The history of this very seasonal Swedish bun is older than you might think. The name is thought to be a mix of two Latin words, “Simila” meaning wheat flour or bread baked from wheat flour, and “semi” for half. It was mixed with “semlja”, an old word of unknown origin meaning globe. Simila, and similar sounding words with the same meaning, spread during antiquity and were used by Romans, Greeks and Arabs alike.

During the 1500s in Copenhagen, Denmark there were special “Simle bakers” and in the Swedish king Gustaf Vasa’s Bible from 1541 the word appeared again when it was mentioned that offerings were made consisting of “baked semlo cakes mixed with oil”.

Starting as a plain round bun it began to transform from the 1500s and onwards. The first part of the change was that it was sweetened with honey, some years later the crumb was scooped out and cooked with cream and butter before being returned to the hole in the bun. In the 1700s almonds became more common in Sweden and they were ground and mixed with the crumb and cream mixture. In the 1850s almond paste was started to become more prevalent and took the place of the ground almonds. Not until the 1930s the whipped cream became an integral part of the bun, making it into what Swedes know and love today.

Up to the 1950s Swedes started eating Semla on Fat Tuesday, Fettisdagen in Swedish, and ate them until Easter. Only on Tuesdays though. This tradition has now given way to the Semla being sold from right after Christmas until Easter. In Sweden we eat an average of 4-5 Semla per person each year. It adds up to 40 million. Mind you, this is a bun that is solely sold during a three month period so you see them pretty much everywhere during this time of year.

In essence, when many parts of the world have carnevals, Swedes sit down with a cup of coffee and a wheat bun filled with almond paste and whipped cream.

Product information

This is one in a series of illustrated classic Swedish pastries that you traditionally eat with your fika.

The size 40x50 cm (approx 16x20”) are signed and printed on Hahnemühle Photo Rag Bright White 310g archival paper and are sold in a limited edition of 50 prints.

The size 30x40 cm (approx 12x16”) are printed on Hahnemühle Fine Art Studio Enhanced 210g archival paper.