Category: Food

Iconic dishes and treats from Nordic cuisines!

Swedish Café in Utrecht: Broodnodig

In Utrecht, the cafe Broodnodig serves Swedish pastries and cakes as cinnamon and cardamom buns, kladdkaka, smulpaj and Scandinavian seasonal treats as semlor and saffron buns.

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 utrecht swedish cafe

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)
smulpaj appel rabarber vanilla sauce
smulpaj

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!

swedish cafe broodnodig utrecht
semla kladdkaka utrecht broodnodig swedish cafe

As i cannot miss them anymore, I have tried these in several Scandinavian cafes in the Netherlands.

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Swedish Café in Utrecht: Broodnodig

In Utrecht, the cafe Broodnodig serves Swedish pastries and cakes as cinnamon and cardamom buns, kladdkaka, smulpaj and Scandinavian seasonal treats as semlor and saffron buns.

Chiara's avatar by Chiara

Illustrated Guide to Swedish Fika

Fika is a cherished Swedish tradition involving a coffee and cake break. Discover various Fika treats, from classic kanelbullar (cinnamon buns), cakes and cookies to savory options.

Chiara's avatar by Chiara

Illustrated Guide to Swedish Fika

Fika is a cherished Swedish tradition involving a coffee and cake break. Discover various Fika treats, from classic kanelbullar (cinnamon buns), cakes and cookies to savory options.

Fika is a very important Swedish tradition: a cozy coffee-and-cake break you can either take home, at the office or in cafes/bakeries perfectly equipped for it. All that matters is that you relax, drink and eat something. Fika=reversed version of ka-fi (kaffe/coffee).

There are quite a few fika treats that became classics – including buns, cakes and cookies. Common ingredients are cardamom, almond, marzipan, raspberry jam and coconut flakes. You will see kola, which has nothing to do with coca cola as I used to think – that would be something caramel flavored.

Nordfelts (Vänersborg)
fika swedish sandwiches cakes cookies
Mormor (Lund)

fikabröd: sweet buns

swedish scandinavian buns illustration

Bullar, buns are everywhere to be found in Sweden, and belong to the category of Fikabröd, fika breadstuff. The most common sweet bun is the iconic kanelbulle, – the Swedish cinnamon bun: with pearl sugar on top and no icing, less fatty than American ones. There is even a cinnamon bun day in Sweden! The second most common is the cardamom bun, kardemummabulle, which could be described as slightly ‘spicy’.
Toscasnäcka is a ‘shell’ covered in almonds. Anything called Tosca in Sweden means it has almonds.
Other buns are vanilj- or solbullar with vanilla custard, and sometimes chocolate-coated as well.
Längd is basically a big and long bun.

Kafferep cookies and small treats

scandinavian swedish cookies fika kafferep illustration
  • chokladboll: one of the simplest and most iconic Fika treats, no-bake small chocolate balls usually covered in shredded coconut.
  • dammsugare hoover. green marzipan and chocolate ends. They’re also known as punschrullar (punch rolls) if they contain punsch liqueur. The name either comes from their shape or the custom of using leftover biscuit crumbs in bakeries. The Danes call their own version -white where you have green in dammsugare – is Træstamme, tree trunk. Which is a marrowbone, mergpijp, for the Dutch.
  • biskvi/sarah bernhardt: Biskvi are chocolate cones with an almond cookie base, filled with buttercream. The Sarah Bernhardt (named after a French actress) is basically a biskvi with a chocolate truffle filling. Sarah Bernhardt’s are apparently very popular around Christmas in Iceland!
Biskvi, chokladboll, and Dammsugare of all sizes!
Traditional Swedish cookies and buns
gothenburg fika mazarin

  • mazarin is a small, round shortcrust pastry originated in the 17th-18th century, filled with almond paste, and distincted by white or pink icing on top.
  • Napoleon, very similar to Dutch iconic tompouce, except the latter is either pink or orange for special occasions, while I’ve seen Napoleons having a darker red icing
  • Vaniljhjärta: personal addition because I find this lovely. A tender heart-shaped shortcrust pastry filled with vanilla cream.
  • Jitterbug is a buttery spiral-shaped cookie with merengue.

