Happy Pepparkakans Dag everyone! Pepparkakor is Swedish for ginger biscuits, and it’s the most popular biscuit in Sweden all year around - but particularly at Christmas time! 

Super talented baking tutor, recipe developer and writer Marie Lester has shared this wonderful recipe for Pepparkakor Ginger Biscuits. 

Reindeer and porcini mushrooms (or Karl-Johan mushrooms as they’re called in Sweden) are really a good combo. Here's a really quick recipe that doesn't take long to prepare and tastes really good too.

Princess Cake is probably the most famous of Swedish cakes. With its layers of airy sponge cake, creme patisserie, raspberry jam, whipped cream and covered with a layer of colourful marzipan - it's absolutley gorgenous and indulgent.

Recipe and photo by: Elin at Fika Bristol

Lightly cooked asparagus, hot smoked salmon and crispy radishes in a dressing with capers and mustard. Serve as part of your Easter buffet, or as a luxurious lunch.

Swedish cinnamon buns is a classic Swedish bake, served at all cafes and 'fika' parties. Everyone is expected to be able to make them or at least eat a few. 

We've borrowed the recipe below from the talented baker Elin Fry, who owns Fika Bristol, a Swedish bakery in Bristol. Elin says:

"The Cinnamon Rolls are not difficult to make at all, just takes a bit of time as the dough needs to be left to rise twice.  For many Swedes one of the best childhood memories is coming home from school to a kitchen smelling of cinnamon rolls. Then getting to eat a roll whilst is still warm and drink a glass of cold milk with it – heaven!  My daughter once said 'Oh I whish you could eat the smell' when I was baking the rolls."

Swedish Fruit Crumble Pie, Smulpaj, with home made vanilla sauce is pure heaven! 

This recipe works with blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, gooseberries or any other favourite fruit and berries.

Swedes have enjoyed the taste of cardamom for more than 1000 years, when the Vikings found the spice in the bazaars of Constantinople.

Today Swedes consume eighteen times more cardamom than the average country.

Cardamom adds a fragrant flavour to biscuits, cakes, mulled wines, stewed fruits, ice-cream, and it's even used as a pickling spice.

A classic Swedish pastry filled with delicious custard.  They're a bit fiddly to make, but it's totally worth it - they will taste just like in a Swedish konditori coffee house. 

This recipe by recipe creator, food blogger and photographer Louise at Nordic Kitchen Stories is a modern take on the classic Swedish amond tarts filled with almond paste and topped with icing called Mazariner (Mazarin for singular.)  Below is a recipe for Louise's Mazariner with blood organge curd and icing.

These mini tarts have a long tradition. They are said to be named after the Italian cardinal and diplomat Jules Mazarin (1602-1661) exactly why is unclear. It’s said that Mazarin was a food lover, who together with Anne of Austria (Queen of France 1643-1651), with whom he had good relations, was one of the few Italians who extensively popularised pasta throughout France.  It is then hardly surprising that these tarts have his name and found their way in variations across Europe.

Gubbröra is an egg-anchovy salad whose colourful Swedish name means ‘old man’s mix’. Works well both as a starter and as a midnight snack.

Swedish culinary tradition includes numerous dishes that are based on seafood or meat that has been salted to last a long time, in this case spice-cured anchovies. Egg-anchovy salad is best served as a starter on a thin slice of round dark bread. A small sprig of dill on top looks nice.

The oven pancake is very different to it's thin cousin, which is fried and flipped in a frying pan. The oven pancake is much thicker and with a unique taste.

It's really easy to make, and traditionally eaten on Thursdays after a tasty pea soup with salty bacon.

Swedish Vanilla Buns (Vaniljbullar) are sweet, enriched, yeasted buns flavoured with cardamom, filled with an enticing creme patisserie and then delicately dusted with sugar.  Light as a feather and mouthwateringly delicious.

These Swedish custard buns set themselves apart from any other.  Although they don’t quite have the same classic status as Cinnamon & Cardamom Buns, they are still popular with young and old in Sweden.

