Semlor (Swedish Cardamom Buns)

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Last Updated August 11, 2024

Semlor are yeasted Swedish sweet buns filled with marzipan and whipped cream with hints of cardamom.

These buns, as I've read, are traditionally associated with Lent and eaten on Shrove Tuesday, or Fat Tuesday. You could think of them as the equivalent to Polish paczki. If you're thinking, "Wow, thanks, that helps me so much - WHAT is a paczki??" It's similar to a jelly filled doughnut (but better!!) traditionally eaten on Shrove Tuesday and pronounced poonch-key or pawnch-key (it’s much debated). There is quite a large Polish population near where I grew up, including an annual Polka Fest! Plenty of polka-ing and beer to go around. Anyway, Semlor are also eaten in various forms and under other names in other Nordic countries such as Finland, Estonia, Norway, Denmark, Lithuania, Latvia, Iceland, and the Faroe Islands.

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Recipe adapted from LondonEats

Semlor

Makes 10 buns

Ingredients:

For the Cardamom Buns

  • 1 cup / 237g milk

  • 7 Tbsp / 100g butter

  • 2 tsp / 6.3g instant yeast

  • 1/4 tsp / 1g salt

  • 1/3 cup / 40g sugar

  • 1/2 tsp / 1g ground cardamom

  • 2 eggs

  • 3 1/2 cups / 450g all-purpose flour or bread flour

  • 1 tsp / 5g water, milk, or heavy cream

For the Marzipan Filling

  • insides of the buns

  • 7 oz / 200g marzipan (make your own marzipan here!)

  • generous 3/4 cup / 195g milk

  • generous 3/4 cup / 195g heavy whipping cream

  • powdered sugar, for dusting

Directions:

Make the Cardamom Buns

Oven 390°F / 200°C. 2 baking sheets lined with parchment paper or silpat.

  1. Place milk in a small saucepan and heat until milk just begins to simmer.  Remove from heat and add butter, stirring to melt.  Once butter is completely melted and integrated, allow mixture to sit until lukewarm.  

  2. Place milk mixture, yeast, salt, sugar, cardamom, and 1 egg in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle.  Beat until all ingredients are incorporated.  Switch to the dough hook and add flour slowly on medium-low speed until a soft dough forms.  Continue to beat for several minutes on medium speed.  You should hear the dough slapping the sides of the bowl, sticking only to the bottom.  If the dough is sticking to the sides, add flour gradually until dough no longer sticks.  

  3. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead 1-2 minutes more.  Divide dough into 10 equal portions and roll into balls.  Place evenly prepared baking sheets. Cover with a cloth and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 hour.   

  4. Beat the second egg with the water and use a pastry brush or your hands to evenly brush the buns.

  5. Bake for about 15 minutes until golden brown or when internal temperature registers 185-190°F / 85-88°C.  

  6. Transfer buns to a cooling rack, cover with a towel, and allow to cool.  

Make the Marzipan Filling

Your filling may look like baby spit-up, too. And that's ok.

Your filling may look like baby spit-up, too. And that's ok.

  1. Once the buns are cool enough to handle, cut out a lid from the top using a small serrated knife. Set the lids aside.  Using a fork, scoop out the inside of each bun and place in a medium bowl.  Crumble/tear with your fingers as best you can.  Add marzipan and milk and work into a smooth paste using your hands or a fork.  

  2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip the cream until stiff peaks from.  

Assembly

  1. Fill the buns evenly with the marzipan mixture. Pipe whipped cream over the filling using a large star tip (1M) or a spoon.  

  2. Place the tops on the whipped cream, then dust tops with powdered sugar using a small sieve.  

Jenny's Notes:

  • I always knead my dough by hand for a bit after kneading it in a machine. The machine doesn't always do a perfect job and I've had instances before where I kneaded solely in the machine and had a strange dough rise as a result. A few rounds of kneading by hand fixed the problem; the yeast hadn't been distributed evenly when kneaded only by machine.

  • If you have a scale you can ensure your buns will be all the same size. Weigh the dough mass, then divide this number by 10. This will give you an idea how much each of the 10 buns should weigh. You don't have to be exact down to the gram, of course, but I would stay within 5 or so grams of this number. Divide the dough mass in 2, then divide each half into 5 equal parts. Then weigh each piece to see how accurate your eye was.

