Carrot Cake (Morotskaka)
A moist, oil-based spice cake packed with grated carrot and finished with lemony cream cheese frosting. Baked in a 9x13 pan and cut into squares, the way it is sold in Nordic cafes.
Recipes with vanilla extract
Norwegian Waffles (Vafler)
Soft, cardamom-scented heart waffles cooked in a Norwegian waffle iron and served warm with sour cream and jam. The batter rests half an hour, then five hearts come off the iron at a time.
Rhubarb Pie (Rabarberpaj)
A butter short crust shell filled with the first garden rhubarb of the year, thickened with potato starch and scented with vanilla and cardamom. Baked until the juices bubble and the lattice is golden, and served warm with cold cream.
Danish Pastry (Wienerbrød)
Laminated yeast dough folded with cold butter, filled with almond remonce and a spoonful of raspberry preserves, baked into twelve square pastries and finished with icing and sliced almonds. The dough is made and chilled the day before, then rolled, filled and baked in the morning.
Swedish Pancakes (Plättar)
Thin, lacy pancakes fried in butter and served with lingonberry preserves and whipped cream. In Sweden they follow a bowl of yellow pea soup on Thursdays, but they work as dessert any day of the week.
Swedish Cream Buns (Semlor)
Soft cardamom-scented yeast buns hollowed out and filled with almond paste and whipped cream, with the bun top set back on like a little hat and dusted with confectioners' sugar. Makes 12.
Swedish Chocolate Balls (Chokladbollar)
No-bake balls of oats, cocoa, butter and sugar, bound with a splash of cold coffee and rolled in shredded coconut or pearl sugar. Fifteen minutes of work, a short chill, and you have two dozen of Sweden's most common fika pastry.