There are many pretty small garden cafes along the coast is Småland. Well, there are many pretty garden cafes in Småland in general. Often they are hidden behind walls and to enter them is like entering a secret garden with a “wow…”.
A boat/canoe/bike ride away from our house in Timmernabben there is a cafe that I always visit when I am back home. Located in Pataholm, a small small village on the water which used to be a trading hub for sailors hundreds of years ago. In one of the building there used to be a simple shop selling milk and bread and I used to stop there on my way home from sailing school to have ice cream. Sometime in the early 90’s the shop had to close as the business dropped. Luckily the inhabitants of the village took care of the house and about 10 years later they opened the doors for the café in the old shop.
Instead of running a real commercial business in the old shop the village let someone rent the shop one summer and run it as a café with a personal touch. Usually someone from the region runs it as a one time project and let his or her children run the service. The last two summers it has been run by three sisters from the village who all come home from their university studies to serve tourists and locals. Oline, Kristin and Vanni Jung Ståhle are pulling it off with such a grace and makes their own dresses and braided hair. They are also selling the customized vintage dresses in the café.
This is the recipe of my favorite Banana/Caramel cake that they offered to share here on the blog. I had to go back to the cafe twice just to order it (together with a salami/brie sourdough sandwich). Just beware that it is a fairly sweet cake (I am a big fan of candy like cakes in the style of MILK from momofuku).This cake is similar to the one served at Fat Radish in NYC. But the crust is even better. And it is super easy to make and prepare a day in advance!
Crust
- 100g butter
- 250g digestive cookies
Caramel filling
- 100g butter
- 1,5 dl farin sugar (a brown sugar similar to light moscovado sugar. Can be ordered online.)
- 1 can (400g) sweet condensed milk
Topping
- 3 organic bananas
- 3 dl whipping cream
- 50g of your favorite chocolate (the sisters use milk chocolate)
- almond flakes as decoration
Melt the butter slowly and mix with the cookies in a blender or by hand very very well. Cover the bottom of a spring form (ca 20-25 cm diameter) and lightly butter it. Use your fingers and press the cookie dough evenly into the springform and a cm up on the edges of the form. Refrigerate for atleast 15 min or longer.
Melt the butter in a non-sticky pan. Sprinkle the sugar into the butter while whisking. Let it all melt together slowly while you continue to whisk. Add the condensed milk and bring it to boil for 1-2 minutes. Make sure you are whisking all the time as it burns very easily. Take the crust out of the spring form and place it on a serving plate. Pour the caramel onto the cold cookie crust. Place in the fridge. This can all be prepared one day in advance.
Cut the banana thin and divide it evenly on the caramel filling. Whip the cream and spread it onto the bananas. Decorate with sprinkled chocolate and almond flakes before serving.
Trevlig Fika!
As long as you find your way through the stony bay you can also arrive to the cafe with your motor boat. But it is just as pretty to come by bike. Plan in some time because it is easy to fall asleep under the apple trees in the garden.
You can rent a canoe at the cafe for half a day for 20 euros.
Thank You Gisela Matt for knitting me the beautiful gray cardigan. It was made to go with my high wasted puffy skirts and the dirndl but it works just as well with a maxi dress!
This image is from when my high school class played role games in the village in the end of the 90’s. I am number 3 from the right in the shaddow on the 2nd row).
I had a great history teacher in High School named Anders Nordström who had my class play historic role games from different time periods at various locations (like the Swedish TV show “Historieätarna” all the way). We even went to Finland and the medieval festival in Turku and spend 4 days living like medieval people being watched by tourists at the Historic museum. But that is a whole other story.
Pataholm 40638492 Ålem
