Recently I've become interested in European baking, so I was waiting eagerly for the release of this book and ordered it as soon as it became available. I'm sorry to say it's not really about Swedish baking. There are a few Swedish bread recipes but most of the recipes are for French bread, Italian bread, focaccia, fougasse, croissants, Danish pastry, etc., i.e., pretty much what you would find in any baking book. Except that here the recipes are rendered in rather awkward translations from Swedish. Sometimes they're downright confusing. For instance regarding the gluten test: "If the dough comes apart too easily, it needs to be worked more. However if it bursts too easily, it has been worked too much." (?) And a bread glaze: "Mix 10 grams of potato flour and 50 grams of water. Boil 300 grams of water, whisk the flour and let it cook." Do you mix the 50 grams of water + flour into the 300 grams of water? Maybe, but I'm not really sure.
I don't want to be too hard on this book; there are some good things about it. The photographs are very nice and the breads and pastries look appetizing. An experienced baker might be able to use the book despite the translation difficulties and be inspired by the beautiful photos. And there are a few very interesting recipes for Swedish breads such as wort bread, old-time syrup loaf, and coarse Skane bread--just the kinds of things I was hoping for. I don't even particularly object to quirky translations; they can be charming and funny, providing the underlying information is understandable. However, this book would have benefited immensely from better translation and editing.
This book is published by Skyhorse Press, which seems to specialize in Swedish books. I own another book from Skyhorse Press called Swedish Cakes and Cookies, which I love. Swedish Cakes and Cookies has great photographs and is packed with recipes that are translated well, so maybe they can fix this book up a little in a later edition.