How To Make Sourdough Cardamom Buns

4.60 from 112 votes

How To Make Sourdough Cardamom Buns

These sourdough cardamom buns are a must-try. A sweet, sticky, and delicious Swedish treat, glazed with a mouth-watering brown sugar and cardamom glaze.

Prep Time1

Cook Time18

Proofing Time22

Total Time23 18

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: Swedish

Keyword: cardamombuns, Recipe, Sourdough

Servings: buns

Calories: 408kcal

Author: Elise

Equipment

Digital scale
Stand mixer
Brød & Taylor proofer box (optional, but recommended)
Muffin tin

Ingredients

Sweet Levain

45 g active sourdough starter 100% hydration, white
45 g whole milk cold
45 g all-purpose or bread flour
10 g sugar

Main Dough

550 g bread flour 11-13% protein
90 g sugar
10 g salt
2 g ground cardamom (1 tsp)
250 g whole milk cold
2 eggs small-medium sized
145 g sweet levain
110 g unsalted butter softened, cut into cubes

Cardamom Filling

100 g unsalted butter softened
90 g brown sugar
2,5 g ground cardamom (1,5 tsp)

Brown Sugar Glaze

50 g brown sugar
50 g water
1 g ground cardamom (0,5 tsp)

Instructions

Sweet Levain

Start by mixing active sourdough starter, milk, flour, and sugar in a medium-sized bowl. Cover and rise in a warm spot for 4 hours or until the levain has doubled/tripled in size.

Main Dough

Start by gathering all the ingredients. Add them all, except the butter, to the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with a dough hook. Mix on medium speed until the dough comes together. Cover, and autolyse/rest for 30 minutes.
Start your mixer again and knead on medium speed for 5-10 minutes.
After 5-10 minutes: slowly add in the softened butter, one cube at a time.
When all the butter is added, continue kneading at medium speed for 15-25 minutes until your dough passes the window-pane test.
Place the dough in a clean bowl and proof in a warm spot, ideally at around 78°F/26°C, for two hours.
After two hours, transfer the dough to the fridge to cold-proof for a minimum of six hours.

Cardamom Filling

Add softened butter, brown sugar, and cardamom to a bowl. Mix with a fork until you have a spreadable paste. Leave at room temperature until you're ready to shape the buns.

Shape

Transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface. You might want to leave it at room temperature for 10-15 minutes if it's really cold and difficult to roll out.
With a rolling pin, roll the dough into a 19x12in/50x30cm rectangle.
Evenly spread out the cardamom filling using an offset spatula.
Grab one of the long sides of the rectangle and fold it down to cover 2/3 of the dough, then grab the other side and fold it over the top (see pictures above for reference).
Go over the dough a couple of times with a rolling pin to even out the sides.
Use a sharp knife to cut the dough into 12 strips, roughly 1,5-2 inches each.
Split each strip into three, leaving one side joined. Braid the strips to create a three-stranded plait. Grab the end of the plait and roll it up to create a bun—place all the shaped buns in a greased muffin tin.
Loosely cover the muffin tin with cling film and proof at around 78°F/26°C for 9-12 hours until they've doubled in size.

Bake

Preheat your oven to 355°F/180°C and bake the cardamom buns for 18-20 minutes until golden brown. Meanwhile, you can make the brown sugar glaze:

Brown Sugar Glaze

While the buns are baking, you can make the glaze. Add the ingredients to a small pot and heat up over medium heat until all the sugar is dissolved.
When the buns are out of the oven, immediately brush over the syrup using a pastry brush. Transfer to a cooling rack and cool for 20-30 minutes before serving.

Notes

Nutritional analysis per serving (12 servings) The nutrition facts are automatically calculated. I can not guarantee the accuracy of the data. Please don’t consider it a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

Nutrition