I’ve been playing with something new in the kitchen.
Have you seen one of these before?
It’s unique looking don’t you think. And big. It’s hard to tell by this photo, but it’s quite large. Especially the bowl. Over seven quarts… Could be good for big batch baking.
It’s called an Assistent Original.
And it’s been made in Ankarsrum, Sweden for decades.
But I just saw it for the first time last year, when a sweet reader that works at the company in Ankarsrum emailed me and asked if I’d like to play with one. I was fascinated by the look of it, so I said sure.
I love that it comes in pastel colors. That kinda sold me on wanting one.
And these double beaters are cool, too.
I used the roller and scraper function though to make a cookie dough.
I was trying to decide what to make with it the first time, and it only seemed right to go for a Swedish influenced recipe.
After searching online for Swedish cookies, I found recipes for Pepparkakor, Sandbakelser and Drömkakor … Or these Swedish Dream Cookies.
So cute. They’re like light airy sugar cookies, but not really soft. That didn’t stop me from eating them one after the other though. They’re kind of addictive actually and I had an immediate desire to dip them in coffee like I do with Biscoff cookies when I fly Delta. I think they’d soak up beautifully and dissolve in your mouth.
This machine works different than my Kitchenaid. Here the bowl spins at different speeds. And the scraper and roller interact with the ingredients as the bowl rotates. Very interesting.
Gotta say, the scraper was mesmerizing.
And fun to watch as everything gets combined. You can move the roller closer or farther away from the edge of the bowl as needed.
The bowl stayed pretty clean. At least until I added some wet ingredients. Still very interesting.
I’m not sure how often I’ll use it because it will take a little getting used to, but I definitely want to make room for it on my counter because it looks so cool.
Here’s the Assistent website in Sweden and here’s a site where you can find them in the US.
After the cookie dough comes together, roll it into small balls and bake.
Here’s a slightly amended version of the Swedish Dream Cookies recipe on Saveur.com. (I didn’t have corn oil or regular flour on hand.)
Drömkakor
Ingredients
Instructions
Enjoy! (or Njut in Swedish) At least that’s what Google Translate says. : )
And If anyone has any traditional Swedish Recipes you’d like to share, please do. I’d love to hear your favorites.
I know some of you guys will have good ones.
So pretty! I’ve been looking at these and wondering if you’ve done a followup to this post. Does the Assistent still hold a place on honor in your kitchen? What have you made with it, or is it playing second fiddle to your KA?
I’m a home baker @ Singapore, I had one black color Assistent since couple years ago, usually use cookie beater to do the cookie dough, never think about that roller and scraper also could handle the cookie dough, thank you for sharing~ ^^
Sometimes when you innovate, you make mistakes. It is best to admit them quickly, and get on with improving your other innovations.
The post is absolutely fantastic! Lots of great information and inspiration, both of which we all need! Also like to Logo design admire the time and effort you put into your blog and detailed information you offer! I will bookmark your blog and have my children check up here often.
I would like to say thank for sharing this great article. We can’t get this kind of information from. I am so delighted I found your blog, I really found you by mistake, while I was looking on Yahoo for something else, anyways I am here now and would just like to say thanks for a tremendous post. Please do keep up the great work.
I’d like to know how you got one for free? i had one originally purchased in 2001 until it was stolen from me. It makes the most creamy cakes, bread, cookies, etc. It took me three yaers to find out which one was I using. If you can, hook me up.
Hi … what a great site, thank you. I’ve just heard of this mixer. I’m wondering if you’ve made a cheesecake with it. If so, what did you think of the process? I have a KitchenAid (have had it for 25 years how) and it works like a dream. But I can’t get over this new machine. I like the open top, so easy to add ingredients without having an overhead motor in the way. However, I’m really interested in knowing how it performs when making an ordinary cake, but especially a cheesecake. Thank you!
“Var så god” is what you what say for enjoy. It’s not a direct translation, but that’s what you say when you’re serving food.
