Laskiaispulla – Finnish Shrove Buns
This delicious treat goes by names, but regardless of where you’re from or what you call it, these Laskiaispulla, aka Finnish Shrove Buns, are hands down my very favorite Finnish treat.
I was born in Louisiana and a lot of my family still lives there. Because of this I have a love of Mardi Gras food, particularly King Cake. But when we moved to Finland, I noticed these cute little buns started showing up in grocery stores and bakeries some time before Easter and instantly fell in love.
It’s called Laskiaispulla in Finland, called Semla in Sweden, Fastelavnsbolle in Denmark and Norway, and other names in other countries. But in English we might just call them Shrove Buns. It’s all the same thing throughout the Nordic countries though so this recipe could have been titled any of those names! I just called it Laskiaspulla because my heart belongs in Finland.
But regardless of where you are, the whole Christian world celebrates before Easter. So whether you’re in the Nordics, or just wanting to indulge in their treat, you’ll find this treat is perfect for you.
As with many indulgent foods before Easter, Laskiaispulla are found before Lent, the Christian season of fasting. So on Shrove Tuesday (which is the same thing as Mardi Gras, Fat Tuesday, and the last day of Carnaval), you simply must try making these adorable little buns. They are my very, very favorite Finnish treat and only sold at the beginning of the year. I learned how to make them a few years ago while still living in Finland to make sure I’d have the perfect, authentic recipe to make each year. And believe me, I don’t skip making these every year!
Your life will be changed once you try these.
Note- cardamom is very, very commonly used in Nordic desserts and pastries. It’s kind of like the Finnish equivalent of cinnamon in America. I think you should try to find cardamom to make these but you could probably get away with switching the cardamom and replacing it with cinnamon. BUT TRY CARDAMOM if you can, even though I know that may mean you’d have to find an ingredient maybe not sold at your normal grocery store.
Cardamom is known as the “queen of spices” because of its distinct flavor and aroma, as well as its wide use in many cuisines. So if that doesn’t tell you something I don’t know how to convince you to try it. Please, please let me know if you make these! And leave a review! It would make my day knowing I shared a piece of this place I love with you.
Because we are on the topic of Finland, of which I could talk your ear off, if you’re looking for a dinner to pare with this dessert you should try my yummy salmon soup (lohikeitto) recipe! It’s my favorite meal in Finland and many people I’ve shared it with have added it to their monthly meal plans. It’s so yummy and also pretty healthy too.
Originally posted 2/14/23. Recipe updated slightly 3/4/25 with new pictures.
PrintLaskiaispulla – Finnish Shrove Buns
Delicious, indulgent cardamom buns filled with jam and almond paste topped with plenty of whipped cream. A truly authentic Finnish treat for Fat/Shrove Tuesday.
- Prep Time: 45 minutes active, 2 hours inactive
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 2 hours 45 minutes
- Yield: 16 buns 1x
Ingredients
Dough-
1 cup warm milk
2 tablespoons yeast
1 egg + 1 egg yolk, room temperature
½ cup sugar (100g)
1 teaspoon cardamom
½ teaspoon salt
3 ½–4 ½ cups all-purpose flour
7 tablespoons butter (100g)
Egg Wash-
1 egg, beaten
2 teaspoons water
Cream-
3 cups heavy cream
½ cup powdered sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Filling-
Almond paste (about 1 cup)
Jam (about 1 cup)
Instructions
In a small bowl, combine the warm milk and the yeast. Let sit for about 5 minutes.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment whip the egg, egg yolk, and sugar together until pale and yellow.
Add the salt, 3 ½ cups flour, and cardamom, and replace the whisk attachment with a dough hook. Pour in the yeast/milk mixture. Slowly knead the dough until it’s combined nicely, about 2 minutes or so.
