For any of you who have tried and loved the AFO Pulla Bread recipe, you’ve got to try this! Korvapuusti uses the standard Pulla Bread recipe and turns it into an even sweeter and more sharable (and super adorable!) cinnamon roll. I read recently that these are one of the most popular sweet snacks in Finland and I can see why! I love to prepare them for holiday or snow day brunch, but honestly they are wonderful any time…
DOUGH INGREDIENTS
makes 14-16 rolls
1 cup milk
¼ cup warm water (110 °)
1 (¼ ounce) package active dry yeast
½ cup white sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cracked or ground cardamom
2 eggs, beaten
5 cups all-purpose flour
½ cup butter, melted
FILLING INGREDIENTS
2 Tbsp ground cinnamon
3/4 cup light brown sugar
1/4 cup melted butter, cooled
1 egg, beaten
2 Tbsp white sugar, or rae/pearl sugar if you have it
Heat the milk in the microwave for 1 minute. Let cool until lukewarm. Dissolve the yeast in the warm water and a pinch of sugar. Let prove for 5 minutes. When yeasty water is a little bubbly and you can smell the yeast, stir in the lukewarm milk, sugar, salt, cardamom, 2 eggs, and mix well.
Add 2 cups of flour to make a batter and stir with a spoon or spatula until the dough is smooth and elastic. Add 2 more cups of the flour and mix well; the dough should be smooth and glossy in appearance. Add the melted butter, and stir well. Stir again until the dough looks glossy << I transfer to the stand mixer at this point and use the dough hook on level 2 or 3. Add in any remaining flour until the dough is stiff but not dry.
Let rest for 10 minutes. Knead the dough until smooth and satiny (5-10 mins). Place in a lightly greased mixing bowl, and turn the dough to grease the top. Cover with a clean dishtowel or saran wrap. Let rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour. Punch down, and divide it into two equal pieces.
Use a rolling pin to roll each piece of dough into (roughly) 8×14 inch rectangles. Melt your butter in the microwave, then use a pastry brush to spread it all over over your dough pieces. Mix the brown sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl and sprinkle a thin layer all over the buttered dough.
Roll the dough up along the 14-inch side. Your goal is to make a long snake, not a short snake. Cut the rolls into 7-8 alternating triangles (should be 2-inches at the base, 1/2-inch at the tip). Place them big side DOWN on a lightly greased cookie sheet or silpat/parchment. Use your finger or a greased chopstick to press down firmly in the center of the roll so the sides squish out a bit. Cover with greased saran or a tea towel and let rise for 1 hour.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Whisk an egg in a small bowl and use a pastry brush to brush each roll with egg. Then, sprinkle some Swedish/rae/pearl sugar on each roll. Bake in the top half of your oven for 10-15 minutes or until golden brown – NOTE: bottoms may be dark, that’s okay. Serve plain or with lingonberry jam (IKEA!) and butter. Great with coffee any time of the day!
OOPS!: I forgot to take pictures of the dough-kneading part…
NOTE: Cracked cardamom isn’t very easy to find where we live, but it is essential for this recipe. You can use the powdered kind from the grocery if that is all you can get a hold of, but freshly cracked green cardamom is much better. I buy whole pods online and peel/crack them myself. We love cardamom and add it to all kinds of things around here. If you try it, you just might get hooked, too! Here’s some helpful info: https://www.spiceography.com/cooking-with-cardamom/
Art Farm Oregon 