Swedish Flop

Christmas 2019-2020 Treat Yo' Self Challenge

SWEDISH FLOP
(sweet bread chapter)

Second recipe of the book, and another one I had never heard of before. (Like I said in my last post, this is a very Chicago-centric view of the Midwest!) It starts with a yeasted sweet dough, with fancy buttercream and jam in the middle, and topped with streusel and powdered sugar. Sounds tasty, right? Plus, this recipe actually checks off THREE recipes for my challenge, because the Swedish Flop itself is based on "Buttery, Yeast-Raised Coffeecake Dough" and "Ermine Frosting." I could have also used homemade jam, but I didn't realize that until it was too late! So we will have to settle for store-bought jam this time, sorry!

As I was baking this creation, two thoughts on the book design became apparent to me (separate from review of the recipes themselves)...
First, the good: the author is a great writer! I love her commentary as the intro for each recipe. For example, this one has a paragraph about the uniqely Midwestern contraction, "Jeet?" (aka "Did you eat?"), a Midwesternism that I fondly recall my Mid-Atlantic-raised father joking about frequently when I was a kid. 
Second, the not as good: While I love the photos accompanying the ingredients page for each recipe, I realized I'm definitely not a huge fan of having to repeatedly turn the page between the ingredients and the instructions. My hands are inevitably sticky or wet every time I realize that I don't remember how much of X ingredient I'm supposed to be adding in step Y.  My cookbook is already starting to look quite worn as a result, and I'm only on the second recipe in the book!

With those comments aside, here was my finished product about 4-ish hours later:

Verdict:  Another winner! Definitely not something I would typically gravitate toward baking or ordering, but I really enjoyed this one. The frosting is sweet without being cloying, and also remarkably light - almost like a cross between buttercream and whipped cream - which pairs nicely with the thin layer of jam. The cake was light and also not overly sweet.  Again, probably not something I'll add to my regular baking repertoire, but definitely one I would make again if someone requests it. Those Eastern Europeans living in Chicago seem to know a thing or two about tasty desserts ;)


Happy New Year!!!