in 2024, during my quest to find Lussekatter, I found the Swedish-inspired cafe in the centre of Utrecht: Broodnodig .
I have returned a few times and enjoyed Swedish seasonal treats as saffron buns and a Semla among others! Besides that, Kanelbullensdag (cinnamon bun day, 4th October) is celebrated with discounted kanelbullar. last October the deal was € 2,50 for a kaneelbol.
Broodnodig has 2 locations in Utrecht: I went to Mariaplaats, 5 minutes from Utrecht centraal station, and Paardenveld. Paardenveld is bigger, but closed on weekends! There used to be a location in Reigerstraat too, which closed in 2025.
Sweet Fika
Broodnodig serves a number of typical Swedish fika treats (I liked how typical Swedish things in the counter were marked with a little flag next to the name) including:
- Buns: cinnamon buns/kaneelbollen and cardamom buns/kardemombollen, since recently crème bol is also on the menu – a cardamom bun with vanilla cream).
- Chokladbollar/Chocobol
- Jitterbugg (shortbread snail with meringue)
- Rulltårta (roll cake)
- Smulpaj (crumble cake)- apple & rhabarber / pear & blackberries
- Tosca (almond cake) with rhabarber
- Kladdkaka (gooey chocolate cake)
Broodnodig used to have Oscarstårta (lemon, merengue and almond cake) in summer, which was why I passed by last time. But they have unfortunately discontinued it. So i took a Apple & rhabarber smulpaj instead – served with vanilla sauce as the tradition commands.
Lunch options
Broodnodig makes several sandwiches with polarbread and sourdough bread. I will try them one day!
Among more typical Swedish options:
- Bullen: polar bread, meatballs, beet salad, dijonaise sauce, onions.
- Laxfjord, salmon, egg, remoulade sauce.
Swedish seasonal treats
As already mentioned, at Broodnodig you can find typical Swedish treats according to the season. December for a yuletide saffron bun, and january/february around Carnival for a Semla! I love both of them, and got to taste them in their Utrecht version.. They did not disappoint!
As i cannot miss them anymore, I have tried these in several Scandinavian cafes in the Netherlands.
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