Semla Recipe

I've rarely been so captivated by a recipe as I was when I first saw semla on Viola Minerva's instagram. Whether it was her breathtaking photography or her description of kids sledding downhills on Shrove Sunday, the coming inside to these buns, I'm not sure. But I made a batch immediately, which were a complete flop. I set aside my other plans for the day to try again at these airy, fragrant, cardamom-spiced buns. I took a special trip to the story for almonds and raspberry jam, and whipped cream. And a love that may have started from a photograph or a story progressed to a true love for a delicious, decadent, but still light and lovely recipe that fully encapsulates #thatwinterspringthing.

With my love for these little buns blooming, I was lucky enough to get Chef Mikko as a guest on the podcast. As a Finnish-born chef who first worked at a family restaurant in Stockholm Sweden, Chef Mikko was the perfect person to tell us all about the differences between Finnish and Swedish semla. Each year, he and his Swedish pastry chef hold a competition to see which sells more - the Finnish or Swedish versions. I'm absolutely thrilled that I can share his recipe for these lovely cardamom buns with you all today!

A few notes on the recipe:

This makes a HUGE batch - about 24 massive buns (measuring 110g) or up to 72 mini buns (about 34g each).

Chef Mikko gave me his ingredient list. I used a method that was a mixture of guessing and research that seemed to work well.

Chef Mikko says the most important thing is to allow ample time for the buns to rise. I emphatically agree. I never made the buns fresh. All 3 times I made them, the dough came from the fridge. The formed buns had barely risen after an entire hour. Several hours later, they had more than doubled in size and the resulting cooked buns were airy.
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Episodes Related to The Semla Recipe

Episode 106: Chef Mikko and His Fat Tuesday Semla Competition

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Semla Recipe

5 from 1 vote

Recipe by Chef Mikko Kosonen + Guest of The Storied Recipe Podcast Difficulty: Medium

Servings

24

servings

Prep time

4

hours 

Cooking time

15

minutes

Total time

4

hours 

15

minutes

The airy, fragrant, cardamom-spiced buns have hidden pockets of almond paste or jam and are piled high with whipped cream.

Cook Mode

Keep the screen of your device on

Ingredients

• Ingredients

• 4 ¼ cups 4 ¼ milk

• 1.4 oz 1.4 dry yeast

• 12 oz 12 melted butter

• 4 4 eggs

• 1 ¾ cups 1 ¾ caster sugar

• 1 1 -2 teaspoon salt

• 1.5 tablespoon 1.5 ground cardamom

• 13.5 cups 13.5 white flour

• For the Swedish Semla Recipe

• Almond paste – one small container was plenty

• Powdered sugar

• Whipping cream

• For the Finnish Semla

• Raspberry or Strawberry Jam

• Whipping cream

Directions

• Dissolve the sugar in the milk over heat. Do not allow the milk to boil. Allow the mixture to cool until you can withstand testing the heat with your finger for several seconds. (You don’t want to kill the yeast!) When cool enough, add the yeast to the milk. Let sit for a few minutes.
• Meanwhile, melt the butter and allow to cool for a minute or two. Add the eggs. Add the egg/butter mixture to the milk/sugar/yeast mixture.
• Add the salt, cardamom, and flour. Run in a mixture with a dough hook or knead until smooth and only slightly sticky.
• Cover the dough and let rise until doubled in size. You can refrigerate the dough at this point, but be aware it will take the buns a very long time to rise if you do.
• Weigh your buns. I used 110 grams for very large buns and 35 grams for smaller buns. (I prefer the smaller as the large are very difficult to eat.)
• Roll each bun until smooth. Let buns rise until doubled. You will really be able to see the lightness. Use a pastry brush to brush each bun with an egg wash.
• Bake at 425 for about 15 minutes, depending on the size.
• For the Swedish Version
• Cut off the tops of each bun.
• Scoop out a pocket of bread. Preserve the breadcrumbs.
• Mix the bread crumbs with almond paste – to taste. I used a food processor. Add in enough whipped cream to moisten and make it all hold together.
• Refill the pockets with the almond paste mixture.
• Cut each top into a triangle.
• Replace each top.
• Sprinkle powdered sugar on top.
• For the Finnish Version
• While baking, whip the cream.
• Cut the top off each bun.
• Spread a generous amount of jam onto each bun.
• Top with whipped cream.
• Replace the top.

Notes

• Make sure to listen to Chef Mikko Kosonen on The Storied Recipe Podcast, Chef Mikko and His Fat Tuesday Semla Competition while you make his Semla recipe!
• This recipe can make 24 large buns or 72 small buns!

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