In Pursuit of Perfection: The Best Flødeboller in Copenhagen

In what would later come to be known as the best day of our young lives, Scandinavia Standard and Cecilia of the Danish baking blog Copenhagencakes taste-tested flødeboller from all over Copenhagen in an effort to find the best of the best. The things we do for our readers, I swear.

Flødeboller, poorly translated as “cream balls” are actually a confectionary with a wafer or marzipan base, a marshmallow/meringue/sugary body and a layer of chocolate covering the whole thing. They’re a beloved traditional Danish treat that both children and adults enjoy on special occasions or with an afternoon cup of coffee. They’re generally small enough to be considered a little treat and not a full dessert (uh, at least for me. Maybe your sensibilities are more…delicate?).

But you don’t want to hear about my sugar consumption patterns (do you? God, where to begin?!). You want to hear about the actual flødeboller. So let’s get down to it.

Packaging

There are a few reason why we’re including the packaging. First, we just like packaging. The only thing better than a tasty treat is a tasty treat wrapped up in a pretty package. In the case of flødeboller, however, packaging is important because often they’re being transported. If the box or packet offers no support, you’re likely going to end up with some kind of choco-marizpan mash.

All of the packaging survived our cycle rides from the store to the apartment. By far the most secure of the bunch was the Simply Chocolate package, which held each piece in place. Simply Chocolate packaging was also the most visually pleasing, with clean lines and simple branding.

Appearance

We all agreed: the Summerbird flødeboller were the most beautifully decorated. The shape was both charming (they’re clearly handmade) and vaguely phallic (but who said that can’t be charming?!). Simply Chocolate had a beautiful, classic look that was also consistent.

The larger pieces from Frederiksberg Chokolade and Lagkagehuset made us feel like we were eating a real dessert; these weren’t just one or two bites; they required a fork (and that’s a good thing).

Chocolate

Two clear winners here: Frederiksberg Chokolade and Simply Chocolate. The Frederiksberg Chokolade flødeboller had the thickest chocolate shell; biting in offered a very satisfying crunch. The chocolate itself was dark, creamy and tasty. For Simply Chocolate, though the shell was quite thin, the chocolate tasted high quality and blended perfectly with the other flavors of the flødebolle.

Cream

If, after you bite into a flødebolle, you don’t have a marshmallowy moustache, you aren’t doing it right.

The fluffy, creamy middle is arguably the most important part of the flødebolle and, happily, all of the ones we tasted were good. The Summerbird and Lagkagehuset flødeboller had thick, luscious middles while the Frederiksberg Chokolade, Simply Chocolate and Irma iterations were lighter. All of them were sweet, just as they should be.

Base

For the most part, the bases were the most disappointing part of the taste test. While some of us wanted the softness of marzipan, others longed for a crisp crunch to balance the texture. For the flødeboller that had wafer bottoms (Irma, Frederiksberg Chokolade and Lagkagehuset), none of them were entirely crisp, with the Irma base being the thickest and crunchiest of the bunch.

Summerbird’s baked marzipan bottom was equal parts biscuit crunch and softness, which offset nicely the thick, somewhat tart fruit compotes inside. The marzipan base in the Simply Chocolate flødeboller was exactly what we wanted; substantial but not overwhelming and completely classic.

Overall Deliciousness

By the end of this taste test, it was hard to tell what was good and what was very good. But the consensus was that the Simply Chocolate was the most traditional and consistently excellent. The Summerbird flødeboller were the most gourmet, with a host of flavors, textures and colors that kept each bite interesting. Flødeboller from Frederiksberg Chokolade had both fantastic chocolate and beautifully made mallow in the center (something, we learned from Cecilia, that is very hard to reproduce). The caramel flødebolle from Lagkagehuset was a fresh taste on a classic with a nice nutty crunch. Finally, the Irma selection were great value for money and tasty to boot.