{"id":8304,"date":"2026-10-19T15:18:48","date_gmt":"2026-10-19T06:18:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/parade.kyoto\/?post_type=sweetlore&p=8304"},"modified":"2026-10-31T18:49:36","modified_gmt":"2026-10-31T09:49:36","slug":"semla","status":"publish","type":"sweetlore","link":"https:\/\/parade.kyoto\/en\/sweetlore\/semla\/","title":{"rendered":"Semla"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Lift the cut-off lid of the bun, and you find an almond filling hidden beneath white whipped cream. The semla is a sweet made from a yeast-leavened bun and is popular in Sweden from winter into spring. Today the most common form is a lavish bun eaten by hand, but the older hetv\u00e4gg, eaten in a deep dish of warm milk, also lives on. Neighboring countries also have celebratory sweets eaten before the fast. Their forms and customs differ: some are buns filled with jam, and others are choux pastries eaten on a Monday.<\/p>\n

\n\"A\n
A semla on a plate (March 5, 2025). The cut-off lid of the bun has been placed back on top of the white cream. The source does not state where the photo was taken. Photo: Rose Abrams \/ Wikimedia Commons<\/a> \/ CC BY 4.0<\/a>. Reduced-size version obtained from Commons. No content alterations or cropping.<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

A yeast bun made from a starter dough and a main dough<\/h2>\n

When the dough is made in 2 stages, a starter dough of yeast, milk, flour and other ingredients is made first and left to rise. Butter, eggs, cardamom and other ingredients are then added, and the main dough is kneaded. The dough is divided into rounds and left to rise again, so the process differs from that of scones<\/a>, which rise quickly with a leavening agent. The soft bun is filled with almonds, and whipped cream is added on top.<\/p>\n

In Lisa Lemke’s recipe (ingredient proportions and method) published by Visit Sweden, the Swedish tourism board, the starter dough is kneaded by machine for about 5 minutes and left at room temperature for about 30 minutes to double in size. The main dough ingredients are added and kneaded for about 10 minutes. The dough is then divided into pieces of about 70 grams each, left to double in size again, and baked. The degree of rising, and not only the time, indicates when each stage is complete.<\/p>\n

Almond pieces and white cream<\/h2>\n

The top of the round baked bun is cut off, the center is hollowed out slightly, and an almond filling is put in. Whipped cream is piped on top, the lid is put back, and the bun is dusted with powdered sugar. Beneath the cream visible from the outside lies a filling rich in almond flavor.<\/p>\n

Fillings range from smooth pastes to versions with pieces left in. In one example, coarsely chopped roasted almonds with their skins on are added to almond paste, and the consistency is adjusted with milk; this gives a fine paste and the crunch of almond pieces at the same time. In hetv\u00e4gg, which is set in warm milk, the bun absorbs even more liquid, so the bread holds more moisture than in a semla eaten by hand.<\/p>\n

A bun of fine flour and \u201cFat Tuesday\u201d<\/h2>\n

The name semla derives from the Latin simila<\/em>, meaning fine wheat flour. It was not a cream-topped sweet like today’s from the beginning; the word originally referred to bread. The last 3 days before the fast formed a festive period of Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, and in Sweden the final Tuesday is called \u201cFat Tuesday,\u201d fettisdagen<\/em>. It was a day for eating whatever meat and fat were available before entering the period of abstinence before Easter. White wheat flour, sugar and whipped cream were not everyday ingredients in rural households, and this is also one of the factors that separate the milk buns of the past from today’s lavish individual bun. Today the semla has expanded into a seasonal product sold from around Christmas until Easter.<\/p>\n

Hetv\u00e4gg, eaten soaked in warm milk<\/h2>\n

Nordiska museet (the Nordic Museum) describes hetv\u00e4gg, served in a deep dish of warm milk, as an 18th-century sweet of the upper classes. The name hetv\u00e4gg<\/em> comes from the German for \u201chot wedge.\u201d At the time, it was flavored with caraway and eaten in a bowl of warm milk. There is also an anecdote that the Swedish king Adolf Fredrik died after eating too many of them on Shrove Tuesday in 1771. The museum explains that oysters, lobster, sauerkraut and other dishes were also on the table that evening, and that the king suffered an attack after the lavish meal.<\/p>\n

In the hetv\u00e4gg recipe of the dairy company Arla, the inside scooped out of the bun is mixed with milk, grated almond paste and almonds and returned to the hollow. Visit Sweden’s recipe does not specify returning the crumb, so fillings under the same name also differ. In Arla’s version, the bun is finished with its lid and powdered sugar before being placed in a deep dish, and warm milk is poured in when it is served. Cinnamon is sometimes sprinkled over the milk. Milk is thus used at different stages: kneaded into the dough, used to adjust the consistency of the filling, and poured into the dish.<\/p>\n