My husband bought me this last year for my birthday (in white). I love it. I’ve never owned a kitchen aide so can’t compare, but this is an amazing mixer. The motors on these last 30+ years! So while it is pricy upfront, I’ll never have to replace it, even though I use it to make heavy whole wheat bread dough in it several times a week. (still using the roller and scraper, not the dough hook). It makes the softest whole wheat bread because you can leave the dough so moist when you start the kneading function as the gluten develops, the dough takes shape. And you can’t over-knead! It has a timer and turns itself off! BUT, the fun part is the double whisk. Make meringue, you will be amazed. I’ve never seen a mixer make such beautiful meringue before! Amost instantaneously too!
Bakerella, you are my hero… just forwarded your site to a few MORE friends today. And I am so proud of you for discovering this machine. I was in the market for my first REAL mixer a few years ago and researched and researched and decided on this one. I live in Austria, so I actually had to import it from Sweden and there were no fun colors available then, but it works like a dream. Everything tastes as though the machine also loves making cookies, and muffins and cupcakes, etc. Now, you have got me thinking I shoul dget one for my sister who still lives in the US. What fun!
My favorite baking memory is a sweet one of my mom and her three sisters and all the husbands sharing a huge day each year to bake their traditional Italian cookies. The recipes make you chuckle as they call for copious amounts of everything.
They made 4 different types and everyone took home 4 o 5 huge containers (several feet high) of cookies to serve throughout the Christmas holiday. Though all the sisters and their husbands have left us, last year I bit the bullet and made my frist batch (after my husband reduced the amount of all the ingredients). The cookies and the memories they brought back were wonderful!
My favorite baking memory was last holiday season when my eight year old daughter and I went NUTS making cake pops. We made them for Haloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and shared the extras with SO many friends. Then we gave extra supplies to those who wanted to try to make them. So much fun. We cant wait to do it again this year. :)
My favorite baking memory was making cheese with my grandmother then baking bread to go with the homemade cheese!
My favorite baking memory is of my mother spending a Saturday baking cinnamon rolls, and letting us have them for supper. YUM!
These look so delicate and tender I wish I had time to bake them tonite. I will be making these this weekend.
They are! Even softer if you add a tsp of antler salt, like the original recipe calls for.
Best regards Annicka from Sweden
Hi, :)
I’m Dutch and these look exactly like dutch cookies called ‘pepernoten’, we eat these in the winter, during christmas.
we also eat ‘stroopwafels’ these are thin cookies with kinda maply syrup/ caramel in between. you really have to try those too. :)
Is it Kruidennotjes you mean? If so, not at all the same. Theese are much softer and melts in your mouth. The notjes are, in my experience(lived in Amsterdam for 2 years), much moore solid in their stucture, but I love them! Cant find them in Sweden, so for Christmas, I make them from scratch. Along with our ordinary Ginger bread cookies.
Great hearing all this wonderful news about the Assistent. I am from Canada and have had one for a number of years. Love it more all the time. Even like the pink. Nice to see someone that uses the roler and scraper for cookies too. From large bread batches to smaller cookies the roller and hook are my favorite attachments. Read that new pasta makers will soon be available.Have to call Lynn at the warehouse and see when I can get mine. Great blog with great pictures.
Prinsesstårta is my favorite we have it every year at christmas time or any family gathering :D
The cookie seem delicious.
Hi, I just think it’s so fun that you’ve found a Swedish cookie to bake :)
I’m actually one of the 12 people on Sweden’s new ”Bake Off” series. I just love how creative you are!
hope you wanna check out my website when it finally comes up next week!
Great inspiration!
Christina
I’m normally not a pink kinda person but that is gorgeous! I love reading all about the fun and interesting things you post Angie. I can’t wait to try the Dream Cookies…yum!!!
Love your site and posts, hope your doing well!
We had one of these at home, I learned how to cook and bake with one of these. Our brand was Electrolux and it also had and attachment for blender. I got my finger caught many time at the rim. I will watch my mom make cakes for hours she use to sell cakes for extra $. Interesting there is nothing new under the sun. I enjoy your website.
