My first introduction to semlor or Swedish lent buns was not so many years ago and it was made by a talented pastry chef. That was love at first bite. Almonds, cardamom, and light whipped cream go together, in my opinion. Cacyne has developed a variant with pistachios and whole grain flour. Enjoy!
Ingredients
Dough
3 dl (1 ¼ c.) Whole wheat pastry flour
3 dl (1 ¼ c.) All purpose flour
1½ tsp dry yeast
1 dl (½ c.) sugar
½ tsp salt
2 dl (1 c.) unsweetened soy milk
½ dl (¼ c.) soy yogurt
½ dl (¼ c.) canola oil
1 tsp cardamom, ground
Filling
150 g (5 oz) almonds
50 g (2 oz) pistachios, unsalted
1-2 bitter almonds
1 dl (½ c.) sugar, moscavado or raw can sugar
2-3 tbsp water
Topping
2 dl (1 c.) soy cream, whipped
1-3 tbsp soy milk
Icing sugar
Instructions
Dry yeast: Mix the dry yeast with all the dry ingredients in a bowl. Heat the milk and yogurt until lukewarm and pour into the bowl with oil. Mix together dry and wet until you get a dough that you can knead. Knead for about 10 minutes. Sprinkle a little flour over the dough if needed while you knead.
Fresh yeast: Heat the soy milk and soy yogurt until it is lukewarm and add sugar and yeast. Stir until dissolved and let stand for 5-10 minutes until it begins to bubble. Add remaining dry ingredients, mix together until you get a dough that you can knead. Knead for about 10 minutes. Sprinkle a little flour over the dough if needed while you knead.
Let the dough rise for about 1 ½ to 2 hours in a bowl with plastic wrap and a towel over a warm place.
Knead the dough again to get out any air bubbles and cut into 12 pieces and roll small buns. Place them on a baking tray covered in baking paper and let rise again for 30 minutes – 1hour covered with plastic wrap and towel again in a warm place. Preheat the oven to 200° C (400° F).
Brush them with a little soy milk and bake in the oven for about 8-12 minutes, depending on your oven. Remove when nicely browned and let cool before cutting off the top and scooping out the bottom part to fill it.
Soak the almonds and pistachios overnight or in boiling water for about 1 hour. Mix in a food processor until smooth. If you only have salted pistachios, you can peel them and cook them quickly in water, rinse them and let cool. Run them then in a food processor with remaining ingredients.
Mix the crumbs from the buns that you have scooped out with almond paste and a few tablespoons of soy milk. Fill the buns with this “paste” and pipe the whipped soy cream and put the top on. Dust with icing sugar.