Swedish Budapest roll — but is it Hungarian?

Swedish Budapest roll — but is it Hungarian?

The Budapest roll is a classic at Swedish cafés. Here, it is known as Budapestbakelse, Budapestrulle, or Budapestlängd. A traditional version consists of a hazelnut meringue filled with whipped cream and preserved mandarin slices. Nowadays, some bakeries and bakers...
Swedish Almond Caramel Cake— Tosca cake (Toscakaka)

Swedish Almond Caramel Cake— Tosca cake (Toscakaka)

Passionate love, jealousy, desire, hatred, betrayal, and murder. Is that what leant its name to the Swedish Tosca cake? We’ll take a look at that soon. Because who can resist this Swedish almond caramel cake, known in Sweden as toscakaka? Well, not me anyway....
Sweet rusks with cardamom

Sweet rusks with cardamom

I’m afraid we’re once again the department for undeservedly forgotten cookies. Because the sweet rusk is definitely a member of that sad club. Small, pale, maybe with a hint of cardamom. It may not be that surprising that the humble sweet rusks have had to...
Finnish sticks — a very Swedish cookie?

Finnish sticks — a very Swedish cookie?

Is it not weird how one small detail in a recipe can reveal so much about the time in which it was written? The thought hit me as I was sprinkling chopped almonds over the tray of the shortbread cookie Finnish sticks, or “finska pinnar”. I had to chop up a...
Semla — the mighty Swedish Lenten bun

Semla — the mighty Swedish Lenten bun

The Swedish Lenten bun is mostly known as a semla — or semlor in plural. You may know it by its other, more sinister name: Kingslayer. “Fat Tuesday should be prohibited and the Lenten bun forcibly expelled from Sweden, as it has committed regicide”. At least that’s...
Saffron cake—not just for Saint Lucia’s day

Saffron cake—not just for Saint Lucia’s day

One of the favorite topics for rants in Sweden nowadays seems to be the Swedish postal system. Not without cause, but that kind of complaint is far from new. In 1918, a reader writes to newspaper Svenska Dagbladet, complaining about thefts in the postal system. The...