It is that time of the year again: fastelavn. It means “evening before lent” and marks the period before lent leading to Easter in the Christian religion. Due to this you will see a lot of creamy buns known as Fastelavnsboller in the stores these days. They come in a few versions: traditional wheat bun with whipped cream and jam, with cream and a vanilla custard or the Swedish variety known as Semla. I have not tasted all the options in Stavanger but I have tried a few and I think I have to admit that I am a traditionalist and prefer the version with a soft wheat bun with whipped cream/custard and jam.
Godt Brød served a version that I really enjoyed. The keywords here are simplicity and focus on good ingredients. The bun was fresh, the whipped cream is from Rørosmeieriet and lovely raspberry jam from Lisas syltetøy ! We know that Vaaland dampbakeri & Conditori as makes a great Berlinerbolle so it is no surprise that they also make a good fastelavnsbolle. Their version comes with whipped cream, vanilla custard that was good and raspberry jam! Romsøes Conditori has a similar bun to Vaaland Dampbakeri but in my opinion not as good. First of all due to the vanilla custard that is not as good! I did a roadtrip to Drivhuset Bageri & Gårdsutsalg and their chocolate semla was a fun take on this tradition. Filled with hazelnut cream and whipped cream, this was a treat but I’m not sure I consider it to be a proper fastelavnsbolle. In the end I have to mention Kanelsnurren and it seems like they are also trying to think outside the box. Their raspberry version is made with puff pastry and seemed a bit dry – or maybe I was just looking for a traditional bun. And I had more or less the same feeling for their Semla that comes with almond and whipped cream filling.
What do you prefer? A traditional bun with whipped cream? Or with custard? Or do you prefer the semla style bun? Let me know in the comments below!
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