Along a cozy, wintry road towards Lake Mjedsjön, about six miles outside Boden, we find Ylva Björngap, a passionate creator and entrepreneur who has specialized in treats that more people can enjoy.
With a father who is gluten intolerant, Ylva and her family experienced a lack of good gluten-free baked goods for a long time. This became her driving force. She wanted to create a business not just to make money, but simply to make life as a gluten intolerant person a little sweeter.
Ylva is 32 years old and has moved to Boden from Älvsbyn. In her daily life, she is an officer at I19, working full-time there and enjoying her job. Baking on the side has become more like therapy in her free time. She loves being creative and has always dreamed of running her own business. In June last year, it became a reality when she started Björntorpets Glutenfria Bageri (Björntorpet’s Gluten-Free Bakery) in the baking house on her property. The journey there consisted of a lot of experimenting.
“Yes, it has required a lot of test baking and failures before finding what works well,” she says with a giggle.
One of Ylva’s tricks for getting moist and delicious gluten-free pastries is quite simple: daring to make sticky batters! When we visit her, she is in full swing making delicious syrup rolls, pouring a sticky batter into a baking pan. She got the beautiful apron with her self-produced logo from her husband as a Christmas gift. The whole atmosphere, with the radio playing in the background, the handwritten recipes, and the cottage with an old traditional oven, exudes local bakery and craftsmanship to the highest degree.
“I hope to get this oven up and running one beautiful day! I just need to take care of the chimney, it hasn’t received love in a while and could use some renovation.”
Ylva draws much of her inspiration and ingredients from the northern Swedish nature. She is careful to avoid additives and uses local and organic ingredients as much as possible. The apples, which will become an apple cake and be delivered at the end of the week, are picked from the neighbor’s farm. The buckwheat comes from Värmland and the eggs from Strömnäsgården here in Boden. There’s also a large jar on the counter with a fiber-rich mixture, labeled with a date. She explains that it’s a mixture of sap and leaves from birch that will eventually become rolls.
There was a particular event at a market that really touched Ylva. A lady in a wheelchair struggled through the snow to reach her table and told her that she had come there just to partake in Ylva’s baked goods.
“It feels like I’m making a difference, even though I’m just baking bread,” Ylva says humbly.
TEXT: ROBIN SÖDERLUND
