Sexy Swedish Buns Recipes

SEXY SWEDISH BUNS

Steps:

• Stir the yeast into the warm milk in a bowl, then put it aside. If using cardamom pods, lightly bash them in a pestle and mortar, then pick out the husks and pound the seeds to a fine powder. Beat the eggs and a pinch of sea salt in a large bowl, then add the cardamom, sugar, melted butter, 500g of the flour and the milk and yeast mixture. Whisk constantly as you add everything so you end up with quite a thick, gluey consistency. Mix in the remaining 300g of flour until you have a dough. Use clean floured hands to bring the dough together, then dust the top with flour. Cover the bowl with clingfilm and leave in a warm place to prove for 1 hour, or until the dough has doubled in size and is full of air pockets.
• Meanwhile, put the blueberries and caster sugar into a bowl. Finely grate the orange zest and add most of it to the bowl, along with a good squeeze of orange juice, then mash together with a potato masher. Line a large baking tray with greaseproof paper, then dot the paper with a few knobs of the butter and sprinkle over half the demerara sugar.
• Dust a clean surface and your hands with flour and gently stretch and pull the risen dough out until it's a bit bigger than an A4 piece of paper. This next bit is pretty messy, so have a bowl of flour on hand to help you handle the dough and don't be alarmed if it seems quite wet. Use a slotted spoon to move half the mashed blueberries on to the dough. Try not to include too much juice. Use the back of the spoon to spread the blueberries around the dough. Pull the sides of the dough up and into the middle like an envelope, and keep turning and pushing the dough together.
• Cut the dough into 8 equal portions, then pull and stretch each one into a long, thin sausage shape, twisting them around on themselves so you get a sort of rough knot. Arrange them on the tray, leaving enough room between for them to spread as they cook. Push your fingers into the top of each one to make a little well, then spoon in a few of the remaining mashed berries and gently push them down. Spoon over a little of the blueberry juice from the bowl, then sprinkle with the rest of your demerara and the reserved orange zest. Cover with a damp tea towel and leave to prove for about 20 minutes in a warm place.
• Preheat your oven to 180ºC/350ºF/gas 4. Once the buns have risen, put them into the oven and cook for 25 minutes, until golden and crispy. Serve them, hot and delicious, by themselves or with warm custard.

SEXY SWEDISH BUNS

Steps:

• ;
• For the dough:;
• Stir the yeast into the warm milk in a bowl, then put it aside.;
• If using cardamom pods, lightly bash them in a pestle and mortar, then pick out the husks and pound the seeds to a fine powder.
• Beat the eggs and salt in a large bowl, then add the cardamom, sugar, melted butter,
• 18 ounces/500 g flour, and the milk and yeast mixture. Whisk constantly as you add everything so you end up with quite a thick, gluey consistency. Mix in the remaining
• 10 ounces/300 g flour until you have a dough. Use clean, floured hands to bring the dough together, then dust the top with flour.
• Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or clingfilm and leave in a warm place to prove or rise for 1 hour, or until the dough has doubled in size and is full of air pockets.
• For the filling:
• Meanwhile, put the blueberries and caster sugar (superfine) into a bowl. Finely grate the orange zest and add most of it to the bowl, along with a good squeeze of orange juice, then mash together with a potato masher.
• Line a large baking tray with greaseproof paper, then dot the paper with a few knobs of the butter and sprinkle over 1/2 the demerara sugar (raw sugar).
• Dust a clean surface and your hands with flour and gently stretch and pull the risen dough out until it's a bit bigger than a 8 1/2 by 11-inch letter-size/A4 (210 mm by 297 mm) piece of paper.
• Cook's Note: This next bit is pretty messy, so have a bowl of flour on hand to help you handle the dough and don't be alarmed if it seems quite wet.
• Use a slotted spoon to move 1/2 the mashed blueberries onto the dough. Try not to include too much juice. Use the back of the spoon to spread the blueberries around the dough. Pull the sides of the dough up and into the middle like an envelope, and keep turning and pushing the dough together.
• Cut the dough into 8 equal portions, then pull and stretch each one into a long, thin sausage shape, twisting them around on themselves so you get a sort of rough knot. Arrange them on the tray, leaving enough room between for them to spread as they cook. Push your fingers into the top of each one to make a little well, then spoon in a few of the remaining mashed berries and gently push them down.
• Spoon over a little of the blueberry juice from the bowl, then sprinkle with the rest of your demerara sugar (raw sugar) and the reserved orange zest. Cover with a damp tea towel and leave to prove or rise for about 20 minutes in a warm place.
• Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F/180 degrees C/gas 4. Once the buns have risen, put them into the oven and cook for 25 minutes, until golden and crispy. Serve them, hot and delicious, by themselves or with warm custard.

