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Historical recipe: Semla buns
- Preparation and cooking time
- Total time
- Difficulty 4/10
- Makes 15-20
For the buns
- 75g Butter
- 300ml Milk
- 10g Yeast
- 1tsp Crushed cardamom
- ½tsp Salt
- 55g Sugar
- 500g Plain white flour
- 1 Egg
For the filling
- 200g Almond paste
- 120ml Milk
- 240ml Whipping cream
- Icing sugarfor dusting
Method
step 1
Melt butter in a pan, add milk and heat until lukewarm. Mix cardamom, sugar, salt, yeast and most of flour in a large bowl. Make a well in the centre and add the milk mixture and egg. Knead dough for five minutes till sticky. Cover and leave to rise for 30–40 minutes.
step 2
Knead dough on a lightly floured surface until smooth. Make into balls. Place on two trays lined with baking paper; leave to rise for 30–40 minutes.
step 3
Preheat oven to 200–225°C/gas mark 5–7. Bake buns in lower part of the oven for 20–25 minutes till browned.
step 4
Once cool, slice off the top of each bun and set aside. Using a fork, tease out a layer of crumbs and reserve them in a bowl. Grate the almond paste and combine with the crumbs and milk. Blend into a thick paste and fill each bun. Whip cream till stiff and place onto the almond paste. Replace bun tops and dust with icing sugar. Eat within a couple of hours.
