Fika Square closes its doors for this time

After three fantastic days at Soho Square, Fika Square has now closed.

Day three was a little rainy but it was warm and cosy in the Fika Parlour marquee.

Fika Parlour

Emma Karp Lundström’s art  piece was completed in the morning and our Fika guests could rest their eyes on an amazing scene from a Skåne landscape created with thousands of colourful apples while sipping their coffee.

The apple art piece

A huge thank you to all of you who stopped by at Fika Square and of course to Emma and Jan who were our star attractions at this event and helped us make it such a success!

Don't forget that you can read all about Skåne AND be in with a chance to win your dream trip to this southern county in Sweden on our dedicated Skåne site http://www.visitsweden.com/relaxingskane

Sunny Wednesday afternoon at Fika Square

Fika Parlour moves into the cosy marquee

Day three was a little rainy but it was warm and cosy in the Fika Parlour marquee. By 12.30pm a
queue of people with reservations for the Fika Parlour had formed and before long the smell of freshly brewed coffe and delicious cookies filled the marquee in Soho Square.

Vincent Boczarski and Stephen Pell had made sure they got a reservation at one of the Fika Parlour tables. They are both big fans of Sweden and the tradition of Swedish Fika.

 Vincent Boczarski and Stephen Pell in the Fika Parlour

“I’ve spent a lot of time in Sweden and in Malmö in particular”, says Vincent.

“It’s a great place that has transformed in the last decade and there is just so much to see and do there now.

"And the coffee just seems to taste better in Sweden!”, he laughs.

Jan Hedh's delicious cookies

For all of you who tried Jan's delicious cookies and forgot which one was your favourite, here is a list of what they were:

Chokladsnitt
Chocolate cookie with tiny pearls of sugar on top

Vaniljdiamant
Vanilla diamond
See Jan's recipe on BBC GoodFood

Havrekaka med russin
Oat cookie with raisins

Brysselkex
Brussels cookie

Bondkaka
Farmers cookie, with almonds

Fransk pepparkaka
French ginger snap, with almonds and ginger

Sirapssnitt
Golden syrup cookie

N.B  The translations are my own and may not exactly correspond to their official name in English!

Some photos from Fika Square

We've been so lucky with the weather so far, after rainy mornings the sun came out during both Wednesday's and Thursday's Fika Square when we opened the doors at 12.30pm. Fingers crossed for another sunny afternoon today!

Here are a few photos from Fika Square yesterday and Wednesday. To view all our photos please visit our facebook page

We'll be adding more from the event during the day so keep checking!

Photo W Communication

photo Anna Hjerdin

Photo Malin Nyberg

Photo Malin Nyberg

Photo Malin Nyberg

Fika Square - day 3

It's the third and final day of Fika Square!

We will open the Fika Parlour at 12.30pm again today and we'll be in Soho Square until 2.30pm.

It is a little wet again today so the Fika Parlour will move into the marquee so you won't get wet while enjoying the seven delicious cookies and yummy Löfbergs Lila coffee.

Emma Karp Lundström's apple installation is now finish so come down and have a look at this amazing painting all made out of apples.

Wonderful Swedish cookies for all at Soho Square!

Rain and grey skies met us at Fika Square this the morning but by the early afternoon the sun came out and warmed us up in Soho Square.

The ground was too wet for the Fika picnic and instead we went out around Soho Square and offered free cookies to passers-by. The Fika Parlour moved into the tent and this created a cosy atmosphere where guests could enjoy a cup of coffee, a delicious cookie and a chat about Skåne and Sweden.

Seven delicious cookies

Sweden’s most famous chocolatier, pastry chef and cookbook author, Jan Hedh, made the seven kinds of delicious cookies and spent the day chatting to guests about the summer destination of Skåne and introduced Britons to the custom of Fika.

Photo by W Communication

  

I had a quick chat with Jan who told me how he used to work on cruise ships to fund his studies while studying to become a pastry chef in Switzerland. This gave him a taste for adventure and he has since continued to travel the world within his profession.

Jan grew up in Malmö in Skane, Southern Sweden. Since the age of 14 he has been baking and is now one of the foremost chocolate experts and pastry master in the world.

Jan is also the author of several books and a World Championship medalist. He is co-owner of Olof Viktor's Bakery in Glemminge and artisan bakery Peter's Yard in Edinburgh. He is also a consultant to the Chocolaterie Les Trois Roses in Malmö, where it manufactures chocolate and pralines, jams, marmalades, mustards, vinegars, and spice blends.

