Usually, when I post something about my travels, I try to combine it with a recipe that is typical for that country or region. However, that was a tad difficult for Sweden. The best cinnamon roll recipe ever already exists and I don´t know that much else about the typical Swedish or Scandinavian cuisine. We did eat fantastic food on our trips though, especially the breakfast was to die for. Fresh, regional, organic produce is apparently very popular in Scandinavia and I loved it. We had everything, from Smørrebrød and cinnamon buns to Falafel, Toast with Avocado, Pizza and Fish & Chips. But the best things, hands down, was the breakfast we had in Stockholm and Copenhagen. And that´s why I decided to try and recreate it at home, mostly in order to cure my post-vacation blues.
The first (and best) breakfast we had was in Stockholm at Pom & Flora. It´s a lovely little café that has the most amazing selection of different healthy and delicious breakfasts. We tried their toast with avocado and egg and yoghurt with fresh fruit, tahini and chia seeds and we were absolutely estatic. It was right there that I decided to try and do this at home. Of course you never get the real deal and I did change it a bit but it hits as close to home as I had hoped. The fruit is completely depending on what is in season right now. I imagine that it is also very delicious with some ripe plums during fall or fresh strawberries in the spring.
Greek yoghurt with maple-tahini-topping, fresh fruit and caramelized seeds (serves 1):
150 greek yoghurt or quark
2 tbsp. tahini
2-3 tbsp. maple sirup
1-2 tbsp. seeds (sunflower seeds, sesame, pumpkin seeds…)
1 tbsp. honey
Fresh fruit
1) Mix tahini with maple sirup, taste, add more maple sirup if necessary. It should not be too sweet. Roast seeds in a pan until they are golden brown. Add honey and let caramelize. Place on parchment paper and let cool, then crush into little pieces.
2) To serve, place yoghurt or quark in a bowl. Add fruit, maple-tahini-topping and top of with the seeds.
We had our second breakfast at Grød in Copenhagen, a café that serves delicious oatmeal. I chose oats with berries, nuts and chocolate, while my boyfriend got oats with vanilla-apple-compote, skyr and roasted seeds. It was very delicious and made me ask myself, why I haven´t got the idea to serve oatmeal with apple-compote before.
Oatmeal with vanilla-apple-compote, yoghurt and roasted seeds (serves 1):
250 ml cow or plant milk
6-7 tbsp. rolled oats
1 kg apples
1 vanilla bean
125 ml water
50 ml maple sirup
1-2 tbsp. roasted nuts or seeds of your choice
2-3 tbsp. plain yoghurt
1). For the apple compote, peel apples and cut into little pieces. Place in a pot, together with water, maple sirup and the core of the vanilla bean and bring to cook. Let simmer for 5-10 minutes until the apples are soft. Fill into a jar and let cool. The recipe makes for more than what is required for the oats but it is just as delicious on its own.
2) There are two ways to prepare the oatmeal. You could either put milk and rolled oats in the fridge overnight and enjoy cold the next day. Or you could place milk and rolled oats in a pot, bring to cook and let simmer for a little bit until the oats are soft.
3) To serve, place oatmeal in a bowl. Add apple compote, yoghurt and top with roasted nuts or seeds.
