Spring is in the air!

No need to despair, spring is in the air! The first snowdrop has just managed to come up in the sunshine we all enjoy in Vienna today.

Semlor

The tradition of making "semlor" has come to Vienna! It is a very popular and old tradition in Sweden to eat this kind of buns before Easter. Since they are not readily available in Vienna yet, we had to make them ourselves and to make it easier for all who would like to try it out, this is how they are made:

First, make a normal wheat bun without any special spices. Some like to add some cardamom, but I do not. To be on the safe side, use a good cooking book!





More exciting than most TV programs !!



As always, click on the picture to get larger buns / pictures :)




Make a mixture of the scoped-out bread crumbs and almond paste









as well as a bit of milk / cream.



Whip some heavy cream



and put it on top of the mixture you have by now put in the space you made earlier in the middle of the bun.



The final touch is a little powder sugar on the top of the semla.



A semla can be enjoyed either with a cup of coffee or in a bowl with hot milk. It is then called "hotwall" !




If you would like to know a bit more about the history of the "semla", go to
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semla

Still no signs of spring

It is still very cold in Vienna and winter has a strong grip of the city. The signs of spring are few but you can still find beauty if you look carefully.

OPEC

OPEC (www.opec.org) has for a long time had its HQ in the second district and countless times have reporters from CNN, BBC and CNBC been standing in front of its rather dull facade to tell us about what to expect the price of oil to go. That era is now over since a new HQ has been built and the old one is being completely removed to make space for a much higher bank building.