Spelt Cinnamon and Cardamom Buns

Simply put, Fika is the Swedish word that means "to drink coffee," but the word represents a much warmer tradition. To Fika really means to truly take time for a break in your day to, to breathe and rest, to have a coffee and a little sweet (or savory), maybe catch up with a friend or loved one. It's a such lovely idea that I am trying to work into my life right now as holiday craziness seems to start earlier and earlier every year...

Fika is also the name of the adorable cookbook that my college pal, Anna Brones and Johanna Kindvall released earlier this year. Fika is full of traditional and less traditional sweet and savory coffee and tea time treats (and illustrations by Johanna!). It also has a puffy cover, that my cat is cozily napping on as I write this post. 

Now let's talk buns! One of the most well known and loved Fika treats are cinnamon buns. Anna and Johanna's version of this classic recipe are swirled with a mixture of cardamom and cinnamon which is such a lovely and warming combination, perfect for this time of year. They are also totally beautiful and impressive looking! 

And one more thing!

THANK YOU all SO MUCH for your warm reception to my book, Sweeter Off the Vine. I can't wait to share more with you in the coming months. Pre-order links are in the sidebar! Thank you, thank you!

Spelt Cinnamon and Cardamom Buns

makes about 30 small buns

adapted from Fika by Anna Brones and Johanna Kindvall

The original recipe calls for 4 1/2 cups of all purpose flour, but I couldn't resist adding in some spelt flour instead. I also swapped in brown sugar for the filling and added a bit of salt, because sugar always needs just a bit of salt. There are a lot of ways to form and shape these buns, you can even make loaves, but I loved the swirls and twirls of the of the technique I used. I linked to a post within the recipe so you can see the shaping method for yourself, rather than try to explain it, trust me, it is much easier to see something like this than try to explain it :) 

Dough

7 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 1/2 cups whole milk

2 teaspoons active dry yeast

2 1/2 cups spelt flour

2 cups all purpose flour

1/4 cup sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

Filling

7 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature

1/3 cup light brown sugar

4 teaspoons cinnamon

3 teaspoons ground cardamom

pinch salt

Topping

1 egg beaten, for egg wash

pearl sugar or sliced almonds

To make the dough: Melt the butter in a saucepan, add the milk and heat until warmed through. In a small bowl combine the yeast with a couple of tablespoons of the warm milk mixture. Let sit until foamy.

In the bowl of a standing mixer combine the flour, sugar, cardamom and salt. Add the yeast mixture and remaining milk. Stir until a dough forms. Knead the dough until smooth and elastic, 3-5 minutes. The dough should be tacky and soft, but not super sticky. If the dough is sticky knead in a bit more flour. Transfer the dough to a clean, lightly oiled bowl and let rise until doubled in size, about 1 hour.

Make the filling and assemble: Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.

Stir the filling ingredients in a small bowl until well combined and smooth.

Divide the dough in half and roll one half of the dough to a rectangle roughly 11x17 inches with the long edge facing you. Spread half of the filling over half of the dough (lengthwise), making sure to spread it all of the way to the edges and fold the dough in half lengthwise. Slice the dough into 15-18 strips. Then check out this post on Pantry Confidential featuring Johanna Kindvall herself to see how she shapes the buns, scroll down towards the end of the post. Trust me, pictures are worth a thousand words here...Repeat with the remaining dough.

Cover the buns with a clean kitchen towel and let them rise for 45 minutes or until puffy. Preheat your oven to 425ºF.

After the buns have risen, brush them with egg wash and sprinkle with pearl sugar or sliced almonds. Bake the buns for 8-10 minutes, rotating the pans from top to bottom and front to back halfway through baking. Serve warm or cool the rolls completely, then store them in an airtight container in the freezer. 

