Sweet & Gooey Lemon Cardamom Buns

I don’t know when and I don’t know how, but these gooey, sweet lemon cardamom buns popped into my head as a full-blown “I must make this now” idea.  

This flavor combo is super interesting and not terribly common…I’m guessing that in my many MANY hours of watching Great British Bake-Off, I’ve soaked in the idea of using fresh green cardamom with lemon or orange from a few of my favorite bakers (hi, Nadiya!). 

I’ve been really into citrus or fruit plus herbal or warm spice flavors lately, particularly in cocktails (like this basil gin gimlet) but a bit in baking too (helloooo orange cinnamon twist bread!). 

As I was spreading on the amazing lemon-cardamom filling in this recipe, I had another brainwave and realized that lemon basil would be absolutely delicious too!

I initially tried this with a different dough, but it didn’t rise and turned out super dense…I’m not sure why since I’ve had success with that dough before (I may have killed the yeast with too-hot liquid). 

So I switched to using the dough from Paul Hollywood’s chelsea buns, which is simple but I know is delightfully soft.  I added a little sugar and tweaked the flavorings to infuse both fresh and dried cardamom and some lemon zest. 

The result is a fascinating, addictive flavor combo and a soft, sticky, sweet, gooey breakfast-maybe-dessert bun.

To get started, warm the milk, butter, sugar, and crushed cardamom pods in a small saucepan until the butter is melted and sugar dissolved, then let sit until it’s lukewarm.  

While this recipe does call for some dried cardamom as well, I REALLY believe that using some fresh green cardamom (or another variety, but still fresh) is what makes these lemon cardamom buns amazing.  You can find it really easily at most ethnic grocery stores and on Amazon.

In the large bowl of a stand mixer, stir the flour, cardamom and salt together, then add the yeast.  Strain out the cardamom pods and pour the lukewarm milk mixture into the flour mixture, and start to combine until it’s almost a dough. 

Then add the egg and lemon zest and stir thoroughly until the contents of the bowl come together as a soft dough. 

Tip the dough onto a VERY lightly-floured work surface and knead well for five minutes (or let your mixer do most of the work), until the dough is smooth and elastic. 

Place the dough into a lightly-oiled bowl and cover tightly with plastic wrap (or a damp tea towel), then leave to rise for an hour or until doubled in size.

Once the dough has finished rising, punch it down and tip it out onto a lightly-floured surface.  Roll it into a rectangle about 12 inches by 8 inches.  

Tack down one long side to the counter with your finger.

Stir together the filling ingredients until well-combined (your butter will need to be pretty soft). 

Spread over the rectangle of dough, leaving 1/2 inch border on three sides and going all the way to the edge on the long side that is NOT tacked down. Sprinkle the poppyseeds across the filling.

Starting at that long side, begin carefully rolling the dough into a spiral log.  With a sharp knife or cutter tool (I love my scraper), cut the log into thick slices, about 1.5-2 inches.  

Place in a rimmed baking sheet or 9×13 pan, cut-side up.  Leave about half an inch of space between each one, as they’ll expand on their second rise and touch.

Leave to rise for about 30 minutes in a warm place.  Preheat oven to 375 F regular or 355 F convection (190/170 C).

Bake for 20-25 minutes, until golden-brown.  Start checking after 15 minutes and cover with foil if the buns are getting too brown.

Once done, remove from the oven and let them cool for a few minutes.  Melt the jam in a bowl in the microwave with a splash of water and stir until smooth. Brush the jam over the buns to glaze them, and allow to cool.  

Then mix together the powdered sugar, lemon zest, lemon juice, an salt.  If needed, add a bit more juice until the thickness is correct. Drizzle the icing over the cooled buns and allow to set before serving.

DEVOUR.

I’m just so obsessed with the soft, fluffy dough, the subtle cardamom, and the bright, sweet lemon…I could NOT stop eating these!  I ended up having to beg friends to take them so I didn’t eat the entire pan myself.  Give these a try and you won’t be sorry!

