Bergen, Bryggen, funicular, (more) pastries and (more) fjords

Our focus in Bergen after 5 weeks of travels hither and yon was to enjoy several days of respite. Whew! Arriving late afternoon our first day, we scooted out to pick up some groceries and vino and settled in for the evening.

Feeling it necessary to set aside the tourist push to visit museums, churches and fortresses, we opted for strolling, relaxing, enjoying a boat trip or two, sampling some local pastries, dining on light home cooked meals and soaking in the ambience of the place with its natural beauty and interesting history - all good stuff.

Our first outing was on a rainy morning when we hopped on the funicular to get a view of the city. Our AirBnB was practically at the doorstep of the funicular ticket office - easy peasy. Given the weather, we didn’t spend too much time up top but certainly got a good view of the city and harbor. You can see the funicular tracks to the right in the image below.

Rainy day view of Bergen center/harbor from the funicular

Happy flowers outside the funicular shop

We strolled over to Bryggen, the popular Unesco World Heritage site (and jewel in Bergen’s crown) consisting of a community of commercial wooden buildings connected by wooden passageways. Currently you’ll find them housing shops, museums and restaurants but there’s a lot of history that goes back centuries. You can read more about it here.

View of Bryggen

Between the buildings

Of course, after our Flåm experience, we had to give boller another try from a well thought of bakery right on our street. How handy is that! Two different fillings this time - the almond version (mandelbolle) had a nutty almond filling layered in the dough in addition to the pastry cream in the center; the fyltbolle contained a mix of pastry cream and blackberry jam. Interestingly fyltbolle translates simply as filled bun. My brief search tells me that the jam/cream combo is common, buuuuut . . . . I suppose you could fill ‘em with whatever tasty filling your heart desires.

We found the dough too soft and not as good as those in Flåm. The almond bun needed a bit longer baking time methinks, being on the pale side for our tastes. Plus, I prefer my pastries on the smaller side - not too big, not too little. That’s it - no more boller for us.

Mandelbolle and fyltbolle from a nearby Bergen bakery

A couple of our mornings/early afternoons were taken up by cruises - one a short cruise of the Bergen harbor and the other a longer cruise through the Osterfjorden to Modalen, said to be the second smallest municipality in Norway. It was established in 1910 and wasn’t accessible by road from Bergen until 1976.

A slice of Bergen from the harbor

Stunning waterfall on the Osterfjorden (photo courtesy of Steve Soper)

View of Modalen (photo courtesy of Steve Soper)

Otherwise our city strolling led us to discover various interesting sculptures as well as lovely spring flowers.

Hmmm . . . . homeless?

It has certainly been tulip time in Scandinavia!

On a bit of a whim Steve, the choux paste lover, picked up a pistachio èclair from a Parisian style shop (Sebastien Bruno) in the center shopping district. We also snagged a croissant and a pain au chocolat from a bakery in Bryggen to enjoy with our morning coffee (by now you should know that we invariably include pastry sampling in our itinerary.)

Over priced èclair

We agreed on a so-so rating for all. Steve deemed the choux OK but without enough pistachio flavor, too sweet overall and très cher.

We gently heated the viennoiserie in the oven the following morning and upon first bite found the taste to be sort of metallic and not pleasant. We couldn’t put our finger on it, but I suspected it was some aura from the oven that did it. After a few minutes and another bite, the off flavor seemed to have dissipated. In general they were otherwise light, crispy and very well laminated so the flavor issue was odd. Who knows.

Nice croissant lamination

Time to say goodbye to Bergen. Gouda here we come. Let’s hear it for cheese!

Bergen’s festplassen

Flåm, boller and fjords

We had planned our visit to Flåm for the purpose of seeing the fjords from both land and water but were also anticipating catching our breath with the peace and quiet of the mountains. We had plenty of time upon our arrival in this small ville to visit the TI office, check into fjord cruises/local eateries and generally get a lay of the land.

