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Sunday, March 22

Cinnamon Buns


Or pullaa, as they're called in Finnish. In fact, "pullaa" is a rather generic term. It generally refers to a sweet bun with a variety of toppings or fillings. For instance, there's "Dallas pullaa" - those filled with curd (maitorahkaa - that I still don't know the exact English term for) & slivered almonds. Then, there are "Boston pullaa" - those filled with chocolate. Why they are named after US cities, I've no idea ;) But the basic pullaa is filled with cinnamon & usually sprinkled with sugar pearls, another item that's perculiar to Finnish/Swedish kitchens, I learnt.

2.5 dl milk
25g fresh yeast OR 1 packet (11g) dried yeast
1 egg
0.75 dl sugar
0.25 tsp salt
1 tsp cardamon
8 dl flour (approx)
1 dl melted butter

Filling:
80-100g butter
1.5 dl brown sugar
generous shakes of ground cinnamon


1. Proof yeast in lukewarm (42 C) milk with 1tbsp of sugar. After 5 minutes, it should be foamy.
2. Mix all dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Pour yeast mixture into mixing bowl gradually while mixing together with a spatula. Add the rest of the room temperature liquids. When all ingredients are mixed through, start kneading :)
3. Dough should be slightly sticky so that it pulls away from the sides of the bowl but not so dry that it lifts off the bottom of the bowl. Add a tsp of milk at a time if it's too dry and a tbsp of flour if it's too wet.
4. Leave dough to rise in the large mixing bowl covered with a cloth until doubled in size (approx. 1 hour).
5. Preheat oven to 200 C. Ensure butter is at room temperature.
6. Punch down dough and cut into 2 portions. Roll out one portion on a lightly floured surface (make sure u flour your rolling pin as well!) into a rectangle about 20cm wide.
7. Dot or spread generously the slightly soft butter onto the dough leaving 1cm margin.
8. Crumb brown sugar generously over the butter and sprinkle with cinnamon.
9. Roll up the dough lengthwise and pinch the end to seal. (use a little water/milk if dough won't seal)
10. Cut the roll at 2.5cm intervals. Arrange pieces, swirl-side up, on a tray lined with baking paper. Leave at least 5cm between each piece. Leave to rise for at least half an hour.
11. When the buns have nearly doubled in size, glaze gently with milk. Bake for 30min in preheated oven.


minibeanie is 1 year, 7 months, 3 weeks & 3 days old

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Rahkaa, at least according to this discussion on Finland Forum http://www.finlandforum.org/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=4260&start=0, seems to be quark.

So maitorahkaa means milk quark? Is there such an item? :)

Sugar pearls: the Finns, the Swedes and the Danes (especially) have a really sweet tooth, as if there is not enough sugar already, sugar pearls need to be added.

Ashley said...

Ah yes, now I recall seeing "quark" on Lidl's labels. Apparently, dictionary.com has defined quark as "A soft creamy acid-cured cheese of central Europe made from whole milk." Perhaps that explains why I haven't seen quark on the shelves of anglo saxon countries :P

heheh, regarding sweet tooth, the Scandinavians are nothing compared to the Hungarians... or Indians!