Other sweet & (sometimes) gooey treats you’ll love:

• Paul Hollywood’s Chelsea Buns (my version)
• Citrus Poppyseed Babka with White Chocolate
• The Lazy Person’s Kouign Amann
• “November Cakes” (gooey orange buns)
• Peanut Butter & Jelly Babka
• Norwegian Skillingsboller (Cinnamon Buns)
• Traditional Finnish Cinnamon Buns (Korvapuusti)

I mostly made this recipe up, & used Paul Hollywood’s chelsea buns as the dough basis

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Sweet & Gooey Lemon Cardamom Buns

Yield: 12-13 buns

Prep Time: 2 hours 30 minutes

Cook Time: 25 minutes

Additional Time: 5 minutes

Total Time: 3 hours

These delicious sweet lemon cardamom buns are perfect for any day of the week, whether brunch or an afternoon treat. A unique flavor combo that's somewhere between cinnamon rolls and chelsea buns!

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Ingredients

• DOUGH:
• 300ml (10 fluid ounces) of milk
• 1 tablespoon of sugar
• Optional:  3 green cardamom pods, crushed
• 40g (1½ ounce) of unsalted butter
• 500g (1 pound 2 ounces) of strong white flour (bread flour)
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• 7 grams of fast-acting (instant) yeast (I think about a packet's worth, 2 1/4 teaspoon)
• 1/2 teaspoon of ground cardamom
• 1 free-range egg
• Zest of 2 lemons
• FILLING:
• 1/2 cup (113 grams) of unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 3/4 cup (160 grams) of light or dark brown sugar, packed
• Zest of 1 lemon
• 1/2 teaspoon of ground cardamom
• Splash of vanilla
• 2 tablespoons of poppyseeds (estimated)
• GLAZE & ICING:
• Apricot jam, warmed to make it runnier
• Zest of 1/2 a lemon
• 2 tablespoons of fresh lemon juice (give or take)
• 1/2 cup of powdered sugar, sifted
• Pinch of salt

Instructions

1. Warm the milk, butter, sugar, and crushed cardamom pods in a small saucepan until the butter is melted and sugar dissolved, then let sit until it's lukewarm.  
2. In the large bowl of a stand mixer, stir the flour, cardamom and salt together, then add the yeast.  Strain out the cardamom pods and pour the lukewarm milk mixture into the flour mixture, and start to combine until it's almost a dough. 
3. Then add the egg and lemon zest and stir thoroughly until the contents of the bowl come together as a soft dough.  
4. Tip the dough onto a VERY lightly-floured work surface and knead well for five minutes (or let your mixer do most of the work), until the dough is smooth and elastic.  
5. Place the dough into a lightly-oiled bowl and cover tightly with plastic wrap (or a damp tea towel), then leave to rise for an hour or until doubled in size.
6. Once the dough has finished rising, punch it down and tip it out onto a lightly-floured surface.  Roll it into a rectangle about 12 inches by 8 inches.  Tack down one long side to the counter with your finger.
7. Stir together the filling ingredients until well-combined (your butter will need to be pretty soft).  Spread over the rectangle of dough, leaving 1/2 inch border on three sides and going all the way to the edge on the long side that is NOT tacked down. Sprinkle the poppyseeds across the filling.
8. Starting at that long side, begin carefully rolling the dough into a spiral log.  With a sharp knife or cutter tool (I love my scraper), cut the log into thick slices, about 1.5-2 inches.  
9. Place in a rimmed baking sheet or 9x13 pan, cut-side up.  Leave about half an inch of space between each one, as they'll expand on their second rise and touch.
10. Leave to rise for about 30 minutes in a warm place.  Preheat oven to 375 F regular or 355 F convection (190/170 C).
11. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until golden-brown.  Start checking after 15 minutes and cover with foil if the buns are getting too brown.
12. Once done, remove from the oven and let them cool for a few minutes.
13. Melt the jam in a bowl in the microwave with a splash of water and stir until smooth. Brush the jam over the buns to glaze them, and allow to cool.  
14. Then mix together the powdered sugar, lemon zest, lemon juice, an salt.  If needed, add a bit more juice until the thickness is correct. Drizzle the icing over the cooled buns and allow to set before serving.

Recommended Products

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