After a leisurely breakfast on the first of our two mornings in Flåm, we picked up our fjord cruise tickets and then headed for the Flåm Bakeri which we had heard about through the local vibe. We would enjoy our treats later.

Note the yellow and red paint colors above - we saw many buildings of similar colors dotted throughout the countryside.

The pastry case

While Steve worked on some photos and blog notes, I went for a brisk walk in and around town - something I’ve been missing during our days of city sightseeing. Gurgling streams, picturesque homes, gorgeous mountains - lovely.

Just around the bend from town - our hotel is the brown building complex (center of photo)

Typical Norwegian homestead

Babbling stream

Looking across the water from our room

Time for pastries! We had chosen two different boller/bun versions from Flåm Bakeri. First is Solbolle, literally translated as sun ball or sun bun - a cinnamon (not always) swirled yeasted dough topped with pastry cream and baked. It’s reportedly one way Norwegians (particularly above the arctic circle) celebrate the return of the sun in late January after the sunless dark days of winter.

Second is Skulebolle/skolebolle or school bun - sweet yeasted bun (not unlike the solbolle) filled with pastry cream, iced and coated with shredded coconut. I hear it’s a favorite to celebrate the last day of school. Oh - by the way - boller is the plural of bolle.

Solbolle and Skule (or skole) bolle

We shared these goodies a little before we headed out for our fjord cruise and pronounced them both delicious! Nicely textured bun (not too soft, not too chewy), smooth vanilla scented cream and great flavor all around. Steve especially liked the skule/skolebolle for its coconut-ness.

Quick note - after doing a search about Norwegian buns there are many variations out there folks. Later in our travels we came across another place that sold fyltboller which basically translates as filled bun - talk about a blank canvas! At any rate any type of bolle/bun rules in Norway!

Let’s hit the fjord!

Boarding our cruise boat

The day was pretty perfect - breezy, 60s, sunny with scattered clouds - time to cruise. Though once we got out onto the water it was more chilly, especially on the shaded sides of the boat, and we had to jockey for just the right position to have a good view as well as stay protected and warm. Here a few scenic images for you.

Small village on the fjord

Motoring along

Snowcaps

Laegdafossen - the most stunning waterfall along the route (foss is Norwegian for waterfall)

The boat landed in Gudvangen where we hopped on a bus back to Flåm. A good trip indeed.

Next up - Bergen! I’ll be back.

These make me smile

From fire to ice in Scandinavia

Sunset in Stockholm

Taking a break from the pastry side of things, I’d like to show you a peek at the natural beauty we’ve seen in Scandinavia. On our last night in Stockholm we were treated to this amazing sunset display. Starting out with the sun peaking through the clouds as it went down, the sky morphed into an amazing display of orange shades with tints of fuchsia and purple. Wow!

Oslo offered us vistas of sunshine, swirling clouds, sparkling water and islands along with ferries moving to and fro. Even the big cities can’t keep Mother Nature from showing off her finery.

View from the Akershus fortress in Oslo

We were in for unexpected scenes on the train from Oslo to Myrdal as we climbed into blue-iced and snow covered expanses. Though in the image below it looks grey and overcast, at points the snow cover was so vast as to be literally blinding. Photos just can’t do it justice - you had to be there!

From the train on our way to Myrdal

We peaked at an altitude of 1222 meters (4000 ft) at Finse before we descended to Myrdal’s 866.6 meters (2837 ft) to catch the Flåmsbana down to Flåm.

Above the tree line at Finse

On the Flåmsbana on our way down to Flåm

More to come! - I’ll be back!

A glimpse at the Aurlandsfjord in Flåm

Fika in Stockholm

I believe I’m probably the gazillionth person to mention the Swedish tradition of fika which is essentially a coffee (or tea) break during the day when folks get together to set their cares aside, chit chat and enjoy a piece of cake or pastry. Much like the French le gouter or British afternoon tea, it’s a lovely tradition enjoyed by so many.

