Lukas: Swedish national pastry days

Fettisdagen

Credits: Chef John/allrecipes.com 

Fettisdagen, meaning Fat Tuesday, celebrates the Swedish pastry called semla. Fettisdagen is celebrated on the Tuesday before Lent which is typically somewhere in February or early March. The day originates from when people traditionally used up rich ingredients like butter, sugar, and cream for Lent. While Sweden is now largely secular, the tradition of eating semlor on Fettisdagen remains strong. The semla itself is a cardamom-spiced bun filled with almond paste and whipped cream. Sometimes referred to as semla season, semlor (the plural of semla) can be eaten on Tuesdays from Fettisdagen until easter. Or whenever you want. Apparently, a Swedish legend has it that King Adolf Frederick died on Fettisdagen in 1771 after eating 14 semlor.

Kanelbullens dag

Credits: Lieselotte van der Meijs/imagebank.sweden.se

October 4th is the day to celebrate one of Sweden’s most famous pastries: the cinnamon bun. Cinnamon buns have been around since long, but the celebratory day was only introduced in 1999. Although several other countries have their own ways of preparing the pastry, Swedish cinnamon buns are usually topped with pearl sugar. The world record for the largest cinnamon bun is currently set at 521,5 kg (!). Unfortunately, however, the record was not set in Sweden but, you guessed it, in the United States.

Kladdkakans dag

Credits: Magnus Carlsson/imagebank.sweden.se

Kladdkaka is chocolate mud cake, and its national day falls on November 7th. The name comes from the Swedish word “kladdig,” which sticky or messy, as kladdkaka is gooey on the inside. Although the cake has been popular for several decades, its national day was only introduced in 2008. Kladdkaka is often topped with whipped cream, ice cream, or berries.

Födelsedagen

Credits: Magnus Carlsson/imagebank.sweden.se

Födelsedagen isn’t actually a national holiday. It just means birthday. It deserves a spot in this list, because Swedes like to celebrate birthdays with its own specific cake, namely princesstårta (princess cake). The princesstårta is a sponge cake, typically filled with vanilla custard and whipped cream, topped with a thick layer of green marzipan. According to the internet, the cake was created in the early 20th century by Jenny Åkerström, a teacher to the Swedish royal princesses. The princesses loved the cake so much that it became known as prinsesstårta. Besides birthdays, princess cakes are also used to for other celebratory occasions such as name days or weddings.

Although I feel like by this time I’ve been writing about pastries and cakes for a little too long already, in reality I have only mentioned some of the most famous pastry days. Some more honorable mentions are jordgubbstårta (strawberry cake) during Midsommar, and lussekatt and pepparkakor during Christmas. For now I’d say, save the dates and try them all. And if you’re really dedicated, you could even finish the entire list of national pastries.