Fastelavnsboller: A Danish Treat

I appear to have gotten a reputation at work.

Not only am I the Spanish teacher, the “cupcake” teacher, the “nail art” teacher, and now the “OMG SO CUTE crocheted animals” teacher. Oh no. That’s just the reputation I have with the students. I have a reputation with the staff now too. And this isn’t a bad thing.

An email exchange last week went something like this:

Email from Principal: Does anyone have a Danish flag or map I can borrow?

Email response from me: No flag or map, but I can make Danish pastry!

Email from Principal: All joking aside, my son’s got a project about his heritage and he’s supposed to bring food. Can you really?

Email response from me: Of course!

What the heck had I just gotten myself into???????? Pastry? For my principal’s son’s project? I’d just made croissants, so I knew I could do a laminated dough, but did I want to? Nah… I had to do something new. I approached this the way I used to approach my own projects in school: do something unexpected.

So cheese Danish was out. The first thing that popped up when I Googled “Danish treats” were Aebelskiver, those round pancakes that took the blog world by storm a couple years ago. I don’t have the pan, so those were out. And then I was taken in by the same phenomenon that gets me at IKEA every time: a treat with a fun name. Fastelavnsboller was by far, the most fun-sounding name I found. So I went with that.

Fastelavnsboller or Fastlavns Buns are a Danish treat traditionally eaten by children on the Sunday before Ash Wednesday, so my timing was just about perfect. I was excited to make these, as they were a few of my favorite things all rolled into one:

1. A yeasted dough, left to rise twice. I love punching down dough.
2. A pudding/custard filling.
3. Chocolate

After some more searching, I found a great dough recipe on AllRecipes.com, a shelf-stable pudding filling that would be sweet enough for the 6th grade audience of Jake’s class, and a simple chocolate glaze.

Fastelavnsboller

by What’s For Dinner?

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Keywords: bake snack dessert Easter spring

6017590

Ingredients (18 large or 36 small buns)

For the buns

• 2 packets active dry yeast
• 1 cup warm milk (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
• 1/2 cup melted butter
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 2 teaspoons white sugar
• 4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 beaten egg

For the filling

• 3 “Snack Pack” vanilla pudding cups (shelf-stable)
• 1 package instant vanilla pudding

For the glaze

• 3/4 cup powdered sugar
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder
• 1 Tablespoon warm water

Instructions

For the buns

Pour the warm milk into the bowl of your stand mixer, and sprinkle the yeast on top.

Allow the yeast to proof about 10 minutes.

Mix in the two eggs, flour, butter, and sugar and knead until combined, about 5 minutes. Add the salt and knead until a smooth dough forms, about 10 minutes.

Place the dough in a well-oiled bowl and allow to rise until doubled, about 30 minutes.

Punch down the dough, then divide the dough in half. Roll out each half into a sheet about 1/2″ in thickness.

Preheat the oven to 375°

Cut the dough into the desired number of pieces (I went with 18 per half).

Place on a greased cookie sheet, then repeat with the other half.

Cover the sheets with cloth and allow to rise again, about 20 minutes.

Brush with beaten egg, and bake at 375° until browned, about 15 minutes.

Allow to cool completely, then cut each bun in half.

For the filling

Mix together the pudding cups and pudding mix in a bowl. Spoon your desired amount on to one half of each bun, then replace with the top of the bun.

For the glaze

Mix together the powdered sugar and cocoa powder. Add the water and mix until a shiny glaze forms. Drizzle over the top of each bun.

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Imagine my surprise on Monday morning when, upon arriving at the school office, I was greeted not only by my principal, but her son Jake who had gotten up early to accompany his mom to pick up his treats. He was extremely grateful, and I checked back with his mom later in the day. Apparently, the tray of Fastelavnsboller didn’t make it to school before Jake had to try one. He said “Whoa, these are really good!”

HIs class enjoyed them, his teacher enjoyed them, and I truly enjoyed making them. I think traditionally, there’s a cooked custard inside, but since I didn’t know how long they’d be out of the refrigerator, I went with one that was a bit more shelf-stable. Usually they’re about twice the size too!

There really is something to the whole “cooking for others” thing. While I’m sure that Adam and I would’ve enjoyed these treats on our own (ignoring the fact that they’re FAR from healthy), but I really and truly enjoyed making them for someone else.

Not to mention, this solidified my “reputation” at school as the “girl who can cook anything.” That’s a reputation I’ll relish and enjoy.

Tagged as: Baking, bread, chocolate, Danish, Easter, friends, holiday, vegetarian