  • When you "crumble" the filling into pieces you may notice the dough is moist and hard to crumble, but tear it as best you can into small chunks. When you add the milk and marzipan the pieces will absorb the liquid and eventually come together into a smoothish mass.

  • I made my own marzipan for this recipe and used rose water. Rose is a very strong flavor, so go light, but I thought it made for a very unique pairing with almond and cardamom and very "European" tasting. Or, leave out the rose if you're skeptical and you'll still have a lovely cardamom/almond combination.

  • "Semlor" is plural, so if you would like to eat only one bun, ask for a "Semla."

Semlor (Swedish Cardamom Buns)
Yield 10
Author
Prep time
1 H & 20 M
Cook time
15 Min
Inactive time
1 Hour
Total time
2 H & 35 M

Semlor (Swedish Cardamom Buns)

Sweet, yeasted cardamom buns with a creamy marzipan filling and whipped cream topping.
Cook modePrevent screen from turning off

Ingredients

For the Cardamom Buns
For the Marzipan Filling

Instructions

Make the Cardamom Buns
  1. Oven 390°F / 200°C. 2 baking sheets lined with parchment paper or silpat.
  2. Place milk in a small saucepan and heat until milk just begins to simmer. Remove from heat and add butter, stirring to melt. Once butter is completely melted and integrated, allow mixture to sit until lukewarm.
  3. Place milk mixture, yeast, salt, sugar, cardamom, and 1 egg in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle. Beat until all ingredients are incorporated. Switch to the dough hook and add flour slowly on medium-low speed until a soft dough forms. Continue to beat for several minutes on medium speed. You should hear the dough slapping the sides of the bowl, sticking only to the bottom. If the dough is sticking to the sides, add flour gradually until dough no longer sticks.
  4. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead 1-2 minutes more. Divide dough into 10 equal portions and roll into balls. Place evenly prepared baking sheets. Cover with a cloth and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
  5. Beat the second egg with the water and use a pastry brush or your hands to evenly brush the buns.
  6. Bake for about 15 minutes until golden brown or when internal temperature registers 185-190°F / 85-88°C.
  7. Transfer buns to a cooling rack, cover with a towel, and allow to cool.
Make the Marzipan Filling
  1. Once the buns are cool enough to handle, cut out a lid from the top using a small serrated knife. Set the lids aside. Using a fork, scoop out the inside of each bun and place in a medium bowl. Crumble/tear with your fingers as best you can. Add marzipan and milk and work into a smooth paste using your hands or a fork.
  2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip the cream until stiff peaks from.
Assembly
  1. Fill the buns evenly with the marzipan mixture. Pipe whipped cream over the filling using a large star tip (1M) or a spoon.
  2. Place the tops on the whipped cream, then dust tops with powdered sugar using a small sieve.

Notes

I always knead my dough by hand for a bit after kneading it in a machine. The machine doesn't always do a perfect job and I've had instances before where I kneaded solely in the machine and had a strange dough rise as a result. A few rounds of kneading by hand fixed the problem; the yeast hadn't been distributed evenly when kneaded only by machine.If you have a scale you can ensure your buns will be all the same size. Weigh the dough mass, then divide this number by 10. This will give you an idea how much each of the 10 buns should weigh. You don't have to be exact down to the gram, of course, but I would stay within 5 or so grams of this number. Divide the dough mass in 2, then divide each half into 5 equal parts. Then weigh each piece to see how accurate your eye was.When you "crumble" the filling into pieces you may notice the dough is moist and hard to crumble, but tear it as best you can into small chunks. When you add the milk and marzipan the pieces will absorb the liquid and eventually come together into a smoothish mass.I made my own marzipan for this recipe and used rose water. Rose is a very strong flavor, so go light, but I thought it made for a very unique pairing with almond and cardamom and very "European" tasting. Or, leave out the rose if you're skeptical and you'll still have a lovely cardamom/almond combination.

