Cardamom buns (kardemummabullar)

Dough

• 500mL milk
• 50g fresh yeast (or 15g dry yeast)
• 135g sugar (1.5dL)
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp freshly ground cardamom
• 800g strong white flour
• 150g butter, room temperature

Filling

• 150g butter, room temperature
• 135g sugar (1.5dL)
• 1 tbsp freshly ground cardamom

Topping

• 1 egg
• 45g raw cane sugar (0.5dL)
• 1 tbsp freshly ground cardamom

Dough

1. Warm the milk to 37C.
2. Crumble the yeast in a large bowl. Pour the milk over and stir until dissolved.
3. Add the sugar, salt, cardamom, almost all the flour and the butter in pieces.
4. Knead 10 minutes with a stand mixer (20 minutes by hand). The dough is ready when it pulls away from the bowl and you can touch it without it sticking to your fingers.
5. Cover with a towel and let rise 30 minutes. Mix the filling meanwhile.

Shaping (3 ways)

1. Turn the dough onto a floured surface, knead lightly and roll out to about 40x60cm.
2. Spread the filling over the whole surface.
3. Muffin tins (fastest): roll up like a cinnamon roll, cut 2.5cm slices, put each in a muffin cup.
4. Swirls: fold the dough in half over the filling, roll lightly to even it out, cut 2cm strips. Stretch a strip slightly, twist it on the bench like a candy cane, coil into a spiral, tuck the end underneath.
5. Knots (most work, prettiest): same fold, cut strips under 1cm. Take 2-3 thin strips together and wind them around themselves like a ball of yarn, twisting as you go. Tuck the end under, press lightly on the tray.
6. Place on baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Cover and let rise another 30 minutes.

Baking

1. Preheat oven to 225C well ahead so it is really hot.
2. Brush with beaten egg. Sprinkle with the raw sugar and cardamom mixed together. Putting it on before baking makes it stick and go slightly crunchy. Alternative: bake plain, brush with sugar syrup and sprinkle after.
3. Bake in the middle of the oven 8-10 minutes.
4. Cool on a wire rack.