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Papua New GuineaFlavors · Odense
Soft yeast cake topped with a layer of melted butter and brown sugar that forms syrupy pools on the surface. It is regarded as the cake of Fyn, and the earliest records are from Odense, in 1830.
Traditional sweet from Odense, Dinamarca do Sul
Also known as: brunsvigerkage, fynsk brunsviger
Illustrative images. The pictures in this guide are illustrations based on the real place, not photographs, and may differ from it.
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Brunsviger — Odense, Denmark
Brunsviger is a cake baked in a sheet pan: a light yeast dough that is rolled out and dimpled with the fingers, covered with a thick layer of butter and brown sugar (farin). In the oven, the topping melts and seeps into the dimples, forming dark syrupy pools over the golden cake. Served warm, it is soft underneath and sticky on top.
The sweet has German origins, and its name comes from Brunsvig, the Danish form of Braunschweig, a city in Lower Saxony. The first Danish records are from Odense: a bakery advertisement by Christensen on Nedergade, dated December 21, 1830, kept in the municipal archive, offered brunsvigere along with sweets to decorate the Christmas tree. The first printed recipe appeared in a cookbook published in Odense in 1859.
The cake changed over time. By the late 19th century the name shifted from bread to cake, and the recipe with the butter-and-sugar topping became established. After World War II it returned in force, and in the 1960s, with cheaper ingredients, it spread across the country.
Brunsviger is eaten throughout Denmark but is considered a specialty of Fyn, the island where Odense is located. There the brunsviger day is celebrated every year on the last Thursday before the autumn break. At birthday parties, the dough can be cut into the shape of a little person and decorated with candies.
It is a coffee-table cake, sold in slices at bakeries and made at home in large sheet pans.
Odense , Dinamarca do Sul
The oldest records of the cake of Fyn are from Odense (1830 and 1859).
Dough of wheat flour, yeast, milk, butter and sugar; topping of butter and brown sugar (farin), sometimes with a little cinnamon.
In slices, warm or at room temperature, with coffee.
All year round, on the coffee table and at birthdays; in Fyn there is a day dedicated to the cake in October.
Your questions
A yeast cake topped with butter and brown sugar that melt in the oven and form pools of syrup. It is the cake of Fyn.
The oldest documentation comes from there: a bakery advertisement on Nedergade from 1830 and a 1859 cookbook printed in the city.
Yes, in Fyn it has its own date on the calendar: the Thursday before the autumn school break.
Flavors of Denmark
Soft little dough balls fried in a cast-iron pan with round cavities and served with powdered sugar and jam. Despite the name, which means apple slices, they generally do not contain apple: they are the Danish Advent and Christmas sweet.
Nordic spirit flavored with caraway and, sometimes, dill, served chilled in small glasses at Danish celebratory lunches, alongside herring and beer. In Denmark, the drink’s industrial history is linked to Aalborg.
Flattened meat patties made from ground meat, typically half pork and half veal, fried in butter until a crust forms. They are homestyle food across Denmark, served with potatoes, a dark gravy and pickles or cabbage.
Hot sausages served in a bun from the pølsevogne, the hot‑dog carts that have operated in Danish cities since 1921, with mustard, ketchup, remoulade, fried onion and pickled cucumber slices. The first carts appeared in Copenhagen.
Cold rice pudding with whipped cream, chopped almonds and vanilla, served with warm cherry sauce at the end of the Christmas dinner. A whole almond is hidden in the serving dish, and whoever finds it receives a gift.
Thickened compote of red fruits such as strawberry, raspberry, currant and cherry, served cold with cream or milk. It’s the classic Danish summer dessert, and the name is famously hard to pronounce.
A slice of rye bread with butter and a generous, carefully arranged topping, eaten with fork and knife. It’s Denmark’s traditional lunch, and the tall, decorated version became famous in Copenhagen restaurants in the late 19th century.
Slices of pork belly fried until crispy, served with boiled potatoes and a white parsley sauce. It was chosen as Denmark’s national dish in a vote held by the Ministry of Food in 2014.
Honey and spice cakes made from a dough that rests for months before baking, often coated in chocolate. They have been produced in Christiansfeld, the Moravian Church town, since 1783, with recipes kept secret.
Sweet yeast pastries with layers of butter, shaped as a snail, bow, braid or envelope, filled with custard, remonce or fruit. The first Viennese bakery in Denmark opened in Copenhagen in the 1840s, and the city became associated with the pastry the world calls Danish pastry.
Rye bread with smoked herring, raw egg yolk, radish, chives and onion: the smokehouses’ dish from Bornholm. The name means sun over Gudhjem, and the yolk plays the role of the sun over the village where the island’s first smokehouse opened.