For more information about Jan please see the links below:

Jan Hedh

Olof Victors

Peter's Yard

Les Trois Roses

Apple art - day two

Emma Karp Lundström's live art installation during the Fika Square pop up has really started to take shape on the second day of the event. More colourful apples were delivered, and despite the wet morning Emma carried on creating the apple art piece.

Boxes of colourful apples

Maney people who walked past the Fika Square event asked what we were doing and wanted to come in and have a look.

Emma depicts nature and plants in graphic art and watercolors. She also paints with apples and potatoes. She studied art for 10 year including a masters degreed and followed in the footsteps of her parents who are both artist and work within Apple Art.

Apple art is taking shape

Amongst her many instillation, every year Emma produces the 108 square metre apple art work for the Kivik Apple Market & Autumn Festival. This year’s apple picture is her 11th, the market is celebrating 24 years. Emma’s apple picture attracts 100 000 visitors in September each year, 70 000 nails are used to hold up 35 000 apples.

Emma at the Fika Square event

Find out more about Emma here

Photos from yesterday and win a trip to Skåne!

Malin, our press manager here in the UK office, has just put up some great photos from Fika Square yesterday.

Have a look and at the same time don't forget to enter our Your Skåne Facebook competition and be in with a chance of winning your dream holiday to relaxing Skåne

View all photos

or go straight to the competition by clicking on the image below:

Day two - Fika Square

It's a little wet out there today but Fika Square will still be in Soho Square from 12.30 to 2.30pm today.

Pop in for a cup of coffee and some amazing cakes baked by world famous pastry chef Jan Hedh and watch how Emma Karp Lundström's apple art piece is taking shape.

I will post some photos of the apple art later this afternoon for any of you who can't make it to the event.

See some of you there later and fingers crossed for another sunny afternoon!

Boxes of colourful apples

Fika Square - doors open again tomorrow

Fika Square has now closed for today but we will be back at Soho Square from 12.30 to 2.30pm tomorrow. Pop in for a Fika and try some of Jan Hedh's amazing cookies or watch Emma Karp Lundström work on here beautiful apple art piece.

The Fika parlour is now fully booked but you can still come to the drop in Fika picnic.

See you tomorrow!

Seven cookies and a cup of coffee

After a dreary looking start to the day the sun came out just as the doors opened to Fika Square at Soho Square in London. Within minutes all the tables in the Fika Parlour, and most of the picnic blankets were filled with excited Londoners on their lunchbreak, Swedes living in London and tourists who wanted to try a relaxing Fika.

World famous pastry chef Jan Hedh’s cookies proved a hit and our Fika guests had a hard time trying to decide which one was their favourite cookie. 

photo by W Communications

 - I think I prefer the one with the almonds, says Jackie Hannan. Jackie has travelled in to Soho Square from Ealing in West London to try a Swedish Fika and relax in the sunshine.

Traditionally, seven cookies are served as part of the Fika ritual, made from the finest natural ingredients, married with a fresh cup of coffee, it’s the perfect time to indulge and revitalizing. In the 19th century the ingredients for cookies were expensive and it was a sign of wealth be able to offer your guest several varieties of cookies. A competitiveness between hostesses developed and the custom for serving seven varieties derived.

An apple master piece is starting to take shape!

A lot of people have come to Fika Square to see the amazing apple art piece by artist Emma Karp Lundström. Emma has been behind the apple art at the famous Kivik Apple Market in recent years and today she is creating a huge piece of art made out of apples. The piece of art will look like a painting, but it is actually pieced together by colorful apples.

Boxes and boxes of colourful apples were delivered to Soho Square in the early hours and by mid morning Emma had already started putting up the first apples for the art piece.

Emma's apple art piece in Kivik is much larger than the one she is creating for the Fika Square event, but Emma says,

- It's harder to make a small piece than a big one.

The Kivik piece of apple art has around 35,000 apples installed on 70,000 spikes. The Kivik Apple Market started in 1988 when the Swedish fruit-growing industry joined forces to raise positive aware­ness of Swedish fruit. Times had been hard for apple growers and when the USA and EU demanded the removal of the Swedish import ban on foreign fruit during the Swedish fruit season, fruit growers protested and countered by starting the “Apple War”.

Fika Square has opened!

Fika Square has now opened in Soho Square! The sun is shining on the fika parlour and people are enjoying coffee and home baked Swedish cookies.

photo by W Communications

Artist Emma Karp Lundström has been building up the apple art piece all morning and the apple painting is starting to take shape.

