Copenhagen Bakery Guide

Expat Swedes with a hankering for cloudberry jam need only stop into an Ikea to satisfy their cravings, but for Danes, who have known the incomparable pleasures of a Copenhagen bakery, there is no relief until the return home.

Those of us who have not yet been exposed to the treasures of Copenhagen's ovens will likely add baked goods to our lists of reasons to return to Denmark once we have. Danes, like many other nationalities that enjoy highly developed cuisine, believe that their pastries cannot be replicated outside of Denmark (and they have their share of imitators), citing variations in ingredients and even water hardness.

Likely the real reason is that nowhere else do bakers dare to employ sugar and butter to the devastating effect found in Copenhagen's bakeries. The quintessential Copenhagen bakery product is undoubtedly the Danish. Found in dry cellophane-wrapped form in grocery stores throughout the world, the real article is a moist little taste of heaven.

Branching out from the sweet dough, simple fruit fillings, and white sugar frosting of the Danish one will encounter large, knotty pastries, some with different flavors tucked into different sections. Copenhagen bakeries have also mastered French specialties such as the Eclair, and these tasty shops also churn out fancy, lavishly decorated cakes and delicious fruit pies.