Homemade Cardamom Sweet Rolls

A house is not a home unless it contains food and fire for the mind as well as the body. – Benjamin Franklin 

Warm from the oven. The best time to enjoy these.

After the blistering weekend it seems we have been given a bit of a rest here in Nova Scotia. Rain started late yesterday afternoon and has continued into the morning.

I’m sure our garden is loving it. Unfortunately it kind of means that we’re a bit “trapped” inside, at least until it starts to clear off this afternoon.

With the rain has come cooler temperatures so the inside of the house isn’t as much like an oven as it was. It is a little on the unpleasant side to cook meals when the weather is hot. Turning on the oven only increases the heat inside your home.

But today, not so much. And since there’s not much one can do outside in the yard, how about a homey baking recipe? But a homey recipe with a twist...

Bread is one baked good that conjures remembrances of hearth, home, comfort and love. Sweet rolls ratchet it up a notch, in my lowly opinion.

This recipe, a delicious twist on cinnamon buns, is no exception. Think about a light, moist dough – flavoured with sugar, eggs, milk and cardamom – wrapping a spicy, sugary filling with more cardamom. Mmmm…

Best served still warm from the oven, they’re good cooled too, if they last that long. 

One word of advice. Sweet rolls really should be eaten within 2 or 3 days of baking because, like any dough, they loose that freshness we value so much.

Grocery store baking, complete with preservatives, will last for much, much longer. I guess that’s the price we pay for having the care to bake for our families.

Try these. It’s a rainy day. You won’t regret it.

The risen dough is rolled to 16"x10", spread with butter and sprinkled
with the cardamom sugar.

Cardamom Sweet Rolls

Prep: 3 hrs 15 min  |  Bake: 35 min  |  Yield: 12 large rolls

4 cups flour

2 tsp yeast

1 cup milk, at 110-115°F

1/2 cup sugar

1 tsp salt

2 eggs

1/3 cup butter, melted (or margarine)

1/2 tsp cardamom, ground (or mace)

Spice Filling

1/4 cup butter, softened

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp cardamom, ground

1/4 cup sugar

melted butter for brushing tops

Roll up with the longest side facing you. Divide into 12 even slices.

Confectioner’s Icing

1 cup confectioner’s icing

2 tbsp milk

2 tsp white corn syrup

1/2 tsp vanilla

pinch of salt

Proof the yeast in the warm milk and sugar until creamy. Add to a large ceramic bowl. Add the salt, eggs, melted butter and cardamom. Mix well and then add the flour. Bring the mixture together and knead the dough for five minutes. 

Place the dough back in the bowl. Cover with plastic and a tea towel. Let rise in a warm place until doubled in size.

Space evenly in a well buttered baking dish...

...and let rise until doubled.

Mix together the sugar, cinnamon and cardamom. Roll out the  dough to 16” x 10”. If you like thinner dough (and more spiral) roll the dough out to 16" x 16".

Rub the flattened dough with the butter then sprinkle with the sugar mixture. Roll up along the 16” dimension and slice into 12 equal pieces. Arrange, cut sides up in a well buttered 10” x 14” oven proof dish.

Cover with plastic and a tea towel and let rise again until doubled, about 1 hour. 

Bake and then drizzle with the confectioner's icing. Mmmm...

Bake at 375°F for 30-35 min. Let cool 5 minutes and then drizzle with the confectioners icing.

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