Easter Treats From Across The Baltic Sea

It’s Easter once again and while I love Hot Cross buns Simnel cake and all those other tasty treats that we get to eat at this time of year there is something I really love that you don’t find around here so much.  A while ago I lived in Sweden and while I was there I spent one Easter with my boyfriend’s family. Apart from gravid lax meatballs and Surströmming, herring that’s been left to ferment into a stinking fishy garnish which was originally made by burying a cran of herring in the ground and leaving it to rot for a year no-one knows much about Swedish cuisine.

But there was one thing which I ate which was one of the most delicious things I’ve ever had. I think those crafty Scandinavians are keeping it to themselves and it goes under the unassuming name of semlor. Instead of Hot Cross buns or chocolate eggs children and adults alike tuck into semlor buns, a sweet bread roll filled with almond paste and cream. If for some crazy reason you leave one long enough to go stale you can serve it in a bowl with a little milk to moisten it up a bit.

Making these tasty treats couldn’t be simpler and can be made with ingredients that you can pick up anywhere.

For the buns you will need

1 egg

50g yeast

100g butter

3 cups milk

Half a teaspoon of salt

1 teaspoon of cardamom powder

1 cup caster or powdered sugar

1 litre white flour

And for the filling you will need

Marzipan or almond paste

Milk

Whipping Cream

Plus another egg for a wash then some icing sugar to decorate when they’re done.

First of all take the egg out of the fridge, it needs to be room temperature. Then crumble the yeast into the milk, warmed to about 35 degrees stirring until it mixes in completely.

Now mix in the salt, cardamom, sugar and egg. Once they’re all combined sift in the flour a bit at a time until you get a glossy dough. You can do this by hand or use a dough hook in a food processor.

Cover with a moist towel and leave to prove for half an hour.

Give the dough another kneed and divide up into a dozen balls, put them onto baking parchment and leave them for 30 minutes again. Brush the buns with beaten egg and put them in the middle of the oven, pre-heated to 240 degrees, gas mark 8 for about 8 – 10 minutes.

Once they’re cooked put them on a cooling rack and leave for 20 minutes. Once cooled cut the tops off and scoop out the middles. Mix this with a little milk and marzipan so that it forms a paste and put it back in the bun top that with a big dollop of whipped cream and put the lid back on then dust with icing sugar.

Once you’ve done all that you’ve got to try so SO hard not to eat the whole lot all at once!

Elise Richard lives in Brighton on takeaway food and cigarettes. Before going to Sweden she went to university in Wales and lived off of Chinese takeaways in Cardiff. “Stor skillnad” as they say in Stockholm!