Semla; Semlor; Some-more!

Another thing about getting to live in Sweden is the experience of Swedish traditions. One such tradition is the ‘Fat Tuesday’ (Fettisdag) related dessert that has everyone’s mouths watering with delight. One giant ball of sweet goodness, the Semla (plural Semlor) is traditionally served on ‘Shrove Tuesday’ the last Tuesday before the fasting season of Lent starts. Nowadays you can find it in all the bakeries and cake shops from just after Christmas right up to Easter.

Traditionally a plain bread bun was served in a bowl of hot milk and eaten with a spoon, but in more recent times, it is eaten as it is. These days the Semla consists of a cardamom spiced wheat bun which has its top cut off and insides scooped out and filled with sweet almond paste and freshly whipped cream. They have the cut of top as a lid, and sprinkled with powdered sugar. Divine!

The Semla has a long history in Sweden, dated back to hundreds of years ago, but none is more famous than the story of the gluttonous Swedish King, Adolf Fredrick of Sweden, who famously died of digestion problems in 1771 after having consumed a giant luxurious meal of lobster, caviar, sauerkraut, smoked herring and champagne, which was topped off by 14 (Yes!! Fourteen!) servings of Semla in bowls of hot milk. Not a bad way to go, since Semla was his all time favourite thing to eat.

Ingredients:
To make a dozen Swedish semlor, you will need:

For the bun,
25g of yeast
75g of margarine or butter
200ml of milk
2 eggs
1 teaspoon of salt
Half a teaspoon of cardamom
500ml of sugar
700ml of plain flour
2 teaspoons of baking powder

For the filling,
Roughly grated almond paste
Whipping cream
Milk
Icing sugar

Method:
-Preheat the oven to 250 degrees Celsius.
-Melt the butter in a saucepan, add the milk, and heat it till it is lukewarm, not hot.
-Transfer the liquid to a bowl, and crumble in the yeast, stir until well dissolved.
-Add salt, cardamom, 1 egg, the sugar and 600ml of the flour, and then work the mixture into dough, adding the remaining flour and the baking powder. Work it into a smooth dough.
-Cover the bowl with a cloth and leave in a warm dry place with no draft to rise for about 30 minutes or till it has risen double its size.
-Separate the dough into 12 balls, put them on baking paper sheets on an oven pan, and leave them to rise for another 30-40mins.
-Use the remaining eggs to glaze the top of the buns by beating them well and then brushing them on top of the buns.
-Bake the Semlor in the middle of your oven for 10 minutes or until they go slightly golden brown.
-Let them cool down completely before cutting the tops off, scooping out some of the middle to add the filling ingredients.
-Cut a circular lid off the top, and mix together the grated almond paste and the stuff you scooped out from inside the bun, using a little bit of milk to make a smooth paste, and use this to fill the hole in the Semla.
-Whip the cream and pipe it on top of the almond paste.
-Replace the lid to sit back on top of the bun, and lightly sprinkle with powdered sugar.