Traditional Shrove Tuesday Semla

[ We've ate semlas on every Shrove Tuesday as long as i can remember. ]

For the first time in my life i decided to supplement the tradition - by making the semlas for my family by myself.

Instead of traditional simple ones i added some good stuff in the dough - candied orange and dried cranberries (extra to the cardamom that is already in the original recipe). I also decided to add some cottage cheese there, and of course - i tripled the amount of sugar :)

So i baked 26 buns and fed all my loved-ones, family and friends, men at work and neighbours.

* 5 dl milk
* 50 gr yeast (if you decide to use dry yeast, then take only 12 gr)
* 1 tsp salt
* 11 tbs sugar
* 2 eggs
* 200 gr melted butter (80-82%)
* 900 gr (approx) flour
* 300 gr ricotta (or plain cottage cheese)
* 1 tsp cardamom
* ca 75 gr candied orange
* ca 180 gr dried cranberries

* a lot of whipped cream (use the 35% whipping cream to make it)
* black currant or raspberry jam

Mix the room-temperature milk with yeast. At the same time mix half of the flour and sugar in an other bowl and then add the milk and yeast mixture to it, stir and cover the bowl with a towel for about 20 minutes (put it somewhere warm).

Now add salt, ricotta, butter, eggs (make sure you beat these first), cardamom, dried cranberries, candied orange and the other half of flour-portion. It's better to use your hands when mixing the dough :) Again - cover the bowl with a towel and let it proof for about 20 minutes in somewhere warm.

After proofing, mould the semlas out of the dough - take only a little piece of dough (the size of a little egg) and  roll it with the palm of your hand on your kitchen table (do not forget to flour the table area before you do that!). When the surface of the semla is smooth, place it on a pan. Let them proof a little bit more (approx. 10-15 minutes or until the oven is warm enough) and at the same time turn your oven on and set it on 225 degrees (Celsius. ca 430 Fahrenheit).

Now smear the buns with milk and put them into the already-hot oven for about 13 minutes - until they're golden! Take the semlas out and cover them with a light kitchen towel for the cooling-down process.

When the buns have cooled down, take a really sharp knife and cut off the tops. Now, using a dessert spoon, dig little holes into the semlas, so that you could fill these with a tablespoon-full of jam. Then beat up whipping cream and put about 2 tbs of this on every semla. Now put back the 'hat' you cut off earlier and decorate it with a light layer of powdered sugar.

Caution - they're deadly delicious!