Gustavus Adolphus pastry () is a

pastry Pastry refers to a variety of Dough, doughs (often enriched with fat or eggs), as well as the sweet and savoury Baking, baked goods made from them. The dough may be accordingly called pastry dough for clarity. Sweetened pastries are often descr ...

traditionally eaten every 6 November in

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

Gustavus Adolphus Day Gustavus Adolphus Day () is celebrated in Sweden on 6 November in memory of King Gustavus Adolphus. Observing the day became popular after 1832, the 200th anniversary of the king's death in 1632. It is a general Flag flying days in Sweden, flag ...

, the death day of King

Gustavus Adolphus Gustavus Adolphus (9 December N.S 19 December">Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html" ;"title="/nowiki>Old Style and New Style dates">N.S 19 December15946 November Old Style and New Style dates">N.S 16 November] 1632), also known in English as ...

. It is especially popular in

Gothenburg Gothenburg ( ; ) is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, second-largest city in Sweden, after the capital Stockholm, and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated by the Kattegat on the west coast of Sweden, it is the gub ...

, a city founded by the king. The pastry was created around 1900. Candy with the image of the king was sold by a

konditorei A is a business that typically offers a wide variety of Pastry, pastries and typically also serves as a café#In Europe, café. (plural) are found in many countries including but not limited to Germany, Austria, Switzerland, France, Denmar ...

in Gothenburg since the 1850s. The earliest mention of a pastry is from the Western parts of Sweden during the 1890s, where the pastry probably was created around the festivities when a statue of the king was erected in

on a square, that since then is known as Gustaf Adolfs torg ("Gustavus Adolphus Square"). One Gothenburg bakery, Bräutigams, claims to have created it in the early 20th century, with the years 1905 or 1909 mentioned. Recipes for the pastry vary locally but most versions have a portrait of the king on the top, usually made of chocolate or

marzipan Marzipan is a confectionery, confection consisting primarily of sugar and almond meal (ground almonds), sometimes augmented with almond oil or extract. It is often made into Confectionery, sweets; common uses are chocolate-covered marzipan and ...

. In 2003, a competition arranged by

Livrustkammaren The Royal Armoury () is a museum in the Royal Palace in Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic ...

and Gastronomiska akademien ("Gastronomic Academy of Sweden") elected a winner without the king's portrait. The Swedish bakeries and konditoreis, however, preferred their old versions, so the attempt to establish a standard Gustavus Adolphus pastry failed. Exactly how many Gustav Adolphus pastries are sold in November each year is not known. The newspaper ''

Göteborgs-Tidningen (''The Express'') is one of two nationwide evening newspapers in Sweden. Describing itself as independent liberal, was founded in 1944; its symbol is a wasp and its slogans are "it stings" or " to your rescue". The newspaper awards the cultu ...

'' in 2009 approximated the total Swedish sales and consumption to more than 10,000.

References

ifood.tv
Retrieved 2014-02-05.

Nationalencyklopedin (; "The National Encyclopedia" in English), abbreviated NE, is a comprehensive contemporary Swedish-language encyclopedia with several hundred thousand articles. It is available both online and via a printed version. History The project was ...

, Gustav Adolfsdagen Brautigams
, the web page of the bakery. "Gustav Adolfs huvud ska vara i choklad"
Göteborgs tidning 2011-11-06 Ny standard skapad för Gustav Adolf-bakelser
Aftonbladet 2003-11-06 Nordiska museet: Gustav Adolfsdagen
{{Pastries Gustavus Adolphus November Swedish pastries

See also

References