SCANDINAVIA
Light, fluffy and wonderfully rich, honey cakes are a classic Danish bake with a history dating back centuries.
The small Jutland town of Christiansfeld is known across Denmark for its honey cakes, which were first made here in the late 18th century. Legend has it the sweet bakes came about as a way to preserve rye bread, which would otherwise only last a week. Adding honey to the mix helped the bread to last longer, while the extra shot of sweetness made it taste better. As it’s tradition in Denmark to always have food in the house to offer unexpected guests — the saying ‘brød til kaffen’ translates as ‘bread for coffee’, but can mean anything you have ready to serve alongside a cup of the hot stuff — honey cakes evolved as the perfect offering.
Christiansfeld was founded in 1773 as a colony of the Moravian Church and is now UNESCO-listed for its handsome, honey-hued 18th-century architecture. The town’s baking reputation has been well preserved, too, with honey cakes remaining a local speciality.
Indeed, the original recipe still exists to this day, having survived fires, wars and foreign occupations.
You’ll find honey cakes front and centre in Christiansfeld’s bakeries, including one housed in the place where it all began: in 2011, the original bakery of Martin Achtnich — the man credited with coming up with the sweet creation in the late 1700s — was renovated, reopening under the name Honningkager, with baker Kim Rasmussen at the helm.
Thanks to their nationwide fame, honey cakes are now available in specialist shops throughout Denmark, too. Modern takes on the classic version range from chocolate-covered heart-shaped bakes to sandwich honey cakes filled with whipped vanilla buttercream and apricot jam. A round variant, known as honey bombs, are eaten m
