We, the Finnish fans of Food Wishes, now demand you make a video on Runeberg torte in the name of equalizing the field in our Finnish-Swedish rivalry.

@Roskis … the cheese grader. That’s it I think

@BunniesAreCute:3 Easter is coming 😊

The Norwegian delicacy Frozen Pizza with Mayonnaise should be a big contender here.

@Roskis They got the "Lefse", cinnamon, butter and sugar in a thin wrap. Which probably the closest thing they got to the Swedish semla and Danish wienerbroed when it comes to traditions.

Absolutely phenomenal job on this! Ekström gave you one heck of a recipe there! As a Swede, I have absolutely zero critique. 10/10 semla, would devour in an instant

Also these were a bit on the small side for a proper Swedish semla. I would've made maybe eight buns out of that amount of dough.

But cardamom in the almond paste...?

Instämmer till fullo

Och trots allt, du är den enda, som kan bestämma hur du vill baka din semla. Very nice semla, Chef John! 😍

yeah!!! what this person said!!

Best part of a solo life, no rules for dinner, or food in general for that matter. With a myriad of medical issues, 5 autoimmune disorders, all the majorly painful ones Rheumatoid, primary, then Scalp psoriasis arrived, a stressors best friend. Celiac disease, major life/diet changes, no questions asked, no other choice but eat gluten free for the remainder of my life. The nice part is it doesn't matter when I get hungry! I can eat whenever I get hungry! We, the cat and dog stare at me!, had faux nachos with Fritos and chili con queso sauce at 3 am mid week. Last night we added in chili to the Fritos, had some left over rice, added that for texture. It's the time to prepare vs time cooked before eating is so fast, and easy clean up! I was missing shredded cheese for most dishes, it's always one i.portant thing you leave behind!

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Im Swedish and my guilty pleasure is having 2 semlas and 2-3 beers for dinner. Im ashamed to admit it does happen a few times during the dark february winter. :)

Öl till semlan?????

Sjukt bra middag!!

No shame in winter time!

@Franz Jägerägareavjägerkassaskåpen If you say so. Have fun eating terribly-tasting food by choice, ig.

@Naokarma its literally not

So cool to see semla on an american channel! Greetings from Finland!!! 🇸🇪🇫🇮

@Bluescat laskiaispulla in finnish

fastlagsbulle? :) is that what u call it in Finland? (at least what i heard in the north)

I wonder if popular in upper Midwest where many Swedes immigrated to long ago?

As a Swede I would say.. Very very bold decision to make a Swedish national dish so bound to tradition as a "Semla". You Chef John did not stumble one bit. This is truly a perfect Swedish "Semla". And as you so well put it in your commentary, the filling can vary quite a lot these days, but the traditional filling, as I remember it, is like yours but without the cardemum (it is only in the bread). An awsome job there Chef John. And I am very pleased that you did not put cayenne on this one 😁

🤣🤣🤣

@Maia Mirabell 😆

Håkan, he did add some cayenne to the chokladbollar.... *facepalm*

As a Swede who make and eat many semlas this time of year, this is as close to perfect you can make em. Really good job! Cardamom is very important in Swedish baking cuisine and many seems to not get that in the vast majority of cases it's an essential spice. You can't make Swedish cinnamon rolls without cardamom, you can't make semlas.

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Vilken fin semla! Greetings from Sweden 😊

Perfekt

Mycket fin.

As a Swede it sure is great to see you´re making a semla, Chef John. Fat Tuesday is Feb 21 this year when you´re "supposed" to eat a semla, but they´re eaten and enjoyed by Swedes from the the end of December to mid-March. My favorite kind of semla is when the almonds are very toasted so the almond paste gets a more brownish color and deepened flavor combined with chopped up toasted almonds in the paste. Heavenly!

@A potato Sounds tasty,buns are pretty common here year around btw

@TheLazyFinn When it's summer you should try baking a sommarsemla. You bake a regular semla and then you fill it with whipped cream, chopped strawberries and (this is my guilty pleasure) finely chopped chocolate. It's so good it almost makes you forget about the mosquitoes.

