Recipe: Swedish Semlor

I love Sweden.

During Lent, instead of giving things up, they indulge in these delicious almond paste filled buns.  Really.  How can you get better than that?

I make my dough in the bread machine, and it is super easy.  This is one recipe that I don't try to make all healthy with whole wheat flour and flax seed.  I just let it be what it is... indulgence.  And fantastic.

So, enjoy a semla today!

Swedish Semlor

For the rolls:
1 c skim milk
1/2 c melted butter
2 Tbsp sugar
1 egg
~3 1/2 c all purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
~1 1/2 tsp yeast
egg wash for the rolls


For the filling:
~200 g almond paste
~2/3 c milk
bread from the insides of the rolls (this will make sense)

whipped cream (fresh preferred, but I tend to use the canned Redi-whip...)
cinnamon to sprinkle on top.

Combine ingredients for dough (except the egg wash) in the bread machine (or make the dough by hand or in your stand mixer) and set to dough setting. After the first rise, punch dough down and remove from bread machine.

This dough is beautiful... I'm sure the egg and all the butter makes it that way....

20 even balls... I even weighed them.  About 45 g each.

Preheat oven to 400 F.  Separate dough into 20 equal small pieces.  On a lightly floured surface, roll each piece into a ball.  Place on a baking sheet, and let rise under a towel for about 20 minutes.  Brush with egg wash and bake about 15 minutes.  Remove from oven and let cool under a towel.

All baked and ready...

When the rolls are cool, cut the top off of each one.  Hollow the rolls out, putting the innards in a food processor (or a bowl) and combine with the almond paste and enough milk to form a paste.  Keep the "caps" of the rolls.

Hollow this out.  Do not throw out the bread you remove.  Use it in the filling.

10g of almond paste per roll, plus roll "innards," plus a splash of milk...

Mmmmm... filling...

My flash is acting wonky, but put the filling in the hollow roll.

Fill each roll with a couple tablespoons of the filling.  Fill the rest of the roll with whipped cream, top with the "cap," followed by more whipped cream.  Sprinkle with cinnamon and serve.

(My Swedish family likes to serve them in a bowl of warmed milk.  It's delicious)