THE COLLECTION
My “little taste of Norway” range was born out of my passion and love for my heritage and wanting to share this through my designs and bakes. Over the past few years I have worked on building a collection of items which evokes the Norway I love and hope to share some of their wonderful traditions and rich history through my creations.
My family’s “seven types” of Norwegian biscuits – Syv Kjekes
Using five generations of family recipes, I am sharing my family’s “seven types” of Norwegian biscuits, a tradition from the 19th century, when the number of biscuits baked at the end of the year at Christmas reflected a family’s wealth and status. But today it just means we all get our favourites baked, so weather your a cinnamon lover like me or you like something more unusual like my lemon and cardamon serinakaker theres something for everyone and if you really cannot decide I bake XL mixed bags which give you a portion of each to try and enjoy!
The Flavours
no. 1 Pepperkaker – Crisp, very thin gingerbread-like spiced biscuit,
traditionally decorated with icing sugar.
no. 2 Smørkaker – A light, crumbly textured butter biscuit,
traditionally decorated with a fork impression.
no.3 Kransekake – Literally means ‘wreath cake’, usual takes the form of a series
of concentric rings but modernised into bite size marzipan fingers
decorated with icing sugar.
no.4 Brune Pinner – Syrup and cinnamon spiced biscuit shards, also called
‘caramel sticks’ and are very good to dip in the coffee.
n0.5 Serinakaker – A cardamom and lemon scented buttery almond biscuit
with stamped ‘God Jul’ (merry Christmas).
no.6 Kososmakroner – Meringue and coconut cookies, like a macaroon
with a soft slightly chewy texture.
no.7 Sjokolade Pinner – Cocoa flavoured biscuit sticks with a chocolate brownie like taste, sprinkled with pearl sugar.
Norwegian Julenisse – christmas gnomes
All my Julenisse are handmade and this means that each one is slightly different, some with bigger noses thank others and some with taller hats, each has it own little character and my little julenisse also have their own names. When I started creating this range in 2017 there were four and now there are 7, each with their own hair style and personalities and each is affectionally named after friends, family and places which have had an impact in my life and in homage have had one of the julenisse loving named after them. My products are a little bit of me and thus they carry my story.
Per – Loyal & Adventurous – moustache Julenisse
(mothers cousin who’s spirit and love of adventure has always inspired me)
Britt – Caring & Organised – mother Julenisse
(my Norwegian teacher when I was younger and still a friend and supporter of my work)
Helge – wise & faithful – Father Julenisse
(priest who confirmed me as a teenager and who performed our married in Norway)
Solveig – playful & loving – plaits Julenisse
(Mothers cousin whose children we grew up with)
Ella-Marie – Joyful & Brave – Curly daughter Julenisse
Named after my own daughter who inspires me every day with her love and is often by my side when working.
Olav – Dedicated & Skilful – Curly Beard Julenisse
Named after the square (saint Olva’s Square) where the London Norwegian Church is, which has been a big part of my growing up life and also where the Christmas Scandi market is held between here and the Finnish Church and would be a reminder of this event i first attended in 2017 aswell.
Espen – The Wild Bear God – Viking Son Julenisse
Named after my own son who spirit shines through and who loves to follow his big sister in exploring.
NISSE DECORATIONS
As I’ve grown the range I’ve created new ways to feature these fun red and grey characters from mini wreaths, sledges, napkin holders to badges and garlands. The introduction in 2023 with a mini hanging version of the nisses has also proved a popular addition to the range.
NISSE CRAFT KIT
something for the younger Nisse fan, a craft kit perfect for those festive breaks featuring a paper craft activity, activity booklet and x2 wooden Nisses with paints and paint brushes to decorate.
BUNAD PEG DOLLS
Introduced into “A Little Taste of Norway” in 2019, a set of 13 designs (and growing) celebrating the stunning designs of the Norwegian Bunads (National costume). These beautiful dresses are a piece of art and take several months to be sewn, they have a rich history and each region has a different design very distinctive to that area (read more about my making process…).
I hand paint each peg doll taking inspiration from the real dress designs to create miniature versions, encapsulation the essence of their heritage and honouring the intricate designs. Each peg doll is finished with ribbon so that they can adorn Christmas trees.
WAFFLE ENAMEL PIN
New for 2023 and something I’ve wanted to create for several years and finally after much development and designs I finalised a design which could be created into a enamel pin.
Beloved by generations of Norwegians, Vafler (Norwegian waffle) are buttery, heart-shaped waffles that are made to be shared with the ones you love. Wholesome, sweet, and deliciously scented, these waffles are formed of five heart shapes that are designed to be broken and enjoyed over coffee with special friends or at family gatherings. Vafler are literally the symbolic heart of “koselig”, the Norwegian spirit of cosiness, warmth, and togetherness, and have become an iconic symbol of Scandinavia. These golden hearts are steeped in history, and each family will have their own treasured recipe, passed down with love, so they were a perfect addition to ‘A Little Taste of Norway” and the perfect gift for family and friends.
The edible Norwegian symbol of “koselig”, encapsulating the Norwegian spirit of family, warmth, happiness, togetherness and coziness. Made with love from Norway…
Norwegian Word Definition prints
With my Norwegian heritage, growing up ive always had favourite words which I love how they look graphically, sound or for their untranslatable meanings. I started designing these to decorate my own home and now I’m sharing my love of Norway and all things Norwegian with this collection of prints.
Kjærlighet – The Norwegian version ‘love’. The most accurate translation would be ‘dearness’, but it is rather the concept of love than the emotion itself.
Koselig – it’s a feeling of cosiness, intimacy, warmth, happiness, being content and getting together in a snug, delightful and comfortable environment.
Nydelig – It means more than just beautiful; it means lovely, sweet, cute, adorable, loveable, charming, delicious and pretty too.
Forelsket – It’s a Norwegian word for the state of being in love
Uffda – It’s an expressive word used for ‘ouch’, ‘oops’ or ‘oh no!’
– Scandinavian inspired design –
Wax melts
A creation which came out of a desire to create a ‘smell’ element to my little taste of Norway range but that also complimented the existing products. But although I will turn my skills to most crafts there’s something others do so well already that a collaboration is the way forward instead of learning to do it myself. I worked with a fellow local maker Ash owner of wattie wicks candles to create some wax melts that represented the idea of day and night and the differences between them. We used soft vanilla notes for Nysnø (new snow) and a warm seasonal spice aroma for Julelys (Christmas light), a wonderful balance of smells ready for melting and getting festive day or night.
KOSELIG Gift bOX
‘KOSELIG’ it has no direct translation into English and a single word like “coziness” doesn’t fully encapsulate it’s in-depth meanings. KOSELIG is the feeling of cosiness, intimacy, happiness, warmth, being content and getting together in a snug, delightful and comfortable place and using items from my little taste of Norway range i put together a gift box to sample this range and get a little more Koselig.
Read more about how i created this gift box…
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