Fastelavnsboller

The story

Fastelavnsboller are the buns of Fastelavn, the Danish Shrovetide, which falls on Sunday, February 7, in 2027, seven weeks before Easter. Danish bakeries do not wait for the day itself: most sell the buns throughout February, and nearly every bakery in the country makes its own versions, inventing new flavor combinations alongside the traditional ones. In Copenhagen there is even a Fastelavn Bun Run, a half marathon with a stop for buns at each bakery on the route. Sweden has its own Shrovetide bun, the semla.

There are two main families. The older style is a sweet yeast bun with custard baked inside. The other is made with wienerbrødsdej, the laminated, butter-layered dough known in English as Danish pastry. A square of dough gets a spoonful of remonce, butter creamed with sugar, and a spoonful of custard; the corners are folded to the center, and after baking the bun is split and filled with custard lightened with whipped cream. The tops are finished with icing or a dusting of powdered sugar.

Plan this as a two-day project: make the custard and laminate the dough the day before, then shape, bake and fill on the morning you serve them.