Shrove Tuesday buns!

Every year in February or the beginning of March on a Tuesday which precedes the 40-day Christian fast – Lent - Shrove Tuesday is held. The purpose of the holiday is to eat well before the fast begins. Traditional foods in Estonia include pea or bean soup and pig’s trotter. Nowadays there are also special Shrove Tuesday buns with whipped cream and jam. Sleding is also a part of the tradition: the longer the slide, the longer the stem of flax would be during the next summer.

In celebration of the Shrove Tuesday we present to you a blogpost on the subject of how to make Shrove Tueday buns from scratch.  If you have no wish to actually make them, it might still increase your appetite through reading and looking at the lovely pictures.

The recipe is taken from the collection of Õie, the confectioner of Werner’s cafe in Tartu.

Things you need:

600g of wheat

250 g of milk

35 g press-yeast

75 g butter

50 g sugar

1 egg

A little salt

Take all the components out of the refrigerator as soon as possible so that the components will be of room temperature by the time of making the dough.

Dissolve the yeast milk (on room temprature) and mix it with about half of the wheat (300 g). Churn the mix till it is even and let it proof in a warm location for about half an hour.

Then add melted and a little cooled butter, sugar, egg, salt and the rest of the wheat and blend them in. Knead  the mix till the dough is even and doesn’t stick to the bowl. Sprinkle a little wheat on the dough and let it proof in a warm place under a towel or foil until it is at least twice its size. In order to proof the dough needs both warmth and moisture. If you have a heated floor you may place the bowl on it or put in the oven on minimal temperature with a separate bowl of water in order to maintain humidity. A good tip is to moisturize the towel a little as well.

If the dough has become twice its size it should be placed on the table, covered with a little wheat and then round buns can be made (about 50 g each). If the buns have been formed put them on a plate in a humid place to proof.

After that smear the buns with fluffed egg and bake them at 220 degrees for about 15 minutes.

Once the buns have been cooled it is time to add whipped cream. The cream must be beat up quite strongly as otherwise it will fall out of the bun. Some like to add a little lemon peel and -juice. In order to make the cream stronger, cream cheese may be added as well. And of course don’t forget the jam! There are many different flavours: strawberry, rasberry, blueberry, cowberry… Then all that is left to do is sprinkle the bun with lots of powdered sugar and you are done!

Head isu! (Bon appetite)