*In commercial collaboration with Fazer Candy Store.
Grandma’s house was the best thing I knew when I was little. As soon as the front door opened, I ran straight to my grandpa’s study.
There, I would reach out my hand and carefully feel my way along the bookshelf to the yellow bowl on the lowest shelf…What a lucky day when I found a piece of Fazer chocolate! It didn’t take long for it to disappear, leaving only the rustling wrapper and a laughing mouth covered in chocolate.
This sweet post has been on the readers’ wish lists for a long time. In it, I’ll tell you about the Finnish candy culture, introduce you to some of the most-loved Finnish treats and go through different ways you can make use of a Finnish candy haul.
Warning! This post may cause serious cravings for candy.
Table of Contents
What’s Finnish Candy Like?
The Finns are a candy nation, and we’re used to high-quality candy. For example, candy needs to be fresh: soft candy should be soft.
In Finland, bags of candy often contain a colorful blend of different treats. It’s good to know that black Finnish candies can be licorice, the famous salty licorice (salmiakki in Finnish), or a combination of the two. Red candy usually has berry flavors and yellow hints of citrus fruits.
Finnish chocolate is not sharply sweet but melt-in-your-mouth delicious. Finnish chocolate embraces soft, natural flavors.
In addition to candy assortments and yummy chocolate, Finland has a huge pick ‘n’ mix culture. This means that nearly every store will have large containers of different candies that you can pick from and create your own unique mix by adding as many as you like into a bag.
You can then weigh the bag yourself. In Finland, we trust people not to revisit the containers after the weighing.
Lastly, besides “real” candy, you’ll find xylitol products (gum and drops) at any Finnish shop. Xylitol is a Finnish innovation, and it prevents gingivitis and cavities when used regularly. Actually, in Finland, when we speak of gum, we always mean the healthy xylitol gum.
Candy in Finnish Culture
Around twenty years ago, most Finnish kids had only one day a week when they could have candy. It was called “the candy day” (karkkipäivä in Finnish). Usually it was Saturday, which is in the center of other Finnish traditions too, for example, the Saturday sauna.
Nowadays, eating candy has become more common, but, of course, eating in moderation is essential when it comes to sweet treats.
Candy is particularly important in children’s parties and, on the other hand, a typical treat to enjoy in the movies or watching TV. It’s also an easy gift idea.
Finns love to eat chocolate. On any day, a cup of coffee and a piece of Finnish chocolate are a match made in heaven. Chocolate is a big part of Christmas celebration in Finland. For example, it’s super popular to have a chocolaty advent calendar counting down the days until Xmas Eve.
What Are Popular Candies in Finland?
Every country has its typical candies. Here are some of the most popular candy classics that both children and adults love year after year.
Karl Fazer Milk Chocolate – the One and Only
If you had to choose only one sweet treat from Finland, it would, without a doubt, be the traditional milk chocolate by Karl Fazer in its blue wrapper. In fact, the name of this chocolate in Finnish is “Fazer Blue” (Fazerin Sininen).
The blue color was very important for Karl Fazer, the founder of Fazer. It symbolized the Finnish nature and independent Finland.
This melt-in-your-mouth chocolate is available as wrapped chocolates, chocolate bars, and blocks. Like all Fazer chocolates, it’s made of responsibly sourced chocolate. Fazer Blue is the best seller among candy and chocolate products in Finland.
Fazer Dumle – Mesmerizing Toffee Chocolate
Packed in a vibrant red and blue wrapper, Dumle is made of yummy, stretchy toffee and yes, that wonderful Fazer milk chocolate.
It might sound simple, but the taste is addictive. These were candies that we might sometimes fight over with friends as a kid. For me, the taste of Dumle has a hint of licorice, even though it doesn’t contain any.
Tyrkisk Peber and How to Learn to Love Finnish Salmiakki (aka Salty Licorice)
The Tyrkisk Peber has been around for over 40 years and packs quite a punch! Under the hard licorice shell hides peppery, salty licorice powder.
