66 The Times Magazinepiced buns are a
favourite when I go
to a coffee shop, but my
passion for them always
backfires on me. “You
always get a cinnamon
bun and then spend the
whole time complaining
that it’s either stale or not very
cinnamony,” my husband says.
If you want something done
properly, do it yourself, they
always say, and that’s exactly
what I’ve done here. These are
the opposite of coffee-shop buns:
made with enriched dough, they
are fresh, light and fluffy and
filled with butter, sugar and
crushed cardamom seeds – a
flavour of home for me and a
delicious alternative to cinnamon
in these swirls.
How do you eat yours? Are
you a biter? Straight in? Fork and
knife? Lick off the top and don’t
eat the rest? Scrape off the top
and eat the bun? Do you unravel
them? I unravel mine slowly,
leaving the sweetest centre
right to the very end.
I still buy cinnamon buns
in the shops, by the way. It’s all
the motivation I need to make
these at home.CARDAMOM BUNS
Makes 12 swirlsFor the dough- 600g strong bread flour,
plus extra for dusting - 14g dried fast-action yeast
- 75g golden caster sugar
- 90g unsalted butter, softened
- 275ml whole milk, lukewarm
- 1 tsp almond extract
DAN KENNEDY• 1 medium egg
Eating in
Nadiya Hussain
Forget those stale
shop-bought versions:
my light and fluffy
homemade buns
are worth the effort
For the filling- 45g unsalted butter, softened
- 175g golden caster sugar
- 15 cardamom pods, deseeded
and seeds crushed - Pinch of salt
For the topping- 110g soft unsalted butter
- 250g full-fat cream cheese
- 5 tbsp icing sugar
- 1 tbsp vanilla bean paste
1 Start by making the dough.
Add the flour, yeast and sugar
to a mixing bowl or the bowl of
a stand mixer. Rub in the butter
and create a well in the centre
of the mix.
2 Whisk together the milk,
almond extract and egg. Add
to the dry mix. Attach the
dough hook and mix. If there
are still dry bits on the base, add
a spoonful of water at a time untilthere is no dry flour left. As soon
as it has come together, knead
on high for 7 minutes (of course
you can do all of this by hand
if you need to).
3 Take out and shape into a neat
ball, cover with clingfilm and
leave in a warm place until the
dough has doubled in size.
4 Make the filling by beating
together the butter, sugar,
cardamom and salt and set aside.
5 Grease a 30 x 24cm brownie
tin. Once the dough has doubled,
dust the work surface with flour
and tip out the dough. Roll it out
to a 50 x 30cm rectangle, with
the longer side closest to you.
6 Spoon over the filling mixture
and spread it all over using the
back of a spoon. Roll the dough
from the long side as you would
if making a Swiss roll.
7 Cut into 12 equal pieces. Place
into the tray swirl-side up, three
up, four across, leaving a small
gap between each piece. Grease a
piece of clingfilm and cover them.
Leave in a warm place to prove
until the edges just touch.
8 Preheat the oven to 160C/
Gas 3. Remove the clingfilm and
bake for 20 minutes. Take out
and leave to cool until just warm.
9 Make the topping by beating
together the butter, cream cheese,
icing sugar and vanilla bean paste.
Generously spread all over the
buns just before serving. nHow do you eat yours? Are you a biter?
Straight in? Fork and knife? Lick off the top?
S
You can find all of Nadiya
Hussain’s recipes for The Times
at thetimes.co.uk