Stockmann Bakery, Daily
I was in Helsinki for three days, and each day I had some excuse to try out the pastries at Stockmann department store. Specifically, I got my pastries from the self-serve bins. This way, I could browse slowly and choose exactly the pastry I want. The way it works is that you pay by weight. Just like in most European supermarkets, you bring your pastry in a bag to the weighing station, push the button with the number corresponding to your pastry, and put the sticker on your bag. Now, unlike in my Dutch supermarkets, I didn't realize at first that the sticker comes out automatically, at the bottom of the machine. So several of those extra stickers lying around the machines would be mine.
The first day, I had the pastries for lunch. I chose the one on the lower left because it looked familiar, and savory - sure enough, it was an egg and broccoli puff pastry. The one on the bottom right I chose because it had almonds on it. The filling was actually custardy-cheesy, and refreshingly the pastry wasn't a flaky pastry, but more bready in texture. I quite liked it because flaky pastry can feel so heavy and greasy sometimes. The pastry on top I chose because it looked so unusual to me.
Turns out it is "karjalanpiirakka," or pastry from the Karelian region. It is a super thin, super sturdy rye crust crimped around...rice porridge. I couldn't tell if it was supposed to be salty or sweet, because actually it didn't have much flavor at all.
The next day as a snack, I picked up a couple more pastries. The one on top I recognized as a cinnamon roll, and it turned out to have the nice sweet, bready dough topped with the huge crunchy sugar pieces. The one on the bottom I chose because it looked so cute and strange, being a sphere with a sugar-covered hole in it. There didn't turn out to be any filling inside. The hole is really just a hole. But the dough was lightly scented with cardamom. Interesting.
The last day, before getting on the bus to the airport, I got a pastry I had been eyeing - "latte-chocolate." Well, the "latte" filling wasn't as creamy-coffee-y as I had wished, and the chocolate pieces were rather small and inconspicuous. But I was still a big fan of the bready pastry dough they use.
