Day two of my bake-a-thon coincided with our wedding anniversary and I planned a special afternoon tea. When our married days were measured in month anniversaries rather than decades I used to make gingerbread men and pop them in Mr. Me’s lunch box as a measure of my devotion so these had to be on the menu. The recipe, as recommended by my son and road-tested together previously, was from Peter’s Yard – available online at http://www.petersyard.com/recipes/pepparkakor. It makes delicious gingerbread with just the right amount of spice, sweetness and crunch. Tip time! The dough is much easier to roll out if refrigerated overnight. If you then roll it out between two layers of cling film the dough won’t stick to the rolling pin. Coating your shape cutter in the merest dusting of flour produces nice, sharp shapes that don’t morph into weird blobs. I cannot remember how I used to do it back then in those Poldark-ian pre-internet times but Mr Google is a great and ready source of advice now. Next on the list had to be a special cake. In ‘How to Hygge – The Secrets of Nordic Living’ by Signe Johansen, Signe describes Sticky Ginger Cake with a Clementine Glaze as having “just the right amount of sweetness to feel celebratory” which sounded perfect. I only used half the quantity of ingredients because the cake serves 8-10 and although he likes ginger cake there’s only so much even Mr Me can eat…

In her book, Signe Johansen dismisses the notion of reducing hygge to a set of clichés about Nordic life centred on cosiness and indulgence. She speaks instead of making the most of our lives, of simplicity, of getting out in the fresh air, enjoying nature. Being alive and being kind to ourselves and others. In some small way the act of baking for someone you love speaks of this to me and it is lots of fun too. Enjoy!