Fika Buns

If we all ate fika, I think the world would be a much better place. Fika is a Scandinavian ritual, like afternoon tea. Traditionally, a range of buns are served that you share with your neighbours, people you work with or friends (imaginary or otherwise). It’s such a great custom and even the mighty Volvo plant in Sweden stops for fika every day. What follows here are the recipes for three different flavour buns, all made from the same dough, but with different fillings (butters) and glazes. We recommend the Milky Way glaze with the cinnamon bun, the coffee glaze with the cardamom and orange bun and the orange glaze with the Nutella bun, but it’s totally up to you. We’ve given quantities for the butter and glaze recipes, but to be honest, you can adjust them depending on whether you want a subtle hint of flavour or a big mouthful, so don’t feel tied down to the measurements.

MAKES 15 BUNS

Breadsong: How Baking Changed Our Lives Al Tait and Kitty Tait

FOR THE DOUGH

• 200ml warm whole milk (as warm as a relaxing bath)

• 1 egg, beaten

• 7g instant dried yeast (2 teaspoons or a whole sachet)

• 500g strong white bread flour or plain flour

• 10g fine sea salt

• 30g caster sugar

• 1 tablespoon ground cardamom (optional, if making buns with cinnamon butter filling)

• 125g soft unsalted butter, cubed

• zest of 1 orange (if making buns with Nutella butter filling)

1. In a small bowl, whisk together the milk, egg and yeast. In a separate large mixing bowl, combine the flour, salt, sugar and ground cardamom, if using. (The ground cardamom is optional for the cinnamon butter buns, but it gives them a subtle Scandi flavour.) Make a small well in the flour, pour in the milk mixture and stir together until it forms a rough dough.

2. Tip the dough onto a lightly floured work surface and either knead by hand for 8-10 minutes or in a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook for 4-5 minutes, gradually working the cubes of butter into the dough as you knead until it is smooth and glossy. Pop the dough back into the bowl, place a damp tea towel or shower cap over the rim and leave to prove for 1-1½ hours until the dough has almost doubled in size. Alternatively, refrigerate the dough (still covered) for anywhere between 4 hours and overnight. It will still prove, just more slowly, and the dough will be much easier to handle.

3. Tip your puffy dough onto a lightly floured work surface and roll it out into a 30 x 20cm rectangle that is roughly 5mm thick. Transfer the dough to a baking tray and put it in the fridge for 10 minutes or so. (Chilling firms up the dough, which makes it easier to spread over the butter filling during the next stage.) Meanwhile, prepare your chosen butter filling (see overleaf).

4. Once the dough is chilled and the butter filling is ready, lay the dough rectangle on the work surface with a longer side facing you. Spread your butter filling across the first "two-thirds of the dough, fold the naked one-third towards you into the middle over the top of the buttered third and then fold the buttered third nearest to you over the folded layers. You now have a long triple-decker sandwich of layers of dough and butter filling, which will give your buns their signature lamination.

5. Again, roll out the dough into a 30 x 20cm rectangle with a longer side facing you. Using a sharp knife or pizza cutter, slice the dough into 15 equal strips, each roughly 2cm wide, so that your dough looks like a picket fence.

6. Take one strip of dough and coil it up from one end so that it looks like a snail’s shell. Stretch the last 2cm of the strip, wrap it over the top of the coil and then tuck it underneath - your snail now looks like it is checking its undercarriage. Repeat for all the dough strips. Place the coiled buns on two baking trays lined with parchment paper, spacing them a few centimetres apart. Cover with a damp tea towel and leave somewhere warm to prove for 30 minutes.

7. Preheat the oven to 180°C/160°C fan/gas 4.

8. Bake in the hot oven for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown. Leave on a wire rack to cool for 15 minutes, then brush with your chosen glaze.

BUTTERS & GLAZES

CINNAMON BUTTER

• 100g soft unsalted butter

• 100g caster sugar

• 1 heaped tablespoon ground cinnamon 

Combine all the ingredients in a mixing bowl and beat with a wooden spoon until fully combined into a smooth paste.

CARDAMOM AND ORANGE BUTTER

• 100g soft unsalted butter

• 100g soft light brown sugar

• 1 heaped tablespoon ground cardamom

• zest of 1 orange 

Combine all the ingredients in a mixing bowl and beat with a wooden spoon until fully combined into a smooth paste.

NUTELLA BUTTER

• 350g jar of Nutella

• 1 tablespoon tahini, or to taste 

This is the easiest of all – no mixing, no measuring, just use a jar of Nutella for the butter filling (this is plenty but I promise you’ll end up adding a bit more which is why you just need the jar on standby). If you’re feeling adventurous, you can add some tahini – this adds a really nice extra nuttiness. Simply dribble the tahini over the top of the Nutella when spreading it over the dough.

MILKY WAY GLAZE

• 100ml whole milk

• 50g caster sugar

Warm the milk in a small saucepan over medium heat, add the sugar and stir until it has all dissolved.

Brush or spoon the warm glaze over the cooled buns and leave to set. The glaze adds a thin icing but also soaks through into the dough, adding another layer of flavour.

COFFEE GLAZE

• 100ml black coffee (espresso or filter)

• 50g soft light brown sugar 

Warm the coffee in a small saucepan over medium heat, add the sugar and stir until it has all dissolved.

Brush or spoon the warm glaze over the cooled buns and leave to set.

ORANGE GLAZE

• 100ml orange juice

• 1 heaped tablespoon orange marmalade (thin-cut is best)

• 1 tablespoon roughly chopped hazelnuts (optional)

Warm the orange juice in a small saucepan over medium heat, add the marmalade and stir together until you’re left with a mouth-watering syrup.

Brush or spoon the warm glaze over the cooled buns. Scatter over a few chopped hazelnuts, if you want.

Reprinted with Permission From Breadsong: How Baking Changed Our Lives by Kitty and Al Tait (Bloomsbury USA, May 24, 2022). Photographs copyright © 2022 by Mark Lord.

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