@beansoup too bad, made the jam ones ! :D

​@TheLazyFinn that is very much considered a war crime Get some real ones right away :p

Now that sounds delicious!

Chef John missed a perfect opportunity to work in an "assembla your semla" pun at the end 😀

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In Estonia we call them vastlakukkel and we often fill them with jam 😊 Thinking I might cook my own this year after seeing this, thank you Chef John!

@RoskisMaybe it was brought to Estonia when Sweden still used to own it or maybe some Swede in Finland brought it there.

Interesting, "vastlakukkel" is pretty close to "fastlagsbulle" as they are called in swedish speaking Finland, since "Semla" is an ordinary bread-roll in Finno-Swedish.

One trick with the almond paste is to grate it on a cheese grater, then mix it with the milk (or heavy cream, as I prefer). Also recommended is using freshly ground cardamom in larger pieces, more like sand than dust. Makes for a better flavor!

Fully agree, especially about the cardamom! Also, I am not sure why anyone would use powder sugar instead of regular and cheaper caster sugar for the dough. It will dissolve completely during the kneading.

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Holy shit, I must make these soon! This construction combines two of my all-time favorite flavors on Earth, almond paste, and cardamom. I first discovered the joys of cardamon when I was in professional baking, and had my first ever, truly homemade Danish, where the dough had been scented with cardamom. I thought I was going to faint from euphoria. Anyway, I will definitely be making these within the next week. Thanks for putting this one up.

How did your semla turn out?

My 3 favorite spices: Garlic, Oregano and Cardamom

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For all my fellow cinema fans, yes, this is the pastry treat featured in the movie "A Man Called Otto". An A+ film for my money and highly recommend!

Next February, you can make a traditional Finnish Runeberg torte! Named after the national poet of Finland, Johan Ludvig Runeberg, It's a torte flavored with almond and arrack, with frosting and raspberry jam on top. We eat them on February 5th, Runeberg's birthday. Fun fact: the jam and frosting on top look like a nipple and areola, and they are always sold in packs of two XD

@beansoup Finland Swedish. We've been here for like 800 years.

Funny how a swedish man is the national poet there

@Driver Nephi Por qué no los dos? I like both versions or Roonybarries (that's how my English husband calls them, and they're his favourite thing). Anyway, good luck getting them right. I've tried making them at home many times and they never turn out quite right, always either too dry or too soggy or too this or too that. Only a small handful of bakeries get them just right, and I'd like to know their secret recipe.

Rum! The correct way to flavor it is with rum!

As a Swede I must say you made us proud.

What we usually do is instead of eating/throwing the inner bread from buns, adding it to the almond mixture. Also, adding there a bit more milk and an egg, then heat it till it becomes dense. Boiling the buns in the milk afterwards is completely optional :)

In sweden we love cardamom so glad you included it :)

I love learning how different cultures like the same spice. I first learned of cardamon from Pakistan and India. Now to learn it is loved in Sweden too. YAY!

Cardamom is so good!❤

Im actually very very impressed. Semla is my all time favorite

based

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I lived in Stockholm when I was younger. I really miss Swedish baked goods and sweets -- even the salt licorice. I am excited to see this.

I STRONGLY disagree with the triangle shape on the lid. Round all the way baby! 😆 I have to admit, despite that, they look amazing. I approve!!! TIP: Also, if you end up with a few buns left over, that goes a little bit dry, you can put the finished Semla in warm milk and eat it with a spoon. It's called "hetvägg" ("hot wall") and is FANTASTIC! 👍 Greetings from Stockholm!

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The crumbs scooped out from the bun can be mixed into the almond paste. I also like mine made with a day-old bun so that they're a little drier, which is especially important if you want to serve them the traditional way as a hetvägg; prepare the semla and put it in a bowl, heat up some milk (I usually put in a little vanilla sugar and cinnamon in it), then pour it over the semla. The milk smelts some of the cream, and the bun sucks it up and turns into a wonderful goopy mess.

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Big Mom's favourite food.

