Family Recipe Friday - Radiokaka (Hedgehog slice)

A must have in every Swedish home is the book "Sju sorters kakor" (seven kinds of cookies). The book is named after the tradition of having at least 7 kinds of cookies at social gatherings known as kafferep (coffee rope) where you drink coffee, eat cookies and talk. The tradition comes from the end of the 19th century and in 1945 a book with recipe got its name from it. Since then the book has come out in 83 editions.

One of the recipes reminds me of my childhood Chrismases. Mom used to make a so called Radiokaka, in English known as Hedgehog slice. I did not always like it but I have made it as a grown up for Christmas and I am thinking about doing one this year too. The story of the name of the cake is that in the 1920's, when radio had become popular, it was said that the cake did not make so much noice when eaten so therefore it was perfect to eat while listening to the radio. The cake also looks like the radio of that time with the bars infront of the speakers.

Recipe:

200-250 grams of coconut fat

200 grams dark chocolate

2 eggs

3 deciliters of icing sugar

25 buiscuits (square or round)

Melt the fat and the chocolate, low temperature, in a pot. Whisk the eggs and the icing sugar untill it is really fluffy. Stir slowly and carefully the lukewarm chocolat fat into the egg and icing sugar.

Dress an oblong cake pan, about 1,5 litres, with a baking sheet. Spred a layer of the chocolate paste on the bottom and then a layer of buiscuits, then another layer of chocolate and then buiscuits again. Keep going but end with the chocolate paste. Put the pan in a fridge over night. Cut the cake in thin slices and serve at once. 

This is the Swedish version of the cake but when I googled Hedgehog slice I found other versions with nuts and other fillings.

I also found the book in English at Amazon http://www.amazon.com/Swedish-Cakes-Cookies-Melody-Favish/dp/1602392625

Hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I do.

Sources:
http://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sju_sorters_kakor_(bok)
http://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sju_sorters_kakor
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hedgehog_slice
http://www.icakuriren.se/mat-dryck/recept/radiokaka/

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Family Recipe Friday - Chess Squares

I have an old cook book after my grandmother. It is not perhaps that old since it was printed in 1955 but still a lot has changed since then. It covers everything the then modern house wife needed to know about cooking and baking.

On of my favourite recipes is Chess Squares. They are really easy to bake cookies. All you need is:

• 200 grams of butter 
• 1 dl sugar
• 4,5 dl wheat flour
• 2 teaspoons vanilla sugar
• 2 Tbs cocao

Mix the butter and sugar. Add the flour and work the dough so that it just holds together. Do not knead. Split the dough into two halves and add cocao to one half and vanilla sugar to the other half. Split each dough into two and roll them inte balls before rolling them into lengths. Put one dark length nest to a light one and then put a dark one on the light one and a light one on the lower dark one. Try to make them as square as possible befor puttin foil around the dough and putting it in the fridge for two hours or freezer for 30 min.

Take out the dough and take of the foil.  Cut the dought into 3-4 mm thick cookies with a sharp knife. Put the cookies on an oven tray. Put the tray in the oven for 8-10 minutes in 200 degrees celsius. Let the cookies cool off. Keep them in a jar or put them in the freezer.

Variations of the chess squares.

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