Book of Days Tales

Today is the fourth Sunday of Advent – Sunday of Love.  Time to light the fourth candle on the Advent wreath and get more deeply into Advent cooking.  Here are Advent buns.

Ingredients

25 gm yeast
75 gm butter
300 ml milk
1 gm salt
100 gm granulated sugar
2 gm cardamom
1 egg
540 gm plain flour

Filling

75 gm butter
120 gm icing sugar
2 gm vanilla sugar
1 apple, grated

For brushing

egg yolk
chopped almonds or other nuts
icing sugar

Instructions

Crumble the yeast into a bowl. Melt the butter in a saucepan. Add the milk and gently warm to about 37° C/98° F. Add the warm milk mixture and stir until the yeast has dissolved.

Add the salt, sugar, cardamom and egg. Mix in the flour gradually, until the dough no longer clings to the sides of the bowl. Cover with a tea towel and leave to rise for 20 minutes.

Combine the butter, icing sugar and vanilla sugar for the filling. Put the dough on a floured surface and knead until smooth. Roll out the dough into a rectangle measuring about 30 x 50 cm, and spread with the filling. Sprinkle the grated apple on top. Roll up the rectangle, cut the roll into slices and place them on a baking sheet lined with baking parchment. Cover with a tea towel and leave to rise for 20 minutes.

Brush with egg yolk and sprinkle with flaked almonds. Bake at the center of the oven at 175° C/ 350° F for 20 minutes. Leave to cool on a wire rack covered with a tea towel. Dust the buns with icing sugar before serving.