Today I want to share with you my favorite Swedish recipe: the authentic cardamom buns! 

Cardamom buns

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I baked the easy version at the French Food Blogging Fair where I was invited to give a 2-hour baking course on Swedish pastries with my friend Audrey from hibiscusblog last week. Today, let’s show you the luxury version of the recipe! I’m totally crazy about cardamom in any kind of pastries and to me these seeds are slightly addictive. The cardamom buns are the other version of the Swedish cinnamon buns and the recipe is basically the same except for the fact we use a different spice in the recipe. The traditional recipe involves one single dough that requires yeast and as a result you need to let the dough rise for a while before using it. I used this recipe in my Swedish cardamom buns with a twist of raspberry for instance.

An alternative to this recipe is to prepare a kind of pre-dough as main ingredient for the final dough of which the end product is made. Starting with a pre-dough is always to your advantage. It increases the fermentation capabilities and the volume. It also improves the consistency and aroma of the product when it’s ready. Using a pre-dough ensures you achieve a significantly better result, with a better texture as well!

Cardamom buns

It is quite easy to prepare and use a pre-dough, all you need is a little bit more time than for the classic recipe, because you need to let the pre-dough rise for a while, then let the dough (that includes the pre-dough) rise, and in the end let the buns rise as well before baking them.

If you are craving for cardamom buns and don’t have so much time to bake, go for the basic recipe of the cinnamon buns and simply replace cinnamon with cardamom, then just fold the buns the way it is explained below. But if you really want to impress your guests and have a better recipe that will yield buns that will stay fresh for  several days, I suggest you go for this recipe using a pre-dough. You will never be disappointed!

And if you do not know where to buy cardamom, I suggest you head over to RawSpiceBar where they ship freshly-ground cardamom.

Cardamom buns

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Authentic Swedish Cardamom Buns (learn why you should use a pre-dough!)

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Cardamom buns
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  • Author: Delphine Fortin
  • Prep Time: 2 hours
  • Cook Time: 10 mins
  • Total Time: 2 hours 10 mins
  • Yield: 35 1x
  • Category: Breads and Brioches
  • Cuisine: Swedish recipes

Today I want to share with you my favorite Swedish recipe: the authentic cardamom buns!

Email me this recipe

We’ll send it straight to your inbox, along with weekly food inspiration!

Ingredients

Pre-dough (step 1):

  • 1/2 cube (50g) fresh yeast
  • 2 cups (480 ml) milk
  • 5 3/4 (690g) cups all purpose flour
  • 2 Tablespoons sugar

Dough (step 2):

  • 4 cups (480g) all purpose flour
  • 1 cup (240g) softened butter
  • 1 cup (200g) sugar
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 Tablespoon ground cardamom
  • 1 vanilla pod (seeds)
  • 1 teaspoon salt

For the cardamom filling*:

  • 1 Tablespoon ground cardamom
  • 1/2 cup (120g) softened butter
  • 1 cup (200g) sugar

For brushing:

  • 1/3 cup (70g) sugar
  • 1/4 cup (60ml) water
  • The vanilla pod used in the dough at step 2

Instructions

  1. Step 1 : Crumble the fresh yeast into a large mixing bowl and dissolve with the milk. Add in the flour and sugar, and work until you achieve a smooth dough. Cover with a dishcloth and let rise for 30 minutes, until the dough has almost doubled in size.
  2. Step 2 : Incorporate the ingredients from step 2 to the dough from step 1. Knead the dough for approximately 15-20 minutes (or 12-15 minutes with a stand mixer). Cover with a dishcloth and let rise for 30 more minutes.
  3. In the meantime, prepare the filling: crush the cardamom seeds with a rolling pin (the seeds need to be crushed right before use as they lose their intense flavor if left for too long) and mix them with butter and sugar.
  4. Flip the dough onto a floured worktop, knead the dough a little bit more to reshape it and divide into 2 equal parts.
  5. Roll one of the dough into a rectangle on a lightly floured surface and spread half of the cardamom filling on half of the dough lenghtwise. The fold the dough so that the empty side covers the filled one.
  6. Make cuts in the dough, 0,5 cm wide – every other cut should be all the way through, and the rest should stop 1 cm from the top. Take each 1 cm strip, and twist the two skinny parts to make a rope. Fold into a sort of bun and hide the very end under the bun. Place in a paper baking cup or on a parchment paper. Sprinkle with some pearl sugar and cover with a dishcloth. Let rise for 30 minutes.
  7. In the meantime, repeat steps 5 and 6 with the second dough, spreading the remaining cardamom filling*.
  8. Bake at 440°F (230°C) for about 10 minutes. Brush with the sirup (water and sugar, in which you dissolve the vanilla pod used in the dough – step 2).
  9. Let the buns cool on a rack before serving. You can enjoy them directly or freeze them. In this case, you just need to warm them up a little bit in the oven before serving.

Notes

* Note: an option is to make only half of the cardamom filling and replace the other half with cinnamon, then you can use the second dough (once divided) to bake some cinnamon buns.

* Note: if you came to the French Food Blogging Fair, you might notice I actually shape the buns in a different way from the one Audrey used during our cooking class (Audrey usually cut one strip and twist it before shaping a little bun). I like to make cuts every other strips (see point 6. in the recipe above) because it gives a lovely shape to the buns and it enhances the cardamom taste that I love. But don’t worry, both methods work!

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Did you make this recipe?

Lastly, if you make this Authentic Swedish Cardamom Buns (learn why you should use a pre-dough!), be sure to leave a comment and give this recipe a rating, letting me know how you liked it. And of course, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Thank you and enjoy!

tutorial cardamom buns

Cardamom buns

On the way back from the French Food Blogging Fair…

We had so much fun baking these beautiful Swedish pastries at the French Food Blogging Fair last week, and I am very thankfull to everyone who came to our baking course, it made the event very special to us and we were so happy to see such an enthusiastic audience!

Thank you 750g for this wonderful organization and all the work you did in advance, and thank you to the French chef Philippe Conticini that I have been happy to meet. I am also honored to have met the very nice Chef Damien whose great humor and enthusiasm are contagious.

Above all, I have been delighted to meet my fellow French bloggers friends and we had an amazing time together. I wouldn’t mention anyone in particular in case I would forget some!

Then of course, thank you to all the sponsors of this event that made us discover some beautiful products and in particular a big thank you to Visit Sweden that made this adventure possible for Audrey and me!

Last but not least, thank you to the two official photographers of the event: Syvain Bertrand and Marc, who did an amazing job as well and allowed us to keep dreaming with the pictures!

SBC 2014 ABBAYE (132)_bis

Credit picture: Sylvain Bertrand

Dels cooking twist_SBC7

Credit picture: Julie Leclere

Dels cooking twist_SBC 2014

Credit picture: Audrey Lebioda

SBC 2014 ABBAYE (131)

Credit picture: Sylvain Bertrand

Dels cooking twist_SBC7

Credit picture: Julie Leclere

Cardamom buns