Hooray! It’s Cinnamon Bun Day!

Today, for the 10th year in succession, Swedes celebrate Cinnamon Bun Day. It all started in 1999 when the Home Baking Association decided to commemorate its 40th anniversary with something close to the heart and hearth of every Swedish home, and thus Cinnamon Bun Day was born.

Fika (pronounced feeka) is a local tradition that goes back a long way. As a noun it means a coffee break and as a verb it implies drinking coffee (often accompanied by buns, cakes or cookies), in the company of friends, relatives or colleagues.

In offices it is not uncommon for colleagues to have a morning fika at 9 am, another fika to round off a lunch and yet another at 2:30 pm. I knew it, you’re wondering when they'll have time to do any work … but that’s another story.

Cafés used to be places where old ladies met up with other old ladies for a bit of chin-wagging. But nowadays they are places where young ladies and even young men meet their friends for a fika after a shopping session or before the movies.

And so, what better way to celebrate this day than fika with a kanelbulle or two ... which I'm quite sure is exactly what's been done in cottages and castles, in towns and villages, the length and breadth of this country today.