Swedish Semla

The Swedish Fat Tuesday buns or Lenten buns are known as Semla. This Semla recipe is an absolutely delicious dessert for winter days. Delicious cardamom buns filled with almond filling and whipped cream.

Jump to:

• What are semla buns
• History
• How do Swedes celebrate Fat Tuesday?
• Lent buns in other parts of Scandinavia
• Ingredients for Semla dough
• Ingredients for almond filling
• How to make semla buns
• Instructions on how to fill your shrovetide buns
• How do you eat your semla?
• How to make vegan semla
• How to make gluten-free semla
• Swedish Semla-Fat Tuesday buns

Fat Tuesday is also called Fettisdagen. Swedes really love their semlor. They eat nearly 6 million lenten buns every year. 132 tons of marzipan and 211 ton of heavy cream is used every year to produce this amount of semlor. (source)

Semla is also called hetvägg, fastlagsbulle, fettisdagsbulle.

What are semla buns

Semla is a sweet cardamom-flavored bun. The top has been cut off, and there is almond paste in the center. There is a generous amount of whipped heavy cream in the middle. The lid is placed on top of the cream, and some powdered sugar is sprinkled over the bun.

Semla is called Fastlagsbulle by swedish speaking in Finland. Fastlag means shrovetide.

History

Did you know that Semlor is also called Kingslayer buns? This is because king Adolf Fredrik died after eating too many Lenten buns in February 1771.

The Shrovetide bun tradition is originally from Germany. In Germany round, flavored buns were eaten with warm milk already in the 1600s. These were called "heisse wecke". This delicacy spread to Sweden, and the first Shrovetide buns were called Hetvägg. They were served in a bowl of hot milk as they did in Germany. (source)

Also, the word semla has german origins and reminds the word Semmel, which is a german white round bread. The nowadays semla got its modern look at the beginning of 1900.

How do Swedes celebrate Fat Tuesday?

This was the day before Lent started, so people would indulge themselves. In Finland, people ate pea soup, but in Sweden, it was more local delicacies like pork-filled potato dumplings (kroppkakor), fish, and savory pancakes.

One tradition during Shrovetide was to dress up as fettisdagsgubbe. People would dress up, especially kids, and go to the neighbors to get some food. This tradition still lives on in some parts of Sweden. Kids dress up in masquerade costumes and get candy. (source)

In the southern part of Sweden, they would also decorate their horses with flowers or tree branches. Superstition, games, and plays were a part of the Fat Tuesday celebration in the past. Old traditions were mixed into the Christian faith. (source)

Since Sweden is not that religious nowadays, Shrovetide Tuesday is no longer celebrated in its original meaning. Now it is just an excuse to eat buns in most parts of Sweden.

Semlor used to be eaten before Easter, but nowadays, the bun season starts already in January, right after Christmas.

Lent buns in other parts of Scandinavia

Lent buns are eaten throughout the whole of Scandinavia, but all countries have their own twist on the buns. In Finland, the buns are eaten with strawberry or raspberry jam. Some like it with marzipan, but the marzipan is not made to a paste as in the Swedish buns. (See the Finnish Shrovetide bun recipe)

In Norway and Denmark, the buns are called fastelavnsbolle. In Norway, they are also enjoyed with raspberry jam. In Denmark, the buns are baked with a different type of dough. The buns are made from flaky pastry dough. Vanilla custard and marzipan remonce is baked inside the buns and topped with icing. So the Danish buns are a totally different type of dessert.

Ingredients for Semla dough

• Milk. Whole milk gives the best taste.
• Fresh yeast, or dry active yeast
• Sugar
• Butter
• Ground cardamom. (from green pods)
• Salt
• Bread flour or all-purpose flour

Ingredients for almond filling

• Marzipan
• Milk
• Crushed almonds. These are optional but give a nice crunch
• Bitter almond aroma. Just some drops

On top

• Egg
• Powdered sugar

How to make semla buns

1. Microwave your butter for some seconds so it softens up to room temperature.
2. Mix your yeast with lukewarm milk. If you use dry yeast you need the milk to be 108F, 42C.
3. Dissolve your yeast into the milk. Add the sugar, cardamom, salt, and 1-2 cups of flour. Make a slurry.
4. Add in the rest of your flour and start kneading.
5. Once you have some elasticity in the dough, you can add your butter.
6. Keep on kneading for additional 7-15 minutes. Knead until the dough is firm enough so it does not break when you stretch a small piece between your fingers.
7. After kneading, you need to let your dough rest and rise. Cover your bowl with a cloth and let the dough rest in a warm place for 20 minutes.
8. Bake the dough into 15 round buns by kneading them against the surface of your palm.
9. Let your buns rise to double the size. It is good to keep your buns covered with plastic wrap or cloth so the surface does not dry up.
10. Brush the buns with beaten egg.
11. Bake at 400 (200C) F for about 14 minutes. The buns should be golden brown on top.
12. Let the buns cool down. In the meantime make your filling and whip the cream.
13. Filling: Grate the marzipan and make a paste together with milk. You can microwave it for 10-15 seconds. This makes it easier to mix. Add in some drops of almond essence if you want to.
14. Slice the lid from the buns. Carve out some of the inside of the bun. Add 1-2 tablespoons of almond filling in the middle and add whipped cream. Decorate with powdered sugar.

Instructions on how to fill your shrovetide buns

Whipped cream tips

• Your cream should be cold when you whip it.
• Start with a slow speed so it does not make a mess, add your speed gradually.
• Don't overwhip. Over-mixed is curdled and grainy.
• Heavy whipping cream holds its shape longer, it has a fat percentage of 36%.

If you want to try something new, then try out a lemon cream cheese filling in these buns and replace the almond filling with some lemon curd.

How do you eat your semla?

Start with the lid and scoop some cream with it. Eat the bun straight from hand to mouth. If the bun is too big or too creamy, you can use a small fork and knife or spoon.

You can also eat it as the old tradition from a bowl of warm milk. This makes the bun soft, and it is easier to eat with a spoon. Especially good for some dry buns.

Different ways of cutting the lid

How to make vegan semla

Vegan Fat Tuesday buns are easy to make. Just change the milk to plant-based milk. Instead of butter use margarine and for cream use a plant-based whipping substitute. Brush your buns with some plant yogurt instead of the egg before the oven.

How to make gluten-free semla

Instead of wheat flour in the dough use a gluten-free flour mix. This does not form viscosity so you also need to add 1 tablespoon of psyllium husk powder to your liquid when making the buns. The gluten-free batter does not need to be kneaded as long as the regular wheat dough.

The flour amount is quite the same, but depending on your flour mix brand the liquid absorption might be different, so start with less flour than in the recipe and add if needed.

Add also just half the amount of butter, since otherwise the buns will be too heavy and lack fluffiness.