kafferep was a tradition which developed in the 19th century, before Fika name and concept emerged. There are IKEA cookies called Kafferep! It consisted in gatherings that included eating cookies, kakor – seven types to be precise, called sju sorters kakor. Baking seven types of cookies is actually also a Norwegian Christmas tradition. They include: Hallongrottor: vanilla cookies where the ‘cave’ in the middle is filled with raspberry jam. Chokladsnittar: rectangular ‘chocolate slices’. Brysselkakor: round vanilla ‘Brussels cookies’ circled by a pink coating. Drömmar meringue-like vanilla round cookies, melting in your mouth like ..’dreams’. Havrekakor: crunchy ‘oat biscuits’, Nötkakor: little balls with a whole hazelnut. Schackrutor chocolate-vanilla ‘chessboard’ square cookies

cakes

swedish cakes fika illustration

in Sweden you have Tårtor, kakor and paj. A tårta typically has whipped cream and looks fancier than a basic kaka, while a paj is.. a pie.

fika cakes swedish bakery
silviakaka swedish cake fika
Silviakaka
  • Kladdkaka: iconic Swedish gooey chocolate cake, or mud cake, the name means sticky cake.
  • Toscakaka: moist cake with crispy caramel almonds on top.
  • Smulpaj: crumble cake. Typical fillings are rhabarber, apples and blueberries! Blueberry pie, blåbärspaj paired with vanilla sauce, vaniljsås!
  • Prinsesstårta is the princess of Swedish cakes, often served for birthdays! First featured in the early 20th century Princesses’ cookbook  Prinsessornas kokbok, it is very recognizable by being a green dome with a pink rose on top. It is made of layers of sponge, whipped cream and raspberry jam, covered by green marzipan. There are variations with other colors (and meanings): yellow –prinstårta (prince cake), pink – operatårta (opera cake). Prinsesstårta can also be made as a roll and served in slices.
  • An iconic Swedish rollcake holds the name of Hungary’s capital: Budapest: with whipped cream in the roll and coated in an almond crumble with a chocolate swirl, it usually has mandarin inside. I tried a pear version the first time though!
  • Other notable cakes are Silviakaka (a sponge cake with coconut on top) and Oscarstårta (almond and cream cake)
  • Carrot cake, morotkaka, is also very common

savory fika ‘ sandwiches

swedish sandwiches illustration svenska mackor

Sweet fika is great, but sometimes you cannot risk a sugar crash: there are plenty of nice options for a savory fika, with open Sandwich (macka) options! The most iconic ones are the shrimp sandwich (räkmacka, often accompanied by eggs) and meatballs on redbeet salad (kötbullemacka). It is quite easy to make these Swedish sandwiches at home too.

köttbullemacka swedish meatball sandwich
shrimp swedish open sandwich fika

A round, closed sandwich is called Fralla.

Sources:

  • Pictures from: Conditori Norpolen (Vara), Mormor (Lund), Lejlas (Uddevalla), Nordfelts (Vänersborg), Kakeria (Trollhättan)
  • visitsweden.com
  • fikatrail.com

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Scandinavian Embassy bakery and cafe in Amsterdam zuid

On a trip to Amsterdam, I decided to test Scandinavian Embassy and both of its two locations, starting with the bakery in europaplein.

The two locations are in Amsterdam zuid: Saphatipark and Europaplein: in the former, a more central location, you can sit but it has fewer items than the bakery in Europaplein. The bakery, on the contrary, barely has any places to sit.

scandinavian embassy amsterdam

First we got an almond bun, that was delicious!then, for the savory part, we got a mushroom & cheese danish, and apricot drinks!

Afterwards we decided to check out the cafe too, where I got a biskvi, served in a paper cup to-go 🙂

i had wanted to try their biskvi for a while, and I did at the cafe, slightly closer to the centre! so here it is

scandinavian embassy bakery
biskvi scandinavian bakery fika

The classic cinnamon and cardamom bun were on the sweets menu as well, as the chocolate balls and an almond cake (toscakaka?)

