Killer Buns

« Lenten buns / Laskiaispulla / Semlor - a soft cardamom yeast bun filled with an almond paste infused pastry cream and a healthy swirl of whipped cream that is traditionally served on Fat Tuesday and subsequent Tuesdays during Lent. »

These buns have killed once and they'll kill again. What could be more thrilling than tempting fate by eating a filled bun that was thought to have been the cause of the Swedish King Adolf Fredrik's death in 1771. Of course it might have also been the enormous meal he consumed before snarfing down 14 of the buns served in bowls of warm milk. These buns are heavenly but, I don't know that eating more than one or two in one sitting is recommended.

The history of the traditional Fat Tuesday treat is rather interesting as it is detailed at length in a new book on the subject, Semlor [pa svenska]. It contains more than you ever wanted to know about semlor along with a variety of recipes for them at the end. I was raised Catholic, yet never really encountered these before having one in Finland so I was curious. The modern semla is descended from the German and Danish kumminkringlor, a pretzel-shaped bread with cumin, which came to southern Sweden during the 1600's when the area belonged to Denmark. The first citation of semlor being eaten in Stockholm dates back to 1689.

The name semla comes from the latin word simila, meaning wheat flour which was a luxury save for the wealthy class, and generally meant any sort of wheat bun or bread. The buns originally were filled with hot cream, butter and cinnamon. The almond paste filling didn't arrive until the 1800s when Swiss bakers came to Sweden who brought their knowledge of almonds with them and the whipped cream filling and cap on top didn't become common until much later in the 1930s. The oldest name for the buns, hetvägg, indicated that it was served in hot milk. Although most English recipes for the buns instruct the cook to serve in a bowl of hot milk, the tradition seems to be rarely observed anymore. Aside from making the bun rather difficult and messy to eat, a bowl of hot milk doesn't really add flavour or better texture to the bun. If made without the whipped cream, the hot milk would be more appealing.

Useless factoid - In 1996, the world's largest semla was baked in Alingsås, Sweden. The bun was 113cm/45-inches in diameter and weighed about 60kg/132lb by itself and 134kg/295lb with the almond and whipped cream fillings.

There also seems to be a semlor standard as well as a Semmelakademien (semlor academy) in Göteborg where one, presumeably, learns all there is to know about semlor. For the true semlor perfectionist, a recent article on semlor from an English paper in Sweden lays down the semlor rules:

In fact there are fiercely-contested "Best in Test" competitions pitting city cafés against each other in a kind of annual regional semla Oscars. Mattias Sundberg, a semla enthusiast, explains what it takes to be a winning semla:

"The bun itself should be a light golden brown and about 10cm or 4-in across. The 'lid' is preferably triangular and properly sprinkled with powdered sugar. It should sit squarely on its cream bed. The whipped cream shouldn't overspill the edges and should rise 2-3cm or 3/4-1.2in - just so your nose doesn't dip when eating."

But aesthetics will only take a semla so far; the proof is in the taste test. According to our expert, "The bread mustn't be too dense and should be lightly sweetened. The whipped cream ought to be hand-whipped and lightly sweetened as well." Traditionally the cream is unsweetened but our modern aficionados seem to have developed a sweet tooth.

Mattias Sundberg admits that there are differing opinions on how to judge the best semla. It is almond paste that seems to split the jury. Sundberg prefers a sticky paste while some of his fellow critics opt for a crumblier version. All sides agree on one thing:

"It's important that [the paste] of about 2 teaspoons is dead centre and is absolutely not bitter."

Sundberg and friends are hardly oddballs when it comes to their high standards for semlor. There's even a semla academy in Gothenburg. They have their own established minimum standards:

• The lid must be structured so it may be used for scooping;
• There must be cardamom in the dough;
• The almond paste must be authentic;
• The whipped cream must be fluffy;
• There must be powdered sugar sprinkled on the lid.

I'm all for authentic, but forget hand-whipping the cream in an age of electricity and arm saving appliances. I'm not going to go out back and milk my own cow for that matter, either. :) I'd love to visit the semlor academy and take a class. I wonder if they have a section on how to eat them without winding up with a face full of cream.

Last year I tried my hand at making these buns, but it had been a long time since I had made a yeast bread and wound up making weapons grade buns rather than soft, delicate buns. I vowed to try again this year and have finally gotten the hang of it after lots of trial, error and determination. So many recipes are either lacking in any descriptive guidance or fail to offer measurements in weight, as is often necessary when making bread since cups are not reliable measurements for flour, that I'd wager most people who think they can't bake pulla bread very well, will have much more success with the recipe here.