\n\"A\n
A semla served with warm milk as a dish of hetv\u00e4gg (February 15, 2024). Milk has been poured around the bun. Photo: Sinikka Halme \/ Wikimedia Commons<\/a> \/ CC BY-SA 4.0<\/a>. Reduced-size version obtained from Commons. No content alterations or cropping by us.<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

From an almond filling to an added layer of cream<\/h2>\n

In the 19th century, buns filled with almond paste became widespread. Raisins or candied citrus were sometimes added to the buns placed in milk. The name \u201cFat Tuesday bun,\u201d which spread in the mid-19th century in place of hetv\u00e4gg, also preserves the link to the pre-fast table. The name semla became common around 1900.<\/p>\n

The way cream was used also changed. In Hemmets kokbok of 1903, almonds are ground with sugar and combined with firmly whipped cream and the inside of the bun to make the filling. A 1905 cookbook from Idun also includes a method of mixing cream into the filling. The white cream was not a separate, thick layer from the beginning.<\/p>\n

In Vardagsmat med helgdagsmak of 1939, a version appears in which cream is piped on top of the almonds and dusted with powdered sugar. Cream became widespread after the First World War, and from the 1930s through the mid-20th century, the form of bun, almonds and white whipped cream layered together became established. In Sweden, where wartime rationing continued until 1951, cookbooks of the 1950s list serving it with warm milk or cold milk, as well as with coffee or tea. It was a period in which a dish eaten with warm milk and a sweet for the coffee or tea table overlapped.<\/p>\n

The semmelwrap, born in 2015 and rolled in a thin dough<\/h2>\n

The semmelwrap, launched in 2015 by T\u00f6ssebageriet in Stockholm, is a sweet in which almond paste and cream are rolled in a thin wheat dough. The culinary expert Mia \u00d6hrn also introduced this new creation on January 1, just before its launch. Instead of hollowing out a round bun, the filling is wrapped in a thin dough.<\/p>\n

Even with the change from a round bun with its lid cut off to a thin dough rolled around the filling, the combination of rich almond and light whipped cream has been carried on.<\/p>\n

Jam fans and almond fans in Finland<\/h2>\n

In Finland it is known as laskiaispulla. The recipe of the dairy company Valio fills a cardamom-flavored yeast bun with slices of almond paste or strawberry jam, and with whipped cream. Granular sugar or chopped almonds are scattered on top of the bun before baking, so the cut-off lid also keeps some crunch. Finland’s official country-information site also reports that preferences are divided between almond fans and strawberry jam fans. Before the fast, people go sledding and enjoy meals, and events still take place on Sunday and Tuesday today. The same festive bun comes with 2 different fillings.<\/p>\n

\n\"Bubs\n
The sales floor of K-Citymarket in the Tammisto district of Vantaa, Finland (February 13, 2026). Buns decorated with Bubs candy and Biscoff-flavored buns are displayed side by side. In addition to the classic almond or jam fillings, today’s products come in a wide variety of flavors. Photo: Apinanaivot \/ Wikimedia Commons<\/a> \/ CC0<\/a>. Reduced-size version obtained from Commons. No content alterations or cropping.<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

Norway’s round buns eaten on a Sunday<\/h2>\n

In Norway, on Fastelavn Sunday, cardamom buns are filled with whipped cream and jam. In the method published by the food information organization MatPrat, jam and cream are layered without almonds. Although both are celebrations held just before the fast, the day on which the buns are served differs from Sweden’s Tuesday.<\/p>\n

Iceland’s Monday sweets and a children’s game<\/h2>\n

Iceland’s \u201cBolludagur\u201d is the Monday that precedes the Tuesday before Easter. The City of Reykjav\u00edk’s multilingual event guide explains that round buns, made from choux dough (in which water and butter are cooked) or from yeast dough, are filled with various creams and jam. Children make \u201cbun wands\u201d decorated with paper and other materials and, tapping their parents lightly, ask for buns. Buns with cream or jam filled into the hollow of choux pastry differ from the Swedish semla, a yeast bun filled with almonds, starting with how the dough is made. Although the calendar before the fast is similar, children’s games, the way the dough is leavened and the fillings vary from region to region.<\/p>\n

Many ways of eating, with the lid or with utensils<\/h2>\n

There is more than one way to start eating, too. Visit Sweden describes removing the lid and scooping out the filling, eating the bun as it is with your hands, and using a fork or spoon. When the white cream is piled high, taking off the lid first makes it easier to combine bun, almond and cream a little at a time. The utensils and the way of eating also differ between a deep dish of warm milk and a single bun held in the hand.<\/p>\n

Glossary<\/h2>\n

Adolf Fredrik<\/strong>: An 18th-century king of Sweden. Known for an anecdote linking a pre-fast meal to his death.<\/p>

T\u00f6ssebageriet<\/strong>: A pastry shop in Stockholm. It launched the semmelwrap.<\/p>

