Swedish Semlor Buns

These classic Scandinavian Semla buns are a yearly highlight, enjoyed from January up til Lent. The warmth of the cardamom is a perfect pairing for the vanilla & marzipan filling. A dusting of vanilla sugar is the final touch.

Ingredients

For the buns:

• 900 g plain Flour

• 500ml milk

• 35g Fresh Yeast

• 175 g Caster Sugar

• 1 teaspoon Ground Cardamom

• 1/4 ts salt

• 1 egg

• 150 g Unsalted butter, cut into small cubes, room temperature 

For the crème pâtissière filling

• 500ml milk

• 5 egg yolks

• 1 tsp vanilla extract

• a pinch of salt

• 80g caster sugar

• 40g plain flour

• 30g cornflour

• 80g marzipan
  

For the Whipping cream:

• 300ml whipping cream

• 6 tbsp icing sugar

• 1 tbsp skimmed milk powder (this is not strictly necessary but if added it does give the cream a stronger structure)

Method

For the buns:

In a small heavy bottomed pan, heat milk to 38°c. Take off heat and add fresh yeast. Whisk lightly just to combine until all yeast has diluted, then let rest for 15 minutes.

In a large bowl, combine flour, caster sugar, ground cardamom and salt.

Add milk/yeast mixture, as well as the egg, then begin to knead, until a smooth homogenous dough is formed that is pliable and elastic - about 10 minutes.

Begin to add the cubes of butter, kneading as you go and continue to knead until the dough is elastic, smooth and pliable. It will feel wet at first, but resist the urge to add more flour as this will make your buns dense. Continue kneading for around 10 minutes until the dough is springy and easily comes off sides of bowl and has formed a smooth ball. Cover the bowl with cling film, then allow to rest in a warm environment for 1 hour.

Once proved, tip the dough on to a lightly floured surface, and divide into equally sized buns. This dough should make 16 equally sized buns of 100g each.

Roll each bun into a smooth ball, then place them on baking trays lined with baking paper, allowing about 3cm between buns. You may need to use multiple baking trays. Cover tray with a cloth, then set aside to rest I’m a warm environment for a further 40 minutes, or until buns have risen to double the size.

Pre-heat oven to 215°c fan

Bake buns for 10-12 minutes, one tray at a time. Once baked, place on a cooling rack to cool completely before filling.

For the filling:

To make the crème patissière:

In a medium heavy bottomed pan, heat the cream, the milk and vanilla until just before boiling point.

In a large bowl, with an electric whisk, whisk the egg yolks with the sugar until combined.

Once the egg/sugar mixture is homogenous, add the cornflour and flour, whisking gradually until well incorporated and smooth.

Add half the hot milk to the bowl, and whisk lightly to combine without letting it bubble too much.

Pour the mixture from the bowl back into the pan with the other half of the milk, turn on to medium-low, and keep slowly continuously whisking the mixture, until it begins to thicken. Take off heat, pour into an air tight container, cover with cling film touching the top of the cream to avoid a skin forming. Refrigerate until completely cooled.

Once cooled, thoroughly mix the creme patisserie with the marzipan to form a smooth cream.

Cut out the top of each bun in a circular shape, reserve the ‘lid’. Remove some of the crumb from the inside centre of the bun, and add to the crème patisserie mix. Combine the cream until smooth. Set aside.

Whip all ingredients for the whipped cream until stiff peaks form.

Fill each bun with the creme patissière, top with whipped cream, then finish with the ‘lid’, a dusting of vanilla icing sugar and serve immediately.