Have you ever had a cinnamon roll and been like, “ya know what, this is delicious but I want something a little more inventive?”. Well, these cardamom clementine morning buns are that something more inventive.
It’s a cross between a croissant and a cinnamon roll and the filling is elevated with some cardamom spice and a lot of clementine zest. It’s the breakfast item you’ve been dreaming of but couldn’t quite figure out. To be fair, I didn’t figure it out either, this is a Jamie Oliver recipe but you know what it is fantastic and needs to be shared with the world.
Or at least the parts of the world that read this blog. Whatever.
My dad’s birthday is Christmas Eve, so I spent the day before rolling and resting the dough before getting the buns all prepared to spend the night proving in the fridge before baking for his special birthday breakfast. Puff pastry seems intimidating, but I promise it isn’t. You can do it.
Little bit of dough, some butter, a rolling pin and some arm strength are all you need. And a fridge so the dough can properly rest before it gets rolled again. And again. And again. Repetitive, but worth it.
These are a slight labour of love, but once you take your first bite you won’t even think about the work you put in the day before. And how nice is it that you do make it the day before so when you get up in the morning, all you have to do is preheat your oven and throw them in. It’s an ideal Sunday morning situation.
My family literally couldn’t wait to dig into these, so I had to rush through these shots before they ate them all. But let me tell you, they are beautiful and they are delicious. Which is all we really want out of breakfast.
In search of taste-testers. So if you’re in the Portland area and interested, let me know!
Cardamom Clementine Morning Buns
Ingredients
- Dough:
- 500g all-purpose flour, plus extra for dusting
- 50g sugar
- 2 tsp. salt
- 14g active dry yeast
- 300ml milk
- 250g cold unsalted butter
- Filling & Glaze:
- 1 tbsp. ground cardamom
- 1 tbsp. ground cinnamon
- 100g light brown sugar
- 90g sugar, plus 3 tbsp. extra
- 8 clementines
- 50g unsalted butter
Directions
- Step 1 Mix the flour, sugar and salt in a large bowl, make a well in the centre and add the yeast. Warm the milk and pour over the yeast. let it sit for a few minutes, then mix quickly to form a dough. Knead for 3-4 minutes until smooth, then shape into a rough rectangle. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for 2 hours.
- Step 2 Just before the 2 hours are up, place the butter between 2 large sheets of greaseproof paper and use a rolling pin to beat and roll the butter into a flat rectangle, about 30 x 20cm. Chill in the fridge for 15 minutes.
- Step 3 On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough into a rectangle about 45 x 20cm. Place the butter at one end, so it covered two thirds of the dough, fold the other third over the butter, then fold over again. Turn the parcel 90 degrees and roll back out to 45 x 20 cm. Fold as before, then wrap in plastic wrap and pop in the fridge for 45 minutes. Repeat this process twice more, chilling in between.
- Step 4 Combine the cardamom, cinnamon and sugars, then finely grate in the clementine zest. Mix to combine, and set aside.
- Step 5 Melt the butter a grease a muffin tin. Roll the dough to 50 x 30cm, brush with the remaining melted butter and evenly sprinkle over the sugar. Roll up tightly lengthways, trim the ends so it’s 45cm long, then cut the log into 12 pieces. Place cut-side up in the tin, cover loosely with oiled plastic wrap and leave to prove at room temperature for 1 hour, or until risen by half. Chill the tin of buns in the fridge for 30 minutes, or overnight.
- Step 6 When ready to bake, preheat oven to 375°F. Place the muffin tin on a tray on the middle rack and bake for 30-35 minutes, rotating halfway, until golden. Cover with foil for the final 10 minutes if they are browning too much. Flip onto a wire rack, then scatter over the extra caster sugar to serve.
