This Ube Semla has the softest, ube-infused bun, with homemade ube paste and salted coconut chantilly cream. With the inspiration of Filipino dessert, Ube Halaya, it is a creation of classic semla with the exotic allure of Ube and the tropical charm of coconut.
Want more ube recipes? You might also like Ube Bagel.
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What is Semla?
Semla is a Scandinavian pastry linked to Easter and Shrove Tuesday, the day before Lent. It's a sweet bun with a cardamom flavor, filled with almond paste and topped with whipped cream. The bun is often hollowed out to make room for the almond filling. Originally tied to pre-Lenten feasting traditions, semla is now enjoyed during Easter too. People have fun with different fillings and flavors, making it a tasty part of Scandinavian Easter celebrations.
What is Chantilly?
Chantilly is a fancy word for sweetened whipped cream. It's made by whipping heavy cream until it's fluffy and adding a bit of sugar and vanilla for flavor. In bakeries, we like to add some chocolate to stabilize the cream, add more fat content, and also give it some sort of sweetness. This creamy topping is commonly used on desserts like cakes and pies.
Ingredients of Ube Semla
- Fresh Ube - Fresh ube has natural flavor and sweetness, and its starchy texture is perfect to replace the traditional almond paste texture. Check Ube Bagel for more information about this beautiful purple root.
- Ube Extract - Ube extract not only gives the bun nice dark purple color, but also has a sweet vanilla flavor. I like it when it is controlled at the right amount in recipes, but it could be overpowering or very artificial if you add too much. (This is the brand I use)
- Milk - Provides moisture and contributes to the softness of the dough.
- Yeast - Yeast helps the dough to rise by producing carbon dioxide gas when it ferments with sugars in the dough.I use instant yeast here. I use instant yeast here, go to “Recipe Tips” for other yeast alternatives.
- Sugar - Sugar is used in both the dough and the filling. Besides being a sweetener, it provides food for the yeast to ferment in the dough and also smoothen the ube filling.
- Egg - Egg helps bind the ingredients together, makes the dough tender and provides a nice color when baked.
- Salt - Salt strengthens the gluten structure of the dough, improving its texture and elasticity.
- Bread Flour - Bread flour creates a strong gluten network, resulting in a more elastic structure that allows the dough to stretch as it rises, and trap the carbon dioxide produced by the yeast. This trapped gas is what causes the dough to rise and gives bread its light and airy texture.
Ingredients of Coconut Chantilly
- Heavy Cream - Use heavy cream (also known as whipping cream) with a high fat content (at least 35% fat.) The higher fat content contributes to better stability.
- Coconut Milk - Use the canned coconut milk, not the coconut beverage.
- White Chocolate - The cacao butter in the white chocolate supplement the missing fat content of using coconut milk.
- Salt - It is common to see salt in a lot of Southeast Asian coconut desserts, such as Thai Sticky Rice with Mango (Khao Niew Mamuang), Malaysian nyonya cake (Kueh Salat). Adding a pinch of salt to coconut dessert can balance the sweetness of coconut chantilly.
See recipe card for quantities.
How to prepare Coconut Chantilly?
Prepare this chantilly one night before, so the fat and cacao butter has enough time to cool down.
Soak the canned coconut milk in the hot water and shake it before you open the can. Bring the coconut milk, heavy cream to simmer. Pour over white chocolate and salt.
Mix well with a hand blender or whisk. Cover Coconut Chantilly with plastic wrap, pressing it directly onto the surface.
How to make Ube Semla?
In the mixing bowl, mix lukewarm milk (90 - 100°F), instant yeast, sugar, eggs, ube extract, salt and ⅔ of bread flour with a spatula until combined.
Add the rest of the bread flour, and mix with the stand mixer on low speed for 3 minutes with the hook attachment. Add cold butter, turn the speed up to medium high, and mix for 7 - 8 minutes until you can stretch it into a thin film without breaking. (The center temperature of final dough is 87°F)
Cover the dough with a dump towel, and proof for 30 minutes or until it doubles in size.
Scrape the dough out, divid and roll into 12 balls.
Place on the baking tray with a silicon baking sheet or parchment paper, and proof in the warm humid place for 30 minutes or until it is ready. (If you don’t have a proofer, like me and most of the homebakers, you can create one. Check “Recipe FAQ”)
If you use fresh ube, prepare it by steaming and removing the skin (Check how I make the ube filling for Ube Bagel.) If you use frozen ube, simply reheat it by microwaving or steaming.
Prepare the ube paste while you are waiting for the bread. Mash the ube, and mix with sugar.
When the breads are ready, brush some egg wash to the bread, and bake at 420°F for 12 minutes.
Ｗhip Coconut Chantilly to firm peak.
Cut the bread with a sharp knife. Push the dough to the side to make some space for the filling.
Fill the bread with ube paste. Pipe some whipped Coconut Chantilly.
Put the top back to bread. One final optional step: Dust with purple ube powder.
A Little Reminder of Timing
- Prep the Coconut Chantilly one day before.
- After the dough is done, proof for 30 minutes or until it doubles in size.
- Divid and roll into 12 balls.
- Proof for 30 minutes.
- Prepare ube paste.
- Egg wash and bake at 420°F for 12 minutes.
