As a child, before I began cooking savoury dishes, my true love was baking. I loved the science and the methodology of weighing out ingredients, preparing baking equipment and seeing the results of the effort turn into something warm and magical.
Still to this day, I prefer quiet Saturday mornings baking in the winter months, to the preparations for a dinner feast. For a chatterbox like me, it’s the ideal quiet time (perhaps my mother spotted this opportunity from an early age). Who knew a perfectly risen choux pastry bun could transport you to that perfect state of flow?
At this time of year, with plummeting temperatures, wild winds and dark days, the conditions could not be more perfect for a cosy baking session. The buzzword of the season is hygge, a Danish tradition of creating a warm atmosphere and sharing the good things in life with friends and family.
This year alone, by my count, there have been 18 books written on the topic. I can understand its popularity, but for most Irish people, it’s a completely new and foreign concept. For us, this tradition of embracing the darker, colder months is unusual; for years we have tried and failed to fight the bitter cold. While we had immersion heating and huddled around deadly gas cabinet heaters growing up, the Scandinavians had underfloor heating and saunas to get them through the wildest of winters.
My wife Sofie’s father, Bengt, told me rather matter-of-factly, during my first winter in Gothenburg – shivering in jeans, Converse and a foolishly thin jacket – that in Scandinavia “there is no bad weather, just bad clothing”. It’s no surprise they winter well.
The art of hygge is not lost on Sofie, who at this time of year invests in shares in candle factories and at the mere whisper of darkness our home is lit up with enough candlelight to put a Gregorian monastery to shame.
I’m not complaining – this cosiness gives me the opportunity to enjoy time in the kitchen. My hygge offering comes in the form of sweet treats: mince pies with a custard twist, slices of orange candied until sweet and chewy then dipped in melted dark chocolate, and a traditional Swedish sweet bun dyed dusty yellow from saffron.