Oh great. I always thought I really, really needed a Kitchen Aid. Now I am sure that I really, reall need an Ankarsrum Assistent Original. I really, really need to win the lottery *sigh*
I love the color — so pretty!!
Looks like a great tool. I make these cookies but I use baker’s
ammonia (harsthorn) instead of baking soda. It’s an old recipe but I think the baker’s ammonia makes the cookies really light.
Thanks for the post it is always cool to see new tools.
jeannie
Oh my, I thought these were available everywhere! (Is from Sweden) I’ve always lovd these new pastel colours, the onw my mom has is creamy yellow but VERY old.
And I LOVE Drömmar. They just melt in your mouth!
I think you should try Kärleksmums (Basically Love-Kärlek Mums-Yum) It’s like Swedish brownies, the cake is very moist and airy, and the frosting has a kind of fudge-ish taste to it. Then you top the whole thing off with LOTS of coconut sprinkles! Just make sure you get the right kind of recipe though, sometimes you get bad one and the cake is dry and the frosting tastes like…nothing. Also, if you want to make them extra yummy, make a lot of frosting and cut the brownies into pieces BEFORE pouring the frosting over them, so it covers all sides of the brownies.
I hope you could understand my poor English…
Hejdå!
/A Swedish fan
Your new mixer looks fabulous!! I so want one!!
I actually saw this machine for the first time on Pintrest. A poster had shard her recipe for cinnamon rolls and I was intrigued by the design. So funny that you are posting about it. Have fun playing with your new toy! A little jealous. I am one of a few wives that actually prefer a kitchen gadget for Christmas instead of other shiny bobbles.
That is so cute!!! Even if you never used it, it’s just adorable to sit on your counter. :)
Gosh, that thing is interesting-looking!
LOVE LOVE LOVE Bakerella!
I invite you to visit my blog: anenana.blogspot.com
kisses from Argentina!
What a cool mixer or appliance or whatever it is…if nothing else, the fact that it’s stainless & pink automatically makes it awesome!
:)
This makes me super excited! The “assistent” has been a family member for as long as I can recall. My grandmother had one, my mother had one and now I have one as well. Not the same brand – but an Assistent from Bosch. It’s superb for baking cinnamon rolls (If you want to try to bake them the correct swedish way you should google for Leila Lindholm and Kanelbullar).
Am I the only person who read this post and thought of the Swedish Chef? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swedish_Chef ;-)
The Assistent looks so awesome, but people seem to be talking about finding space on the counter for it *and* their KitchenAid. Would the average home baker really both?
My granny gave me a Bosch when I moved to my first own appartment 20 yrs ago. I thought that it was ok for baking bread (and mixing drinks…), but it needed tight supervision, since if you got just slightly too much flour it would just push the dough around. My wife loves to bake, and we changed into an Assistent – and it is so much better at handling dough – plus all the neat extra tools it has.
Sorry I am now drooling all over your blog (as if all your great recipes were not enough…). I love the look of this machine! I wonder how it compares to the Bosch Universal Mixer (Bosch costs about $420 vs. the $750 for this model). That’s another machine I have been dreaming to own to come out with great bread. I am not a great whole wheat hand kneader, and these look like they would help tremendously.
Thanks for your blog.
OH! turns out the must-have “sju sorters kakor” is translated into english, called “swedish cakes and cookies”. found it on amazon, buy it and try every recipe! the assistent is amazing for making big doughs. i have vivid memorys of baking “bullar” (cinnamon buns) with my grandmother using an assistent. personally i love “mazariner”. it would be fun seeing you transform the shy, quite boring “mazarin”, to something more bakerelly :)
Well, you did not stick to the Swedish recipe, it is not METRIC.
Hello.
Nice seeing that you have tested Ankarsrum Assistent.
This is really a wonderful machine
We introduced the new colors together with Ankarsrum in Sweden two years ago.
For all colors please have a look at our webbshop
http://bagarenochkocken.se/ankarsrum-assistent-original
I love everything Swedish.
I grew up with one of those! My grandma had one which she used for baking, at least once a week. I loved when she got the assistent out, I knew it was baking time! My mum inherited the assistent and she still uses it!