Big Mom turned into a villain because of this food Watch out

😂

I made them! They were wonderful, I didn't realize cardamom was so delicious. I made my own almond paste, it was super easy in the food processor. Just almond flour, egg white, and sugar.

Jävla fin semla John! i've been watching your videos for years, watching you cook (well bake i guess) this recipe makes me so happy! many international chefs do swedish dishes/desserts very strangely to put it kindly, this however is as close as you can get to the real thing

Swede here! This looks sooo good! You sure did an amazing job and I'm proud to call this a perfect semla

As a Swede I’m so happy to see this! These are my moms most guilty pleasure 😂 I’ll have to make it soon

I literally bought all the ingredients to make this upon watching this! Time to make it

Great recipe! It's always fun to see a swedish classic get some recognition for an international audience. A tip for the filling is to grate the almond paste before to make it easier to mix without a blender/mixer. It is also not uncommon to mix in the parts of the bun you remove into the filling so as not to waste anything.

Omg, these look absolutely amazing!!! Cardamom is a gift from heaven! 😋❤

Greetings from another long time swedish viewer! I really liked this video. Semlas are great! Another thing you should know about them is that the traditional way to eat them is actually to put the entire bun (with the almond paste filling, whipped cream and powdered sugar) in a bowl with warm milk. That is called "Äta semla med hetvägg" or "to eat a semla with hot wall". Acording to legend, King Adolf Fredrik of Sweden died in year 1771 after eating one tom any semlas

It was also without whipped cream if I'm not mistaken. That is a "new" addition.

You made a Swede proud ❤️🇸🇪

I agree!

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I was licking the screen by the time these were done!!! I love those so much! Thank you Chef John for making these. 🥰🥰🥰

Licking the screen 😂… yeah they do look delicious 😍

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A pretty popular way to make the filling is to actually use the scrapings from the bun in the mix. Also if using a food processor, adding a bunch of whole almonds is a good idea, for that extra crunch.

That is glorious! It sounds wonderful. Clever clever people, the Swedes!

4,36 million subscribers. Since I subscribed to you I have made 3 children with a few different wives- the oldest soon turn 10. You had about 40k 😉 You have been a beacon through all this time John, you literally made me a chef. Finally you make a Selma, and it was also a very good version - now I can die happy!

Those look absolutely fantastic! I think some people add the part of the bun that you gouge out into the almond paste, if you don't want to eat it but still don't want to waste it. And about getting cream on your nose, a lot of people eat the lid first and then there's less protection for getting cream on (or in) your nose ;)

I just had one of these yesterday for Fat Tuesday!!! So delicious!

I was almost about to shout out loud when you were mixing the almond filling to switch to a whisk and you switched to one.😂 Can I say that it is a pleasure to watch you work and I love your style.

Excellent semla, great work! I would recommend scraping out more of the interior of the bun and mixing some of it with the filling - you get more of the filling in every bite without losing the bun. As for round vs triangular lid - I see both here in equal measure, but the triangles sure are pretty fancy. Next up - try the legendary Hetvägg: put a semla in a bowl, pour over hot milk and eat it. Sounds utterly strange but it's pretty great!

Hetvägg is for sure the best way to enjoy a semla. Heat approx 50-100 ml of milk in a bowl, add some cinnamon, and then drop the semla in the bowl. Let it soak for a minuite or two before you start eating. ENJOY!

@Mikael Lindberg Yeah some places don't do it but I vastly prefer it.

Yep, I once upon a time worked in a Swedish Bakery.. And yes, the scraping should be in the filling.

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These looks sooooo delicious!!! 😻

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I love how this is just a plain Semla. No elevated or experimental fuss.

Why mess with perfection? It's classic for a reason.

Sounds yummy for Mardi Gras 😋

Swede here. Cardamom in the filling is a novelty to me...! Many would mix the inside of the bun that you dig out with the almond paste. Personally, I always eat the lid first, then the rest😄 But it's a very authentic recipe! Some people would also make their own almond paste. That's a lot of work!

