Norwegian Fastelavnsboller with Jam

Today is Fastelavn in Norway, so of course I had to celebrate by baking some delicious fastelavnsboller. These sweet cardamom buns are traditionally filled with jam and whipped cream. Many Norwegians also like to fill their fastelavnsboller with almond paste (like Swedes do with their semlor), but today I decided to make the classic version with jam!

While originally eaten on the Sunday before Lent, fastelavnsboller have become so popular that Norwegians now eat them from the end of December to March, and sometimes I’ll see them in cafés in Norway all year.

What is Fastelavn?

Many cultures celebrate the days leading up to Lent with a big feast or celebration like Mardi Gras, Fastnacht, and Carnival. In Norway and other Nordic countries this is Fastelavn.

While the 40-day fast period of Lent largely lost significance in Norway after the Reformation, Norwegians have continued many of their Fastelavn traditions.

Norwegians now celebrate Fastelavn on the Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday before the start of Lent. Kids will dress up in costumes at school, and in some families children will “beat” their parents (or a piñata!) with Fastelavnsris, which are birch branches decorated with colorful feathers. In pre-Christian times the branches were used to reawaken fertile trees, animals, and women after the winter, and then later the fastelavnris symbolized atonement.

But the best part of Norwegian Fastelavn celebrations are the delicious Fastelavn buns!

Fastelavnsboller tips

We immediately recognize fastelavnsboller by their tall layer of whipped cream, but what actually makes them so tasty is the the light, fluffy cardamom buns sandwiching the whipped cream.

First, you’ll dissolve the yeast in lukewarm milk and then add the dry ingredients, including freshly ground cardamom.

You can use ground cardamom for this recipe, but if you have a mortar and pestal I highly recommend grinding cardamom seeds instead, as freshly ground seeds are much more flavorful. If you only have ground cardamom, I would double the amount in the recipe.

You can use a mixer to make the dough, but it’s easy enough to knead it by hand. I always add 2/3 of the flour first and then add the last third slowly so as not to add too much flour to the dough. You want to add just enough so that it isn’t too sticky to knead, but not too much otherwise the dough can get tough.

Let the dough rise until it’s double in size. It will rise more quickly in a warm place.

Once the dough has risen, cut it into 16 to 20 pieces (depending on how small or large you want your fastelavnsboller to be). Roll them into balls and set them on baking paper to rise again for 30 minutes.

Brush each bun with egg wash and bake for about 10 minutes, until the tops and bottoms are golden. You don’t want to over bake the buns as then they can become dry.

After the fastelavnsboller have cooled you can cut off the tops to fill them. You can either slice of the top, or use scissors to cut a triangle out of the top. You can also use scissors to cut other shapes, or simply to clean up the circle shape.

Traditionally we fill these with raspberry jam, but this time I used cherry jam instead and they were so good! I’m not the biggest fan of whipped cream, so I usually only use a bit, but if you love it you can really pile it on, either with a piping bag or simply with a spoon.

I only lightly sweeten the whipped cream with vanilla and sugar, but if you want sweeter cream you can add more sugar. Some people also like to mix some jam into the cream for more berry flavor.

And then finally I dust them with powdered sugar.

These are best served fresh, though you can also freeze the whole buns and add the jam, cream and powdered sugar when you defrost them later.

You can switch the recipe from US measurements to metric by clicking from “US Customary” to “Metric” under Ingredients.