Nutrition Facts

Calories

436.24

Fat

19.78 g

Sat. Fat

10.76 g

Carbs

56.25 g

Fiber

1.82 g

Net carbs

54.43 g

Sugar

18.41 g

Protein

9.08 g

Sodium

149.19 mg

Cholesterol

84.19 mg

Nutritional information is approximate. Based on one semla.

semla,semlor,cardamom buns,marzipan filling,swedish buns, yeasted bread, sweet buns
bread, breakfast, dessert
Nordic
Did you make this recipe?
Tag @jennyblogsandbakes on instagram and hashtag it #jennyblogs

Homemade Marzipan

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Last Updated: August 10, 2024

Marzipan!  That weird almond dessert that no one seems to really talk about in America, but people rave about in Europe. It really should catch on in the US, because:

  1. It tastes like almonds and is delicious

  2. It's easy to make

  3. It's fun to work with and versatile

 It can be used as filling or toppings of baked goods, and it can also be colored and molded into shapes or rolled out and used to cover cakes in a fondant fashion. Fondant has it's place, but I would rather eat a marzipan covered cake any day over a fondant cake.  

marzipan.jpg

You may have seen almond paste sold in stores, and although almond paste and marzipan are made from the same ingredients, they are not usually equal. This depends on what part of the world you call home.  In many European countries the terms marzipan and almond paste are interchangeable, in other parts, such as the US, they are different products. If they are different, as in the US, marzipan is smoother, sweeter, made with egg whites and sometimes rose water, whereas almond pasted is less sweet and has a coarser texture.  When I first started dabbling in marzipan, I used almond paste as a base to make marzipan, but now I prefer to make it from scratch.

It's so simple, as you can see for yourself!

This post may contains affiliate links. If you buy something using these links, Jennyblogs may receive a small commission, at no extra cost to you. This helps to support Jennyblogs. For further information see the privacy policy. Grazie!

Recipe adapted from La Cuochina Sopraffina

Marzipan

Makes about 280g of marzipan, or about 10 oz. 

Ingredients:

  • 125g / 1 1/3 cup almond flour or almonds

  • 125g / 1 cup powdered sugar

  • 1 egg white (about 30g)

  • 6 drops almond extract

  • 3 drops rose water, optional

Directions:

  1. If using whole almonds, place in a food processor and process until finely ground.   

  2. Process almond flour, powdered sugar, egg white, almond extract, and rose water until a thick dough forms.  If the consistency is too thin, add more powdered sugar.  

  3. Turn marzipan out onto a surface lightly dusted with powdered sugar, knead for a few seconds.  Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate until needed, or freeze.  

Jenny's Notes:

  • This recipe is very simple to adjust to the amount you need, especially if you scale/weigh your ingredients.  As you may have noticed, the almond flour to powdered sugar is a 1:1 ratio.  

  • If you are worried about eating or serving raw egg whites, be sure to buy pasteurized egg whites from the store.   

Homemade Marzipan
Yield 10
Author
Prep time
10 Min
Total time
10 Min

Homemade Marzipan

Marzipan is a versatile and tasty European almond sweet, often paired with chocolate, molded into fruit shapes, or used to cover cakes in place of fondant. Gluten and dairy free.
Cook modePrevent screen from turning off

Ingredients

Instructions

  1. If using whole almonds, place in a food processor and process until finely ground.
  2. Process almond flour, powdered sugar, egg white, almond extract, and rose water until a thick dough forms. If the consistency is too thin, add more powdered sugar.
  3. Turn marzipan out onto a surface lightly dusted with powdered sugar, knead for a few seconds. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate until needed, or freeze.

Notes

This recipe is very simple to adjust to the amount you need, especially if you scale/weigh your ingredients. As you may have noticed, the almond flour to powdered sugar is a 1:1 ratio. If you are worried about eating or serving raw egg whites, be sure to buy pasteurized egg whites from the store.

Nutrition Facts

Calories

131.15

Fat

7.44 g

Sat. Fat

0.57 g

Carbs

14.21 g

Fiber

1.86 g

Net carbs

12.35 g

Sugar

11.43 g

Protein

3.51 g

Sodium

6.80 mg

Cholesterol

0.00 mg

Nutritional information is approximate. Based on 10 servings.

marzipan, almond paste, European sweets, marzipan fruit, fondant, gluten-free, dairy-free, raw
dessert
European
Did you make this recipe?
Tag @jennyblogsandbakes on instagram and hashtag it #jennyblogs