It’s telling that in Chicago, Fats Tuesday — the day earlier than Lenten Season begins, this yr on Tuesday, February 13 — is mostly known as Paczki Day. Weighing in at round 400 energy every, the Polish pastries inevitably whip up pleasure amongst followers who type lengthy strains, generally within the wee hours of the morning, to snag paczki by the dozen in a wide selection of traditional and modern flavors.

Amid all of the paczki pandemonium, nevertheless, lie Fats Tuesday specialties from a wide range of ethnic teams that now name Chicago house. In Andersonville, town’s historic Swedish American enclave, a lauded native pastry chef is shining a highlight on the Scandinavian custom of the semla, a wealthy but delicate candy roll also called fettisdagsbulle, actually “Fats Tuesday bun.”

As within the case of many Fats Tuesday treats, trendy semlor (the plural of semla) advanced considerably from their unique type. Traditionally, semlor merely referred to bread rolls floating in heat milk, a mixture additionally dubbed hetvagg. In an ominous anecdote, 18th-century Swedish King Adolf Fredrick is alleged to have died after wrapping up a hearty, boozy meal with 14 servings of the dish. Right this moment, typical semlor are small, baked yeast buns enriched with butter and egg, flavored with cardamom, filled with almond paste and whipped cream, and at last, dusted with powdered sugar. Sweden’s neighboring nations characteristic regional variations, equivalent to Finnish laskiaispulla and Danish and Norwegian fastelavnsboller.

Bobby Schaffer (Grace, Blue Hill at Stone Barns), has made a reputation for himself within the metropolis along with his modern takes on Swedish pastry traditions at Misplaced Larson, his trendy bakeries and cafes with trendy minimalist Swedish vibes in Andersonville and Wicker Park. The seasonal merchandise has a crowd of keen adherents who begin peppering Schaffer with questions on availability “as quickly as January hits,” he says. This yr’s lineup blends previous and new, juxtaposing a conventional model with playful semlor, together with one filled with raspberry jam and topped with raspberry whipped cream and a spin on bananas foster. They’re out there to walk-in clients by way of Monday, February 12 in each Andersonville and Wicker Park, and on-line pre-orders are open for pickup on Fats Tuesday in Andersonville.

The idea of enjoyable and funky semlor is a full-on phenomenon in Sweden, says Karin Moen Abercrombie, govt director of Andersonville’s Swedish American Museum. In Stockholm, famed 90-year-old coffeehouse Vete-Katten usually sells round 14,000 semlor forward of Lent annually. “Right this moment, there’s virtually a contest between bakeries of who makes the most effective semlor,” she says.

Schaffer had his first style of semlor in January 2018 throughout a visit to Stockholm along with his sister forward of Misplaced Larson’s debut in Andersonville. His reminiscences of the encounter, which unfolded in a “very old-school” bakery in Sweden’s capital, are vivid: “The feel of the cream [was] so delicate, and hitting that layer of almond paste provides it a chewy, unctuous texture,” he says. “It’s very satisfying to dig into a type of.”

Again in Chicago, he had a critical activity on his fingers with the debut of his trendy bakery and cafe with trendy minimalist Swedish vibes. The Swedish Bakery, a neighborhood icon for greater than eight a long time, had closed the yr prior in 2017, and residents made plain their excessive expectations of Schaffer’s endeavor. Given his latest semlor meet cute, Schaffer was desperate to introduce his model and included them on his opening menu, which occurred to reach in June.

“I used to be somewhat overly exuberant to begin making them,” he says, laughing. “I used to be rapidly scolded by [Abercrombie] that it was not semla season… I didn’t wish to begin by offending Swedish individuals.”

Abercrombie, a Swedish immigrant who has spent practically 40 years in Chicago, doesn’t bear in mind her first semla however does recall consuming them with heat milk (a la King Fredrick, although in smaller portions) as a lady. For her, the Swedish Bakery’s closure struck near house. “They have been those, for many people, who linked us again to our house nation and childhood reminiscences.”

Regardless of its extra modern method, Misplaced Larson’s dedication to Swedish baking and pastry — in addition to Schaffer’s openness to suggestions from the neighborhood — have performed important roles in sustaining Swedish American tradition within the metropolis. The museum can even characteristic semlor in its pop-up cafe on Fats Tuesday, however for Abercrombie and Schaffer, it’s not about competitors. “All of us should work collectively as a result of if we don’t help one another, none of us will survive,” she says.

Semla Day at Misplaced Larson Andersonville, Tuesday, February 13, 5318 N. Clark Road, pre-orders out there on-line.