Swedish cinnamon buns

• prep

  3 hours

• cook

  15 minutes

Ingredients

310 ml (1¼ cups) milk

280 g unsalted butter, chopped

220 g (1 cup) caster sugar

½ tsp ground cardamom

7 g sachet dried yeast

655 g (4¼ cups) plain flour, plus extra, to dust

1 egg, beaten with 2 tsp water

2 tbsp pearl sugar or demerara sugar

Cinnamon filling

150 g (â…” cup) caster sugar

1 tbsp ground cinnamon

Instructions

To make dough, heat milk in a large pan over high heat until it just reaches the boil. Remove from heat and stir in 180 g butter until melted. Add caster sugar, cardamom, yeast and ½ tsp salt, and stir to combine. Add flour and stir until combined. Transfer to the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a dough hook and knead on medium speed for 5 minutes or until smooth, adding more flour if too sticky, to form a smooth, soft dough. Place in a greased bowl, cover and set aside in a warm, draught-free place for 2 hours or until dough doubles in size. Punch down dough and transfer to a lightly floured work surface. Knead for 1 minute or until dough is smooth and shiny.  Roll out dough to a 30 cm x 45 cm rectangle, with the long edge facing you.

Melt remaining 100 g butter, then brush two-thirds liberally over dough. To make filling, combine sugar and cinnamon, then scatter two-thirds over dough. Fold bottom third of dough over filling. Brush with remaining butter and scatter with remaining sugar and cinnamon. Fold over top third to cover.

Cut folded dough vertically into 24 strips. Take 2 strips and twist together, pressing ends lightly to seal. Form twisted dough into a coil and place in a paper patty case. Repeat with remaining strips of dough. Place patty cases on an oven tray.

Set buns aside in a warm, draught-free place for 30 minutes or until slightly risen. Preheat oven to 190°C. Brush buns with egg wash. Scatter with sugar. Bake for 10 minutes or until buns are golden and cooked through. Makes 12.

* Pearl sugar, also known as nib sugar, is available from specialist food shops.

As seen in Feast Magazine, Issue 14, pg132.

Photography by Derek Swalwell & Armelle Habib

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.