Good morning and happy cinnamon bun day to you all.

Today, 4 October, is cinnamon bun day in Sweden, and for some reason it makes me happy just knowing that this day exists.

We, and I’m including myself here even though I’ve lived in the UK for many years, love nothing more than a few cups of coffee with cake, biscuits or buns once or twice, or even thrice during the day, and cinnamon buns are a staple of that national past-time we call ‘fika’.

Anyway, here is my recipe for those yummy buns:

For the dough:

50 grams of fresh yeast, or 30 grams of quick yeast (you get the best result from fresh yeast so do try and get hold of it from Ocado, Morrisons or Amazon)

150 grams of margarine or butter

500 ml of milk

145 grams of granulated sugar

1 tsp salt

1kg of plain flour

About 40 muffin cases – it depends on how big you cut them

For the filling:

Margarine or butter, softened

Granulated sugar

Cinnamon

For the topping:

1 lightly beaten egg

Some pearl sugar or similar

 

Crumble the yeast into a bowl (if you’re using dry yeast please follow instructions on packet)

Melt the margarine or butter in a saucepan and add the milk. When the mix is 37 degrees, or if your fingers aren’t too hot or cold, body temperature, pour it over the yeast and stir until dissolved. You can use a wooden spoon or a stand up mixer with the dough attachment.

Add salt and sugar and mix whilst you measure out 800 grams of the flour.

Add the flour and mix until it becomes smooth. Add whatever you need of the remaining 200 grams of flour to get it beautiful and shiny.

Leave it to rise in the bowl, away from open doors and windows, for 30 to 40 minutes with a kitchen towel on top.

Whilst it rises prepare your oven trays by putting the muffin cases on them and put the oven onto 220 degrees (fan oven). My recipe says 250 degrees for a non fan oven but it seems quite high so keep an eye on it.

When the dough has risen, tip it out onto a floured work surface and knead it until it doesn’t stick to the work surface.

Cut the dough into four pieces and put three of them to one side.

Roll the dough out with a rolling pin to about ½ cm thickness (depending on how thin you want the layers)

Spread a thin layer or butter on top of the dough and then sprinkle sugar and cinnamon on top

Roll the dough and cut into 3 centimetre pieces.

Place these into the muffin cases and leave to rest for 30 to 40 minutes

Before they go into the oven, brush the tops with the gently beaten egg and sprinkle some pearl sugar on top.

Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until lovely and golden on top, in the middle of the oven.

They freeze terribly well and can be defrosted in the microwave or oven.

Now, get a pot of coffee on and have a Swedish fika.

Hej da

Marie