A very exciting time in the Quirk and the Cool kitchen! I have recently acquired an Ankarsrum mixer from the incredible people at Blackwood Lane in Melbourne in Victoria. It’s Swedish, and an incredibly efficient and powerful machine, particularly for producing dough.
So it seemed appropriate to make something Swedish for the first use of the machine!
I love sweet rolls, scrolls and buns, but I haven’t yet made kanelbullar (cinnamon buns) or kardemummabullar (cardamom buns).
This recipe is adapted from the Ankarsrum cook book, and is technically a cinnamon bun recipe. But I think the cardamom flavour is outstanding, so I’m calling these cardamom buns.
The Ankarsrum performed well with making the enriched dough. And making and shaping the knots was pretty easy.
Well done to my Ankarsrum mixer!
Here is my tweaked recipe for the rolls. I halved the quantities and added in a whole egg. You might like to bake at a slightly lower temperature. I baked the rolls pictured at 220 degrees C which was a little too hot.
It goes without saying that you could follow this recipe in a KitchenAid or similar.
Dough
Ingredients
75g softened butter
50g sugar
1 free-range egg, beaten
250mls milk
420g strong flour
1 teaspoon ground cardamom seeds
7g instant yeast
7g salt
Filling
100g very soft butter
100g sugar
1/2 beaten free-range egg, for brushing
2 teaspoons Demerara or raw sugar
1 tablespoon cinnamon
Method
Mix the soft butter, sugar and egg together in your mixer, to just incorporate. Add the milk, and mix to combine.
Put the flour into a bowl, and stir in the ground cardamom seeds. Put the yeast on top of the flour, and the salt on the opposite side.
With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture a little at a time to the mixer bowl. Continue to knead until the dough is soft and elastic and passes the window pane test.
Cover the dough with a plastic bag, towel or my favourite, a plastic shower cap. Leave to prove in a warm place for 1 hour.
Meanwhile make the filling by mixing the butter, sugar and cinnamon together with a palette knife until it’s a smooth paste.
The dough should now have doubled in size. Remove the dough and place on a floured board or bench. Gently roll the dough to a large rectangle about 45 x 30 cm.
Spread the filling over the whole rectangle. Halve the rectangle, putting the long sides together, to make a smaller rectangle 45 x15 cm. Cut into 12 strips. You will have enough dough to trim the uneven ends. You can bake these as scraps!
Pull each strip lengthwise, twist several times, and form into a knot. There are videos on YouTube that can help you if you’re not sure – that’s what I used.
Place on a baking tray lined with baking paper, cover with a large plastic bag or tea towel, and leave to prove for an hour.
15 minutes before baking, preheat your oven to 220 degrees C, or 210 degrees C if you want your buns less “well done”.
Brush the proved buns with beaten egg and sprinkle with sugar. Place the baking tray into the oven and bake for 10 minutes.
Remove from the oven. Serve them warm as is or spread with a little salted butter.
Best eaten on the day, but they microwave beautifully a day or so later!
The Quirk and the Cool 