to slice horizontally through the middle of the cake.  Very carefully lift the top layer of the cake off and set it aside on a dinner plate.  I use my cake server and the serrated bread knife to lift the top layer, to ensure it doesn't break, but if it does break, you can just place it back on top afterwards and hide everything with whipping cream and berries.  

Plop a large dollop of whipping cream on the bottom half of the cake that you cut. Smooth it out and add some fruit, as much as you want, and then replace the top half of the cake.  Plop another large dollop of whipping cream and spread it out so it covers the entire top of your cake.  Add the rest of your fruit, slicing the larger fruit (peaches and strawberries) and leaving the smaller berries au naturel.

Slice it up, serve to your friends and loved ones and enjoy.  A slice of this tastes great with tea for breakfast the next day, while reading Yes, Chef, and I'm sure might also be good while perusing the latest Ikea Catalor right after you down your requisite bowl of chia seeds and hemp hearts.

                                                                 Serves 8-10

Teething Delirium

Daffers via my BB

The above photo is a wonderful depiction of how terrifically tired I feel, as expressed by my infant daughter.  D is sprouting a few more teeth, and her pain happened to worsen at around 5 AM.  5 AM also happens to be my can`t-get-back-to-sleep-if-wakened time.  So, I am tired to the nth degree, Daff is napping, and H is spending an awful lot of time watching Dora today.  Although we did have a crafting picnic on the rug where we collaged and made flag banners with origami paper.  That was fun.  Also, it is pouring rain, so all of our bike riding and or strolling plans were literally dampened.  Officially, an unawesome Tuesday.  

PS I know what you`re thinking: Is Daff crawling around at some ancient Greek ruin.  Nope, those are just the ridiculously ornate support beams holding up the indoor pergola in our rental. And yes, that wall colour is essentially Mexican Tan, the bane of my existence.  Can`t wait to live in a house that we OWN!

An Ode to Found Toys

We've been exploring, and lately, we've been finding quite a few homeless toys.  Lately I've been letting H pick them up to be scrubbed down at home, for a few reasons:

1) Found toys are free toys

2)Found toys left on the ground are essentially litter, and litter bugs we ain't!

3)Found toys left on the ground end up having rough, scary nights, where they are 
unprotected from wild dogs and ravaging rains.

4)Found toys are easily gotten over once they're sucked back into the vortex of lost toys.

thanks instagram!

Here's our latest find.  See that smile?  He is watching the rain and the wind whip outdoors following his warm and soapy bath.  I think he's counting his lucky stars that we found him before he was left out to the elements and the mosquitoes.

Top 5 Grown Up Songs I Sing to my Kids*

Who doesn't love a list?  No-body!


The other day as I was prepping Daffy for her bath, I noticed the song I was singing her might have been a little...ummm, inappropriate?


You see, I was waxing lyrical to that great classic Nelly song (remember him?  Baseball and Philly?) Hot in Here**.  Because, you know what, it WAS getting hot in the bathroom, and Daff WAS getting all of her clothes off.  So I kept singing it. 


But it got me thinking, what kind of songs am I singing to my kids?!  And should I put the kaibosh on it, or just change up the lyrics?  I thought about it for, oh, about 10 minutes, and came up with this list:

1. Nelly-Hot in Here

2.Bill Withers-Lovely Day

How can you not sing this song to your kids everyday?!?  When I look at you/then the world's alright with me/just one look from you/ and I know its going to be/ a lovely day!  It is the soundtrack in my head when I wake up every morning. I find the bass at the start is kind of perfect tossing-off-the-sheets music. Plus, its just an awesome song.  Try and argue against that fact.

3. The Beatles-All My Lovin'

Ok, this one is kind of a reach, because the song is fairly tame.  But I do sing it all the time, and I'm pretty sure this isn't a Beatles song that was specifically geared towards children (although the verdict is still out on Octopus' Garden, Yellow Submarine and countless others).  I also love the version of this in the movie "Across the Universe".  Le sigh.

4. Elton John-Bennie & The Jets/Rocketman/Your Song/ Daniel

I pretty much sing the Elton John songbook whenever I get a chance.  For instance, this morning when I thought I had tuned the radio to CBC, I had actually only made it to the Eazzzzy Listening station, and they were playing Daniel, so I sang along to Daff as she ate her breaky.  Bennie & The Jets is my go-to, tried and true Karaoke classic, and Your Song is just the sweetest.  Rocketman is fun too.  Dear Elton, thanks for the hits, love, us.

5. Young, Wild and Free-Wiz Khalifa and Snoop D. O double G.

This one is probably the most kid-inappropriate, am I right?  I used to crank this while going to my 6:30 AM yoga class, to try and wake myself up, otherwise, you know, it's zombie yoga.  Clearly, this is a song about a specific lifestyle.  Considering that, I changed the lyrics to suit my lifestyle:  "So what we work out?  So what we drink tea?  We're just having fun, and we don't care who sees!  Living as a young mom-my!".  I like to imagine that if Snoop dizzle ever heard my lyrics, he would officially retire this song, and never sing it again.  A big Wah-wahnnnnn!

