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Fastelavnsboller
Custard and cream pastry buns
Danish Shrovetide pastry buns with custard, cream and icing
On Fastelavn, the Danish Shrovetide Sunday, children dress up, knock a barrel full of sweets and are rewarded with fastelavnsboller. The bakery kind is made from laminated Danish pastry, baked into round shells around a spoon of vanilla custard, then split, piped with whipped cream and finished with glossy icing. They are messy, rich and eaten once a year. The common mistake is letting the butter melt into the dough while rolling, which loses the flaky layers; keep everything cold. Chef's tip: a quick home lamination with a block of grated cold butter gives proper layers without a day's work.
- Total time
- 95 min
- Difficulty
- hard
- Serves
- 10
Ingredients
For the pastry
- 14 oz plain flour
- 1 ⅜ oz caster sugar
- ½ tsp salt
- ¾ cup cold milk
- 1 egg
- 7 oz cold unsalted butterfor layering
For the custard
- 1 cup milk
- 1 ¾ oz caster sugar
- ⅞ oz cornflour
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
To finish
- 1 eggbeaten
- 1 ¼ cups double cream
- 5 ½ oz icing sugar
- 1 tbsp cocoa powder
- 2 tbsp hot water
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Method
0/7 doneStep 1: Whisk the 1 cup milk, 3 egg yolks, 1 ¾ oz caster sugar and ⅞ oz cornflour in a pan. Stir over a medium heat until it boils and turns very thick, then add 1 tsp vanilla extract, cover the surface and chill.
10 minStep 2: Mix the 14 oz plain flour, ¼ oz fast-action dried yeast, 1 ⅜ oz caster sugar, ½ tsp salt, ¾ cup cold milk and 1 egg into a firm dough and knead for 5 minutes. Wrap and chill for 20 minutes.
10 minStep 3: Roll the dough to a 40 x 20 cm rectangle. Grate the cold 7 oz cold unsalted butter over two-thirds of it, fold the bare third over, then the last third on top. Roll out again and fold in three; chill for 15 minutes. Repeat the roll and fold twice more, chilling in between.
15 minStep 4: Roll to 5 mm thick and cut 20 squares of 10 cm. Put a spoon of custard on 10 of them, cover with the rest and press the edges well. Set on lined trays.
15 minStep 5: Cover loosely and leave to rise in a cool room for 40 minutes until puffy. Heat the oven to 400°F (350°F fan).
40 minStep 6: Brush with 1 egg and bake for 15–18 minutes until deep golden and crisp. Cool on a rack.
18 minStep 7: Whip the 1 ¼ cups double cream to soft peaks. Mix the 5 ½ oz icing sugar, 1 tbsp cocoa powder and 2 tbsp hot water to a thick glaze. Split each bun, pipe in the cream, put the lid back and spread icing on top. Serve the same day.
10 min
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 420 kcal
- Protein
- 7 g
- Carbs
- 42 g
- Fat
- 25 g
- Fibre
- 1 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does fastelavnsboller take?
- About 95 minutes in total: 75 minutes to prepare and 20 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 10 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it vegetarian?
- Yes. It has no meat or fish.
- What can I use instead of plain flour?
- Self-raising flour, same amount (then leave out the baking powder).
- What can I use instead of fast-action dried yeast?
- Fresh yeast, three times the weight.
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