International delights prepared at Swedish Royal Bakery

By Peijean Tsai

Swedish Royal Bakery has been bringing a taste of Europe to Poway for nine years, serving up more than 50 different fresh-baked goods daily.

The bakery’s multicultural assortment includes cakes, pastries and breads commonly found in Sweden, Italy, Ireland, France, Iran, and other countries.

Owner and baker John Janni opened Swedish Royal Bakery at 12222 Poway Road in February 2003, bringing his recipes and baking talents to the United States after running three bakery businesses in Stockholm, Sweden.

Janni said he prepares the sweet treats in the Swedish style, where goods are light and from scratch with no artificial flavorings. For instance, real almonds rather than almond flavor are used. He doesn’t make items heavy or too sweet, unlike American pastries, which Janni said often are overwhelmed by sugar so you can’t taste other flavors.

“Everything we make here, you can taste every ingredient,” said Janni, who runs the family-owned bakery with his wife and daughter. “My theory about good pastry (is) you should feel as much as possible all the ingredients, so you don’t feel you are eating only sugar.”

Using quality ingredients, such as imported Swedish chocolate and marzipan (almond paste), as well as freshness are also key to Swedish Royal Bakery. Janni said he enjoys baking throughout the day, so fresh items are always available, instead of baking a single large batch at once.

“Everything comes fresh and we don’t use any preservatives or chemicals, so it’s always brought fresh right to the customers,” said Janni, who has worked in the baking industry for over 30 years.

Swedish Royal Bakery in Poway was Janni’s first bakery in the United States. In June 2011, the family opened a second Swedish Royal Bakery in Sorrento Valley.

Janni lived in Sweden and is of Persian ancestry, so he enjoys presenting a variety of goods that span diverse European cultures. Most of the items at Swedish Royal Bakery are Swedish, such as the princess cake, layers of moist, sponge-like cake with fresh raspberry and vanilla creams in between, and all surrounded by brightly-colored Swedish marzipan. Other Swedish pastries include mazarin (tarts), cylindrical “green rolls,” and biskivi.

There are also Italian pastries, such as cannoli, and Persian-European rice cookies, Russian roulette, French napoleon, French papion (bow-tie shaped puff pastry), Persian baklava and Swedish shortbread.

While the most popular items are always available, Janni often mixes up the selection and frequently crafts new recipes out of his love to bake. He says this feeling is essential to making a good product; it’s not just the recipe itself.

“You must do it with love,” he said.

Swedish Royal Bakery also offers from-scratch bread made without preservatives, such as Italian ciabatta and focaccia, Swedish rye bread, and Persian berbere, two-foot long leavened flatbread.

The cost of individual pastries ranges from 99 cents to $4. Cakes start at $24.90.

Just about anything can be custom made to suit dietary needs, as Janni can adjust recipes to eliminate sugar, gluten, nuts and more.

There are also gluten-free items available every day without special order.

Janni said customers visit Swedish Royal Bakery from all over San Diego, and the business ships to other states, especially during the holidays.

Swedish Royal Bakery also sells sandwiches with freshly made bread, which are popular for lunch especially at the Sorrento Valley location.

Swedish Royal Bakery (12222 Poway Road, Suite #17, 858-486-1114) is open 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Mondays through Friday and 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturdays.

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Posted by Staff on Feb 2 2012. Filed under Business Profiles. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry