Monday, March 24, 2014

Semla Hunt Update

(Thelins Konditori, Kungsholmen, Stockholm)

Well, it's official. I'm eating my way to Easter and larger pants via the Great Semla Hunt trail. I was informed by a friend recently that I should actually be fasting from semlor right now, as Fat Tuesday (Fettisdagen) was the (apparently) first AND last day to eat them until... Easter? I'm not exactly clear on that but I can say that I did follow the rule of not eating a semla before Fettisdagen. And I can say with some level of confidence that I will be continuing my "research," eating a semla or two every week, to determine the best ones in the city (with one same even coming from Gothenburg. So, so much for tradition.

You may be wondering, which semlor (plural of semla) are in the running? Well, it's really difficult to say because aside from that first, weird. chocolate one, they all taste like the absolute best one at the moment of consumption. Now that I have a few under (and over) my belt however, I can be a bit more objective. In order of consumed:

En Nypa Socker - Chocolate semla - An interesting concept with a hard, chocolate center instead of mandelmassa (almond paste), but the bread was completely dried out and tasted like it had been sitting out for several days. 

Chic Konditori - Traditional semla - My first semla of the season and actually this was the very first place I experienced a Swedish semla our first year in Sweden… so delicious! With only the chocolate one to compare it to, it is difficult to say but it was definitely the best… so far…

Gateau - Mini semla - OMG delicious! Definitely the best! Again, so far… :-p

(Steinbrenner & Nyberg, Saluhallen, Gothenburg)

Steinbrenner & Nyberg (Gothenburg) - Traditional semla - No, wait, THIS one was the best! Seriously. AND it was eaten in the hetvägg tradition in a bowl with warm milk (+ a little coffee). I thought the coffee addition was amazing. Mmmmmmmm…

(Fabrique, Kungsholmen location, Stockholm)

Fabrique - Mini semla - Okay. Hands down, THE BEST!!! Sigh… this is harder than I thought…

Thelins Konditori - Mini semla - Really amazing mandelmassa!!! It almost tasted like chocolate. In fact, I actually had to look to make sure it wasn’t chocolate. Unfortunately the bread was slightly dry. Otherwise, it could have been the best one due to the mandelmassa surprise. 

So this is where things stand thus far. Overall I would have to say that the semla from Steinbrenner & Nyberg in Gothenburg was the best to date, though the one from Fabrique runs a close second. The semla from Steinbrenner seemed to have the most balanced flavors and each bite was more delicious than the previous bite. 

There is still Vetekatten left to try and, being my favorite bakery/konditori for kanelbullar and kardemmumabullar, I have strong feelings that their semla will be quite competitive. 

Stay tuned for further updates…





1 comment:

  1. What a great mission! I hope there's still semla for sale after Easter so I can try out your favorite!

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