Christmas Stars

My favorite Christmas pastry. Not only because of the taste, though they are lovely, but also because they are so easy to make. Especially if you buy the ready-made dough from the store. It's just regular puff-pastry, which of course you can also make yourself.

Cut squares app size of 10 cm x 10 cm. Make an incision of app. 3 cms from each corner towards the middle. Fold every other corner up towards middle. Squeeze these corners together and press down. Add a dollop of plum marmalade or jam on top of middle part. Bake in the oven in 225 degrees Celsius for 10-15 minutes until golden brown.

Tomorrow is Christmas Eve, The Day of the Finnish Christmas. In the morning there will be rice porridge with plum soup, then sauna and after that the Christmas Dinner. In the evening a visit from Santa Claus with presents. We Finns have lots of special foods that are eaten only on Christmas, for example Christmas ham, carrot or turnip casserole, rosolli which is a special beetroot salad with whipped cream, Christmas bread etc. My favorites are the gravad lax, cold smoked salmon, herrings and roe with sour cream and shallots. So there's lots of recipes to write about for years to come.

What ever is your style of spending the holiday season, we at Pattern Bakery hope it will filled with joy and peace. Merry Christmas!

Auntie Hanna's cookies

I don't have an aunt called Hanna myself, but these are another traditional Finnish cookie. Not just for Christmas, my grandma used to have these in her cookie box all year, but now my mother makes these at least for Christmas. The flavor is quite delicate, some might even say plain, but I think one of these to accompany my cup of espresso is a perfect combination.

3 dl sugar
1 tsp baking soda
3 dl potato flour (similar to corn flour)
4 dl wheat flour
1,5 dl cream
1,5 melted butter

Mix the dry ingredients, add cream and butter. Mix until the dough is firm and even. Take smallish lumps of the dough, about 1 tbsp or so, and roll between your hands. Bake in the oven, 175 degrees Celsius, for about 8-10 minutes, until slightly golden brown.

Preparing for Christmas

I have a confession to make; I'm not a very good at baking things. I like the food I make, and bread is fine, but there is definitely something about the sweets I can't grasp. Even making a sponge cake is like gambling for me, I never know how it will turn out. Maybe it is because I prefer savory things to sweets or because the baking recipes and measurements should be followed accurately, and I like to make it along as I cook? I don't know, but this is my excuse for these Christmas recipes being from and made by my mother. I still wanted to post about few essential Finnish flavors and scents of the coming holiday season, and the first will be these gingerbread cookies. They come out quite crispy and therefore this dough is perfect also for building gingerbread houses.


250 g butter
2 dl sugar
1,5 dl syrup
1 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground clove
1 egg (on the large side)
1 tsp salt
9 dl wheat flour
2 tsp baking soda

Place butter, sugar, syrup and spices in a sauce pan, heat until it boils and whisk until the mixture has cooled.

Add egg and salt to mixture. Combine flour with the baking soda in a separate bowl and add to the mixture. Leave to set overnight in the fridge.

Roll a part of the dough at a time to a thin layer and cut the cookies out of it with a cookie mold. Place the cookies on a baking tray lined with a baking sheet and bake in an oven (200 Celsius) until brown, about 8-10 minutes.

Korjaamo Design Market

We'll be at the Korjaamo Market with lots of other design people on the 12th -13th of December from 11.00 to 18.00. Come and say hello and buy a Pulmu-kit (still enough time to make it for Christmas) or buy a ready-made Pulmu-bird!

Day in Tallinn

We seem to be surprisingly busy before leaving for the well-earned Christmas Holidays. Last week I went to Tallinn for work, to visit few textile factories. Luckily, Estonia is close, only two hours on the boat. After the work was done, I had couple of hours before the next boat back, so I was able to visit one of my favorite places in Tallinn, a restaurant/ café/ deli called Bonaparte. It's situated only about 5 minutes walk from the Townhall Square and well worth the visit. They do French style food, all products made at the premises. The food is lovely, as are the pastries, but to me still the best thing is the Earl Grey with jasmine -tea. It is served at the cafe and you can buy it also at the deli next door. Such a lovely scent in my bag all the way home...

The World Design Capital

for the year 2012 will be Helsinki! The title was just announced at the World Design Congress in Singapore. Our competitor was Eindhoven in Netherlands. The Design Capital is expected to organize design events during the year, and the title tells about the use of design to improve the social, cultural and economic life.

Beetroot Salad

The last beetroots from my garden were sent off with style in this salad. I was quite sure I'd seen the recipe somewhere, but then could not find it in any of my cookbooks, so had to make it up. It turned out really nice, and will be made again, I'm sure. This time it accompanied organic lamb, but it would make a nice lunch or light supper by itself or with some bread.

500 g beetroots, washed, peeled and cut in half or quarters if they are big
2 cloves garlic
5 tbs olive oil
1 tbs balsamico or red wine vinegar
2 tsp thyme
salt and black pepper
aluminum foil

Make a dish for beetroots and all the other ingredients of double foil. You'll need enough to cover the beetroots too. Pop in the oven for about an hour in 225 Celsius. You can eat them hot, but if you want to make this salad, cool the beetroots first.

Mix the cooled beetroots with:

goats cheese of blue cheese
basil leaves, or parsley or marjoram
toasted pine nuts or sunflower seeds or cashew nuts

Finish with some nice olive oil, salt and black pepper to taste.