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    'Semla Man': The Pastry-Eating Superhero Sweden Needs On Fat Tuesday

    The Swedes are fiercely devoted to almond paste- and whipped cream-filled semla. (One king died after gorging on them.) And the day before Lent is game time for feasting before the fast.
    by Sidsel Overgaard Feb 13, 2018 3 minutes
    While much of the world gorges on pancakes for Fat Tuesday, the semla is the go-to delicacy of the North, traditionally devoured just before Lent. It takes various forms (and names) throughout Scandinavia.

    As superhero origin stories go, this one is pretty low-key. No radioactivity. No other planets. Just a Swede, his love of pastry, and a noble quest for accuracy. It's a bun, it's some cream, it's ... Semla Man!

    While much of the world gorges on pancakes today, the semla is the go-to delicacy of the North, traditionally devoured just before the period of culinary hardship otherwise known as Lent. It takes various forms (and names) throughout Scandinavia, but the Swedish version is particularly decadent: a cardamom-flavored bun, filled with almond paste and whipped cream,

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