Sourdough Cardamom Buns
My recipe, schedule, and step-by-step process
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It’s here! It’s finally here! I’m so excited to share this recipe with y’all. This is the exact same recipe and process I use to make my very popular sourdough cardamom buns—one of the best selling items on the menu. The cardamom is in both the filling (ground cardamom) and dough (black cardamom seeds)—making these a perfect treat for cardamom lovers. The aroma is divine and will perfume throughout your entire house.
In Sweden, these buns are called kardemummabullar (plural) or kardemummabulle (singular). Cardamom buns are very popular all over Scandinavia, Nordic countries, and now the world. If you scroll all the way down you will find out where my favorite cardamom buns are in Barcelona. These buns are traditionally made with commercial yeast. A lot of traditionalists, including the Michelin star chef Magnus Nilsson, disapprove of sourdough versions. You can read through his “reasoning” for disliking sourdough cardamom buns here. I personally think there is room for both the yeast and sourdough versions. I agree with the sentiment that not everything needs to have sourdough in it. Making something with sourdough has to be intentional. For example, this recipe and process will give you a dough that takes on a slightly sour flavor and gives the finished product a chewy texture—two characteristics that I believe enhance the eating experience, and many of my clients would agree. The mild acidity from the sourdough provides a perfect balance to the sugary filling and glaze. The sugar from the filling will seep out just enough to create a caramelized bottom—one of my favorite parts of the bun.
There are a ton of commercial yeast recipes online. I encourage you to make both versions and see which you prefer. I believe the taste and texture of the buns gets better with a longer fermentation period (unlike Magnus)—be it with sourdough or commercial yeast. You can absolutely play around with the amount of yeast/sourdough you use for these buns. There are also a ton of hybrid versions that use both commercial yeast and sourdough starter. My recipe and process was adapted from Daniel Larsson.
When I first started baking these in 2019 there weren’t a lot of sourdough only versions so I decided to make my own. I have been developing and tweaking the formula and process over the last 5 years. I sold these buns at my micro bakery for about 4 years. This meant I had to come up with a schedule and process that worked best for the bakery and my clients—the details of which you can find below.