Fastelavn is a Nordic tradition that means “the day before the fast” and is celebrated before the so-called “Lent” (faste). In February, we have Fastelavn Sunday, blue Monday, Fat Tuesday, Ash Wednesday, which are the days before the traditional Christian 40-day fast begins! At Fastelavn (which is today 23 February), we bake buns with whipped cream.
What a weird tradition. I never actually celebrated it before, especially since I’ve had a hard time with gluten, so I haven’t really jumped into the making of the buns. This year I decided it was time to celebrate! I’m making vegan and gluten-free buns. Which many might even not think is possible, but I’m here to prove that it is 👀
Vegan, gluten-free buns
You need:
250 g vegan yogurt (I used 1/2 box Alpro Natural soy yogurt)
3 dl warm water
2 tbsp psyllium husk (fiberhusk)
70 g Jyttemel (a gluten-free flour mix)*
500 grams/1 pack of Semper Fine gluten-free mix*
50 g fresh yeast
6 tbsp oil/vegan butter (I used Berit Nordstrand butter)
1/2 tsp salt
1.5 dl sugar (I used 2-3 tbsp maple syrup)
1 tsp cardamom
*You can probably make regular vegan buns with wheat flour! Just swap the gluten-free flour for regular.
How to:
Add the yogurt and water in a bowl. Stir it together.
Add the psyllium husk and jyttemel. Mix thoroughly for 4-5 minutes with a machine or by hand. Make sure to get the small flour lumps out.
Add the rest of the ingredients. Knead (elte) the dough.
Let it rise for 30 minutes.
Knead the dough. Add some oil or butter to a clean kitchen counter. Make a bread form and chop the dough into 12 equal pieces. Form them into small buns.
Set the oven to 225 degrees Celcius. Let the dough rise again for 30 minutes.
Bake the buns for about 15-20 minutes.
Vegan whipped cream/PB & jelly
I ended up not making whipped cream. I’m actually not the biggest fan of it, and also I bought the wrong type of cream haha. Ups. OR, you go for my all-time favorite - peanut butter & jelly. I love the chunky organic type of peanut butter. Yum. But if you want to make whipped cream, here is how:
You need:
Berry jam
Vegan vanilla sauce (I use Oatly vanilla sauce)
Vegan whipping cream (Alpro, Gryr ++. Make sure to not buy cooking cream, but the one for baking)
How to:
Whip vegan whipping cream together with a tiny bit of vanilla sauce.
Assembly
Slice the buns in two and add some cream and jam into each.
Have a good baking session <3