Hallongrottor: Super Easy Raspberry-Filled Shortcrust Pastry
When you have been living in a foreign country for quite a while, you start noticing traits which recur in the people who host you, in my case, Swedes. I cannot tell that I have completely figured them out and I admit that they still puzzle me in many respects. For instance I am not sure I can make sense of their apparent humbleness often coupled with a sense of self as strong as cast iron (material that they know how to master royally, if one only has a look at pots and pans made in this country). It is indeed an odd mixture of pride and shyness. So if you visit Sweden, don’t be fooled by the humble attitude of the most… under the understating surface lies a fierce independence and a proud self-assurance.
This said… although they won’t brag about it easily -while deep inside they know and are very proud of it- Swedes are incredibly talented bakers. Besides their forever crunchy flat breads, they excel at small pastries and sweet buns. In fact, there is an endless variety of this portion-sized sweet treats which go wonderfully with coffee and are so conveniently “transportable”. I guess this is due to the importance of the fika, the coffee time, which is more like a Scandinavian siesta than a coffee break, and it is best enjoyed outdoor.
Hallongrottor (raspberry “caves”) are so easy to make and so incredibly delicious. I filled mine with home made raspberry jam, since Swedish raspberries are in season and the jam made out of them is astounding. The pastry is a classical shortcrust one with almost equal amounts of flour (in my case, whole spelt and stone ground sifted wheat) and butter. By the way… butter is not as bad as we generally think. Besides being a good source of vitamin E and D it can even reduce the glycemix index of high carb food items. So… c’mon indulge yourself a little and be happy (recipe below).
DISCLOSURE: these hallongrottor have been prepared by a 4-y old with the only assistance of an (overtly proud and forever bragging) Italian mother weighting the ingredients-see how incredibly easy these are?
[gmc_recipe 5526]
Barbara Elisi
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Absolutely gorgeous!
Of course, butter is not so bad- so long as you keep in mind the astounding amount of energy it provides. (on one pound of butter you can rum a long time longer than on one pound of lets say white bread…. ) those easy pieces sound truly delicious, and raspberry jam is a real treat here around also, maybe I will make some this season.
These look lovely, my 5 year old daughter is very keen on making her own jam tarts and I think we’d both like this version, especially as they’re “raspberry caves”.. I do love the idea of a fika, celebrating coffee time and outdoors too sounds great to me.
If you substituted some ground almonds or almond flour these buns could almost be gluten free?
These would be perfect with a cup of tea in the afternoon.
Way to bake, Ada! These remind me of the birds’ nest cookies my Nana used to make. I love the Swedish fika concept – somehow the North American “coffee break” just isn’t at all comparable.
How great way to entertain your young daughter!! And you can enjoy biscuits and coffee afterwards. Genius…
These look so delicious, and I love anything with raspberries. What a great recipe! You know I love using whole wheat flours with dessert for both the health reasons but also for the taste. Can’t wait to try this with different fruits as well. Lovely post!
Lovely. Viva la fika! 🙂
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