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Swedish Semlor with Almond Cream

From: Scandinavian from Scratch: A Love Letter to the Baking of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden by Nichole Accettola (Ten Speed Press, October 2023)
Almonds

Difficulty

Hard

Ingredients
Serves: 12
For the Tangzhong
  • 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
  • ½ cup (120 g) whole milk
For the Dough
  • ¾ cup (180 g) whole milk
  • 3 cups (384 g) all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
  • 2½ tsp active dry yeast
  • 1 tsp freshly ground decorticated cardamom
  • Pinch of kosher salt
  • 1 egg
  • 1⁄3 cup (80 g) granulated sugar
  • 1⁄3 cup (76 g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
For the Filling
  • ¾ cup (220 g) almond paste
  • ½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar
  • 1 tsp kosher salt
  • ½ cup (118 g) whole milk to finish
  • 2 cups (480 g) heavy cream
  • Powdered sugar for sprinkling
Preparation
For the Tangzhong
  1. Butter a medium bowl.
  2. In a small saucepan, whisk the flour and milk so that there are no lumps. Cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, until the mixture becomes elastic, with the consistency of thick glue, about 1 minute. Transfer the mixture to the bowl of a stand mixer and let it cool completely, about 10 minutes.
For the Dough
  1. To the mixer bowl with the tangzhong, add the milk, flour, yeast, cardamom, salt, and egg. Using the dough hook, mix on low, gradually increasing the speed to medium as the ingredients are incorporated, 6 minutes. During the last minute, add the granulated sugar and mix until combined, followed by the butter, about 1 tablespoon at a time. Mix for 2 minutes more, pause to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula, and mix for 1 minute more. This will be a very wet dough. Let it rest for 5 minutes.
  2. Transfer the dough to a medium bowl. Cover it with plastic wrap and refrigerate it for at least 30 minutes, until cold, or overnight (up to 12 hours).
  3. Line two 13 by 18-inch (33 by 46 cm) baking trays with parchment paper. Lightly dust a work surface with flour. Divide the dough into twelve balls of approximately 75 g each (see Note).
  4. To form the buns, hold your hand in a relaxed claw shape, gently curling your fingers over a ball of dough. While placing very light pressure on the ball, rub your wrist and fingertips repeatedly in a circular motion against the work surface, holding the dough loosely within your palm as you feel it become rounder and smoother. Once you’re satisfied with the shape of the ball, place it on one of the prepared baking trays and repeat this forming technique with the remaining dough balls. I suggest using a bench scraper to clean the counter after each ball, as it’s much easier to roll them without traces of dough stuck to the counter. You should have six buns per baking tray, spaced a few inches (about 7 cm) apart.
  5. Cover the buns with a kitchen towel and set them in a warm and draft-free area until they are noticeably puffier, slightly dry looking, and the impression of a fingerprint is slow to fill in, 1 to 2 hours, depending on the temperature of your kitchen.
  6. When the buns are sufficiently proofed, preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C). Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, rotating the baking trays halfway through from top to bottom and front to back, until they are golden brown. Let them cool completely on a rack.
For the Filling
  1. Once the buns are cool, use kitchen scissors or a small paring knife to cut a rather large (about 1½ inches/3.5 cm on each side) triangle into the top of each bun, setting aside the “lid.” Use a fork to scrape out about 2 tablespoons of stuffing from each bun, transferring it to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Pinch off any of the crumbs adhered to the bottom of the lid and add them to the bowl as well. You should end up with about 3 cups (160 g) of brioche crumbs. Be precise here. If you don’t have enough, the mixture will be too watery, and so more crumbs would need to be scooped from the buns.
  2. Add the almond paste, sugar, and salt and mix on low. Add the milk, increasing the speed just slightly. You want the filling to come together so that it’s almost fluid and pipeable. Taste and add another pinch of salt, if desired.
  3. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip the cream on medium until soft peaks form. Transfer the whipped cream to a piping bag fitted with a star-shaped tip.
  4. Carefully spoon the almond filling into the buns, dividing it equally and filling each cavity completely. (To fill the buns more neatly, you could also transfer the filling to a second piping bag, if you have one, or a zip-top bag with one corner snipped off.) Then pipe the whipped cream over the filling. Don’t skimp on the whipped cream and make sure that you cover each hole completely. Put the lids back on and sift powdered sugar over each bun.
  5. Semlor are best enjoyed on the day they are baked.
Note
  1. To more easily portion the dough, I recommend forming three equal-size logs. Then portion each log into four pieces; it’s easier to make buns of approximately the same size this way, rather than trying to tear pieces off one large blob of dough. Because the dough is so wet, a bench scraper will make this task easier, allowing you to divide, portion, scoop, and transfer the hunks of dough.
Did you know?

In addition to almonds being a delicious ingredient in our recipes they’re also heart healthy, gut healthy, and full of vitamins and nutrients - explore Health & Nutrition to learn more. Not only that, almond farmers are dedicated to sustainability - find out how they’re Growing Good.