Authentic Swedish Cardamom Buns (learn why you should use a pre-dough!)
- Prep Time: 2 hours
- Cook Time: 10 mins
- Total Time: 2 hours 10 mins
- Yield: 35 1x
- Category: Breads and Brioches
- Cuisine: Swedish recipes
Today I want to share with you my favorite Swedish recipe: the authentic cardamom buns!
Ingredients
Pre-dough (step 1):
- 1/2 cube (50g) fresh yeast
- 2 cups (480 ml) milk
- 5 3/4 (690g) cups all purpose flour
- 2 Tablespoons sugar
Dough (step 2):
- 4 cups (480g) all purpose flour
- 1 cup (240g) softened butter
- 1 cup (200g) sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 Tablespoon ground cardamom
- 1 vanilla pod (seeds)
- 1 teaspoon salt
For the cardamom filling*:
- 1 Tablespoon ground cardamom
- 1/2 cup (120g) softened butter
- 1 cup (200g) sugar
For brushing:
- 1/3 cup (70g) sugar
- 1/4 cup (60ml) water
- The vanilla pod used in the dough at step 2
Instructions
- Step 1 : Crumble the fresh yeast into a large mixing bowl and dissolve with the milk. Add in the flour and sugar, and work until you achieve a smooth dough. Cover with a dishcloth and let rise for 30 minutes, until the dough has almost doubled in size.
- Step 2 : Incorporate the ingredients from step 2 to the dough from step 1. Knead the dough for approximately 15-20 minutes (or 12-15 minutes with a stand mixer). Cover with a dishcloth and let rise for 30 more minutes.
- In the meantime, prepare the filling: crush the cardamom seeds with a rolling pin (the seeds need to be crushed right before use as they lose their intense flavor if left for too long) and mix them with butter and sugar.
- Flip the dough onto a floured worktop, knead the dough a little bit more to reshape it and divide into 2 equal parts.
- Roll one of the dough into a rectangle on a lightly floured surface and spread half of the cardamom filling on half of the dough lenghtwise. The fold the dough so that the empty side covers the filled one.
- Make cuts in the dough, 0,5 cm wide – every other cut should be all the way through, and the rest should stop 1 cm from the top. Take each 1 cm strip, and twist the two skinny parts to make a rope. Fold into a sort of bun and hide the very end under the bun. Place in a paper baking cup or on a parchment paper. Sprinkle with some pearl sugar and cover with a dishcloth. Let rise for 30 minutes.
- In the meantime, repeat steps 5 and 6 with the second dough, spreading the remaining cardamom filling*.
- Bake at 440°F (230°C) for about 10 minutes. Brush with the sirup (water and sugar, in which you dissolve the vanilla pod used in the dough – step 2).
- Let the buns cool on a rack before serving. You can enjoy them directly or freeze them. In this case, you just need to warm them up a little bit in the oven before serving.
Notes
* Note: an option is to make only half of the cardamom filling and replace the other half with cinnamon, then you can use the second dough (once divided) to bake some cinnamon buns.
* Note: if you came to the French Food Blogging Fair, you might notice I actually shape the buns in a different way from the one Audrey used during our cooking class (Audrey usually cut one strip and twist it before shaping a little bun). I like to make cuts every other strips (see point 6. in the recipe above) because it gives a lovely shape to the buns and it enhances the cardamom taste that I love. But don’t worry, both methods work!
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