The Great Scandinavian Baking Book

I've been meaning to review this cookbook for some time now but I have just not been motivated. I fear that I may not do it justice. This is probably my absolutely favorite baking book of all times. I've bought many others, many that are quite popular best sellers, but this one has been a fall back of mine for some time. I refer to it every holiday season especially. Beatrice Ojakangas is not an overly complicated author, I've followed her work from here to there. I watched her on Julia Bakes with the great Julia Child, I've purchased a few of her other books, but this is the book for me.  Although some of her recipes are basic its the fact that they are easy to understand and almost hard to mess up. that makes them so attainable. The simplicity is absolutely striking. I tested many recipes thinking Oh, man that is not enough vanilla or salt and a lot of the time I was absolutely wrong. Although I have butchered the beauty of many items, most often they taste remarkable. One recipe that really sold me on this book was a cardamom coffee bread (Pulla). It was my first real "bread" and I fell in love with it immediately. It is THE recipe that turned me onto cardamom. I remember the taste from baked goods I'd eaten as a kid but I never really knew what it was that gave the food an extra taste of "love", for me that often means cardamom...or butter.  I've made many of the recipes in this book from sweet to savory. Meat pies to cookies and  traditional Danish, I enjoyed all of them. It was my first and probably only "official" glimpse into Scandinavian culture. The pastries in this book are enough to make anyones mouth water. Danish currant buns, cinnamon ears, pasties theres plenty to choose from. In such a fast paced world these recipes are all a taste of home cooking, a taste that sets  you back to simpler times.