Love your blog, it’s great!
So excited to see you ask for Swedish recipes! My family is…Scandinavian (swede, norw., & danish). I’m not sure which recipes are specifically Swedish anymore…but here are my favorites (pardon my spelling): pepparkakor(thin cut out cookie…ikea has them), sankakkor or sankaga (a molded almond butter cookie), almond bars (thin cookie, soft, w/ almonds and icing drizzled), spritz, swedish coffee braid (a sweet bread, braided, cardamom flavor)… oh no! I’m forgetting the rest. We haven’t been making them every year like we used to! …crumkaga, fatiman(sp?), Cardamom toast (similar to biscotti). :o) enjoy your fun mixer!
I love the scraper! My Kitchenaid can never quite reach to the edge of the bowl so I have to scrape it myself w/ a spatula as it turns. I don’t think the price seems bad when you consider similar large, heavy duty mixers. My mom has a big Bosch mixer that she uses for bread and big batches of cookies, and I think it was several hundred dollars when she bought it back in the 90’s. Thanks for the review, and for introducing me (and lots of others who hadn’t heard of it, it seems) to a cool, new kitchen product.
It’s wierd how patriotic you get (as a Swede..) reading about good Swedish things in a blog like this… Love drömmar! My mom always made them when I was a kid – they are so tastyyy.
A great all-through Swedish recipe I’d like to share is the one for “ostkaka” (=cheesecake, but not like the typical American Cheesecake). This cake is a must for Christmas and other holidays, or at least in Småland where my dad grew up and we have our holiday home. I don’t have the recipe for the cake my family makes (almost every family has its one little secrets and twist with this cake..), but I found one at the Internet which should do just fine.
http://www.recept.nu/pelle_johansson/kakor_och_tartor/agg_och_mejeri/smalandsk_ostkaka/
It really takes a while to make – but it’s sooo worth it! Specially with a dab of whipped cream and some (or a lot!) cloudberry or “klarbär” (a type of cherry) jam.
Also, I have to say that (like Emma said) the ultimate sweet snack for kids here in Sweden are chokladbollar (chocolate balls) or cocosbollar (coconut balls) which they are also called.
….. Actually -there is another name for them as well, which was the “official” name for this deliciousness back in the days.. (Do I dare??).. Negerbollar (I suppose I did!). I won’t translate that for you though!
That is such a neat looking machine! I think I’d be totally intimidated, but it’s just so pretty! :D
I hope you have time to make a comparison type post with a recipe you always use your kitchenaid for, so we can see the difference ;’)
I wouldnt lie if I said that here in Sweden this machine has been in every other home since the 60´s. But they did´nt look as good as now. This is one looks just like the one my mother had…
http://www.spisat.se/2009/07/electrolux-assistent-tungt-fran-forr.html
I think I prefer your pink one =) So pretty!
GUESS WHAT!!!!! my assistant came in yesterday. I am so beyond thrilled. Today is my baking day. I would love for you to teach me to use my new toy
I’d say it’s difficult to find anything that is only Swedish. In Scandinavia in general, we have many of the same recipes and they are all called “traditional”. So what’s Swedish is Danish is Norwegian is Finnish. All those cookies you mentioned are very traditional in Denmark as well for instance.
Dream Cookies? No, those are Hanna-tädin kakkuja! :D (Aunt Hannah’s Cakes) I’m Finnish, but those are traditional here as well. My grandma has been making these for ages. :)
Thank you for bringing up Swedish cookie recipes in your blog! Dream Cookies makes me nostalgic because my grandmother always used to bake them for Christmas. I also think that you would like “raspberry caves” (Hallongrottor) and checkers (Schackrutor), the latter recipe, you can use ginger and lemon in for a little twist in taste from the original cookies :)
I’d love to see a video of the mixer in action! Also, those cookies look like they’d be about the texture of a Pecan Sandie, which has and probably always will be my favorite store bought cookie. I don’t know if it’s Swedish or not, but I’d totally mix a handful of finely chopped pecans into this recipe.
