Delicious Desserts at Stockholm’s Cafes

[lsanderson]

Rob Schoenbaum for The New York Times
The princess torte, center, sponge cake with layers of raspberry jam and cream, is usually wrapped in bright green marzipan, but this version at Xoko is white. More Photos »
By STEPHEN WHITLOCK
Published: December 22, 2010

IN London you can enjoy scones with jam and clotted cream in a genteel tearoom; in Paris, macarons on the Champs-Élysées; in Vienna, take your pick of tortes (Dobos, Sacher or linzer?) in some gilded grand cafe. But in Stockholm?

The boom in Scandinavian crime writing has done nothing to dispel the image of the Swedes as a rather dour people whose cuisine is dominated by the infamous trio of herring, meatballs and crispbread. In reality, Swedes are among the world’s most keen and discerning coffee drinkers. They also have a sweet tooth. One of the first Swedish words any new visitor learns is fika, which means a coffee break, usually enjoyed with a little cake or pastry, much like the British term elevenses but with no time restriction. More

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