Cardamom bread buns with almond filling and soft supple whipped cream?!?! As if I could get any more into cardamom, the combo of the buns with the cream is a thing of pure fantasy. Seriously, these aren't like anything I've ever had before but they are little puffs of sweet spiced goodness. They are normally common in Sweden in February, particularly on Fat Tuesday. They certainly are indulgent, but more in a filling way, not in a heavy-overly sweet way! The recipe is here, and pictures of the process are below.
This recipe makes 7 buns, feel free to double it! I modified a recipe from the YouTube Channel Helena Ludwig.
Ingredients:
Almond filling:
100 g roasted almonds (~3/4 cup)
40 g powdered sugar (1/4 cup + 1 Tbsp.)
A pinch of salt
¼ tsp. vanilla extract (1 g)
1-4 Tbsp. water
Pre-dough:
100 g milk (1/3 cup + 2 Tbsp.), slightly warm
6.3 g active dry yeast, or instant yeast (2 tsp.)
123 g bread or all-purpose flour (1 cup, spooned and leveled)
Dough:
110 g bread or all-purpose flour (about 3/4 cup)
1 large egg (50-55 g)
1/4 tsp. salt (2 g)
1 1/2 tsp. cardamom (Use 2 tsp. if using store-bought pre-ground cardamom)
25 g sugar (2 Tbsp.)
40 g salted butter, at room temperature (about 3 Tbsp.)
Egg wash: 1 egg yolk + 1 Tbsp. milk
Whipped cream:
250 mL (265 g) or 1 cup + 1 Tbsp. heavy cream (33-35% fat)
½ tsp. vanilla extract (2 g)
Powdered sugar for dusting (optional)
Directions:
Almond filling:
If your almonds aren’t roasted, roast them in a 350°F oven for about 6-8 minutes. You can place them directly into a food processor while hot.
In the food processor, pulse the almonds until they look like coarse sand.
Add in the powdered sugar, salt, and vanilla and pulse until mixed in. Scrape down if needed.
Add in the water, about 1 Tbsp. at a time, with the machine running on low until you get a thick but pourable consistency. If your almonds are hot then you will probably need less water to get them to a runny consistency and you should chill the mixture until it is firmer.
If you are using cooled roasted almonds, the almond filling can be used right away or chilled as well.
Dough:
First make the pre-dough by mixing the yeast with the warm milk to help it dissolve. Then add the 123 g flour and mix together into a somewhat dry mixture.
Cover and let rest about 20 minutes.
After resting, add the egg, salt, cardamom, and sugar and mix in. Lumps are okay.
Then add in the 110 g flour and mix in.
Take the dough out onto a clean surface and knead until it is a little smoother.
Add in the butter and combine well. Then knead for about 10-15 minutes, or until the dough is soft and elastic. It probably doesn’t need more flour unless it is very sticky while kneading.
Place in a greased bowl, cover, and let rest until doubled in size, about 1 to 1.5 hours.
After rising, take out and divide into 7 pieces, if using a scale, each bun should be around 65 g.
Lightly brush with egg wash. Lightly cover and let rise 1 hour in a warm place.
Preheat the oven to 400°F. Brush the risen buns with egg wash and bake for 10-14 minutes, or until golden all over and 200°F internally.
Let the buns cool on the pan about 10 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.
Assembly:
Once the buns are cooled, cut out triangle / pyramid shape cut-outs (or round cut-outs) and remove the piece of bread. I use scissors to make the triangle cuts, but they need to be thin and sharp and it takes a little practice.
Add about 1 Tbsp. almond filling to each bun.
Whip the cream and vanilla, but only until soft peaks and shiny (see pictures below). Place in a piping bag. A star tip works well. It will look soft but it will pipe!
Pipe a generous amount of whipped cream onto each bun (about ¼ to 1/3 cup), and then put the little bun hat on each bun. Dust with powdered sugar (optional).
You can enjoy these fresh and cover and refrigerate leftovers. I genuinely like them better the next day after chilling, where the cardamom is still strong, but the flavor is well balanced!
The ingredients I used. I bought roasted, unsalted almonds which worked very well, but you can also roast your own.
Add the roasted almonds to a food processor (hot or not).
And pulse until smaller.
Then add the vanilla, powdered sugar, and salt.
And mix in.
Next, gradually add water until it's more pourable. This was after adding about 3-4 Tbsp, and I probably could have added more since it was a little thick. I started with cooled almonds though and hot ones may need less water.
The almond filling is ready! I chilled mine until I was ready to use it.
Now to the dough!
First, mix the yeast with the warm milk. Then...
Mix in some of the flour, cover, and let rest.
After resting about 20 minutes.
Then add the egg, sugar, salt, cardamom.
And mix in. It may not mix in super well and that's okay.
Then add the flour.
And mix in. I didn't add the full 110 g flour at first, so it's still a little sticky, and I added more as I kneaded.
Take out onto a clean surface.
Knead until it is a little smoother. Then and add the butter.
While you mix the butter in it will get messy, but don't worry!
After mixing in the butter. The dough may be shaggy, so we want to knead it until it is smoother. I added a little more flour to reach 110 g total.
After kneading, nice and smooth!
Place in a greased bowl, cover, and let rise.
After rising. it's ready to go!
Divide into 7 buns.
Shape, and place on a parchment lined baking tray. Lightly coat with egg wash. This is before the second rise.
I let them rise in the oven with the light turned on, covered loosely in plastic.
After the second rise, brush with egg wash, and then bake.
After baking. Very golden! Let cool completely before the next steps.
Cut out triangle sized shapes, I used scissors for this. This was a different batch of buns than the previous pictures, if you noticed the color change.
Add about 1 heaped Tbsp. almond filling inside.
Add the whipping cream and vanilla to a bowl to whip.
Whip ONLY to soft peaks, where it's soft and shiny but holds little peaks like this. Don't worry, it will pipe nicely!
This is the star piping tip I used, an open star I think.
Pipe a generous amount onto each one (about 1/4 cup).
And add the top back on!
And you can dust with powdered sugar!