Hotwedege Buns

Lent starts on Ash Wednesday, 40 days – excluding Sundays – before Easter and is a very serious matter in the Catholic church.
For most people in England, “giving it up for Lent” is pretty much the same thing as not drinking alcohol in January, just something to do that’s part of tradition, which has some sort of vague resonance of logic lurking in the background. In Sweden, we add for Lent!
Every Tuesday during Lent you should eat the traditional Swedish Lent buns, “Fastlags-/Fetidsdagsbullar” or “Semlor” as they are called. A lovely, slightly sweet and cardamom scented bun, filled with frangipani and topped with whipped cream. A dusting of icing sugar on top, et voila!

We also bring in branches and decorate them with fethers and colourful eggs. A “Lent Bunch”. The twigs were used for whipping, either on the morning of Fat Tuesdat (fet tisdag, from where the word fettisdagsbulle comes from) or on Good Friday, to remind us of the crucifixion. However, it’s most likely the remnants of a very old tradition where the beating with twigs was thought to be beneficial to the health and bringing good luck. In the 1700s the twig bunches became more of a decoration, with coloured ribbons and paper flowers and other things. The feathers have been used for at least 150 years but didn’t catch on until the 1930s.
If you put your bunch in water, the leaves will come out and weeks before any chance of seeing green out side, which in Sweden is very exciting, with our late, late spring. However, it looks more stylish without leaves – in my opinion – so leave the water out of the vase. The spring comes early enough to the UK.