Semla is the cream-and-almond-paste bun Swedes eat by the tens of millions every winter — a Lenten tradition that outlived the fast, complete with a king who (according to legend) ate himself to death on it in 1771.
Korvapuusti, Finland's ear-shaped cinnamon bun, is a national institution as central to Finnish daily life as coffee itself. Here is the story behind its name, how it differs from Sweden's kanelbullar, and how to make it at home.
Sweden's other famous bun: what kardemummabullar are, how they differ from kanelbullar, the centuries-old history behind Scandinavia's love of cardamom, and a full recipe for making them at home.
