Finnish Christmas treats from Dec 2011

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Perunalaatikko
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This came out like a rather posh, creamy, and caramelised potato mash.  It does take rather a long
time with the fermenting and slow cooking, but I think was worth it.  I remember the versions
we ate as kids being more fermented (this one was perhaps more to my taste, perhaps because not
so warm in Edinburgh kitchen to really ferment it)

1 kg potatoes (old mashing potatoes)
1 dl flour
50g butter
~ 1/2 litre milk
2tsp salt
1/2 tsp nutmeg

boil potatoes in their skins without salt till easily mashable.
Throw away water.  
Peel skins and mash.
Add flour and mix in.
Cover and leave in wall place for 4+ hours (or overnight) in warm place.
(Recipe suggests mixing a couple of times in that period, we didn't bother)
Add butter, melted.
Add enough milk to make it "loose" (fairly liquid)
add salt and nutmeg
(if fermenting hasn't made sweet enough, add golden syrup/sugar. We didn't)
Put in greased dish.  Don't overfill, as might rise (ours didn't)

150 deg C, about 3 hours (will go golden brown, but not spectacularly, as such
low temperature)




Lanttulaatikko
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This is recipe mum used this year.  I've previously used 
http://aweebitofcooking.co.uk/2008/12/12/lanttulaatikko/
which works pretty well too.  
You can pretty much use this as a drop-in substitute for 
carrot and swede mash and it goes down surprisingly well even with Finnish food skeptics.

2 swedes (> 1kg)
0.5 l water
2-3 tsp salt
butter
1 dl breadcrumbs
2 dl full-fat milk OR single cream (kermamaitoa)
1 egg
2-3 Tsp golden syrup
1/2 tsp ginger / cinammon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp white pepper

Peel/chop swedes, boil with salt till very soft.
Reserve water!
Mash.
Add lump butter. (says mum)
Add breadcrumbs soaked in milk
Add egg, spices, and golden syrup
Add cooking water till "smooth and nice"
Put in buttered dish
decorate with spoon
add more breadcrumbs and butter on top

Cook 175 deg. C 1.5 hours till nice and golden and lovely

Korvapuusti ("box in the ear", cinammon swirl pulla)
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2 sachets dried active yeast (or equivalent)
5 dl milk
2 tsp salt
2 dl sugar (1 mug) (mum uses granulated for most things)
1 Tsp cardamom (Finnish is best!)
1 kg strong flour
200g nice marge (or butter if you insist)
butter

Started off with 800g of flour.  You can use the rest of the 1kg to get the
right consistency, and later to roll etc.
Add yeast, salt, sugar, cardamom
Add milk (hand hot, not so much to kill yeast)
Add more flour as appropriate
Add the marge
Mix well.  Add flour as appropriate.  
You get the best results if you use as little flour as possible, while still
being to get dough shiny, and off hands and out of bowl.  
Work well kneading, pulling, etc.
You can rise dough now if you want (but we didn't bother).
Roll it out with sufficient flour, from a sausage to a thin oblong.
Butter the rolled out dough.  (if it's not soft, you can melt it and brush it
on)
Sprinkle on sugar and cinammon.
Roll into a sausage.
Cut into trapezium wedges.  
For each wedge, push down and pinch on middle bar, which pushes up the 2
round spirals.
(There are 100s of ways to form and decorate pulla)
Allow to rise till it jumps back when you push it.
(If it's too warm, it'll rise lots, and gets overly yeasty)
Brush with egg.
Add Finnish cluster-sugar if available, or crushed almonds etc. if you like)

Bake 8-12 minutes at 225 deg C till nicely golden brown.  Keep an eye on them.