i spent a year in norway as a kid, long enough for the scent of cardamom to settle into memory. later, when we moved to australia at thirteen, the bakeries felt different — glass cabinets of bright pink finger buns, all sugar and coconut and school-holiday joy. sweet in a way that belonged to this new place, but something about the soft dough still felt familiar
these are a little different. the dough leans toward scandi — warm with cardamom, softer and richer from the butter. the icings are spiced cardamom or blueberry for that classic pink glow. it’s not quite a skolleboller, not quite a finger bun, but somewhere in that sweet, spiced middle ground
they’re lovely still slightly warm, eaten plain or split open with a little butter. no need for coconut or sprinkles — just the quiet satisfaction of something homemade, simple, and a little familiar in a new way
yields 6 mini buns
ingredients
cardamom finger buns
1 tsp honey
125mL soy milk
3.5g yeast
20g sugar
1 tsp cardamom seeds
220g self-raising flour
pinch salt
30g butter, melted
cardamom sugar icing (for 3 buns)
30g icing sugar
0.5 tsp cardamom seeds
1-2 tsp soy milk
blueberry icing (for 3 buns)
30g icing sugar
1-2 tsp blueberry juice (from 1 tbsp defrosted blueberries)
method
cardamom finger buns
add the honey (1 tsp) and soy milk (125mL) to a small saucepan
heat gently until just lukewarm
sprinkle over the yeast (3.5g) and let bloom for 5 minutes
meanwhile, add the caster sugar (20g) and cardamom seeds (1 tsp) to a nutribullet and blitz together to a fine powder
add the cardamom sugar, flour (220g), and a pinch of salt to a mixing bowl
pour over the warm milk mixture and stir to form a shaggy dough
pour in the melted, cooled butter (30g) and stir through
knead to form a smooth, supple dough
this took about 8-10 minutes by hand
cover and let rise in a warm place for 45 minutes, or until doubled in size
turn out the dough onto a clean benchtop and divide into six even portions
gently roll the dough portions into sausages shapes and place on a lined baking tray spaced a thumb-width apart
cover and let rise again for 20 minutes
preheat the oven to 180C while the buns rise
bake for 20 minutes, until golden and cooked through
let cool on a wire rack while you prepare the icings
cardamom sugar icing
blitz together the icing sugar (30g) and cardamom seeds (0.5 tsp) in a nutribullet until the cardamom is finely ground into the sugar and smells wonderful
stir in the soy milk, 1 tsp at a time until the mixture forms a thick icing
spread over the tops of 3 of the cooled buns
blueberry icing
starting with the defrosted blueberries, gently press them to extract 1-2 tsp of clear purple blueberries juices
stir the blueberry juice 1 tsp at a time into the icing sugar (30g) until the mixture forms a thick icing
spread over the tops of the other 3 of the cooled buns