Dear Mr. Gold:

Friends once told me about a traditional Easter pastry they loved in Sweden — I forget all the details, but the phrase “marzipan-sweetened cream” has for some reason lodged in my head. Do you know what I’m talking about, and can you get it here?

—George, Los Angeles

Dear George:

I suspect what you are talking about is semlar, a bready sort of cream puff with its top gouged off, the cavity smeared with soft marzipan, and crowned with a big puff of marzipan-flavored whipped cream. As a final touch, the severed cap is jauntily posed atop the cream, where it looks like a beret. There may be dozens of places that sell semlar, but the only one I know about is Berolina, a Swedish bakery in north Glendale, which features it pretty prominently this time of year. If your northern European longings stretch to meat as well as pastry, the estimable German-style butchers at Schreiner’s are right next door. 3421 Ocean View Blvd., Glendale, (818) 249-6506.

—Jonathan Gold

Got a burning culinary question?  E-mail askmrgold@laweekly.com.

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