Monday is bun day!
Cream buns are available at all Icelandic bakeries this weekend and on Monday, the official "bun day." Mbl.is/ Styrmir Kári
To mark the beginning of Lent, Icelanders celebrate with three days next week: Bolludagur on Monday, Sprengidagur on Tuesday and Öskudagur on Wednesday. Bolludagur, or bun day is a day to feast on cream-filled buns.
The custom is believed to originate from Danish and Norwegian bakeries in the middle of the nineteenth century. The tradtion in Iceland is for young children to make a bolluvöndur, a home-made spanking stick with colourful paper tassels and on the morning of bolludagur the children wake up their parents by spanking them. The number of spanks they are able to give amounts to the number of bollur they will receive throughout the day.
There are two types of bollur popular in Iceland, the vatnsdeigsbolla which is similar to an eclair or a choux pastry, or the regular bolla made with regular dough. Both are available at bakeries all around the country on Monday.
Here at Iceland Monitor we prefer the former version, which is lighter and fluffier. You can experiment with different fillings such as custard, jam, strawberry or chocolate whipped cream or elegant rhubarb and ginger. The bun is usually topped with a chocolate or caramel glaze.
Here's a simple recipe:
- 4 dl water
- 160g margarine
- 250g flour
- ¼ teaspoon baking powder
- 5 eggs
Mix water with butter in a saucepan, bringing it to boil. Add the flour and baking powder and whisk it together with the liquid. Let the mixture cool down before adding the eggs one by one, whisking the mixture in between adding each one.
Spoon a bit of the dough mixture onto a baking sheet leaving enough space between each one for them to be able to puff out. Put into the oven at 210 degrees until golden brown. Cool down before topping them, then cut them in half and insert the fillng of your choice.
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