Baking buns has been a way of life in Scandinavia in general, and Sweden in particular for about 1600 years. The first known bun found in Sweden was a plain barley flour bun that has been dated to the 5th century. It is now on display in a Stockholm museum.
Although wheat has been grown in Sweden since Neolithic times (when humans started farming), due to its delicate nature and the Nordic climate, it did not become common until the 16th century -before then Swedes mainly utilized rye in the north and barley in the south of the country.
Soft wheat buns as we know them today did not become prevalent until the 19th century when pressed fresh yeast, and not the least ovens, became commonplace. The different shapes we find in our traditional breads came to the Nordic region much earlier, when the vikings brought them back from their forays. The plait shape, commonly found at workplace fikas, dates back to the 18th century.
Sugar and spices were first brought over to Sweden on a larger scale for the wedding of King Gustav Vasa (Gustav I), the founder of Sweden, in 1531. Initially it was just for royalty, slowly trickling down through the upper echelons of society until the advancement of the Hansa trading company eventually allowed for a more wide-spread use by the 17th century.
Coffee came to Scandinavia in the 18th century, and by now we are the biggest coffee drinkers in the world; Finland is in the lead with a whopping 9.9kg/capita/year, Sweden going strong in second place with 9.1kg -that is approximately 3-4 cups per day. Italians consume around 4.5kg/capita/year.
With all of this coffee drunk (possibly to help keep people awake during the 4am-11pm summer shifts on the farm) people needed something to digest with it. The plain bread rolls have always had a strong foothold, but with a bit more money around the sweetened and spiced breads were really finding their own place.
Early 20th century had big things happening; not only did the cinnamon bun emerge around 1920, the fika culture was also cemented as part of the Swedish psyche.
The tradition of fika evolved from the, often dry, bread eaten with coffee and by the early 1900’s landowners would treat their guests to baked sweet treats as a means of showing off their wealth. Traditionally an esteemed guest would be offered 7 types of biscuits (any less and you’d be deemed a scrooge).
To follow a classic fika: first offer a plain sweetened wheat bun, after this there should be a sponge cake, then the 7 types of biscuits. Finally after at least 2-3 cups of coffee, a cream cake will be brought out.
No wonder we like to bake and eat sweet things in Scandinavia. By now it’s in our DNA.