We happened to pass by Arket later, which had special buns and tebirkes

Scandinavian Embassy also serves typical seasonal Swedish treats as semlor and lussekatter! Subscribe to see more

Scandinavian Embassy bakery and cafe in Amsterdam zuid

On a trip to Amsterdam, I decided to test Scandinavian Embassy and both of its two locations, starting with the bakery in europaplein. The two locations are in Amsterdam zuid: Saphatipark and Europaplein: in the former, a more central location, you can sit but it has fewer items than the bakery in Europaplein. The bakery,…

Chiara's avatar by Chiara

Scandinavian carnival buns (and where to eat them in the Netherlands)

Cream buns are enjoyed in Nordic and Baltic countries during shrovetide, between January and February. Sweden’s classic semla has almond paste, while other countries variations include jam, vanilla cream, and chocolate icing top.

Whipped cream-filled buns are eaten and baked in Nordic countries during shrovetide (carnival for catholics), Fastelavn in Danish/Norwegian, Laskiainen in Finnish. This period would anticipate the lent before Easter, and culminates on Fat Tuesday – Fettisdagen in Sweden, or Shrove Sunday.

Lent was abolished with the reformation, but the buns stayed! To the point that Icelanders call the day when you eat bollur, shrove Monday, bolludagur, ‘bun day’.

National Variations of Shrovetide buns

In Sweden the semla is filled with almond paste and whipped cream. It is traditional to eat it soaked in hot milk, known as hetvägg. Swedish King Adolf Frederick died from digestion problems after eating 14 hetvägg!

Mormors bageri Semla in Lund
Almond paste inside Broodnodig’s Semla in Utrecht


in Finland, Laskiaispulla – or fastlagsbulle in Swedish-speaking Finland – instead of almond paste you find jam. Estonian Vastlakukkel is more simple, genereally only with whipped cream, but sometimes also contain jam, and Norwegian fastelavnsboller can be filled with vanilla cream, jam, chocolate and almond paste.

Danish fastelavnsboller, similar to bollur in Iceland and Føstulávintsbolli in the Faroe, are made from puff and choux pastry, often with chocolate icing on top and besides whipped cream filled with vanilla cream, whipped cream and jam.

Besides the traditional version named above, there are more and more variations including liquorice, pistache and so on, with curious semlor made up each year.

Mentioning Dutch culture, a Danish/Icelandic fastelavnsbolle reminds me of a Bossche Bol, although the latter are completely coated in chocolate. I believe Italian Maritozzo is very similar to a plain semla, without almond paste.

Where to try them in the Netherlands

In Amsterdam, Selma’s Nordic bakery and Scandinavian Embassy make Semlor. Selma was also serving Finnish-style laskiaispulla in 2025, with a fruit compote, and a Danish fastelavnsbolle in 2026!

I also tried Broodnodig’s classic almond paste semla in 2026, a very big one!

Nordic cafe fika

In Den Haag semlor are also available Norvolk (in Scheveningen)

Arket made an interesting Danish-Swedish twist, with the classic wienerbrød Tebirkes cut and filled with whipped cream and almond paste like a semla!

arket tebirkes semla
arket tebirkes semla

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5 symbols of Sami culture

Sámi people, indigenous people of North Scandinavia, have a distinct culture, symbolised by its unique flag and traditional clothing, and part of it are Duodji handicrafts and unique musical expression through yoik.

Chiara's avatar by Chiara

Fika in Nijmegen, lunch with smørrebrød

Fika in Nijmegen is a cafe/lunchroom with Scandinavian vibes: smørrebrød, knäckebröd, buns, cakes and books!

Some time ago I went to Fika in Nijmegen, a Scandinavian inspired Café / Lunchroom, focused on open-face sandwiches. high fika with friends. It is also possible to use your laptop at certain times for remote working! Next to the café you have the Fika Kiøsk for a treat and drink on the go.

