Scandinavian Recipe #4: Norwegian School Bread (Skolebrød)

Skolebrød or School Bun is a Norwegian type of sweet roll. They are filled with a rich vanilla cream or vanilla pudding and a dough that is slightly sweet, with a light cardamom flavor. Traditionally they are a special treat to include in children's lunches or prepared for special school gatherings, like a bake sale. This seemed like the perfect addition to the Norwegian portion of the table.
 

Prep Time: 2 hours

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 2 hours, 15 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1 pkg. active dry yeast (2 1/4 tsp.)
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 tsp. freshly ground cardamom
• 4 cups flour
• 1 pkg. (5.1 oz) instant vanilla pudding mix
• 1 egg, well-beaten
• 6 Tbsp. powdered sugar plus 1 Tbsp. water, mixed to form a light glaze
• Shredded coconut

Preparation:

Combine milk and butter and heat in saucepan over medium-high heat just until milk is scalded (when small bubbles rise uniformly across the surface of the liquid). Remove from heat and cool until "finger-warm."

Stir yeast and sugar into lukewarm milk and allow to sit for 10 minutes. The surface should begin to bubble as the yeast proofs. After 10 minutes, stir in cardamom and flour until the dough pulls away from the sides of the mixing bowl. Cover bowl with a clean kitchen towel and allow to rise until doubled, about 1 hour.

The dough coming together.

When dough has risen, punch it down, remove to a floured surface, and knead until smooth and shiny. Use your hands to roll dough into a thick 18"-long "snake," then cut this length into 20 equal pieces. Roll each piece between your hands into a spherical bun and place on a lightly greased baking sheet. Cover the buns again with the towel and allow to rise until doubled, about 30 minutes.

Prepare pudding mix as directed, only reducing milk to 2 1/2 cups. Allow pudding to thicken at room temperature while your buns rise.

Preheat oven to 375º. When the buns have risen, gently press down the center of each one to form a well. Fill with 1 to 1 1/2 Tbsp. pudding (you'll probably have some pudding left over). Allow to rise an additional 10 minutes.

Brush well-beaten egg on to the edges and sides of the buns. Place in heated oven and bake for 15 minutes, until golden brown.

Remove from oven and allow to cool. Brush sugar glaze on the top of the buns, around but not over the pudding "eye." Dip into shredded coconut.

Yield: 20 buns.

    In the end I discovered that this was not the easiest recipe for me. It wasn't the preperation, but the bun shaping and pudding depositing. I checked a few cooking and/or ethnic websites for pictures of the finished product to check mine against. They all resemble the general shape of what I ended up with, flying saucer with a pudding dome. However, I had difficulty keeping the pudding from running over the side while they cooked in the oven. Each one took a slightly different amount of pudding and therefore some ran and some did not. If I didn't make a deep enough depression in the buns or I added a little too much pudding is when I'd encounter my issue. While this might not seem like a huge deal it kept me from acheiving true repeatablity. Under normal baking-for-a-family-event or just-for-myself situation I wouldn't mind this type of minor problem. If I wanted to repeat the recipe 2 or 3 more times between now and December I'm sure I could figure out the best method of bun production. However, I do not want to spend my practice time trying to perfect this particular recipe. It is a bit of a shame because they did get really positive reviews from my co-workers and family.

As of right now the Skolbrød will not be on the final menu.

To Kickstart or not to Kickstart or for Charity?

     After seeing several Kickstarter projects for somewhat simple, interesting, and possibly joke ideas it occurred to me that I might be able to use this website to help me. I want to share my ideas and use this entry as a sounding/idea board. Why couldn't I Kickstart Thanksgiving 2.7?

     The idea had never occurred to me until I saw the Kickstarter project for Potato Salad. This project had a modest goal of $10 and let's just say that it has done fairly well. I realize that project became viral and was mentioned on the national news, so it is a very special case. I would be amazed if Thanksgiving 2.7 got mentioned on Good Morning America, but that shouldn't stop me. Should it?

     The basic idea is that by using Kickstarter I could improve the experience for everyone involved. Assuming I hit the goal I would be able to run TH2.7 just like the last  years, but if I manage to exceed the goal I could add in some great ideas I haven't been able to implement yet.

I think I may have a decent shot at this working, because I have something of a built in audience already. We had 55 people join us last year. At the $20 entrance fee I collect around $1000. If I add in a few reward levels not related to tickets I should be able to hit whatever reasonable goal I set. Then if I surpass the goal I can start on the improvements with the stretch goals.

1. Add a few of the favorite dishes from previous Thanksgiving 2's that are cost prohibitive to add this year (Goose, Pheasant, German sausages, a Heritage Turkey, etc.)
2. Add some of the more expensive game animals or unique dishes that are native to Scandinavia. (grouse, lutefisk, etc.) 
3. Increase the variety of craft beer
4. Actually pay someone to assist me with the cooking.
5. Change the location to somewhere bigger, yet stay local.
6. If a new location isn't needed I could improve the quality of the tenting situation at my home.
7. If a new location is used I can pay someone to run the movies/music
8. Pay someone to run the bar/vodka tasting area.
9. Pay a band to play live Christmas music!
10. Find a minor, holiday related or local celebrity to do an appearance?

     I have brought this Kickstarter idea up to a few people prior to this blog entry. I received positive feedback, but also a whole other idea that I hadn't thought of doing. For the Kickstarter newbies out there it may come as a surprise that Kickstarter is not for charity events. They leave charity to some of the other group funding sites like Indiegogo. The idea presented to me was to use Thanksgiving 2 to help promote a charity. It would be a turkey themed charity dinner.

     The example charity that was brought up to me was Philabundance. They are a 30 year old food bank that gives out food all year to the hungry people of the Delaware Valley. I would raise the entry price of my event to let's say $30 (the extra $10 going directly to the charity) or you can get in for $20 if you bring a qualifying bag of food. This way of the 50+ people who come, I would be able to hand in some combination of food and money donations. On their end they would help market the event, advertise the event on their website, and I would be allowed to use their name in conjunction with my event. If I am able to attach myself to a charity to help promote TH2, I would be hoping to move into a larger venue, increase the attendance, and promote the idea of Thanksgiving 2 to a much wider audience. I never wanted TH2 to become a for profit event anyway, so adding this charity element could be a very good idea on a few levels.
    
     A friend of my family throws a Halloween party every year. He has it sponsored by several stores, and has beer and food donated to the event. There is a very reasonable $35 door fee for all you can eat food and drink. He manages to give out at least 4 different costume prizes as well. He has managed to make it a town wide event for the past 29 years. I think if I put the same level of energy into TH2 that he puts into his Halloweenfest then I will have a very fun event to plan for the next 30 years.

     I definitely would like to hear from anyone with ideas. Back to recipes for next entry.