These semlor with cardamom flavor, almond paste filling, and whipped cream frosting are delicious Lent buns that you can make at home. The buns are very moist and soft and the filling can be sweetened to your taste.
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What is semla?
Semlor (plural in Swedish) or semla (singular) is a cardamom bun filled with almond paste filling, topped with whipped heavy cream, and dusted with powdered sugar before serving. It’s traditionally served during Fat Tuesday (also known as Mardi Gras, Shrove Tuesday, or Pancake day) in Sweden, Finland, Norway, Estonia, Latvia, and other countries.
In different countries, the buns can have slightly different fillings or can be served in a bowl of warm sweetened milk. The recipe you’re about to read is a modern version of the Fat Tuesday bun that you can find everywhere in Sweden on this day of the year.
Ingredients and substitutes
Flour – Use bread flour to make this semla recipe.
Yeast – The instant yeast that I use is osmotolerant, which means that it can tolerate a large amount of sugar and salt in the dough. If you can’t find one in your store then you can use regular instant yeast, but the proofing time may be a bit longer. You can also use active dry yeast instead if you hydrate it in warm milk before using it for pre-fermented dough.
Milk – Use lukewarm whole milk to make our Swedish cardamom buns.
Sugars and salt – Use white granulated sugar for the buns and powdered sugar to make almond filling and frosting. You’ll also want to add some salt to your dough as well as to the almond paste for flavor balance.
Butter – The unsalted butter for the dough should be at room temperature.
Almonds – The easiest way to make an almond paste is to use almond flour or ground almonds. If you feel adventurous, you can use whole almonds instead. You can remove the skin from them if you want, or you can toast them before blending them with the rest of the ingredients. You can control how chunky your paste will be. Overall, using whole almonds will give you more control over the final product. I like my almond paste to be very smooth, so I don’t mind using almond flour to save some time.
Heavy cream – You can replace it with whole milk, any plant-based milk, or even water. I use heavy cream because I think it adds creaminess and a nice flavor to the almond filling. You will also need heavy whipping cream (cold) for the final frosting.
Cardamom – Ground cardamom should be added to the dough, but I like to add it to my almond paste as well.
Vanilla – Vanilla extract is optional and you don’t have to add it to the filling.
Cooking tips
Don’t overbake your Fat Tuesday buns. It’s so sad when you take a bite just to discover that the bun is dry and crumbly! To avoid this, you should not overbake them. The buns are baked at high temperatures and need only 10-12 minutes to be baked through.
Don’t overwhip the heavy cream. The best way to whip heavy cream is to start slow and increase the speed of your mixer gradually. Then, the air bubbles trapped inside the mixture will be smaller and the same size. It will create a very silky, stable frosting. Also, it’s better to stop your mixer often to check the consistency than to leave your mixture unattended. Once you see stable peaks have formed, stop whipping and start piping.
Adjust the sweetness. The truth is that everyone that I know likes semlor with different filling consistencies and levels of sweetness. Therefore, you should try to find your sweet spot with these buns, especially when it comes to almond paste and whipped cream. I suggest you add sugar gradually to your almond mixture and try it after pulsing several times with the rest of the ingredients. Same with the whipped cream – I like it to be sweetened with a small amount of powdered sugar but others like it unsweetened. Be adventurous in your kitchen and find what you like best.
Step by step directions
For the buns
1. In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine all pre-fermented dough ingredients. Place in a warm place for 1 hour.
2. When it has doubled in volume, add the bread flour, milk, sugar, cardamom, and salt and place it in a stand mixer fitted with a hook attachment. Knead on medium for 3 minutes or until the dough looks more homogenous and pulls easily from the sides of the bowl but still sticks to your hands.
3. Add the butter one tablespoon at a time and knead until it’s completely incorporated. When all the butter is in, knead the dough for 10-12 minutes on medium until it pulls away from the sides of the bowl and you can stretch a small piece of it into a square, creating a film thin enough for light to pass through.
4. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and leave it at room temperature to proof for 1.5 to 2 hours or until it doubles in volume.
5. Punch down the dough and remove it onto a working surface. Divide the dough into 10 pieces and form balls. Place them on two lined parchment paper baking sheets, leaving at least 2” (5cm) in between. Cover them with plastic wrap and leave them at room temperature to proof for 1 hour or until doubled in volume.
6. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 390F (200C).
7. Brush the buns with the egg wash and bake for 10-12 minutes or until puffed up and golden brown.
8. Remove from the oven onto a cooling rack to cool down completely before filling with the almond paste and frosting.
For the almond paste filling
1. In a blender or food processor, add all almond paste ingredients. Blend to a smooth and pipeable consistency.
2. Place the paste in a piping bag, cut off the tip, and fill the buns.
Assembling semlor
1. Using a small sharp knife, cut out a round lid from the top of each bun and carefully pull it out without breaking it. Then, take a teaspoon or a fork and remove a little bit of crumb from the middle of each bun to create space for the filling.