If you want to try the most exotic example of the Finnish candy culture, you have to try this candy. Note that it’s also suitable for vegans.
The taste of Finnish salty licorice is very unusual for those who aren’t used to it. It definitely takes some practice. For me, salmiakki is like coffee. Most don’t like their first cup, but over time you learn to love the taste of coffee.
If you want to give salmiakki a chance, I recommend starting with classic salty licorice flavors like the ones in Fazer Salmiakki Mix candy bag. These black candies aren’t as feisty as Tyrkisk Peber or the salt-covered licorice you can find in some assortments.
Try combining the licorice with milk chocolate or fruit candies, which give the licorice a softer taste. Lastly, taste salmiakki at least twenty times before giving up.
Marianne and Fazermint – for Mint Lovers
The Finns love the combination of mint and chocolate. The vegan-friendly Marianne candy has a hard peppermint shell filled with deliciously crunchy chocolaty paste.
Another minty treat is the elegant Fazermint, a classic candy from the year 1963. Unlike many other wrapped chocolates, Fazermint includes dark chocolate.
Geisha – the Dreamiest Chocolate in Finland
The icing on the cake is the sweet Geisha. I don’t know anyone who doesn’t like Geisha chocolate.
As you can guess from the name, the inspiration for this chocolate comes from Japan, the Tokyo Olympic Games of 1964, to be precise. Geisha combines Fazer’s signature milk chocolate with a hazelnut nougat filling that melts in the mouth.
Sidenote. How many times can you say “melt-in-your-mouth” in a blog post? Apparently dozens of times. This is such a key feature of Fazer chocolate! You’ll know what I mean once you’ve tried it, I promise. Fazer is one of the few chocolate manufacturers who use fresh milk in their production.
Creative Ways to Use Finnish Candies
Fazer’s Taste of Finland XL candy box comes with 25 different delicious Finnish tastes. It contains chocolate, fruit candy, licorice, salty licorice, Fazer’s jaffa cakes, and healthy xylitol pastilles and gum.
Two Taste of Finland XL candy boxes were the inspiration for all of the different ideas for using candy.
Finnish Candy Cupcake Party
This is an easy and super fun activity for the kids. My two-year old daughter was thrilled by this sweet workshop and was able to focus on decorating surprisingly well.
What you need for this cupcake party:
- 1 candy bag of Fazer Lakritsi Chocolate & Liquorice
- 1 candy bag of Ässä Missä X wine gums fruit and liquorice
- 1 candy bag of Ässä Mix
- 1 candy bag of Remix
- A plainly frosted cupcake for each participant
- Colorful plates and little bowls for the candy
Treasure Hunt with Finnish Candies
Make a treasure box containing candy and hide it in the garden (or a nearby forest as the Finns might do). Guide the children to the treasure with a map and hints.
What you need for the treasure hunt:
- 2 blocks of Fazer chocolate
- 1 package of Fazer jaffa cakes
- 1 candy bag of Ässä Mix
- 1 candy bag of Remix
Candy Wrapper Crafts
Chocolate wrappers make great material for crafts. For example, fold a cute bow that can be used by itself or glue it on paperboard and make a butterfly.
During Easter in Finland, pussy willows are used to create colorful decorations that children hand out in exchange for candy. Candy wrapper bows are excellent for decorating these twigs. You can easily attach the bow to the branch with a pipe cleaner.
Party Favors Filled with Finnish Candy and Xylitol
Along with the candies, this gift bag will also contain healthy xylitol pastilles. You can stamp or write “thank you” (kiitos in Finnish) or the name of the recipient or on the bags as we did. Slip the candies you picked into the bag. You can also make use of the candy wrapper bows in decorating the bags.
