Fat Tuesday {fettisdag} is coming up in Sweden. It’s the day marking the beginning of Lent and giving up on something you love.

It is also the day to stuff yourself silly with the Swedish dessert, called semla or fettisdagsbulle. Here’s a short history about the semla but what you really need to know is why this is a heavenly treat.

The components of a semla



We’ll start at the bottom. The bun is soft, fluffy, and fresh. Hint of crushed cardamon will aromate the bread.

Next is the mandelmassa, almond paste. It’s sweet, fresh, and nutty. A real almond paste should be made with almond, surprise and without the almond extract to cover the nutty notes.

Third is the cream. Delicious, whipped cream. If Heaven was a food, it will be the cream in semlor. Sometimes the whipped cream comes with a hint of vanilla and structured with powdered sugar.

Finally, there’s the ‘hat.’ It is the little piece of bun that was cut out to make way for the almond filling. The hat is then slice and leveled off and topped with powdered sugar.

Swedes will eat a semlor on Fat Tuesday but it is becoming more common to have them earlier in the year. Some Swedish people eat their semla the traditional way: in a bowl of warm milk.

Since I wanted to pick the best semlor in Stockholm, I decided to have a jury of taste tasters.

Each taster hailed from a different country and have a long standing experience with eating sweets. All have enjoyed semlor at one point or another. And none can eat one with a bowl of warm milk. Sorry Swedes.

Here is the judging panel before the mission began



We picked semlor from bakeries all over the city: famous and hole in the walls spots. However, two bakeries, Lisas Cafe & Hembageri and Vetekatten were not included in the tasting. The bakeries receive an honorable placement because all of us agreed that they make delicious semlor (we have on our own time, had semlor at both the bakeries).

Blind Tasting

Each semla was assigned a number (1 to 10 but 1 & 2 were the same semla) and that was keyed onto a separate sheet of paper. My friend and I split the numbering and filling in the key, so we too would not be certain where each semla hailed from.

Grading System

We based the reviews on four categories: looks, bread taste, cream taste, and almond paste taste. Each category was worth a maximum of ten (10) points, where ten is the best.

The Looks category was judged first before the bun was dissected and destroyed by the tasters.

There were five judges on the panel.

Tallying the score

I totaled each category across all the tasters to determine the grand winner. There is a maximum of 200 points that can be awarded to a semla and 50 points per category.

The Swede served as auditor to double check the additions and transcriptions made from the notecards.

Bröd & Salt

Cream – 29

Almond – 30

Bread – 21

Looks – 34

Total – 114

Notes – This was a good, solid semla. It didn’t wow us in anyway and it didn’t disappoint.

Contact – Three locations. Hammarby Allé 66A, 120 62 Stockholm ? Renstiernas Gata 28, 116 31 Stockholm ? Birkagatan 15, 113 36 Stockholm. Website.





Gunnarssons – Regular

Cream – 11

Almond- 16

Bread – 21

Looks – 35

Total – 83

Notes – The regular semla at Gunnarssons was a shock that it became the lowest scoring bun in our tasting. The bread was dry and the cream tasted a bit sour, it had just passed the “good by” date.

Contact – Götgatan 92, 118 62 Stockholm. Website.





Gunnarssons – Special

Cream – 35

Almond – 27

Bread – 33

Looks – 36

Total – 141

Notes – If you head to Gunnarssons, definitely buy the ‘special’ and skip the regular. The ‘special’ was the only semla in the tasting panel that invoked confusion, love, and hate because of the mixed mandelmassa and grädde. Since there was no separate mandelmassa in the bread bowl’s bowel, the ‘special’ received low marks. Still, the mixed whipped cream and bread were perfect.

Contact – Götgatan 92, 118 62 Stockholm. Website.





Bästa Bageriet – WINNER!

Cream – 40 – Heavenly cream!

