Classic Swedish Fika pastries you need to try
Alaine’s selection of gourmet chokladbollar :) Pictured here: Bakkwa (Singaporean pork jerky), Pineapple tart, Oolong tea, Kaya (Singaporean coconut jam), Classic chokladbollar, Matcha
Seven different types of Fika pastries you need to try
“Sju sorters kakor” translates to 7 different types of cookies
The classic Swedish fika that one would experience at “grandma/mom/aunt" house would be seven different types of pastries, cookies, cakes, bread on a table spread served with “bryggt kaffe” or black coffee. This would be a classic historical tradition.
I’m such a sweet tooth and have been embracing the fika ritual for several years now. My favorite is of course the ubiquitous chokladboll/chocolate ball with a cup of black coffee that I even ended up so obsessive with perfecting in making them that I’ve branched out and make fusions of chokladbollar flavors.
Classic chokladbollar.
Classic “Bougie balls” from my book “In search of the best Swedish chokladbollar”, these are made with Valrhona cacao, Italian espresso, organic browned butter, and a pinch of truffle salt
Classic Chokladbollar (Swedish chocolate balls)
Swedish chocolate balls or “chokladbollar” are one of the most classic fika treats you will find in almost every cafe, konditori - pastry shop, fika spread at home. Traditionally made of oats, butter, sugar, cacao, coffee, vanilla, and coated in coconut or pearl sugar. These no-bake treats are a hit especially with children and the first things that Swedish children learn to make at home. Some twists to the classic recipe can elevate the basic flavors. This is the very reason why I became obsessed with making them that I even wrote a book based on the classic chokladboll to make all kinds of twists in the recipe to elevate your baking experience.
While doing research for my book, I sampled and interviewed several cafes and konditori spots in Malmö, Lund, Helsingborg, Gothenburg, and Stockholm. What I found was that almost every Swede loves chokladbollar! In recent years, there’s a trend to make “rawbollar” a.k.a. “bliss balls” a.k.a. "protein balls” chockfull of healthy fruits, nuts, and even protein powder! Because the base of chokladbollar is oats, its easy to adjust for healthier substitutions. For example, switching out butter for nut butters or coconut oil and using fruit and dark chocolate or coconut sugar to sweeten the mixture. Either way, chokladbollar is a staple in a Swedish bakery or cafe or household for fika.
Hallongrottor cookie from Broder Jakobs in Lund
Hallongrottor cookies
These are raspberry jam filled cookies and very common in bakeries and cafes throughout Sweden. If you are having a fika with a friend but don’t feel like having an entire kanelbulle (cinnamon bun) or kladdkaka slice (sticky chocolate cake) to yourself but want something sweet and small to pair with your black coffee these small morsel raspberry jam filled cookies are the perfect fika pastry.
I particularly like them when they have a deep imprint for the raspberry jam and the sugar cookie component is buttery. They are actually fairly easy to make and I’ve made some recently with homemade rhubarb jam.
Rhubarb jam instead of raspberry jam for these cookies.
Classic kladdkaka slice from Fika cafe and bistro in Singapore
Kladdkaka sticky chocolate cake
Somewhere between a dense chocolate cake, a brownie, and sometimes even a chocolate fondant depending on the gooey factor. I like my kladdkaka sticky and gooey but not melting all over my plate. Its very common to find kladdkaka in almost all cafes and bakeries throughout Sweden but you can also make them at home fairly easily without fancy baking equipment. Using only one mixing bowl and a bit of easy baking knowledge (if you can make brownies - you can certainly make this cake!).
The recipe I like to use for kladdkaka comes from the Scandikitchen cookbook. Its a pretty easy to follow and foolproof recipe that can be altered to individual taste. Sometimes, I add a bit of whisky to the mixture to give it a bit of more adult complexity. Recently, I added almond and hazelnut meal to the mixture with a blend of regular flour. This gave the texture of the cake to have a slight sweet nuttiness to it. Just like brownies, under-baking the cake for a couple minutes and letting it cool on a wire rack will retain its moisture and stickiness on the inside.
There is also a day dedicated to Kladdkaka, kladdkakans dag is celebrated on Nov 7th and people will either celebrate by making kladdkaka at home or have a kladdkaka at fika in a cafe. Its the best excuse to bake at home and indulge in this sticky chocolate cake.
Homemade kladdkaka with a chocolate ganache, wild smultron strawberries, and crunchy caramel balls
Kanelbulle, Swedish cinnamon bun from Broder Jakobs in Lund.
