Dalarö Bageri

Rating: 2.5/5

An evenly baked bun with spots of cardamom, a swirl of cream with nicely defined edges. It has a triangular lid with a good dusting. The lid has been dusted while already on the semla, so the bun has a slight dusting too. The triangular lid has been cut using the scissor method. The missing corners on the lid are one of the signs of that.

The cream tastes a little sweet, probably due to the overspill of the icing sugar from dusting the lid.

The proportions of cream, paste and bun were spot on. The bun tasted of cardamom but was a less soft and more dry than I'd like (especially the lid). Despite it's even nice colour, it's slightly over baked - it goes so quick at the end!

The paste is intriguing. At first I wondered if I'd actually been served a vanilla semla by mistake! The almond paste is light in colour and has a mild taste of almond. There weren't any bits of nuts either, but it had a good consistency.

When I try the paste on its own I do get marzipan tones from it, and can feel the ground almond and sugar texture, but it still gives me vanilla vibes when eaten as part of the bun.

This semla is very close to being rated a 3, but the combination of slightly over baked bun and the paste not giving the almond punch it should, results in 2.5/5.