Swedish Cardamom Buns
Sure to warm you through on a cold day
I love cinnamon buns, my mum would always make colossal ones in autumn that were stuffed into a tin and overflowing, naturally, it was a Nigella recipe.
So a while ago I got the idea that I wanted to try and make something a bit different; Swedish cardamom buns (Kardemummabullar).
I searched for what looked like a traditional recipe, then, as always, tweaked it slightly for ease and the desired flavour.
I had always wanted to make these, and I was not disappointed. These little knots are so delicious that they will disappear before you blink! They are best on the first day you’ve make them, so I like to freeze them before they are cooked; that way, when you have a hankering for one, all you have to do is get one out of the freezer. Plus, this way, you don’t have 12 tempting buns to instantly devour!
The smell that comes off of the soft pillowy dough when you take it out of its bowl is so intoxicating and fruity.
I’m not one for following all the rules and so I have put cinnamon in mine to add in some depth to the flavour. Perhaps this is now no longer a true Swedish Cardamom Bun and purists will not like this, but that to me is one of the best things about cooking, you get to choose how far you stray from the rules… I love cinnamon, so I have unapologetically added it to these gorgeous buns.
Swedish Cardamom Buns
Ingredients
Dough
250ml Lukewarm Milk
7g Yeast
50g Light Brown Sugar
425g White Bread Flour
(plain will work fine too)
¼ Teaspoon Salt
½ Teaspoon of Ground Cardamom
(Ideally freshly ground)
70g Butter
(Cubed Room Temp)
Filling
60g Butter at room temp
35g Light Brown Sugar
20g Caster Sugar
1 Teaspoons of Ground Cardamom
1 Teaspoon Cinnamon (Optional)
Glaze
20g Caster Sugar
20g Water
Sugar Sprinkle
1 Teaspoon of Sugar
½ Teaspoon of Ground Cardamom
How to cut and shape:
Method
Makes 12
Dough:
1. Heat the milk until it is lukewarm (too hot and it will kill your yeast). Add the yeast to the milk, and stir till it has dissolved.
2. Mix together your dry ingredients, flour, sugar, cardamom & salt.
3. Add your yeast milk and mix till your dough roughly comes together.
4. Add the cubed butter and knead for 5-10 minutes.
5. Once kneaded, cover your dough and leave it to rise for 45 minutes or until it’s roughly doubled in size.
Filling:
6. Beat together the filling ingredients till it’s a smooth cream. Set aside.
Shaping the buns:
I’ve included an image for those of you like me who are more visual to help you see how the buns should be cut and shaped.
7. Once your dough has risen, knock back and roll out on a lightly floured work surface into a rectangle. You want the dough to be about ¼ inch/0.5cm thick.
8. Spread the filling you set aside over the left half of the rectangle.
9. Take the right half of the dough (the side without the filling) and fold it over the left side covered with the filling.
10. Cut the dough horizontally into 12 strips.
11. Take one of your 12 strips and cut it down the middle, so it has ‘legs’ leaving an uncut ‘tab’ at the end where the fold is to keep the legs together.
12. Twist each leg of your strips then twist the two legs together.
13. Now coil your twist into a circle. You now have one bun.
Repeat with all your strips.
*If you are going to freeze some buns do it now, I put them into ziplock bags sitting on parchment to help protect them from sticking to the bags. When you defrost them they will need more time to rise before baking than they would if not frozen.
Cooking:
14. Place your buns on parchment-covered baking trays. Leave some space for them to expand. I normally do 6 per tray.
15. Leave to rise till they have again grown in size, this should take between 30-60 minutes.
16. Bake at 180°c Fan/Gas Mark 6 for 12-15 minutes.
Finishing touch:
17. Add your sugar to the water and heat slightly until the sugar has dissolved. Then mix together your sugar and ground cardamom in a bowl.
18. Once out of the oven brush the glaze over the buns and then sprinkle over your sugar.
