Cardamom Whirls

4.50 (4)
⏱ 150 mins 🍽 Makes 20 🌶 scandinavian ✅ More effort 🏷 Breakfast

These beautifully spiced pastries are inspired by Swedish baking and make a fantastic treat with coffee. The soft, enriched dough is flavoured with cardamom and wrapped around a sweet marzipan filling before being baked until golden. They are best enjoyed fresh from the oven. This recipe yields 20 whirls and takes about 150 minutes to prepare and bake.

Cardamom Whirls

Ingredients

  • 500g strong white bread flour plus extra for dusting
  • 85g butter cut into small pieces
  • 1 x 7g sachet easy-blend dried yeast
  • 50g golden caster sugar
  • 1 tsp ground cardamom
  • 250ml milk
  • 175g white marzipan grated
  • 2 tsp ground cardamom
  • 50g butter melted
  • 1 egg lightly beaten
  • 10 sugar cubes broken into small pieces

Method

  1. Place the flour and ½ tsp salt into a food processor with a dough blade. Add the butter pieces and pulse until the mixture looks like fine breadcrumbs. Mix in the yeast, followed by the sugar and 1 tsp ground cardamom.
  2. Heat the milk until it is hand hot, then pour it into the processor to form a soft dough. Process the dough for 2 mins, then allow it to rise inside the machine for about 1 hr until it springs back when touched. Give the dough a short process in the machine, then turn it out onto a work surface dusted with flour.
  3. Preheat your oven to 220C/200C fan/gas 7. Prepare two baking sheets by lining them with baking paper. To make the filling, combine the grated marzipan with 2 tsp ground cardamom and the melted butter. Roll the dough out into a 50 x 20cm rectangle. Spread the filling mixture over the dough, leaving a 1cm border. Roll the dough up from one long side. Slice the roll into 20 pieces, each about 3cm thick, and place them on the baking sheets with the cut side facing up. Cover with a tea towel and leave to prove for 30-40 mins until they have risen well.
  4. Gently brush the whirls with the lightly beaten egg and scatter over the broken sugar pieces. Bake for 12-15 mins until they are puffed up and golden in colour. These pastries are at their best when eaten freshly baked, but you can freeze them on the day of baking for storage up to a month.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories202 kcal
Fat8 g
Saturates4 g
Carbs31 g
Sugars12 g
Fibre1 g
Protein4 g
Sodium56 mg

Recipe details

Skill levelMore effort
CategoryBreakfast
Cuisinescandinavian