For our Stockholm visit we met up with British friends Richard and Pauline and enjoyed getting to know the city and see some of its many sights. One beautiful day we visited Skansen, a large park/zoo/open air museum on the island of Djurgården, just one of the many in the archipelago.

In one of the historic buildings in the town quarter we discovered a small cafe serving coffee and baked goods and decided to go for it. With a rustic cozy flair and a lovely outdoor space it offered us a chance to rest ourselves for a bit.

All four of us snagged a cup of coffee, Richard had a slice of rhubarb cake with crème anglaise and Pauline and I chose the almond cake option with a side dollop of whipped cream. Aside from the coffee, Steve abstained.

I wanted to see how the almond cake stacked up to the one(s) I had made and written about in this post a couple of years ago. Although somewhat disappointed (feeling my efforts had yielded a much more tasty result!), the topping had some crunch and the almond cake base was okay save for the rather dry edges. It was still a worthwhile comparison though. You never know unless you try!

Our treats were served on different patterned plates, and we enjoyed them out in the sunny courtyard garden before continuing our exploration of the Skansen grounds.

On another day of strolling from island to island in central Stockholm, we stopped at Thelins Grand Cafe on the Kungstradgarden, an outdoor gathering space with gardens at one end, cafes flanking and lots of people about. It was obviously a popular spot with a line out the door and outdoor tables at a premium.

Just A glimpse of the pastry case

In addition to the intriguing items in the case, my eye spied the variations of bullar, classic intricately twisted buns such as cinnamon and cardamom. Once again I was eager to sample a true Scandi version of bulle (the singular of bullar) after my own attempts at cardamom buns a while back. There was a lighter version that appeared to be sprinkled with a bit of sugar (top rear below) - I chose that.

Some of the cafe’s treats

We were happy to grab a table inside since it was pretty breezy and cool that day.

Richard and Pauline chose savory sandwiches and Steve continued to exert great will power and abstained except for a sparkling drink.

I anticipated that perhaps my bulle had a thin schmear of almond filling since it’s so commonly used in many Danish pastries, but, alas, I couldn’t really confirm that as I ate. It was tasty nonetheless with a light sweetness, simple lovely bun texture and delicious with my large cup of hot chocolate.

Here’s to the fika traditiion and all it stands for. Thanks Sweden!!

Danish pastry class in Copenhagen

Update note 3/06/23: please note that I am NOT the owner/operator of the Terrible French Pastry School. I’ve had several people who plan to travel to Copenhagen email me requesting class sign ups. You must contact the school (link below) to set up any classes with Chef Fred. You’ll be happy you did!!

Always up for another baking adventure, particularly one involving one of my favorites, laminated dough, I checked out various pastry/baking classes that might be available in the cities on our travel itinerary. What better subject to tackle than Danish pastries (aka wienerbrød) in Copenhagen, the capital of Denmark! Yes please.

The site of said class was at the Terrible French Pastry School (hmmm . . . . the name gives one pause) located in the Frederiksberg section of Copenhagen. The school is owned and operated by Frédéric Terrible, a Frenchman by birth, Dane by assimilation, who has been running the school for about 10 years now, following a long career in the pastry world. Classes are generally available in Danish and English (“for the tourists” says Fred) and can also be arranged with French as an option. His “open” classes are available for general sign up, and he also accepts requests for private events.

Turns out it was an easy Metro ride + short walk from our digs on a coolish, sunny beautiful morning, perfect for working with the layered, buttery dough. The building is set back off the street situated on a small cul de sac and the entrance very unassuming with a small gold “Terrible” plaque to the left of the door (Steve snapped this photo of me working on taking my own photo).

The kitchen/teaching space is perfect for groups of 10-12 people with a line up of working stations topped with dusting flour and necessary tools in the center. Ovens, mixers and assorted supplies are appropriately placed along the windows and periphery of the space.

