On my trip to Finland earlier this year, I of course decided that I had to try baking some classic Finnish baked goods. Korvapuusti is their word for cinnamon rolls. They are slightly different than American cinnamon rolls, obviously, and that’s mainly due to their shape and the cardamom. (And the lack of a 1:1 icing to pastry ratio.) They put cardamom in everything, it seemed. So there’s cardamom in the dough, they have a sort of triangular shape, and they’re topped with pearl sugar.
I had pearl sugar ordered to my house before I even left Sweden (the second stop on my trip, where they also had many cinnamon rolls). I knew I’d be baking with it. I’m glad to finally use it! I look forward to finding more ways to use it.
In the meantime, I’ll be interested how they judge the International Bakes categories at the Fair. Will the judge have heard of Korvapuusti before? It is Minnesota, so it’s a definite nonzero change. But will they have had them? Be an expert? Or just decided whether they taste good and technique was right?
I’ll be honest, I don’t know if I got the shape of these correct? I think I was supposed to have the point of the triangular rolls face more up and then squish them down more. Some of the ones you can find when Googling photos of Korvapuusti look different and better. So I may play with the shape. But the taste and texture? Delicious! Maybe I need to add more cardamom for the competition, but since I don’t like cardamom that much… The level I had it at was perfect for me.
Maybe for the competition I’ll even get FRESH cardamom to ground up. Go totally next level with it!
It feels sort of silly posting a recipe like this, as if I’m some expert. I’ve been to Finland one time and I’m 0.9% Finnish. There’s my credentials!
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PinIngredients
For the Pastries:
- 1/2 cup lukewarm milk
- 2tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, at room temperature
- 1 1/4 teaspoons dry yeast
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 tablespoon freshly ground cardamom
- 1 egg, beaten and divided in half
- 2 to 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- Pearl sugar, or rock sugar, for garnish
For the Filling:
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
- 6 tbsp brown sugar, packed
- 1 heaping tablespoon ground cinnamon
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, combine milk, melted butter, yeast, and sugar. Allow it to sit for 10 minutes until yeast begins to bubble.
- Stir in salt, cardamom, and 1/2 the beaten egg.
- Then, gradually stir in 2 to 2 1/2 cups flour until dough pulls away from the side of the bowl. If using a stand mixer, switch to a dough hook; knead at level 3 or 4 for 7 minutes. If kneading by hand, work the dough until it is smooth, shiny, and has lost most of its stickiness.
- Place in a greased bowl, cover with a towel or cling wrap, and allow to rise 1 hour or until doubled.
- Punch down dough, then roll into an 8×14 rectangle.
- Brush with melted butter, then sprinkle with brown sugar and cinnamon.
- Starting from the long side, tightly roll each half into a long “snake”.
- With a sharp knife, make diagonal cuts every 2 inches to make 7 triangular rolls.
- Place each roll, point up, on lightly greased cookie sheets.
- Then use a finger or a spoon to press down each tip to form ear-shaped rolls.
- Cover with clean towels and allow to rise another hour, until doubled.
- Preheat oven to 400 F. Brush each roll with he rest of the beaten egg.
- Sprinkle with pearl sugar and bake on center rack for 10 to 15 minutes, or until golden brown.
Notes
From The Spruce Eats