What you need for the party favors:
- Pätkis Maxi Crunchy bars
- Iso Pätkis Chocolate Bar
- Fazer Lakritsi Original licorice bars
- Xylimax Raspberry full xylitol pastilles
- Xylimax Peppermint full xylitol pastilles
- little bags
- stamps or a marker pen
Bake with Finnish Candies
Baking with candy is so much fun! Decorate a gingerbread house or a birthday cake with the colorful Finnish candies. You can make a cool black and white theme with the Pantteri and Salmiakki Mix candies combined with white frosting. Fazer chocolate blocks can be carefully melted and used as a delicious dip for fruit and berries.
Furthermore, Dumle is excellent for baking, and Fazer provides a great collection of yummy Dumle recipes. I especially love the Dumle version of the shrove bun, a traditional Finnish winter treat.
Finnish Candy Bar
This very Finnish buffet of treats contains over 400 candies and 70 candy bars. Depending on your sweet tooth, the candy buffet is enough for around 70 guests. Create an effortlessly made but impressive setting by using colorful bowls and old wine cases. I used some vintage Arabia and Iittala pieces to make this look.
What you need for this candy bar:
- 2 cases of Karl Fazer Milk chocolates
- 2 bags of Dumle Original chocolates
- 2 cases of Karl Fazer Blueberry Truffle
- 2 bags of Marianne peppermint candies
- 2 bags of Marianne Toffee peppermint candies
- 2 bags of Fazermint chocolates
- 2 packs of Fazer Lakritsi Original licorice bars (60 bars in total)
- 10 bars of Geisha milk chocolate with soft hazelnut filling
Top tip. Don’t put all the candy on display straight away so you can fill up the candy bowls during the party.
Finnish Candy as Business Gifts
If you’re looking for business gifts that will draw oohs and aahs, Fazer chocolate is the thing you need. I have sat through more than one meeting where these chocolaty gifts have disappeared fast as lightning and left the participants chuckling.
What you need:
- Fazer chocolates and blocks
- Bags of salty licorice candies for the daredevil colleagues (Tyrkisk Peber, Pantteri & Salmiakki Mix.)
How to Order a Finnish Candy Box
Fazer Candy Store is the online store of the iconic Finnish candymaker Fazer. The products are packed in sparkly silk paper. In the box, you will also find a sweet message from the employee of Fazer who put together your box.
You can order candy and chocolate to be delivered within the EU and even have it personalized. All credit cards are accepted which means that you can order from anywhere in the world as long as the recipient of the box lives within the EU. The UK is also within the delivery area.
The online store’s candy wizards are working full steam to make sure the store is fully global soon. Click here to check out the Fazer Candy Store and Taste of Finland XL box!
Have you already tasted Finnish candy? What’s your favorite Finnish sweet treat? Let me know in the comments.
Looking for more Finnish food posts and recipes? Check out these:
Warm wishes from Finland,
Varpu
Psst... Want to bake more Finnish desserts and savory bakes in your own kitchen?
What’s included in the Finnish Baking Magic Kit
- An E-Cookbook with 21 iconic recipes
- A Baking Tips video lesson
- A Video Lesson on the Finnish pronunciation of all 21 treats
- 1 Master Grocery List with English names and Finnish names
Struggling with conversions? Not with this kit. Start baking your treats hassle-free.
You’ll get 5 copies of the e-cookbook. Pick the one that works for you.
- English with American measurements
- English with gram measurements
- English with gram & metric measurements
- English with Finnish measurements (decilitres)
- Finnish with Finnish measurements (decilitres)
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Hello there!
I’m Varpu. A Finnish blogger and educator helping you get to know Finland, wherever you are.
OMGosh I really like Tyrkisk Peber I will put it in my cup of kavi,beer and even wine. If you have never tried it in kavhi, try it and soon you will enjoy having kavi with Tyrkisk Peber… Today is 08.12.19 and on 08.12 I am picking up a package from the Posti in Madison, Wisconsin. I wonder when it was mailed with the strike in Suomi it will be interestig to see what I have in the package I am sure it will have one or two Fazer bars and a bag of Tyrkisk Peber among other things…. maybe it is my invite to the Castle Ball? I think I may have told you before that my great great grandma was born Sursill. As you may know that the Sursill lineage is one the most famous in Sweden,Finland and throughout the Nordic countries…Pidä hienoa joulua ja mina Toivottavasti Krampus ei vieraile…Bobby
Hei Bobby! Thank you so much for your lovely comment. You know what, I haven’t tried Turkinpippuri with coffee, beer or wine. This I’ll have to do. I have tried some cake recipes with them though. Kiitos!
