KjellSnart dags för fettisdagen
madjoThat looks delicious! Would I have to celebrate fettisdagen in order to eat one? (where I live (Bergen Op Zoom in the Netherlands) we do have “Vastenavond”, but ours is usually just celebrated with too much beer and bad music, not with yummy looking pastries)
I have never heard of any celebration of fettisdagen except for eating a semla. And I can’t imaging drinking beer to a semla.
They are really yummy, I recommend to try one. You can follow this recipe if you are ambitious and want to make your own. Otherwise the Vastenavond looks close enough so you can buy the bun for them and fill with almond paste and whipped cream.
In my country Vastenavond or Carnaval is several days long, leading up to Ash Wednesday (Askonsdagen) when traditionally the 40 day fasting period before Easter starts (I think you call that Påskfastan?). People get dressed in funny ways during Vastenavond (fastings eve), they have a parade of decorated wagons on one of the days and they drink lots and lots of (festival)beer.
Eating a semla is not part of it, but it should be :)
CoelacanthIf you want a more historic version, Tasting History did an episode on semlor a few years back where he made both a modern and a traditional style. They are very different pastries, but great in their own right. The old style is a little more cumbersome to make, granted.
