Kladdkaka

Hej!

So this is a request for a member of my Swedish language group on livejournal (probably where all of my readers are from). I'll be honest and say that I've never heard of kladdkaka until that time. I looked it up and lo! and behold! The kladdkaka is actually popular in America, known as the dense brownie.

This recipe was fun to do because I couldn't find any English recipes and had to move on to translating Swedish. Of course, doing the conversions from decileters to cups was a bit annoying, but in the end it was all worth it.

This recipe was a great success with my room mates, my boyfriend, and I. I poured the batter into a 9x9 pan which resulted in a thinner brownie. Being the cook that I am, I figured that I can just cut it in half and stack them to make a double layer, yum-yum kladdkaka. I also added a layer of blackberry jam in the middle. Not traditional, but really completed the flavor.

Kladdkaka

Ingredients:
1.5 cups flour
1 cup sugar (or vanilla sugar if you have it)
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa (I used kakao because it's a little healthier.)
1/4 teaspoon vanilla (omit if you're using vanilla sugar.)
9 tbsp vegan butter, melted
3 tbsp syrup (I used maple)
1/2 cup of vegan milk (I used soy)
Jelly (optional)
almonds or hazelnuts (optional)

P. Preheat oven to 400ºF
1. Sift and mix together the flour, sugar, and cocoa.
2. Mix the butter and syrup together until very well blended. Add the milk and mix thoroughly.
3. Pour the liquid ingredients into the dry the ingredients and mix mix mix! (this is the fun part)
4. Grease a baking dish and pour the batter into, making sure the top is as smooth as possible.
5. Add the almonds or hazelnuts to the top if you have them.
6. Put the kladkaka in the oven for NO MORE than 20 minutes (mine was in for about 16 minutes before I turned the oven off and let it sit inside for the next 4 minutes)
7. Take out and let it cool. If the outside doesn't harden a little, put it back in the oven for a few more minutes. Let it cool again. (mine was soft when I took it out of the oven the first time and got a nice stiffness as it cooled off.)
8. If you want to double layer it, cut the kladdkaka in half and put a layer of jelly of your choice on top of one half. Place the other half on top.
Enjoy with sweetened soy milk, coffee, or chai!
Be warned that this recipe really sits in your stomach like the dense brownie that it is. Not good to eat before doing anything other than relaxing.

Skål!

Sju skönsjungande sjuksköterskor skötte sjuttiosju sjösjuka sjömän på skeppet Shanghai

You knew it was coming. This is the bane of every non-Scandinavian-learning-a-Scandinavian-language's existence, and the best way to poke fun at utlänningar. I'm speaking, of course, about the diphthongs sj, kj, and sk.

When I first heard the letter 7 a shiver shot right down my spine. "How do these two letters make that sound," I thought, rethinking my passion for Sweden. A conversation with a Swede went like this (imagine Me bastardizing the word beyond recognition):

Me: Sju
Swede: No
M: Sju
S: No
M: sju
S: Ssssjjjjjjuuu
M: sju
S: sju
M: sju
s: sju
M: I give up.
S: Good.

I'm sure anyone who has asked a Swede about those letters had the same conversation. Left with a sense of despair, I would repeat, what I would name, "Satan's Sound" nonstop until I got tired. When I would read something in Swedish out loud and see the sj, kj, sk I would regard it with a look of contempt and skip it. I grumble and curse the language!

But alas! There is hope! During one of those nights when I can't sleep, I decided to do some research on the sound. Then I found this website. It's amazing. It gives you the English sh sound, then the Swedish sj/sk/kj/skj etc etc sound. I listened to the girl say, "Shoe, sju," about 80 different times. Now it's my mantra. I often lay around saying, "Shoe, sju. Shoe, sju. Sju shoe!" While my Korean housemate gives me a funny look and skurries off to the bathroom.
http://www2.hhs.se/isa/swedish/chap9.htm#sjsound

I hope that site helps any learners out there. Keep strong my brothers and sisters. We'll pull through! We just have to stick together!

Adjö

p.s. If a Swedish reader can record them saying the tongue twister in the title, please post it online so that I can put a link to it on my blog. I think we'd all get a kick out of it.