janolov - Posted - 03/08/2011:  03:10:03

This Tueasday, the Shrove Tuesday, all people in Sweden will eat at least one Semla. A semla is a traditional pastry made in various forms in Sweden, and other countries round the Baltic Sea: Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Denmark and Estonia. The Semla is associated with Lent and especially Shrove Tuesday (which is today).

The name semla (plural, semlor) is a loan word from German Semmel, originally deriving from the Latin semilia, which was the name used for the finest quality wheat flour or semolina. In the southernmost part of Sweden (Scania) and by the Swedish-speaking population in Finland, the pastries are known as fastlagsbulle, in Denmark and Norway they are known as fastelavnsbolle (fastlagen and fastelavn being the equivalent of Shrovetide). In Scanian, originally an Eastern Danish dialect, the feast is also called fastelann. In Finnish the pastry is known as laskiaispulla, in Latvian as debesk#363;ka, and in Estonian as vastlakukkel.

The oldest version of the semla was a plain bread bun, eaten in a bowl of warm milk. In Swedish this is known as hetvägg (literally meaning "hotwall") and originates from Middle Low German hete Weggen (hot wedges) or German heisse Wecken (hot buns).

Today, the Swedish semla consists of a cardamom-spiced wheat bun which has its top cut off and insides scooped out, and is then filled with a mix of the scooped-out bread crumbs, milk and almond paste, topped with whipped cream. The cut-off top serves as a lid and is dusted with powdered sugar. Today it is often eaten on its own, with coffee or tea. Some people still eat it in a bowl of hot milk.



The semla was originally eaten only on Shrove Tuesday, as the last festive food before Lent. However, with the arrival of the Protestant Reformation, the Swedes stopped observing a strict fasting for Lent. The semla in its bowl of warm milk became a traditional dessert every Tuesday between Shrove Tuesday and Easter. Today, semlas are available in shops and bakeries every day from shortly after Christmas until Easter. Each Swede consumes on average five bakery-produced semlas each year, in addition to all those that are homemade.

King Adolf Frederick of Sweden died of digestion problems on February 12, 1771 after consuming a meal consisting of lobster, caviar, sauerkraut, smoked herring and champagne, which was topped off by fourteen helpings of hetvägg, the king's favorite dessert.

Here is a recipe for Semla.

1. The bun

Butter ........................100 grams...............3,5 oz
Milk.............................0,3 litres ...............0,08 US gal (10 fl ounce)
yeast.......................... 75 g.......................2,6 oz
salt.............................½ teaspoon.............½ teaspoon
sugar (white)..............0,1 litre...................3,3 fl. oz
egg ..............................1..............................1
wheatflour ..................1 liter/ 600 g.............1,3 lbs
ammonium carbonate...½ teaspoon.............½ teaspoon
cardamom....................1 teaspoon .............1 teaspoon

(will give 12 – 14 buns)

Melt the butter.
Pour the melted butter in the milk.
Crumble the yeast in a bowl.
Add salt, sugar, egg and milk/butter.
Work the dough ready.
Let the dough ferment for 10 – 20 minutes (room tempoerature).
Divide the dough into 12 – 14 pieces, and shape to buns.
Let them ferment on the baking-sheet for 30 – 45 minutes
Paint the buns with a beated egg
Bake in oven 250°C / 480 °F for 5 – 10 minutes

After cooling down, cut off the top of the bun. Take out a little of the bread (make a "bowl" in the body of the bun.


2. Almond paste

almond (sweet).................100 g..............3,5 oz
powder sugar.................½ - 1 ½ dl..........2 – 5 fl oz
egg white......................½ - 1...................½ - 1
crumbed dried bread......2 dl....................7 fl oz
milk .............................. 0,75 dl............... 2,5 fl oz
cream...........................1 dl.......................3,5 fl oz


Put the almonds in boiling water and scald them. take off the peels.
Grind the almonds.
Mix the grinded almonds with the white egg.
Mix with the crumbled bread and with the crumb from the freshly-baked buns (see above), and with some cream and milk.


3. The semla

Fill the "bowl" in the bun with the almond paste.
Put whipped cream on.
Put on the hat.
Sieve some powder sugar on the semla

To eat with hot milk or cold milk, or without milk to the coffee.

OM45GE - Posted - 03/08/2011:  04:14:36

Will you be sending one to each of your friends on the BHO Jan Olov?

Ev - Posted - 03/08/2011:  05:17:22

Around here it's called Fastnacht Day.

bellaonline.com/articles/art8521.asp

Paul R - Posted - 03/08/2011:  05:55:22

For added excitement, try making Shrove Tuesday pancakes in the classroom.

For the one or two of you who didn't know, Shrove Tuesday was the day when all the foods that wouldn't/couldn't be eaten throughout Lent were used up. Eggs, butter, and other things were used in recipes and consumed on that day.

KE - Posted - 03/08/2011:  08:35:00

Mercy! I did enjoy that picture, and remembered it fondly from a previous year's posting.