Ingredients
Buns
- 500 gplain flour
- 220 mlmilk
- 80 gbutter, softened
- 70 gsugar
- 1egg
- 10 ginstant yeast
- 1 tspsalt
- 2 tspfreshly ground cardamom
Filling
- 150 gmarzipan or almond paste
- a little milk
- 400 mldouble cream
- 1 tbspicing sugar
To finish
- 1egg, beaten
- icing sugar
To serve
- after bean soup, on Shrove Tuesday
Directions
- Warm the milk to blood heat and mix it with the yeast. Add the flour, sugar, salt, egg and cardamom and mix to a dough. Knead 5 minutes, then work in the softened butter a piece at a time. Add the butter after the gluten has started to form, or it coats the flour and the dough never develops properly.
- Knead 10 minutes in total until smooth and elastic. Prove for about an hour until doubled. Divide into 12 and roll each into a tight ball. Roll them tight, cupping your palm over the dough and moving it in circles on the surface, which builds surface tension and gives a high round bun rather than a flat one.
- Set them well apart on lined trays and prove 40 minutes. Brush the tops with beaten egg. Bake at 220°C (430°F) for 10 to 12 minutes until golden. Do not overbake them, since a dry bun is not rescued by cream.
- Cool them completely on a rack. They must be cold before filling, or the cream melts on contact. Cut the lid at a slight angle, which is traditional and makes it sit better afterwards. Scoop out a little of the crumb from the base to make room.
- Mash the marzipan with a little milk and the scooped crumb into a soft paste and spread it in the base. Using the bun’s own crumb in the paste stops it being cloyingly sweet, which is the same trick as in a Swedish semla.
- Whip it properly firm. Soft cream slumps out of the sides within minutes and the bun has to hold its shape on a plate. Set the lid on top at an angle and dust heavily with icing sugar.
- Assemble them as close to eating as possible. The bun softens under the cream within an hour or two, so they are filled shortly before serving. Serve them after the soup, with coffee. Estonian bakeries sell them for the weeks around Shrove Tuesday and then stop, which is part of what makes them a marker of the season.
Technique
- The sledding custom for a good flax harvest is genuine folk practice.
- Bean or pea soup with trotters is the fixed first course of the day.
- Semla and laskiaispulla are the Swedish and Finnish equivalents.
Substitutions
- Jam in place of marzipan.
- Ground cardamom if whole pods are unavailable, using more.
Variations
- Filled with cream alone.
- With jam beneath the cream.
- With the marzipan filling, closer to a semla.
History
Cream and cardamom bun eaten on Shrove Tuesday, when Estonian children also go sledding to ensure a good flax harvest.
Frequently asked questions
What is Vastlakukkel?
Vastlakukkel is a dessert from Estonia: whipped-cream bun for Shrove Tuesday, after bean soup. Cream and cardamom bun eaten on Shrove Tuesday, when Estonian children also go sledding to ensure a good flax harvest.
How long does Vastlakukkel take to make?
Vastlakukkel takes 40 min plus 2 hr rising of preparation and 15 min of cooking. The recipe makes 12 buns. It is rated medium to make.
What can I substitute in Vastlakukkel?
Yes, within limits. Jam in place of marzipan. Ground cardamom if whole pods are unavailable, using more.
What is the most important thing to get right in Vastlakukkel?
Warm the milk to blood heat and mix it with the yeast. Add the flour, sugar, salt, egg and cardamom and mix to a dough. Knead 5 minutes, then work in the softened butter a piece at a time. Add the butter after the gluten has started to form, or it coats the flour and the dough never develops properly.
