What is a fastelavnsbolle?
If you have any experience with Scandinavia in January and February, you’ll know that it’s the time of year for people to go fastelavnsboller-crazy. At least from our perspective, social media is always full of people trying new flavors from all the most popular bakeries and rating or ranking them. It’s only in recent years that these sweet buns have become such an online phenomenon, but they have always been a huge part of Scandi culture. I like to think that the tradition arose because in the dark, dreary winter, we all need a bit of cheer brought on by a perfect baked good like a fastelavnsbolle. Of course, it’s really because of the holiday of Fastelavn and gorging ourselves on sugar before Lent, but that’s pretty much the same thing.
Today’s recipe
Fastelavnsboller have traditionally taken on many different forms in Denmark, which you can read more about in our blog post from last week. They used to be just a soft wheat bun, which then became a bun filled with vanilla cream, and soon developed into all kinds of fillings and different types of dough. You can now get fastelavnsboller most frequently made with enriched wheat dough, laminated Danish pastry dough and choux pastry dough. For our build-up to Fastelavn this year, we wanted to try our hand at making a few different variations. Last week, we shared a chocolate version made with enriched chocolate wheat dough and filled with chocolate pastry cream. This week’s is a choux pastry version with one of our favorite flavors: raspberry!
Cheesecake-inspired flavors
We, like many other Danes, cringe at the idea of adding cheese to Danish pastries. However, one area in which we don’t have an issue with adding cheese is when it comes to fillings/frostings/icings. Because honestly, what’s better than a good, tangy cream cheese frosting? Not much! But to be honest, we started this recipe wanting a good flavor to pair with raspberry, which is one of our favorite fruits to incorporate into baked goods. To us, nothing sounded better than a sweet cheesecake-inspired filling with a bit of tang to it, which could pair perfectly with the sweet but tart raspberry jam. Those two components sandwiched between crisp but tender choux buns – it doesn’t get any better than that. So that’s what we did! Read on to learn how to make it and what adjustments you can make to your own tastes and needs.
Ingredients
In terms of ingredients, choux pastry dough is very simple: butter, water, sugar, salt, flour, and eggs. It’s helpful that your eggs are room temperature, so make sure to take them out of the fridge in advance or put them in a bowl of warm water for 10-15 minutes. For the filling, you’ll need cream cheese, heavy cream, raspberry jam (we have a recipe that you can use to make your own!), vanilla extract, salt, powdered sugar, and fresh raspberries for optional decoration. Of course, you can replace the raspberry jam with other options, such as strawberry, blueberry, cherry, or blackcurrant jam. If you don’t like cream cheese, you can omit it and just whip up the heavy cream for a lighter filling. Alternatively, mascarpone or ricotta might work well too.
How to make this recipe
First, you must embark on the slightly treacherous journey of making choux pastry. Now, for some, this is not challenging at all, but it is a very delicate pastry that can easily collapse if you don’t follow the recipe. We highlight in the steps below exactly what consistency you’re looking for in the dough so that you can achieve delicious results. And please, don’t open the oven while they’re baking – that is a certain way to get flat choux buns! The filling is comparatively very simple to make, and then you’re ready to assemble these lovely buns. You can decorate however you like but we think a nice fresh raspberry on top is a simple but beautiful option. Enjoy!
Fastelavnsboller (Vandbakkelser) med hindbær: Danish Carnival Buns with Raspberry
Ingredients
DOUGH
- 240 ml water
- 100 grams unsalted butter
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 0.5 tsp fine salt
- 150 grams all-purpose flour
- 3 large eggs, room temperature (if using medium eggs, you might need a little more than 3 – beat an extra egg in a separate bowl and add a tablespoon at a time until you get the right consistency)
FILLING/DECORATION
- 170 grams cream cheese, cold
- 350 ml heavy cream
- 2 tbsp raspberry jam (you can use homemade with the linked recipe, or just use store bought!)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- Pinch of salt
- 45 grams powdered sugar (feel free to adjust depending on how sweet you like the filling!)
- Fresh raspberries (optional)
Instructions
- If you're using homemade jam, be sure to make the jam ahead of time and place in the fridge to cool down. You can find our recipe here!
