Skolebrød ~ Norwegian Sweet Rolls

Fluffy, soft and amazing sweet rolls filled with vanilla cream and topped with a thick glaze of icing sugar. Mom definitely knows how to please some sweeth teeth!

I don't know if many of you actually have heard of or seen a "skolebrød" before. Skolebrød is a typical norwegian sweet roll that consist of a yeasted dough which is formed as round or oblong shaped buns. The buns have a well in the middle which is filled with delicious vanilla cream or custard and then glazed with a thick coating of icing sugar and gently pressed into dessicated coconut. Skolebrød can directly be translated to "school bread" or "school bun" and was invented in the 1950's.

I am not really sure were the name comes from, but a little research shows that they used to put them in the lunch boxes as a dessert for school. Now, that are some really happy kids to have these delicious buns for their school lunches! And that is what Mary Berry said in the Great British Bake Off on the last season when they had a challenge of baking European buns. And I have to disagree here, because in my school life, I can only remember half a time when I actually had these for lunch at school and yes, it was just a great feeling and excitement as a kid to have a fluffy sweet bun at school!

Whatever the origin, these buns are just delicious!! Fluffy and soft, with a thick coating of icing sugar and then you just bite through the middle with the gorgeous vanilla cream... Mmmmmm.. I need say no more, do I? And especially not when these are made by my mom! I still think she beats me when it comes to baking yeasted dough. It must be her hands, and the love that she puts into them, that even without following any recipe, she can tempt with the most fluffy, soft and amazing buns!

These are my mom's courtesy from scratch to the final product and I just have the credit of putting icing sugar on them (if that counts). They were fluffy as cotton and almost melted in my mouth as I could not stop myself from eating them.

I am giving two methods of icing on the top, one which uses egg whites and results in a more white, fluffy and thicker coating which is easily spread on the buns unlike the second method which is simply icing sugar with enough water mixed in to make a paste, but this results in a slightly transparent icing and requires a good amount of icing sugar.

Skolebrød

Mom's recipe from unknown source

Makes about 16 buns

...........................................................  INGREDIENTS  ...........................................................

Buns

400 ml / 1 3/4 cups milk
150 g / 3/4 cup butter
50 g / 0.4 cup yeast, fresh

135 g / 0.6 cup sugar

1 egg

Filling

1 packet of instant vanilla cream

Garnish

250 g / 2 cups icing sugar
2 egg whites or
 enough water to make a thick icing
150 g / 1 1/5 cups coconut, dessicated

...........................................................  PREPARATION  ...........................................................

1 Grease two baking trays or cover them with parchment paper

2 Melt the butter in a sauce pan or in the microwave and add in the milk

3 Heat the melted butter and milk until it reaches about 37 C / 98 F

4 In a large bowl crumble the fresh yeast and add about 100 ml / 1/2 cup of the butter and milk mixture, stir with a whisk until the yeast is completely dissolved

5 Add the sugar and egg and mix until well blended

6 Sift in the flour 1/2 cup at a time and stir well after each addition, until you have a very soft dough

7 Knead the dough until it becomes smooth and soft and does not stick to the bowl or the baking surface

8 Divide the dough into two equal parts and divide each part into eight parts (total 16 parts)

9 Shape and roll each part into an oblong ball and put them on the tray (eight on each) leaving room between them for expanding

Make a well on each bun by gently pressing the side of your hand legthwise on the buns
Cover the trays with kitchen towels and let rise for about 2 hours or until well risen and doubled in size

10 Prepare the vanilla cream according to the instructions on the packet, it should be very thick in consistency
11 Spread about 1 tbsp vanilla cream on top of each bun (slightly re-press the well first)

Bake in the middle of oven at 170 C / 325 F for about 10-15 minutes or until they turn slightly golden on the edges and the bottoms have become golden in color

Cool on a wire rack

12 For the glazing, whisk the egg whites until frothy using a mixer, then add the icing sugar little by little until you have a thick, light and smooth meringue, add a few drops of lemon juice OR

For the water glaze: add enough water to the icing sugar in a small bowl to make a thick and smooth paste (this method may require more icing sugar depending on how thick you want to glaze your buns)
13 Spread the icing on top of each bun leaving the part with vanilla cream, then hold them carefully upside down and gently press each bun into the plate with dessicated coconut

Let the icing set

Enjoy with a BIG glass of cold milk!