NL: Een tijdje geleden ben ik bij Fika geweest in Nijmegen. Daar kun je lunchen met skandinavische boterhammen, een lekkere koffiepauze hebben met kardemombollen of cakejes, en zelfs een gezellige ‘high fika’ met vrienden boeken. Andere Zweedse broden als Knäckebröd en polar brood kan je hier ook eten.
Fika heeft een ruime ‘smørrebrød’ selectie: boterhammen van meergranen desembrood met vis, vlees en vega opties. Borrelsnacks met wat skandinavisch gevoel zijn er ook.
Je mag hier ook je laptop gebruiken, aparte flexwerk-ruimte.

Here is what you can eat at Fika:

A highlight of the café is the wide ‘smørrebrød’ selection: multigrain sourdough open-face sandwiches with fish, meat and vegan options. Shrimp salad and köttbullar (meat- or vegan balls) among others.

For a sweet break, of course you can have a fika at Fika – some classic Scandinavian treats to choose from are buns, cardamom or almond; and Kladdkaka (Swedish chocolate cake with gooey filling).

Other snacks to share I noticed on the menu are cheese and meat/vegaballs with a cranberry sauce; knäckebröd with goat cheese and veggies; mini Polar pizza – polar bread with mushroom or salmon; and dill potato chips!

Something I like was the good assortment of Naturfrisk Danish drinks they have!

If you are with friends, it is also possible to book a ‘high fika’, what they call a High Tea elsewhere here. For 26,- euros per person you will get warm drinks and:

  • a soup
  • small open face sandwiches
  • polarbread pizza with mushrooms
  • small cakes
  • skyr
  • fresh fruit

Being with someone else, I managed to try quite a few Smørrebrød, the fish versions- tuna-cheese, salmon, shrimp – and one with mixed vegan- and meatballs. They might not be on the ‘proper’ Danish rye bread, but they did look and taste good! I advised my friend to try the Elderflower Naturfrisk drink.

smorrebrod nijmegen fika

Before entering the backyard to sit outside, I saw a nice collection of Scandinavia-related books: novels by Nordic authors (translated or in the original version, travel guides, and more.

pippi langkous zweedse literatuur
An old Dutch edition of Pippi Longstocking
denemarken gids
zweedse literatuur

Underneath there were some toys, and I found one featuring a dammsugare, I am a sucker for this small details.
After checking out the books, it was time for dessert. I really wanted to mke my friend try cardamom buns and try an almond bun myself (Swedes would call it a Tosca), but unfortunately there were not any left, so we went for another Dessert lemon velvet, and a Matcha-mango latte. Not particularly Nordic but good.

I loved how the café has a lot of maps of Scandinavia hanging here and there as well!

And here is the journal spread for this smørrebrød fika experience in Nijmegen!

We left, with me being kind of disappointed the buns were already finished when we were there, and because of that I had and even bigger craving for a kardemummabulle…

Since you never know, we went to the Albert Heijn to Go to see if they had the more Swedish-looking cinnamon knot. They did not only have that, but CARDAMOM knot too!! Sometimes life surprises you. Not sure if this is only a temporary promotion for Wereldse Smaken – international treats together with miso cookies and pandan muffins.

Volg de blog voor meer Skandinavisch eten aanraders in Nederland:

Who are Greenlanders? 3 symbols of Greenlandic culture

Discover Greenland, home to the Inuit Kalaallit, and its most iconic aspects as its flag, language and folk costumes. The biggest island of the world has a rich history of indigenous culture intertwined with Norse colonization and later Danish rule.

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7 fun facts about Lucia, Sweden’s pagan saint

Lucia brings light in the darkest night of the year and is a mix of pagan and christian traditions. It is celebrated in Scandinavia with processions, saffron buns and church concerts.

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Guide to Ice Creams in Scandinavia

Discover Ice creams to try in Denmark, Sweden, and Norway: all-time classics,
Popular flavors, and curious novelties.

Since travelling to Scandinavia for the first time, i got quite acquainted with ice lollies available there, they have of course the magnum ice creams you see everywhre, but also quite a few interesting national classics, which vary. Here is a guide, so you are prepared..

Typical nordic flavours – Liquorice, pear and berries

  • One thing you see everywhere in Nordic countries that is not as common elsewhere is liquorice as ice cream flavour: lakrits/lakrids. In Scandinavia you find a round DAIM chocolate covered cream cone with a few variations, which also come in a salt liquorice version! During a Denmark-Sweden holiday I tried a berry-liquorice lolly in Sweden.
  • Pear flavour very common in Sweden (Piggelin is GB pear ice lolly). A friend told me it probably is because you cannot grow many other fruit..
  • Solbær – blackcurrant- is a berry I’ve seen quite a lot in Denmark

The Danish Classic ice creams

ice creams denmark
danish supermarket matilde ice cream birthday

Frisko in Denmark, GB Glace in Sweden is the ice cream brand with the heart symbol present everywhere with different names, and many Ice creams I will mention are sold by it. Denmark has a set of all-time favourites, some have been around since the 50s!

danish ice cream
So iconic that they appear on cards in a Copenhagen tourist shop


Københavner stang is just a plain lemon flavor but with the cute royal guard logo; Champagne Brus – I love the contrast of fizzy, acid green lemonade flavour and chocolate on top; Solbær – which changed name from Kæmpe Eskimo for political correctness – is cream and blackcurrant under chocolate. Kung Fu is lime and liquorice, Filur is the cute smiley orange-raspberry water ice cream.

danish ice cream
Københavner stang – my very first one, eaten on my very first day ever in Denmark.
danish ice cream
Champagne Brus
Danish Scandinavian ice creams
Mint Daim got at a 7/11 at Copenhagen station

Premier IS is a brand which also features ice creams with black currant, liquorice, and the stang. On the ship between Germany and Denmark I saw Hansens ice creams as well – special mention for the rhabarber ice cream!

hansens danish ice cream

Sweden: the most creative ice creams?

SIA is the main competitor of GB in Sweden I guess, based in Halland. notable ice creams are Emil and Pippi ice creams, the Glassbåt (‘ice cream boat’), and of course there is a pear and a liquorice ice lolly.

SIA ice creams for summer 2026

I would have also tried a Hilda, marshmallow/strawberry-ish? ice cream covered in rainbow sprinkles, or Godisregn (‘candy rain’), basically the same concept but in a cone.

pictures (c) SIA Glass

Emil and Pippi ice creams were 2025 novelties!! The former is Krumelurglass, made of 3 fruity ice cream flavours (which i got in the original candy form last year, krumelurpiller), while Emil is a blueberry and cream cone.

More interesting and very Swedish ice creams I have seen around are:

  • Konfetti gul & blå (blue-yellow as the Swedish flag) from Hemglass, lemon and blueberry ice creams with sprinkles on them.
  • Punschrulleglass, inspired by the green and chocolate dammsugare pastry. Hence it looks like a Danish Champagne Brus.
  • a Kanelbulle and a kladdkaka flavour one
  • Geisha ice cream- ice cream version of the famous chocolate candy by not Japanese, but Finnish Fazer.

The usual GB ice creams are a thing also in Sweden of corse – but a Swedish all-time favourites are the 88, read åttioåtta. Shoutout to my friend Linda & her husband who made me try it.

Swedish ice creams
Pressbyrån always making puns, here with ‘Vilken är fin glassiga favorit’: Which one is your classice cream?

Norway’s 17 mai ice creams

In Norway you see Diplom-Is or Hennig Olsen instead, not sure if Unilever is still behind them – Whatever. There are ‘regular’ strawberry or chocolate and cream cones, which around May get fancier for the National Day, 17 Mai, with bunad-like patterns.

I have not eaten any ice creams in Norway, but I have to say I saw nothing that stood out compared to the other countries! Please invite me to Norway to prove me wrong, haha.

