I'm in fika heaven...

I've gotten a lot of questions about fika since I've been here, so here is my take on Swedish fika.  Fika (FEE-kuh) is the tradition here where you get together in the afternoon for coffee and a pastry for a couple of hours (at least).  If it's not a couple of hours, it's not a proper fika!  You can have a fika with anyone; however, fika is used by a lot of couples in Sweden as a "pre-date", similar to the American "coffee date" before having a dinner date.  Hence, I've heard many Swedish girls complain about not knowing whether their one-on-one fika with a male friend was a "fika date" or just a fika!

Fika is a huge part of the culture here.  In fact, the word fika is not only a noun but a verb, as well.  Example: I get text messages all the time saying "Would you like to fika with me at so and 

so?" The streets here are lined with cafes, and they all seem to be full between the hours of 2 and 5.  Also, a student here should not even try to get something done at a university office between 2 and 5 because it is likely that most of the office is out to fika!  

Now for the pastries.  Sweden is my pastry heaven, and I will be in dessert mourning when I get home to The States!  Almost everything here has almond paste (mmmmm) in it, and everything is freshly baked.  I will highlight some of my favorite Swedish pastries :-)

This is a kanelbulle, which is very similar to an American cinnamon roll, but I think it is better!  The bread part of the roll is lightly flavored with cardamom.  There is, of course, the normal cinnamon filling.  On the top, instead of icing, the Swedes put pearlized sugar, which gives a wonderful crunch!!

These yummy goodies are called punschbullar (punschbulle for singular).  On the inside is a chocolate cake type of filling.  The outside (the green part) is dyed marzipan.  The ends are dipped in chocolate!  Mmmm...

These buns are called semla, and they are my absolute favorite Swedish pastry!!  They are made to be eaten on the second Tuesday of February, but I have seen them (and eaten them :-) ) the whole time that I have been here.  These are cardamom flavored buns that have the tops cut off. 

 The inside is then filled with a little almond paste and then covered with whipped cream.  Then the top of the bun gets put back on.   I have already been on the hunt for good recipes for these 

because I will need a semla fix when I get back home!!

These are my favorite cookies here, and they are called chokladflarn (sometimes dubbla chokladflarn).  They are sold in absolutely every grocery store here in very large (and thus  dangerous) packs!  We use these a lot for "corridor fikas" when a few of us get together in our rooms for fika.  These are basically very thin, crispy, vanilla-flavored cookies that have the bottom covered in chocolate.  They are insanely addictive...

This is called princess cake- it's unfortunately a very bad picture of it!  The outside is marzipan, and the inside is layers of sponge cake, whipped cream, and blueberry (blabair) preserves.  This cake is supposedly at almost every Swedish birthday party.  If that's true, I will have to start making friends with more Swedish people instead of my other international friends :-)

This is kladkakka, which is in every cafe in Sweden.  It's basically a super rich, ooey gooey, chocolate cake.  Perfection!

Froggie cakes!!   (Groda, the label underneath, means frog in Swedish)  These are meant for children, but I have eaten one, of course!!  The green outside is marzipan, the tongue is made out of raspberry jam.  The eyes and the inside of the frog are some sort of creamy delight!

There are many other Swedish pastries, but these are my favorites!  Now that I have made you very hungry, I am off for a chokladflarn corridor fika :-)