Laskiaispulla - Shrove Tuesday Pastry

Today is Shrove Tuesday. Or Fat Tuesday, if you'd like to call it that.

I like fat. It makes things taste good.

Anyway, this is the day before the start of Lent, which is a time of preparation for Easter. One part of Lent is self-denial. Thus there is Fat Tuesday for binge eating and celebrating, fattening food and Mardi Gras. Just so you can get through Lent without much trouble. (This is purely my theory, but it is based on actual principles... feel free to call me a heretic.)

Obviously I don't observe Lent, but growing up in Finland this Shrove Tuesday was part of every winter season. Back home the day is called Laskiaistiistai, laskiais referring to sledding, tiistai meaning tuesday. Everyone would go sledding on this day and afterwards eat these delicious pastries, which are basically small buns of pulla filled with jam and whipped cream.

Yum, yum.

I decided it was time to teach O the joys of Shrove Tuesday and bake some pulla.

All you need to do is prepare pulla (recipe here), roll it into small buns (I made a braid and eight buns) and then bake at 375 degrees for about 10 minutes. Once cooled, slice the buns in half, top the bottom half with your favorite jam (strawberry, raspberry, triple berry), and then pile on the whipped cream. Top everything with the top of the bun. Then just prepare yourself for a huge delicious mess. 

O wanted some before the fillings were ready.

Can you tell that he thought it tasted pretty darn awesome?

And why on earth is it called Laskiainen? Well, in latin 'leaving out meat' is carne lasciare. Lasciare sounds like laskea in Finnish, which means to go sledding. There is no connection between the meaning of the two words. They just sounds the same. Pretty neat, huh?