10 in the city
Here are the 10 cakes you need to try in Copenhagen
Which cakes should you seek out in Copenhagen? We’ve brought together four experts to compile a list of the 10 most essential versions. You heard us: the most important cakes!
If you’re the kind of person who rolls your eyes when a new line snakes out in front of a bakery in one of Copenhagen’s neighborhoods — and you’ve had it up to here with people’s ravenous obsession with cakes and pastries in that “hello, the world is on fire, so find something better to care about” way — then close the tab and keep scrolling. You’re going to hate this article.
If not: Welcome to the whipped-cream pile! Now we’re going to have some fun!
Because we’ve put together a panel of four pastry chefs and cake connoisseurs and asked them to single out the cakes in Copenhagen that are worth crossing neighborhoods for — the very best 10 they could come up with.
Yes, we’re even going so far as to call them the 10 most important. Important because, taken together, they both tell the story of Copenhagen’s history and point ahead, showing how a part of our food culture is evolving right now.
Define a cake for yourself. Does it have to be baked? Does it have to include whipped cream? Can it be deep-fried, too? Should you be able to eat it on the street, or does it demand royal porcelain? Is it worth standing in line for? Can it be topped with olive oil?
The jury
Milton Abel
Former dessert chef at Noma, Amass, and Kong Hans. Has worked at the Michelin-starred restaurants Per Se and The French Laundry. Now head pastry chef at Søly Bageri in Vedbæk.
Mika Wullf
Pastry chef and founder of the baking magazine Lækkerier. Trained at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris and has worked with the top pâtissier Pierre Hermé. Has published several cookbooks.
Jonas Dahl Grue
Trained as a pastry chef at La Glace, teaches at Suhrs Højskole, and is the regular pastry chef on Go’Morgen Danmark. Has published several books on cakes and bread.
Marie Holm
Food journalist, cookbook author and editor, and host of the radio program ’Ugen der blev spist’ on R8dio.
Those were some of the things we had to sort out with the panel’s four experts, all of whom had to compromise before we could arrive at a list everyone could stand behind.
One of the pastry chefs on the panel thinks whipped cream is overrated (true story!); others can’t get enough. Some don’t think tropical fruit belongs in a cake at these latitudes; others said: Of course it does.
On the list, the cake can be a Danish pastry, deep-fried, and packed with every kind of custard you can imagine — as long as it’s sweet and spectacular.
The prune kringle form Københavns Bageri
Three days in the making
A prune kringle that kicked up a small online uproar because people were scandalized by the price: 300 kroner. »Is it anything special?« people asked on Twitter. And yes, it actually is.
The two men behind Københavns Bageri, Rasmus Sjødahl and Anders Lorenz, both alumni of Noma, have explained: It takes three days to make, it’s filled with an expensive vanilla and organic French prunes that have been soaked in brandy, and it easily serves 10 people, which brings the sticker shock down to something that’s almost normal in today’s Copenhagen.
Besides, you can also just buy a slice (40 kroner) if you don’t feel like going all in.
Marie Holm: »You get the chance to taste a piece of old-fashioned Danish cake history and, at the same time, the very best of the modern Danish pastry revolution, which in these years is reviving, refining, and developing our baked goods. Some people have been butthurt about the price, but they know their craft, they know good ingredients, and it’s worth the money«.
Københavns Bageri. Flaskehalsen 22, Copenhagen V.
Lemon moon cake from Andersen Bakery
The Japanese connection
Lemon moon cake is best known as the police officer’s go-to store-bought cake — the kind you pick up at a gas station, wrapped in plastic and cardboard. Fortunately, Andersen Bakery has reimagined it as a lovely mini “full moon” (55 kroner), packed with tart citrus: yuzu.
What sets Andersen Bakery apart, beyond its high standards, is its long history of ties to Japan, which shapes the bakery’s approach. That’s where ingredients like yuzu and miso come in. You can taste it, too, in their mousse cakes and fastelavnsboller — the cream-filled pastries that are known for creating one of the city’s longest lines at that time of year.
Mika Wulff: »Andersen Bakery isn’t a hipster bakery — it’s more old-school, in the best possible way. Everything they make is good, from baguettes to cakes. I love the Japanese influence you can taste in the ingredients. The yuzu moon is addictively good«.
Jonas Dahl Grue: »The yuzu moon is such a fun Japanese-Danish classic! And it’s a place I’m very fond of. They protect the craft and have a sky-high standard«.
Andersen Bakery. Thorshavnsgade 26, Copenhagen S.
Twister from Maison D’Angleterre
The best pastry chef in the country?
Perhaps best known for being behind the city’s most decadent fastelavnsbolle — topped with gold and truffles and priced at 500 kroner — but that’s hardly all Maison d’Angleterre and head pastry chef Freja Krarup Johansen can do. Inside the small, pink corner shop at the start of Strøget, a display case holds one edible artwork after another. And this year, you can buy the cake that won Copenhagen’s Pastry Guild prize for ’Cake of the Year’ — the pineapple twister — for the sum of 75 kroner.
