The final stop on our Scandinavian trip was in Stockholm, the expansive and beautiful capital city of Sweden. Stockholm is comprised of a series of islands situated where Lake Mälaren meets the Baltic Sea. The city has a true cosmopolitan feel with crowds of people, wide streets, gorgeous architecture, waterways, bridges, and green parks everywhere.
Walking around, we found a wonderful bakery that quickly became a new favorite with its many scrumptious freshly baked Swedish pastries.
Most of the pastries were made with a cardamom-spiced dough that was incredibly delicious. Here are some of the pastries that we have sampled:
Kanelbullar, or Swedish Cinnamon Rolls.
Cardamom Rolls.
Pistagebullle, or Pistachio Rolls with vanilla custard filling.
Sommerbulle, or Summer Roll, filled with berries and vanilla custard
Solbulle, a sugar covered bun filled with vanilla custard
Apple Muffins
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The very first area to explore in Stockholm is Gamla Stan, or old town, located on the island of Stadsholmen. The old town dates back to the 13th century and features narrow medieval alleyways, cobbled streets, and charming historic architecture including the baroque-style Royal Palace and the Swedish Parliament.
Other sites in Gamla Stan include Stockholm Cathedral, the St. George and the Dragon statue, and the royal burial church. In the center is a pedestrian street with lots of fun shopping and dining.
Crossing one of the bridges, we spotted the Museum of Medieval Stockholm that just recently re-opened at this location. The wonderfully educational interactive exhibits constructed with modern technology help bring medieval-period Stockholm to life and explain the history of the city from the 1250s to the 1520s.
One of my favorite stops in Stockholm was our visit to Saluhall, the historical central food market.
The food hall is huge, and features many different types of products, such as meat, fish, shellfish, fruit and vegetables, spices, baked goods, various prepared Swedish specialties, as well as a number of cafes and other eateries.
We enjoyed a scrumptious bite of a smoked salmon roll with a chive and roe cream cheese filling.
5 Star Foodie Jr. had a sweet chocolate biscuit which was consumed rather quickly before we could take a picture of it.
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On our first evening in Stockholm, we met up with friends at a casual restaurant and bar on the water for some drinks and a light supper. I finally got to try an authentic version of Toast Skagen, one of my favorite Swedish specialties that I have been making for years, using a recipe created purely based on a description of the dish without tasting it at all (my recipe).
For dessert, we had a plate of warm Swedish pancakes with cloudberry jam. Cloudberries are a special kind of berry found mostly in Scandinavia and Finland, and are considered a delicacy. These berries look a little bit like raspberries with golden-yellow color and have a very unique taste. Cloudberries can be eaten fresh or made into jams and liqueurs and served over pancakes, waffles, or ice cream. The pancakes with cloudberry jam were a perfect dessert.
I’ll be sharing more Swedish culinary specialties and highlights of our sightseeing in Sweden in my next few upcoming posts.
