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Cinnamon rolls with cardamom

Kanelbullar can be found on every coffee table in Sweden, although this roll was apparently only invented in the 1920s. The pastry smells not only of cinnamon, as its name leads one to expect, but also of cardamom.

Which adventurous route could a spice such as cardamom have possibly taken from its tropical homeland into this traditional Swedish roll? That is one of the many questions Secret Agent Hektor Maille is confronted by when his culinary encounter with this traditional Swedish roll transports him, momentarily, mentally back from Buller to his home-island of Santa Lemusa.

1. Slightly warm the milk (to about 35°C), dissolve the yeast in it, leave aside for 10 minutes.
2. Liquefy the butter. Put the flour into a deep dish and mix in the salt.
3. Add the yeast and milk, sugar and cardamom. Make a dough – if necessary add some more flour or water.
4. As soon as the dough is ready, remove it from its dish and knead well for about 8 minutes on a flour-dusted working surface.
5. Make the dough into a ball, sprinkle the ball with some flour and replace it in the dish and cover it with a moist towel. Let the dish rest in a warm place for about 60 minutes.
6. Place baking parchment on a baking sheet. Roll out the dough on a flour-dusted working surface unless it obtains a (rectangular) size of about 30 x 50 (or 60) cm – the dough should be about 3 mm thick.
7. Daub with the softened butter. Mix sugar and cinnamon, disperse regularly over the whole surface.
8. Roll the dough lengthwise (without squeezing it) in order to make a roll (which is about 50 to 60 cm long). Slice into 20 to 25 parts of 2 cm (or little more).
9. Place the pastry pieces on the baking sheet, leaving a gap of about 3 cm between them. Let them rise again for about 30 to 60 minutes – until they are clearly larger in volume.
10. Mix the egg with 2 tablespoons water. Coat the surface of the rolls with it. Disperse coarse sugar on the pastry. Bake in the middle of the preheated oven (240°C) for about 8 minutes (depending on the oven it can be less or more).
11. Allow to cool on the baking sheet or better still on a metal grid.

More about the travel adventure of Secret Agent Hektor Maille:

• Episode 5: From Sweden with Lilies
• Startpage of «Mission Kaki» (with overview map)
• More Recipes of the Secret Agent

While eating these preparations Hektor Maille became aware of some strange connections between his tropical home and intrinsically Swedish traditions:

• Gravad Lax (Salmon cured in salt, sugar, dill and spices)
• Sillpudding (Potato gratin with matjes herring)
• Kanelbullar (Cinnamon rolls with cardamom)

Während Geheimagent Hektor Maille im Keller Wasser für das Testessen holte, naschte Geheimagent Tristan Canaille heimlich vom schwedischen Hefegebäck Kanelbullar. Es schmeckte ihm vorzüglich und er entschloss sich, es in seiner Heimat Neukaledonien einzuführen, um es dort als neustes Nationalgericht zu etablieren. Voerst hatte er aber eine komplexe Aufgabe in der Nordschweiz zu erledigen, es galt eine kaum bekannte Hefesorte zu entwenden…
Simon Baur, Basel (1. November 2009)

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