We have tyrkisk peber in Denmark too 🙂
That is brilliant, Stine! It’s such a great candy!
I love the mixed package of licorice, striped, licorice filled,etc assortment. I can’t remember the name but it starts with an “M”. I could eat the whole bag by myself. It is not available anywhere where Finnish candy is sold. Can you help me with the name?
Hei Jean! I’ll make a visit to the candy aisle if I can see anything like that. We have so many candy packages here!
Hei Varpu! I truly enjoyed reading this post – with such wonderful pictures! I like your blog and IG because not only what you write but also pictures. Always so pretty, lovely and warm!
Fazer! What a great topic. I love Geisha and everything else. I also loved it when I visited the cafe – I went there every day while I stayed in Helsinki 😉 Shopping there is nice too!
Thanks again for the lovely post!!
Hei Tam, oh thank you so so much! It makes me so happy to hear that. Oh yes, Fazer cafe & shop is amazing in Helsinki! <3
My personal facourite is the marianne ….a bit of crunch, mint & chocolate but not too sweet.
Then its has to be Fazer liquorice, as kids we always would buy the individual stick in its wrapper!!
And we all LOVE salmiakki actually!!
Love this post
Kiitos
Kati xx
Aaah, your favorites are so, so delicious. I also get very nostalgic with the individual liquorice sticks and their wrappers! <3 Thank you so much for commenting Kati!
Hei Varpu,
Another fantastic blog and I am so so pleased that Fazer are doing EU wide delivery as I have been a fan of Fazer for many years now (I even wrote a very positive salmiakki review on Amazon way back in 2012). I keep a box of pastilles in the car for when I am driving on the motorway and one if my jacket pocket for when I am outdoors. They are really good to snack on during long drives/walks/tasks.
All of my trips to Finland have involved in stocking up on Fazer salmiakki and the wide ranges of Fazer Blue bars that are always stocked in the kiosk at the airport. Getting unopened tins of Tyrkisk Peber through customs as hand luggage has thankfully never been a problem though security staff do like to give the tin a rattle just to make sure the sweets will only explode flavours in my month.
I share my Fazer chocolate and salmiakki with friends, family and colleagues and am trying to build up a UK following for it.
I have found that sharing salmiakki with people around me really helps to build bonds and connections that otherwise would not be there. Once during a long shift with a Finn I even asked if I could have some of his salmiakki, he was shocked as (a) I was a Brit (b) I knew what salmiakki was and (c) I really liked salmiakki.
The Fazer Geisha bars are just lovely and Fazer coffee/chocolate shops just feel amazingly indulgent. Have you tried the salmiakki ice cream yet? It is really yummy.
I clicked the link to the Fazer Candy Store and will be opening my account with them, I have just noticed they have updated the packaging on the lakritsi pastille boxes 🙂
Can’t wait for your next blog.
Matty
Hei Matty, thank you so much for your awesome comment. <3 It's so exciting to hear that you like salmiakki! Did you like it immediately or did you learn to like? Salmiakki gives you so many points among Finns, for sure XD Yes, salmiakki and licorice ice cream are both super delicious!
After our trip to Finland last summer, I still keep the last empty paper of the delicious chocolate Fazer milk chocolate with blueberry yoghurt crisps…. The visit to the Fazer store in Helsinki was also an experience memory…
Greetings from The Netherlands
Hei Anne, thank you for the lovely comment. I often collect some candy wrappers to use in our Easter decorations. The Blueberry chocolates are divine!
