My favorite Swedish pastry? The semla. There are of course dozens of amazing Swedish baked goods, but this one is special because it only comes once a year. Baking a batch in the middle of summer or early fall? Unacceptable. The semla is meant to be consumed on Fat Tuesday, but of course that can be stretched out to include anytime between New Year’s and Easter.

Back to the semla.

It’s a Swedish classic filled with almond paste and whipped cream. Pure bliss.

Fortunately my fellow Swedish foodie in crime Johanna Kindvall is just as semla obsessed as I am and helped out with an illustrated guide to this classic:

Having learned last year the danger of trying to tweak a recipe to my own standards – even my mother still cringes that I thought using whole wheat flour instead of pastry flour would be a good choice – I pulled out my copy of Swedish Cakes and Cookies, the modern and translated version of a classic that you can find in any Swede’s cookbook collection.

I was committed to making a good semla. Which meant of course measuring perfectly. But you can only veer from regular habits so much. I soon realized that the recipe didn’t call for cardamom.

Fail.

I added in two teaspoons.

Complete recipe and illustrations on EcoSalon.