With pineapple on the outside and vanilla mousse within. Striped, small, and elegant, in natural colors. Perfect to take home with coffee in a big pink box, or to eat at one of the few window seats.
Milton Abel: »Freja is the best pastry chef in the entire country. Her creativity and technique are simply incredible«.
Mika Wulff: »Freja really has a magic touch. Her winning Twister cake is half artwork, half cake. She built the beautiful striped mold herself — the one the cake is cast in. Every element is perfectly balanced, and it’s rare that I’ve enjoyed a mousse cake the way I enjoy this one. Truly top-tier«.
Marie Holm: »Freja Krarup is a wonderful pastry chef, and she has mastered the art of both knowing her classics and pushing the craft forward at the same time. And if you’re slipping in to buy the candy-striped pineapple/yuzu twister anyway, you should do yourself a favor and pick up her take on an old-fashioned Danish ’gåsebryst’ as well. Then you’ll have puff pastry, prunes, and whipped cream for dessert«.
Maison d’Angleterre. Østergade 2, Copenhagen K.
Churro at Restaurant Sanchez
... with mescal and negroni, please!
A churro can be a greasy business — dripping with fryer oil and raw and doughy inside. But Rosio Sanchez, formerly Noma’s pastry chef and now the owner of her own food empire, Sanchez, can make them sing.
Crisp, airy, braided, rolled in cinnamon and more. Our judges recommend her signature dessert at Restaurant Sanchez on Istedgade: a churro (110 kroner) served with mezcal ice cream, Negroni cream and orange zest. The mezcal makes it smoky, the Negroni adds a touch of bitterness, while the churro itself is sweet and gentle, softened by cinnamon.
Marie Holm: »It’s an iconic pastry served as a dessert. It’s small and elegant. You can tell it comes from the hand of a Michelin-level pastry chef. It’s so delicious and well balanced. I think it’s brilliant«.
Mika Wulff: »Sanchez’s churros are one of my favorite desserts«.
Restaurant Sanchez. Istedgade 60, Copenhagen V.
Almond croissant cookie from Bake My Day
Comforts every American (and all the rest of us!)
With a view of DR’s concert hall and, yes, a construction site, Ynja Mist Aradóttir has created a time capsule of a cake dream, filled with grandma-style furniture, artificial flowers and baked goods that lean into American traditions. She first sold donuts, muffins and cookies in partnership with her mother, and later with her husband, while they also run a larger operation producing custom-order cakes.
Our judges point to their cookies (40 kroner), which come in many different rotating flavors that could comfort a homesick American, and which strike just the right balance of crunch, a soft center and plenty of flavor.
Milton Abel: »Bake My Day is a hidden gem, with a married couple behind the counter. The cookies they make taste like home to me. Soft, moist and bursting with flavor. I especially love the one with almonds. It’s my top pick among Copenhagen’s bakers — and they also make a good espresso«.
Bake My Day. Amagerfælledvej 162, Copenhagen S.
Kouign Amann cake from Kani Bakery
Say after us: kwing uh·man!
Kouign amann (60–65 kroner) is the croissant’s sweeter, richer big sister, finished with caramelization. It’s made up of 40 percent dough, 30 percent butter, and 30 percent sugar. The name comes from Brittany, which not everyone knows has its own Celtic-related dialect.
At Kani, it’s made in different flavors depending on the season, and our judges suggest that when you’re dealing with such a sweet, full-bodied sister, you might want to opt for a tarter, lighter filling — like their kouign amann with citrus cream and kumquats. Even with tools like a knife and fork, it should be said: it’s all but impossible to eat without scattering crumbs and getting cream on your nose — that’s part of the charm.
Jonas Dahl Grue: »They make a fantastic kouign amann. It’s made from a kind of croissant dough folded with sugar, and it’s very crisp. A very different pastry, and incredibly delicious. Kani is a modern bakery that isn’t afraid to experiment with its pastries, which is great. I’ve had kouign amann many times before and found it a bit dry, but here they’ve stuffed it with lemon cream, and it’s so good«.
Kani. Vesterbrogade 196, Frb.
Lemon cake from Rug Bakery
An amazing loaf cake
In the otherwise somewhat aggressive Copenhagen intersection at Tietgensgade and Bernstorffsgade, there’s an almost secret bakery that, so far, tourists are probably the ones getting the most out of. But anyone can walk into Hotel Villa and take a seat at the bakery, Rug. And if you do, our judges point you straight to their lemon cake.
A loaf cake can be a dry affair — which may be how it got nicknamed “sand cake.” But at Rug, their lemon cake (45 kroner) has a texture closer to marzipan and is served with a light vanilla cream and olive oil at small tables in their enormous space, which once housed Denmark’s now-defunct postal service.
