Cardamom Carnival Buns
Soft yeasted buns, vanilla cheesecake filling, warm blueberry compote.
Method
Whisk the flour, sugar, yeast, salt, and cardamom together in a large bowl. Add the warm milk, egg, and softened butter and mix until a soft dough forms.
Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 8-10 minutes, until smooth and elastic. It should spring back when poked.
Place the dough in a greased bowl, cover, and let it rise in a warm spot for about 1 hour, until roughly doubled.
Meanwhile, beat the cream cheese, powdered sugar, vanilla, and egg yolk together until smooth. Chill until ready to use.
Make the compote: combine the blueberries, lemon juice, and 1 tablespoon sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat. Cook until the berries burst, about 4 minutes. Stir in the cornstarch slurry and cook 1 minute more until thickened. Set aside to cool.
Punch the dough down and divide into 10-12 equal pieces. Shape each into a ball and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Press a deep indent into the center of each with your thumb.
Spoon a generous teaspoon of cheesecake filling into each indent, then top with a teaspoon of blueberry compote. Brush the exposed dough with beaten egg.
Bake at 180°C / 350°F for 18-22 minutes, until the tops are golden brown and the filling is set.
Cool on the pan for 5 minutes, then transfer to a rack. Dust with powdered sugar and serve warm.
Eat them warm. The filling should still be soft.
— Oysterdrive
The kitchen smells like a Saturday morning
These are sweet, soft buns with a pocket of vanilla cheesecake and a spoonful of warm blueberry compote tucked into the middle. The dough is gently spiced with cardamom, which is what gives them that "someone baked something at home" feeling before you even bite in.
They come together in about two hours — most of which is the dough rising and doing its quiet thing on the counter. The filling is mixed while the dough rises, so by the time you shape the buns, everything is ready to spoon in. Bake them until they are just golden, dust with powdered sugar if you like, and serve warm.
They are the kind of thing that disappears from the table faster than you expect. Make a double batch if you are feeding more than four.