Swedish Sailors Biscuits

Did you know there were Swedish pirates/sailors in The Bahamas and Caribbea?

Well famously Bahamians are so well mixed that even there is some Swedish blood line in my family.

Registered in 1800 with the Sjömanshuset (Sailors’ Hall) in Kalmar. Unknown since 1802. He was given the surname Tornquist (Törnqvist), probably by the Swedish military, to distinguish him from other Jonsson sailors or officers. The root of this name might come from Törnbotten. It later became anglicised to Turnquest.

Says an exert from researching my 5th great grandfather Charles William Karl Jonsson Sr.

-And as any Bahamian can tell ya, Turnqest is a very common Bahamian last name-

From 1792 to 1798, Britain tried to take Northern Haiti from France, without success. They did manage to rescue a number of Swiss-French, Swedish and other families, some of whom ended up on Long Island. Among these were Lopez, Turnquist, Stephens and Tates. In 1798, the open boat, in which a group of people got through the French lines in North Haiti and on to safety in The Bahamas, was named the "Lucky Escape". She was anchored at the "Big Point", Mangrove Bush when she was not in the thatched "Boat Shed".

I love learning about my ancestors and our history. It is fascinating, as each time I dive in, there is something new to discover or some new country to add to the family tree. However, it is quite a struggle to do so in the Caribbean. This is because, as you can imagine, names are changed, things are passed around like Chinese whispers. Papers, records, get lots to sea. Boats are raided, burnt. Homes, sheds are taken by storms and surges. It was a wild time and we belonged to everywhere and no where at the same time.

So!

In honour of the lovely season of Yule, Jul or Christmas, I decided to crack open my grandmothers old baking book (first published in 1978 Germany). The recipes are so unique and worldly, it is always a treat to try them out. I will share with you today a recipe of Swedish Yule Biscuits. I've never made these before so lets give a go together.

Swedish Jul Biscuits

250g butter, softened

125g sugar

1 egg

400g plain flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 egg white, beaten for glaze

1/4 tsp cinnamon

50g sugar

Instructions:

- Beat butter with sugar and egg until light and fluffy.

- Sift flour with baking powder and salt together. Gradually add the flour mix to the butter and knead all together. Form dough into a ball and seal tightly however you wish. Leave in the fridge for 3 hours.

- Preheat oven to 200'. Divide the dough into 3 portions and knead each turn. Take each portion of dough at a time and roll out to thickness of 3mm. 1/8inch on floured surface. Cut out round biscuits and add to lined baking tray.

- Brush the biscuits with beaten egg white and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar mix. Bake for 8 - 10 mins and cool on rack.

Note: When sprinkling with cinnamon sugar, some will fall onto baking tray. Before baking, remove this with pastry brush to avoid burning.

*Recipe is adapted from my grandmothers 'vintage' book, hence why there is no nutritional facts or etc.

I felt the biscuits weren't sweet enough so I added some pearl sugar (perlesukker) on top. As you can also see, my cinnamon sugar topping ratio was different than the original bakebook photo but I love cinnamon sugar and went heavy handed with it.

Not sure if you also noticed but I played around with sizes and different ways I rolled/pressed them out. For these were quite similar to a butter cookie I already make. Last tips I will add is that not to make them too thick nor too thin. Enjoy!

Can't wait to share more recipes from this book actually. There is infinite recipes around the internet but excited that these might always have this old fashioned simple approach to them :)

And have no fear! There will be authentic Bahamian recipes also to share!

Bye for now! 🌴