Korvapuusti

Ingredients

Dough

• 700 gstrong white flour
• 150 gsugar
• 12 gdried yeast
• 1 teaspoonsalt
• 350 mlwarm milk
• 1egg
• 150 gbutter, softened
• 2 tablespoonsground cardamom
• freshly ground if possible

Filling

• 150 gbutter, very soft
• 150 gsugar
• 3 tablespoonsground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoonground cardamom, optional

To finish

• 1beaten egg, to brush
• 4 tablespoonspearl sugar
• raesokeri

To serve

• coffee
• cold milk
• at a kahvitauko, coffee break

Directions

1. Press harder than feels reasonable. Crush the pods and grind the black seeds. Discard the papery green husks. Warm the milk to blood temperature. Stir the yeast and a spoon of sugar into it. Let it stand until it foams up. Give it about ten minutes to foam. Put the flour, sugar and salt in a bowl. Add the ground cardamom to it. Make a well in the middle of it.
2. Beat the egg and add it in as well. Pour in the foaming yeast milk. Bring it together into a soft dough. Adding the butter is done separately. Knead the dough for about five minutes first. Add it in small pieces at a time. Butter added at the start slows gluten forming. Keep working and it comes back together. Kneading it takes real patience.
3. Knead it for a further ten minutes. It should become smooth and very elastic. Put the dough in a large oiled bowl. Cover it and leave it somewhere warm. Let it roughly double in size. Give it an hour or a little more. Beat the very soft butter in a bowl. Add the sugar and the cinnamon. Beat it into a smooth spreadable paste. The butter must be genuinely very soft. Roll it out on a floured surface.
4. Make a large rectangle about half a centimetre thick. Aim for about fifty by forty centimetres. Spread the butter paste over the whole sheet. Leave a clear strip along one long edge.
5. Brush that strip with a little water. Roll it up from the buttered long edge. Keep it tight all the way as you roll. A tight roll gives many thin ones. Roll firmly all the way along. Press the seam closed at the end. Lay the roll down seam side down.
6. Cut it into slanted trapezoid pieces. Each piece should be a trapezoid. Use a sharp knife or a length of thread. A knife squashes a soft roll as it cuts. Thread slipped under and pulled tight cuts cleanly. It keeps the layers separate and open.
7. Set each piece on its side on the tray. The narrow side should be underneath. Press down hard in the exact middle. Use a finger or the edge of your hand. Press right down to the tray itself. The two ends should splay upwards and out.
8. Cover them loosely with a cloth. Let them prove for about thirty minutes. They should look visibly puffed. Brush them all over with beaten egg. Scatter pearl sugar generously over them. Heat the oven to two hundred and twenty-five degrees. Bake them for about twelve minutes. Finnish buns are baked hot and fast.
9. Cover them with a cloth as they cool. That keeps them soft rather than crusty. Set them out on a serving plate. Serve strong coffee alongside them. Cold milk is drunk with them too. Warm them briefly from frozen.

Technique

• The roll is cut into slanted trapezoids rather than straight rounds, and each piece is pressed down hard in the exact middle right to the tray, so the layers splay upwards at both ends; that splayed shape is the slapped ear the name describes. A shallow press just rises back into an ordinary round bun.
• Cardamom goes into the dough generously, two tablespoons for this quantity, and it is the defining Finnish flavour; pre-ground cardamom loses its aroma fast, so crushing pods and grinding the black seeds fresh makes a genuinely large difference.
• A length of thread slipped under the roll and pulled tight cuts more cleanly than a knife, which squashes a soft roll and closes the layers; many Finnish bakers use it.

Substitutions

• Granulated sugar stands in for pearl sugar, though it melts rather than staying crunchy.
• The same pulla dough is braided into loaves and shaped many other ways.

Variations

• Some bakers add cardamom to the filling as well as the dough.
• Vanilla custard is piped into the pressed middle in some bakeries.
• They are baked hot and fast, which is what keeps them soft inside.

History

Cinnamon and cardamom buns whose name means slapped ears, from the shape made by pressing the cut roll in the middle.

Frequently asked questions

What is Korvapuusti?

Korvapuusti is a bread & pastry from Finland: butter-cardamom cinnamon buns named ‘slapped ears’. Cinnamon and cardamom buns whose name means slapped ears, from the shape made by pressing the cut roll in the middle.

How long does Korvapuusti take to make?

Korvapuusti takes 45 minutes plus rising of preparation and 15 minutes of cooking. The recipe makes about 24 buns. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Korvapuusti?

Yes, within limits. Granulated sugar stands in for pearl sugar, though it melts rather than staying crunchy. The same pulla dough is braided into loaves and shaped many other ways.

What is the most important thing to get right in Korvapuusti?

Knead it for a further ten minutes. It should become smooth and very elastic. Put the dough in a large oiled bowl. Cover it and leave it somewhere warm. Let it roughly double in size. Give it an hour or a little more. Beat the very soft butter in a bowl. Add the sugar and the cinnamon. Beat it into a smooth spreadable paste. The butter must be genuinely very soft. Roll it out on a floured surface.