Almond – 33

Bread – 35

Looks – 35

Total – 143

Notes – Bästa was a true surprise. It was near perfect on ever tasting and the only response from the judge’s panel were “ooooo, yummm” and “if this is what god intended for a semla, it is this one here.” Bästa Bageriet was nearly left off the tasting panel. It’s a hole in the wall bakery next to Maria Torget. Most of you have passed it by but never realized it even existed.

Bästa tied Sturekatten to be the co-winners and it goes to show both famous and small bakeries can make the best.

Contact – Swedenborgsgatan 4B, 118 48 Stockholm. Website.





Chic Konditori – Karlsbadensemla

Cream – 32

Almond – 30

Bread – 35

Looks – 36

Total – 133

Notes – Delicious but different. The roasted nuts on top were walnuts instead of almonds and delicious on their own, they took away from the overall taste. The bread was not a traditional taste either but it was fluffy and well balanced. Overall, this is not a first time semla to eat but rather for those on an adventurous path for something new.

Contact – Swedenborgsgatan 1, 11848 Stockholm.





Chic Konditori – Regular

Cream – 14

Almond – 27

Bread – 26

Looks – 31

Total – 98

Notes – The regular version of Chic Konditori’s semla was a disappointment. The cream was a tad overwhipped and was over-structured; basically it was a few short steps from butter. Blogger KistaChic remarked, “there are so many nice things to do with a bread; this isn’t one of them.” Overall below average.

Contact – Swedenborgsgatan 1, 11848 Stockholm.





Kista Gallerian – Complé Konditori

Cream – 24

Almond – 25

Bread – 37 – Sexy bun!

Looks – 36

Total – 122

Notes – When we saw this semla, we fell in love. It was a bun of near perfection, large and fluffy. Unfortunately the cream was a bit over-whipped and the almost paste tasted of artificial extract flavors but the bread itself was perfect.

Contact – Kista Gallerian. Website.

Sturekatten – WINNER!

Cream – 39

Almond – 36 – Nuttiest Almond!

Bread – 34

Looks – 34

Total – 143

Notes – One of two powerhouses known to produce the best semlor in the city; the other being Vekekatten, Sturekatten did not disappoint. Cream was perfect; light, airy, and melt in your mouth goodness. The almond paste was fresh and nutty tasting and with bits of nut in it. Definitely a semla to be reckoned with.

Contact – Riddargatan 4, 114 35 Stockholm. Website.





Liljeholmen – Regular {We don’t know the name of the bakery}

Cream – 32

Almond – 36 – Nuttiest Almond!

Bread – 34

Looks – 26

Total- 126

Notes – The mandelmassa was unusual in that we could taste raw grains of sugar along with the almond. The effect was a crunchy but harmonious bursting of sweet, nutty, fatty and smokey in your mouth. We loved how this mandelmassa was different from the rest. The bread was fluffy and flavored just right with the cardamom.

Contact – Unfortunately, we’ll never know where this bakery is. The sweet memory of cream and almond will remain in our stomachs forever.



Best Semlor around Sweden



These recommendations came in from readers around the web.

Malmö

Cafe Systrar & Bröder – via FredricL

Göteborg

Post your favorite below and we’ll include it!

Halmstad

Megalagom did a taste test and posted about it here. Read her best & worst of the city!

Stockholm Area

Årsta konditori – Located on the southern outskirts of Stockholm. Address – Årstavägen 51, 12054 Årsta. Shared by Reddit member vonadler

Vetekatten – Have some of the best semlor. Address – Kungsgatan 55, 111 22 Stockholm

Lisas Cafe och Hembageri – A cute, quaint, serve yourself style cafe, Lisa’s semlor are also one of the best in Stockholm. Address – Skånegatan 68, 11637 Stockholm

Dessert & Choklad – Famous for their silky texture. Address – Patentgatan 7, 112 67 Stockholm. Submitted by Grace.

Tösse – Have a special crème anglaise semla. Karlavägen 77, 114 49 Stockholm. Submitted by Grace.

Borlänge

Almas Café – There is a saffron semla that is to die for. Suggested by Reddit member pnilz. Address – Vattugatan 3, 784 33 Borlänge. Website.