This February, Ole & Steen brings a taste of Fastelavn to their bakeries with a host of festivities and delicious Fastelavnsboller or ‘Festival Buns’ for all to enjoy.

WHAT IS FASTELAVN?

Fastelavn (pronounced Fast-e-la-ven), is probably a holiday that most Brits have never heard of before. The word Fastelavn translates as “Fast-evening”, because this Danish festival is a pre-lent celebration, which encourages indulgence and fun!

The Fastelavn celebration dates back as far as the Medieval times and comes with age-old traditions, full of colour, fancy-dress, games, singing and of course cake. Children celebrating Fastelavn in Denmark dress up and go door-to-door singing and in search of Fastelavnsboller (or ‘Festival Buns’, as Ole & Steen call them), sweets or money, in exchange for not causing mischief, so has similarities to Halloween and Carnival.

THE FASTELAVNSBOLLER LINE-UP

For a limited time only, Ole & Steen’s bakeries will be serving up a tasty range of Festival Buns – Danish pastry buns, filled to the brim with cream and topped with a variety of delicious frostings and toppings.

The line-up this year not only marks a return of a few Danish favourites such as the Mocha Festival Bun and Vanilla Festival Bun but, the all-day bakery for the first time, will introduce a new Vegan ‘Rhu-Berry Bun’! And that’s not all, for those looking for a truly authentic Danish Fastelavn treat, Ole & Steen will introduce the Old Fashioned Festival Bun too!

RHU-BERRY BUN (VG) – As Ole & Steen’s first Vegan Festival Bun, this delicious Danish pastry swirl is filled with baked rhubarb and raspberry jam and topped with vegan raspberry mousse and vegan raspberry cream and decorated with freeze-dried raspberries and cornflowers. YUM! image013.jpg

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OLD FASHIONED FESTIVAL BUN – This traditional style Festival Bun is a family-favourite in Denmark. This soft bun is filled with sweet cream and dark chocolate, and then topped with chocolate frosting.

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MOCHA FESTIVAL BUN – This Danish pastry bun is filled with both coffee cream and salted caramel, before being topped with whipped cream and a dark chocolate shard. The perfect Bun to complement a cup of coffee.

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VANILLA FESTIVAL BUN – A favourite among Danes, the Vanilla bun is a Danish pastry bun filled with vanilla cream and whipped cream, before being topped with a red chocolate heart and more whipped cream.

The new festival buns are on shelves until 27th February in all Ole & Steen bakeries and available for click and collect via the Ole & Steen app during this time. For those who can’t pop into a bakery, don’t worry, Deliveroo can deliver the treats directly to your door, from all participating bakeries.

BRINING THE CARNIVAL SPIRIT TO THEIR BAKERIES

If their Fastelavnsboller line-up wasn’t sweet enough, there’ll be plenty of activities for the kids to get involved in too.
Throughout the half term week from the 13th – 19th February, seven of their bakeries will be decorated to celebrate this Danish holiday, and in all their bakeries, there’s also a host of Fastelavn festivities taking place to get guests into the carnival spirit – from fun filled activity sheets and colouring in your own Fastelavn themed masks, including a competition which will give some of their guests a chance to win £250 Ole & Steen voucher to help bring home the celebration!
In addition to these festivities, any child that visits any of the Ole & Steen bakery adorning fancy dress clothes or accessories on the weekend of 18th and 19th February, will receive a free tasty raisin bun!