Trine Hahnemann serves up a taste of Copenhagen with these fluffy cardamom buns
Cinnamon rolls always used to be the big thing in Copenhagen, but these days it is all about cardamom snurre. These are perfect either for breakfast or afternoon tea.
Makes 18–20
Ingedients
For the buns:
• 50g [2oz] fresh yeast
• 500ml [2 cups] lukewarm
• whole milk
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 850g [6 cups] ‘00’ flour, plus more to dust
• 100g [½ cup] caster [granulated] sugar
• 2 tsp ground cardamom
• ½ tsp fine sea salt
• 150g [⅔ cup] softened salted
• butter
For the filling
• 200g [¾ cup plus 2 Tbsp]
• softened salted butter
• 150g [¾ cup] caster [granulated]
• sugar
• 4 tsp ground cinnamon
Method
1 For the buns, crumble the yeast into the milk and stir to dissolve, then add the egg. Now mix in the flour, sugar, cardamom and salt. Mix the butter into the dough, then knead well on a floured surface. Put the dough into a bowl, cover with a tea towel and leave to rise in a warm place for 1–2 hours, or until doubled in size.
2 Make the filling by mixing together the butter, sugar and cinnamon. Divide the dough in half and roll each piece out on a floured surface to make a rectangle measuring about 40 x 30cm [16 x 12in].
3 Spread half the cinnamon filling over each. Roll each piece of dough into a wide cylinder, starting from a long side to get a long, slim log, then cut into 2.5cm [1in] slices. If you’re feeling adventurous, you can then stretch and twist the slices into elaborate shapes.
4 Line some baking sheets with baking parchment. Place the cinnamon rolls on the parchment, pressing down on each so that they spread slightly. Cover with tea towels and leave to rise again, in a warm place, for 30 minutes.
5 Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas 4. Bake the cinnamon buns for 25–30 minutes until well browned. Leave to cool on a wire rack before serving.
Recipe courtesy of Trine Hahnemann, extracted from Copenhagen Food by Trine Hahnemann (Quadrille £25) Photography: Columbus Leth
