Me and the princess made these lovely Swedish buns that got that feeling and flavor of November and the nearness of the holidays. So I am sharing this Swedish pastry inspiration for those who like to try international cooking. Enjoy!
INGREDIENTS
Dough
75g butter
3 dl/1.2 cups whole milk
35g fresh yeast
2/3 dl/0.3 cups sugar
1 pinch of salt
7 dl/2.8 cups plain white flour
For Saffron Bun Dough
1g saffron, preferably saffron powder, strands will work but the dough won’t be as yellow
For Cinnamon Bun Dough
1 tsp ground cardamom
Filling options
Saffron Bun Filling
6 tbsp butter
6 tbsp sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
100g grated almond paste
Cinnamon Bun Filling
6 tbsp butter
6 tbsp sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp cardamom ground
100g grated almond paste
** to make vanilla buns, remove the cinnamon and cardamom from the above
To finish
1 egg, whisked
Pearl sugar (pärlsocker)
or
Granulated sugar and golden syrup
DIRECTIONS
Preheat your oven to 250°C/480F.
Melt the butter for the dough in a pan.
Add the milk and heat until it reaches 37°C (lukewarm). It is very important that it doesn’t go above or below this temperature as the fresh yeast is very sensitive.
Crumble the fresh yeast in a big bowl. Pour over a small amount of the heated milk and butter mixture and stir gently until the yeast is dissolved. Add the rest of the milk mixture.
If you’re making cinnamon buns, add ground cardamom.
If you’re making saffron buns, add saffron powder or strands.
Add sugar, salt and 6 1/2 dl/2.7 cups of sifted flour. Add extra flour as needed.
The dough can be made by hand or in a stand mixer.
If you’re using a stand mixer, attach the dough hook to the mixer and work the dough on a low-medium speed until it comes together, once the dough goes soft and no longer sticks to the sides of the bowl it’s ready.
If you’re making the dough by hand, work the dough with your hands until comes together, becomes soft and no longer sticks to the sides of the bowl.
Leave the finished dough in the bowl, sprinkle with a tiny amount of flour and cover with a dry tea towel. Place the bowl in a warm place (I usually put it close to the oven) and wait for the dough to rise, this takes about 10-15 minutes.
Cover two baking trays with baking paper.
To make the filling, mix the ingredients (except the almond paste, this will be grated straight onto the dough) of your selected filling (cinnamon or saffron) in a bowl until smooth.
Place the dough on a clean and lightly floured surface and knead it until it no longer sticks to the surface and feels workable.
Cut the dough into two evenly sized pieces. Start by rolling one piece of dough out on the surface using a baking pin. Aim for a rectangle shape, about 35x35cm. Spread half of the filling evenly across the dough. Grate 50g of almond paste straight onto the dough.
Depending on what look you’re going for, there are two ways to roll your buns.
1 option: Roll the dough up into a roll and cut 3cm thick slices that you then place on a baking tray. This is the traditional look.
2 option (what was used in these images): Lift the edges of one side of the dough and fold across, once folded and rolled out, cut 2.5 cm wide and roughly 20cm long pieces. Twist each piece, make a knot and tuck in the ends underneath. This sounds incredibly complicated, but trust me, it’s not once you get a hang of the technique. Check out the Youtube tutorial further up on this page to nail the bun twisting technique.
Repeat procedure for the second piece of dough.
Place the buns on your prepared baking trays and cover with dry tea towels. Let the buns rise for about 10 minutes before brushing with beaten egg. If you’re using pearl sugar, sprinkle this across your buns now. If you’re using granulated sugar, this will be added once the buns are baked.
Bake your buns in the middle of the oven for about 6 minutes, until lightly golden.
For granulated sugar, once the buns are baked brush them with a thin layer of golden syrup and sprinkle sugar across the buns.
Leave to cool on an oven rack.
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