Recalling fondly my own commercial kitchen during our Rhode Island years, I appreciated its spaciousness and organization.

Chef Fred had his base dough recipe hanging up for all to see and would review the steps of dough making later in the class. I appreciated his insight into some of the differences in the dough when one uses water (crispy) or milk (less crispy), egg (softer) or no egg (less soft), different types of flour - all details that I’ve reviewed, compared and tried a number of times when deciding on a base recipe. So much to take in and everyone has their own favorite way of doing things.

While we didn’t actually perform all of the dough laminating steps in class, he reviewed the different approaches to doing the folds (noted on the right side of his chart). He makes a lot of dough for his Danish and croissant classes ahead of time using a professional sheeter which yields more precise layers than when rolling by hand as we homebodies do. So cool!

We worked in pairs (my mate was Naomi from the UK), each pair having an oven available to bake the various pastries we created. We sat comfortably while Chef Fred made some introductory remarks about the class flow and then it was time to push our chairs back and get rolling!

Any laminated dough class I’ve attended or have taught myself typically starts with completed dough that the chef makes ahead - otherwise one could not accomplish all that one hopes to in the allotted time frame. We proceeded to roll out four different dough portions (6 pastries from each), cutting and shaping them in various ways.

Demo to get us started

First up - 12x12 cm squares cut with a pastry bicycle cutter, a useful tool for even portioning. I’ve never owned one but certainly realize how helpful they can be. Please note: I have NO affiliate links with Amazon or anyone else; the link simply shows you what this tool looks like.

Also known as spandauer (traditionally remonce filling and a topping of custard or jam), we piped a just right dollop of remonce (equal weights almond flour, sugar, butter) - not too much and not too little - in the center.

Bring 2 opposite corners to the center and push down very firmly with your fingertip, all the way down through the dough and the cream to the paper. Whoa! This was one of those ah-hah moments. Typically I push/press but this is much more dramatic with very firm pressure. It’s all about being in charge of the dough.

Repeat with the other 2 corners. Yes!

Quick note - even with the firm pressure, once proofed some corners might unfurl - just press them back into the center before topping with custard and baking.

We rolled out the next dough portion and cut 6 rectangles about 10x15 cm each. Fold in half and make 5 cuts along the open edge . . . . .

Open each piece up and pipe a strip of remonce (not too much, not too little, not too close to the edges) down the center; top with chocolate chips.

Proceed with the braid (of sorts) by crisscrossing alternating strips from top to bottom, kind of like this Danish braid.

Chef Fred gave us a demo - here’s the start of his.

Once all wrapped up, press the side of your little finger across the open top to seal it and tuck the bottom ends underneath. Voilá

As we completed each tray of pastries, they went into the oven for proofing. Chef had given the ovens a whiff of warmth and kept an eye on the temps so they hung between 25ºC (77ºF) and 28ºC (82ºF). Too warm and the butter will start to melt, resulting in pools of butter and less than stellar texture after baking.

Note that European style butter with higher butterfat content can stand up to warmer proofing temps than run-of-the-mill butters so be forewarned! When in doubt I plan for a lower temp (70 - 75ºF) and longer rise (instead of 1 to 1.5 hours, go 2 to 2.5 hours) to avoid the butter leak issue.

We continued on with cinnamon spirals and sesame/poppy seed twists to complete the morning’s foursome of pastry treats.

Another ah-hah moment - to keep the cinnamon spirals from unfurling during proofing/baking, simply lift the end away from the coil a bit and fold/tuck it underneath the center. It’s now trapped on the bottom. Then press two fingertips in the center of each spiral and stretch it out, also flattening the whole thing (lower center below). This essentially tells the dough to bake outward not upward for a nicely shaped end result.

Amazing what one never read about or witnessed anyone do before. Cool.

