Swedish Cinnamon Buns

Makes 30

Aside from the mighty Dan Lepard, there is one other figure who has influenced my desire to bake over the years: my flamingo-haired, copiously-bangled auntie Sue. In her modesty she will deny this, but having lived in Stockholm for over 30 years, Sue has developed a significant understanding of Scandinavian ingredients, flavours and baking traditions. Sue has spent many hours painstakingly translating recipes into English for me, and every time I’m in Sweden loads me up with brown paper-packaged flours and grains which are impossible to find here. On visiting her family apartment I always like to guess what treats will be inside the Christmas-themed tins stacked in the kitchen. Saffron bread, dark and light rye sourdoughs, rusks, pepper biscuits, and almond fingers have all delighted me on past occasions, ensuring I return home decidedly heavier. So, whilst she is currently in England on holiday, I thought it would be the perfect time for a master class in that most iconic of Swedish breads; the cinnamon bun. I’ve added orange zest to the dough here for an extra layer of flavour, but it's by no means essential.

For the dough:

100g unsalted butter

500ml milk

50g fresh yeast, or 28g dried

900g strong white flour

1 egg

½ tsp sea salt

100g caster sugar

zest of 2 oranges

1tsp ground cardamom

For the filling:

150g softened butter

4 tbsp caster sugar

4tsp cinnamon

To glaze:

1 beaten egg

30 muffin cases

Melt the butter in a small saucepan, add the milk and bring up to body temperature, around 37◦c. Put the yeast in a large bowl, and whisk in the milk mixture until the yeast is dissolved. Add the egg, salt, sugar and flavourings, then stir in the flour using your hands. Turn out onto a floured work surface and knead for 5 minutes until the surface is smooth and shiny. Return to the bowl and leave to prove in a warmish place for around 45 minutes, or until doubled in size. Knock the dough back, and cut into two. Return one piece to the bowl, and roll the other out into a large rectangle, around ½ a centimetre thick. For the filling spread the dough evenly with half the softened butter, then sprinkle over half the sugar and half the cinnamon. There are a myriad of ways in which these buns can be shaped, but the most basic is achieved simply by rolling up the rectangle and slicing into 4cm rounds, as for Chelsea buns. Each one is then laid in a muffin case, and pressed down slightly. See bottom right.   

 

The second way of shaping looks more ornate, but is still easy to achieve. After smothering the rectangle with filling, fold it in half top to bottom, to create a narrower rectangle. Cut slices from this rectangle about 4cm wide, and create an incision in each slice from the bottom nearly up to the top, creating two legs of dough, as in the diagram. Twist these legs together, and fold the untwisted top part underneath, so it is at the bottom when you place the bun in the muffin case, as in the photograph above left.

Leave the buns to prove again in a warm place for 30 minutes. Glaze with the beaten egg, and sprinkle over traditionally Swedish pearl sugar if available, or granulated sugar if not. Bake at 200◦c for 15 minutes. Enjoy with a cup of afternoon tea.

An alternative and rather impressive way of shaping the dough is into a couple of wreathes. Divide into 2, roll out and spread with filling as with the buns. Roll up into tight cylinder, and place on a tray lined with baking parchment. With a pair of sharp kitchen scissors, make deep incisions at regular intervals all the way along the top of the roll. Starting at one end, pull one flap one way, the next one the next, going in alternate directions all the way along, and exposing tantalising layers of cinnamon and sugar. Prove, glaze and bake the same as the buns.