Spoon Biscuits ‒ Lusikkaleivät

Random facts about Finnish coffee culture #6: Much like Italian habit of eating spaghetti with a for and a spoon, his is a habit largely disappeared, but you can still see some older people doing it. They pour their coffee from the cup to the saucer to cool it down. Then they press a sugar cube tightly between their lips and trough it sip the coffee from the saucer.

In my childhood, these biscuits shaped like spoons were a standard standing coffee table piece on every confirmation and  50th birthday party. So I kind of associate them with silverware, linen tablecloth and candles, but there's really no reason why they couldn't be a part of a regular coffee table too. Still, I'd reserve them for special occasions such as Independence Day or name days.

One thing I've wondered is why so many Finnish cakes and biscuits use baking soda though I don't see anything especially sour on the ingredient list. I kind of assumed it's more for the taste, but several sources claim baking soda used in a wrong place makes everything thing taste bitter. Apparently in biscuits it's purpose is to give a light brown colour without raising too much the structure meant to be crunchy. (The following should make about 40 biscuits.)

- 200 g margarine
- 1.5 dl sugar (plus some to decorate)
- 2 tsp vanilla sugar
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 4 dl wheat flour
- 1 dl raspberry marmalade

Heat up the margarine in a sauce kettle. Don't lift it off as soon as it has melted but stir occasionally and continue to cook for about five minutes. When the margarine has toasted just a little, move it into a bowl, add sugar and stir even. Let the mixture cool down.

Mix the dry ingredients together and add them as well. Find an oval and deep shaped teaspoon. Press the dough into the spoon evenly. Draw it carefully out of the mold and onto a baking sheet with the flat side down. Repeat as many times as you have dough left.

Bake 12‒15 minutes in a 175°C oven. Let them cool down. Spread marmalade on the flat side and press another individual against it. Quite often these are also rolled in sugar before serving.

Nutritional values / 1 biscuits / 18 g:
energy 73 kcal
fat 4 g
protein 1 g
carbohydrates 9 g
fiber 0 g