There is a wonderful tradition in Sweden of eating buns for all occasions. All sorts of buns are available. I once tried to make Swedish Semla, which is a spiced bun made for lent that is filled with almond paste and cream. My yeast skills weren’t very good then and I ended up with a big horrible sticky mess that took hours to clean off the bench top! I’ve made several Swedish style buns since then, but much simpler than the semla. I decided to make some Swedish buns for Easter and thought that the cute “Bunny Bread” image being shared around Facebook would be a good idea. As we all later found out, the bunnies were actually made with a biscuit dough, but we had a good laugh at some of the not-quite-bunnies that were produced, including my “guinea pigs”.
I decided to have another go, but this time with a more traditional style bun – shells (or snails). These are traditionally topped with flaked or chopped almonds or Pearl sugar. Pearl sugar is a bigger sugar crystal that doesn’t melt in the oven, so it is sweet and crunchy on top of the bun. It can be bought online, but I didn’t have time. Instead we made plain and almond ones (high salicylates and amines). The base dough can be used for all sorts of buns – plain, filled, etc.. I used a vanilla filling this time, but you can use anything as the filling. I adapted the bun recipe from a booklet called “Bullfest, Baka Godare Bullar Med Kaffegrädde”, which means “Bun Party, Bake Better Buns with Coffee Cream”. Coffee cream is a 10-12% fat cream that is used for coffee drinking (hence the name), but as we don’t have that here I just substituted for a combination of milk and pure cream.
Basic Swedish Bun Dough
Print recipe
| Serves | 24-30 |
| Prep time | 2 hours |
| Cook time | 10 minutes |
| Total time | 2 hours, 10 minutes |
| Allergy / Intolerance | Amines, Artificial Addititives, Artificial Colours, Glutamates, Preservatives, Salicylates |
| Suitable for | RPAH Elimination Diet - Low Chemical / Failsafe |
| Meal type | Sweet Things |
| Misc | Freezable, Pre-preparable, Serve Cold, Serve Warm |
| Occasion | Easter, Special Occasions |
| Region | Swedish |
Ingredients
- 4.5 teaspoons Lowan's Dried Instant Yeast (or equivalent)
- 150g butter
- 80ml pure cream (45% fat)
- 220ml milk
- 4 tablespoons white sugar
- 4 cups plain white flour (or half wholemeal)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 egg
- 1 egg (for brushing)
Directions
| 1. | Place the yeast into a large bowl. |
| 2. | Melt the butter in a saucepan, then add the cream and milk and warm it to 37°C. |
| 3. | Pour the milk mixture over the yeast and mix in well. Allow to sit for 5 minutes. |
| 4. | Sift the flour. |
| 5. | Add the sugar, 1 egg and most of the flour. Mix until you have a smooth dough. |
| 6. | Leave it to rest covered with a clean tea towel for about 30 minutes. The dough is ready when it bounces back after being lightly touched. |
| 7. | Knead the dough in a mixer or on a floured board until it is smooth. |
| 8. | Make the required buns and let them rise for 30 to 40 minutes. |
| 9. | Lightly beat the egg, and brush the tops of the buns. |
| 10. | Bake in the middle of the oven at 250°C for 5 to 10 minutes. |
Note
Low Chemical / Failsafe
Swedish Vanilla Shells (Vaniljsnäckar)
| Serves | 30 |
| Prep time | 2 hours |
| Cook time | 5 minutes |
| Total time | 2 hours, 5 minutes |
| Allergy / Intolerance | Amines, Artificial Addititives, Glutamates, Preservatives, Salicylates |
| Suitable for | RPAH Elimination Diet - Low Chemical / Failsafe |
| Meal type | Sweet Things |
| Misc | Child Friendly, Freezable, Pre-preparable, Serve Cold, Serve Warm |
| Occasion | Easter, Special Occasions |
| Region | Swedish |
Ingredients
- 1 Quantity Swedish Basic Bun Dough (Refer to recipe)
- 75g butter
- 4 tablespoons icing sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla sugar (Refer to recipe)
- 1 egg (lightly beaten)
Optional
- Chopped or flaked almonds
- Pearl sugar
Directions
| 1. | Prepare the filling by creaming the butter, icing sugar and vanilla sugar. |
| 2. | After kneading the bun dough, divide it into two pieces. |
| 3. | Roll out one piece of dough to a rectangle approximately 20 x 30cm long. |
| 4. | Spread the dough with half of the filling. |
| 5. | Roll the dough up from the long side, making sure it is firm and level. |
| 6. | Cut the log into 2cm pieces and place onto a lined baking tray. |
| 7. | Repeat with the second piece of dough. |
| 8. | Allow the buns to rise for 30 - 40 minutes, then brush with egg and (optionally) sprinkle with the pearl sugar or almonds. |
| 9. | Bake in the middle of the oven at 250°C for approximately 5 minutes, until golden. |
| 10. | Cool slightly on the tray then transfer to a wire rack. Can be served while warm or completely cooled. |
| 11. | Store in airtight container or freeze once the buns have cooled completely. |
Note
Low Chemical / Failsafe, High Amines and Salicylates
Refer to the recipes for the Basic Swedish Bun Dough and Vanilla Sugar.
Almonds are High in Amines and Salicylates.
Pearl sugar is a coarse sugar crystal that doesn't melt when put in the oven. It can be purchased online, but I don't know what the salicylate content is.
YUMMY!! 🙂