Cheryl Marie Cordeiro

Honey mustard baked ham.
Photo Jan-Erik Nilsson and Cheryl Marie Cordeiro for CMC © 2009

Baked ham is perhaps what Sweden and Singapore share most in common at the Christmas table, the difference being that in Singapore one could easily order it over the counter at the shops, whilst in Sweden, each household is more likely to bake their own.

Salted gammon in the pot.

What you’ll need if you’re going to do a homebaked ham is to purchase cured ham or boneless gammon that is readily available at the grocer’s. In Sweden, a little recipe follows each netted packaging of salted, raw ham.

The entire boneless gammon goes into a pot of water and simmered for about 3 hours. We dropped bay leaves, peppercorns and some carrots in our pot. Most recipes recommend that the inside of ham should reach between 70 and 74 deg C, you could go higher or lower, depending on how cooked you want your ham.
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Homebaked Christmas stollen.
Photo for CMC © JE Nilsson, CM Cordeiro Nilsson 2009

I think most would spend the better half of the year waiting for the festivities of year end Christmas, but when the holiday season arrives, it seems all too soon over because of the rush of it all.

Baking seems an integral part of the year end Christmas and New Year’s activities, of which one of my favourites are the rich fruit cakes and fruit breads. My mother has the tradition of baking rich and dark fruit cakes at Christmas, the type where the fruits soak in cognac for weeks prior to baking. My father has the tradition of baking sugee cakes at Christmas.

In Sweden today, we managed a fruitbread or a Christmas stollen, dusted over decadently with icing sugar. I’ve always loved fruit filled cakes and breads since I was a little girl and it was only ever at year end that I got to eat the cognac or brandy filled ones, tasting the variations of the cakes and breads whilst visiting relatives.

We made our fruit bread this year with a generous dash of orange liqueur and found that this bread goes well with a good orange marmalade.

Swedish dark Christmas bread or vörtböd and pickled herring, both homemade, are two culinary regulars at our Christmas table.
Photo for CMC © JE Nilsson, CM Cordeiro-Nilsson 2009

Bread baking in general usually fills the kitchen with such warmth and coziness, it’s recommended strategy that those holding a house viewing for the purpose of selling their house (or apartment), bake bread and make coffee just before the viewing guests arrive.

Now the smell of dark Christmas bread filled with raisins baking in the oven is unbeatable and it’s something I look forward to every year end, when spending the holiday season here in Sweden. What’s exciting about the making of this bread is that we get to choose which dark Christmas beer of the year goes into it!
Continue reading “Vörtbröd, Swedish dark Christmas bread” →