Best 'fika' in the world

..with Vanilla hearts and chokladbiskvier. Make your own favorite Swedish goodies in your own kitchen. 

  • "Vaniljhjärtan" (or vanilla hearts). Make them now or save the recipe and make them for a special Valentine's Day "fika".

  • Do you have a little extra time? Then roll up your sleeves and make some of the most beloved cookies for the best “fika” (coffee break) in the world. No need for a “kondis” (pastry shop) when you can make the goodies in your own kitchen. Classic Swedish pastries like “vaniljhjärtan” and “chokladbiskvier” need not be impossible to enjoy with your friends over a cup of coffee. We found the recipes at alltommat.se Make sure you have good coffee and serve on pretty porcelain.

  • “Chokladbiskvier” or chocolate macaroons.

  • Chokladbiskvier/Chocolate macaroons
    A classic Swedish cookie with a soft creamy filling. Change the butter cream filling for one with chocolate and you have a Sarah Bernhardt cookie.

  • Swedish favorites for "fika"

  • Ingredients (makes 12 macaroons):
    1 cup almond paste
    1 egg white (save the yolk!)

  • Filling
    2 oz dark chocolate (70%)
    ½ cup butter, room temperature
    1 cup confectioner’s sugar
    2 teaspoons vanilla sugar (or vanilla extract)
    1 egg yolk

  • Topping
    7 oz dark chocolate (70%)

  • Instruction:
    Preheat oven to 350° F. Grind the almond paste, but not finely, and add the egg white, a little at a time. It’s important to stir the batter smooth in between adding more of the egg white. You don’t want the batter to be lumpy, it should be smooth and quite thick.
    Fill a pastry bag with the batter and pipe the batter into round discs (these will be the cookie bases). Bake in the oven for about 12 minutes until they are a golden brown color. Let them cool before you remove them and then put aside on a grid with the smooth surface up.
    Melt the chocolate for the filling either in a microwave or use a Bain-Marie (water bath). Beat butter, sugar, vanilla and egg yolk until smooth and fluffy. Turn the melted chocolate into the egg yolk batter. Spread the buttery chocolate cream onto the baked cookies, make little “peaks” and let stiffen (approximately 30 minutes in the fridge). Break the chocolate for the topping in smaller pieces and melt (microwave or Bain-Marie). Dip the macaroons into the chocolate. Let sit in the fridge before serving.

  • Vaniljhjärtan/Vanilla hearts
    If not now, then tuck away this recipe for a Valentine’s Day fika!
    This recipe makes 16 pastries and takes about 2 hours to make.

  • Ingredients:
    Dough:
    1-3/5 cups flour
    2/5 cups potato starch
    2/5 cups sugar
    2 tsp vanilla sugar
    1 tbsp cold water
    3/4 cup butter

  • Vanilla custard:
    3/5 cups whipping cream
    1 egg yolk
    2 tsp sugar
    1 tbsp potato starch
    2 tsp vanilla sugar (or vanilla extract)

  • Topping:
    Confectioner's sugar

  • Instruction:
    Mix the dry ingredients for the dough then add the butter. Add the water and make it into a dough. Put in a plastic bag and place in the fridge. Mix all the ingredients for the custard except the vanilla in a saucepan. Let it simmer and stir until it thickens. Let it cool and then add the vanilla. Roll out the dough and cut in heart shapes. Fill with custard and put dough over as a lid.

  • Put the forms on a pan and bake in the lower part of the oven in 400° F for about 15 minutes. Carefully take the pastries out of the forms while they're still warm. Let them cool. Powder some confectioner's sugar on top before serving.