Cardamom and cinnamon buns

Cardamom is one of my favourite spices but, believe it or not, this is the first time I’ve used it for a sweet dish. How’s that possible? No idea. The thing is I discovered this recipe in Pan Casero and decided to try. As usual, I’ve had to modify quite a few ingredients to make my dairyfree version, but the result has been great. So delicious! The unique aroma of cardamom gives these buns a very singular flavour, and the combination with almonds and cinnamon is just… perfect! The original recipe did not use cinnamon because it was a traditional Swedish recipe. I don’t think they will mind my transgression, because life’s better with cinnamon, right? 😉

Cardamom and cinnamon buns (dairyfree recipe)

Instructions

1. Melt the margarine with the warm mill. Add the yeast and dissolve.
2. Put 2/3 of the flour in a big bowl, pour the milk+margarine+yeast and stir with a wooden spoon until homogeneous.
3. Add the cardamom, sugar, salt and rest of the flour to the dough.
4. Knead the dough until smooth. It must be slightly sticky at first, but after kneading for 10 min it must have a silky touch.
5. Cover the dough with clingfilm or a kitchen towel and leave for an hour.
6. Sprinkle some flour on the counter and use your rolling pin to roll the dough. Make a 40 x 40 cm square 3 mm wide.
7. Prepare the filling: blend the margarine, sugar and cinnamon. Spread the paste over the square dough. Fold it into three. Cover and leave it for 10 minutes.
8. Cut the dough into stripes of 1 cm wide, approximately. You’ll have around 12 stripes. If you prefer bigger buns, stripes will have to be wider.
9. Twist each stripe and roll it in spiral (see picture).
10. Cover and leave them for 50-60 minutes.
11. Preheat oven 200 º C.
12. Line an oven tray with greaseproof paper and place the buns over it. Paint each bun with egg and sprinkle some chopped almonds on top.
13. Bake for 5-7 minutes until golden (200 º C).