Week 18: Korvapuusti (Finnish cinnamon rolls)
Well, we did it – 18 breakfasts from all around the world! What a finale these irresistible cinnamon rolls were! (A little trivia side note – these things are called korvapuusti in Finnish, which literally translates as ‘slapped ears’…) I was a little intimidated before we started but they turned out to be really easy. And the nice thing is, there were no fancy ingredients, so I didn’t even have to do a special shop. We had everything we needed right here in our kitchen. Waiting for the dough to rise made the process a little bit time consuming but there is not a whole lot of hands-on preparation time – in any case, they were so delicious that they were well worth the wait! We’ll put our hands up for slapped ears any day! 🙂
What you will need:
(Makes about 10 rolls)
For the dough
- 1 cup lukewarm milk
- 7g dry yeast
- 60g white sugar
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp cardamom
- 3 cups plain flour
- 80g soft butter or margarine
- 1 small egg
- baking paper
- large baking tray
- rolling pin
- pastry brush
For the filling
- 75g soft butter or margarine
- 3 tbsp sugar
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
Topping
- 1 egg, beaten
- sprinkling of raw sugar
Method
1. Dissolve yeast in 1 cup lukewarm milk.
2. In a separate mixing bowl, mix together sugar, salt, cardamom and flour.
3. Add butter to flour mixture in small knobs and work it through the mix.
4. Add lightly beaten egg to milk and yeast and slowly add to dry ingredients, mixing through with a wooden spoon.
5. Lightly knead the dough until it’s well mixed. The dough should be dry enough not to stick to your hands. If it’s too sticky, add flour until it reaches the right consistency.
6. Cover the dough with a piece of cling wrap and sit in a warm place for 30-60 mins (until dough doubles in size). In the meantime, mix together the ingredients for the cinnamon butter filling and preheat the oven to 180°C.
7. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured piece of baking paper and roll it out into a rectangle, roughly 5mm thick.
8. Spread a layer of cinnamon butter over the dough and roll it up into a log, starting from the long edge.
9. Cut the dough into small ‘wedges’ and place them a few centimetres apart on the baking paper-lined tray.
10. To get the right shape, make an indentation down the middle of each one by pressing down firmly with your finger.
11. Brush each roll with some egg and sprinkle with raw sugar.
12. Place the rolls in the oven for 10-15 minutes or until golden brown. Enjoy while still fresh!
Bonus tip: Leftover cinnamon butter is amazing on toast!
Join us on our journey!
This was the finale of our ‘Around the World in 18 Breakfasts’ journey but there’ll be plenty more foodie adventures to come. Subscribe to our blog or follow us on Facebook or Pinterest to be part of our adventures.
