Swedish Fika Calendar: Why is one of Sweden's most loved cakes named after Budapest?
The Local's Fika Calendar walks you through a whole year of Sweden's coffee-and-cake tradition, with information on the pastries and the history behind them. Today: make the most of the public holiday by tucking in to a Budapestbakelse.
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Hej and welcome to the latest instalment of The Local's Fika Calendar, where we guide you through the most important cake, pastry and other food-related days in the Swedish year.
Today is May 1st, a public holiday in Sweden in order to celebrate the international workers' movement. More importantly as far as this newsletter is concerned, it's also Budapestbakelsens dag.
Despite the name, the Budapestbakelse, or Budapest slice, has nothing to do with the city of Budapest, and is an entirely Swedish invention.
It's a type of rulltårta, or 'roll cake', similar to a Swiss roll, made with a light and crispy meringue and hazelnut-based cake, filled with whipped cream and some sort of fruit, usually chopped tinned mandarins. Some bakers will fill them with tinned peaches or fresh raspberries instead.
Then it's sliced, drizzled in chocolate and served with more whipped cream and fruit.
It was invented by Swedish baker Ingvar Strid from Vetlanda in Småland some time between the late 60s and the early 70s, which probably explains the use of tinned fruit.
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It's not immediately obvious why Strid named the cake after Budapest. Was he a particular fan of the Hungarian capital, or was he inspired by the Hungarian Esterházy torte, which is also made from a nutty, meringue-based dough (despite the similarities ending there)?
We may never know the real reason behind the cake's name, but one thing's for certain – it's become a Swedish classic, and is definitely worth trying this May 1st.
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