These cardamom brioche with sourdough are amazing. Super soft and spiced, as well as being very visually appealing. To make them even more delicious, I’ve enriched the filling with dark chocolate pieces and walnuts. On the surface, they have a crunchy and caramelized crust created by the brown sugar sprinkled on top before baking.
A variation of the classic Kanelbullar, the Swedish cinnamon rolls. In my opinion, with cardamom, they are even tastier. They also remind me of our trip to Tromsø in January, where they were ubiquitous in the bakeries.
- Difficulty: Medium
- Rest time: 22 Hours
- Preparation time: 40 Minutes
- Portions: 12 brioche
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Swedish
- Seasonality: All seasons
Ingredients
- 150 g sourdough starter (refreshed and doubled)
- 230 ml milk (warm)
- 460 g all-purpose flour
- 60 g sugar
- 1/2 vanilla bean
- 1 egg (medium)
- 1 tsp salt
- 75 g butter (soft)
- 110 g butter
- 90 g sugar
- 2 tsps ground cardamom
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 50 g dark chocolate
- 50 g walnuts
- 1 egg (for brushing)
- to taste brown sugar (for sprinkling)
Steps
To make the cardamom brioche with sourdough, place the refreshed and doubled sourdough starter in the bowl of a stand mixer with the warm milk. Mix to combine. Add the flour, sugar, seeds from half a vanilla bean, and the egg. Turn on the mixer and knead until you get a homogeneous dough. At this point, add the salt and soft butter in cubes and continue to knead until the dough is smooth and elastic, and detaches from the sides and bottom of the bowl.
Form a ball with the dough, place it in a bowl, cover with cling film, and let it rise in a warm place, away from drafts, for 6 hours.
After the first 6 hours of resting, transfer the dough to the fridge and let it rest there for 12 to 48 hours.
After the dough has rested in the fridge, take it out and let it sit at room temperature for 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, prepare the filling: melt the butter and place it in a shallow dish. Add the sugar, ground cardamom, and salt, and mix well to combine.
Roughly chop the dark chocolate and walnuts and set aside.
Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface to a rectangle about 12 x 20 inches. Spread the butter and cardamom filling on one half of the dough, then sprinkle with the chopped dark chocolate and walnuts, and fold the dough over, so the side without filling covers the side with filling.
Cut the rectangle obtained into 12 strips of about 1 inch thick, widthwise.
Take the first strip of dough and, holding one intact end between your thumb and index finger, wrap the dough twice around said fingers, as you would wrap a thread. Pass the thumb through on the second wrap, threading the rest of the dough horizontally between the thumb and forefinger, as you would lock a wrapped thread to close it. Tuck the end of the dough underneath the brioche and place it on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Proceed in the same way with the remaining strips of dough.
Once all the brioches are prepared, cover them with cling film and let them rise until doubled in size. This will take about 3-4 hours.
Shortly before the time is up, preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (static).
Brush your brioche with the beaten egg and sprinkle the dough parts with brown sugar.
Bake the cardamom brioche at 375 degrees F for 20-25 minutes, until golden.
Remove them from the oven and let them cool on a wire rack or enjoy them warm.
Any leftover brioche can be easily frozen in food bags.
