Cardamom, grapefruit, hazelnut and white chocolate tear-and-share buns

Name: Cardamom, grapefruit, hazelnut and white chocolate tear-and-share buns
Prep time: 45 min
Cook time: 45 min
Total time: 1 h 30 min
Yield: Serves 10-12
Cuisine: Scandinavian recipes
Ingredients: 200g strong white bread flour, plus extra to dust; 130g strong wholemeal flour; 7g sachet easy bake yeast; ½ tsp fine salt; 110g soft light brown sugar; 160ml whole milk, plus extra to brush; Seeds from 12 cardamom pods, ground; 3 medium eggs, beaten; 220g unsalted butter, softened and chopped; Finely grated zest 1 grapefruit; 40g blanched hazelnuts, toasted and finely chopped; 60g white chocolate, finely grated; For the glaze; 30g unsalted butter; 30ml whole milk; 60ml grapefruit juice; 200g icing sugar, sifted; Specialist kit; 23cm round springform cake tin

Portion size: Serves 10-12
Hands-on time 45 min, plus cooling. Oven time 40-45 min
Difficulty: easy

Freezable

Vegetarian

Emily Gussin

Food producer and sustainability lead, delicious.

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Fragrant brioche buns filled with a white chocolate and hazelnut mixture – it’s a strong start for Christmas Day or when you need an extra-special breakfast. The best thing is, you do all the work the day before.

Feeding a crowd for Christmas breakfast? These buns work well as part of a spread, alongside poached oranges with mascarpone yogurt and festive granola.

Before you start

Enriched doughs – ones with butter added – can be tricky to knead as things can get quite sticky. But they’re also satisfying to make – and very impressive. The key is to add the cubes of butter gradually and make sure they’re fully incorporated before adding more. With each addition the dough will turn sticky, then soft and smooth once it’s combined. It takes patience and a lot of effort to make by hand – a stand mixer is much easier.

To speed up the proving process in the morning, put the buns in the oven without turning it on. Put a dish of boiled water from the kettle on the shelf below to create a warm and steamy environment to wake up the chilled dough.

Shower caps are a great reusable covering for proving dough – keep a clean one in your baking toolkit.

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Ingredients

200g strong white bread flour, plus extra to dust
130g strong wholemeal flour
7g sachet easy bake yeast
½ tsp fine salt
110g soft light brown sugar
160ml whole milk, plus extra to brush
Seeds from 12 cardamom pods, ground
3 medium eggs, beaten
220g unsalted butter, softened and chopped
Finely grated zest 1 grapefruit
40g blanched hazelnuts, toasted and finely chopped
60g white chocolate, finely grated

For the glaze

30g unsalted butter
30ml whole milk
60ml grapefruit juice
200g icing sugar, sifted

Specialist kit

23cm round springform cake tin

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Method

Mix both flours with the yeast, salt and 50g of the sugar in a bowl, then make a well in the centre. Put the milk and cardamom in a small pan and heat until lukewarm. Pour into the well, followed by the eggs, then mix into a smooth dough. Tip onto a lightly floured worksurface or into a stand mixer with a dough hook. Knead by hand for 12 minutes (or 8 minutes in a stand mixer on a low-medium speed) until springy to touch.
Continue to knead the dough, adding 160g of the butter a few cubes at a time, ensuring it’s fully incorporated before adding more (see Be A Better Cook); the dough will be quite sticky at first but will get easier to work, so don’t add more flour. This will take 30 minutes by hand or 20 minutes in a stand mixer on medium speed.
Put the dough in a clean bowl and cover with a clean damp tea towel or a clean shower cap. Put somewhere warm for 1-2 hours until doubled in size.
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Meanwhile, mix the remaining 60g butter with the grapefruit zest, hazelnuts, chocolate and remaining 60g sugar in a bowl.
Once the dough has risen, turn it out onto a lightly floured worksurface and divide into 24 balls (about 30g each). Holding a ball in your palm, use your fingers from the other hand to press a dimple into the middle. Spoon 1 tsp of the hazelnut filling into the dimple, then enclose the dough around it. Pinch to seal, then roll on the worksurface to make a neat ball. Repeat with the remaining balls.
Sit the balls inside the cake tin, starting from the outside to make a spiral shape into the centre. There should be a bit of space between them. Re-cover with the tea towel and put in the fridge to prove overnight.
In the morning, remove the buns from the fridge and leave somewhere warm to prove for 1-1½ hours until puffed up. Heat the oven to 180°C/160°C fan/ gas 4. Brush the tops of the buns with a little milk. Bake for 40-45 minutes until golden brown.
Meanwhile make the glaze. Put all the ingredients in a small pan and cook over a medium heat, whisking constantly until combined into a smooth glaze.
Allow the buns to cool in the tin for 10 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack set over a tray. Pour over the glaze and leave to cool for at least 20 minutes before digging in – they’re lovely warm, but if too hot they’ll seem gummy. Any leftovers will keep in an airtight tin for up to 3 days