RESUBMITTED POSTCARD
In the HÅNDVÆRK bookazine no. 3, I wrote the following in the article ‘Postcard from the Stockholm archipelago’:
January 2021
While I was taking the photos for the article on pages 10–17, I stayed in the archipelago south of Stockholm, an island landscape that is celebrated by Stockholmers and tourists alike, and for good reason. During my first years in Stockholm I thought maybe the archipelago was a bit overrated. Honestly, this was because I missed Danish nature and landscapes, missed feeling at home. Funen’s gently rolling hills speak my language and sing my songs. The previous summer I found, to my delight, that returning to the archipelago was like coming home, and when I listened carefully, the wind sang beautiful Swedish summer songs that resonated in my heart.’
My feelings about Danish Shrovetide buns versus Swedish ‘semlor’ have followed a somewhat similar trajectory. The Danish buns are part of the tradition I grew up with; semlor are a treat I encountered in Stockholm. The difference is that I am used to having the Danish buns once or maybe twice a year during their relatively brief season, while Stockholmers turn to semlor to keep up their spirits and stave off the cold from mid January until after Lent. And, as with the Stockholm archipelago, today I love semlor. I owe this discovery to a good friend, an opera singer attached to Berwaldhallen (Swedish Radio’s Concert Hall), which is just a few hundred metres from the office I had in Stockholm’s Östermalm district. She was really good at introducing me to Swedish traditions, including semlor from the best bakery in town – and I was easily won over. Since then, semlor have gained a foothold in Copenhagen, where I now live, perhaps because they are simply yummier than Danish Shrovetide buns?
Here is my own recipe for semlor Makes 18 semlor
200 g butter
1 1/2 dl milk
25–50 g fresh yeast (depending how much time you have)
approx. 350 g wheat flour (in fact, I used closer to 450 g)
1 egg
pinch of salt
25 g cane sugar
1 tsp ground cardamom
1 beaten egg for an egg wash
Filling:
200 g shredded marzipan
½ dl milk
¼ l cream beaten to fairly stiff peaks
For sprinkling:
Icing sugar
Melt the butter and add the milk. Dissolve the yeast in the mixture.
Add salt, cardamum, sugar and egg.
Stir in wheat flour until the dough is firm enough to be hand-kneaded.
Knead into a smooth, elastic dough.
Place the dough in a bowl and cover it with a plate or a pot-lid. Leave the dough to prove at room temperature for about 30 minutes – or longer, if you used a smaller amount of yeast.
Shape the dough into 18 buns and leave them on the baking sheet to prove a second time for 20 minutes (I actually gave them 30 minutes).
Brush each bun with the beaten egg and bake for approx. 15 minutes at 200 degrees Celsius (390 degrees Fahrenheit).
Place the buns on an oven rack to cool.
When they have cooled, cut the top off each bun. Scoop out the buns, tear up the crumb and mix it with marzipan and milk. Add the milk a little at a time. The mixture should be soft but not wet.
Add the filling to the hollowed-out semlor, top with whipped cream, replace the top of each bun, like a lid, and sprinkle with icing sugar.
Enjoy!
I HÅNDVÆRK bookazine no. 3 skrev jeg i artiklen ”postkort fra Skærgården”:
Lidt på samme måde havde jeg det længe med fastelavnsboller versus semlor. Fastelavnsboller hører til i min tradition, semlor har jeg lært at kende i Stockholm. Forskellen er, at jeg er vant til fastelavnsboller en, max to gange pr. sæson, i Stockholm holder man modet oppe og kulden ude med semlor fra midt januar til efter fasten. Nå, men som det er med Skærgården, så elsker jeg nu semlor. Det skyldes en god ven, en operasanger som havde sin daglige gang i Berwaldhallen (Sveriges Radios koncertsal) få hundrede meter fra mit kontor på Östermalm, hun stak jævnligt hovedet ind, og var god til at introducere mig til det særegne svenske, således kom hun med semlor fra den absolut bedste bager i byen, og så var jeg på. Siden har semlorne indtaget København, hvor jeg er nu, måske fordi de helt enkelt er bedre end fastelavnsbollerne?
Min opskrift får du her_
Rækker til 18 stk.
200 g smør
1 1/2 dl mælk
25-50 g gær (afhængig af hvor travlt man har)
ca. 350 g hvedemel
1 æg
lidt salt
25 g rørsukker
1 tsk. stødt kardemomme
1 sammenpisket æg til at pensle med
Fyld:
200 g revet marcipan
½ dl mælk
¼ l fløde pisket til relativt hårdt skum
Drys:
Flormelis
Smelt smør og hæld mælken i. Rør gæren ud i blandingen.
Tilsæt salt, kardemomme, sukker og æg.
Rør hvedemel i, indtil dejen er så fast, at den kan æltes med hænderne.
Ælt dejen glat og smidig.
Læg dejen i en skål og dæk den til med en tallerken eller grydelåg. Lad den hæve ved stuetemperatur i ca. 30 min. eller længere, hvis mængden af gær er lille.
Form til 18 boller, lade dem efterhæve på pladen 20 minutter
Pensl bollerne med sammenpisket æg og bag ca. 15 minutter ved 200 grader
Lad bollerne køle på en rist
Når de er afkølede, skæres toppen af. Bunden udhules, og brøddejen smuldres til krummer og blandes med marcipan og mælk. Tilsæt mælken lidt ad gangen, massen skal være blød, men ikke våd.
Kom fyldet tilbage i de udhulede semlor, top med flødeskum og sæt låget på og sigt flormelis over.
Velbekomme!
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