Name: Sweet cinnamon buns
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 60 min
Yield: 10
Ingredients: 250 ml lukewarm milk (1 cup); 7 gm dried yeast (1 sachet); 550 gm plain flour; 50 gm caster sugar; 40 gm cornflour (1/3 cup); 2 tsp ground cardamom; ½ tsp ground cinnamon; ½ tsp ground cloves; 80 gm butter, melted; 1 egg, plus 1 extra egg, lightly beaten, for brushing; Pearl sugar or coarsely crushed sugar cubes, for sprinkling; Cinnamon filling; 60 gm softened butter; 30 gm caster sugar; 30 gm brown sugar; 3 tsp ground cinnamon; 1 tsp ground cardamom; 1 tsp cornflour

Sweet cinnamon buns

There's nothing quite like the smell of baking to whet your appetite - and even more so when sweet spices like cinnamon and cardamom are involved.

Six twisted buns, dusted with icing sugar, on a black background. — Sweet cinnamon buns

Serves 10

Prep

30M

Cook

30M

Total

There’s nothing quite like the smell of baking to whet your appetite – and even more so when sweet spices like cinnamon and cardamom are involved. With these cinnamon buns, you’ll win friends and influence people.

Ingredients

250 ml lukewarm milk (1 cup)

7 gm dried yeast (1 sachet)

550 gm plain flour

50 gm caster sugar

40 gm cornflour (1/3 cup)

2 tsp ground cardamom

½ tsp ground cinnamon

½ tsp ground cloves

80 gm butter, melted

1 egg, plus 1 extra egg, lightly beaten, for brushing

Pearl sugar or coarsely crushed sugar cubes, for sprinkling

Cinnamon filling

60 gm softened butter

30 gm caster sugar

30 gm brown sugar

3 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp ground cardamom

1 tsp cornflour

Method

Main

1.Whisk milk and yeast in a bowl to combine and set aside until foamy (4-5 minutes).

2.Mix flour, sugar, cornflour, spices and a pinch of salt in an electric mixer fitted with a dough hook to combine. Add yeast mixture, butter and egg and knead on medium speed until smooth and elastic (4-5 minutes). Transfer to a lightly oiled or buttered bowl, cover and stand in a warm place until doubled in size (1½-2 hours).

3.Meanwhile, for cinnamon filling, beat ingredients in a bowl to combine and set aside.

4.Preheat oven to 220C. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface, knock down, then roll out to a 35cm square. Spread evenly with cinnamon filling, then fold the top third of the dough down, then the bottom third up to cover. Roll into a 20cm x 36cm rectangle, then cut into 3cm-wide, 20cm-long strips. Working with a strip at a time, hold each end and stretch and twist until the whole length is twisted. Take one end of the dough strip and coil the dough once around your hand, then fold the end over the top of the coil and tuck it underneath. Place on an oven tray lined with baking paper and repeat with remaining dough strips, leaving about 5cm between each for buns to spread. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and stand until doubled in size (25-30 minutes). Brush lightly with eggwash, sprinkle with pearl sugar and bake, swapping trays partway through cooking, until dark golden brown (15-20 minutes). Serve warm or at room temperature on the day of baking.