DANISH CARDAMOM BUNS RECIPES

Steps:

• Mix together all the ingredients for the filling and set aside until needed. Mix together the warm milk, sugar, and yeast together. Allow it to sit to the side for about 5 minutes. You should get a layer of foam on top. If you do not get the foam on top, stop the recipe and get new yeast and try again until you get that foam. This is very important. Add the salt, flour (starting with 4 ½ cups), and cardamom to a mixing bowl, then add the milk mixture (foam and all). Mix until it comes together. Beat in the egg and mix until it incorporates. Continue to beat the mixture and add the butter one tablespoon at a time. Give the dough time to incorporate one tablespoon of butter before adding another tablespoon of butter. Use a dough hook (or your hands) to knead the dough. Knead the dough for 8 – 10 minutes if using a dough hook, or 15 minutes if using your hands. You can tell the dough is finished being kneaded if you can stretch a piece of the dough until you can almost see through it. Roll the dough into a big ball. Grease a large bowl and place the dough in the bowl. Grease plastic wrap and place over the dough. Leave in a warm area for about an hour, or until the dough is doubled in size. Gently deflate the dough. Roll out your dough into a rectangle on a lightly floured surface. It should be approximately 16 x 21 inches. Try your best to get the edges as straight as possible. Spread the filling all around the dough in an even layer - you do not need to leave a border. Fold the dough in thirds like a letter. You can do this by turning the dough so that one of the shorter edges is facing you (the way you normally look at a piece of paper). Fold the bottom third of the dough up, then fold the top third of the dough down so it rests on top of the fold you just made. You should now have a rectangle that has the longer side facing you (the way you normally look at a standard envelope). Use a pastry cutter (a dough scraper or metal pizza cutter also works), to cut thin strips (about 2 centimeters) along the length of the long side of the dough. You should be able to make 15 - 18 strips. Take one strip in both your hands, like you are holding rope. Stretch the dough slightly and gently - you don't want all the filling to ooze out. Twist the dough to make spirals, then wrap the dough around two fingers (I wrapped them around the pointer and middle finger of my non-dominant hand). When you get to the end of the strip, push it through the hole your two fingers made to secure the bun. Place on your lined baking sheet. Repeat with all the strips. Lightly cover the buns with greased plastic wrap and set aside in a warm area. Preheat your oven to 350°F. When the oven is preheated, lightly brush the dough with an egg wash. Bake for 15 - 18 minutes, or until the buns reach a beautiful golden-brown color. While the buns are warm, but not hot, brush with the cardamom syrup, then sprinkle with cardamom sugar. Enjoy immediately.  

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.