Semla Buns! Or Semlor for plural are a delicious Swedish party. A fluffy cardamom bun, filled with almond filling and topped with whipped cream before being dusted with icing sugar. They are traditionally eaten through out lent , which ends before Easter. Before they became popular, they were served only on Shrove Tuesday/ Fat Tuesday. I am obsessed with cardamom desserts and for me these are the perfect treat! I shared these just in time, before Easter and happy I got to make them this year. I had it for the first time at Fika Cafe in Toronto and have had semlor buns on my to bake list since.
Swedish Semla Bun
Ingredients
Tangzhong
- 5 tablespoons water
- 5 tablespoons whole milk
- 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
Buns
- ½ cup warm whole milk 2 teaspoons active dry yeast ½ teaspoon ground cardamom
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup sugar
- 3 cups + 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 large egg
- All of the tangzhong cooled
- 5 tablespoons melted unsalted butter room temperature
Almond Filling
- 2 cups almond flour
- ¼ cup granulated sugar ½ teaspoon almond extract
- Pinch of salt
- ½-¾ cup whole milk
Egg Wash
- 1 large egg beaten
For the Sweetened Whipped Cream and to Finish
- 1 ½ cups heavy whipping cream
- 3 tablespoons powdered sugar + more for dusting
Instructions
Tangzhong
- In a whisk safe pan, make your tangzhong by adding your water, flour and milk.
- Whisk on low to medium heat until the mixture thickens and is smooth.
- Place on plate, cover with plastic wrap to prevent film from forming and let cool completely.
Buns
- In a small bowl add your warm milk, a teaspoon of sugar and your yeast mix well and set aside.
- Let your yeast, milk and sugar mixture bloom for about 10 minutes, it should get foamy on top.
- You can do the following steps using a stand mixer or by hand. Add your flour, salt and sugar together in a bowl and mix until well combined.
- Add your yeast mixture into your flour mixture along with your tangzhong and butter.
- If using stand mixer, knead on medium for about 6-7 minutes until smooth. and comes up easily from the side of the bowl . If kneading by hand you may need to knead for up to 10-15 minutes until smooth. The mixture will be messy and sticky at the beginning but should come together as you knead.
- Place in a clean bowl and cover we a kitchen towel and leave to rise for an hour to 2 hours until doubles in size.
- Punch down your dough when doubled in sized and divide into 8 large or 12 smaller smell buns and cover again with a clean kitchen towel and leaf to rise for an additional 45 minutes.
Bake
- Preheat your oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit .
- Beat your egg well for your egg wash and make sure to brush your egg wash over your buns very well so that is browns evenly.
- If you divided into 12, bake for 12-16 minutes of if you divided into 8 bake for 15-20 minutes until golden brown all around.
- Let cool completely until it reaches room temperature .
Make filling and Whipped Topping
- White your buns are baking and cooling, mix all your filling ingredients together in a bowl. Mix well until a paste forms. It should not be too runny but would be moist so add more of less milk accordingly. This will be used as your filling. Place in the fridge until ready to use.
- Make whipped topping by mixing together your heavy whipping cream and powdered sugar and beat until stiff peaks form. Becareful not to overwhip.
Construct
- When buns are complete cool, cut a triangle form the centre at the top, remove a little bit of the interior and place almond filling inside the bun. Keep the triangle top
- Pipe or dollop whipped cream on top of the filling, place the triangle on top of the whipped cream and finish with a light dusting of powdered sugar.
