Bolludagsbollur 2021

Carnival ball 2021

To summarize my family's reactions: "It tastes great, but it's extremely difficult to eat!" Afterwards we were able to lick our fingers...

In Iceland, Rose Monday is the " bolludagur ", as people here traditionally eat a lot of these carnival balls - either made from sponge dough, shortcrust pastry or choux pastry, but actually always with lots of cream, jam and chocolate. The tradition probably goes back to Danish bakers who naturalized this custom in Iceland in the 19th century.

Ingredients for approx. 12 bales

80 g butter
200 ml water

110 g flour

1 pinch of salt

3 eggs

450 ml whipping cream

3 Tbsp powdered sugar

50 g ground almonds

200 g frozen strawberries

100 g grated dark chocolate

50 g Skyr chocolate or similar

200 g dark chocolate

50 g whipping cream

20 g syrup

Chocolate pieces, chopped nuts or similar for decoration

Preparation

Put butter and water in a saucepan and heat slowly until the butter has completely melted.

Add the flour and salt and mix very thoroughly with a wooden spoon or similar to form a smooth dough.

Then remove the pot from the heat and let it stand for about a quarter of an hour until the dough has cooled down.

Then stir in the eggs one at a time until the dough is nice and smooth and shiny. (If the dough is a little too runny, stir in a spoonful or two of potato flour if necessary.)

Preheat the oven to 350 °F (180 °C) upper/lower heat.

Using two teaspoons or a dough syringe, place the dough (leaving enough space) on a baking tray lined with baking paper and bake in a preheated oven at 350 °F (180 °C) for about 25 minutes until the balls have turned nice and golden. (Do not open the oven when baking, otherwise the bolludagsbollur will collapse!)

Turn off the oven, leave it closed and only take the tray out of the oven after 5 minutes.

Then let the bales cool down well.

'

Preparing the filling

Beat the whipping cream with the powdered sugar until stiff.

Puree the ground almonds with the strawberries and fold into the cream.

Cut the chocolate into small pieces...

...and fold into the cream and strawberry mixture with the grated chocolate.

Preparing the glaze

Melt the chocolate in a small saucepan over low heat, then stir the cream and syrup into the melted chocolate.

Completion of the Bolludagsbollur

Now cut the bales horizontally in the middle...

...put a portion of the strawberry cream on the bottom half, add another teaspoon of strawberry jam on top of the cream and place the top half of the ball on top.

Then spread some glaze on the top and decorate with chocolate pieces, nuts or similar.

Then serve the Bolludagsbollur well chilled.

[Translated from here.]