Swedish Easter Traditions, Food & Baking
Enjoy the selection of classic festive treats!
A young girl dressed as an Easter witch in the county of Bohuslän in the 50s. Photo: Erik Liljeroth/Nordiska Museet.
How to celebrate Easter, the Swedish way
On this page, you’ll find a lot of mouth-watering Swedish things to bake. Click an image to go to the post where you can read more about the history, tips for how to make it, and get a tried-and-tested recipe.
Swedish baking doesn’t have to mean a lot of weird ingredients or special equipment. I’ll do my best to suggest substitutions, but if you’re ever have an issue, just comment on the recipe post and I’ll do my best to find a solution for you.
With so much to choose from, it can be difficult to know where to start… To help you select your next baking project, I put together a short and fun quiz — check it out below! Or, just keep scrolling 🙂
Easter witches for Maundy Thursday
There’s one very important concept you need to know if you’re going to bake something Swedish: fika.
Fika — as in “having a fika” or “do you want some fika?” — refers to hanging out together over a cup of coffee served with something sweet on the side. (Yes, tea and soft drinks are perfectly alright, too.)
A fika is usually pretty informal, can last for a short or very long time, and involves two or more people (although some would say that you can fika on your own). Catching up with an old classmate, comforting a friend with heartache, or having a casual date? Yep, the Swedes turn to fika, either at home, at a café, or at a slightly fancier konditori.
By now you might be wondering, “what do you have on your coffee, then?” Excellent question. Let’s take a look at some of the options — and, yes, you can choose more than one:
What do you fancy today?
Food
Drinks
Baking
Sweets
Easter egg eating
HISTORY OF SWEDISH EASTER FOOD
Egg gifts and games
HISTORY OF SWEDISH EASTER FOOD
Hand-made Easter egg, made out of sugar in the 1990s. Photo: Ulf Berger/Nordiska Museet.
Lamb as a Swedish Easter tradition
HISTORY OF SWEDISH EASTER FOOD
Classic Swedish Easter Food: Fish
HISTORY OF SWEDISH EASTER FOOD
Fish & Seafood
ST Lucia
Three women at a konditori in Sundsvall are busy preparing sweets for the Easter in 1951. Oh, that chocolate egg… Photo: Norrlandsbild/Sundsvalls Museum.
Swedish Easter sweets
HISTORY OF SWEDISH EASTER FOOD
Swedish Easter Sweets
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Easter Desserts
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Need something a bit fancier? From the perfect Midsummer cake to the birthday favorite — I’ve got you covered:
