Buns (8-10 medium sized buns)
Ingredients
- 75 ml milk
- 50 ml water
- 4 g active dry yeast (or 15 g fresh yeast)
- approx. 220–250 g all-purpose flour
- 40 g butter, melted and cooled
- 1 egg (⅓ for the dough, the rest for brushing)
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1½ tbsp sugar
- 1 tbsp vanilla sugar (or ½ tsp vanilla extract)
Method
- Warm the milk and water to about 37°C (98°F). If the liquid exceeds 45°C (113°F), the yeast may lose activity.
- Mix the dry yeast with about half of the flour (approx. 100–110 g). Add the warm liquid and combine. Cover the bowl with a damp cloth and let the mixture rest in a warm place for about 1 hour.
- Once the dough begins to bubble lightly and looks airy, beat the egg and add one third to the dough. Add the melted and cooled butter, remaining flour, sugar and salt.
- Knead gently until smooth, soft and elastic. The dough should remain soft rather than dry. Add flour only if necessary.
- Cover again and let rise for 30–45 minutes, until roughly doubled in size.
- Divide into 8–10 equal pieces and shape into smooth balls.
- Place on a lined or lightly greased baking tray. Let rise again for 15–20 minutes.
- Brush with the remaining egg (you may add a little milk) and bake at 210–220°C (410–430°F) for 12–15 minutes until golden brown. Cool completely before filling.
White Chocolate Curd Cream
Ingredients
• 50 g white chocolate
• 200 g vanilla curd*
• 150 ml heavy cream
*Estonian kohupiim is a fresh curd cheese similar to quark or farmer’s cheese. If unavailable, substitute with:
- full-fat quark
- well-drained ricotta
- thick Greek yogurt (strained)
The texture should be creamy but not runny.
Method
- Melt the white chocolate gently over a water bath. Let cool slightly and mix with the curd until smooth.
- Whip the cream to firm peaks and fold about ⅔ of it gently into the curd mixture.
- Reserve the remaining whipped cream for the sea buckthorn sauce.
Sea Buckthorn Sauce
Ingredients (mix together)
- approx. 50 ml reserved whipped cream
- 2–3 tbsp prepared sea buckthorn purée
- 1–2 tbsp maple syrup or honey (to taste)
- frozen sea buckthorn berries for decoration
Adjust sweetness depending on the acidity of the purée.
Assembly
- Slice the tops off the cooled buns.
- Optionally scoop out a small amount of the crumb.
- Drizzle 1–2 teaspoons of sea buckthorn sauce onto the base.
- Add a generous layer of cream (using a spoon or piping bag), drizzle a little more sauce and insert a few frozen sea buckthorn berries into the cream.
- Replace the “lid” and dust lightly with powdered sugar.
- Serve the same day.
This recipe is inspired by Silja Luide’s Shrove bun recipe.
For those curious
In Estonia, Shrove Tuesday traditionally marked the turning point of winter. It was believed that sledging down long hills would ensure long flax fibres for summer harvest. The longer the slide, the better the flax crop. Flax was essential in rural households, used for clothing and household textiles.
Hearty food such as pea soup and pork helped people endure the remaining winter weeks. Sweet cream-filled buns are a later addition, spreading from urban culture and the Nordic region during the 19th and 20th centuries.
The buns are closely related to the Swedish semla, historically eaten only on Shrove Tuesday, the day before Lent. An often-retold anecdote tells of Swedish King Adolf Fredrik, who died in 1771 after an exceptionally rich meal that reportedly included several semlor.
Shrove Tuesday is a movable feast determined by the date of Easter, which itself follows the spring equinox and the lunar cycle. It usually falls in February or early March, just as daylight in Northern Europe begins increasing rapidly again.