I think I managed to make just about every mistake possible while trying to attain the ideal soft bun. Too much yeast, over-proofing, under-proofing, too much flour and adding the butter too soon. I even tried a recipe that included hartshorn, a.k.a. baker's ammonia, which gave the dough a rank scent of ammonia and, in spite of the recipe claiming that it would burn off in the oven, a decidedly odd aftertaste.

I returned to an article on pulla dough in an issue of Ruoka & Viini for some insight to the secret of soft dough. Aside from many common sense tips such as warming the milk to the right temperature and having all your ingredients at room temperature, the only thing that was unusual was the recommendation to use 'erikois' flour instead of all-purpose or bread flour. I tried a batch with bread flour and I could have used the dough as a basketball it was so rubbery. The 'erikois' flour is different than the all-purpose flour in that it is slightly coarser and has a higher percentage of wheat germ which is lower in gluten and less absorbent. Using all-purpose flour works fine, but the erikois flour definitely seemed to give better results. The closest equivalent in the US would likely be the King Arthur All-Purpose Artisan Organic Flour with a lower percentage of gluten and made with hard spring and winter wheat.

I had a revelation at one point when searching for bread techniques with A9 as a book that I had gathering dust in my Amazon.com shopping cart kept popping up. I hadn't bought The Professional Pastry Chef: Fundamentals of Baking and Pastry, 4th Edition since I am not a professional pastry chef but the book remained tempting. I searched through it and found a recipe for Swedish Lenten Buns that I read and discovered that, after all these years of thinking that it made no difference if the butter was added with the milk or after the dough had come together, it is important not to add the butter when dissolving the yeast in the milk as it prevents the yeast from expanding. The recipe not only used weight measurements, but it also featured a simple pastry cream mixed with the almond paste filling instead of plain milk which intrigued me so I decided to give it a try. What a difference moving the addition of the butter from the beginning to the end of the dough process made! Given a choice, I had always added the melted butter to the milk as, even though I enjoy kneading dough, the slimy feel kneading butter into the dough is not one of my favourite sensations but, given the dramatically improved results, I'll deal with it. I've tried a few more recipes from the book now and am sorry I didn't buy it sooner and cannot recommend it more highly to anyone who likes baking well with accurate recipes and techniques. The pastry cream recipe was almost a miracle given the crap recipes I've used and struggled with before now.

So now that bun nirvana had been achieved, it was time to focus on the fillings. In Finland there are two varieties of filling; strawberry jam and almond paste mixed with milk and bits from the buns. The strawberry jam is easy and fairly popular, but the almond filling is a bit bland so I was eager to try the pastry cream variation and it is absolutely terrific. I don't even like the regular almond-filled buns but the pastry cream adds just enough creamy sweetness to make it rather tasty. You can mix and match pastry cream, jam and almond cream fillings any way you like, too.

The crowning touch to the buns is taking a small cookie cutter to the lids to give them an attractive shape and to make the bun easier to eat since the lid often does little more than squish the whipped cream when you bite into it and makes a bit of a mess. Sprinkle with powdered sugar and they're almost too pretty to eat. Just try not to eat all of them in one sitting. :)

laskiaispulla / semlor / lenten buns / cream buns

Soft Pulla Dough

Makes: 16 buns
Time: about 90 minutes
Source: Based on recipe in The Professional Pastry Chef: Fundamentals of Baking and Pastry, 4th Edition (note: recipe doubles well)

• 25g fresh compressed yeast
• 250ml warm whole milk (105-115F/40-46C)
• 3oz or 85g superfine granulated sugar
• 7,5g salt
• 1 tablespoon or 8g ground cardamom
• 2 eggs, room temperature
• 1lbs 5oz or 600g all-purpose or 'erikois' flour
• 7 tablespoons or 100g melted butter
• 1 egg white and a dash of milk (for egg wash)

Melt butter in the microwave. Set aside to cool. Weigh and measure out all ingredients and arrange near your workspace. Warm milk in a 2 cup measuring cup for about 1 minute in the microwave. Check the temperature with a thermometer and confirm that it is about 40C/105F. Crumble yeast into the warm milk and stir until it has fully dissolved. Stir in the sugar, salt, cardamom, eggs and a few tablespoons of flour. Stir until the mixture is smooth and the flour completely incorporated. Set aside for a couple minutes until it begins to bubble.