The sesame poppy twists came about after rolling a rectangle of dough, spreading a thin layer of remonce over it then folding it in half. We coated one side with sesame seeds and the other with poppy then cut and snugly twisted the strips.

Press the ends of the twists firmly onto the parchment to hold them in place (and don’t be afraid to really smoosh them down!). Notice the bicycle cutter below.

Once the proofing was underway Chef Fred gave a quick demo on making crème pâtissiére, one of the essentials of French pastry.

When we were ready to bake, we piped pastry cream on the center of the spandauer (not yet accomplished in the image below), egg washed them and added a sprinkle of pearl sugar. The almond/chocolate chip braids were adorned with the pearl sugar and slivered almonds.

All proofed

Let the baking begin! We rotated trays in and out of the oven until all were baked to golden perfection.

We sampled our wares and also boxed some up to take home. Steve was a happy camper indeed!

After the class Chef emailed all of us a detailed recipe pack with great diagrams of various Danish shapes - can’t wait to try a few others!

All in all a great morning and lots of fun. If you’re planning to be in Copenhagen and feel the baking bug coming on, I highly recommend Terrible French Pastry School. Thanks so much Chef Frédéric (who BTW is cool with me writing and sharing this).

Later that day Steve and I strolled through popular Tivoli Gardens where we found the flowers simply divine. Enjoy!

Tasty treats in Prague - Cukrárna Myšák and trdelnik

Part of traveling is to experience the food and culture of another place. When I surfed the web for best pastry shops in Prague, Myšák was at the top of the list for many. Just follow the link to read about the interesting history of the place and what they have to offer (BTW - cukrárna is translated as confectionary or sweet shop.)

Steve and I visited the shop/cafe after our visit to Prague Castle and a somewhat lengthy walk from the tram to the “main drag” leading up to the statue of Wenceslas, a big name in Bohemian history. But enough about that. As it turned out, Myšák is located on a side street not too far from our apartment and so we settled in for a respite and some treats.

Pastry case

After perusing the case I opted for three treats: Karamelový větrniček - pâte à choux with caramel cream and glaze; tartaletka - a petite lemon tart topped with Swiss meringue and dried blueberries; pražská koule, literally translated as Prague ball - sponge cake with caramel cream, chocolate, peanuts.

Interestingly, each came on its own plate with fork (along with the requisite cappuccino) while I had expected the medley to arrive on a single plate. Oh well - when in Rome . . . . .

Tartaletka

All were tasty, particularly the Prague ball which Steve and I agreed offered a surprisingly pleasant combo of sponge cake texture, crunchy nut and tasty chocolate coating without being cloyingly sweet.

They also have an upstairs space offering the same cakes and pastries in addition to packaged goods like cookies, chocolates and assembled cakes as well as their own ice cream. We picked up a couple of croissants to go and enjoyed them the following morning.

Upstairs at Myšák

Morning croissant - yum!

On our first day of strolling around the old city of Prague we noticed a number of trdlo/trdelnik shops along the way (and a lot of folks eating them!). After a bit of research I learned that the treat itself is referred to as a trdelnik and the mold on which the dough is shaped is a trdlo. I also discovered that these are called chimney cakes in the English vernacular.

Niece Christina had given us a heads up about these popular treats, and we waited until our last day in Prague to give one a try. Sharing one seemed like the thing to do.

Basically a sweet yeasted dough wrapped around the trdlo, coated in sugar (sometime nuts) and grilled on a spit, you can get them edge dipped in chocolate and nuts, filled with whipped cream or soft serve ice cream with fruit options and various add-ons as well.

Choose your options

Most shops had rows of horizontal spits, grilling multiples at one time. Here’s an example of a single vertical one.

Some shops offer more choices than others - ours was pretty straight forward - chocolate/pistachio edge dip with vanilla ice cream.