Nooooo…a mixer that comes with a scraper??? That is absolutely amazing. And yes, it’s so pretty, and in pink is adorable, I should have one of them, of course I have to wait for a very long time because that kind of things never comes to my country as fast as I want.
Never baked swedish. But this mixer looks so much cooler than my stand mixer. Wish I knew about these when my parents went to Europe last spring, would’ve been on top of my wishlist! So jealous, yet excited to see what else you make with it.
Beautiful.
Stop it, this is so great!!! I love cool kitchen gadgets!!
this is so cool…i want oneeee
I´m Swedish and have also got an Assistent. I got it from my grandmother and she must have bought it sometime in the 60´s and it is still working perfectly! I use it to make large batches of bread dough. I would like you to try two typically Swedish recepies. One is cinnamon buns and the other is a sticky chocolate cake. Serve it with lots of whipped cream. Enjoy!
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/swedish-sticky-chocolate-cake-kladdkaka/
http://innerwellness.wordpress.com/2009/03/16/kanelbullar/
Um… Wow! That is seriously cool. I am a big time cookie baker and am always pushing my kitchen-aid to the limit. I also like the look of those cookies, I like airy and crunchy. Yum! Thanks for posting. Now, I need to start saving my pennies (for a long time) to see if I really want one.
Maybe they’ll send you another to give as a give-away! Who knows.
You are awesome for sharing something new, I love that, thanks!
As 1/2 Norwegian, I love Kringla cookies! A sweet sour cream twisted cookie that we usually ate on saint lucy day. Yummm.
my father-in-law was second-generation Swedish-Norwegian American. His favorite cookie was a Pepparkokor. It is a strong gingersnap like cookie with finely chopped almonds in the dough. SO yummy. Haven’t made them except for Christmas for several years.
How fantastic that you would feature one!!! I’ve had one for almost 11 years and use the the bowl, scraper, roller combo primarily for mixing and kneading my whole wheat bread. Since whole wheat ( i grind my own) is denser than all purpose flour, this machine allows for up to 10-15 lbs of dough and kneads it all! It is phenomenal at kneading, which is so important for whole wheat, as you don’t want a dense, heavy loaf. The the way this assistant works, she gets the job done! I use the double beater bowl and whisk primarily for cookies as I feel like it does a better job. Just my 2 cents!
My mother has had one of those Swedish mixers for over 30 years. Hers isn’t sleek ‘n pink like yours but it is still working strong and well so I’m sure you’ll get a lot of good use out of it.
Some of them come with special hooks for kneading dough or whipping egg whites. But if you’re going to mix a lot of batter (and I’ve made a LOT of chocolate chip cookies in Mom’s mixer) then this does the job very well.
Very cool machine…it’s looks a lot like my Bosch Universal mixer, which is incredibly powerful and perfect for heavy bread dough. The Bosch isn’t as cute looking, though!
These remind me of pavlarones, mexican wedding cookies, or russian tea cookies. No matter where in the world you go, they love a good cookie!
When I was a little girl my mother used to call them Mardrömmar ( nightmares) instead of Drömmar ( dreams), having in mind it´s so hard to only have one or two.
Please try them the traditional way, like Maja # 63 describes, it makes a big difference.
So cute! At first i thought it was a miniature toy! The pink, I love. :o)
Love this — thanks for sharing it! Your blog always showcases such cool and creative things…. love it.
This looks like a great way to mix up peppernut dough! My dad’s mom and his aunts would get together every Christmas and make peppernuts for the whole family, which was several batches. It’s a very stiff dough, and even with a KitchenAid mixer, we usually end up mixing in the last bit of flour by hand! But they are wonderful cookies, not too sweet and excellent with coffee, too!
One of the key ingredients of real Swedish “drömmar” is hartshorn (baker’s ammonia).
Uncooked, it has quite a strong taste (well, so at least you don’t eat half the dough as I am usually prone to!) which totally disappears during baking. Don’t be put off by the smell emanating from the oven (it will remind you why hartshorn was used as smelling salt) as you will be rewarded with the most tender and delicate biscuit ever! The hartshorn makes the biscuits puff up and become almost hollow inside and they will literally melt in your mouth!
