I spent a summer in Sweden as a teen as part of an exchange program. At the time I still ate meat and fish, but honestly, I was not impressed by the simple ways that they prepared their food, so I ended up losing 10 kilograms and returned to Canada thin and "looking like a woman" - as my Italian mother told me when she picked me up from the airport.
There was one kind of food that I enjoyed quite a bit though, and that was dessert. Scandinavians know how to bake very VERY well. They eat spiced buns, pastries and fruit desserts several times a day, although usually in small, bite-sized portions. Each crumb is packed with heavenly flavor and having these tea-time-treats was a major highlight to my stay.
I will share with you a standard Swedish recipe for cardamom buns, which I have veganized. Surprisingly cardamom is very popular in Scandinavia. It has always been one of my favorite spices so I was thrilled to see, smell, and eat so much of it!
For 12 buns:
Dough
- 4 cups unbleached flour
- 1 tablespoon flaxseeds +3 tablespoons water (flax egg replacer)
- 2 teaspoons yeast
- 3 teaspoons water
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cardamom
- 1/2 cup organic coconut sugar (or sugar of your choice)
- 1/2 cup coconut oil
- 1 cup water
Cardamom paste
- 1/4 cup coconut oil
- 1 teaspoon ground cardamom
- 3/4 cup coconut sugar
Method
- Prepare the flax egg by combining the flax and water, set aside.
- In a separate bowl, proof the yeast by mixing the yeast with a few sprinkles of sugar and water and set aside for 10 minutes.
- Once the flax and yeast have set, combine them with the dough ingredients and kneed together until a smooth ball has been formed.
- Set aside and let the dough rise for half an hour.
- Whisk together the cardamom paste ingredients and set aside.
- On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough so it is 1/2 cm thick.
- Smear the cardamom paste evenly on the dough's surface.
- Tightly roll the dough from one short end to the other, until you have formed a log
- Slice every 3- 4 cm so that you are left with several uncooked medallions.
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
- Place buns on a lightly greased cookie sheet and allow to proof (rise) for 20 minutes.
- Bake on the middle rack for 15-20 minutes.
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