Happy Shrove (Fat) Tuesday!

Shrove Tuesday is the day preceding Ash Wednesday, which starts Lent. Lent is the season of fasting and prayer, and usually 40 days long. The length represents the time when Jesus was fasting and praying in the wilderness being tempted by Satan.

Lent is the time for penitence and self-denial so you would not eat things like sugar, fat and eggs. Shrove Tuesday is the "last" celebration before fasting begins so it is a day of pigging out so to speak. In Finland, we eat something called Laskiaispulla (yea, don't even try to pronounce it). It is a sweet bun filled with almond paste, raspberry jam and REAL whip cream. It is always a big hit at our house so I thought I'd post the recipe. (please note: 1 dl or deciliter is almost a half a cup)



Dough:

5 dl milk
1 tsp yeast
1 ½ - 2 dl sugar
1 tsp salt
2 tsp ground cardamom (optional)
1 egg
150 - 200 gr margarine or butter
14 - 15 dl flour (about 1 kg)

Filling:

Almond paste (a.k.a marzipan)
Raspberry jam
2 1/2 dl whipped cream

Topping:

1 egg
flaked almonds (optional)
coarse sugar (optional. Specialty cake stores usually carry this or maybe even the Dutch or German store in Old Town Spring if you are local. Also check eBay.)

Dissolve yeast into lukewarm milk in a mixing bowl. Add sugar, salt, cardamom and egg and mix ingredients together. Add half of the flour and stir into a soft dough. Mix soft margarine or butter into the dough and add as much from the rest of the flour as is needed. The dough is ready when it no longer sticks to the bowl or to your fingers. Cover the mixing bowl with a kitchen towel and leave the dough to rise in a warm place for approximately 30 minutes. Remember that you can use your microwave as a proofing box for the dough to rise. Boil a cup of water in the microwave, then put your covered dough bowl in there. And of course leave the cup of steaming water in the microwave with the dough!

Pour the dough onto a floured baking board, knead and cut it into 20 pieces. Roll pieces into buns and place on baking trays, which are covered with greaseproof paper. Leave the buns to rise and then brush the surface of the buns with beaten egg. Sprinkle flaked almonds and coarse sugar over the buns.

Bake at 390 degrees F for +/- 15 minutes. Cool the buns and cut off the tops. Carve a "well" inside the bottom part of the bun. Fill the well with a flattened circle of almond paste, then raspberry jam and whipped cream. Place the tops back onto the buns and enjoy.

You can also use the carved out parts as part of the filling. Put them in a bowl, pour whipping cream over so that they become wet and stick together, then use as one of the layers after the almond paste but before the whipping cream. Dust your buns with confectioners sugar (optional but adds a nice touch).

Click here to see professionally made Shrove Day buns. The pink stuff sticking out is colored Marzipan/almond paste.