Tallinn Bun Fest 2025 – the best vastlakukkels in Tallinn
Every year, several weeks before Shrove Tuesday, delicious delicacies named vastlakukkel (shrove bun) appear in Tallinn’s cafes. These are soft cardamom buns with the top cut off and filled with whipped cream and sometimes jam or marzipan.
The vastlakukkel has been a beloved treat for Estonians for centuries and a shared joy during an otherwise cold and dark season. These buns are enjoyed with friends, colleagues and at home with family.
As these buns are immensely popular among locals, cafes and shops begin selling the buns long before Shrove Tuesday. The vastlakukkel is something locals look forward to all year and when they’re available, Estonian social media is full of videos and images of the best buns.
Take part in Tallinn Bun Fest 2025 and check out these lovely cafes around Tallinn, offering a variety of vastlakukkel variants from traditional buns to more creative interpretations.
Traditional shrove buns in Tallinn
Kolu Inn at the Estonian Open-Air Museum in Tallinn is the place to go, if you want to try a traditional cardamom-flavoured vastlakukkel filled with real whipped cream and lingonberry jam. The inn will also serve other traditional Shrovetide foods, such as pea soup with smoked pork.
Faehlmanni Café is well-known for their tasty pastries and cakes and their shrove buns are no exception. In addition to the most traditional version of the vastlakukkel with only whipped cream, the café offers a variety of vastlakukkels with different jams such as raspberry, cherry and lingonberry, but also less traditional flavours such as banoffee, lemon and prosecco.
La Boulangerie is a classic French-style café that offers classic Estonian vastlakukkels baked fresh every day. You can go for the traditional no-jam version of the whipped cream bun, or choose between shrove buns with cherry, rhubarb-strawberry and lingonberry jam. Her sister Café Crustum serves the same type of buns.
Patarein bakery is serving classic cardamom shrove buns with whipped cream and a choice between cherry jam or a rich marzipan cream.
Pelgu Pagar bakery is also staying traditional, offering a classic whipped cream bun and a bun with cherry jam and whipped cream. All buns are baked on location and on the same day.
Unique versions of the vastlakukkel
Although the classic is beloved, many cafes in Tallinn enjoy experimenting with new flavours or even forms when creating their Shrovetide treats.
Instead of the classic cardamom bun, café Lummus is offering berliner-style Shrove buns with a jam filling, topped with whipped cream and cream cheese.
Karjase Sai bakery is well-known for their Shrove croissants with whipped cream and almond cream - another popular divergence of the usual cardamom bun, which are also available in the bakery.
Maiasmokk café is the longest running café in Tallinn and delights visitors with two versions of the Shrove croissant – one with salted caramel and blueberries and another with whipped cream, mango purée and strawberries. These are available in addition to three versions of the traditional cardamom bun. Impressive!
Another fun twist can be found at Gelato Ladies, where freshly made cardamom buns will be filled with the customer’s choice of handmade gelato and then topped with whipped cream, of course.
At the Tallinn TV Tower café-restaurant, you can explore a total of seven sweet and savoury options of the vastlakukkel. Their blue-black-and-white bun with white chocolate glaze and black whipped cream is a visual delight, while savoury buns with smoked salmon, chicken-avocado cream, or ham offer a unique twist for those craving something different.
The head baker at Fotografiska café has managed to take the humble vastlakukkel and elevate it by adding subtle tastes to the classic dessert – the tart cloudberry jam is accompanied with a crunchy praline; the whipped cream cheese frosting is balanced with a hint of lime.
Proto Invention Factory is a fun and educational experience centre for the whole family. Their café serves classic Shrove buns with lingonberry jam, but their speciality is the Scientist’s bun with a raspberry jam filling and a topping of garlic-chocolate cream with caramelised sugar.
Delicious vegan and lactose free options
Reval Café is a popular cafe chain that serves something for everyone: you’ll find classic Shrove buns with or without jam, Shrove croissants and vegan vastlakukkels with jam.
The vastlakukkel selection at Levier café shows real consideration towards different tastes and dietary restrictions. They have a traditional jam-free bun, a bun with rich whipped cream and jam, a vastlakukkel with lactose free cream and a fully vegan vastlakukkel on offer.