Ice creams in the Baltics

I have noticed noticed particular similarities with the Nordics and the Baltics in ice creams, I did just notice they have a brand called VIVA making chunky ice creams

That was all for now, I will update this post in the future summers…Or add it for Finland and Iceland and hopefully try out their ice creams!!

So subscribe to stay update on Scandinavian Ice creams:

Read more:

Nordic findings in japan

Nordic culture experienced in Japan: Moomins, Dala horse stationery, Nordic-inspired foods and books about Scandinavia seen by the Japanese.

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How Nordic are Baltic countries

Are Baltic countries Nordic at all? I explored Latvia and Estonia, noting their ties to Nordic culture, from languages to Rye bread and Midsummer.

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3 easy and fast iconic Nordic dishes

simple and iconic Scandinavian recipes to make yourself for a typical Nordic dinner

I have been testing Nordic dishes as someone with not-so-incredible cooking skills who likes to cook simple things, and these are three delicious and easy meal ideas I can present you, in time/complexity order from the easiest:

1. Räkmacka – Swedish Shrimp open sandwich

Typically found at cafés as savoury option for a fika, but you can easily make it yourself – (rye) bread with Shrimps, cucumbers and tomato slices on salad, often egg and lemon – add whatever you like and make it look fancy!

2. Lohikeitto – Finnish salmon soup

soup with chopped salmon, based off milk and lemon juice, and enriched by veggies as potatoes and carrots.

3. Fiskefrikadeller – Danish fishballs

Make balls after mixing fish chunks (I have used pangasius and cod) with egg, flour, spring onion – I also like to add carrot bits -, Fry them in a pan on both sides. Garnish with herbs as parsley. Complete the plate with some fresh veggies to the plate as cucumber and red cabbage. Enjoy the fishballs with remoulade sauce as the Danes do!

Here are pictures of my experiments:

räkmacka
lohikeitto
fiskefrikadeller

Disclaimer: these are my creative versions, and I do not follow 1:1 classic recipes. You find plenty of other references online! You can still see more Scandinavian and Nordic food on this blog, from my trips in Scandinavia and to Nordic cafés elsewhere.

Please let me know if you will try making these!

Semlor at Selma’s and Danish pastries in Amsterdam

Trip to another Nordic bakery to enjoy a fika with a semla, and surprises on my way

After getting a lussekatt during the Christmas season, I was really eager to also eat a semla, the whipped cream-filled bun which is eaten in the shrovetide season instead, culminating on Fettisdagen (fat Tuesday).

So I picked Selma’s Nordic Bakery in Amsterdam! On my way I randomly saw Danish flags at the Noordermarkt and happened to discover Raw Betty (Raw_betty42 on instagram), selling Danish delicious buns, cookies and cakes at Amsterdam markets. Read the article till the end to find out what I chose…

Raw Betty stand at Noordermarkt, Betty’s son also runs a hotdog stand, maybe I’ll get a pølse once!

We then walked forward on our way to Selma’s, located in Amsterdam West, around 30 minutes walking from Amsterdam Centraal. Which I was not upset about at all, because it would mean a well-deserved fika.

Selma’s also has a to-go location closer to the station, in the Jordaan area, but this time we wanted to sit and enjoy it.

The interiors are also in a quite Nordic and pastellish style. The restroom even had moomin posters!

nordic baakery amsterdam
moomin posters

Rye bread loaves, cinnamon and pistachio buns and smørrebrød were among the sold products, among others classic fika treats as chokladbollar, biskvi and kladdkaka. Of course at this moment semlor had their own spotlight!

They sold 2 versions: the classic Swedish one with almond paste, and Finnish one, laskiaispulla with a fruit compote. Since I had already tried the classic one in Sweden last year, I went for the fruit compote. We had matcha latte as drink, which is not particularly Nordic but always delicious.

journal art nordic bakery

While at Selma’s, i also got my birthday present from my friend: liquorice Marabou (Sweden’s favourite chocolate brand)! I had actually got a salmiakki Fazer bar (Finland’s favourite chocolate brand) when I went to the Finnish seamen church for their Christmas market month before, and it was actually fun to compare! the Fazer one is slightly darker, with a bigger liquorice chunk, also a bit juicy, while Marabou has smaller, crispier pieces.

