The rhomb-shaped, crispy klenät is a popular deep-fried pastry enjoyed in many Nordic countries. Made with the buttery yeasted dough, often enriched with various liqueurs, it is primarily rolled, shaped into a knotted trapezoid, and then fried until it turns into a light, crunchy, golden treat.
Traditionally enjoyed during Christmastime, it is best served freshly prepared and lightly sprinkled with cinnamon and powdered sugar.
Mandelkubb is a traditional pastry characterized by its bittersweet flavor. It is best described as an almond bun. Its name and its distinct flavor are both derived from the main ingredient – bitter almonds. These are crushed and mixed with flour, sugar, eggs, and leavening agents.
Some versions of mandelkubb replace the almonds with almond oil and include sour cream or milk. The buns are always sprinkled with pearl sugar before baking. They are very easy to make and almost every bakery and coffeehouse in Sweden sells them. Mandelkubbar are usually eaten fresh with a glass of cold milk or a cup of hot coffee on the side.
Despite its name, Budapestbakelse is not a specialty coming from Hungary’s capital, but Sweden. Often referred to as Budapest roll, this delicious dessert consists of a pastry made with creamy meringue and toasted hazelnuts, filled with whipped cream and slices of mandarin oranges.
The pastry is then rolled and topped with melted dark chocolate, icing sugar, and dark cocoa powder. It was a Swedish pastry chef named Ingvar Strid who first introduced this scrumptious dessert to Sweden. There is a popular Finnish variation of this dessert, which calls for bananas and raspberries instead of mandarin oranges.
Gustaf Adolfsbakelse is a traditional pastry commemorating Gustav II Adolf, who died on November 6 in 1632. The pastry consists of a base, a filling, and a decoration, which is a silhouette of the king, made from chocolate or marzipan. The base consists of eggs, sugar, flour, and baking powder, while the filling contains vanilla cream, heavy cream, and blackcurrant jelly or jam.
The vanilla cream is made with butter, sugar, vanilla extract, and vegetable shortening. The pastry was invented by Carl Bräutigam in 1909, and nowadays it is sold and consumed annually on November 6.
A layered pastry know as Napoleonbakelse is a Swedish version of the French mille-feuille. The flaky pastry is made with flour, butter, water, egg yolks, salt, and lemon juice or vinegar. Once baked, the pastry is cut into rectangles, which are arranged on top of each other and layered with vanilla custard and whipped cream.
Raspberry jam is evenly distributed over the final pastry layer, and it is then drizzled with a mixture of powdered sugar, water, and raspberry jam. This scrumptious dessert is also popular in Finland.
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