The tradition of the South Jutland coffee table stems from the time under German dominion (1864-1920), where the Danes gathered in meeting halls. However, when the Germans refused them a liquor license, the formerly used coffee punch was replaced with coffee and cakes.
People often brought the cakes themselves - that is why the South Jutland coffee table have a variety of cakes. It is said, that it has to contain a minimum of seven soft cakes in form of layer or créme cakes and seven hard cakes in form of different types of cookies.
Back in the days the appetites where healthy, therefor a bunch with butter was served to settled the worst hunger before digging in to the cakes.
Certain cakes are specific for South Jutland, such as Gode råd or Good Advice (a kind of flat waffle with a beautiful pattern), brødtorte (rye bread layer cake = pure heaven!) and different types of cookies.
Many venues in Southern Jutland offer the South Jutland coffee table, in the area of Sønderborg we have Den Gamle Kro in Gråsten who dishes up with non-less than 29 sorts of cake on the second Sunday in each month as well as Mondays in July – make a reservation on their homepage.
During the month of July, the South Jutland coffee table is served every Wednesday from 2 - 4 pm at the square "Den Røde Plads" on Stationsvej in Nordborg.
