Tasty Treats

Hey Readers,

Last summer, I had a dream. Both a figurative dream, as in MLK's "I have a dream" and a literal dream, as in I actually dreamt it one night. I dreamt about a European bakery, filled with all kinds of fancy bread, and a myriad of baked goods. Little cakes, tarts, muffins, brownies...some I wasn't even sure what to call them, but they looked delicious. For me, though, it wasn't about the amount of food, or the variety, but the overall atmosphere of the place. This dream happened about a week before I went to Saint Petersburg, and I knew I wanted to find some charming little bakery where I could get a cup of coffee and a fresh baked cinnamon roll and relax.

I didn't find anywhere like this in Saint Petersburg - all the cafes either lacked quality baked goods or had too much of a "Starbucks" feel to them.

I realize now that I was probably dreaming about Copenhagen.

It's hard for me to pinpoint even one bakery, because wherever I go, I'm never more than a 5 minute walk from some small cafe or bakery with wienerbrød ("Vienna Bread", AKA the famous "Danish") and coffee. My personal favorite, coincidentally related to Saint Petersburg, is a tiny bakery two blocks away from DIS called Saint Peter's Bakery (Sankt Peders Bageri, in Danish). All of the baked goods seem to be no more than $3 at most, and they range from cinnamon rolls that even Cinnabon would say are a little large to lethal-looking chocolate cakes to some frosted strawberry...thing I got today that was positively delicious, even though I ended up ordering it by pointing at it and saying "I'd like one of...those, please."This place has sandwiches too, and I'm amazed I haven't tried them, since the bread is obviously fresh and the toppings look pretty exceptional too.

Another place I've visited and must return to is Agnes' Cupcakes, inside the "glass market" near Nørreport Station. I grew up with the West Side Market in Cleveland - an old world market that mainly houses fruit and vegetable sellers and a meat market - and the glass market is like a 21st-century update of that. I saw at least three shops dedicated to cheese (excellent!), but this cupcake stand topped my list of favorites. I bought a "Valentines Day" cupcake yesterday, and it was thoroughly enjoyable; I initially thought it was red velvet, but when I bit into it and discovered a pocket of raspberry jam in the middle, I think it might have been raspberry with vanilla bean frosting. I guess it makes sense, but I never expected to find a cupcake bakery in Copenhagen in the first place.

In America, we window-shop for clothes, but in Denmark, I find myself window-shopping at bakeries and cafes. All of them - even the chains - have freshly baked bread that clearly isn't factory-made, and the baked goods never fail to look and taste fantastic. My only critique might be that the Danes need to get more in touch with their inner chocoholic, since most pastries seem to omit chocolate entirely, and if I want chocolate, I have to find a dedicated chocolatier. That aside, I know I've found the "bakery city" of my dreams.

Cheers!