Shrove Tuesday Pulla

I finally got to make lakiaispulla (Finnish Shrove Tuesday buns)! Of course it's well past Shrove Tuesday but these buns taste delicious, regardless of the day. This recipe I have learned from my mother. It's easier than most pulla (Finnish Cardamom bun) recipes since in this one you add the margarine into the milk instead of having to knead it in the dough much later on. It's egg-free because we have had egg-allergy in our family. It seems to be a basic assumption that eggs are a vital ingredient in making pulla but that's simply not true. Just try making pulla without eggs and you'll be surprised, it's actually better! The dough is a lot softer if no eggs are used. The surface of the buns cracks more easily if the dough is egg-free but that is a minor issue. Egg-free pulla just tastes better. Period.

You can use organic milk or if you want to make the buns vegan replace it with oat milk. If you're celebrating Shrove Tuesday don't forget the jam, almond paste and oat (or organic) whipped cream! And here's a little tip for eating laskiaispulla: Take the top off and eat it first. This way the filling stays nicely on the bun.

If you want to make cinnamon rolls, roll the dough into a rectangle, spread some margarine on it and sprinkle  with plenty of cinnamon and some brown sugar. Then just tightly roll the dough into a big "snake". You can either make diagonal cuts to cut the dough in triangular pieces and press the tip of the triangle down with your fingers to make ear-shaped buns, or you can just cut the roll in slices and bake them as they are. If you're tired of cinnamon you can use pretty much anything to fill the roll, e.g. apple mash or dried cranberries and brown sugar.

Note that pulla is definitely not the easiest sweet bread to make! It takes a couple of hours and there's lots of kneading to do. But if you have some time and patience it's definitely worth it. If you have an electric dough mixer you can let it do the kneading.

Vegan Finnish Cardamom Buns (or Pulla)

filled with jam, almond paste and whipped cream (aka laskiaspulla)

• ½ litre oat milk (or organic milk)
• 150-200 grams margarine
• 1 tablespoon cardamom
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla sugar
• 1½-2 decilitres sugar
• 12-13 decilitres flour (I used 3 dl whole-wheat flour and 10 dl of all-purpose flour)
• Two bags (14 grams) of dry yeast
• oat (or organic) milk for brushing
• on top: pearl sugar

Filling:
oat/organic whipped cream
raspberry/strawberry jam and/or almond paste

Heat the milk and the margarine in a microwave oven until the mixture is hot, approximately 42° (this means that it's quite a lot warmer than your hand and feels hot). Add cardamom, salt, vanilla sugar and sugar into the liquid. Mix the dry yeast into 10 decilitres of flour. Beat approximately 5 decilitres of flour into the milk-margarine-mixture until the dough is smooth and elastic. Add the rest of the flour little by little. At this point you have to use your hands to knead the dough. Now this is the tedious part of making pulla. You have to knead the dough until it separates from the side of the bowl and your hand (you can also do this with an electric dough mixer, then you just have to try once in a while if the dough is still sticky). Note that when you don't use eggs the dough remains a bit stickier than with the traditional recipe.

Cover the bowl with a cloth and leave to rise in a warm place until it has doubled in bulk. This takes about 30-60 minutes. My trick is to put the dough in a microwave oven to rise. The microwave is of course not on but the dough rises better in a closed space.

When the dough has doubled in bulk place it on a floured surface and knead well. Knead the dough into a long shaped roll and cut the roll in smaller pieces. Roll the pieces into balls. Place the dough balls on a sheet covered with baking paper. Brush the dough balls with oat milk and sprinkle some pearl sugar on top. Bake the buns in 225°C for 10-13 minutes. Be careful while the buns are in the oven since they burn easily! You know the buns are ready when they have a nice golden brown colour.

If you're making laskiaispulla let the buns cool down before filling them. Cut the tops off and fill them with jam and/or almond paste and whipped cream. Best served after tobogganing.