China Crumpet

Breakfast is one of those things that you always miss when you are not at home, isn’t it? I consider myself pretty adventurous when it comes to eating but nothing for me beats a good old Swedish breakfast of warm rolls, a selection of hard and soft cheeses, deli-meats, some sliced veggies, home made jam, a soft boiled egg and a glass of orange juice. And the paper of course.

Here in Beijing, breakfast has been a particular challenge. We quickly ruled out you tiao, baozi, tea soaked eggs and warm soy milk. Although they are all delicious and it is nice to once in a while experience a true Beijing breakfast experience, the taste profile of that particular breakfast is not what I get out of bed for.

Lining up for some delicious shaobing and soy milk

For a while now, we have settled the matter by making oatmeal porridge with chopped dried fruits, fresh milk and cashew nuts. It has been a good healthy start to the day and yummy enough to have lasted a while.

Our usual brekkie

On the weekends however, when there are a few extra minutes to spare, I have recently found out that baking breakfast rolls is not as hard as it seems. Plus, with home made butter and jam, it’s almost like home!

To try your very own Swedish breakfast experience at home, boil an egg, buy some oranges and squeeze them for some lovely, fresh juice, get some cheese, jam and butter, brew your favorite tea and make a load of Källarfranska (Swedish breakfast rolls).

I usually cheat a bit and make the batter and roll them out the night before I want to eat them and then bake them in the morning. That way I can sleep in instead of having to spend the morning kneading dough and the house will still be filled with the gorgeous smell of newly baked bread while I enjoy the latest copy of the Economist.

Hot rolls on a smoggy morning

For 16 rolls you will need:

14 g instant dry yeast (swedes, this is the equivalent to a 50 g package of fresh yeast)
1/2 litre (2 cups) water, room temperature or slightly tepid
1 tbs sugar
1 1/2 tsp salt
3 tbs oil
13 dl all purpose flour

Mix the flour and salt in a large bowl. Make a well in the middle.

Mix a couple of tablespoons of the water, the sugar and the yeast in a small bowl until everything is dissolved and leave it until you see tiny bubbles forming on the surface of the yeast mixture.

Pour the yeast mixture, oil and the rest of the water into the well you made in your flour and work the liquids into the flour with your hands. Knead the dough on a floured surface until you have a smooth, springy dough which isn’t too dry or too sticky. Add a little more flour if you need to.

Form the dough into a 50cm long sausage and cut it into 16 parts. Roll the balls slightly and then flatten them so you get 16 roundish dough lumps. Give them a flour coating by gently turning them in a bit of the flour you have on your work space. Put them, well spaced out, on a well oiled or buttered oven tray.

Now you can either put the tray in the fridge with some cling film over it and bake them (without the cling film) straight out of the fridge in the morning or you can let them rise for 40 minutes under a clean kitchen towel.

40 minutes later or the next morning, set your oven to 250°c and bake for 15 minutes or until golden. When they are finished, they should sound hollow when you tap them.

Enjoy with all your different spreads and toppings (if you really want to be Swedish, enjoy your bread with butter, a sharp hard cheese and a thin layer of apricot or orange marmalade) while reading your favorite mag or the paper.

What’s your favorite breakfast?