Now we are approaching the brightest time of the year and warm summer evenings, the scent of lilacs and the year's first swim in the sea is just around the corner. It also means it's time to start planning for the most delightful holiday of the summer, namely Midsummer! Maybe you are the one organizing this year's celebration? It can feel quite overwhelming to take on all the planning for the Midsummer festivities, but don't worry! Whether you celebrate with family, friends, or the whole extended family, we have the tips to make your Midsummer party an unforgettable event that lasts well into the bright summer night.
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Set the table for Midsummer
Midsummer is a holiday largely about enjoying good food and spending quality time with loved ones. Therefore, it can be a good idea to prepare a beautiful table setting that makes it a pleasure to spend a long time at the table! It doesn't have to be difficult to create a really nice Midsummer table setting – with just a few small details you can brighten up the whole table! Flowers, napkin rings, and beautiful cutlery make the setting both beautiful and inspiring. At Dorre you will find elegant cutlery sets, sleek flower vases, nice napkin rings and handy drink coolers that all look great on the Midsummer table. Maybe you feel like trying something completely new this year? Why not ditch the usual tables and chairs to try a picnic-style setting that looks great in photos?
Psst! Carry bottles and drinks in a stylish way with the bottle crate “Tage”.
Recipes for delicious Midsummer food
When it comes to flavorful meals, Midsummer is an excellent opportunity to serve both classic and new recipes. Whether you are thinking of serving a really rich strawberry cake or a classic Västerbotten cheese pie, we have gathered our very best and most summery recipes for you below!
Tip for a summery potato salad for the Midsummer party
A good potato salad with radishes is a real staple at Midsummer celebrations, National Day celebrations, and other summer parties. Making a tasty potato salad is as easy as it is delicious. Here you will find our very best recipe!
Psst. Summery salads like the one below are best served in our beautiful salad bowl “Glitter”!
You will need:
800 g new potatoes
1 bunch dill
1 bunch radishes
2 teaspoons dried tarragon
1 red onion
Dressing
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
Salt
Pepper
2 teaspoons honey
Drizzle over half a dl rapeseed oil/olive oil
How to do it:
- Chop the potatoes, red onion, and radishes.
- Add dill and dried tarragon
- Start mixing the dressing; put Dijon mustard, salt, pepper, honey, and olive oil/rapeseed oil in a bowl
- Pour on the dressing and mix well.
Looking for more delicious potato dishes? Don't miss our article with 3 quick and easy potato recipes!
Recipe for classic Västerbotten cheese pie
You will need (8 servings):
Pie crust
2 dl wheat flour
1 dl graham flour
125 g butter
1 egg
Filling
3 eggs
2 ½ dl medium cream (27%)
1 dl milk
300 g Västerbotten cheese
1 pinch salt
1 pinch black pepper
Garnish
A dollop of sour cream
Löjrom (Swedish caviar)
Chopped chives / dill
How to do it:
- Preheat the oven to 200°C
- Start making the pie crust by mixing flour and butter in a bowl. Add the egg and continue mixing into a dough.
- When the dough is ready, press it out into a pie dish, preferably about 25 cm in diameter to get 8 servings.
- Put the pie in the fridge and let it rest for 8 minutes.
- Time to pre-bake the pie in the oven! Make sure to prick the bottom of the pie with a fork before putting it in the oven.
- Pre-bake in the middle of the oven for 10-15 minutes.
- Start mixing the filling. Whisk eggs, cream, and milk, grate the cheese and add it along with black pepper and salt.
- Pour the filling into the pie crust and bake the pie in the middle of the oven for 30 minutes until the pie has a nice color.
How to bake the best Midsummer cake!
Is there a better dessert in summer than a really good cream cake garnished with strawberries and fresh berries? Below you will find a recipe for a really delicious Midsummer cake that delights both adults and children.
You will need (Sweden cake with strawberries):
3 eggs
3 dl sugar
3 dl wheat flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 dl boiling water
For the filling:
100 g butter
1 dl milk
1 tbsp vanilla sugar
Topping:
Cream
Strawberries
Lemon balm/mint
(For classic recipe replace topping with powdered sugar)
How to do it:
- Preheat the oven to 180 degrees.
- Whisk eggs and sugar until fluffy in a bowl. Mix flour and baking powder and stir into the batter together with boiling water. Mix to a smooth batter.
- Pour the batter into a greased and floured pan.
- Bake the cake at the bottom of the oven for about 33 min. Take out and let cool.
- Melt the butter in a saucepan. Remove from heat and mix in milk and vanilla sugar. Cut the cake in half.
