The infamous little sister
Let me introduce you to the secret star of all buns (at least according to me) – the “Kardemummapulla”. It is the little sister of everyone’s darling, the cinnamon bun. Cardamom buns are my absolute favourite type of bun, although rarely known and eaten outside of the Nordic countries.
Cardamom is a spice that is native to India and Indonesia, but it is nowadays also grown other countries like Guatemala, Malaysia and Tanzania. And according to Wikipedia, Cardamom is the world’s third-most expensive spice after vanilla and saffron. It is a very common ingredient in the Asian, particularly Indian, cuisine as well as Middle Eastern dishes. In the Nordic countries it is typically used in baking.
Kardemummapullat
yields around 15 buns
For the dough
2,5 dl milk, lukewarm (preferably whole milk)
21 g fresh yeast (half of a commonly sold fresh yeast block)
60 g brown sugar (I use the in Switzerland available “Rohrohrzucker”)
¼ tsp fine salt
1 tbsp whole cardamom seeds, to be crushed with mortar and pestle
420g flour
70 g unsalted butter, at room temperature and cut into small cubes
For the filling
60 g unsalted butter, at room temperature
30g brown sugar
1½ tsp whole cardamom seeds, to be crushed with mortar and pestle
To decorate
25 g brown sugar
25 g water
1 tsp brown sugar
1 tsp whole cardamom seeds, to be crushed with mortar and pestle
Dough
Heat the milk until its lukewarm, then combine with the crumbled yeast in a large bowl and stir with a spoon until the yeast has dissolved.
Now the cardamom seeds need to be crushed using a mortar and pestle (see picture below). Mix the ground seeds into the milk-yeast-mixture along with the sugar, salt, flour and butter cubes. Knead the dough until well combined.
Cover the dough with a clean kitchen towel or a lid and let it rise in a warm place for
30 – 60 minutes, or until double its size.
Filling
While the yeast does its magic, crush some more cardamom seeds and mix them with the butter and sugar to an even paste and set aside.
Shaping
Line your baking trays with parchment paper.
Dust a clean work surface with flour and roll out the dough into a big rectangle, about 60x40cm. Spread the filling onto the dough, covering it evenly. Mark three equal parts and fold the left side to the middle and then the right side over it. Cut the new rectangle into 15 equally sized strips and cut each of them lengthwise again, but not all the way to the top – it will look like legs.
To continue choose one of the 2 shapes from below.
Twisted bun
Twist each strand around its own axis, and roll them into a bun. This youtube video shows exactly how easy it is.
Knotted bun
Twist the two-legged strand twice around your middle and index finger before wrapping the remaining dough around it, forming a knot. This or this youtube video shows much better than any words how it is done.
Place the shaped bun on the baking trays with enough space between them. Let them rise again for about 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 225°C.
Baking
Bake the buns on the middle rack for about 8-10 minutes, or until golden.
The knotted buns tend to take a bit longer as they are a bit thicker wrapped.
Decorating
While the buns are baking, heat the water and sugar until the sugar has dissolved, put the syrup aside. Crush the cardamom seeds with the sugar in the mortar.
Once the buns are ready, brush them with syrup and sprinkle the cardamom-sugar-mix on top.
Let them cool on a wire rack.
Tips on the recipe:
– Crush the cardamom seeds for the dough, filling and topping all at once to save time.
