Swedish Cardamom Buns
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- / Baking
- / Swedish
- / Serves 16
- / Prep in 20 mins
- / Cook in 25 mins
Ingredients
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 500g strong white bread flour
- 350 ml milk
- 1 egg beaten
- 200g unsalted butter
- 220g caster sugar
- 30 whole cardamom pods
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 7g dried yeast
Method
- Using a pestle and mortar, crack open 10 cardamom pods and add them into a small saucepan with milk over a medium heat. Warm until steaming, but do not boil. Take of the heat and add 50g of butter into the saucepan (leave the remaining butter at room temperature to soften). Set aside, allowing it to cool until lukewarm, you may want to swirl the saucepan a bit, to encourage the butter to melt.
- Add flour, 75g of golden caster sugar, yeast, cinnamon and salt into a large bowl or a bowl of a freestanding mixer and mix together until well combined. Once the milk has cooled, strain it through the sieve to discard the cardamom pods. Add the milk and butter mixture into the bowl with flour mixture. Mix on medium-high speed (in a freestanding mixer fitted with hook attachment) until smooth, elastic dough will form. This may take about 8-10 minutes. You know your dough is ready, when it no longer sticks to the sides of the bowl. You can also do this by hand, but it may take a bit longer.
- Transfer the dough into large, clean bowl drizzled with olive oil. Cover it with tea towel or cling film and set aside for couple of hours or until doubled in size. You can also prove it in the fridge overnight.
- Crack open the remaining cardamom pods, discard the pods and crush the seeds into a powder. Mix the cardamom with the remaining 150 g of golden caster sugar. In a bowl, mix the remaining butter with all but 2 tbsp of cardamom sugar.
- Line two baking trays with baking parchment. Punch the dough down to remove any air, then roll it into a rectangle, roughly about 40 x 50 cm with the long edge facing you. Spread the cardamom butter all over the surface, then fold the top half towards the bottom. Using a sharp knife or a pizza cutter, cut the dough in half, then each half in half again, and so on. You should have about 16 strips. Cut each strip down the middle, leaving it attached on top. Tie the dough in a knot and tuck the ends underneath the bun. Place on the tray and repeat with all the strips.
- Cover both baking trays with buns with some cling film and set aside somewhere warm, for 30 minutes- 1 hour, or until doubled in size. Preheat the oven to 190 C (170 C fan). Brush the buns with beaten egg and sprinkle with sugar pearls. Bake for 20- 25 minutes until golden brown.
- Place the remaining 2 tbsp of cardamom sugar into a small saucepan and add 50 ml of water. Bring to boil, then remove from the heat and set aside to cool. Brush the syrup over the buns couple of times as they cool, allowing them to soak the syrup.