Mika Wulff: »Even just the vanilla cream on the cake is wonderful — airy and delicate. I love it. This lemon cake is a lovely example of how something utterly simple can be elevated to a level that’s truly extraordinary«.
Rug. Tietgensgade 39, Copenhagen V.
Cardamom bun from Juno
Swedish conditions
In 2017, Østerbro got a new attraction: Juno the Bakery on Århusgade. Behind the success are the Swedish-born pastry chef and former Noma cook Emil Glaser and his wife, Nina Schmiegelow. And it is from Sweden that the inspiration for the now well-known and highly coveted cardamom bun (35 kroner) comes.
So sought-after is it — and so are Juno’s other temptation — that there is almost always a line at the cozy Østerbro corner. In the small front garden, tourists sit at little patio tables among locals, photographing the buns, while the queue snakes from the door into the baked-goods paradise.
Mika Wulff: »Juno’s bun is insanely good. It’s perfectly airy and juicy while still baked to a golden finish — it’s a hard thing to pull off, but it helps, of course, that the bun is always fresh from the oven. I can’t get anywhere near Østerbro without bringing one home«.
Marie Holm: »You just can’t get around a cardamom bun from Juno. With big crushed cardamom seeds that make it wonderfully intense, and a really good yeasted dough. I’m often disappointed elsewhere when there isn’t enough butter in it, so it’s an art. The annoying part is that it’s so famous that you often end up standing in line. But I know they bake them all day, and you can always get lucky and get one warm. They travel well in your hand, like a gâteau de voyage — a travel cake — so take it with you, go for a walk, and look around Østerbro while you eat it«.
Jonas Dahl Grue: »You have to taste it. No one does it better. They use a deeply aromatic cardamom, and the texture is perfect. It has to come home to the breakfast table — or be eaten on the way right away«.
Juno. Århusgade 48, st. th., Copenhagen Ø.
Passion fruit tart with salted caramel from Leckerbaer
Technical excellence
Maybe you’ve been to a fancy wedding reception or confirmation party in Hellerup and wondered where those fantastic little tarts came from. They most likely came from Leckerbaer on Ryesgade. This is where Gabi Bär Mogensen and Jacob Mogensen — who previously worked as a chef at, among other places, the Michelin-starred restaurant AOC — make their well-known tarts and more from scratch.
While it’s easy to be tempted by all of them, our judges point to the passion fruit tart with salted caramel and verbena (49 kroner) as a classic at the Østerbro bakery. Tart, sweet, beautiful, well-rounded — and, yes, delicious.
Jonas Dahl Grue: »You owe it to yourself to try Leckerbaer’s little tarts. Their selection changes a lot because they really care about what’s in season. But some are available year-round — like their passion fruit tart with salted caramel; it’s wonderful. You can sit and eat it there; it’s a cozy little spot in Østerbro with modern surroundings where you can drop in for coffee. But I’d take the tarts home and invite guests over for coffee with them«.
Leckerbaer. Ryesgade 118, Copenhagen Ø.
Sports layer cake at La Glace
A classic since 1891
For many Copenhageners, a slice of sports layer cake (82 kroner) at La Glace is an annual event — a way to celebrate, or almost a ritual. At Copenhagen’s oldest and most famous pastry shop, the coffee is expensive but bottomless, and the same goes for their hot chocolate with whipped cream, which many people swear by.
The sports layer cake is also the house’s most famous cake and its signature layer cake. It was created in 1891 for the opening of the play ’Sportsmænd’ at Folketeatret and is made with crushed nougat brittle, whipped cream, a macaron base, and caramelized choux puffs. You get a generous slice, and while some insist you HAVE to go with hot chocolate, others are less bound by tradition and opt for a cup of coffee.
Marie Holm: »It’s one of the finest things we have. It looks like a giant ruffled ballgown skirt, and I think that’s wonderful. In every way, it’s what you’d call a signature pastry. It’s cake history«.
Jonas Dahl Grue: »It’s airy and caramelized in exactly the right way. And La Glace has a secret whipped-cream whisker who can whip the cream 20 percent fluffier, so it gets that silky-smooth texture«.
La Glace. Skoubogade 3, Copenhagen K.
10 in the city
This article is the first in a new series we call 10 in the city, in which we will convene small panels of experts to debate and select 10 of the most influential or defining elements within a specific topic — from photography and architecture to performance theater and pasta dishes.
The editorial team behind
Text: Helene Navne
Layout: Freja Juul Pedersen
Video: Lærke Berg-Pedersen
Editing: Louise Skov Andersen
Project manager: Laura Aller Jónasdóttir
Code: Kristian Jensen
In the editorial team: Morten Hjortshøj, Ibyen-editor, Sarah Wind-Christiansen, video editor og Johannes Skov Andersen, Director of Editorial Innovation.