2. Pipe the almond paste into the buns.
3. Whip the heavy cream with a little bit of powdered sugar to stiff peaks and place it in a piping bag fitted with the nozzle of your choice.
4. Pipe the whipped cream on top of your buns like you would do with cupcakes, covering the almond paste completely. Place the round bun lids on top of the frosting hats, dust everything with powdered sugar, and serve!
Possible variations
Chunky filling and different types of almonds – To add some texture to your Swedish semla, make the almond paste from whole almonds and don’t pulse them too much in your blender to leave some chunks in it. You can also chop up some extra whole sweet almonds (or use bitter almonds) and add them to your almond flour paste before assembling the buns.
Vanilla cream – If you don’t like a strong almond flavor, you can fill your semlor buns with pastry vanilla cream. You can take the recipe for it from my Profiteroles blog post.
Chocolate – Use Chocolate ganache to fill the buns instead of almond filling.
Possible decorations – Raw or toasted almond petals will look amazing on the whipped cream frosting. Another great way to decorate these Swedish semla buns is to sprinkle the final product with crushed pistachios or walnuts.
FAQ
Assembled semlor must be stored in an air-tight container in the fridge for up to 4 days. The buns without filling can be stored in a closed plastic bag at room temperature for up to 1 week. The filling can be stored in an air-tight container in the fridge for up to 4 days.
You can freeze them for up to 2 months. Thaw in the fridge overnight before assembling. However, the best option is to shape the dough buns and freeze them unbaked. You can then thaw them in the fridge overnight and proof them at room temperature before baking.
You can use a hand mixer with a hook attachment or knead the dough by hand.
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Recipe card
Semlor
Equipment
- Digital kitchen scale
- Stand mixer or hand mixer with a hook attachment and a large mixing bowl
- Stand blender or a food processor
- Piping bags
- Piping nozzle
- Parchment paper
Ingredients
Pre-fermented dough
- 100 g bread flour
- 100 ml whole milk lukewarm
- 7 g instant yeast osmotolerant
Final dough
- Pre-fermented dough
- 200 g bread flour
- 100 ml whole milk at room temperature
- 60 g white granulated sugar
- 5 g ground cardamom
- 50 g unsalted butter at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon salt
- Egg wash optional (1 egg whisked with 1 tablespoon water in a bowl)
Almond filling
- 200 g almond flour
- 150 g powdered sugar more or less if desired
- 1 teaspoon ground cardamom
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 14 tablespoon heavy cream more or less if needed
Frosting
- 400 ml heavy whipping cream cold
- 1 tablespoon powdered sugar more or less if desired
- Powdered sugar for serving
Instructions
For the buns
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine all pre-fermented dough ingredients. Place in a warm place for 1 hour (I use the oven with the lights turned on).
- When it has doubled in volume, is bubbly, and has an acidic smell, add the bread flour, milk, sugar, cardamom, and salt and place it in a stand mixer fitted with a hook attachment. Knead on medium for 3 minutes or until the dough looks more homogenous and pulls easily from the sides of the bowl but still sticks to your hands.
- Then add the butter one tablespoon at a time and knead until it’s completely incorporated. When all the butter is in, knead the dough for 10-12 minutes on medium until it pulls away from the sides of the bowl and you can stretch a small piece of it into a square, creating a film thin enough for light to pass through (windowpane test). The dough won’t stick to your hands anymore and it will look hydrated, silky, and smooth.
- Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and leave it at room temperature to proof for 1.5 to 2 hours, depending on how warm it is in your kitchen, or until it doubles in volume.
- Punch down the dough and remove it onto a working surface. If it sticks, dust it with a little bit of flour. Divide the dough into 10 pieces (approximately 60g each) and form balls. Place them on two lined parchment paper baking sheets, leaving at least 2” (5cm) in between. Cover them with plastic wrap and leave them at room temperature to proof for 1 hour or until doubled in volume.
- Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 390F (200C).
- Brush the buns with the egg wash (optional) and bake for 10-12 minutes or until puffed up and golden brown.
- Remove from the oven onto a cooling rack to cool down completely before filling with the almond paste and frosting.
Almond paste
- In a blender or food processor, add all almond paste ingredients. Blend to a smooth and pipeable consistency. If needed, adjust the amount of heavy cream to reach the right consistency. Sweetness can be adjusted to your taste.
- Place the paste in a piping bag, cut off the tip, and fill the buns.
Assembling
- Using a small sharp knife, cut out a round lid from the top of each bun and carefully pull it out without breaking it. Then, take a teaspoon or a fork and remove a little bit of crumb from the middle of each bun to create space for the filling.
- Pipe the almond paste into the buns.
- Whip the heavy cream with a little bit of powdered sugar to stiff peaks (don’t overwhip!) and place it in a piping bag fitted with the nozzle of your choice.
- Pipe the frosting on top of your buns like you would do with cupcakes, covering the almond paste completely. Place the round bun lids on top of the frosting hats, dust everything with powdered sugar, and serve!
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