By Drew Dotson, For the Tacoma Daily Index

A new Swedish bakery has joined the Tacoma farmers market scene this year.

Thea Billing and Noah Citron, co-owners of Midsommar Bakery, started selling Swedish buns and other pastries at the Proctor Farmers Market on Saturdays starting in March.

While Billing was born and raised in Sweden, Citron married into the culture. This shared connection is what brought Billing and Citron together.

“I grew up with Swedish baked goods my whole life. Noah’s wife is Swedish and that is kind of how we got to know each other. Noah loves to bake,” Billing said.

Billing said he quickly fell in love with Scandinavian pastries while visiting his wife’s home country.

“I got obsessed when I first went there and I first tried a cinnamon bun. I was obsessed with those. Then I tried a cardamom bun and it blew my mind,” Citron said. “The last three times I was there it was always a goal to have a cardamom bun every day from a different bakery.”

For those unfamiliar with Swedish baking, Billing said the level of sweetness is different from their American counterparts.

“There’s not a lot of frosting. The cinnamon roll for example is not as gooey and sweet as a more traditional American one,” Billing said.

Citron described the Swedish pastries as more “refined.”

“There’s not as much guilt when you eat a Swedish pastry as when you eat an American pastry. You don’t feel like you should go run four miles or repent for your sins,” Citron said.

Citron also said the cardamom bun is also a defining aspect to Swedish baking.

“I think apart from India and some other Scandinavian countries, that’s unique in a pastry,” Citron said.

They first started selling to Citron’s co-workers at Tacoma General in February before opening a stand at Proctor Street Farmers Market in late March. Starting at the market instead of a permanent location gives the bakery several benefits, according to Billing and Citron.

“It’s a cheap way to get your product out without investing much,” Billing said.

With Citron working as an ICU nurse and Billing as a freelance photographer, starting with a single market gives them flexibility.

“We can bake one and a half days a week instead of opening a place where you are required to bake six or seven days a week. It’s limited in a way but it’s a nice slow-paced way to figure out what you’re doing and what you want to do,” Citron said.

Billing said the market is also a good way to get feedback from customers and inspiration from other bakers.

“It’s a pretty tight-knit and collaborative group at the Proctor Farmers Market. We’ve been pretty fortunate. We didn’t even know if we would get accepted into a market. We literally just started baking and selling to a few nurses. That was pretty surprising and exciting for us.”

Billing said that while she would be open to starting a brick-and-mortar in the future, they are focused on markets for the foreseeable future.

“It kind of came out of the blue a little bit. We didn’t spend that much time planning it out,” Citron said. “Because of that we don’t really have a clear goal. It’s just kind of taking shape on its own. We are making little changes, adding products and seeing how we can incorporate it into our lives to make it fun.”

Billing said the reception to their baked goods has been “better than we ever thought it would be.” She said she thinks it stems from a lack of bakeries in Tacoma.

“There’s been a lot of excitement around any bakery that opens. Tacoma is kind of in need of that market,” Citron said. “You go to a lot of cafes and they have Seattle pastries. That’s kind of annoying.”

Citron said he continues to be surprised with the crowds at the market stall every Saturday morning.

“Every week I’m like ‘No one is going to come. They’re done,’” Citron said. “Maybe that’s a typical feeling. I think other bakers have that. That everyone tried it now and are never coming back. But every week there’s so many new people, returning customers and we have lines. It’s exciting. It’s a cool feeling.”

Citron said he loves that both of their families are involved with the bakery.

“We both have teenagers. I feel like it is a family affair,” Citron said.” We really are making more products than we can do on our own and it really requires friends and family to step up and I think that is a special aspect of the business. Kind of like growing our community and having our teens have a stake in it.”

Thea Billing and Noah Citron, co-owners of Midsommar Bakery, started selling Swedish buns and other pastries at the Proctor Farmers Market on Saturdays starting in March. Photos courtesy of Thea Billing and Noah Citron