No Knead Challah Cinnamon Rolls

I am a sucker for a good culinary memoir. Recently, I devoured both of Molly Wizenberg's books in about 2 days, Amelia Morris's Bon Appetempt was the same, Heat, My Life in France, Kitchen Confidential, Julie and Julia, Blood, Butter, & Bones.... I read them all (and more) lightning fast. So when, Jessica Fechtor of Sweet Amandine, a blog I have followed for ages offered to send me a copy of her memoir Stir I jumped at the chance to read it, and as is my custom, finished it over a weekend. It was a moving, beautifully written story (that I won't explain in detail here because I think you should all read it too) that details her  recovery after an aneurism burst in her brain. Woven through are the recipes for the comforting and cozy foods she and others cooked during those many months. 

After I finished reading, and wiping away a few tears, I paged through the book a second time looking for a recipe to cook and was immediately drawn to her challah. I love baking yeast breads, especially as the weather cools down, and this no knead method was soooo easy and forgiving. If you are scared of bread baking, this might be a good place to start because you seriously can't mess it up. I made the recipe a few times, as traditional braids, but then I realized that it would make the perfect base for cinnamon rolls. You can prep the dough the night before, then form the rolls and let them rise the morning you want to serve them. Jessica, I hope you don't mind that I bastardized your beautiful challah into cinnamon rolls. 

No Knead Challah Cinnamon Rolls

Five Fold Challah recipe from Jessica Fechtor's Stir

makes 2 loaves of challah or about 12 cinnamon rolls

This dough is easy to make, totally delicious, and super forgiving. I have made it with vegetable oil and olive oil, both are great. I also made it with all purpose flour and it turned out just fine. For challah shaping instructions, check out this post on Food52. 

Dough

4 cups bread flour

1 1/2 teaspoons instant dry yeast

2 teaspoons fine sea salt

2 large eggs plus 1 large egg yolk (save the white for glazing if you are making braids)

3/4 cup water

1/3 cup olive oil

1/4 cup honey

Filling

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

1/3 cup granulated sugar

2 tablespoons ground cinnamon

pinch salt

Glaze

2 cups confectioner's sugar

1/4 cup sour cream

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

pinch salt

Whisk together the dry ingredients in a large bowl, and the wet ingredients in a smaller bowl. Dump the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir with a rubber spatula until a wet, sticky dough forms. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let sit for 10 minutes. 

Peel back the plastic. Grab an edge of the dough, lift it up, and fold it over itself to the center. Turn the bowl a bit and repeat around the entire lump of dough, grabbing an edge and folding it into the center, eight turns, grabs, and folds in all. Then flip the dough so that the folds and seams are on the bottom. Cover tightly again with the plastic, and let sit for 30 minutes. 

Repeat the all-around folding, flipping, covering, and resting four more times. (I keep track by drawing hash marks in permanent marker right on the plastic.) The dough flops more than it folds in the first round or two. Then, as the gluten develops, you’ll get proper folds. By the final fold, the dough will be wonderfully elastic, and you’ll be able to see and feel the small pockets of air within. Pull the plastic tight again over the bowl and refrigerate for 16 to 24 hours—any longer and you risk over-proofing.

The next morning, make the cinnamon rolls. Grease a 9 x 13-inch baking dish.

Stir the sugar, cinnamon, and salt together in a small bowl. On a lightly floured surface roll the dough into a rectangle about 18 x 12 x 1/2-inch thick . Brush the melted butter over the top, then sprinkle with the cinnamon sugar. Starting from the long end, tightly roll the dough into a log. Slice the log into 12 pieces and arrange them in the baking dish. Cover the dish with a towel and let the rolls rise until puffy and almost doubled in size, about 2 hours.

Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350ºF. Bake the rolls until golden and cooked through, about 25-30 minutes.

While the rolls are cooling, make the glaze by whisking all of the glaze ingredients together. It should be thick but pourable, if it's too thick add a bit of milk, if it is too thin add a bit of confectioner's sugar.

Drizzle the glaze over the warm cinnamon rolls and enjoy immediately.

And a quick housekeeping note: When I moved and redesigned the blog last year many links were broken, especially for older posts. I'm working to correct those errors now. So sorry for any inconvenience.