Louise at Nordic Kitchen Stories has introduced the tangzhong method into this recipe. 

What on earth is the tangzhong method you ask?, you ask.

"Well, it has its origins in Japan", says Louise. "A yeasted bread technique that involves cooking a portion of flour into a thick roux prior, to then add to the dough ingredients, resulting in soft, fluffy bread, that stays fresh a little longer."

She adds:

"If you follow the simple steps below, I guarantee you, you’ll have delicious, light and extremely more-ish buns to share with your family and friends."

Text, recipe and photo: Louise Hurst, Nordic Kitchen Stories

Västerbottensost cheese is one of Sweden's most popular hard cheeses. This recipe is easy to make and delicious - perfect party bites!

Lucia Buns are, as the name suggests, traditionallay eaten at Lucia celebrations on 13 December. These fragrant saffron buns are delicius with a coffee, hot chocolate or Glögg, Swedish mulled wine.

The annual candlelit Lucia procession on 13 December is perhaps one of the more exotic-looking Swedish customs, with girls and boys clad in white full-length gowns singing songs together. Among the youngest, anyone can be Lucia; as the children get older, the competition will harden. Learn more about Lucia from Sweden.se's website: https://sweden.se/culture-traditions/lucia/

Limpa is a classic Swedish bread loaf, often served as an open sandwich. Recipe developer, food photographer and blogger Louise from Nordic Kitchen Stories have updated her Grandmothers recipe and added healthy seeds.

"In all honesty it takes me no time to weigh and mix the ingredients, pop in the oven and an hour later I have a lovely home baked loaf!"

Louise, Nordic Kitchen Stories

Bostongurka tastes amazing in a burger and as a relish with meat, fish or vegetarian dishes. The name 'Bostongurka' has nothing to do with the city of Boston but is purely a brand name of a product invented in 1945 by a second world war refugee from Czechoslovakia named Herbert Felix. His last name is still to this day synonymous with Swedish pickles. Felix is one of biggest Swedish food brands.

Below is our recipe for how to make your own home made Pickled Cucumber Relish, which is the perfect accompaniment with burgers and hot dogs, as well as meat and fish dishes.

The Swedish Cinnamon Bun is probably the most iconic of Swedish pastries. It's eaten often, every day for many Swedes, at the fika break with a cup of strong coffee, fruit cordial, or a glass of cold milk. On the 4th of October every year Sweden celebrates Cinnamon Bun Day and on this day more than 7 million cinnamon buns are sold, and it's estimated that around another 7 million are baked at home. That's a LOT of cinnamon buns!

At TotallySwedish we stock the vital ingredients you need to bake your own cinnamon buns: fresh yeast, pearl sugar, strong white flour, and of course, ground cinnamon and vanilla sugar!

The recipe below was created by Jan Hedh, who is one of Sweden's most famous pastry chefs and cookbook authors. We stock a range of biscuits from Hedh-Escalante, all of which are not only delicious, but also beautiful to look at. 

Salmon is a must for the Midsummer smörgåsbord. Talented food blogger, recipe creator and food photograpfer Louise from Nordic Kitchen Stories lent us this amazing recipe for Beetroot and Horseradish Gravlax.

Surprise friends and family with a deliciously moist cake topped with caramelised almond flakes - perfect for dessert or fika breaks. The Tosca Cake became popular in Sweden during the 1930's and 40's. Its origin is not known, but it's believed that it's named after Giacomo Puccini's opera Tosca.

Did you know that Swedes consume more cardamom per year than anywhere else in Europe? In India cardamom is often used for its health benefits and as a spice in savoury dishes and drinks, and in the Middle East cardamom in coffee is a popular drink. Swedes mostly consume their cardamom via deliciously fragrant cakes, pastries and biscuits.

This recipe is a plant-based version of classic Swedish Cardamom Buns, created and photographed by recipe developer and photographer Natalie Penny - http://nataliepenny.com