When you think of Swedish cuisine, you’d be forgiven if the first thing that comes to mind is meatballs! There is so much more to Swedish cuisine, though, with both their savory and their sweet dishes.
In terms of their sweet food, Sweden is well known for its delicious pastries that can readily be found across the country within the Swedish konditori (pâtisseries/ coffee shops).
With this in mind, we are going to be looking at a wide range of pastries within Swedish cuisine that have a range of different flavors. Let’s get started!
Kanelbulle is a traditional Swedish cinnamon bun that is made with a deliciously chewy and soft dough. The buns are filled with a sweet and buttery sugar and cinnamon mixture.
One of the differences between traditional American cinnamon buns and their Swedish cousins is the kanelbulle tend to be twisted and then tied up into small knots.
Another difference is that rather than having a layer of thick icing spread onto the top, the kanelbulle feature crunchy pearl sugar that is sprinkled over the top.
Another traditional Swedish dessert, the semla are deliciously decadent balls of dough- usually a cardamom spiced bun- with a sweet almond filing. The buns are then topped off with smooth whipped cream and powdered sugar.
The Semla are definitely a mouthwatering choice of Swedish pastry thanks to the doughy, sugary, creamy nature of the dish.
To make your own Semla, you will need yeast, all-purpose flour, sugar, milk, butter, salt, eggs and freshly ground cardamon. The almond filling will require sugar, sweet almonds, toasted almonds, almond paste, bitter almonds, milk and vanilla powder.
You will then need powdered sugar and whipped cream for the topping.
Cinnamon is a common element that you will find in Swedish pastries, much like this next recipe.
Kanellängd is a variation on the aforementioned kanelbulle- the Swedish cinnamon buns-, with the main difference between the two being that rather than being made into separate buns, the kanellängd is instead turned into a loaf.
The nature of the dough and the filling are still the same.
Much like cinnamon, almonds or almond flavors are another ingredient that comes into play frequently when it comes to Swedish pastries, and this next recipe is the perfect example of this.
The Kringler is an almond pastry bar that features a crispy, flaky and buttery crust along with a light glaze of almond and an almond filling. We weren’t kidding when we said that almonds are a staple of Swedish pastries!
Kringlers are considered a tasty and sweet Swedish treat, which is why they are often baked and enjoyed around Christmastime.
Another Swedish pastry that is often used around the holiday season, the Swedish Tea Ring is shaped like a wreath and is filled with that aforementioned almond paste. They also tend to be spiced up with some cardamom.
Again, this is another pastry that uses a hefty dose of almond paste, as well as cardamom, which is another popular ingredient used in Swedish pastries.
To make the dough for the tea ring, you’ll need all-purpose flour, eggs, salt, butter, yeast, warm water, white granulated sugar, milk and cardamom. For the filling, all you will need is butter, almond paste and brown sugar.
Can’t get enough almond pastries? Then these Swedish Toscas are sure to be a treat for you!
As we mentioned, almonds are a very popular ingredient when it comes to Swedish pastries, and they are the star of the show with this soft and buttery tarts. They are a great choice when it comes to a sweet snack to make for parties, thanks to their finger food like nature.
To make your own Toscas, you will need slivered almonds with all-purpose flour, cream, butter, and white and brown sugar.
Much like original Biscotti, the Swedish take on the Biscotti is the perfect pastry treat to be enjoyed with coffee. In fact, it is pretty much necessary to eat the Skorpor with a hot drink, as they have a particularly hard texture.
The Skorpor are small, crispy bread rolls that are baked until they achieve this hard consistency and texture. They become so hard that they are similar to a giant crouton in some ways!
To make your own Skorpor, you will need sugar, sour cream, baking powder and baking soda, flour, salt, shortening, eggs, and vanilla.
Another pastry that is similar to the kanelbulle, this next recipe consists of buns that have a focus on cardamom rather than cinnamon.
The kardemummabullar are soft and fragrant sweet rolls that feature a cardamom sugar filling. Just like with the kanelbulle, these buns have a knotted design, which is what sets them apart from American buns.
You only need a few ingredients to create these pastries, those being cardamom, milk, all-purpose flour, yeast, sugar, butter and vanilla extract.
This next recipe is another that is popular around Christmastime in Sweden.
The klenäter are deep-fried pastries that have some similarities to doughnuts, though they have a bit of a dry texture that makes them great for consumption with warm beverages, much like the aforementioned Skorpor.
They are also often served up with jam or whipped cream to contrast the dry consistency.
This is another recipe that doesn’t need that many ingredients, which are egg yolks, flour, lemon peel, icing sugar, butter, water or cognac, granulated sugar, ground cinnamon and some neutral cooking oil for when you deep-fry them.
This next recipe might be a bit intimidating to some, as the main ingredient is bitter almonds, which are known to be dangerous when consumed in high amounts.
However, as long as you stick to the recipe and don’t go overboard with the inclusion of the bitter almonds, you will be fine!
The Mandelkubbar is a pastry that gets its unique taste from those bitter almonds, and they are a tasty treat that manages to be both sweet and fragrant.
For this recipe, you will need sugar, bitter almonds or bitter almond oil, eggs, milk, antler salt, sugar, wheat flour and pear sugar for garnish. Remember to be very careful with the amount of bitter almonds you include, using only four bitter almonds or four drops of bitter almond oil.
This variation on the aforementioned semla bun takes the dough of the semla bun and rolls it into a thin circle before they are shortly baked.
Much like semla buns, whipped cream and almond paste are the key features of this pastry. With the semmelwrap, the cream and almond paste are piped onto the dough. The dough is then folded so that the paste and cream can be seen from one side of the wrap.
It is pretty much a pancake or wrap version of the semla bun!
The Swedish take on the French mille feuille, the Napoleonbakelse features layers of crispy puff pastry with sweet vanilla cream wedged between these layers.
The Napoleonbakelse will also often include jam to up the sweetness of this decadent dessert.
This is an interesting pastry that was inspired by Gustavus Adolphus- otherwise known as Gustav II Adolf- who is often credited as being the founder of Sweden as one of the Great Powers.
The dessert is intended to celebrate the historical figure, with the original pastry featuring a pink marzipan silhouette alongside lemon and chocolate pastry.
The pastry is still going strong to this day and is often sold on the anniversary of Adolphus’s death.
Sweet, soft and featuring an adorable heart shaped, this Swedish Vaniljhärtan- translating to “vanilla hearts”- feature two heart shaped shortcut pastry layers that sandwich a rich and creamy vanilla filling.
The crispy pastry layers combined with the soft vanilla innards creates a beautiful mixture of textures and tastes that are sure to please those with a sweet tooth.
If you are looking to try something different and explore the cuisine of another country, then these Swedish pastries could be exactly what you are looking for, especially if you are fond of sweet desserts!
Have you ever made something so delicious that you wished you could savor it forever?
Only to find that the recipe has now mysteriously vanished from your phone and the entirety of the internet. Yep, there’s not much more painful than that.
Hi, my name is Mark Williams and I have been infatuated with cooking since I was young. I would beg my mother to pull a chair up to the counter so I could watch what she was doing.
