Semla Buns recipe: eat like a Scandi on ‘Fat Tuesday’
A Scandi Shrove Tuesday
This year, why not celebrate Shrove Tuesday with an alternative to pancakes? Swedish ‘Semla Buns’ take centre stage across Scandinavia on ‘Fettisdagen’ (literally, ‘Fat Tuesday’), a Scandinavian feast that involves fattening oneself up in preparation for Lent.
Semlor (plural) are luxurious, fatty cardamom buns filled with almond paste and vanilla cream. Nowadays they’re available to buy from January to Easter due to their popularity, and you can get them quite easily in London, too (although they are scarce outside of the Capital) – Scandinavian Kitchen on Great Titchffield Street, London, bakes them fresh every day.
“According to research, the average Swede will eat five of these buns per year,” says Bronte Aurell from Scandinavian Kitchen. “We reckon that 2014 will be a bumper year for Semlor, and are estimating sales in the thousands! On ‘Fat Tuesday’ queues will be out of the door.
"It’s no longer just the Scandinavians who are after these delicacies with the popularity of Nordic food and lifestyle in general, we believe Semla Buns offer an exciting alternative to the traditional pancake.”
Make them at home
Bronte and the Scandinavian Kitchen team have developed the perfect Semla recipe to make at home. Using ground cardamom, marzipan and vanilla whipped cream, they’re seriously more-ish (trust us, we’ve tried them) and are the perfect alternatives to pancakes this Shrove Tuesday.
Ingredients
- 25 g fresh yeast (if using dried, read instructions on packet for equivalent)
- 80 g melted butter
- 250 ml whole milk
- 40 g caster sugar
- 0.5 tsp salt
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 0.5 egg, lightly beaten
- 2 tsp ground cardamom
- 300 -400g plain flour (depending on the type of flour you use, this can increase or decrease)
- 0.9 oz fresh yeast (if using dried, read instructions on packet for equivalent)
- 2.8 oz melted butter
- 8.8 fl oz whole milk
- 1.4 oz caster sugar
- 0.5 tsp salt
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 0.5 egg, lightly beaten
- 2 tsp ground cardamom
- 300 -400g plain flour (depending on the type of flour you use, this can increase or decrease)
- 0.9 oz fresh yeast (if using dried, read instructions on packet for equivalent)
- 2.8 oz melted butter
- 1.1 cups whole milk
- 1.4 oz caster sugar
- 0.5 tsp salt
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 0.5 egg, lightly beaten
- 2 tsp ground cardamom
- 300 -400g plain flour (depending on the type of flour you use, this can increase or decrease)
- 200 g ‘50%’ Marzipan (also known as ‘Mandelmassa’). If you cannot get hold of this, get the highest almond percentage paste you can get.
- 1 good dollop of custard (or use a dash of milk)
- 7.1 oz ‘50%’ Marzipan (also known as ‘Mandelmassa’). If you cannot get hold of this, get the highest almond percentage paste you can get.
- 1 good dollop of custard (or use a dash of milk)
- 7.1 oz ‘50%’ Marzipan (also known as ‘Mandelmassa’). If you cannot get hold of this, get the highest almond percentage paste you can get.
- 1 good dollop of custard (or use a dash of milk)
- 400 ml whipping cream
- 1 tsp vanilla sugar
- 1 cup icing sugar to dust
- 14.1 fl oz whipping cream
- 1 tsp vanilla sugar
- 1 cup icing sugar to dust
- 1.7 cups whipping cream
- 1 tsp vanilla sugar
- 1 cup icing sugar to dust
Details
- Cuisine: Scandinavian
- Recipe Type: Cake
- Difficulty: Medium
- Preparation Time: 30 mins
- Cooking Time: 10 mins
- Serves: 12
Step-by-step
- Melt the butter and add the milk, ensuring a lukewarm temperature between 36-40 degrees. Add the fresh yeast and stir until dissolved.
- Add sugar and stir again. Add half of the flour as well as the salt, baking powder and ground cardamom. Add the ½ egg (preserve the other half for brushing before baking).
- Mix well until all ingredients are incorporated and then start to add more of the flour, bit by bit, until you have a dough that is only a little bit sticky. Take care not to add too much flour: you will get dry buns.
- Knead the dough for at least five minutes in the mixer, longer if doing it by hand. Leave to rise in a warm (not hot) place until doubled in size – this will take about 30-40 minutes.
- Turn the dough out to a floured surface. Knead again for a few minutes, adding more flour if needed. You want a firmer but not dry dough. Cut the dough into 12 equal sized pieces. Take care that the balls are completely round and uniform in size.
- Place on baking tray with good spacing as they will rise again. Leave to rise for another 30 minutes.
- Gently brush each bun with the remainder of the egg wash and bake in a hot oven (200-210 degrees) for about 8-10 minutes – keep an eye on them as they can burn quickly.
- Remove from oven and cover the tray with a lightly damp tea towel immediately – this will prevent the buns from forming a crust.
- When the buns have cooled down completely, cut a ‘lid’ in the buns – about 1 1/2 cm from the top. Scoop out about 1/3 of the inside of the bun and place the filling in a separate bowl.
- Mix or blend the almond paste with the inside from the buns until it forms a very sticky mass – you can add a dash of milk or custard at this point to help it along.
- Spoon the filling back into the buns, equally divided.
- Whip the cream with the vanilla sugar until stiff, then use a piping bag to pipe cream on all the buns. The cream should be piped on top of the filling and bun surface, in a large round circle, ensure every bite has good amount of cream. Put the ‘lids’ back on and dust lightly with icing sugar.
- The buns themselves freeze well – but once made up, should be eaten on the same day.
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