Try ten of the best Danish Pastries! — Scandi Culture (2024)

1. The Spandauer

It’s a classic. The spandauer is probably what comes to a non-Dane’s mind when you mention a ‘Danish pastry’.

Also known in Denmark as the unappetisingly named ‘Baker’s Bad Eye’, the spandauer is a circle of light pastry, which encloses delicious ingredients like choppedhazelnuts, cream, fruit (e.g. ‘Apricot Danish’)orjamwith icingon top.Most often eaten in Scandinavia for breakfast, it is also a delicious afternoon snack to accompany a pot of coffee or tea.

The pastry takes its name from the formerSpandauprison inBerlin.Between 1876-1987, the prison’s famous four towers became a landmark of the city, which the four pastry walls of the spandauer are supposed to mimic, locking the criminally tasty cream and jam inside.

2. The Brunsviger

The most mouth-watering of all Danish delicacies, the brunsviger is a cake of crater-filled dough, drizzled by a thick layer of brown sugar and butter. This delicious concoction of sugar and fat soaks into the spongey cake, making for a delicious, moreish and sticky teatime snack.

The word brunsviger actually comes from the German word Braunschweig , a city in central Germany (a so-called ‘Braunschweiger’ also refers to a kind of beer and sausage from the city).

The city still serves a cake called Braunschweiger Dickkuchen, using a 19th century recipe. According to food historian and former museum director at Copenhagen City Museum, Bi Skaarup, this Braunschweiger Dickkuchen resembles the Danish Brunsviger so much that it must be the same delicious pastry.

3. The Romsnegl

The romsnegl (or ‘rum snail’ in English) is another classic Wienerbrød. There would have been national outcry had it not made the list.

4. Studenterbrød

The first on our list to not be a traditional wienerbrød delicacy, studenterbrød is nonetheless a delicious and popular treat which it would be a shame to overlook.

The ‘student-bread’ takes its name from the fact it is made up of leftover, stale pastries which are mixed together to form a heavy cake batter. Cheap and cheerful maybe, but it’s a really tasty cake too.

This reformed dough base is accompanied by a rum-flavouring, layered withraspberryjamand decorated with fruitcrumbsandicingon top.

5. The Hindbærsnitte

The hindbærsnitte (raspberry slice) does exactly what it says on the tin.

Two thin layers of shortbread-style biscuit sandwich a thick layer of raspberry jam, topped with icing and more of the fruit crumbs we saw with the studenterbrød.

Food historians have traced the hindbærsnitte recipe back to 18th century Skagen, but there are mentions of the Danes feasting on raspberry slices for several centuries before then.

They are also an easy snack to make yourself. To check out the best recipe for Hindbærsnitter head to Madens Verden to get the details.

6. The Kanelsnurre

It would have been a travesty if no cinnamon-flavoured pastries had made it onto this list.

Let me present to you: the kanelsnurre.

Known in English-speaking countries as cinnamon knots, rolls or swirl buns, these combine cinnamon, sugar and butter into a swirl of cardamom-spiced light buttery doughy deliciousness.

Varying slightly from the cinnamon snail’s spiral form, the kanelsnurre is made from intricately weaving thin strips of the outer-layer of the pastry over one another to form perfect-looking knots.

7. The Kringle

The Kringleis aNordic variety ofthe German pretzel. Introduced by Roman Catholic monks in the 13th century inDenmark, from there they spread throughout Scandinavia.

This expansion of the kringle led it to evolve into several kinds of sweet, salty or filled pastries, in a ‘Kringle shape’, (kringla in Old Norse means circle) from which the pastry takes its name.

With variations of the kringle making it to Estonia, Latvia, Finland and Iceland, the Kringle is a classic teatime pastry across northern Europe.

8. The Berliner with jam

Okay, I know. A berliner is definitely not a Danish pastry.

But the jam-filled doughnut is such a popular treat in Danish bakeries that it wouldn’t make sense not to include it on this list.

The Berliner Pfannkuchen is a doughnut with no central hole, made from sweet yeast dough fried in fat, with a jam filling, and usually served with powdered sugar on top.

Nowadays they are filled with things like chocolate, custard, mocha, or even advocaat.

Back in the 16th-century though, the early berliners had mainly savoury fillings like cheese, meat and mushroom. When imports from Caribbean sugar plantations made sugar more practical, fruit preserves gained in popularity.

9. Tebirkes

Tebirkes (also called københavnerbirkes on Jutland and Fyn) are a common sight on a Danish breakfast table.
From the heavy dough of the berliner, we’re returning to delicate, flaky layers of Wienerbrød wtih the tebirke. The pastry encloses a sweet, almondy filling called remonce, giving the centre a gooey, caramel-like consistency.

The tebirkes are most often topped with poppy seeds and the masterpiece is complete.

10. Fastelavnsboller

The final place on a hotly-contested list. A fastelavnsbolle (Shrovetide bun) is a type of pastry that was originally eaten in the days leading up to Lent, which lasted 40 days from Ash Wednesday to Easter Sunday.

The ‘faste’ bit in the name refers to the traditional fast which Christians followed in lent. Fastelavnsboller come in a lot of varieties, from closed buns with filling (seen in the image), split buns with filling, buns with remonce for filling or baked in muffin tins.

The modern recipe is cardamon-dough yeast buns made of wheat flour, filled with cake cream, remonce, fruit compote, jam or whipped cream - and often garnished with icing sugar or icing .