Who stole our cookies and sponge cakes? Swedish police hunt fika thieves

Some thousands of what you may want to call either cookies or biscuits depending on whether you prefer American or British English (scroll down for the Swedish translation) and cake crusts were taken in the break-in at the local history society's community hall in Salvedal outside Åtvidaberg in eastern Sweden.

“Chocolate biscuits, sponge cake and cheesecakes. Everything is homemade. And the cake crusts were slightly nicer, with walnuts in them,” Christina Ottosson, chairperson of the local history society, told regional newspaper Corren.

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But not everything was taken in the break-in. The culprits left behind hålkakor – a regional savoury-sweet round bread with holes in the centre – waffle batter and a few store-bought cake crusts.

“You know, those who did this put a heck of an effort into breaking in. It must have been just as tough as baking cookies,” said Ottosson.

Police have scoured the scene for evidence, but the thieves are still at large.

As for the local history society, they will now have to make new fika bread for this Sunday's festivities, which is the day when Swedes celebrate Mother's Day.

The fika tradition – coffee with something sweet on the side – is firmly established in Sweden, and traditionally seven different kinds of cookies had to be served at a fika party.

This standard, as The Local's history writer Victoria Martínez writes in this article, was rooted partly in the tradition of seven as a lucky number and partly as a way of setting a limit at this unusually extravagant sweet feast. The hostess who went outside this ideal number – whether by serving more or less than seven – risked disapproval and criticism from her peers.

Vocabulary

cookies/biscuits – småkakor

cake crust – tårtbotten

cheesecake – ostkaka

Mother's Day – mors dag

fika bread – fikabröd

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