Walk into almost any bakery in Iceland and the glass counter tells you a lot about the country. There are cardamom-scented twists, glazed buns the size of a saucer and long slabs of custard pastry made for sharing at the office.
Some of these sweets arrived with Danish bakers in the 1800s. Others grew up in Icelandic home kitchens, where rhubarb jam, oats and raisins were what people had to hand.
This guide walks you through nine Icelandic pastries and cakes worth ordering, what each one tastes like, and how to bake the cream buns that fill every bakery on Bolludagur.
What to expect in an Icelandic bakery
An Icelandic bakery, or bakarí, sells bread and sweets side by side. You'll find dense rye bread and flatkökur next to cinnamon buns and slices of cake, and plenty of people stop in for both.
Coffee is part of the visit. Many bakeries have a few tables, and a pastry with a cup of black coffee is a normal mid-morning or mid-afternoon break.
Bakeries also tend to open early, since many Icelanders pick up fresh bread on the way to work. Mornings are usually when the counter is fullest and the choice is widest.
Prices are by the piece, and the names in the counter are usually in Icelandic. Knowing a handful of words makes ordering much easier.
Snúðar: the glazed cinnamon bun
Snúðar are soft yeast buns rolled with cinnamon sugar, and they are probably the most common Icelandic pastry of all. What sets them apart is the topping.
Instead of a light drizzle, the bun gets a thick cap of chocolate glaze, and sometimes caramel or pink icing. Many bakeries also sell a smaller, crisper version, known as old-fashioned snúðar, made from a dough closer to shortbread.
If you want to try them at home, our recipe for snúðar, Icelandic iced cinnamon buns covers the dough, the filling and the glaze.
Kleinur: twisted cardamom doughnuts
Kleinur are small diamond-shaped pieces of firm dough, slit in the middle, pulled into a twist and deep-fried. They are lightly sweet and usually flavoured with cardamom.
They are not fluffy like an American doughnut. The texture is closer to a dense cake doughnut with a crisp outside, which is why they keep well and travel well.
Most are sold plain, though some bakeries dip them in chocolate. You'll find a full method in our kleinur recipe.
Ástarpungar: love balls with raisins
Ástarpungar are made from a dough similar to kleinur, studded with raisins and dropped by the spoonful into hot oil. They come out round, golden and slightly craggy.
The name translates roughly as love balls, and Icelanders tend to smile when they say it. They sit in the same corner of the counter as kleinur and are eaten the same way, often with coffee.
Vínarbrauð: the Icelandic Danish pastry
Vínarbrauð means Vienna bread, and it is the Icelandic name for what English speakers call a Danish pastry. Despite the name, it isn't bread at all.
It is a flaky laminated pastry filled with a layer of vanilla custard, then topped with icing. The classic bakery version is a long, flat strip that gets sliced into pieces, which makes it a favourite for sharing at work.
Many bakeries also sell single round pastries in the familiar Danish shape, glazed with chocolate or pink icing. If you're travelling alone, those are the easier choice.
Hjónabandssæla and vínarterta: two cakes with jam
Hjónabandssæla, or happy marriage cake, is an oat-based cake with a layer of rhubarb jam baked between a crumbly base and a crumble or lattice top. It is only lightly sweet, and every baker seems to have their own version.
You can bake it from our hjónabandssæla recipe, which keeps to the traditional rhubarb filling.
Vínarterta is the grand one. It is a tall layered cake of thin cookie-like sheets spread with prune jam, flavoured with cardamom and cut into neat slices. It is closely tied to Christmas, though bakeries sell it through the year.
Jólakaka and sjónvarpskaka: everyday cakes
Jólakaka translates as Christmas cake, but it is an everyday loaf cake in Iceland. It is a simple raisin pound cake, and many versions are scented with cardamom or lemon.
Sjónvarpskaka, the TV cake, is a sponge cake baked with a sticky topping of coconut, butter and brown sugar. It is also called gullkaka, gold cake, because of that golden top.
The usual story is that it became popular after Icelandic television began broadcasting in 1966, as an easy cake to eat in front of the screen. It is still a standard at birthdays and in bakeries, usually with a glass of cold milk.
Bolludagur: the day Iceland eats cream buns
Bolludagur, Bun Day, falls on the Monday seven weeks before Easter, just before Sprengidagur and Ash Wednesday. The custom came to Iceland with Danish and Norwegian bakers in the 19th century.
Children make a bolluvöndur, a stick decorated with coloured paper, and wake their parents by tapping them with it and shouting "Bolla, bolla, bolla!" Each successful hit is supposed to earn them a bun.
Bakers produce around a million buns for the occasion. There are two main kinds:
- Vatnsdeigsbollur, light and hollow buns made from choux pastry, the most popular choice
- Gerbollur, denser yeast buns that hold their shape and filling well
Both are split, filled with jam and whipped cream, and topped with melted chocolate or icing. Many bakeries now sell them for several days around the holiday.
How to bake vatnsdeigsbollur at home
This classic water-dough recipe makes 9 to 12 medium buns. It is a standard Icelandic version, and it works with any jam you like.
For the buns:
- 200 ml water
- 50 g butter
- 100 g plain flour
- 3 medium eggs
For the filling and topping:
- 250 ml whipping cream, whipped
- Strawberry or raspberry jam
- 100 g dark or milk chocolate, melted
Heat the oven to 200°C. Bring the water and butter to the boil in a saucepan, then tip in the flour and stir hard until the dough comes together into a smooth ball.
Take the pan off the heat and let the dough cool for 3 to 5 minutes. Beat in the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each, until the dough is glossy and holds its shape.
Pipe or spoon 12 mounds onto a baking sheet lined with baking paper. Bake for about 20 minutes, and don't open the oven during the first 15, or the buns may collapse.
Let the buns cool completely. Cut each one in half, spread jam on the bottom, add a generous spoonful of whipped cream and dip the lid in melted chocolate before putting it on top.
The unfilled buns keep for a day in an airtight tin, and they also freeze well. Fill them shortly before serving, because the cream softens the pastry within a few hours.
Ordering like a local
A few words go a long way at the counter. Snúður is one bun and snúðar is the plural, and kleina becomes kleinur when you want more than one.
If you're unsure what something is, ask. Icelandic bakers are used to visitors, and most will happily tell you what's inside.
The best plan is to order two or three different things and share them. Iceland's bakeries are small, but their counters hold a surprising amount of the country's food history.
About Sigrún Ólafsdóttir
Sigrún grew up baking rúgbrauð with her grandmother in Akureyri and has spent the last decade collecting recipes from kitchens all over Iceland. She writes Icelandic MAT's recipes, one dish at a time.