I often make these teacakes for brunch and they are always a hit. I noticed that my friends tend to ignore the bread at the table because they think it is just white bread and nothing special. I always insist they try at least a little piece of the bread. As soon as they take a bite they look at me and tell me – I can see it in their eyes and I know the reaction in advance– oh, Marianne they are so good. And I do not have to beg to take another bite because they eat the entire teacake.
In Sweden teacakes are served with some butter and honey or cheese with a slice of cucumber or tomato. The bread also tastes best when it is still lukewarm or you can freeze them and reheat the teacakes.
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| A very typical Swedish sandwich (smörgås). |
Makes 12 teacakes
INGREDIENTS
- 25 g unsalted butter
- 250 ml milk
- 25 g fresh yeast
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ tablespoon honey
- 375 g all-purpose flour
DIRECTIONS
- Melt the butter in a saucepan. When the butter is completely melted, add the milk and heat until the mixture is lukewarm. It is really important that the mixture is lukewarm because otherwise you will kill the yeast and the dough won’t rise.
- In big bowl crumble the yeast. Add a little bit of the butter-milk mixture and stir until the yeast is dissolved. Then add the rest of the liquid.
- Add salt, honey and flour and mix with a wooden spoon. When the dough becomes sticky, continue to knead the dough on a well-floured surface until it is smooth.
- Grease a bowl with vegetable oil and place the dough into the bowl. Cover with a kitchen towel.
- Let the dough rise in a warm and draft-free place for 30 minutes until the dough is doubled in size.
- Knead the dough again on a well-floured surface. Divide the dough into 12 pieces and form balls.
- Place the balls onto baking sheets (place four to five balls on each sheet). Press down the balls with your heel of hand until the cakes have a 10 to 12 cm diameter and are about 1 cm thick. Make sure that that there is enough space between each cake because the bread will rise a little bit.
- Prick the bread with a fork. Cover the baking sheets with kitchen towels and let the bread rise in a warm and draft-free place for 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 225°C.
- Bake the bread cakes for 5 to 7 minutes until they have a golden color.
- When you take the bread out of the oven, cover the teacakes with kitchen towel, so the bread does not get dry.
- Enjoy while the bread is still warm.
