Today started out great. We woke up to sunshine and an almost spring-like feeling, which lasted all of about half an hour or so before we had grey skies again. So what to do on such a day? The answer, as with so many things in life, has to do with chocolate. Obviously.
One great part of being an expat is to taste and try all of the different foods and drinks a new country has to offer. And Denmark has a lot of deliciousness just waiting for you - from the traditional “event foods”, such as a Christmas dinner or an Easter lunch, lunchtime favorites like smørrebrød and hot dogs, and of course all the sweet treats, like kanelsnegle, fastelavnsboller, and lagkage (just to name a few).
Another item on that list: flødeboller! Technically translated to “cream buns” (although our friend Wikipedia calls them “chocolated-coated marshmallow treats” - doesn’t roll off the tongue so well, does it?!), they actually don’t contain any cream, and they aren’t a bun, either. Confused? Rumor has it they were actually made with cream back in the day, but nowadays the filling is made with egg whites and loads of sugar, giving it a texture similar to Marshmallow Fluff.
Flødeboller exist in many countries, in some form or another. In Germany, we used to call them “Negerkuss” or “Mohrenkopf”, but they were later renamed into “Schaumkuss” (foam kiss) because that’s significantly less racist! I understand the same thing happened in Denmark as well. And while the German equivalent is usually store-bought and not great, the Danes have really taken flødeboller to the next level, turning them into elaborate and decadent treats with high-quality ingredients and true craftsmanship in the production process.
You can buy flødeboller at the supermarket or at specialty chocolate/ cake stores. Their quality varies a bit, but mostly they are quite tasty, so it’s really all about what you like. I wouldn’t recommend the low-priced supermarket varieties, but we’ve also tested a brand that can be bought at Irma and it did quite well in the test.
So, without further ado, let’s just jump right in! It was a little odyssey around the city center of Copenhagen, but I managed to put together a good sample from seven different stores to test!
And here are all the contestants, all lined up:
In the test, I wanted to not only focus on the taste, but also on the presentation, decoration, and packaging. As you’ll probably agree, the package of a flødebolle becomes an important factor as soon as you’re not planning on eating it (or all of them) on the spot, but actually want to take them home. The presentation, as with any food, is also a key part, because, as we say in German, “you eat with your eyes first” - and a beautifully presented flødebolle makes me want to stuff it in my face even more (though I’d probably also eat crooked or squashed flødeboller in a heartbeat, no questions asked). So, let’s get started!
Sweet Valentine
Packaging: Slightly disappointing - I had expected more. The flødeboller were simply put in a see-through little bag, sealed with a gold sticker. Not very protective, though - as you can see - they both made it home safe.
Price: 22kr (40kr for two)
Presentation: Quite nice. Bonus points for the little piece of gold paper on top, that classes up the otherwise plain classic flødebolle. The white chocolate one is drizzled with liquorice powder and has a nice “burned” kind of look.
Taste: The classic flødebolle had the darkest chocolate in the test, which worked nicely against the sweetness of the cream and the marcipan bottom. All in all, a very good taste. The white chocolate flødebolle had a liquorice cream, which was clearly bad buy (you can read about my feelings about liquorice here).
Magasin Chokolade
Packaging: This little box is very nice, both for protecting the flødeboller and if you’re bringing them as a gift. I’m actually quite impressed. The only problem was that I only bought one flødebolle, so it was kinda lonely in there and also shifted around a bit during transport.
Price: 20kr
Presentation: Very classic - this is a tall and slender flødebolle with a dark chocolate cover.
Taste: Surprisingly good! This contestant kinda came out of left field - I saw their flødeboller when I was buying Summerbird at Magasin and thought, why not. But they are super nice! The chocolate cover is thick enough to give a nice crunch when you bite in, but not so thick that it overpowers the cream, which is really thick and has a very nice taste. Definitely a surprise!
Summerbird
Packaging: Disappointing! I mean, Summerbird is supposed to be THE place to go for flødeboller - you’d think they would give them to you in something a bit more presentable and sturdy than this simple paper bag! When I asked for something a bit more stable, I got another paper bag. Gee, thanks! It does have a pretty print, though.
