I first went to the Nordic Bakery some three years ago. I remember it vividly, as it was an early morning, it was freezing and I was hungry.

I must say, I am a morning person; I wake up early and the little time I spend alone with my coffee, may be my favourite of the day. But- I am a morning person, insofar there’s breakfast involved. It may be soon after I wake up, or after my run or yoga class, but there needs to be breakfast in the vicinity. When I ‘m hungry, I can turn nasty pretty quickly. I ‘m not proud of this, but I ‘m happy I have realised it, just to make sure I ‘m always fed and thus tolerable.

So on that misty, early morning, I was forced to skip coffee AND breakfast and was taken, for breakfast, at the Nordic Bakery. I was cranky and miserable and had barely said a word on the way there (as I find it wise not to engage in conversation before I have coffee) and was continuing my silent protest even when setting foot inside the cafe. And then… Ah, the power of freshly baked goods! As soon as I walked in, the smell of cinnamon and strong coffee slapped me in the face, waking me up and forcing me to behave as I always do when I ‘m anticipating baked goods.

And then… then the buns came, along with the coffee. And I was happy. And with every bite of dense pastry, filled with cinnamon and cardamom, I was coming to life and becoming a better person. Until the next time I ‘d have to skip breakfast. Then, there’d better be cinnamon buns waiting.

The kind people behind this magical, tiny cafe are generous enough to share their recipe, along with many others, in their book. It’s on my to-buy-asap list, but in the meantime, I also found it here. Wonders like these buns are meant to be shared.