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Cardamom Buns

A delicately flavoured bread roll which revels a classic favourite the Cinnamon bun
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Ingredients
  

  • 1 portion white old fashioned bread
  • 2 Tbsps ground cardamom Preferably fresh ground cardamom -see note

For the filling

  • 250 grams softened butter
  • ¾ cup brown sugar
  • 2 Tbsp ground cardamom
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon
  • ¼ tsp salt

Milk Glaze

  • 1 cup sifted confectioners' sugar,
  • 2 Tbsps milk

Instructions
 

To make the Filling

  •  In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter, sugar, cardamom and salt on low speed just to form a granular paste. (It should resemble marzipan.) Don’t overbeat it: You don’t want it to be too soft or get fluffy. You can also do this by hand in a bowl, combining the ingredients with a spatula or bench scraper.

For Milk Glaze

  • In a medium bowl, whisk together the confectioners' sugar and milk until completely smooth. Immediately drizzle glaze over cake.

To make bread

  • Basically you follow the instructions for Old fashioned White Bread
    But add the ground cardamom to the warm milk prior to mix with the flour to help enhance the flavour

To assemble

  • Line two 13-by-18-inch baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats
  • Place the dough on a thick silicone mat or a very lightly floured work surface and use a rolling pin to roll it out to a roughly 15-by-18-inch rectangle a little more than 1/8-inch thick, with the shorter side facing you. As you roll it in both directions, pause occasionally between rolls to relax the dough by patting it, lifting it and pulling it to straighten out any ripples.
  • Dot the surface of the dough with mounds of the filling. Using an offset spatula, gently spread the filling all over the surface of the dough.
  • With the short side of the dough facing you, fold the top third of the dough down over the middle third of the dough, then fold the bottom third up to cover the remaining dough.
  • Go over the dough with the rolling pin a couple of times, vertically, to flatten the edges, and stretch it a few more inches before cutting and shaping. You want a 12-by-16-inch rectangle (the longer side will be facing you). If any filling oozes out, use your offset spatula to remove it so your workstation doesn’t get sticky.
  • Using the straight edge of a ruler and a pastry cutter (or very gently using a small, sharp knife), trim any uneven edges. Cut the dough vertically into 16 1-by-12-inch-long strips. Starting from the end, gently wrap one strip around the tips of your index, middle and fourth finger (or just the index and middle if you’ve got strong hands), like a bandage, two or three times, letting the dough overlap and working cautiously so it doesn’t tear. Place your thumb on top of the wrapped dough, on the side closer to your wrist, to secure the shape, then loop the remaining end of the strand over and through the center of the bun, tucking it under at the base of the bun. You should have a rounded bun made out of bandage-like strips. The knotted part will be unexposed, hidden at the bottom.
  • Place each bun on the prepared baking sheets as you go, patting it down for a flatter shape. Space the buns evenly (you can eyeball it). Leave them to proof at room temperature, uncovered, for about 1 hour. They should expand and soften.
  • Meanwhile, heat oven to 180 C
  • Finish the buns: In a small bowl, using a fork or whisk, beat the egg together with 1 tablespoon water until well combined and frothy. Lightly brush each bun with the egg wash, and if desired generously sprinkle the tops of the buns with the cardamom sugar, using about 1/2 teaspoon per bun. Or put Milk Glaze on buns once cooked
  • Bake for 8 minutes, then lower temperature to 150 degrees, rotate trays completely (180 degrees and top to bottom, bottom to top) and continue baking for an additional 12 minutes. The surface of the buns should be golden brown. (Some butter may seep out of the buns and pool — that’s normal — but if you’re worried that it will burn on the trays, cover the buns with parchment paper toward the end of baking, once they’ve reached the desired color.)
  • Let the buns cool slightly then drizzle the milk glaze before eating, so the spiced, sweet buttery goo that pools around their edges can harden into crispy candylike edges, or let them cool entirely.

Notes

  • If you wish to use cardamom pods and grind them yourself for a more intense flavor, use 30 whole pods per finely ground tablespoon. (For a less potent flavor that still uses freshly ground whole pods, use 20 pods per finely ground tablespoon.) You can also use decorticated cardamom seeds (those extracted from the husks). They're available at specialty stores and online (or you can remove the seeds from fresh cardamom pods yourself). Coarsely grind the seeds with a mortar and pestle or an electric spice grinder: You’ll want to use 1 tablespoon whole seeds each for the dough and the filling, but if you're at all cardamom-shy, start with 2 teaspoons whole seeds each.