As for the Danish treat I got, that was a Napoleonshat! The name is as you can imagine a hint to its shape, a sort of butter cookie with marzipan inside, coated with chocolate, and in this case pistachio. mega lækker!

I already have plans for other Nordic trips to Amsterdam, so stay tuned to see more interesting places…!

Scandinavian bakery & lunchroom in Den Haag: Norvolk

A lovely place to have a Swedish fika or lunch in Den Haag – from bullar to Janssonsfrestelse

On my quest to find somewhere to buy a Lussekatt (Swedish Christmas time saffron bun) in the Netherlands, I found a lovely place in Den Haag: Norvolk. A Swedish / Scandinavian-inspired lunchroom and bakery, or Brödstuga, serving their freshly baked breadstuff, various cookies and cakes, and many open-face sandwiches.

Norvolk is located in a pretty building right on the harbour of Scheveningen. You recognize it quite easily for the Nordic flags flying!

NL – Op mijn zoektocht naar een plek om een Zweedse saffraanbroodje in Nederland heb ik Norvolk gevonden, een Zweeds/Scandinavisch geïnspireerde lunchroom en bakkerij. Hier kun je vinden: kaneel- en kardemombollen; Zweedse cakjes als prinsessårta en Budapest rol; koekjes voor met de koffie vinden (hallongrottor, kokosbollar); Lunch opties als de Zweedse klassiek Janssonsfrestelse ‘Janssons verleiding’ – potato quiche with ansjovis of brood met Zweedse gehktballen, vis en meer. Zie alles onderaan!

scandinavisch bakkerij den haag
norvolk scandinavian bakery den haag


Once entered, you see some buns and cakes. Standard at Norvolk are of course cinnamon and cardamom buns – kanelbullar & kardemummabullar; lingontosca (Lingonberry jam cake topped with almonds), lemondcurd shortbread are also always there.
On the corner are fika cookies: hallongrottor cookies (butter cookies with jam), kokosbollar (chocolate-coconut balls) and ginger cookies among others.

On the inside, a detail I loved was the words in Nordic languages on the wooden beams:

  • Noitið daginn (Icelandic) – enjoy the day
  • Ei pidä ennä merta edemmäs kalaan (Finnish) – “it does not pay off to go further than the sea to fish” – do not get ahead of yourself when doing something
  • Smi mens jernet er varmt (Norwegian/Danish) – ‘forge while the iron is hot’ -seize the day. In Danish it is (man skal) smede mens jernet er varmt
  • Elsker samvær mad – either Danish or Norwegian, but I cannot find this saying online..

A bit further you have the cakes and sweet or savory breadstuff: croissant, typical Danish almond pasted filled T-birkes with poppy seeds on top, egg-filled Danishes..
Among the cakes the Swedish classics Budapest rollcake and Princess cake – with green marzipan in the classic version – at Norvolk varies its look depending on the season!

norvolk den haag cakes
norvolk den haag cakes

On the menu there were a few Scandinavian-inspired Lunch options as:

  • Swedish classic Janssonsfrestelse ‘Janssons temptation’ – potato quiche with anchovy
  • Sill o Dill – herring on rye bread with egg and pickled red onion.
  • Bullen – Meatballs with beetroot salad, red cabbage, fried onions
  • Värmland – smoked salmon on rye bread with piccalilli sauce
  • Skagen – shrimp salad and eggs
  • Laxråg – salmon and remoulade sauce and dill

I ordered Janssonsfrestelse for lunch Swedish-style, and since I was already full I saved the Lussekatt for later.