Kanelbulle, Swedish cinnamon bun
Kanelbulle is different from the American sticky cinnamon roll that has a sticky layer of icing on the top, instead kanelbulle has a simple pearl sugar topping and the bun has a very distinct cinnamon and cardamom spice taste. The spices of cinnamon and cardamom were a result of the spice trade with Sri Lanka. The size of kanelbulle is also smaller than its American counterpart. A very typical treat to have with coffee during fika time.
On October 4th, Swedes celebrate Kanebullensdag / Cinnamon bun day. Yes, there’s a whole day for celebrating this bun. Whether the bun looks like swirl or twisted into knots, this sweet bun is loved by many. I prefer the twisted knot version.
Kanellbulle at Da Matteo in Gothenburg
A fika with a kardemumma and kanelbulle at St Jakobs Stenugnsbageri in Malmö
If you can’t choose between a kardemumma or a kanelbulle at fika, order both and share with your friend! St Jakobs stenugnsbageri in Malmö
Kardemummabulle/Kardemumma
Cardamom buns.
Cardamom on a sweet bun with a hint of pepper.
What!? How does that work. Somehow the cardamom works in this sweet spicy bun. If you aren’t such a big fan of sweet cinnamon buns, the spicy cardamom seeds on this bun balances out the sugar and adds a bit of added dimension of flavor.
I remember the first time I ordered a kardemumma at the Fotografiska museum cafe in Stockholm and thought the flavors were very strong and in stark contrast to the kanelbulle with more complexity in flavor coming from the spicy ground cardamom seeds and maybe even a tiny bit of black pepper. (though I’ve been fooled into thinking cardamom seeds were black pepper before!) Too much cardamom and the bun loses its balance of flavor. Too much sugar and the cardamom gets drowned out. The lagom balance between spice and sweet is really important in a good kardemumma in my humble opinion.
Having a Lussekatter bun on the train in Sweden.
Lussekatter saffron buns
When the temperatures start to drop and the days get short, winter holiday season is near. Every bakery and supermarket starts to stock these saffron slightly sweetened buns called lussekatter. Christmas treats in Sweden are laced with saffron, cinnamon, anise, orange peel, cardamom. The saffron gets infused into buns, cakes, and cookies. These lussekatter buns are not as sweet as the other pastries on this list and delicately flavored with saffron within the dough. They resemble little cats, hence the name Katter. If you’re in Sweden or around a Swedish bakery during the holiday season, pick up a couple of these buns to have for breakfast or fika.
Some bakeries even have crossover buns like saffron kanelbulle and saffron flavored savory breads as it has become quite popular to use saffron for holiday baking. Personally, I really like saffron kanelbulle during the holiday season.
Vegan semla bun from Patisseriet in Lund
Semla buns
These big cream puffs show up right after New Years’ day and stay until the end of February or beginning of March. Traditionally eaten on fettisdag translated directly as ‘Fat Tuesday’ is the last day before the fasting period of Lent that happens before Easter. Though the origins are somewhat bathed in a cloak of Christian religion, semlor (plural) buns are eaten during this period and many Swedes wait for the first semla buns to show up at the bakeries after the New Years’ celebrations. A little different than the French cream puffs, the buns are more like bread buns and are filled with almond paste before stuffed with fresh light cream. In recent years, due to the popularity of vegan diets, there are many bakeries offering vegan semlor buns made with either coconut cream or sometimes almond cream. I personally like the almond cream version best due to the subtle sweet nutty flavors.
Semlor; Semla buns in the window at Ramklints konditori in Lund
There are of course quite a lot of pastries to try beyond these seven that I’ve listed here. These just happen to be my favorite fika pastries. Some additional pastries that are pretty common in bakeries, cafes, and grocery stores are Prinsesstårta (Princess cake - covered in green marzipan), Dammsugare (“vacuum cleaner” is the literal translation but these are green tubes with chocolate dipped ends), Mazarin (Sweet icing tarts - often found in a packet at the grocery store or your nearest IKEA), Tosca (tarts that often have mixed nuts such as pecans, walnuts, almonds, hazelnuts), Arraksbollar (these balls are sometimes flavored with real rum but often times in bakeries are just flavored with artificial rum flavoring).
Perhaps you can have a tasting of different fika pastries whenever you have a fika and decide which are your favorite seven fika pastries.
The green slices above are the popular Prinssestårta from the iconic Brogyllan cafe in Gothenburg
All opinions and pictures are property of Alaine Handa except otherwise stated. All rights reserved. (c)
