Three things went into the making of these Swedish Sourdough Cardamom Buns: 1. despite the fact that I am baking like crazy with Cookie Madness, I have to still feed Alice in Wondoughland, 2. I was having not such a great day and needed to cheer myself up; baking usually does that and 3. I love — no, I mean love-love Cardamom. If you aren’t a sourdough person, there is a yeasted version of these Kardemummabullar on this site as well. In the meantime, I am going to try not to eat all of these in one sitting. Yummy.
Ingredients
for the dough
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon ground cardamom
1/2 cup (113 grams) ripe sourdough starter
1 cup milk, warmed to between 100-110F
1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 egg, lightly beaten
for the filling
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
1/3 cup dark brown sugar
2 teaspoons ground cardamom
for the glaze/topping
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon coarse granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
Directions
Combine flour, salt and sugar in a mixing bowl. Make a well in the middle. Heat milk and butter, combine with your sourdough starter, and pour into the well. Add egg and mix until fully combined. Turn out onto a well-floured counter and knead until you have cohesive dough. It should be fairly soft and supple. Set aside in a warm, draft free place for a couple of hours in a greased bowl until it has doubled in size.
In the meantime, make the filling. In the work bowl of your stand mixer, fitter with paddle attachment this time, combine butter, dark brown sugar, and ground cardamom. Mix together on medium-low until creamy and smooth. Once the dough has completed its first rise, you are ready to form the rolls. Line baking sheets with parchment or silpat mats and set aside.
Roll out dough into a 13-inch x 21-inch rectangle on a lightly floured surface. Spread filling onto the rolled-out dough rectangle with an offset spatula or knife so that it covers the entire area from edge to edge. Mark 7-inch sections on the 21-inch side with the back of a knife so that you have three equal sections. Fold left side to the middle, then fold the right side over the left side. Turn the dough so that the openings are on the left and right sides and roll out the dough slightly. Using your ruler and sharp knife or pastry wheel, cut 1/2-inch strands. You should have 15-20 strands.
Starting from the end, wrap one strand around the tips of your thumb and four fingers (three if you have big hands) twice, twisting slightly as you wrap, then slip your thumb out of the roll, loop the strand around one last time then tuck the end and your thumb loop into the bottom. Repeat with all strands. Yeah, easier said than done. Essentially you are tying big knots. They don’t have to be perfect.
Place buns on your prepared baking sheets, (giving enough room for dough to rise and spread during proofing and baking), cover with a kitchen towel and let rise for about another 30-45 minutes. While proofing, preheat oven to 425F.
Finally, while rolls are proofing, heat water, light brown sugar, and vanilla extract in a small saucepan on high until sugar has dissolved completely. Set syrup aside. Combine ground cardamom and coarse granulated sugar in a small bowl.
Bake proofed rolls for 10-12 minutes or until tops are golden brown. Take out of the oven to a cooling rack and immediately brush tops with syrup and sprinkle with cardamom-sugar. Ready to eat!