Please please give this recipe another try!
If you can’t locate hartshorn in the US I will mail it to you!
Angie!
This is the cutest assistant I ever did see!
Of course I love the pink!
Also love Swedish cookies!
xo
Hi Bakerella! I have been following you since your Garfield cupcakes were featured on the Garfield website. I’m now in my freshmen year at college and these look like the perfect cookies for my mom to bake and send me! Thanks for sharing and enjoy your new mixer. It looks awesome!
Hi!
I’m from Sweden and my family have one of these but I got really surprised when I read that you had not seen one of these before because I had no idea that they were from Sweden!
But anyway I think you should bake chokladbollar, or kanelbullar (cinnamon buns) or hallongrottor (I don’t know if these are swedish but they are really yummy!) :D
Very cool. I’ve loved my trusty Kitchenaid for many years now but this would be a nice distraction! Fascinated by how it works.
This is so fun! I just wish they were more affordabel.
Thanks for the recipe ideas guys.
Christy G – I agree
Mimmi and Milena – good to know. Thanks.
Emma – I’ll look for it.
Kelly – Great book title.
Raquel from florida – I can definitely see that. It has such a wide mouth on the bowl.
Shelley – Sorry you were put off. I just thought it would be fun to share something different and because it looks so cool. Remember it’s over seven quarts so not a size most people necessarily need.
And a seven quart Kitchenaid stand mixer also ranges from $650 to $900.00 just for comparison.
Looks cute and love the spatula set up. Just bought my KitchenAid Pro tho so not in for a replacement. Would love to try this out tho!
Awesome. Looks great!
That mixer looks beautiful! But then, I love swedish… well, everything. My favourite swedish dessert is prinsesstårta, or princess cake. Check it out, it’s DELICIOUS :P
Ooops, that’s ADVENTURES! Thanks again :)
Wow, that is an amazing machine! I too love the color! Gonna try the cookie recipe. Thanks for sharing your advenures!
I was all set to go buy one because I just love how it looks and it’s larger than my KitchenAid, but then I saw the price of nearly $800 and almost passed out. YIKES! It’s not often that I get a bit put off by this website – in fact it’s never happened before, but this time, I’m a bit disappointed, Bakerella….I certainly can’t afford this, and based on the comments here neither can many of your readers. Oh well. Enjoy your free $800 mixer!
That is an interesting mixer bowl. I don’t have a lot of counterspace, but my Kitchenaid is out all the time. I don’t want to think about how many times I use it a week (and how many pounds of sweets that means I’ve made).
After Chaddy worked on replacing stripped gears from my 2-year-old Kitchenaid this weekend, this Assistent is looking pretty good right now. I might have to try one!
Back in the seventies my mom had one of those heheheheh!!!! I remember licking the big attachment full of cookie dough o rcake batter! I also remember my mom never let me get close to it when it was working because it is dangerous for little kids hands and mom’s long necklaces!.
LOVE the Assistent! There’s a shop here locally that sells them and uses the Assitent in their baking classes. I’ve been saving my pennies so I can replace my Kitchen Aid. I’ve never seen it in pink though…GORGEOUS!!!!
What a cute kitchen ‘assistant’! :) Love the design and color.
OH MY GOODNESS! I LOVE this machine! I ead thru the comments and see that’s it’s a bit pricey and so, being on a rather limited budget right now, dont see myself buying one in the very near future but what good things it will make and I also love all the recipies she will make! thse recipes listed by other writers sound so good and will even delve intot he Swedish Cookbooks! I love the almond anything and so will also remember to use more almond paste! HA! Thanks for the introduction to Sweden!!!!!!! Deborah
I was hoping you were going to do a giveaway!
What a fun toy! The cookies sound yummy.
Wow, that mixer is awesome looking! I love the scraping attachment, I really need to buy one for my kitchenaid
Wow, that is so cool! I love the pastel colors! I may just have to get one :)
Love the pastel colors – looks so cute! And congrats on your toy coming out!
Cute. At first I thought it was an ice cream machine!
