Swedish Cinnamon Buns

Here in England series 4 of the Great British Bake Off has just kicked off, and with it I find myself longing to bake purely for pleasure again for what must be the first time in months. Don't get me wrong, I have still been baking- mostly simple simple soda bread or fondant iced birthday cakes- but more through necessity than personal desire.

As I may or may not have mentioned previously in 2011 I went on a sailing camp in Karlshamn, southern Sweden near all the archipelago. If you have ever been to the country (or anywhere in Scandinavia I should think) you will understand why I fell in love with the place, the people and the way of life. Occasionally now I will look through my photos from that trip and it makes me very emotional; I have only seen one of my fellow campers since then, but I still love them all dearly and one day hope to return and visit the family I stayed with for the ten days I was over there.

Closer to home I have recently discovered the lovely Nordic Bakery in London, where they sell open sandwiches on rye bread as well as lingonberry tarts and their famous cinnamon buns. There are now only four weeks until I begin my new course at university and fly to Florence, but yesterday I found myself longing for something doughy and flavoursome. This  recipe is not from the Nordic Bakery Cookbook, as I sadly don't own it, but is one I have made only once before at my bread making day course at the Cambridge Cookery School.

 Swedish Cinnamon Buns
The yield will depend on how thin you roll the dough/cut the strips and also your method of 'assembling'- I made 17 and used the traditional method

Ingredients
For the dough
14g dried or 25g fresh yeast
50g butter
230ml milk
1 egg, lightly beaten (use 2/3 in the dough and save the rest for glazing)
50g caster sugar
A pinch of salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
400g plain flour
For the filling
100g unsalted butter, soft
3 tablespoons caster sugar 
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon 

• In a small pan gently melt the butter, then add the milk and bring to finger temperature
• If using dried yeast: mix the yeast with a little warm water and stir until dissolved, then cover with clingfilm and leave for a few minutes to 'sponge'. After this add a small amount of the liquid to the yeast mixture, then add to the rest and add the egg, sugar, salt, cardamom and flour
• If using fresh yeast: dissolve the yeast in a little of the milk/butter mixture, then add to the rest of the liquid followed by the egg, sugar, salt, cardamom and flour
• Work the dough with a wooden spoon- it should be very loose and sticky
• Turn the dough out onto a floured work surface and knead until smooth and elastic, adding just enough flour so that it isn't too sticky without making it dry. This stage took me a good 10-15 minutes, I judged when it was ready by checking the gluten window*
• Place the dough into a clean, lightly oiled bowl, cover and leave to rise for 45 minutes
• Meanwhile mix together the ingredients for the filling
• Tip the dough out onto a floured work surface and roll out into a rectangle roughly 1cm thick. Spread the filling evenly across the dough- remember to go right to the edges or else some of your buns will be plain!

There are now two ways to assemble the buns:

• The traditional method is to fold the dough over in half lengthways so you end up with a long rectangle. Give it a light roll to compress the dough, then cut into strips about 2.5cm wide. Twist each strip- gently!- until it twists back on itself to form a knot shape, then place straight into a muffin tin or into paper cases
• If this sounds a bit too complex, instead of folding the dough you can roll it up from the long side and slice it into sections again about 2.5cm wide. You can then place these bits cut side up into the muffin tin or cases; with this method they look a bit more like individual chelsea buns

To finish them off:

• Brush the buns with the remaining egg and sprinkle with confectioner's or caster sugar, then loosely cover with clingfilm and leave to prove for 20 minutes
• Meanwhile preheat the oven to 220C/200C fan assisted
• Place the buns in the top third of the oven and bake for 7-9 minutes or until golden

These are best eaten warm straight from the over as the filling is sticky and gooey, but you could also make some thin glace/cream cheese icing to drizzle across the top like a cinnamon swirl. 
After making these at home now I would actually consider rolling the dough thinner next time and making more of the sugar and cinnamon filling, as that's where the real flavour comes from. I also think that using confectioner's sugar instead of caster (which I had to use here) makes the buns look a bit prettier, and is more authentic too.