At Norvolk you can also find others products for sale, as cookies and spreads: Among these the 7 sorter (there is a Swedish/Norwegian tradition to bake 7 kinds of biscuits), fruit bread and homemade lemoncurd, Picalilly sauce, kimchi.

scandinavian bakery den haag

The owner Carla Visch made her own Swedish traditions birthday calendar, a really cute idea I would actually love to copy…

swedish culture calendar

Below is the summary of Norvolk in a journal spread:

Afterwards I went to the centre, and in the library – which has a good Nordic language books collection – I stumbled upon Nordic countries-themed books, and I found a Kalevala (Finnish epic poem) in the language section…!! I hope to be back when I will have more time.

When I arrived home, I had the Lussekatt with tea in my Dala mug and a pepparkaka on my Moomin tray. Could that be more Swedish?

I definitely have reasons to go back to Norvolk someday, so expect an update and subscribe to my blog!


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Sweden’s sweet calendar: 6 food-themed days from cinnamon buns to waffles

cinnamon buns, waffles, semlor and more: there is a special day dedicated to each in Sweden

Swedes have a few days dedicated to eating a specific thing. Whether it started to honour a king or just as an excuse to bake, mark these days on your calendar!

Semlor: February/March – Fettisdagen

On Shrove/fat Tuesday (fettisdagen), between January and February, tons of of semlor are purchased in Sweden. A semla is a cardamom-spiced bun with almond paste and whipped cream – traditionally conceived as a rich treat to enjoy before Lent. Slightly different versions of semlor exist in the other Nordic countries too, and they are usually eaten on Shrove Monday or Sunday instead: Fastelavnboller in Denmark/Norway, Bollur in Iceland, laskiaispulla in Finland.

Prinsesstårta: first Thursday of March (Småland)- Fössta Tössdan i Mass

in Småland region accent, R’s are not really pronunced. first Thursday of March, Fössta Tössdan i Mass, is celebrated with the famous green massipantåta, marzipan cake, also known as Princess cake!

There was an attempt to make a Skåne version of this: people from Skåne have a tungrots-R, a Danish (or typical French, German) R, not rolling as most Swedes. So fjäRde fRedag i febRuaRi (4th Friday of February) was celebrated with a rollcake, RulltåRta, by Anna Gartz of Café Smulan in Brösarp.

Waffles: 25 March – Våffeldagen

The christian feast of the Annunciation, in Swedish Vårfrudagen, lit. “Our Lady’s Day”, ended up becoming for most Swedes the similar-sounding våffeldagen (“waffle day”). This turned a religious day into a chance to eat heart-shaped waffles! It is also ”observed” In Norway and Denmark!

Cinnamon buns: 4 October – Kanelbullensdagen

Cinnamon bun day has been celebrated since 1999, and it was actually invented for commercial reasons: the person who made it up, Kaeth Gardestedt, was at the time working for an association of baking products producers. After almost 25 years people still bake cinnamon buns on 4th October!

Gustav Adolf pastry: 6 November – Gustav Adolfsdagen

6th November is the date of the Swedish king Gustav II Adolf’s death in 1632. The king was very generous with universities as the one of Gothenburg, where a pastry was invented in his remembrance: Gustav Adolfsbakelse. It has been popular since the late 1800s. You can see it in a lot of variations, but what makes it a Gustav Adolf pastry is the chocolate bust of the king on top!

Gingerbread biscuits: 9 December – Pepparkakansdag

Gingerbread cookies, known as pepparkakor in Sweden, probably originated in Nuremberg, Germany, in the middle ages. Mentioned in Swedish in 1444 for the first time, the word pepper was used to mean spices in it, as pepper was the most common spice at the time. Baking them became a typical Christmas thing in Sweden and other countries, remember the episode of Pippi were she cuts them in the shape of her horse and monkey? Pepparkakansdag was, similarly to Kannelbullensdag, invented in 1996 by gingerbread maker Annas Pepparkakor.

Apparently there is also a Polkagrisensdag (candy cane day) on 20th April, but it mostly promoted in Gränna, near the Vättern lake. There Amalia Eriksson invented the polkagrisstång in 1859, the red-white peppermint candy cane, and many local shops celebrate this day.

Does your country have any days like these?

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