Interesting. Its very cool looking… sleek yet pretty at the same time
I love trying new foods so I will have to bake these cookies up.
that looks like something I would love, I love my kitchen aid, but there is no rule as to only having one mixer;p
Neat!! Gotta love new toys :)
So cute!
I just got back from visiting Sweden and wish I would have seen this before I went! I would have looked them up over there! It looks really interesting!!
I’m so glad you want to try out some swedish recipes. I think “bullar” is really Swedish. And I also love “Kärleksmums” and “Kladdkaka”. And there are lots of different “rulltårtor” you can try. I really like the one with butterceam and chocolate.
I love your blog
/Alva from Sweden
Wow, it is amazing, I will pick one!
I would love to have one of these or a KitchenAid :( I ‘only’ have an old Thermomix which doesn’t really cut it with dough or anything..
Wow, I would LOVE to try one of these mixers myself! I’ve been wanting something that would do bread dough well cause the one time I tried it in my kitchen aid I almost fried my mixer (it got really hot and sounded strange) so I haven’t been able to do bread in it like I’ve heard you are suppose to be able to do. Sounds like you could in this one…so would LOVE to have one (a red one! LOL). Thanks for sharing it with us, I’ve not heard of it before but it’s on my wish list now for sure! :-))
Hej!
Im from Sweden and i never even heard about this machine before. Now i just got to have one. Love your blog:-)
I wonder if the Assistent Original would be helpful in churning a large amount of corn meal into masa for Mexican tamales? A few friends and I helped our dear friend last year to make dozens upon dozens of these exquisitely flavorful pork tamales for our New Year’s Day brunch party – I’ve never made tamales before, nor observed tamales being made, and much less ever thought I’d get involved like we all did spreading masa on corn husks and filling them with this beautiful pork stew she cooked until it was meltingly tender. It was a fascinating hands-on experience and they tasted wonderful! Mixing the “masa” (Spanish for corn meal dough) was done entirely by her huge KitchenAid. That machine mixed the masa for the longest time while rich chicken stock was added to the corn meal, plus a lot of different seasonings, dark red broth from the pork stew, warm water and then finally vegetable oil – and the machine just kept on going for almost an hour at low speed, every once in a while scraping the edges down to bring the masa together, until the masa was light, airy and fluffy. I’m wondering if this Assistent Original would be good for continuous churning of this large amount of mixing? Talk about foreign exchange machines and recipes! I know there’s such a dish as “enchiladas Swissas” and now there could be “tamales Swissas!” If the Assistent Original could handle what a large KitchenAid can easily do, that would be an amazing masa-maker that’s for sure. Thank you, Bakerella, for showing it to us – it’s a new discovery for me and I will definitely look into the Assistent Original! WOW!!!
:-) Being Swedish, I just smiled seeing this post of yours!
It’s the best for making bread since it manages even heavy rye doughs! I bake bread twice a week so I get good use for mine. I recently got a new one as a gift, but before that I used my mother’s from the late 70s. It’s a great investment since it just goes on and on for ages.
Please let us know more about what you think of it when you’ve used it more!
Is my dream mix!
http://verdementayrosapastel.blogspot.com.es/
Scandilicious Baking is an amazing book! I love it. Signe is a Scandinavian chef/blogger in the UK.
Wow now that’s a cool machine. I will definitely check this out. My mom has an old,old mixer that spins and I always loved it but with hands that move as well, that’s fantastic. I could see using it all the time. Thanks for sharing this. Now to go to their website.
You are right, that is a fascinating looking little machine! I am not sure if I have room on my countertop for another appliance though, of dear :/
My favorite is certainly a good almond spritz. Nothing better! Though, a really good pepparkakor is hard to beat. I’m afraid though that my recipes are just the old family ones — I’ve changed the spritz one by adding a few tablespoons of almond paste to them. Really makes them POP
One of those assistents is my dream machine!
The best Swedish recipe is Chokladbollar, all kids here know how to make them. You don’t need an oven and it goes pretty fast, so it’s great when that sugar craving kicks in….
