This is the easiest and moistest chocolate cake I have ever discovered, and it was a childhood favorite. Even as a child, I could make it quickly. This cake also tastes fantastic with the boxed fluffy icing, which brings out the cake’s fantastic chocolate flavor.
| Prep Time: | 1 hr 30 mins |
| Cook Time: | 10 mins |
| Additional Time: | 1 hr 10 mins |
| Total Time: | 2 hrs 50 mins |
| Servings: | 16 |
| Yield: | 16 buns |
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups warm milk (70 to 80 degrees F)
- ⅔ cup butter, melted
- 2 eggs
- 1 (.25 ounce) envelope active dry yeast
- 5 cups all-purpose flour
- ½ cup white sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cardamom
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 4 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ cup milk, or as needed
- 5 ounces marzipan
- 2 cups whipping cream
- 2 tablespoons white sugar
- confectioners’ sugar for dusting
Instructions
- For preparing buns: Whisk milk, butter, and eggs together in a large bowl. Sprinkle yeast on top; let stand until yeast softens and begins to form a creamy foam, about 5 minutes. Meanwhile, sift 5 cups flour, sugar, cardamom, and salt into a large bowl.
- When yeast has softened, stir flour mixture into milk mixture to form a soft dough. Cover the bowl with a damp cloth, and allow to rise in a warm place for 30 minutes. Lightly grease baking sheets; set aside.
- Sift 1 cup flour and baking powder together. Stir into risen dough, then turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic. Shape into 16 balls and place onto the prepared baking sheets. Cover with a damp cloth, and allow to rise until doubled in bulk, 35 to 40 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
- Bake in the preheated oven until golden brown and the center is firm, about 10 to 15 minutes. Cool buns on a wire rack to room temperature.
- For preparing fillings: Once cool, cut a slice about 1/2-inch thick off of the top of each bun and set aside. Scoop or cut out the center of buns, leaving a shell about 1/2-inch thick. Tear removed bread into small pieces and place into a bowl. Moisten bread with milk, then mix in marzipan until smooth. Add additional milk as needed until marzipan filling is nearly as soft as pudding; set aside.
- Beat cream in a chilled glass or metal bowl with an electric mixer until frothy. Add sugar gradually, continuing to beat until soft peaks form.
- Fill each shell with a spoonful of marzipan filling. Pipe whipped cream on top of filling; it should be about 1/2 inch over the top of each bun. Replace the tops onto buns; dust with confectioner’s sugar before serving.
- Instead of 16 balls, you can break the dough into 24 if you’d like smaller semla buns.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 442 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 54 g |
| Cholesterol | 87 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 2 g |
| Protein | 8 g |
| Saturated Fat | 12 g |
| Sodium | 284 mg |
| Sugars | 16 g |
| Fat | 22 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
I have never had traditional semla, so I can’t speak on that aspect of the recipe–but I thought these buns were good! I made a half batch, and formed the dough into 16 small-ish buns. I was very happy with how they came out. I do agree with the reviewer who said that they felt the almond filling tasted “watered down.” For my own tastes, I would like a stronger almond flavor in the filling–so maybe adding more marzipan (or almond paste), alongside some extra almond extract and maybe even some toasted almonds. These buns would also be delicious with some jam or fresh fruit. Overall, these were a really fun baking experiment; and I would make them again. Thanks so much for your recipe!
I make this receipe every year for Easter now. My family loves them. I suggest making the buns small. Excellent though, the Swedes make them for Easter I think, that is where I first had them.
A very good recipe. I made them for my dad as a surprise (he had them all the time as a kid), I was able to use almond paste instead of marzipan (he agreed with a previous poster about it being more authentic), when he bit into it he said “It’s a semla!” (I guess he didn’t have much faith,) it turned out perfect. WARNING: Only eat one at a time, they are pretty filling.
Good and easier to make than you would expect. The marzipan is drowned out by the whipping cream, so I recommend you take this into account when deciding on the ratio of marzipan mix to whipping cream when filling the buns.
My grandmother, whose Swedish, loved them. I certainly did too and it was a great experience discovering a part of the Swedish culture, since I do have that ancestry. The bread itself is amazing and I might make it plain and eat it the way they do in Sweden, with warmed milk in a bowl. These Semlor are definitely a keeper in my book. I dashed mine with both powdered sugar and some cinnamon.
Thank you! I made this with my half Swedish boyfriend who remembered his grandmother making these. Easy to follow recipe – adjusting the marzipan mix to taste so lots of marzipan (according to the consultant) grating it first helped followed by electric mixer. We thoroughly enjoyed them:)
I wanted to like this recipe. I lived in Sweden for a few years and love semlor, but this isn’t how I remember them. I don’t know how much of that was my own fault. The bun tasted right, but was too dense and chewy. The filling was too diluted by the bread. The mandel massa flavor was lost. I added almond extract and sugar to try to restore some of the flavor, but it still tasted too much like soggy bread. I will compare this with other semlor recipes and try again with some tweaks. It didn’t quite scratch my semlor itch.
These were delicious! I’ll be making them again, that’s for sure!
Giving this recipe only 4 and not 5 stars due to the fact that authentic ‘semlas’ have almond paste instead of marizpan in the middle….. Yummy!
These were great! I grew up in Sweden and have not had a semla in over 15 years. My whole family loved them. Thanks so much. I love to share the Swedish customs with my kids and husband.
Excellent recipe. I’ve never had Semla, so I can’t say whether or not these are authentic, but they sure are good! Only one problem- 375 was too hot! My buns started to get too brown on the bottom at around 10 minutes – before they were golden on the outside or cooked all the way through!
Thank you for sharing this recipe. I grew up eating semlor at Easter, and this year tried it myself. My first attempt was a flop – the traditional Swedish cookbook called for four packets of yeast, and gave vague instructions like add “most” of the flour and “work” the dough. I came to All Recipes in desperation, found this, and followed it precisely. The semlor couldn’t have come out more perfect. Tack sa mycket!
I added a tad of whole wheat flour to my batch, and they came out beautifully! The only suggestion I would make is to wait to dust the semlor with powdered sugar until RIGHT BEFORE you serve them. I dusted mine, stuck them in the fridge for a few hours, and the sugar disappeared as condensation from being chilled appeared. I should know better, but they just looked so cute!
Amazingly good!!!