In Sweden, fika is a pause in the day, usually mid-morning and mid-afternoon, for coffee and something sweet, a moment to share with other people. That something sweet is often a cardamom bun. It is to Sweden what the croissant is to France: a beloved everyday pastry.
Cardamom arrived in Sweden somewhere in the Middle Ages. Physicians believed that a warming spice was good medicine in a cold climate. It never left. Early in the 20th century, Swedish bakers began making cardamom buns known as kardemummabulle for fika, and they became ubiquitous by mid-century. The bun even has its own holiday, Cardamom Bun Day, on the fifteenth of May.
Over the last decade, the bun has become an international sensation, traveling from Stockholm to London, Berlin, and Tokyo. Seattle, a coffee city, was bound to be on the route.
Our Cardamom Roll sticks to the classic form. We twist flaky cornetto dough with ribbons of cardamom brown sugar, finish it with pearl sugar, a traditional topping, and bake it until the edges crisp and caramelize. The edges are where it’s at. As the roll bakes, a little of the butter and sugar runs out and hardens at the edges and caramelizes. The inside is tender and buttery, and then there is the aromatic cardamom.
The traditional Swedish bun is a soft yeasted dough, closer to bread than to pastry. We use our cornetto dough, with butter folded into the layers, so the roll bakes up into a flakier texture. Our pastry chefs spent months on it, working through many, many renditions. That may sound like a lot of trouble for a bun, but that’s how we roll. The spice gets the billing, but texture is what separates the best from the rest.
Drop into any of our cafes, take a break with a friend, and check out the latest addition to our pastry lineup.