Kitty's Corner

It's Shrovetide today. Or as we call it in Danish: Fastelavn.

Fastelavn evolved from the Roman Catholic tradition of celebrating in the days before Lent, but after Denmark became a Protestant nation, the holiday became less specifically religious. This holiday occurs seven weeks before Easter Sunday and is sometimes described as a Nordic Halloween, with children dressing up in costumes and gathering treats for the Fastelavn feast.

There's another thing that's special about fastelavn. And that's the fastelavnsboller - the Shrovetide buns. You can buy them at every baker here, but hey - I love to bake, so I thought I'd try and make some myself.

Therefore, ladies and gentlemen, Zaphira's Recipe Service (ZRS) proudly presents:

Pistachio Shrovetide buns

(makes 8-10)

Ingredients:
150 ml low fat milk (5 fl. Oz.)
2 tablespoons yoghurt
30 grams yeast (1 Oz.)
1 egg
50 grams white sugar (1.8 Oz)
300 grams wheat flour (10.6 Oz.)

50 grams grated marzipan (1.8 Oz.)
150 gram marzipan with pistachios

What to do:

Warm the milk up to luke warm and pour the yoghurt in. Stir well.

Dissolve the yeast in the milk/yoghurt. Make sure there's no lumps.

Put in the egg and the sugar and stir again.

Now it's time to add the flour. Put in about half of it and stir with a spoon until the dough seems smooth.

Then add the rest of the flour, little by little and knead the dough until it smooth and soft.

Stuff it back into the bowl and let it rise for half an hour in a place that's not too cold.

After the dough has risen, pour it out on the kitchen table and knead it again.

Divide the dough into 10 pieces and shape them into round buns.

Place them onto a baking paper covered baking plate and grate the marzipan over them.
Press the marzipan slightly onto the buns so you're sure it sticks to the buns, also when baked.

Cover them with a tea towel and let them rise for another half hour.


Remove the tea towel, and stick three or four fingers into the middle of the bun to make a "hole" - check the picture to see what that looks like now.



Then squeeze the green pistachio marzipan into the holes. Don't be tight fisted with it, it tastes really good.


Let them rest and rise again, for another half hour. (Yes, these buns take a lot of patience to make, but believe me, they're worth the effort! )

Turn on the oven, so it's nice and warm when the buns have risen.

Now stick the buns in the oven and bake them for approximately 20 minutes at 200 degrees Celcius (392 degrees Fahrenheit).

Take them out of the oven and let them cool.

You can decorate them with icing if you like, but I think they're just as good without.

As you can see, I laid my hands on the model before I even took the picture of it.



Happy shrovetide - and enjoy the buns!