Nothing Beats Fresh Bread
If there’s one thing that Danes love, it’s bread. A birthday is not complete without a breakfast table decorated with Danish flags and these yummy, fluffy, cardamom-flavored rolls. We would recommend letting the dough complete its first rise in the fridge overnight. Eat them fresh out of the oven the next morning, warm and covered in lots of butter. You can also top them with jam or cheese!
Cardamom in Scandinavian Baking
If you’ve ever visited the Nordic countries, you may have noticed that tons of baked goods and other dishes use cardamom. This includes Sweden’s very famous “kardemummabullar” (cardamom buns), or Denmark’s “gløgg” (mulled wine), or these birthday rolls. But why is there so much cardamom, a spice native to India, in Scandinavian baked goods? Well, that history goes all the way back to the Vikings. The Vikings apparently found cardamom in Constantinople when they traded with the Byzantine Empire, and brought it back to Scandinavia. And here we are a thousand years later, still using recipes that incorporate cardamom, which is pretty cool!
Tips & Tricks
This recipe is simple and easy to follow for people with experience baking bread, as well as for beginners. Make sure you don’t kill your yeast with milk that’s too hot. Leave the milk and yeast to bubble up for about 10 minutes to ensure your yeast is alive. Also, make sure to give your dough enough time to rise, as you don’t want your end result to be underproofed rolls. Keep in mind that rising time can change depending on a variety of factors. This could be the climate, temperature of your ingredients, type or brand of flour, or duration of kneading. The best way to ensure your rolls turn out perfect is to keep an eye on the dough as it rises (especially if it’s at room temp, since it will rise a lot faster than in the fridge!!).
Enjoy, and please leave us a comment and a rating if you try this recipe! And be sure to tag us in your recreations on Instagram!
Fødselsdagsboller (Birthday Rolls)
Ingredients
- 400 ml milk
- 2 tsp instant yeast (2.25 tsp active-dry yeast, 17.5g fresh yeast)
- 3 tbsp sugar
- 1 & 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp cardamom
- 1 egg
- 2 egg yolks
- 750 grams all-purpose flour
- 70 grams unsalted butter, softened
- 1 egg for egg wash
Instructions
- Heat the milk, in the microwave or a saucepan, until it is "fingervarm" (finger warm), meaning it should feel warm to the touch but not hot. Add your yeast and 1 tbsp of sugar, stir, and leave it for 5-10 minutes until the mixture starts to bubble up, meaning your yeast is alive. If using instant yeast that doesn't need to be activated, just combine the milk, yeast, and sugar in a bowl and move onto the next step.
- Add the salt, remaining sugar (2 tbsp), cardamom, egg, and egg yolks to a large bowl and mix well. Once the yeast mixture has bubbled up a bit, add it to the egg mixture. Mix well.
- Slowly add the flour and softened butter, mixing with a wooden spoon until the dough starts to come together.
- Knead until smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes. Add more flour if the dough is too sticky; it should be soft and smooth, not too sticky nor too dry. Use a stand mixer if you would prefer!
- Cover the dough with cling film or a clean, slightly damp dishtowel and place in the fridge overnight for 8 hours, or let rise at room temperature (if room temp is very cold wherever you are, put it in a warm place, i.e. under a light) for 1.5-2 hours or until doubled in size.
- Once your dough has doubled in size, shape it into 16-20 balls and place on two baking sheets lined with parchment paper.
- You can also crowd them all onto one pan if you would prefer buns that stick together as they bake. Cover and let rise for another 30 minutes. In the meantime, preheat your oven to 410 degrees F (210 degrees C).
- Brush with egg wash (whisk together one egg and some water until there are no more gloopy egg streaks). Bake for 10-12 minutes. Check the bottom of the buns to see whether they are done – they should be golden brown and sound hollow when you tap them. If they're too pale, they'll need another minute or two.
Hvad er active dry yeast?
Det er tørgær. Men man kan også bruge frisk gær til denne opskrift!