KARDEMUMMABULLAR | Swedish Cardamom Buns

Everything you need to know to make the best Swedish Cardamom buns!

UPDATE! (30/4/2023): I have gotten some comments that the dough is really stiff for some people. Flours are different in every country and have different rates of absorption. If you feel your dough is stiff or dry add 50g more milk and mix for an additional 5 minutes. The bun dough in later videos has also been changed to fix this issue.

RECIPE:

Dough:
500g (2 cups) nonfat milk
1100g (9 ¼ cups) AP flour
200g (1 cup) sugar
200g (¾ cup plus 2 Tbsp) room temperature butter
23g (2 Tbsp) ground cardamom
70g fresh yeast (23g or 2 ⅓Tbsp dry yeast)
15g (2 ½ tsp) salt

-Add all ingredients to the bowl of your stand mixer.
-Using the hook attachment mix on low for 5 minutes or until the ingredients are all incorporated.
-Turn the speed up to like a medium to medium fast for 15-30 minutes.
-You want to work up as much gluten as you can.
-When your dough is smooth and pliable, it needs to rest. In the winter you canshape it into a rectangle, leave on your counter covered in plastic or a tea towel for 30 minutes. In the summer I like to shape it into a rectangle, cover it with plastic and let it rest in the fridge for 30 minutes to an hour until it is cool but not yet cold/hard.
-Roll the dough into a large rectangle, it should end up being about 1cm (⅓ inch) thick.
-Spread the filling onto the dough.
-Sprinkle on a generous amount of the cardamom sugar
-fold into thirds
-Roll out and start to portion
-Shape as desired
-In the bakeries I’ve worked in the buns are usually around 100g, but this feels very large at home, 80-90g works well.
-Place on a baking tray, cover, and let rise until double in size. In the winter this can take me over three hours. But lately, since it July and therefore very warm and humid, it can take as little as 45 minutes to an hour.
-Bake at 200C (400F) for about 9 minutes or until golden brown. I like to check mine and rotate the tray at the 5 or 6 minute mark so they don’t get overbrown.
-Brush with egg wash as soon as they come out of the oven.
-Immediately sprinkle them with cardamom sugar.
-Let cool (if you can wait that long!)
-Enjoy!

Butter Filling:
300g very soft butter
250g sugar
3g vanilla sugar
3g salt (optional)

Mix all together. This can be made up to a week in advance. There is no need to refrigerate it if you plan to use it within a week of making. It MUST be very soft when you go to spread it. If it has been sitting out at room temperature and is still tricky to spread, microwave it a bit. You don’t want to tear the dough trying to spread on the filling

Cardamom Sugar:
100 sugar
40 cardamon

You can use less cardamon if you would like. This is the ratio I have learned in Sweden but it is quite intense (not to mention pricey!) so do what works best for you.

Cardamom:
The cardamon used in Swedish baking is just the black seeds (like what is linked below) none of the green husk. It is roughly ground, not a fine powder. This gives the dough very pretty black flecks instead of a grayish tinge. Any cardamom will be fine though taste wise.

[gangGreenthumb]

5:56 "No piece of dough is ever perfect.. there's a life lesson in there for you."
Cheers!! You rock!

[anon_hummus]

I watch A LOT of cooking/baking videos and it's the first time I naturally said "She explains everything so well !"

[joyfuletodd]

I don't think I will ever stop making these. I was not a baker before and Cecelia has changed my mind. Whenever I have free time, I watch her videos and then make something unique and amazing. Thank you for bringing Sweden to my kitchen here in Ohio and I am loving my new hobby that brings so much joy to everyone around me. .... I can't eat it all!!!

[awhippersnapper]

I made these today and holy smokes they are so delicious! I went a little rouge and added cinnamon and orange zest in the filling. They turned out incredible! They did take 5 hours to proof because it was cold today, but totally worth it! Thank you for the great recipe and video! I’ll be making these for years to come I’m sure!

[therealvictorpo]

I like when the baker and flour are relaxed....

[katrienewiel]

Most underrated baking chanel on youtube

[Ghstwheel]

You had me at "atrocious amount of cardamom."

[farheenj]

I don’t know why this doesn’t pop up as the first option to see a a cardamom bun recipe. This is by far the best. From ingredients to descriptions and method everything is spot on.
I would 10/10 to this recipe.
I made it enjoyed it shared it . Amazing

[JeanPaulB]

The baking tips alone are a huge time saver. I discovered these buns in another channel, fell in love and then thought "why not learn from a local". YouTube was reading my mind and suggested this! lol, amazing!

[spokaneman]

I just made these and WOW. It’s the third I’ve tried and it’s by far the best. I did make a couple of adjustments:
-I made a tangzhong with 50g of the flour and an additional 226g milk.
-I used 2 sticks of butter(226g) just to round it up.

These were the softest buns I’ve made. Thank you!

[armelletran]

Oh how I missed Finnish pulla and I came across your channel. So eager to try, love your other videos as well. Keep it up!

[denagustafson]

I could watch Cecelia make anything, even if I don’t plan to bake it, because she’s such an excellent and entertaining instructor! I have been baking for years and I always learn something new!

[GRV]

Cardamom Bun is a new experience for me. I saw something new from your channel. Not even in five star hotels. I am from Sri Lanka

[trex]

I made yesterday your recipe but used half the amount of the ingredients. I ground my cardamom myself and grated it a little finer. What a unique taste. Very tasty. Thank you for sharing it with us.

[tysonfitzgerald]

I just made these and they are SCRUMPTIOUS! I'm in America and per her online instructions for Americans, AP flower in the states tends to absorb more liquid. I halved the recipe and still added 50g of milk. Mine took a bit longer to bake than the 9 minutes suggested in her recipe. I baked mine for about 18 minutes.

[taka-taktak]

Cardamom with sweet goes very well, I love its flavour. These look delicious.

[ingeralti]

I baked these three days ago, and they are by far the best I have ever eaten. Your hints and tips were enormously helpful. I live in regional Australia so I have never come across them at a bakery here. However I was born in Sweden so I have been keen to perfect the art of kardemumma bullar. Actually I always bake with sourdough partially because it is not easy to get hold of any type of yeast other than instant. Your tips were perfect to help me with the issues I have had in the past. My plan going forward is to bake regularly to perfect the buns. I know my husband absolutely loves them as will my siblings who are always up for a fix of Swedish anything. Thank you for the clear information and the flexibility of your style. It was great to have my choice of mix and match kardemumma validated, a rich blend of ground green, green seeds and black seeds. Our go to bullar for the foreseeable future. I may even try the semlor, and kanelbullar soon. Thank you so much.

[janjentz]

We have family in Sweden so have learned how to make these from my daughter in law. I live in US, so sometimes use half cinnamon half cardomin.

[marcelalara]

My mom doesn’t like cardamom so I make this for her with cinnamon, they are good

Excellent. I’m looking forward to overwhelming myself with cardamom - one of my favourite spices. Also, I enjoy watching the economy of movement that comes with experience and expertise.