- Pour the butter filling between the cake layers on both sides and put them together again.
Spread cream, place strawberries on top, and garnish with lemon balm or mint.
Simple snacks for the Midsummer party
Something that is a hit for lunch, dinner, and snacks is some nice small dishes. Canapés and finger foods with summery touches are almost a must at the Midsummer celebration. Below we have gathered a lovely recipe for finger foods in glasses that is both simple and tasty.Mix and match the toppings exactly how you want! Put out the bowls and let guests enjoy some tasty snacks during mingling, dinner, or the party. Whatever finger foods you choose to include at your event, they are best served in our Uri serving set.
Finger foods in glasses - you will need:
Any crispbread/crackers
Any cheese (we took brie)
Olives
Prosciutto
Strawberries
Pistachios
Want tips on more simple and summery snacks? Here you will find our article with tips on two simple desserts with strawberries!
Tips for games at the Midsummer party:
Besides offering great dancing and singing, Midsummer is also a holiday filled with fun games. Whether you want to challenge guests to a big pentathlon or entertain the younger guests with a fun activity, we have the tips for you. Don't forget to motivate the participants a little extra with a festive prize!
Organize a thrilling pentathlon:
The pentathlon is the perfect activity at the Midsummer celebration with family and friends. By choosing five exciting competition events, you give participants a chance to show their unique skills and strengths.
Tips for fun games to include in the pentathlon:
- Target throwing: A very simple event that can be done with what you have at home. Bring out an old tennis ball and some buckets from the storage and do some target throwing! Another good tip is to set up old metal cans and try to hit them with either a sandbag or a small ball. If you have a dartboard, this can also be an excellent option.
- Tug of war: Get a sturdy rope and tie a flag in the middle. Gather the team members and let two teams challenge each other by trying to pull the rope to their side.
- Sack race: A really classic game that many have tried! Sack racing is both challenging and fun. All you need is a bunch of garbage bags that the participant then steps into and hops a certain distance with.
- Balance an egg on a spoon: Another traditional and challenging event involves balancing an egg on a spoon. Here the participant needs to hold the spoon with the egg in their mouth and quickly get around a distance. Let two participants from each team compete against each other. The team that returns fastest without dropping the egg is declared the winner.
- “Flip the cup”: A really festive game that can be played with or without alcohol. Fill a plastic cup with any drink and let a participant from the team drink the contents of the cup and then try to flip the cup from the edge of the table so that it lands upside down on the table. When this is done, the turn goes to the next team member who must do exactly the same.
- Irish Christmas Eve: This dizzy favorite offers both you and the guests a really good laugh. Just be sure to be careful so that there is nothing nearby the participants can hurt themselves on. The game is about a participant from each team running up to a pole and spinning 10 times around it with their head down and then running back to the team.
- Music quiz: A really popular competition event that never goes out of style is a classic music quiz. Mix old favorites with new songs and let guests guess the title, year, and artist. If you don't want to compile your own quiz, it's just as good to search for ready-made playlists.
Exciting activities for children & youth at Midsummer:
- Close your eyes and taste: A fun event that the younger participants at the party can appreciate is to close their eyes and taste different things. All you need is a blindfold and bowls/plates for what the participants will taste. If you want to do a different version of the game, it's just as good to let the participants feel different things and guess what it is.
- Relay kubb:A really fun game that engages both older and younger participants is a classic relay kubb competition. The game is about dividing participants into two teams who line up behind a starting line. In front of each team, a little distance from the starting line, a row of five kubbs is set up. The kubbs should stand a few meters apart from each other facing the teams. The king is placed furthest from the teams. Each team then gets a throwing stick that the first participant in line must throw to try to hit the nearest kubb. The thrower must then fetch the stick and hand it to the second person in line and then go to the end of the line. If you manage to hit the kubb so that it falls, the team can move forward to the place where the kubb stood and try to knock down the next one and so on until all kubbs are down. The team that knocks down the king has won.
- Pen in the bottle:A really fun game that can be played both individually and in teams. The game is played by each participant tying a pen to one end of a string so that the pen points downward. Then you tie the string around your waist so that the pen hangs a bit below the bottom. All participants then stand behind a starting line. A bit in front of the starting line is a bottle per participant. At the given start signal, you have to run up to the bottle and try to dip the pen in the bottle. Hands must be kept behind the back during the entire competition. The first to dip their pen in the bottle wins the game.
We at Dorre wish you a wonderful Midsummer filled with laughter, good food, and fun games in good company!
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