Great to see semla on your channel! All Swedish newspapers and many influensers has their semla-tests from bakeries this time of year. Your Swedish fanclub is proud! And yes, it is important to get whipped cream on your nose and in your mustasch.

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Perfect timing. These are traditional almost exclusively eaten only once a year. Which is next week! But I assume that was quite planned

@Felix Palmberg Att äta 5-6 semlor under säsongen är inget ovanligt.

@Nicky Jag har då aldrig mött en människa som äter dem så ofta

Nah, no Swede only eats a semla at Fat Tuesday. They´re so yummy they´re eaten from the end of December to mid-March.

Those look delicious!

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My mom told me my maternal grandad loved eating Semla in the "Hetvägg"-style which is when you serve the Semla in a warm bowl of milk and you can add some extra spices on it like cinnamon or whatever and eat it with a spoon.

I always mix my almondpaste (mandelmassa) with the cream, which makes it easier to get the same flavour profile throughout. Great work on your Semla!

Okay Chef u got me again 😅 I’m making these immediately! Like I watch so many of ur recipes this month and went to the market so many times I am now fully stock and can make anything on hand now lol thanks chef ❤

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I'm definitely going to make these! Thank you chef John!

Perfect! Im serving semlor at a event on saturday, the buns are waiting in the freezer. Cheers for sharing one of the best swedish pastrys with the YT crowd! ❤ from 🇸🇪!

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I have never baked a semla but I have a black belt in eating them. They are delicious and yours look as good or even better than most I had. Swedish cooking is also very good. We have some fantastic cousine like kålpudding (cabbage pudding) and other recepies that you could serve in any fine restaurant.

Chef John, awesome recipe! But next year you shoul definitely check on polish "faworki" recipe. We have "fat thursday" in Poland :) And it's delicious ^^

Wonderful job! Those look just perfect

I can die a happy Swede. Thank you Chef John.

I think this will be my new Christmas treat 😁👏🙏

As a famous Swede once said, "My dessert plate don't get none unless you got Semla buns, hon."

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Not exactly how grandma made them, but looks delicious! We put coarsely ground sugar (kind of like what you'd have on a pretzel, but sugar) on top of the buns before baking. At least here in Finland the topping is either almond paste (just a slice of it as is), or strawberry jam. My favourite is of course both at the same time. In my opinion the best temperature for semla is when they're still somewhat warm, but you're too excited to try them to wait anymore, and the cream melts a bit as you eat.

@Heta Lehtonen Now that you mention it, I could see raspberry jam going even better. Raspberries are more tart than strawberries, and that tartness could really help with cutting the richness from the bun and whipped cream. Good idea!

I believe you're talking about pearl sugar. I was shocked to learn that strawberry jam is the commonly used jam in laskiaispullat. We have always used (home made) raspberry jam in my family and that is how it should be IMO. :)

Maybe regional preference?

Not a fan of marzipan and Almond paste, but these buns are very pretty. And the buns look very easy to mare

Nowadays it is not uncommon to see choclate paste or Vanilla cream filling in Semla here in Sweden. A lot of people feel the same about almond past as you.

Great to see Semla on here, one of my favorite things! The triangle top is nice but the best way is having a larger lid and then first using that to scoop some of the cream and eat that. And then bite into the delicious lower part of the bun.

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I''m allergic to almonds, so I just use what I carve out of the semla, and mix it with a little whipped cream (that I already have), and good amount of powdered sugar. Then puts it in just like the almond mixture. Ends up with a similar consistency and sweetness. :)

Fun to see Sweden get some love. Semla is a great pastrie It looks smakrikt! (Rich in flavor/tasty)

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I always mix the crumbs from the middle with the almond paste and milk to get the filling. I don’t think the filling needs more sugar as the almond paste is already very sweet.

That looks and sounds amazing!!!!! Thank you for sharing!

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How do you resist eating at least half of the filling before you fill these??? They look amazing. 👍

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Amazing job! Personally I prefer the cardamom to be just lightly crushed with a mortar and pestle instead of all ground up. I occasionally enjoy it in a little bath of hot milk flavored with cinnmon, try it!

