February 25, 2025
The Cultural Experience — Getting ready for “Fettisdagen”
Hejsan!
You might have seen them at a supermarket. They’re fluffy, filled with almond paste and on top of it is the whipped cream. Nowadays they are pretty much available as early as late December till Easter. Have you got any ideas what I’m talking about? As clever as you are! Yes, I’m referring to the iconic Swedish pastry for Fettisdagen (also known as Shrove Tuesday or Fat Tuesday) 🤓
Traditionally, semla (semlor for its plural form) is eaten on the day before the Christian fasting period, the idea being that you prepare yourself for fasting, during which fatty & palatable food is not consumed. Besides, there’s an anecdote about this beloved Swedish pastry. A Swedish king named Adolf Fredrik in the 18 century is said to die as a result of eating a bunch of semla. So, watch out if you’re as crazy about them as I am 😂
They are readily available in most bakeries and supermarkets. But it’s also 100% possible to make your own! Perfect for a cozy home part, isn’t it? I’m gonna share one recipe I tried the other day and walk you through the process with some baking tips💡
Firstly, we need to get all the ingredients! I followed a receipt that I found on YouTube, but there are also many other receipts with plenty of variations that can be found online!
Ingredients
Buns
<This is enough for making around 16 semla buns.>
- Milk 250g
- All purpose flour (vetemjöl) 576g
- Sugar 100g
- Butter 100g
- Cardamom 6g (feel free to replace it with things like tea/ cocoa powder. I made some with tea powder for example!)
- Fresh Yeast 35g
- Salt 8g
Don’t be intimidated by the long list of ingredients. Basically, all you need to do is to mix them evenly!
- Mix all the ingredients till the texture is even and the dough is not sticking to the bowl. Then let the dough rest for ~10 mins.
- Divide the dough evenly so they are roughly the same size.
- Cover the dough up with a piece of cloth and let it proof until the dough is twice as big.
- Set the oven to 175℃ and bake for 7~15 mins depending on your oven.
🔺Swedish winter might not be good for dough to proof as yeast like warm and humid environment. But no worries! Boil some water! Put the dough and the hot water into the oven (do not turn on the oven). This will expedite the proofing process 😉
▲ This is what I meant by putting hot water into the oven.
Almond Filling (Mandelmassa)
- Almond paste 130g
- Water 10g
- Put almond paste into a big bowl. Add the water to the bowl several times instead of pouring it at once (very important!).
This is how I made it. As long as you get the proportion right, it’s up to you how much almond filling you wanna make! When you’re done, you’ll get some tender and smooth almond filling that is ready to be put on the buns you just made!
Whipped Cream
- Whipped cream 5dl / 500 ml (or as much as you’d like👻)
- Sugar (optional)
- Pour the cream into a big bowl and whip it gently. Stop until it reaches stiffness you prefer.
This can be done either by hand or with an electronic mixer. Just keep in mind that if you’re using an electronic mixer, be careful not to overdo it otherwise it’s gonna become butter (I’m not joking around!). If you really have a sweet tooth, you can add some sugar into the cream before you whip it. But in this case, sugar is not only for flavors. It helps to sustain and enhance the structure of cream and therefore the cream is gonna have a harder texture.
After everything is done, it’s time to decorate your unique semla🌟!
It isn’t that complicated, right? So why not invite some friends over and have an unforgettable cultural experience 😃
Feel free to leave a comment down below or ask a question if you have any.
Until next time, see you!
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