World famous pastry chef Jan Hedh's cookies are already a hit and we are very pleased to report that the fika parlour is now fully booked.

You can still drop in to the fika picnic though, open from 12.30-2.30 today, tomorrow and Friday.

photo by W Communications

Wake up and smell the coffee! It's time for FIKA at Soho Square!



Setting up at Soho Square

It's time! Today Soho Square will turn into Fika Square when Swedish Fika comes to town. There'll be a spectacular apple art work installation made of 1,000kg apples by Swedish artist Emma Karp Lundström and 7,000 cookies baked by Jan Hedh. It's time for FIKA at Soho Square!

Reservations for up to six people can be requested by emailing reservations@fikasquare.co.uk but you can also show up for first come, first served baked goods at the picnic.

Don't miss artist Emma Karp Lundström, who will use apples to depict scenes from the area of Skåne at the event! Find out more about Emma on our blog post below.

Work has started on the apple art piece this morning

See you at Soho Square from 12.30!

Apples, apples and more apples!

 Don't miss the amazing apple art piece by artist Emma Karp Lundström at our pop up Fika event tomorrow!

Apple art piece by Emma Karp Lundström

Emma Karp Lundström has been behind the apple art at The Kivik Apple Market in recent years and this year will be no exception. The Kivik Apple Market is a harvest festival focusing on the Swedish apple. Every year the market features a piece of apple art, in which 35,000 apples are installed on 70,000 spikes. The piece of art looks like a painting, but is actually pieced together by colorful apples. The theme is kept secret until the art is unveiled at the market. This year’s market takes place in Kivik 24-25 September 2011.

The Kivik Apple Market started in 1988 when the Swedish fruit-growing industry joined forces to raise positive aware­ness of Swedish fruit. Times had been hard for apple growers and when the USA and EU demanded the removal of the Swedish import ban on foreign fruit during the Swedish fruit season, fruit growers protested and countered by starting the “Apple War”.

In 1988, an estimated 6,000 visitors attended the market in the square. Twenty or so years later, between 20,000 and 25,000 people are attracted to Kivik Harbour during the last weekend in September.

During the market, visitors can taste and buy a wide range of Swedish fruit, listen to ar­tists performing on the stage, buy Swedish handicrafts and attend the annual Golden Apple award ceremony. The Apple Market is organised by not-for-profit company Äpplemarknaden i Kivik – a cooperative effort from several fruit growers and companies in the Swedish fruit industry, including Äppelriket & Kiviks Musteri.

Kivik is a small town in the southern county of Skåne. It is located in a part of Skåne called Österlen.

SKÅNE WEEKENDS AND HOLIDAYS

Fly to Copenhagen with Easyjet (www.easyjet.co.uk) from as little as £38.99 return. Other airlines that fly to Copenhagen from London include SAS (www.flysas.co.uk), British Airways (www.ba.com) and Norwegian (www.norwegian.com). Ryanair is also starting flights to Malmö from London Stansted on 2 November. The train from Copenhagen Airport to Malmö city centre takes less than half an hour.

For holidays in Skåne, see Discover the World http://www.discover-the-world.co.uk/en/destinations/sweden/regions/skane.html

For more information on Skåne and Malmö please go to www.visitsweden.com/relaxingskane

It's Fika Time

A lovely story about Swedish Fika from one of our bloggers who went on a trip to Skåne last weekend

http://40before30.com/2011/08/21/its-fika-time/

Do you want to try a Swedish Fika? Then come to Soho Square on Wednesday 24th August - Friday 26th August between 12.30pm and 2.30pm!

Pop Up Fika Parlor, 24-26 August, Soho Square in London

Come by to our free Pop Up Fika Parlor and walk in Fika Picnic!

Where: Soho Square in London
When: 24-26 August
Time: 12.30pm-2.30pm  

A team from Skåne, led by world famous pastry chef Jan Hedh will be serving traditional Fika, the Swedish equivalent of high tea and sharing stories about the region.

Reserve a table by emailing reservations@fikasquare.co.uk or come by on the day.

Traditionally, 7 cookies are served as part of the Fika ritual, made from the finest natural ingredients, married with a fresh cup of coffee, it’s the perfect time to indulge and revitalizing. In the 19th century the ingredients for cookies were expensive and it was a sign of wealth be able to offer your guest several varieties of cookies. A competitiveness between hostesses developed and the custom for serving 7 varieties derived.