To kick off our official first day of “school”, (yes, I waited until after Labor day) I made something special.
School Buns. (Or School Bread) According to Wikipedia:
Skolebolle (English: School Bun) is the Norwegian name for a type of sweet roll that consists of regular dough of yeast, custard and icing with grated coconut. It was usually put in school lunches as a dessert or sold at bake sales, hence the name.
In the western parts of Norway where the Norwegian baking traditions stems from it is called “Skolebolle” (School Bun), in the eastern and northern parts of Norway it is more common to call them “Skolebrød” (School Bread).
There you have it.
So, as most of you know I an embarking on a new journey today. I am filled with an excitement and anticipation of the new “year” ahead. As I write this, I’m waiting…. like a parent for the children to awaken on Christmas morning. But, there is so much more ahead to open. Books and experiments, field trips and plays…
I spent months researching and examining curriculum and homeschooling “styles”, observing my daughter at her best, and her worst, trying to put together what will help her learn the most at the least expense of her.. or myself.
Because you simply don’t learn it well if you hate it.
So, I evaluated her strengths and weaknesses.. and pieced together an eclectic blend of curriculum. A far cry from what I originally had intended. I will share with you our plan in a later post, today is a time to celebrate and embrace the sweetness of witnessing the “a-ha” moments to come in this coming school year.
I will be documenting lots of it here, but for today, I have a recipe:
To create these sweet treats from the north, I made a simple sweet bread dough. You can also use a hot roll mix, just add 1/4 sugar to it.
The custard…is a vanilla bean infused smooth velvety concoction of milk sugar egg yolks and of course, real vanilla beans
The dough is divided into equal portions, and an indentation is made in each portion.
It is then filled with custard and baked:
After they bake, allow them to cool completely:
and then, dip in vanilla frosting, and shredded sweetened coconut, for a treat that’s part danish, part doughnut and all delicious.
school buns or school bread
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups warm milk
- 1 pkg active dry yeast
- 1/2 cup butter melted
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 4 cups flour
- Vanilla Custard:
- 1 cup milk
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 3 TBS flour
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 2 egg yolks beaten
- 2 teaspoons real vanilla extract*see notes
- 2 TBS butter
- Glaze:
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 2 TBS cream
- sweetened shredded coconut
Instructions
- For the dough:
- Dissolve the yeast in the milk, and add the sugar
- add the melted (cooled) butter
- Add the sugar and flour and knead to form a soft dough, about 10 minutes
- Place in greased bowl, cover and let rise until doubled.
- Form into 12-14 balls, place on a parchment covered baking sheet.
- Made a deep indentation in each ball, and allow to rise until doubled.
- Meanwhile,
- heat the milk and sugar in a saucepan over medium heat, until scaling
- Mix together the flour, sugar and salt and stir in, continue to stir until thickened
- Gradually add small amounts of the hot molk mixture to the beaten egg yolks, stirring constantly.
- Combine both mixtures and continue to cook over medium heat for 2 minutes.
- Remove from heat, add the vanilla and butter and stir until smooth
- After the balls have risen, place in each indentation a spoonful of the custard
- Bake in a preheated 425F oven for 10 minutes, or until golden
- Allow to cool completely.
- For the glaze, combine the powdered sugar and cream to form a thick icing.
- Spread a thin layer around the edges of each bun, and dip into shredded coconut.
- Serve at room temperature.
Notes
Recipes inspired by:
Authentic Norweigen Cooking by Astrid Karlsen Scott
Fannie Farmer Baking Book by Marion Cummiongham
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