Price: 24kr (big one), 12kr (mini)
Presentation: The classic, dark chocolate flødebolle is well-proportioned (wow, did I really just write that about a chocolate treat?!), but not very big. The mini flødebolle is just too cute!
Taste: The mini one was with a passion fruit foam. It was gone quickly both because of its bite-size and it’s yumminess (this is totally a word). The classic one was not a favorite here. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not horrible, but it’s not awesome, either. We both found the chocolate a bit too thick, and for my taste, the cream was too sugary. Together with the marcipan bottom, the overall impression was just VERY sweet.
Spangsberg
Packaging: You can only buy them in boxes of five, and they seem pretty robust (unless you plan on sitting on them, I guess). The space in the box is calculated so that the five flødeboller block each other from shifting around.
Price: 16kr (80kr for a pack of five)
Presentation: Again, we’re looking at a very classic, dark chocolate flødebolle. This one has a bit heavier base, and the chocolate is somehow… shiny. All five flødeboller in the pack were very uniform.
Taste: The chocolate coating is quite thin, compared to others in the test. The cream is a bit thinner and also served on a very thin wafer, but the taste is spot-on. These are definitely a good alternative if you are craving some flødeboller but don’t want to go further than your next supermarket.
Mette Blomsterberg
Packaging: A very sturdy box, and a bag as well. But I mean, at that price - you can kinda expect that. Also, look at these beauties. They deserve to be preserved as best we can!
Price: 35kr
Presentation: These are without question the pretties flødeboller of the bunch. JUST LOOK AT THEM. They have dried flowers on top! Need I say more?! Plus, they are HUGE.
Taste: Where do I start? These are definitely not your average flødeboller! The dark one has a raspberry cream, while the white chocolate one’s cream has a passion fruit flavor. They stand on thick, baked marcipan crusts (“mazarinbund”), which are necessary to support the towering creation of cream and chocolate. Inside, there’s a hidden bit of fruity jam, encased in more chocolate. These were so decadent and delicious - but huge, too; one of these is pretty much an entire dessert (and I certainly don’t want to know how many calories they have…).
Lagkagehuset
Packaging: This one comes in a box as well. The box is big enough for two of these, so there’s the old shifting problem again, but that’s really not so bad. The box is even taped shut, so nothing can get out.
Price: 19kr
Presentation: An almost perfectly round little dude, completely covered in chopped-up hazelnuts. It may not be very pretty, but it is definitely inviting!
Taste: Yuuuuum! This is a decadent little bastard! The thick milk chocolate cover with hazelnuts works brilliantly with the caramel in the center. We’re certainly not talking about a standard flødebolle here, but definitely one I would buy time and time again. It’s also a good choice to go with a wafer here instead of marcipan, that wouldn’t have been a good fit taste-wise.
Frellsen Chokolade
Packaging: Another bag. I mean, is it really so hard to give me a little box? This one was made from a sturdy paper though, and again, the flødeboller made it home safe.
Price: 26kr for two
Presentation: I got two classic ones, one with dark and one with milk chocolate. They are also on the short-and-square side of the spectrum. I like the dark chocolate base of the milk chocolate one, that gives a nice visual contrast.
Taste: Nice, thick chocolate coating on both flødeboller. The foam inside is nice and firm. Our clear favorite was the milk chocolate one - you don’t get that often with flødeboller, and it’s a definite winner! These have wafer bottoms, too, which might be why they’re the cheapest ones in our test, but since they are really yummy, this is a real bargain.
Conclusion
Clear winners here were Mette Blomsterberg and Lagkagehuset - the most decadent end of the spectrum. Among the classic, “plain and simple” flødeboller, our favorites were Magasin Chokolade as well as the milk chocolate flødebolle from Frellsen.
What’s your favorite flødebolle?
MissLilly says
it all looks so yummy!!!
Laura says
Hi Lilly, it was! Although I think I’ll be taking a break from flødeboller for the next couple of weeks! :)