In a small bowl, whip the butter with a hand mixer until light and fluffy. Add the whipped butter to the stand mixer and continue kneading. You will have to scrape the sides down and help the dough quite a bit in the beginning. Knead on a low speed until you can pull a piece of dough upwards without it breaking. It will be at least 10-15 minutes of kneading in the stand mixer. The dough will feel sticky during this process and you may be tempted to add more flour, but you likely don’t need to *see note. If at the 10 minute mark of kneading it’s still sticking a lot to the sides of the bowl then you can add a bit of flour at a time. It will get less sticky as you knead longer. Because this is an enriched bread dough (meaning it has eggs, butter, and milk in it), it takes quite a bit more kneading than doughs with just water and flour.
Once your dough is kneaded, remove the dough briefly to your hand or a clean counter, and spray the bowl with cooking spray. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and put in a warm location until it doubles, about 1 hour- 90 minutes.
Line 3 baking sheets with parchment paper, set aside, and Preheat the oven to 425 F.
Turn the dough onto the counter, do not flour the counter. Knock the air out of the dough gently and divide into 16 even pieces. Roll the dough into balls, much like you’d roll a ball of dough to make dinner rolls. Put the balls on the baking sheets and let them rise in a warm place for about 45-60 minutes.
Whisk the egg and water together to make the egg wash. With a pastry brush, gently and lightly brush the top of the rolls right before placing in the oven.
Bake for 10-14 minutes till the tops are medium golden brown (watch them every few minutes to make sure you don’t over-bake). Remove from oven and let cool completely before continuing on a wire cooling rack. Leaving the buns to cool on the baking sheet will make them over-cook so make sure to remove them off the hot baking sheet as soon as you pull them out of the oven.
While the buns are cooling, make the whipped cream using a hand mixer by mixing the cream, powdered sugar and vanilla extract until stiff peaks.
Once the buns are cooled, cut about 1/3 of the top off and set aside. Using your fingers or a fork, rip out some of the bun making a well about 2 tablespoons in size. Continue on all the buns. Fill each bun with about 1 tablespoon almond paste and 1 tablespoon of jam.
Preferably pipe (or just spoon) the whipped cream on top of the bottom half of the bun and filling. Replace the top 1/3 of the bun on top of the whipped cream. Dust the tops with powdered sugar, if desired, right before serving.
Eat immediately or refrigerate for up to about 3 days.
Notes
Step-by-step pictures and Frequently Asked Questions below recipe card.
Original recipe had half cake flour and half all purpose flour. In making this dozens of time I have noticed the cake flour makes the bread take way longer to knead and I like the finished result of just all-purpose flour.
After making these in our home in Alabama and I needed to add a few notes:
Alabama is very humid and I needed to add about 1/2 cup more flour in the end that I never had to use in Finland. So you may need to add some more depending on humidity, but start with the listed amounts/weights of flour.
You can make them 100% jam or 100% almond paste but my family’s preference is half and half. I’ve also seen fillings in Finland of Patkis candy (like a mint chocolate) and also pistachio paste. I’ve used all sorts of flavors of jam and I think my favorite is strawberry. But I’ve honestly never met a Laskiaispulla I didn’t enjoy…. And I’m guessing you won’t either!
In Finland they have a saying,
“Kysymys laskiaispullan täytteestä—hillo vai mantelimassa—jakaa mielipiteitä.”
Which means,
“The question of which filling Shrove Buns should have—jam or almond paste—is divisive.”
Keywords: Finland, Finnish food, Shrove buns, Laskiaispulla, Fat Tuesday, Shrovetide bun, cardamom, dessert, pastry, semla, Shrove Tuesday, Cardamom, Almond Paste, fastelavnsbolle, Lent, Easter
Frequently Asked Questions – Laskiaispulla – Finnish Shrove Buns
Way too much flour. I would say ~3 cups is good.
I have made these numerous times and haven’t ever needed as little as 3 cups! But with all yeast breads, it will depend on your climate and kitchen so I’m glad you knew when to stop adding flour for it! I hope it turned out delicious.