Pour the yeast mixture into a larger, room temperature, bowl and begin adding flour a few tablespoons at a time. Stir with a whisk or dough whisk until it begins to thicken. From this point on, knead the dough with your hands. Continue adding flour a few tablespoons at a time until the dough is soft but still slightly sticky. You may have a bit of flour remaining, but resist the temptation to add it all if the dough has the right feel. The amount of flour you need to use to reach the point of soft, yet slightly sticky, dough will vary depending on the type of flour, the age and moisture content of the flour and the humidity in the air.

Knead in the butter (it is important that the butter does not come in contact with the yeast before the yeast has had a chance to start expanding.) until it is fully incorporated. Again, resist the urge to add more flour in lieu of kneading the dough until the butter has been absorbed. Sprinkle a wee bit of flour over the dough if it is a bit too soft and tacky once the butter has soaked in, but be conservative. You want a soft, slightly sticky dough. Knead dough for a couple of minutes and place into a bowl that has been lightly greased with vegetable oil or butter, cover with a towel or plastic wrap and set in a warm spot for about 20 minutes to rest (Don't leave it for an hour thinking more is better since you don't want to over-proof the dough as this will make it tough). While the dough is resting,clean and prepare your workspace and baking sheets.

Turn the dough out of the bowl onto a silpat mat, countertop or other smooth surface. Do not flour your workspace or the dough. Knead dough lightly and divide dough into two parts. Roll each half into an 8-inch rope and cut into 8 1-inch pieces. Take each piece, place it on your workspace cupped in the palm of your hand and, with a reasonable amount of pressure, press down while moving your hand in a circular motion until the dough has formed a smooth, tight round ball. [see also diagram] If your dough isn't a little sticky or you are having trouble forming a smooth ball, rub your workspace with a wet (but not dripping) towel and try again. Arrange balls on baking sheet lined with baking paper leaving an inch or so between them. Lightly brush with egg wash (you can sprinkle the tops with pearl sugar or slivered almonds at this point, but personally I think that they don't complement the soft texture of the bun). Cover with a clean linen dishtowel or plastic wrap and leave in a warm place to rise for about 30 minutes or so.

Heat oven to 200C/390F. Bake buns for 10-12 minutes until they are a light golden brown. Place on cooling rack and allow to cool.

Filling(s):

Creamy Almond Filling:

• 2-4 tablespoons (50-100g) pastry cream (see below)
• 150g-200g almond paste, room temperature

Grate almond paste into bowl. Beat until smooth. Add pastry cream and beat until smooth, thick and creamy.

Pastry Cream

Makes: about 600g
Time: about 20 minutes
Source: The Professional Pastry Chef: Fundamentals of Baking and Pastry, 4th Edition (note: recipe doubles and halves well)

• 1 pint or 480ml whole milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla sugar or 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 ounce or 30g (about 1/2 dl) cornstarch
• 4 ounces or 115g granulated sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 stick or 55g butter

In a bowl, whisk the cornstarch, sugar and salt together. Gradually whisk in the eggs and mix until smooth.

Place milk in a saucepan or double-boiler. Bring to a boil and remove from heat.

Slowly pour about 1/3 of the hot milk into the egg mixture while whisking rapidly. Pour the tempered egg mixture back into the remaining milk.

Place saucepan on a medium heat and cook, whisking constantly, until the mixture comes to a boil and thickens. Let it bubble for a few seconds and remove from the heat. Stir in the vanilla and butter until completely incorporated.

Pour pastry cream into a bowl and allow to cool a bit. When cool, use for filling or cover with plastic wrap, pressing the wrap directly onto the surface of the cream to avoid condensation and to keep it fresh. It will keep refrigerated for up to four days.

Traditional Almond Filling:

• 200g almond paste
• 1,5 dl or 3/4 cup milk
• bits of bun scooped out for filling

Grate almond paste into bowl. Beat until smooth. Blend in milk. Add pulla and beat until smooth.

Whipped Cream:

• 3-5dl whipping cream, cold
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla sugar

Pour cream and sugar into a completely dry, cold bowl and whip to stiff peaks. Place cream in a pastry bag fitted with a #7/14-mm star tip.

Assembling:

1. Slice top off of buns. Take the tops of the buns and cut into heart, star or other shapes if you like. For the strictly traditional, use a pair of scissors held at a 45-degree angle to make a triangular cut on top of the bun about 2cm or 3/4-in deep. Trim excess bread from the underside of the triangular divot.
2. Spread almond mixture (or strawberry jam and/or plain pastry cream if you don't like almonds) onto the buns or into the triangular hole.
3. Pipe whipped cream generously over the tops.
4. Place top of bun over the whipped cream.
5. Sprinkle with confectioners' sugar.