- Whip Coconut Chantilly.
- Assemble cooled bun with ube paste and whipped chantilly.
Equipment
This recipe is doable by hand, but having a stand mixer definitely can save you lots of energy and time. Mine is a 6Qt. Kitchenaid lift stand mixer.
Storage
The bread itself can be stored in the freezer for up to 4 months. Defrost overnight, spray or tap some water on the bread before toasting. Refresh it bread at 360°F for 5 minutes.
The whipped coconut chantilly gets firmer after store in the fridge, so it’s better to use it as a spread instead of piping. You can also keep the cream unwrapped in the fridge for up to 1 week, and whip the cream right before using.
Recipe Tips
One extra step if you use active yeast! Sprinkle yeast on the surface of the milk, and let it rest until foamy (about 20 minutes) before adding the rest of the ingredients. Instant yeast to active yeast is 1 to 1, and instant yeast to fresh yeast is 1 to 2.
Do not over whip the chantilly! To avoid overwhipping, I usually whip to soft peak first, and finish the final whipping by hand or just very carefully stop every 5 seconds to check the consistency. If you do over whip your chantilly cream, there are ways to save it (Check “Recipe FAQ”.)
Recipe FAQ
Coconut milk is high in fat, so it sometimes separate and solidify when temperature drops. Therefore, you need to blend everything before you scale the amount you need to get the right consistency.
By adding flour in stages, you have better control over the consistency of the dough. This is important because different flours and environmental conditions can affect the moisture content, and sometimes the dough might not require all the flour specified in the recipe. Also it is easier to knead if you are making the dough by hand.
Yes, though adding flour in two times is a good way to control the consistency, it doesn’t mean you cannot add flour in once like making brioche. If you are making semla by hand, it might be better to add the flour in a few times. If you have a mixer to do the hard work for you, adding flour in once is fine.
Set the oven at the lowest temperature (In my case, it’s 170°F). Turn it off when it’s a bit warmer than your body temperature (around 110°F). Spray generous amount of water in the oven and on the breads, and let them proof. Spray extra water during the proofing to prevent skin forms.
If you only over whip slightly, you can carefully adjust the texture by adding more unwrapped chantilly cream or some cold heavy cream and mix with a spatula. However, if you over whip the whole thing to the point that it starts to separate, you can only reheat the whole thing, blend it again, and cool it overnight again. It will go back to the original texture and you can try it again.
Looking for other recipes like this? Try these:
Recipe Card
Ube Semla
Ingredients
Salted Coconut Chantilly
- 200 g coconut milk ½ can
- 250 g heavy cream
- 350 g white chocolate
- 2 g salt
Ube Bun
- 235 g whole milk
- 2 teaspoon instant yeast or active yeast
- 50 g sugar
- 2 egg
- 1 teaspoon ube extract
- 1 pinch salt
- 420 g bread flour
- 85 g unsalted butter cold and cubed
Ube Paste
- 200 g cooked ube
- 50 g sugar
Eggwash
- 1 egg
- 1 tablespoon water
Instructions
Prepare Coconut Chantilly (Make this chantilly one night before)
- Warm: Soak the canned coconut milk in the hot water and shake it before you open the can. Bring the coconut milk, heavy cream to simmer. Pour over white chocolate and salt.
- Blend: Mix well with a hand blender or whisk.
- Cool: Cover Coconut Chantilly with plastic wrap, pressing it directly onto the surface.
Make Ube Semla
- Mix: In the mixing bowl, mix lukewarm milk (90 - 100°F), instant yeast, sugar, eggs, ube extract, salt and ⅔ of bread flour with a spatula until combined.
- Mix: Add the rest of the bread flour, and mix with the stand mixer on low speed for 3 minutes with the hook attachment. Add cold butter, turn the speed up to medium high, and mix for 7 - 8 minutes until you can stretch it into a thin film without breaking.
- Proof: Cover the dough with a dump towel, and proof for 30 minutes or until it doubles in size.
- Divid: Scrape the dough out, divid and roll into 12 balls.
- Proof: Place on the baking tray with a silicon baking sheet or parchment paper, and proof in the warm humid place for 30 minutes or until it is ready. (If you don’t have a proofer, like me, you can create one. Check “Recipe FAQ”)
- Prep: Prepare the ube paste while you are waiting for the bread. If you use fresh ube, prepare it by steaming and removing the skin.If you use frozen ube, simply reheat it by microwaving or steaming. Mash the ube, and mix with sugar.
- Bake: When the breads are ready, brush some egg wash to the bread, and bake at 420°F for 12 minutes.
- Whip: Ｗhip Coconut Chantilly to firm peak.
- Cut: Cut the bread with a sharp knife. Push the dough to the side to make some space for the filling.
- Fill: Fill the bread with ube paste. Pipe some whipped Coconut Chantilly. Put the top back to bread.
- Finish: Dust with purple ube powder.
Notes
- Prep the Coconut Chantilly one day before.
- After the dough is done, proof for 30 minutes or until it doubles in size.
- Divid and roll into 12 balls.
- Proof for 30 minutes.
- Prepare ube paste.
- Egg wash and bake at 420°F for 12 minutes.
- Whip Coconut Chantilly.
- Assemble cooled bread with ube paste and whipped chantilly.
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