SWEDISH CARDAMOM BUNS

Steps:

• Prepare the dough: In a small saucepan set over medium-low heat, bring the milk to 105 to 110 degrees. Remove it from the heat and pour it into a small bowl. Sprinkle the yeast on top, give it a quick whisk and let it rest a few minutes to dissolve and activate. If the yeast looks like it's clumping, whisk it gently.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook, combine the flour, sugar, butter, cardamom, salt and the yeasted milk. Mix on the lowest setting until just combined and beginning to form a dough, 1 to 2 minutes. Continue on low to knead dough, about 2 minutes. It should go from shaggy and coarse to smooth and shiny. Working inside the bowl, give the dough a couple more kneads by hand to bring it together. You can also knead the dough entirely by hand on a work surface. (It'll take 8 minutes or so.)
• Line a 9-by-13-inch quarter sheet pan with parchment paper and dump the kneaded dough out onto it. Using your hands, pat and shape the dough into a large rectangular block. Make 4 or 5 shallow, 1/4-inch-deep slashes in the dough with a knife. Cover the baking sheet with a damp kitchen towel or plastic wrap, and transfer the dough to the refrigerator to chill for 2 hours.
• 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.
• Line two 13-by-18-inch baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats.
• Remove the dough from the refrigerator - it will have risen, but don't be surprised if the rise isn't significant - and let sit at room temperature for a few minutes so it's not so stiff that you can't roll it out. 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 450 degrees.
• 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.
• Grind the cardamom pods in a spice grinder, making sure you break down the tough outer husks. Transfer the ground spice to a small bowl and whisk it together with the sugar.
• Lightly brush each bun with the egg wash, and generously sprinkle the tops of the buns with the cardamom sugar, using about 1/2 teaspoon per bun.
• Bake for 8 minutes, then lower temperature to 375 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 for 10 minutes before eating, so the spiced, sweet buttery goo that pools around their edges can harden into crispy candylike edges, or let them cool entirely.

SWEDISH ST. LUCIA BUNS

Steps:

• Heat milk in a small saucepan over medium heat just until bubbles form around the edge of the pan, about 3 minutes. Remove from heat. Add sugar, butter, salt, and saffron, stirring until butter is melted. Let cool to lukewarm temperature, about 2 minutes.
• Sprinkle yeast over warm water in large bowl, stirring until dissolved. Stir in milk mixture and 3 1/2 cups flour until smooth, about 2 minutes. Stir in eggs. Add remaining flour gradually, mixing in the last by hand until dough leaves the sides of the bowl and is very soft.
• Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Cover with a bowl and let rest for 10 minutes.
• Knead dough with additional flour as needed, about 5 minutes. Place dough in a lightly greased large bowl; flip dough to grease both sides. Cover with a towel and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, 60 to 90 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a baking sheet.
• Punch down dough. Take golf ball-sized bits of dough and roll out into snakes. Roll each end in opposite directions to create 'S' forms. Place buns on the prepared baking sheets.
• Combine egg yolk and water in a bowl with a whisk. Brush over buns.
• Bake in the preheated oven for 6 minutes. Remove from the oven, leaving oven on. Quickly place 1 raisin in the center of each 'S' curve.
• Return to the oven and continue to bake until golden and cooked through, about 6 minutes more. Let cool on a wire rack before serving.

SWEDISH SAFFRON BUNS

Steps:

• Heat the milk and butter in a small saucepan until the butter has melted and the temperature has reached 100 degrees F (38 degrees C). Crumble the yeast into a bowl, then pour in the warm milk. Stir well until the yeast dissolves.
• Stir in the quark, saffron, sugar, salt, and 7 cups of the flour. Mix the dough in the bowl until it becomes shiny and silky, adding more flour as needed until it begins to come away from the sides of the bowl. Cover, and let rise for 40 minutes.
• Prepare 2 or 3 baking sheets by covering each with a sheet of parchment paper. Lightly flour a work surface, punch down the dough, then divide into 35 pieces. Roll each piece into a rope, 5 to 6 inches long. With the rope lying flat on the work surface, roll each end towards the center, in opposite directions, creating a curled S-shape. Place the buns on the prepared baking sheets, and garnish with raisins if desired. Cover with a towel, and allow to rise for an additional 30 minutes while you preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).
• Gently brush each bun with beaten egg, then bake in the oven until puffed and golden, 5 to 10 minutes.