In Denmark, most seasons have a bread or cake associated with them, but no other season’s cakes have as much hype around them as those baked to mark the carnival tradition Fastelavn.
This year, Copenhageners are taking tastings to the extreme—literally running to the best buns in town.
The excitement surrounding its traditional cake, the cream- and jam-filled fastelavnsboller—meaning Fastelavn bun—has only grown in recent years. It’s no longer just available on Fastelavn Sunday, but in bakery windows from early January. Bakers across Copenhagen and Denmark’s other large cities offer the buns, some creating the most lavish pastries possible.
Tipster, a Danish food and beverage company, organized what’s claimed to be the world’s first “Fastelavn Bun Run.”
“We were doing a selection of ten bakeries that we really, really like and that are doing ten Fastelavns buns that we really think that everybody should try. By coincidence, we did the route between the different bakeries, and the route was exactly 21.1 km, which is the exact distance of a half marathon,” explains Tipster founder Simon Evers.
“It was basically just written in the sky that this has to go into a half marathon.” It’s a 21.1-kilometer half marathon visiting ten of the city’s top bakeries and sampling a fastelavnsboller at each.
In just one day, 3,723 people signed up, although only 100 lucky applicants were allowed to take part. Evers says almost 8,000 people applied in all.
The half marathon starts at Flere Fugle, a bakery in Copenhagen’s Northwest district. “This is the best chance that you can get visiting some of the best bakeries in the world and running with 100 people who are just super psyched about it,” he smiles.
“We taste everything from like an old school fastelavns bun to a semlor, which is basically what they do in Sweden. And then we have a lot of modern interpretations of the fastelavns bun as well.”
This article was provided by The Associated Press.
[Runners arriving at Flere Fugle bakery for “Fastelavn Bun Run,” a 21.1 kilometer half marathon visiting ten of Copenhagen’s best bakeries]
[“Fastelavnsboller” (meaning “Fastelavn bun”) with blackcurrant and lemon curd]
[Runners eating their first “fastelavnsboller” before departure]
Robert Twomey (interview): “Really good, I’m kind of scared to do another nine of these but should be good.”
[Runners starting the half marathon, leaving Flere Fugle bakery]
[Runners]
Simon Evers (interview): “Everybody from abroad knows the Copenhagen bakery scene and Fastelavn town is a big thing in Copenhagen. We were doing a selection of ten bakeries that we really, really like and that are doing ten Fastelavns bun that we really think that everybody should try. By coincidence, we did the route between the different bakeries, and the route was exactly 21.1km, which is the exact distance of a half marathon. So, it was basically just written in the sky that this has to go into a half marathon.”
[Exterior of Juno the bakery]
[Customers eating pastries outside the bakery]
[“Fastelavnsboller”]
[Runners arriving at Juno the bakery]
[Runners eating “fastelavnsboller”]
Runner (interview): “It’s the most ridiculous event in Copenhagen, so of course, we’re in for it.”
[Runners leaving Juno the bakery]
Simon Evers (interview): “This is the best chance that you can get visiting some of the best bakeries in the world and running with 100 people who are just super psyched about it. So, what happens basically is that we start here at Flere Fugle in the Nordvest, the bird quarter of Copenhagen, and then we run through a route of ten different bakeries. We taste everything from an old school fastelavns bun, to a selmor, which is basically what they do in Sweden. And then we have a lot of modern interpretations of the fastelavns bun as well.”
[Flere Fugle bakery sign]
[Flere Fugle bakery doors opening, “Fastelavn Bun Run” sign on the door]
[Chef preparing “fastelavnsboller” with pistachios]
Frederikke Lokzinsky (interview): “I think it’s become a really popular season for bakery lovers and pastry lovers. Whereas it started as a kids’ tradition, getting dressed up and having these cream filled buns, but now it’s got into the whole food scene of Copenhagen. I think it’s a really big thing.”
[Chefs preparing “fastelavnsboller” with blackcurrant and lemon curd]
Frederikke Lokzinsky (interview): “When we look at numbers from last year, we see that it just keeps getting busier and busier for every weekend until we reach Fastelavn. And yesterday was a Saturday, we sold over 800 fastelavnsboller only here at Flere Fugle. So, it’s really, really busy, it’s the high season for us.”
[Hotel D’Angleterre exterior]
[“Fastelavnsboller”]
[Runners arriving at Maison d’Angleterre]
[Runners eating “fastelavnsboller”]
Runner (interview): “It’s very good, probably the best so far.”
[Runner leaving Maison d’Angleterre]
[Runners arriving at the final bakery, Ard Bakery in Frederiksberg]
Robert Twomey and Vital Sinkevich (interview): “It was very sweet.” “Very sweet, very tasty.”
[Runner eating “fastelavnsboller”]
Robert Twomey and Vital Sinkevich (interview): “I never had so many pastries in two hours.” “Yeah, it was a marathon in a different sense as well, but we got there in the end anyways.” “We didn’t train well to eat so many buns though.” “No, need to train the appetite now, but we’re doing good after this one.”
[More runners arriving at the final bakery, Ard Bakery in Frederiksberg]
[Runners eating “fastelavnsboller”]
Pablo Torres and Blanca Casas (interview): “We took some Tupperware with us and we put some inside our backpack because otherwise we couldn’t make it.” “But it was so nice. And then also just, you know, the feeling of, okay, how is going to be the next one? So, you had the motivation to run between every pastry shop and pastry shop, but it was really nice.” “And the whipped cream is amazing.” “Marmalade and then chocolate, all varieties.”
[Runners sitting after the half marathon]
[Runner eating “fastelavnsboller”]
[Runners holding “fastelavnsboller”]
Pablo Torres and Blanca Casas (interview): “We struggled a lot. We went through Frederiksberg, and it was a little bit of a hill. And then we lost the group, but we said, okay, we need to keep running, keep running, keep running, we will make it. We need to finish our first half marathon, and it was really, really nice.” “But yeah, we knew that we were that close to the finish line, so yeah.”
[Half-eaten “fastelavnsboller” and marathon number left on a bench]
This script was provided by The Associated Press.