Cake’s relatively short shelf life means it goes dry and unpalatable even before it goes completely off. The Danes’ answer to this problem are romkugler, or zero-waste rum truffles made from leftover cake, jam and rum that are sold in almost every bakery in Denmark, and save an unquantifiable amount of cake from going to waste.
Trine Hahnemann, chef, food writer and owner of the Hahnemanns Køkken bakery and cafe in Copenhagen, tells me more: “In my bakery, we never throw out any cakes. All the cakes that are too old to sell, we save and freeze, and then, once a week, we put them in the blender and mash up to make romkugler. We sell so many that sometimes I don’t have enough leftovers.”
