Swedish Cream Buns (Semlor)
By Middagsarkivet
- Medium
- 12 servings
Semlor belong to Shrove Tuesday, the last big eating day before Lent, and Sweden has stretched that single day into a season. Bakeries start selling them after Christmas, and by February there is a semla in the window of every café in the country. A Swedish king is said to have died after eating fourteen of them in one sitting, which Swedes bring up every year with evident pride.
The classic filling uses the bread scooped out of the bun itself, mashed with almond paste and a little milk until it is a thick, sweet paste. Almond paste comes in tubes and cans in most American supermarkets, near the pie filling and baking chocolate. Buy almond paste, not marzipan: marzipan has far more sugar and much less almond, and the filling goes cloying.
Semlor are eaten with coffee, with a plate and a fork, and nobody has ever managed one without getting confectioners' sugar on their shirt. In parts of Sweden and in Finland the bun is served in a bowl of warm milk, which is called hetvägg and is better than it sounds.
How to make it
- 1
Start the dough
Stir the yeast into the lukewarm milk with a pinch of the sugar and let it stand until it smells yeasty and looks foamy, about 10 minutes.
- 2
Mix
Add the rest of the sugar, the cardamom, salt, one egg and most of the flour. Mix to a shaggy dough, then work in the softened butter a little at a time.
- 3
Knead
Knead for 8 to 10 minutes, in a stand mixer with a dough hook or by hand on a lightly floured counter, adding the remaining flour only as needed. The dough should be smooth, soft and slightly tacky. Do not taste the raw dough.
- 4
First rise
Cover the bowl and let the dough rise in a warm spot until doubled, 50 to 60 minutes.
- 5
Shape
Divide the dough into 12 equal pieces, about 2.6 oz (75 g) each. Roll each into a tight, round ball and set them on two parchment-lined baking sheets with room between them.
- 6
Second rise
Cover loosely and let the buns rise until puffy, 35 to 40 minutes. Heat the oven to 425°F (220°C) toward the end.
- 7
Bake
Beat the egg with the milk and brush the buns. Bake for 9 to 11 minutes, until deep golden and hollow-sounding when tapped underneath. Cool completely on a rack.
- 8
Hollow them out
Cut a lid off each bun, straight across about a third of the way down, with a serrated knife. Scoop out about a tablespoon of the crumb from each bun with a teaspoon and save it.
- 9
Make the almond filling
Mash the saved crumb with the almond paste and the milk until you have a thick, spreadable paste. Add a little more milk if it is stiff. Spoon it back into the hollows.
- 10
Whip and fill
Whip the cold heavy cream with the sugar and vanilla to firm peaks. Pipe or spoon a generous mound onto each bun, set the lids on top at an angle and dust with confectioners' sugar.
A couple of tips
Crush whole cardamom pods in a mortar just before mixing the dough. Pre-ground cardamom loses most of its perfume within a few months and the whole bun depends on it.
Bake the buns a day ahead and fill them the same day you eat them. A filled semla holds for a few hours, not overnight.
If the buns slump when you cut the lids, they were underbaked. Nine to eleven minutes at a high heat gives a shell firm enough to hold cream.
What you need
- A stand mixer with a dough hook, if you would rather not knead by hand
- A piping bag with a star tip, for the cream
Serving
Serve with strong black coffee, on a plate with a fork and a napkin. For hetvägg, set a semla in a shallow bowl and pour warm whole milk with a pinch of cinnamon around it.
Storing it
Unfilled buns keep 2 days in an airtight container at room temperature, or 2 months frozen in a bag. Filled semlor must go in the refrigerator and are best within 4 hours; after a day the cream weeps and the bun goes damp.
Nutrition per serving
| Calories | 460 kcal |
|---|---|
| Fat | 27 g |
| of which saturated | 14 g |
| Carbohydrates | 48 g |
| of which sugars | 16 g |
| Fiber | 2 g |
| Protein | 9 g |
| Salt | 1 g |
Questions and answers
- Can you freeze semlor?
- Freeze the plain baked buns, unfilled and uncut, for up to 2 months, then thaw and warm them briefly before filling. Cream-filled buns do not freeze well; the cream separates as it thaws.
- What can I use instead of almond paste?
- Grind 1 cup blanched almonds with 2/3 cup confectioners' sugar and a tablespoon or two of milk until it forms a paste. Marzipan works in a pinch but is much sweeter, so cut back on milk and skip any extra sugar.
- Can I make semlor ahead?
- Bake and cut the buns a day ahead and keep them airtight, and mix the almond filling ahead too. Whip the cream and assemble no more than a few hours before serving.
- Why is my dough so sticky?
- Semla dough is meant to be soft and slightly tacky, which is what makes the buns tender. Flour the counter lightly rather than working more flour into the dough, or the buns turn dry and dense.
- Do I have to use the scooped-out crumb in the filling?
- No, but it is the traditional way and it keeps the almond filling from being too dense and sweet. You can skip it and simply thin the almond paste with more milk.
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- 1 min 35 sec
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