Hvis glasuren havde været koldere, ville den have dækket kagen bedre, men alligevel sagde alle: “Sikke nogle gode muffins og sikke en flot tærte!”

It is a past unreal / counterfactual conditional — the same basic idea as English If the icing had been colder, it would have covered the cake better.

The pattern is:

• Hvis + past perfect
• ville + have + past participle

So here:

• havde været = had been
• ville have dækket = would have covered

This structure says the speaker is talking about something that did not happen in reality.

Because Danish uses past perfect here to show an unreal situation in the past.

• var koldere = was colder
• havde været koldere = had been colder

In a counterfactual past condition, Danish usually matches English quite closely:

• Hvis glasuren var koldere... would sound more like a less clearly time-marked or less standard conditional.
• Hvis glasuren havde været koldere... clearly means If the icing had been colder...

Also, været is the past participle of være.

Because Danish is a V2 language in main clauses: the finite verb normally comes in the second position.

The sentence starts with the subordinate clause:

• Hvis glasuren havde været koldere

After that comes the main clause, and because something else is already in first position, the finite verb comes before the subject:

• ville den have dækket kagen bedre

So the order is:

1. fronted element: Hvis glasuren havde været koldere
2. finite verb: ville
3. subject: den

If the main clause stood alone, you would normally say:

• Den ville have dækket kagen bedre.

Because glasur is a common gender noun in Danish:

• en glasur
• therefore the pronoun is den

In Danish:

• den refers to common gender nouns
• det refers to neuter nouns

So:

• glasuren ... den
• huset ... det

Those are the definite forms of the nouns.

In Danish, definiteness is often shown by adding an ending to the noun:

• en glasur = an icing

• glasuren = the icing

• en kage = a cake
• kagen = the cake

This is one of the most important differences from English. Danish often attaches the to the end of the noun instead of using a separate word.

They are comparatives.

• kold = cold

• koldere = colder

• god = good
• bedre = better

So:

• havde været koldere = had been colder
• dækket kagen bedre = covered the cake better

Notice that bedre is irregular, just like English better.

Alligevel means nevertheless, all the same, or even so.

Here:

• men alligevel sagde alle...
• but nevertheless everyone said...

It shows contrast: the glaze did not work as well as it could have, but people still praised the baked goods.

Its placement is very natural here, right after men. Danish often places adverbs like this early in the clause when they comment on the whole statement.

Sikke is an exclamatory word used to express strong feeling, often admiration, surprise, or emphasis.

In English, it often corresponds to things like:

• What ...!
• How ...!

So:

• Sikke nogle gode muffins! = What great muffins!
• Sikke en flot tærte! = What a beautiful pie!

A useful thing to notice is that sikke often introduces an exclamation without a full verb. That is completely normal.

Because Danish uses different patterns with sikke depending on whether the noun is plural or singular.

Singular

• sikke en/et + adjective + noun
• sikke en flot tærte

Plural

• sikke nogle + adjective + plural noun
• sikke nogle gode muffins

So:

• en is used with a singular common-gender noun
• nogle is used with a plural noun

This is a very common exclamation pattern in Danish.

This is about adjective agreement.

In gode muffins

The noun is plural, so the adjective takes the -e ending:

• gode muffins

In en flot tærte

The noun is singular and indefinite, so the adjective is in its basic form:

• en flot tærte

Here flot already looks like a -t form, but that is simply the normal dictionary form of this adjective in this context.

A clearer comparison might be:

• en stor tærte = a big pie
• store muffins = big muffins

So the important point is:

• plural often gives -e
• singular indefinite common gender usually uses the basic form

Because this is an exclamation, not a full ordinary clause.

Danish often allows this kind of shortened exclamatory structure, especially with sikke. The verb is understood from the situation.

So instead of a full sentence like:

• Det er nogle gode muffins
• Det er en flot tærte

you get the more emotional exclamation:

• Sikke nogle gode muffins og sikke en flot tærte!

This is very natural and common.

Because muffin is a loanword, and Danish often keeps an English-style plural with words like this.

So:

• singular: en muffin
• plural: muffins

That is normal modern Danish.

The colon introduces the direct speech that follows.

So:

• ... sagde alle:
• then the exact words people said come next

This is a common way in Danish to introduce speech, especially in writing. English can do the same, although English often prefers a comma in more ordinary prose.