Scandinavian Fika (coffee break)

No holiday gathering in Scandinavian or Scandinavian-American households would be complete without a selection of at least seven elegant seasonal cookies, tarts, and small cakes. In the 19th century the ingredients for cookies were expensive and it was a sign of wealth be able to offer your guest several varieties of cookies. A competitiveness between hostesses developed and the custom for serving seven varieties derived. Traditionally seven cookies are served as part of the Fika ritual (coffee break).

Also see Seven-item Scandinavian Cookie Plate

The practice of taking a fika or break, typically with a cinnamon roll or some biscuits or cookies, or sometimes a smörgås or a fruit on the side, is central to Swedish life, and is regularly enjoyed even by the government. Fika does not just mean to drink coffee, it also connotes enjoying company, taking a break, and has definite overtones of an accompaniment of a sweet pastry or other scrumptious snack or smörgås. It is such a fundamental part of Swedish culture that it has further evolved into nouns such as fikapaus, a “fika pause”,  fikarast, a “fika break”, and fikabröd which is a generic word for the accompanying cookies, biscuits, or other such “breads”.

All around the world coffee is consumed and has spawned innumerable coffee cultures that have their own unique and fasciniating rituals. Swedes however have elevated this culture to a sacrosant tradition, an intrinsic and intractable part of everyday life, that honors coffee in a way few others manage to do.

Here are seven traditional favorites to serve at your next gathering.

Drömmar, meaning 'dreams,' (Swedish Dream Cookies)
- Traditional Swedish Dreams
- Swedish Dreams with coconut
Dammsugare
Hallongrottor
Havreflarn
Kryddkakor
Kolasnittar
Finska Pinnar (Finish Fingers)

Other choices:

Sandbakkelser
Norwegian Goro
Pepparnotter - Pfeffernusse in Germany, Pebernodder in Denmark or Peppernotter in Sweden, these spicy drop cookies are found throughout Northern Europe at Christmas time. Danish Pepper Nuts (Pebernodder), a holiday favorite dating back to medieval times, are quick and easy to prepare. They're lovely when gifted in a homemade woven heart basket - and sure to bring a spirit of cheer and of Danish "hygge," or coziness, to the people you care about.
Berliner Kranser
Rosettes
Fattigmans Bakkels
Pepparkakor
Spritz

Swedish Cakes and Traditions

Different cakes are eaten at different times of the year and in different parts of Sweden. Traditional Swedish baking follows the seasons of the countryside and varies depending on where different ingredients could be found. These are some of the typical Swedish cakes and the traditions that surround them.

Princesstårta
Princess cake is a lovely Swedish cake that often features at birthday celebrations. Originally it had the descriptive but rather dull name 'Grön tårta' - Green cake. It featured in a classic cook book from the 1930s called 'Prinsessornas kokbook' - The Princesses' Cookbook by a home economics teatcher called Jenny Åkerström. Ms. Åkerström taught the royal Swedish princesses Märtha, Astrid and Margaretha and it was thought that the girls were particularly fond of her Green Cake and it was from then on raised from obscurity and given a royal stamp of approval now as Princess Cake.

Princess cake consists of sponge base, whipped cream, vanilla cream, and green marzipan. It is often decorated with a pink marzipan rose. Sometimes Princess cake is dyed white or pink instead of green and eaten at weddings. It's worth noting that the original Princess cake doesn't include jam, despite a lot of patisseries insisting on adding this nowadays.

Kanelbullar
Kanelbullar or cinnamon buns are a classic at Swedish coffee parties. During the golden age of home baking, such parties turned into orgies of sweet yeast breads, small cookies, cookies with fillings, pastries and cakes.

Spättekaka
This towerlike specialty can be found in Skåne. A Spettekaka (sometimes called Spettkaka or Spiddekaga in the local Skåne dialect) is made of eggs, sugar, potato flour and normal flour and the crowning glory of any old fashioned birthday party or wedding celebration. It is slowly piped onto a rotating cone, attached to skewers (hence the name, 'spett' means skewer in Swedish) over an open fire and then left to dry before the next layer is added. As you can imagine this is a very time consuming way of baking.

Strawberry cake - a Swedish midsummer tradition
A classic summer and in particular Midsummer cake. Made with lots of cream and strawberries it is a sure sign summer has arrived. Traditional Swedish baking follow the seasons of the countryside. As the strawberries are ripe and juicy at this time of the year, the Swedish Strawberry Cake is a must for the midsummer lunch. Be generous with the berries and add some extra on the side.

Lussebullar and Pepparkakor
The sweet rolls that are served during the Christmas season are flavored with golden saffron and dark raisins and often shaped into "Lucia cats" (lussekatter). The gingersnaps are customarily cut in the shape of little men and women, pigs or hearts, and are often decorated with frosting. It is not uncommon for children to help build little houses out of gingersnap dough to celebrate Christmas.

Semlor
Shrove Tuesday is celebrated in Sweden by eating Semlor. A semla has many names in Sweden, semla, hetvägg, fastlagsbulle and fetistasbulle. Semlor are immensly popular this time of the year with cafes starting to sell them sometimes as early as just after New Years. Swedish newspapers run features of best semla of the year in the local towns.

A semla can best be described as a bun flavoured with cardamon, filled with a marzipan, topped with whipped cream and then dusted with icing sugar. It's eaten on "ShroveTuesday" (or rather appropriatly "Fat Tuesday"). A traditional way to eat this bun is to put the 'semla' in a bowl with hot milk, also known as 'hetvägg' translated as 'hot wall'. http://www.visitsweden.com/Local-pages/USA/Recepies/Lovely-Buns---a-Swedish-delight/