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The Bakery 100 · make it at home

Cardamom buns (kardemummabullar)

3 hr 30 min, 45 min hands-on · 16 buns

The Scandinavian bakery bun: soft, buttery dough knotted around cardamom sugar, with freshly ground cardamom in the dough too.

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The real one

You need

• Dough: 500 g all-purpose flour (4 cups)
• 75 g sugar (1/3 cup + 1 tbsp)
• 7 g instant yeast (2 1/4 tsp)
• 1 tsp fine salt
• 2 tsp freshly ground cardamom (from about 2 tbsp pods)
• 250 ml whole milk, warm (1 cup)
• 1 egg
• 100 g soft unsalted butter (7 tbsp)
• Filling: 150 g soft unsalted butter (10 tbsp)
• 100 g light brown sugar (1/2 cup)
• 1 tbsp freshly ground cardamom
• Glaze: 100 g sugar and 100 ml water, simmered 2 min; pearl sugar to finish

How to make it

1. Grind the cardamom (5 min): Crack green pods, pick out the black seeds and grind them in a mortar or spice grinder. Pre-ground cardamom has little scent; this is where the bun comes from.
2. Dough (15 min plus 1 hr): Mix flour, sugar, yeast, salt and cardamom. Add the warm milk and egg and knead 5 minutes, then add the butter a piece at a time and knead 8 to 10 minutes more, until smooth and elastic. Cover and rise until doubled, about 1 hour.
3. Filling (3 min): Beat the butter, brown sugar and cardamom into a soft paste.
4. Roll and fold (10 min): Roll the dough to a 40 x 50 cm (16 x 20 in) rectangle. Spread the filling all over. Fold the bottom third up and the top third down, like a letter, then roll it gently back out to about 25 x 40 cm.
5. Cut and knot (15 min): Cut into 16 strips about 2.5 cm wide. Twist each strip a few times, wrap it twice around two fingers, and tuck the end over the top and through the middle to make a knot. Set on lined trays.
6. Proof (45 min): Cover and proof until puffy, 30 to 45 minutes. Heat the oven to 200C (400F).
7. Bake (12 to 14 min): Bake 12 to 14 minutes until golden brown. Brush with the warm syrup straight out of the oven and sprinkle with pearl sugar.

Tips

• Don't skip grinding the pods: it's the whole flavor.
• Finnish korvapuusti use the same dough: roll up with cinnamon sugar, cut wedges and press each one down in the middle.

Chef Amazing's own home version of cardamom bun, in our words; not any bakery's recipe.