10 out of 10 for Sweden!

Well….. Kanelbulle are fantastic. Essentially they are a Cinnamon bun made with a bready and not too sugary cardamom dough and really - they are just dreamy!

This recipe yielded 42 Kanelbulle, so lots of people got to try them and I got much approval from flatmates, friends and work colleagues. But that said they are relatively small buns so don’t be put off by the large quantity.

Nib/Pearl Sugar is the sugar used in Sweden to decorate these buns. It’s the same sugar used to decorate certain types of Belgian waffles. I would have made these buns sooner but found it relatively difficult to find the sugar until the lovely people at Peter’s Yard, http://www.petersyard.com/ Swedish Bakery donated me a bag of the stuff. If you can’t find this sugar, you can sprinkle any kind of sugar you like on top or slightly crumble up some white sugar cubes to give a similar effect.

Here’s how I made them:

• 450 ml milk
• 250g unsalted butter
• 1 kg Flour
• 300g Sugar
• 2 level tablespoons Cinnamon
• 2 level tablespoons ground Cardamom
• 5 sachets (7gms each) of dried yeast
• 1 egg
• 1 tablespoon Water
• Nib/Pearl Sugar or sugar cubes.

- Heat 300ml of milk and 150g of sugar in a large saucepan.
- Turn off the heat and add the 5 sachets of dried yeast to the milk and allow to ferment.
- Melt 100g of the butter with the remaining milk and the cardamom
- Allow to cool slightly and add to the milk/yeast mixture.
- Bit by bit add the flour to the milk mixture and bring together to form a soft dough.
- Lightly knead on a slightly floured work surface then return to the saucepan, cover and leave in a warm place until it’s doubled in size.
- Cream the remaining sugar and butter and cinnamon in a bowl.
- On a lightly floured work surface, roll the dough out in to a rectangle that is about 3mm thick.
- Spread the Cinnamon and Sugar mixture all over the dough.
- Tightly roll the dough in to itself like a spiral.
- Cut the dough in to 3cm slices and place in to cupcake cases (spiral side up).
- Arrange cases on a baking tray.
- Cover with cling-film and leave to prove again for about 1 hour or until doubled in size.
- Preheat the oven to 220C.
- Once the buns have risen, whisk the egg with 1 tablespoon of water.
- Brush the buns with this egg mixture and sprinkle nib/pearl sugar or slightly crushed sugar cubes on top.
- Bake in oven for 5-7 minutes.

8 down, 19 to go……