- Combine the water, butter, sugar, and salt in a saucepan and place on the stove on medium to medium-high heat. You want to bring the mixture to a point where it is just boiling so that when you add the flour, it will thicken to the right consistency!
- Once the butter mixture melts and starts to bubble a bit around the edges, add the flour in all at once and stir vigorously. You should hear the mixture sizzling slightly as the flour absorbs the liquid. Keep stirring over medium to medium-low heat for 1-2 minutes, until the dough no longer sticks to the sides of the saucepan and comes away cleanly. Transfer to a bowl and let cool for 5-10 minutes.
- Next, add the 3 eggs to the cooled dough mixture, one at a time! Mix vigorously after adding each egg. The mixture should become homogeneous before you add the next.
- Once all 3 eggs are in, continue stirring for 1-2 minutes until the mixture is smooth and you get a V shape when you lift up the spatula from the batter.
- Preheat oven to 390 degrees F (200 degrees C) – you can make these on either regular or convection oven settings. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Brush the parchment paper with a little bit of water before piping. If the paper lifts up when you pipe, you can also add a bit of batter underneath the paper to help it stick to the baking sheet.
- Add the choux pastry dough to a piping bag or just a gallon zip lock bag with a hole cut off the corner.
- Pipe the mixture onto your baking sheet into either 12 or 9 circular blobs that are approximately 2.5-3.5 inches (~6-9 cm) in diameter. We tend to make twelve buns, but 9 buns would probably be more of an accurate size for fastelavnsboller! Make sure they are spaced at least 1 inch apart as they will expand in the oven.
- Then, dip your finger in some water and flatten the points of the blobs, or else they will burn in the oven.
- Bake for 20 minutes if using a convection oven. If they haven't puffed up yet and they don't look evenly golden in color, lower oven temperature to 350 F (175 C) and bake for another 5-10 minutes. If your oven is on a regular setting, it will likely take at least 25 minutes for the choux pastry to begin to turn golden; if they are still not done after 25 minutes, lower the oven temp to 350F (175C) and check after another 5-10 minutes. Continue to check in on the size/color in 5 minute increments. The buns should puff, have cracks across the surface, and be evenly golden in color. Do NOT open the oven too early or your vandbakkelser will collapse!
- Once the vandbakkelser are out of the oven, let them cool.
- While the buns are cooling, prepare the raspberry cream cheese whipped cream.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer with the whisk attachment or a medium mixing bowl (using a handheld mixer) begin whipping the cold cream cheese on its own, for a few minutes. We're aiming to whip a little bit of air into it so it's easier to mix with the cream.
- Add in 2 heaping tablespoons of raspberry jam to the cream cheese, and whisk it until it is incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula if needed.
- Once the jam is incorporated, start streaming in the cream while running the mixer on low. When all the cream has been added, run the mixer on medium/high speed for just about 30 seconds to incorporate.
- Scrape down the sides of the bowl, and add in vanilla extract and a pinch of salt.
- Now, whip the mixture until you reach soft peaks.
- At this stage, add in the powdered sugar.
- Continue whisking until you reach stiff peaks. Give the mixture a few folds with a spatula to make sure everything is mixed together well. If not using immediately, place in the fridge until you are ready.
- Once the buns are cool, cut them in half using a serrated knife.
- Put your whipped mixture into a piping bag with a star tip (you can also just spoon this on if you prefer!)
- Place a layer of raspberry jam on the bottom of the buns.
- Pipe two rings of the whipped filling around the edge of the base of the bun, leaving a hole in the center. Note: we are pretty liberal with the amount of whipped filling, but if you prefer less, you may have leftovers!
- Fill the hole with more jam, a fresh raspberry, or both!
- Add the top of the bun and decorate with a dot of the whipped filling and a fresh raspberry. You could also make a simple icing if you want!
- Repeat until all the buns are filled, and enjoy! Make sure to refrigerate any leftover buns, and if you do end up with leftover filling, keep it in the fridge as well.
Is there a simple recipe card? Or did I just miss it?
Hi, there should be a recipe showing up on the page underneath the blog section. If it’s not appearing, try refreshing the page. I hope that’s helpful, sorry that it’s not showing up!