I enjoyed this article about popular candy in Finland. My husband is from Finland and we spend our summers there. A candy bar we love to share is the yummy nugget, nut and chocolate bar called Tupla. It comes in two bars; just right for sharing!
Hei Rae, I’m so happy to hear that you liked this article! Kiitos for the sweet comment. Yes, I definitely know Tupla, it’s delicious!
Thank you for mentioning which candies are vegan!
Hi Joyce, I’m glad to hear that was helpful! Thank you so much for letting me know 🙂
Moi Varpu.Unfortunatily I don’t like sweets and candies so I will pass for this one…I’m a salty personn….
Hei Evelyne, thank you so much for letting me know. I’ll be definitely creating more Finnish food posts, also about savory things!
Varpu, I did try the Fazer Blue during my visit to Finland, and indeed, the melting point of the chocolate does make it melt in the mouth. What luck that I stumbled upon it. And while there, I fell in love with the salted licorice. I brought some back home with me, but alas, they are gone now. Oh, well, they couldn’t have been good for my high blood pressure. I will have to return to Finland and stock up! (Yes, I could order it, but I love the idea of returning to Finland to get it even more.) Please keep tempting me with your blogs! – Diane from Hawaii
Hei Diane! I’m so happy to hear that you liked this post. Also, I’m beyond excited to learn that you fell in love with the salted licorice. That’s amazing! Finnish candies are definitely a good reason to return to Finland. <3
Hei Varpu,
Great article about candy. I also noticed the love of candy when I was an exchange student in Finland. That was fantastic for a person with a sweet tooth like me! My favorite was Kismet. I couldn’t get enough of them. Thank you for your fun blog! It always conveys the great things about Finland and the Finnish people!
Awww, Amy, you’re so sweet, kiitos! I’m so glad you liked this post. Kismet is such a wonderful chocolate bar – I especially love the lightness and crunchiness of it!
I am a chocolate lover. I was looking forward to trying some Finnish chocolate. I went to the store website and found a ton of goodies. Unfortunately they dont ship to the US.
Hei Patricia! I’m so excited to hear that you would like to try Finnish chocolate. Fazer is working hard to make shipping to the US also possible. I’ll definitely let you know when they do that!
I have found some of my favorite Fazer candies on Amazon which makes it easier to order in the U.S. We just came back from a family trip to Finland and i was so happy to introduce my adult children to Fazer, though it will take awhile to acquire taste for salmiakki! Thank you for your great info on Finland!
Hei Carin! I’m thrilled to hear that. I’m so happy to hear that you liked this article too. Kiitos! I love that you’re introducing your kids to salmiakki and other Finnish treats. <3
Hi Varpu! I love salmiakki, and my favorite is Dracula Piller. I tried it when I was in Iceland a couple months ago, and I just couldn’t get enough! I was fortunate to find it on Amazon, so I bought several bags for myself. I also like the Fazer Salmiakki Mix, which I was introduced to by a friend who travelled to Finland and brought some back for me. She’s responsible for my salmiakki cravings, but that’s not a bad thing! Thanks for the fun and informative post.
Wow Sylvia! Another salmiakki fan, there are so many of us that I cannot believe it. So great! XD You sound like a total salmiakki pro already <3
Hei Varpu,
I am not really a candy lover and I don’t care for licorice. I love dark Belgium chocolate….the darker the better. What kind of a Finn, am I! 😁 When I was visiting a Finnish cousin in the Teuva area last year, she served a candy which I did try. The soft candies were individually wrapped and I think there was a fox image on the wrapper. I thought they were tasty. Are you familiar with those candies?
Kiitos for this blog. I always enjoy reading all of your blogs.
Terveisiä, Ingrid
Yes! Those are the oldest candy by Fazer, they have been in production since 1895 and still on-going. 😀 The nickname is “Fox candy” because of the wrapper, the official title is Pihlajanmarja candy. They are delicious. Thank you for your lovely comment, Ingrid!