So, in conclusion, I guess I'll keep it up with whatever song I feel the need to sing, and can exercise my brain by trying to re-write the lyrics to make them a little more, erm...kid friendly?  

*I also sing "Hazel" by Bob Dylan because that is the song that we named Hazel after.  And, funnily enough, I change those lyrics too, from "dirty blond hair" to "pretty brown hair".


**(as a side note, way back in the day when my bestie and I both worked at a bakery that became unbearably warm as the day went on, we would sing a poorly translated version of the song in French, which went a little like this: "Sa devient chaud ici, enlever tous tes vetements...sa devient si chaud, j'enleve tous mes vetements!"  This is essentially what 13 years of French Immersion education will get you).

Rainy Days and Museums = Made for Each Other

(all photos from my instagram)

While today is dry so far, yesterday there was so much rain in Toronto that the subway flooded.


I for one enjoy the odd rainy day, as it gives us all a chance to chill out, relax, and do something inside.  Like going to the museum.  


We headed to the Royal Ontario Museum the other day and checked out the sites.  I was really impressed with how engaged our 3.5 year old was.  She didn't get bored once.  She did however want to get the heck out of the bat cave as soon as possible. 


Personally, I was really into all the jewelry from ancient Rome.  And can we talk about that gift shop?  I had to  put my blinders on just to get out of there with my wallet intact.

(can you imagine having this dressing mirror in your house?)

(Reading teepee...complete with fake buffalo skin pillows.  

Shouldn't we all have a reading teepee?)

When I was a kid we had a framed German poster in our house about museums being fun.  I thought it said museums can be space machines (since I don't understand any German).   Those Germans are right.  Museums are fun.  Especially when you get to experience them with kids.

Our museum adventure was followed by a delicious lunch at C5, the restaurant in the newly added section of the museum.  What a space, and a fantastic, laid back menu.

The Importance of Napping

(photo of NAP pillow covers: counterculturedesign etsy shop)

Napping.  What an incredibly subjective topic.  Yet so important!  I personally can't stand napping.  I'm one of those people who gets really groggy and actually feels worse following a nap than they did before.  If I'm going to snooze for any length of time, give me at least 6 hours!  On the flip side, my own father can actually lay on a couch (a couch!?!), fall asleep for 10 minutes (10 minutes?!!  WTF?!?!) and then wake up feeling like he just bathed in a cool spring full of daisies and lilacs (he's actually never described it as such, but I've seen the pep in his step following his mini siestas, which has led me to believe that my description is accurate.)

My husband, as well, is a fan of the nap.  He is actually having a 5 o'clock vacation nap as I type.  He gets it from his mother who could nap on a deck chair through a hurricane.  Ok, slight exaggeration...she could nap through a tropical storm.  

But really, to me, naps are most important for children and babies.  My eldest was always a great napper, but she is getting to the age where she wants to phase out the naps.  The problem is, she needs to nap.  When rested, she is the world's MOST PLEASANT child.  When she is in need of rest, her stubborn, sullen side comes out.  On our recent trip to the Florida Keys, we didn't keep up with naps, and there were plenty of tears and tantrums by bed time.  Today, I made sure to get back into the napping schedule.  For her sanity, and for my sanity.  For our mutual sanity.

As for the baby, she's napping about 2-3 times a day.  She'll wake up around 8 AM, then nap about 11 AM, for roughly an hour.  She'll then take a mid afternoon nap around 3:00  PM, about the same time that her sister goes down.  Another short nap around 5:30 or 6 PM will keep her in good spirits through bath and bedtime at 8:00 PM.  

Definitely my favourite nap of the day is the afternoon nap, when there's some overlapping quiet time.

When it comes to myself, not only do I feel groggy following a nap, I also feel guilty.  There's something grotesquely decadent about daytime napping to me.  But really, many studies show it is incredibly important for our health and for combating stress.  Maybe I can train myself to nap.  Or maybe I'll nap when I'm older.  

Ah, naps.

Hipster Dessert: Macarons!

Today, the sweet, delicious cupcake has met it's match.  I had my  first macaron today.  Blackberry Chocolate.  So good.  It wasn't planned.  We picked some macarons up for dessert at the Rosedale location of Nadege Patisserie.

martha stewart recipe

Hazey loved her chocolate macaron, and her dad loved her salted caramel.  Apparently the chai and pistachio macarons were delicious as well.  I wish we bought more, but at the same time, I'm glad I was limited to only one.

I found out after the fact that BlogTO has declared Nadege's to be the best in Toronto.  So it's official.  We've had the best macarons available here.  Paris, here we come.