Search
Brazil
Argentina
Bolivia
Chile
Colombia
Ecuador
Guyana
French Guiana
Falkland Islands (Malvinas)
Paraguay
Peru
Suriname
Uruguay
Venezuela
Germany
Austria
Belgium
Croatia
Denmark
Spain
Finland
France
Greece
the Netherlands
Hungary
Ireland
Iceland
Italy
Luxembourg
Norway
Poland
Portugal
the United Kingdom
the Czech RepublicSweden
Switzerland
Turkey
Canada
the United States
Mexico
the Dominican RepublicTurkey
South Africa
Australia
Fiji
New Zealand
Papua New GuineaFlavors · Escânia
Tall, hollow, lace-like cake made from eggs, sugar and potato starch, poured little by little onto a rotating spit in front of heat, layer by layer. Decorated with white or pink icing, it is a celebratory sweet from Skåne, and the name Skånsk spettkaka is protected by the European Union.
Traditional sweet from Escânia
Also known as: Spettkaka, spettekaka, skånsk spettekaka
Illustrative images. The pictures in this guide are illustrations based on the real place, not photographs, and may differ from it.
Click a photo to enlarge it.
Skånsk spettkaka — Escânia, Sweden
Spettkaka is one of Sweden’s oldest and most labor-intensive sweets. The name comes from spett, meaning spit: the liquid batter of eggs, sugar and potato starch is poured in a thin stream onto a cone or spit that slowly turns in front of the heat. Each layer must bake and dry before the next is added, and the cake grows into a cone shape with a surface full of points and lace-like patterns.
There are records of the sweet dating back to the 17th century, including mentions of it being served at the Swedish court. In the 19th century, spettkaka became a common festive dessert in southern Sweden, likely because the region had abundant eggs and potatoes. Cakes roasted on a spit exist in other European countries, but in Sweden the tradition became associated with Skåne.
Historically the cake was baked in front of an open fire. The technique remains manual and requires practice: the batter must fall at just the right consistency to form the points, and the whole cake takes hours to make. At the end it is finished with white or pink icing, applied in decorative designs. The craft is preserved by a small group of bakeries in Skåne, many with secret recipes.
Since 2000, the name Skånsk spettkaka has EU protected geographical indication status, requested by the region’s bakeries: only a cake made in Skåne according to the traditional method may use the name.
Because it is dry and brittle, the cake is sensitive to humidity and is best when fresh. On the table it is cut into squares that look like windows, opened in the cone’s wall, and by tradition the top point is saved for last.
Escânia
Traditional sweet of Skåne; the name Skånsk spettkaka is protected in the European Union and applies only to cakes made in the region.
Eggs (in large quantity), sugar and potato starch; white or pink sugar icing for decoration.
In square pieces cut from the cake’s wall, like windows, served with coffee. By tradition the top point is eaten last.
A festive sweet: birthdays, weddings, christenings and other celebrations, served with coffee.
Your questions
The batter of eggs, sugar and potato starch is poured in a thin stream onto a spit that turns in front of the heat, layer by layer, until a tall hollow cone is formed.
Because the tradition became established in the region, and the name Skånsk spettkaka is protected by the European Union: only a cake made in Skåne according to the traditional method may use the name.
Into squares opened in the cake’s wall, like windows. By tradition the top point is saved for last.
Flavors of Sweden
Raw salmon fillet cured in a mixture of salt, sugar and dill, sliced very thin and served with hovmästarsås, a sweet mustard-and-dill sauce. The name means “buried salmon” and recalls the old method of preserving the fish under the ground.
Sweet yeast bread flavored with cardamom, rolled with butter, sugar and cinnamon, and topped with pearl sugar. It is the pastry most associated with fika, the coffee break, and even has its own day in the Swedish calendar, Kanelbullens dag, on October 4.
Small meatballs made with ground meat, fried in butter and served with cream sauce, potatoes, lingonberry jam and pickled cucumber. They are Sweden’s best-known home dish, with the first printed recipe appearing in a 1755 cookbook.
Dome-shaped cake with layers of sponge cake, raspberry jam, vanilla cream, and lots of whipped cream, covered by a green marzipan sheet and decorated with a pink marzipan rose. The name recalls the three princess daughters of Prince Carl, pupils of Jenny Åkerström, the recipe’s author.
Wheat bread with cardamom, cut open at the top, filled with almond paste and whipped cream and topped with the cut-off lid dusted with sugar. It’s the sweet eaten on fettisdagen, the Fat Tuesday, and descends from the hetvägg, bread eaten soaked in warm milk.
Cubes of beef tenderloin, potato and onion browned separately and served side by side, with a raw egg yolk in the center and mustard or mustard cream. Named after the Hotel Rydberg, which operated on Gustav Adolfs torg in Stockholm, where the dish is said to have originated.
Baked saffron rice pudding tart with eggs, cream and almonds, yellow in color, served warm or cold with salmbär jam and whipped cream. Despite the name “pancake,” it’s baked in a pan. It is the sweet most associated with the island of Gotland.
A white stick candy with red spiral stripes and peppermint flavor, pulled and twisted by hand. It originated in Gränna, on the shore of Lake Vättern, where the widow Amalia Eriksson obtained a license to make it in 1859, and the town remains the center of its production.
Baked dessert made from curdled milk using rennet, enriched with eggs, cream, sugar and almonds, with a moist, granular texture. Served warm with jam and whipped cream, it is the festival specialty most associated with the Småland region, with Swedish records dating back to the 16th century.
Large potato dough dumplings filled with bacon or pork and onion, cooked in water and served with melted butter and red bilberry jam. The Öland version, gray and made with raw potato, and the Småland version, lighter and made with cooked potato, are the best known.
Boiled dumpling made from raw grated potato and wheat or barley flour, filled with pork, served with butter and red bilberry jam. It’s an everyday food in northern Sweden, and the name comes from the town of Piteå, considered the Swedish center of palt.
Baltic herring, lightly salted and fermented, canned in summer; strong-smelling with a salty, acidic taste. It’s eaten on the thin flatbread tunnbröd with potato, red onion and sour cream, in a communal meal at the end of summer. The tradition links the dish to the Norrland coast and the island of Ulvön in the High Coast (Höga Kusten).
