If you haven’t seen a semla so far, you can’t have paid attention lately. The (in)famous cardamom buns, filled with almond paste and cream have been in the shops since the day after Christmas. But it is actually now you should really eat them.
For another step towards integration in Swedish society, we present five interesting (and highly irrelevant) facts about Sweden’s pride: the semla.
- Semlor are traditionally eaten in the time preceding Lent, which is again the time preceding Easter. Lent used to be a period of soberness and fasting, as a preparation for Easter and before that on obviously needed to for the last time enjoy something with a lot of fat and sugar. Nowadays most people will not follow this tradition anymore and eat semlor also in the weeks before Easter. They are hardly sold after Easter (and before Christmas), however.
- The last day before Lent (always a Tuesday, known as Fettisdagen) is especially a day to eat bullar and the sales will be on their highs today. Until the 1960s it was actually the only day that cafes were allowed to sell the buns.
- Semlor are known by many names: you can also meet them as fastlagsbullar or as hetvägg, the latter especially if they are being served in a bowl of warm milk.
- In 1771, King Adolf Frederick ate 14 hetvägg after already having consumed a copious meal with lobster, sauerkraut, caviar and champagne. He got a stomach ache and died the same night. He is now known as ‘the king who died from eating too much’.
- Semlor as described above are a typical Swedish phenomenon. You can find similar buns in the rest of Scandinavia, but then they’ll usually be filled with marmalade or vanilla cream.
It is a well-hidden secret that the best semlor are the ones that you make yourself. It’s a bit more work, but take the challenge!
What you need
50 grams of fresh yeast
2 dl sugar
3 dl milk
100 grams of butter
About 8 dl flour
A tablespoon of baking powder
1 egg, and optionally 1 more for brushing the buns
A teaspoon cardamom (optional)
About 200 grams of almond paste
About 250 ml whipped cream
Powdered sugar
What to do
- Crumb the yeast in a big bowl.
- Melt the butter and add the milk to it. Check whether the mixture is about 37 degrees. If not, let cool down. Add to the yeast crumbs and mix with a spoon until the yeast is dissolved.
- Add the egg, baking powder, cardamom and then in steps the flower. Mix first with a spoon and then gradually with your hands.
- Knead well, at least five minutes. Then leave covered with a towel for at least half an hour to rise.
- After the rising, divide the dough in small buns on an oven tray with baking paper. The recipe should be for 10-12 semlor, but if you rather eat two small semlor than one big one (or if you are so kind to give them away) you could also make 15-20.
- Let rise again, covered, for at least 15 minutes.
- Brush the buns with a little egg for a nice color. Put them in the oven at 250 degrees until they have a nice brownish color. Don’t walk away, this will be in only 8-10 minutes.
- Let the buns cool down.
- Cut of the top of the buns and take out a little bit of the inside of the bun.
- Mix the almond paste with a little bit of cream or milk and mash and mix until the mixture become soft. Put it into the bun.
- Put a big dot of cream on it (or as much as you like) and put on the top again. Cover with powdered sugar.
- Glad fettisdag!