The dough is what intrigued me the most - slightly sweet, chewy in a good way and a great contrast to the creamy ice cream, chocolate and nuts. Once we had eaten some of the ice cream, it nestled down into the hollow of the dough and one could take bites of the edges. We truly enjoyed it!

I’ve found a couple of recipes on line and realize there’s a bit of finagling to do to create a form and bake them in the oven buuuuuttt . . . . who knows - once we’re back from our travels I may give it a try!

Meanwhile spring continues springing. Take good care - I’ll be back!

Flowering tree at Prague Castle

Out and about in eastern Bavaria

Lest you think all I/we do when traveling is eat pastries and enjoy a nice cappuccino, taint so!

It was delightful to spend time with niece Christina and her family in the small town of Hohenfels in eastern Bavaria, enjoying coolish but pleasant temps and sunny blue skies. Our visit just happened to coincide with the spring Volksmarsch, a yearly tradition in Germany that has been revived as COVID is on the wane (we hope!).

Joining the 4th/5th grade elementary class on the Hohenfels army base, a large group of parents and children headed out for our 10k walk through forests and fields. What a great way to soak up the local traditions.

Volksmarsch

Another of our outings took us to nearby Kallmünz to visit castle ruins and enjoy delicious pizza at a trattoria right along the Naab river. The view from the castle is picture perfect with multicolored buildings and roofs, grassy fields and distant hills.

On our way up to the castle

View from the castle

We had taken our time trekking up to the castle on an inclined road but once we were ready to descend we headed down a stepped, rocky path right into town. Christina and family had eaten at the trattoria before and knew exactly where to find it.

Delicious food, fun service and a great river view made for an oh so pleasant evening.

Naab river

A visit to Nuremberg was on the hit list so one day we trained in from Parsburg for a few hours of strolling, churches, castles, bratwurst and brötchen. I particularly enjoyed the flowers and gardens at the castle. A feast for the eyes and the soul.

Lest you think I’m willing to completely ignore pastries in this post, think again - I’ll leave you with these images from Munich’s Eataly and connect with you next time around.

Ciao for now.

Pistachio cream croissant

Petite pastries in the case

A view down the aisles

Dallmayr cafe and delicatessen

Festooned with blossomed branches for spring, this famous Munich foodie space has been around since 1700. A bustling delicatessen, cafe/bistro, bar/grill and fine dining spot (which reopens September, 2022), Dallmayr attracts locals and travelers alike throughout the year.

After a sobering and rainy visit to Dachau that morning and always in search of a delicious lunch/coffee/pastry experience, we decided to give the cafe a try. Located upstairs, it offers comfortable seating, attentive staff and an all around welcoming vibe. We had a big blue ceramic parrot as our nearby companion.

Even though mask mandates have been lifted for the most part, many folks still mask in indoor public environs, and it’s required on all public transportation and in buildings the likes of museums and government related locales. But when it’s time to eat and drink, the masks come off! Looking around one can just tell that people are so happy to be out and about with family and friends again.

For our lunch Steve chose vitello tonnato, one of his favorite Northern Italian dishes and I went for quiche Lorraine. The dark, seeded rye and traditional baguette in the accompanying bread basket were deelish and our Sancerre was none too shabby either.

If in the mood for dessert, one can go peruse the pastry case for the day’s selections.

Tortes, tartes, kuchens, strudels oh my!

Given the recent apfelstrudel class I attended in Salzburg, that was my choice hands down. Available with ice cream or crème anglaise, I chose the latter along with the requisite afternoon cappuccino of course.

Warmed with flaky pastry, vanilla scented sauce, lightly sweetened cinnamon apple filling - I give it a thumbs up!

After a bit of post lunch relaxing we headed downstairs and wandered a bit through the deli/food hall area very reminiscent of Paris’ famous Fauchon.

Another pastry case caught my eye

Lovely time spent in a lovely location - how fortunate we are.

Leaving you with these classic European floral shop scenes, take care until next time and happy spring!