Ingredients
Dough
- 500 gplain flour
- 7 ginstant yeast
- 250 mlwarm milk
- 75 gsugar
- 100 gbutter, softened
- 1egg
- 1 tspground cardamom
- ½ tspsalt
Pastry cream
- 300 mlmilk
- 3egg yolks
- 60 gsugar
- 25 gcornflour
- 1vanilla pod
To finish
- 300 mldouble cream
- 1 tbspicing sugar
- 150 gicing sugar with 2 tbsp water, for glaze
- cocoa or colouring
Directions
- Make the pastry cream first so that it has time to chill. Infuse the milk with the vanilla, whisk the yolks with the sugar and cornflour, temper, and cook it out a full minute past thickening. Film the surface and refrigerate.
- Warm the milk to blood heat, whisk in the yeast and sugar, and leave it 10 minutes until frothy.
- Mix it into the flour with the egg, cardamom and salt, then knead for 8 minutes.
- Work in the softened butter a piece at a time and knead for 5 minutes more, until smooth and glossy.
- Cardamom is the Danish signature in a sweet dough and it goes in generously. Left out, the bun reads as generic.
- Cover and prove for about 1 hour 30 minutes, until doubled.
- Divide into twelve, shape into tight balls, and prove them on trays for a further 45 minutes.
- Bake at 200°C (400°F) for 12 to 15 minutes, until golden.
- Cool them completely before filling. Warm buns melt whipped cream on contact and it runs straight out.
- Cut a lid off each bun, or split them, and pipe in a spoonful of pastry cream and a spoonful of whipped cream.
- Replace the lid and glaze the top with icing, coloured or plain.
- Eat them the same day. They are a Fastelavn treat, made for the Sunday before Lent when Danish children dress up and beat the barrel.
- The Swedish semla is a close cousin and not the same thing: it carries almond paste as well as cream and wears its lid rather than a glaze.
Technique
- Fill them as close to serving as you can. The cream softens the crumb within a couple of hours.
- Grind the cardamom yourself from pods if you can. Pre-ground loses most of its scent within weeks.
- The glaze is often coloured brightly, which is a modern bakery habit rather than an old one.
Substitutions
- Shop-bought vanilla custard in place of pastry cream, thickened if it is loose.
- A vanilla pod’s worth of extract, added off the heat.
Variations
- With jam as well as cream.
- Made as a laminated pastry bun rather than a soft one, which is now common in Copenhagen.
- With a chocolate glaze rather than white icing.
History
Eaten at Danish Fastelavn, when children dress up and beat the barrel on the Sunday before Lent.
Frequently asked questions
What is Fastelavnsbolle?
Fastelavnsbolle is a bread & pastry from Denmark: cream-filled bun eaten before Lent, iced on top. Eaten at Danish Fastelavn, when children dress up and beat the barrel on the Sunday before Lent.
How long does Fastelavnsbolle take to make?
Fastelavnsbolle takes 40 min plus 2 hr 15 min rising of preparation and 25 min of cooking. The recipe makes 12 buns. It is rated medium to make.
What can I substitute in Fastelavnsbolle?
Yes, within limits. Shop-bought vanilla custard in place of pastry cream, thickened if it is loose. A vanilla pod’s worth of extract, added off the heat.
What is the most important thing to get right in Fastelavnsbolle?
The Swedish semla is a close cousin and not the same thing: it carries almond paste as well as cream and wears its lid rather than a glaze.
