If you’re looking to dive into baking more Swedish pastries (which, as the person behind a series called What’s For Fika, I highly recommend you do), a semla is a great place to start. And if you’re anything like me and spend all day looking at food pics on Instagram, one or two (or more) photos of a semla may have shown up on your FYP.
A semla is traditionally enjoyed around Shrove Tuesday (Fettisdagen, or what Swedes would call Mardi Gras) and throughout late winter. It’s a soft, cardamom-spiced wheat bun, hollowed out and filled with sweet almond paste, then topped with whipped cream. The top of the bun is cut off as a “lid” and placed back after filling, and then the whole bun gets dusted with powdered sugar.
While many Swedes enjoy semla buns simply with coffee for fika, some still eat them the old-fashioned way (and I mean truly old-fashioned)—served in a bowl of warm milk (the hetvägg style). Funnily enough, this is how I remember my mom serving them to us when we were little. It’s not very common anymore, and lots of Swedes have never eaten them this way, but then again, she loves tradition—and I love her for it.
If you’ve never had one, I highly recommend you start off by making traditional semla buns for the true original experience. But, if you want a fun variety, here’s a recipe I just developed for a semla braid (honestly it looks more like a footlong sandwich) filled with pistachio paste instead of almond, orange blossom whipped cream, and blood and tangelo oranges. While I wish I came up with the flavor combination on my own, I took inspiration from a bakery in Sweden, called Haga Bageri.
Have you ever had a semla before? Let me know in the comments!
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