rhubarb buns

rhubarb buns

• 31 Oct 2022

I recently spent 2 weeks in my hometown of Brisbane. While I was there, I decided to learn how to roll kanellebullar or Swedish cinnamon buns properly. I watched loads of videos and I now know at least 9 different ways of shaping them. I decided to try a new to me shaping method to form these rhubarb buns.

The recipe is a hybrid of sorts, using my favourite bun dough, with an almond filling (inspired by this recipe) then topped with a rhubarb compote and some flaked almonds. Traditionally the buns should be flavoured with cardamom but as I am not a fan of that spice in sweet goods I omitted it completely from the recipe. If you want help with the rolling and folding, please refer to the video linked above.

Here's the recipe for you which makes 12 buns. For all my recipes I use a 250ml cup and a 20 ml tablespoon, unsalted butter and 60g eggs. My oven is a conventional gas oven so if your oven is fan forced you may need to reduce the oven temperature by 20°C.

Rhubarb buns - makes 12
Dough
1 tsp dried yeast
135 mls lukewarm milk

30g honey
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 room temperature egg

2 cups (300g) plain flour 
½ tsp salt
75g room temperature unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

 
Rhubarb compote
225g rhubarb 
40-50g caster sugar

1 strip orange rind

2 tbs orange juice

1 cinnamon stick 

1 tsp tapioca, corn or potato starch

Filling
75g room temperature unsalted butter
1 tsp vanilla extract
75g caster sugar
55g almond meal
Pinch salt

Topping
1 egg, beaten 
25g flaked almonds

Method 
Grease a large bowl. Combine the milk, honey and vanilla in a large liquid measuring cup. Stir in the yeast and leave covered for 10 minutes or until frothy, then add the egg and mix until combined.

Place the flour and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle, and mix on low to combine. Add the egg mixture and mix on low to combine. With the mixer on low, add the butter, one piece at a time. When all the butter has been added, increase the speed to medium and beat the butter into the dough, until all the little butter pieces are incorporated, 1 minute. Transfer the dough to the prepared bowl. The dough will be very sticky and you will need a spatula to scrape the dough into the bowl.

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let rise for 30 minutes. Place your fingers or a spatula underneath the dough and gently pull the dough up and fold it back over itself. Turn the bowl and repeat this folding again. Continue 6 to 8 more times, until all the dough has been folded over on itself. Re-cover the bowl with plastic and let rise for 30 minutes. Repeat this series of folding 3 more times, for a rise time of 2 hours and a total of 4 foldings. Tightly cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight or up to 72 hours.

Rhubarb compote 
Cut the rhubarb into centimetre-thick pieces. In a small saucepan combine the rhubarb with the sugar, orange rind, juice and cinnamon stick and cook for about 10 minutes or until the rhubarb has softened. Add 1 tsp of tapioca starch and cook until the mixture has thickened a little. Let the rhubarb cool completely before using. My rhubarb was very tart, so I needed to add a little more sugar to the compote.

Filling
Place all the ingredients into a small food processor and whiz to form a smooth paste. Set to one side. 

Assembly
Line 2 baking trays with baking paper. Take the dough from the fridge then turn the dough out onto a lightly floured bench. Knead the dough a few times to activate the gluten.

Roll the dough out to approximately 30 x 40 cm rectangle. Spread the filling over the dough then fold the long sides of the dough over so that there are three layers. Flatten slightly with a rolling pin to seal the edges. Return the dough to the fridge for 15 minutes to firm up the dough.

Cut the dough horizontally into 12 twelve strips then stretch, twist and form each strip into a loose knot. Place the knots on the prepared baking trays. Cover with a clean tea towel or plastic wrap and let rise until doubled in size and puffy.

Preheat the oven to 220°C, conventional. Press down the centre of each bun and spoon in some of the rhubarb compote. Brush the buns with the egg wash and sprinkle with the flaked almonds. Place the tray of buns on the centre rack of the oven and bake for 12-14 minutes or until risen and well browned. Leave to cool for a few minutes before cooling on a wire rack. Repeat with the second tray.

I love buns and I just love rhubarb so I had high hopes for these rhubarb buns and I was not disappointed. They were delicious! Now I have to try out a few more of those shaping techniques so expect more buns in the future.

See you all again next week with some more baking from my kitchen.

Bye for now,

Jillian