So, Chokladbollar:
100 gram butter
3 deciliter oats (1.2 cups)
1 dl sugar (0.4 cups)
3 table spoons cocoa powder
1 teaspoon vanilla sugar
1-2 tablespoons coffee (or water)
Mix everything, roll into balls that you roll in coconut or sprinkles. Put in the fridge to chill and enjoy!
(PS, the Sju Sorters Kakor book is available in English on amazon, I really recommend it. And I just want to say that you and your blog are awesome! ?)
I got one of theese and I grow up with one orange one att my parents house. I use it do big doughs and it´s very practically.
Theese are my favorite cakes, drömmar in swedish, nice to see them in here. And your right it´s called njuta in swedish.
That looks so cool! I love the double beaters. Unfortunately this is even further out of my college-aged price range than a Kitchenaid mixer… but it will definitely by on my list for the future. No Swedish recipes come to mind, but I’ll have to flip through my grandma’s old international cookbook and see what turns up!
I just got the same one – and I love it! Its great for making bread, which the kitchen aid is frankly to small for.
My grandmother has an older version that she bought in the 50s/60s and she still uses her weekly – so it should be worth the money :-)
Hej på dej! (or Hi!)
This post made me giggle, I must say.
I have one of these in my home now and growing up as well. My mother had a Kenwood for many years and as it turned out that was the best machine ever! We have always baked cinnamon buns and bread. When you have a large dough the “Assistent” doesn’t cut it.
The kenwoodmachine worked in the same way as the kitchenaid. And if I could choose I would choose the kitchenaid any day of the week.
But anyway, it’s alwas fun to se swedish products being tested all over the world!
I don’t know I you know but In sweden we hade something called “Fika”. For this occation there has been a book of recipies written called “7 sorters kakor”. or 7 sorts of cakes/cookies. Orginally you were supposed to serve 7 diffrent types of pastries at a Kafferep or fika.
This book will preatty much sum up all the cookies, cakes and pastries from sweden. Your could have lots of fun with it I assure you. This book will be found in almost every well-stocked motherly home in Sweden.
Love your blog!
//Emma
I have one! (Yes, I’m from Sweden) It’s great :) Especially for baking bread – it kneads the dough so beautifully.
What a treat! Very pretty and intriguing. I googled and found that it’s a bit pricey ($600-$750 range), so not something I’d add to my kitchen until I knew more about it and how it would work for my needs. From this review on Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/Assistent-Original-N28-White/product-reviews/B004HM810I/ref=cm_rdphist_4?ie=UTF8&filterBy=addFourStar&showViewpoints=0) and seeing how it’s sold my mainly bread supply stores in USA, it’s great for bread dough, which tend to be rough on most KA’s. I wonder how it handles large batches of buttercream. More importantly, would it make smoother batches with even less air, or would this design actually incorporate more air? If you ever play with it for other things, would love to know your findings!
Cool…and cute!
I WANT THAT MIXER!!!! NOW!! xD
Very cool mixer…thanks for sharing!
Hey these cookies are similar to our “NAN-KHATAI” (Indian tea biscuits). We make this with cardamom and nutmeg powder.
I had one of those a few years ago when they were sold under a different name.
Mine was champagne coloured.
They are really good once you get used to the roller.
I’m so delighted that you made some swedish cookies! :-) Dream cookies used to be my favourites when I was a child.
That thing looks so retro and modern at the same time, I LOVE it!
I think it would take a little getting used to after using a KitchenAid for so many years.
Wow, a very cool mixer. At first I thought it’s a toy (like to that of a toy oven). Thanks for sharing Bakerella. Your blog always inspires us for ideas :)
Wow I’ve never seen one of those before. How interesting! Enjoy your cookies!
That is the neatest looking mixer and I LOVE the color.
What a CUTE mixer! I think the scraper is a great idea.
Very interesting! Definitely a great piece to have sitting out in your kitchen.
That machine is so cool-looking! I definitely want one to befriend my Kitchenaid :)
Wow that mixer looks amazing! Definately something im going to look up! Thanks bakerella!! Those cookies look yummy too!!