Week 46 – 2020

So I set a challenge for myself to start doing something new every single week. Something that I haven’t done before and poses a challenge for me. That’s the way I push myself out of my comfort zone and ultimately I learn. It can be literally anything: cooking, painting, doing a new form of exercise, writing an article I always wanted to write or starting a class I always wanted to start. It doesn’t have to be a huge and overwhelming task, it can be something silly but enjoyable!

On week 46 I baked cinnamon buns after a Swedish recipe! I had home-made cinnamon buns in Sweden and this time I wanted to do my own and learn from my mistakes! And the fact is, that besides some minor hiccups, it all went well! They turned out delicious and my Sunday afternoon was brighter and fun!

This is the kanelbullar recipe I followed:

Ingredients:

Dough:

• 8g of dry yeast (you can also use 25g of fresh yeast)
• 50g butter
• 3 dl milk
• 1/2 dl sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 8 dl wheat flour

Filling:

• 50g butter
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/2 dl sugar

Additionally for spreading and sprinkling on top:

• 1 egg
• pearl sugar

Method:

Dough:

Add the yeast to a bowl, with the melted butter and the milk warmed to the body temperature (37°C). Mix together until the yeast is dissolved. Then add the sugar, salt and almost all flour, save a little bit for the baking. Mix the dough with a hand mixer and set aside for about 30 minutes.

Filling:

Mix the melted butter with the cinnamon and sugar.

Making the buns:

Add some flour to your kitchen top or whatever space you have for processing the dough and use a rolling pin to spread the dough to approximately 30x40cm . Then spread the filling on top, take one side of the dough from the length and fold in two.

After the dough is folded, cut it into 20 strips. Start by cutting from the middle of the length, then cut each half into 10 strips.

The last step is to take a strip, leave about 2 cm from the top (assuming the top is where you folded) and do a cut in the middle of it. You will end up with 2 parts that are connected at one end, which you can twist around each other. After that take the twist and roll it into a bun.

Leave the buns on the tray for about 20 minutes, then spread some egg with a baking brush and add some pearl sugar. Then bake them at 250°C for 8 minutes. Done!

I did not have pearl sugar this time and you could clearly taste how much of a difference that makes, they are so much sweeter with the pearl sugar on top. Also, a trick I learned in Sweden, if you have cupcake paper you can bake them in that, they will look nice and also make them nicer for serving. I froze half of them, they are very nice after you defrost them as well, otherwise they keep in a dry place for a few good days.

I hope you enjoy this recipe!