Festive or Not

• Swedish bakers produce an array of pastries suitable for many celebrations and occasions. Some of them, such as cinnamon buns, are common in many cuisines throughout Europe. Others, such as Swedish tea rings, semlor and Saint Lucia buns, are reserved for festive holiday breakfasts. Cinnamon buns and Saint Lucia buns, both of which usually contain raisins, are made in individual servings. Tea rings and Kringles are larger pastries containing several servings.

Common Ingredients

• While they may look very different from one another, Swedish breakfast pastries tend to have some basic ingredients in common. Butter, cream or milk, flour, eggs and almond flavoring predominate in pastry dough-based Kringles and tea rings. Cinnamon buns and Saint Lucia buns are more bread-like and require yeast to rise. Most Swedish breakfast pastries are topped with a simple confectioner's sugar icing. Raisins are a common ingredient in many pastries because they are available throughout the year.

Reserved for Holidays

• Some raisin-studded breakfast pastries are associated with specific Swedish holidays. Saint Lucia buns are served traditionally on December 13, a date associated with an early saint that inspires an annual festival of lights celebration in Sweden, Norway and parts of Finland. Cinnamon Bun Day, or Kanelbullens dag, is observed annually on October 4, but the buns are consumed throughout the year. Swedish tea rings are also eaten all year but are often associated with Easter breakfast. Semlor are special cream-filled buns eaten on Shrove Tuesday, the day before the beginning of Lent, and typically do not feature raisins.

Sweets on Saturdays

• Swedes tend to limit their consumption of sweets to Saturdays, so this is the one day per week when raisin-studded breakfast pastries are likely to be eaten. As part of a public health initiative dating from about 1957, the Swedish government recommended that its citizens reduce their consumption of sugar, eating sweets only one day per week. The science behind the recommendation is questionable, but many families continue to observe it. The average four-person Swedish family eats more than two pounds of sugary treats per week.