Craving a custard coconut cardamom bun? Alliteration required to munch. # 381: Skoleboller

This round fellow is in the happy middle ground between a cardamom bun and a doughnut: plush gently-spiced dough, covered in a sweet icing and shredded coconut with a puddle of vanilla pastry cream in the center.

Originating from Norway, the name translates to “school bun.” While they look a bit like a fuzzy fried egg, it would definitely make me smile if there was one in my lunchbox.

The dough didn’t feel like cooperating, and rejected my attempts to make a lasting divot for the filling. C’est la vie. At least the custard stayed put on the top!

Kicking things off with the tiniest batch of pastry cream I’ve ever made. Every egg is precious right now!

Sounds like a job for a tiny pot and a tiny spatula.

Cutting the recipe in sevenths (!) made the perfect amount for four buns. Shouts to my digital scale for making my tiny bake dreams come true.

Bring on the buns. I’ve posted about cardamom buns before, but these felt worth a repeat.

Third trimester’s got me up way too early so I decided to mix and knead them by hand. It’s been a minute since I’ve kneaded dough, and waking Nate up early on a Saturday to make him pull out my stand mixer for me seemed mean.

That cozy cardamom smell.

I want to go back in time and teach 2017 Nicky how to turn a random shaped chunk of dough into a happy round bun: tuck any corners in by folding them underneath and then use the friction of a non-floured table or board to convince the corners to stay put. The motion looks like I’m gently scrubbing the board in circles to clean it, but with a ball of dough in my hand.

Ta-da!

I really thought pinching down the center 3 or 4 times would work, but who am I to get in the way of the yeast’s lofty aspirations.

So shiiiiny. If you haven’t seen the original Moana, keep scrolling.

Ready for an oven nap.

If yours decide to poof up rebelliously like mine, wait til they’re cool to move them to a rack so the custard has a chance to set. Otherwise you’ll get a sad custard waterfall.

I scraped it up off the pan and plopped it back on top, shhh.

Powdered sugar and water “glue” for the incoming coconut blizzard.

If your local grocery store only has shredded coconut like mine, chop it more finely before sprinkling it on. It’ll adhere better and honestly look cuter.

Happy munching!

Bun recipe from: https://skandibaking.com/skoleboller-norwegian-custard-buns/