It's cinnamon bun day (kanelbullens dag)!

It's Cinnamon Bun Day in Sweden today. Cinnamon Bun Day was established in 1999, or 17 years ago, when Swedish Home Baking Council (Hembakningsrådet) came up with the idea when looking for a way to celebrate their 40th anniversary. Many Swedes rush to their favourite bakery today and buy some kanelbullar - or bake their own. You'll find a good recipe for Swedish kanelbullar over on Sweden.se site (written by Anne).

I've previously given you recipe for my traditional cinnamon rolls (with step-by-step photos), as well as the hugely popular cinnamon pull-apart bread. Today's recipe is for Finnish korvapuustit ('Slapped ears') - more or less the same thing, just shaped and braided slightly differently.

Korvapuustit/Finnish cinnamon buns
(Soomlaste kaneelisaiad)
Makes about 16 large buns



450 g all-purpose flour (about 750 ml or 3 cups)
85 g caster sugar (100 ml)
1.5 tsp ground cardamom pods
0.5 tsp salt
1 packet of fast-action dried yeast (about 11 g)
250 ml lukewarm milk (1 cup)
1 egg (divided)
75 g butter, softened

Filling:
50 g butter, softened
4 Tbsp caster sugar
cinnamon

Topping:
pearl sugar (optional)

In a large mixing bowl, mix most of the flour, sugar, cardamom, salt and yeast. Stir in the milk and about half of the egg (leave some for brushing the buns before baking). Knead in the softened butter and the rest of the flour, if necessary. Knead until you've got a soft and pliable dough that releases from the sides of the bowl. Cover with clingfilm or a clean towel and leave to prove for about 45-60 minutes, until doubled in size. (The place for proving should be warm and draught-free).
Turn the dough onto a lightly floured table, knead gently couple of times. Roll into a reclangle sized 30x60 cm. Spread soft butter over the dough, then sprinkle generously with cinnamon and sugar. Roll up tightly, starting from the long side, leaving the "seam" under the roll.

Now use a sharp knife to cut into buns, following the scheme here. The buns should be about 2 cm wide on the narrow end and 5 cm on the wide end.



Transfer onto a parchment-lined baking sheet, placing them upright. Using your thumbs or a large pencil, press a dent into the middle of each bun, just like this:



Cover with a kitchen towel and leave to raise for another 30 minutes in a warm place. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 225 C/450 F.

Brush with egg wash and sprinkle with pearl sugar. Bake in a preheated oven for 10-15 minutes, until the buns and golden brown.

Take the baking sheet out of the oven, and cover the buns with a kitchen towel and let them cool (a little) - this way they remain nice and soft.

Berry muffins, fit for the Queen

For some reason, our northern neighbours, the Finns, call dishes containing raspberries and blueberries (well, actually bilberries) kuningatar-this and kuningatar-that, the prefix kuningatar- meaning the queen. I'm yet to conduct research why this is so (any Finnish readers out there who know? Ritva, perhaps?), but here are some delicious summer muffins containing blueberries and raspberries - and would hence be called kuningatarmuffinsit or "queen's muffins" in Finland :)

I call them simply:

Summer Berry Muffins
(Kuningannamuffinid)
Yields 12 regular muffins

100 g butter, at room temperature
125 g caster sugar
2 tsp vanilla sugar
2 eggs (L)
50-100 ml (about 4-7 Tbsp) milk, buttermilk or kefir
120 g all-purpose flour or fine white spelt flour
60 g wholemeal flour
1.5 tsp baking powder
200 g blueberries and raspberries
pearl sugar (optional)

Cream the butter and sugars until white and soft (I use the paddle attachment of my standing mixer). Add the eggs, one at a time, and whisking thoroughly after adding each egg. Pour in the milk.

Mix the dry ingredients (flours and baking powder), fold into the egg, butter and sugar mixture.

Finally, gently fold in the berries.

Line the muffin pan with paper muffin liners, then divide the muffin mixture into the muffin cups. Sprinkle with pearl sugar, if you feel like.

Bake at pre-heated 200 C (390 F) for 15-20 minutes, until the muffins have risen and are lovely golden brown.

Let cool a little and serve.

These are best on the day they are baked. Here's a sneak peek to the inside of the muffin: my instagram muffin-pic. 

Anne's shrimp and mango salad

We had some friends over today and I needed something bright and yummy (and without gluten) to be served on this sunny day. I was browsing my to-do(-again) lists, and opted for a refreshing mango and shrimp salad that I've made before. It's light, it's easy, and it's quite an eye-catcher, so perfect for a summer get-together. As I suspected, it was very well received - though you might hold back with the chilli when catering for kids as well ;)

The original recipe is from Anne's blog, and she's actually blogged about it a couple of times (see here and here)

Shrimp and Mango Salad
(Kreveti-mangosalat)
Serves four

300 g peeled cooked shrimp
300 g mango cubes
1 red chilli
1 small red onion
2 Tbsp freshly squeezed lime juice
a small handful of fresh coriander leaves/cilantro
a generous pinch of pink peppercorns

If you use frozen shrimp, then defrost them overnight in the fridge or put into a bowl of lukewarm water for a few hours. Drain thoroughly.

Defrost the mango cubes or cut to the fresh mango into small cubes.

Thinly slice the chilli (discard the seeds). Peel the onion, cut either into a small dice or cut into two lengthwise and then into thin slices.

Mix mango, shrimps, chilli, onions and coriander leaves in a bowl. Drizzle with lime juice and sprinkle some crushed pink peppercorns on top.

Serve immediately.