An Encyclopedia of the Most Danish of Danishes

my table from Conditori La Glace - cream cake and coffee

I knew that the “Danish” was not actually Danish before I came to Denmark. You learn these things when you compulsively read cookbooks, so when any tour guide would attempt to surprise me with the fun fact that laminated pastry originated not in Denmark or in France, but in Vienna, my ego would force me to tell the person that yes, I already knew that, and that’s why pastries are called viennoiseries in France and wienerbrød in Denmark. Now you know too, and you can go be a know-it-all on your walking tours of Copenhagen.

But I did not know what everything was when I walked into a chain bakery on my first day of classes to buy a coffee. There are about ten types of bread rolls, lots of different types of wienerbrød, plus the sweeter cakes and merengues and pastries. Here, I present to you a veritable encyclopedia of the most Danish of Danish baked goods, arranged in alphabetical order for your convenience.

cardamom bun: this is not unique to Denmark, but is a very popular pastry across Scandinavia. Oddly, cardamom is associated most often with the Nordic countries and with southeast Asia. Two very different places. I’m sure colonialism was the culprit, but either way, I’m not actually a fan of cardamom. It’s sort of cinnamony, but also sweet, floral, and a little fruity. A classic cardamom bun is sweet dough twisted and/or braided into a circle, usually topped with sugar or a sugary glaze. Very soft, very sweet, very cardamom-y.

flødeboller: originally called the extremely politically incorrect name of “Negro’s kiss”, the name now means “cream bun.” It’s my absolute favorite Danish confection, and I’m sad to report that it took me three weeks to try one. The most basic flødeboller is a small cone of marshmallowy meringue piped on top of a disc of almond cookie, all covered in a thin layer of chocolate. However, in recent years as Copenhagen has become home to culinary trendsetters, bakeries flavor their flødeboller with everything from nuts and coconut to raspberries to licorice. Licorice is an unsettlingly popular flavor in Denmark. My favorites are sold at the chain bakery Lagkagehuset, because they’re super big.

kartoffelkage: literally means “potato cake,” not because the cake contains potato, but because someone thought it looked like a potato. It doesn’t. Anyway, the pastry itself is two pieces of sponge cake sandwiching a layer of nougaty cream, all wrapped up in a blanket of marzipan and dusted with cocoa powder. The marzipan is overpoweringly sweet and not at all almondy (although maybe I just didn’t eat a very good kartoffelkage), which makes this cake a bit of a one-note sugar bomb, but perhaps more gourmet bakeries sell better versions. You’ll have to visit and see for yourself.

kartoffelkage

muesli bun: a genius invention for people who prefer bread to muesli but want to appear like they’re eating something healthy. One of the buns sold in basically every bakery, it’s a dark and sweet sourdough bread with raisins, almonds, and raw oats.

rugbrød: possibly the most Danish of all Danish things. It means ‘rye bread’ but is really this dense, seed-packed, brick-shaped loaf of super healthy bread, sliced thin, that tastes nothing like caraway and contains enough fiber to make even the most constipated individual regular. It’s actually delicious in a seedy, savory way, and pairs really well with cheese and fish. Danes serve and eat this with practically everything, and it’s the base of the famous open-faced sandwiches, smorrebrød, piled with everything from liver pâté to chicken salad to avocado.

tebirken: a true wienerbrød you won’t find outside Denmark. It’s a flat pastry, almost like a flattened burrito, with a thin layer of a sugar-butter paste on the inside, coated in either blue or white poppyseeds. I like it because it’s not too sweet, but it’s sweeter than a regular croissant. Quintessentially Danish.

traestammer: again, this is a pastry named after what it supposedly looks like. The name means “tree trunk” but it looks more like a mini yule log than a tree trunk, probably because you always see it lying on its side, like a log. Anyway, the traestammer is essentially a cake ball shaped into a log, made with chocolate cake, rum, and raspberry jam, wrapped in marzipan, and then dipped in chocolate on both ends. The one I tasted was very rum-forward.

traestammer