A small cylindrical almond-and-rum cake topped with a ring of raspberry jam and white icing. Eaten in the weeks around 5 February, the birthday of poet J.L. Runeberg.
Where to eat it: 3 restaurants across 1 city.
The Runeberg torte is tied to Johan Ludvig Runeberg, Finland's national poet, who lived in Porvoo; his wife Fredrika is credited with the recipe. Flavoured with almond, gingerbread crumbs and a dose of rum or arrack, the cake appears in Helsinki bakeries from January until Runeberg Day on 5 February. Porvoo, an easy day trip, is its spiritual home.
Common allergens: Gluten, Egg, Nuts
Tip from the editors. Brush the warm cakes with a little extra rum syrup for the moist, boozy crumb the bakeries are known for.
The Karl Fazer Café on Kluuvikatu, Karl Fazer's 1891 confectionery, lays on a weekend brunch buffet of Finnish breakfast plates, salmon and house cakes.
Order: The weekend brunch buffet with Fazer breads and cakes from the house patisserie
Tip: Brunch runs Saturday 09:00 to 15:00 and Sunday 10:00 to 15:00; book ahead, walk-ins wait for a table when the quota is full.
Ekberg has run on Bulevardi since 1852, the oldest cafe and bakery in Helsinki, where the patisserie counter keeps an old-world ritual alive.
Signature drink: Coffee with a Napoleon pastry
Tip: Come for the morning pastry counter and the Napoleon mille-feuille. It has been a Bulevardi fixture since 1852.
Konditoria Hopia in Töölö is an old-time patisserie baking Karelian pies and cinnamon buns to a recipe brought from Sortavala nearly 70 years ago.
Tip: Come for the karjalanpiirakka rye-and-rice pies, baked daily to the original Karelian recipe. A Töölö neighbourhood fixture.
Worth the queue: Karelian pie (karjalanpiirakka)
More cities are in research. Want runebergintorttu (runeberg torte) covered somewhere specific? Tell us where you want to eat.