Mia \u00d6hrn<\/strong>: A cookbook author who writes about Swedish baking.<\/p>

Cardamom<\/strong>: A spice with a refreshing aroma, made from the seeds and other parts of plants in the ginger family.<\/p>

Hetv\u00e4gg<\/strong>: A long-established way of serving the bun soaked in warm milk. The name derives from German meaning \u201chot wedge.\u201d<\/p>

Fat Tuesday<\/strong>: The last Tuesday of the festive period before the fast. fettisdagen<\/em> in Swedish.<\/p>

Lisa Lemke<\/strong>: A Swedish chef and cookbook author. She is responsible for the semla recipe published by Visit Sweden.<\/p>

References<\/h2>\n

  1. \u2022 Nordiska museet, \u201cFettisdagen\u201d<\/a> \u2014 The 3 days before the fast and the Tuesday; the etymology of hetv\u00e4gg, caraway and warm milk; the king’s anecdote and cause of death.\n\u2022 Website published by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland, \u201cShrovetide starts a slippery slide towards spring\u201d<\/a> \u2014 Events on Sunday and Tuesday, sledding, and preferences for almond and strawberry jam.<\/p><\/li>

  2. \u2022 Visit Sweden: The Swedish Semla bun<\/a> \u2014 The name, the season and ways of eating.\n\u2022 Visit Sweden: Fat Tuesday-buns recipe<\/a> \u2014 Lisa Lemke’s starter dough and main dough, the time for each stage and the size after rising, division into 70 g pieces, and the almond core with pieces.\n\u2022 Arla: Hetv\u00e4gg<\/a> \u2014 The method of returning the inside of the bun mixed with milk and almonds; the warm milk poured into a deep dish, and cinnamon.\n\u2022 Nordiska museet: Shrove Tuesday<\/a> \u2014 The 18th-century upper-class table and the spread in the mid-20th century. This is not a record of having directly read the original historical sources.\n\u2022 Valio, \u201cLaskiaispullat\u201d<\/a> \u2014 Strawberry jam or almond with cream; sugar and almonds added before baking.<\/p><\/li>

  3. \u2022 MatPrat: Fastelavn \/ Fastelavnsboller<\/a> \u2014 Norway’s Sunday, and cream and jam.<\/p><\/li>

  4. \u2022 City of Reykjav\u00edk: Bolludagurinn event guide<\/a> \u2014 Choux or yeast dough on Monday; the children’s wands and the game of asking for buns.<\/p><\/li>

  5. \u2022 Institute for Language and Folklore (Sweden), \u201cSemlor\u201d<\/a> \u2014 Almonds in the 19th century, the transition in names, cream after the First World War, and modern reinterpretations.\n\u2022 Mattias Axelsson, Semla och samh\u00e4lle 1895\u20131955 (2011)<\/a> \u2014 The abstract and pp. 16\u201324 and 26\u201331 were actually read. The cream-containing filling of 1903 and 1905, the cream piped on top in 1939, and the ways of serving in 1951. The cookbooks surveyed record idealized methods, and they are kept distinct from the years in which these practices became widespread in all households. The original historical cookbooks were not each re-obtained.\n\u2022 Stockholm City Archives: Rationing during the Second World War<\/a> \u2014 Food rationing from 1940 to 1951. Not used as evidence that the end of rationing directly caused increased sales of any particular product.\n\u2022 T\u00f6ssebageriet, \u201cSemlor\u201d<\/a> \u2014 The shop’s own account of launching the semmelwrap in 2015. Its explanation of the etymology is not adopted.\n\u2022 Mia \u00d6hrn, \u201cSemmelwrapen \u00e4r h\u00e4r!\u201d (January 1, 2015)<\/a> \u2014 The launch the following day, and the thin wheat dough, almond and cream. The author had not yet tasted it at that point, and the post is not used as an evaluation based on actually eating it.<\/p><\/li><\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    A semla with white cream peeking out from under its small cut-off lid. Popular in Sweden from winter into spring, this sweet layers a sweet bun, almonds and dairy cream.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":6968,"menu_order":59,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_parade_sweetlore_meta":{"en":"Semla","subtitle":"A season announced by cardamom buns, almonds and cream","topics":"Cardamom \/ almond paste \/ cream \/ Fat Tuesday","country":"Sweden","show_toc":true,"ingredients":["nuts","cream"],"texture":[],"occasion":["christmas","easter"],"method":["baked"],"season":["spring","winter"]},"footnotes":""},"sweetlore_category":[166],"class_list":["post-8304","sweetlore","type-sweetlore","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":{"sweetlore_related_products":null,"sweetlore_related_faqs":null,"sweetlore_related_voices":null,"sweetlore_related_mode":"manual","sweetlore_related_articles":[8303,8274,8286,8287,8295,8296,8302,8245]},"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t