For some businesses, 2025 has been a strange year, perhaps due to Shrove Tuesday coming late on and the buns being available or in demand for many weeks, meaning that on the day, fewer were sold.

Known as vastlakukkel in Estonian (Plural: vastlakuklid) and popular across Northern Europe, the buns come in a variety of forms, but most commonly have whipped cream and often jam inside.

The name comes from the Estonian term for Shrove Tuesday, Vastlapäev.

In Pärnu, cafes found that classic vastlakuklid made with whipped cream were most in demand. These came with a price tag ranging from €1.50 to €4, "Aktuaalne kaamera" reported.

One such cafe and bakery, Elleni pagariäri, said it had prepared 10,000 buns for the big day.

Bakery manager Ellen Potsepp said: "The work shift started at 4 a.m., when we started to put on the whipped cream and at the same time the rest of the new buns were being rolled out."

Demand has slightly fallen from last year, she added.

"Last year we made 12,000 buns, but this year about 2,000 fewer this year. Most probably the weather is the reason. Another reason is that the sales period has been very long," she added.

Shrove Tuesday fell almost as late in the year as it can do, in 2025.

While a portion of the bakery's output will be sold to the public, the bulk gets sold on to cafes, Potsepp said.

As for how to make them irresistible, she said: "What is a good Vastlakukkel secret? Make them light. Really I am seeing that people make the dough but don't prove it; if the dough isn't proved, then the Vastlakukkel ends up being too hard and tough."

One customer told "Aktuaalne kaamera" she was "Buying four as a gift and four more to eat. I will certainly eat them, even though I should be watching my weight."

Pärnu's legendary Sõõrikubaar had as of Tuesday lunchtime sold half of its fresh buns.

Manager Andrus Tomson said: "The interest in vastlakuklid has been the same size as every year and I couldn't say that it had fallen, and perhaps even last year [demand] was even smaller than this year."

The Sõõrikubaar ("Doughnut bar") has been in operation in Pärnu since the 1950s.

Meanwhile, the Leviaka bakery and cafe prepared 1,600 buns in advance, and more later.

Alongside the classic variants, special types such as those containing caramel, kama, and peanut butter were on sale.

Ralf Ramot, the bakery's owner, also noted slower sales this year.

"We usually sell 2,000 buns. My days of selling 4,000 are over. There are many reasons for this, perhaps one of them is that we already started selling them as early as January."

"When the gingerbread was through, the vastlakuklid immediately started to sell," he added – gingerbread is traditionally eaten at Christmas time.

Shrove Tuesday falls exactly 47 days before Easter Sunday, a movable feast based on the cycles of the moon. This means the date can be as early as February 3 and as late as March 9.

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