Semla – Swedish Cream Pastry

Dough:

Mix all of the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl, except the butter. Warm up the milk (lukewarm), whisk in the egg and add this to the flour mix.

Work the dough on medium speed for about 5 minutes. Add the softened butter and mix until it is well blended into the dough (2 minutes). Do not be tempted to add more flour at this point.

Take the dough out, make a ball and put it in a lightly oiled bowl. Cover and let rise for about 40 minutes (in a warm place).

Pastry cream and bun filling:

Pour the milk in a small pan and start heating slowly. Meanwhile, beat together the egg, sugar, vanilla, cornstarch and salt in a bowl.

Now, when the milk is nearly boiling, lower the heat, take your bowl and with a whisk ready, pour a tablespoon of hot milk into the egg mix and whisk quickly. Add another tablespoon of hot milk, and a couple more after, always whisking.

Now, add all your egg mixture to the remaining hot milk in the pan, whisk quickly, raise the heat a little bit and keep whisking until the mixture starts to thicken. It usually takes about 4 to 5 minutes. Mix in the butter.
That’s it!

(In the unlikely event that your cream curdles, stay calm. Just give it a good mix with the blender and it will be alright.)

Take the almond paste, put it in a bowl and add a couple of tablespoons of pastry cream and whisk until the almond paste is dissolved. Add a couple more tablespoons, keep mixing until you get a texture similar to thick porridge.

Now is a good time to turn on your oven to 200 degrees Celsius.

Take your dough, work it a little bit and divide it into 8 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a nice tight ball. Place on a baking sheet, cover lightly and let it rise for 30 minutes in a warm place.

After this time, mix 1 egg white with a little milk. Brush the buns and bake for about 15 minutes, or until golden brown. Let them cool on a rack.

And here’s the fun part! Take each bun and with a small sharp knife, cut out the top of the bun, any shape you like. I went the traditional way and did triangles. Remove the cap (try to keep it intact) and scrape all the bread that’s right below the shape you cut out, meaning, don’t scrape all the crumb!

Take all those crumbs and crumble them with your hands over the bowl with the almond cream. Mix. At this point you will probably need to add a bit of milk if it’s too thick. Again, it should be similar to porridge.

Fill your pastry up to the rim with the cream, making sure it reaches everywhere inside the bun.

Prepare your whipping cream. Whip the cream with the sugar to stiff peaks. Pour it into a piping bag (or do it by hand, it will be just as good!) and pipe the cream on top of the bun (be generous). Put back the little lid on top of the whipped cream and give your buns a good sprinkling of powdered sugar.

Enjoy!