You are the Viking of making your semla to your liking.

Wow that looks good. I like cardamom too. I must try making this... 😃

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Wow very amazing and Delicious 😋 recipe 🥰Thank you 💞

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You nailed it! Approved 100% ❤

this is a nightmare for moustache wearers. But it's totally worth it. That looks really good! :)

Chef, you have perfect buns!

I'll let you in on a Swedish secret John: Remove and eat the lid first! I suspect you avoided the cream-on-the-nose phenomena due to keeping the lid on the Semla during consumption. Great video as always!

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That triangle lid does look fancier, im used to the normal round lid. Theres also were you have the semla in a bowl with hot milk and eat it with a spoon. I like that too but the semlas you buy in stores have almost too soft buns for it so I would make my own that end up being more dense buns.

I usually mix the breadcrumbs in with the almond paste mixture!

Ooh, I'd love to try making these. Also I'm glad to know I'm not the only one with an aversion to using the food processor because of the cleanup afterwards.

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The triangle top is more fancy and you mostly find them at cafes but you can fit more filling and whipped cream by cutting it in half.

Looks flawless

The whipped cream on the nose after a bite is classic. I often eat it with a spoon nowdays tough it might be heretical.

As a Swede 10/10 You should try making Äggost / Eggcheese next time, it's a regional dish from Bohuslän (west coast), served around Christmas 👍

They're beautiful and I'm sure, very delicious.

Great desert 😍 give big like👍 for this Swedish traditional desert..

Damn Jon, you put yourself on the radar of big mom watch out.

Thanks, Chef 𝗝𝗼𝗵𝗻! My semla is always welcome to be your dress for the 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗺!

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Someone making a Swedish dish and doing it right? Well, that's a first. Well done!

I've never seen one with a triangle lid but they look great.

Certain parts of southern Sweden eat these with the semla placed in the middle of a plate or very shallow bowl of warm milk. I personally think that's utterly insane, but feel free to give it a shot.

Oh, the “hot wall” way is the best way. Never suffer a dry bun again :)

I just wanna give a shout-out to my man robbaz. I thought for the whole episode he was the inspiration for this video. He has a similar video of this recipe and he actually is how I found food wishes because one time he said that this was one of his favorite YouTube channels.

Big Mom’s boutta come crashing through your house like the Kool-Aid man

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I make dutch letter bars using almond paste, and I felt the pain of trying to get the paste blended in. It would be delicious though.

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I'm Swedish. I've never seen a semla with a triangle top. Nicely done.

WOW! That is a great fastlagsbulle! Well done! Swede approved!

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It would appear that all of Sweden follows Food Wishes, judging from the comment section. I've been wanting to try semla for a long time now, so I really should take this as a sign and finally do it.

My family recipe has a lot less sugar in the buns, and by my reckoning the secret ingredient to the filling. You begin by cutting a top lid off of and scooping out the buns, then you soak the crumbs in milk, shred in the almond paste (enough to fill about half the cavity in each semla before shredding) and mix until smooth. It should have a thick, but still runny consistency, thin enough to not quite be a paste, thick enough not to pour out when you bite into the semla.

Chef John, you did a perfect semla! Not surprised about that though. Semla is so delicious!! The reason for just slicing the bun in half is that you can put a lot of the filling in. The semla is even better if you make the "hetvägg", when you put the semla in a bowl and let it sit in about half an inch of hot milk! The bun becomes goey and yum, together with the almond and cream filling. There is also a summer version, with vanilla custard, strawberries and the whipped cream. Sometimes the bun is even made of Danish pastry.

Moved to Sweden 7 months ago and just experienced our first Semla season! Remember, whipped cream is Sweden is not sweet like USA whipped cream.

Chef John. Perfekt gjord semla🎉. Pefectly made semla. We eat 6 million semlor every year. A small country with a population of 10 million.😂👌

Slicing the top off instead of cutting it in a triangular shake makes it easier to create a large hole for your filling. The vast majorities of all semlas have a round lid.

Great job! I've eaten 4 semlas this week 😅 Greets from Sweden

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