This is a birthday tradition and something I grew up with in Denmark where it is quite common, I think. I have changed to recipe of the dough from its original as I like it better but basically you could use any dough and just use the idea of placing the buns into a shape of either a girl or a boy.
Ingredients
2 tablespoons light brown sugar
10 grams fresh yeast
50 grams melted butter
200 ml milk
150 ml water
A pinch of salt
About 650 grams of flour
How to
Mix the sugar and yeast in a bowl, after a little while it becomes liquid. Add the milk, butter and water. Add the salt and then gradually add in the flour, kneading until you have a dough that doesn’t stick. Cover the dough with a kitchen towel and let it stand for about an hour.
Make a bigger bun for the head and either use some of the dough to make hair if it is a girl or cut spikes with a scissor into the upper part of the circle to make “hair” for a boy. Use the rest of the dough to make smaller buns and place them in the form of a girl or boy (like on the photo).
Heat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius and bake for about 20 minutes or until the dough has turned golden.
Happy birthday!