Ingredients

Dough

7g green cardamom seeds

500g white flour, 10-11% protein (NOT SELF RISING)

90g white sugar

2.5g salt

25g milk 3% fat, but you can use what you have

7g fresh yeast

110g GOOD QUALITY salted butter

Butter filling

145g salted butter

95g white sugar

2g salt

Cardamom sugar

15g cardamom seeds

45g sugar

Egg wash

1 egg, beaten

Dough

Chill all the ingredients in the fridge except the butter. It’s best to use ice-cold water. This helps prevent the dough from rising too quickly in hot weather, as ideally we want to keep the dough cool.

The butter should be soft but not melted. Ideally, leave it at room temperature for a few hours before making the dough.

Mixing

Mix the salt, sugar, cardamom and yeast with the milk and water. Stir well until most of the sugar and salt have dissolved and the mixture is as uniform as possible.

Add the flour and butter and mix with a spatula until combined. There should be no dry patches or lumps of flour left.

Once the dough is evenly mixed, cover it with a towel and place it in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.

Kneading

Our goal here is to develop the dough until it becomes elastic and can be stretched without tearing. We can achieve this by alternating between kneading and resting the dough in the fridge.

In the video, I demonstrate the kneading technique. Knead the dough this way for about 2 minutes, then cover it with a towel and place it back in the fridge for about 15-20 min.

Repeat this process about 2-3 times, until the dough becomes smooth and elastic and no longer tears easily when stretched.

First stage of kneading:

Second stage of kneading after rest:

How do you know when it’s ready?

After each rest in the fridge, check the dough before kneading it again by gently stretching it as shown in the video. If the dough stretches easily and barely tears, you can stop kneading. Shape the dough into a rectangle and wrap it tightly in plastic wrap so it doesn’t expand out of the wrap. Place it in the fridge. For example, if you make the dough in the evening, you can continue with the next step the following morning.

Day 2

Prepare the butter filling in advance. Mix the softened butter with the sugar until smooth and well combined.

Separately, make the cardamom sugar by mixing the sugar with the ground cardamom.

Have everything ready before you start rolling out the dough.

Dough:

Check the dough by touch. It should feel quite firm and NOT soft.

If the dough feels soft and has puffed up, take it out of the fridge, remove the plastic wrap, and gently press it down to release the gas until it returns roughly to the size and shape it had when you first put it in the fridge. If the dough is a little sticky, lightly dust both sides with flour — just enough to stop it from sticking.

In this case, you can place the dough in the freezer for about 20 minutes to firm it up before continuing. If you try to roll out soft dough in a warm room, it will stick to everything, tear, and make you hate baking.Roll out the dough into a rectangle, as shown in the photo, until it is about 4 mm (0.2 in) thick.

Spread the butter filling evenly over the dough, then sprinkle with some of the cardamom sugar. Don’t use all of it — save some for sprinkling over the finished buns.

Roll out the dough into a rectangle, as shown in the photo, until it is about 4 mm (0.2 in) thick.

Spread the butter filling evenly over the dough, then sprinkle with some of the cardamom sugar. Don’t use all of cardamom sugar — save some for sprinkling over the finished buns.

Fold the dough as shown in the photo and pinch the edges to seal. Roll it out again until it is about 2.5 cm (1 in) thick.

If the dough starts to soften at this stage — for example, if your kitchen is hot or your work surface is warm — place it on a cutting board and put it in the freezer for about 20 minutes.

Then cut the dough with a knife into 2.5 cm (1 in) wide strips, as shown in the photo.

Place the shaped buns on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, leaving enough space between them to expand.

Let the buns rise until they have increased in volume by about 40%. Don’t watch the clock — watch the volume. This may take an hour, or it may take more or less time depending on the conditions in your kitchen.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 200°C (390°F).

Beat the eggs until smooth. Once the buns have increased in volume, gently brush them with the egg wash.

Bake until golden brown.

Cardamom buns

Dough