Valentines Day Cinnamon Heart Buns

Next Saturday, the 14th of February, is the day you either hate or love - Valentine's Day. Regardless what kind you are, these buns I show you today will be the answer to a happy day in both cases. Even if we may be heartbroken, happily married or not interested in romance at the moment we all can find a reason to enjoy a coffee break (well, I prefer ice cold milk any day!) with cinnamon hearts.
I have always been quite disappointed in ordinary cinnamon buns because they are heavenly to eat freshly baked but gets dry and boring after a day or two. The main reason is that the filling I use to make is containing just sugar, cinnamon and a little bit of butter just prinkled on the dough before rolling it together. This time I made a new twist mixing butter, sugar, cinnamon AND almond paste! The result is mindblowing for me, the filling is sticky and delicious even after several days. I can assure you I will never go back to my old ways again!

Happy Valentine's Day people!

Cinnamon Heart Buns (approximately 15 buns)
600 grams flour
3 deciliter milk (room temperatured)
75 grams butter (room temperatured
1,5 deciliter sugar
25 grams fresh yeast (for sweet dough)
1 teaspoon cardamom

Filling
100 grams butter (room temperatured)
1 deciliter sugar
1,5 deciliter grated almond paste
2 tablespoons cinnamon

Decoration
1 egg
granulated sugar

1. Dissolve the yeast in the milk and then add sugar and cardamom.
2. Add 300 grams of flour little by little while stirring with a ladle or use a baking machine. If you use machine let it work for about 15 minutes.
3. Let the dough rise for about 30 minutes.
4. Keep on using the machine or and start working the dough while adding the rest of the flour and the butter in small pieces. You can also knead by hand if you feel more comfortable with that.
5. When the dough is nice and even without being sticky, let it rise for about 30 minutes.
6. Roll out the dough to a rectangle shape approximately 40*30 centimeter (40 cm horizontal) and about 0,5 cm thick.
7. Mix the room temperatured ingredients for the filling in a bowl and then spread it evenly all over the rectangel all the way out to the edges. 
8. Start rolling the two 40 cm edges into the middle of the rectangle and make sure the rolls are getting the same size when they meet.
9. Use a sharp knife to make 2 cm slices and lay the buns on a baking tray covered with baking paper. To get the heart shape you need to use the handle of a spoon sticking it right between the two rolls and drag the middle part down so you get the sharp lower edge of the heart. You can also use your thumb and forefinger to squeeze the rolls together a bit. Let the buns raise for about an hour under towel.
10. Put the oven on 225 Celcius.
11. Beat the egg and brush it on top and around all edges of the buns, sparkle the granulated sugar on top.
12. Bake in the middle of the oven for about 8-10 minutes until they get a nice golden brown color.

Cardamom flavored wheat bun filled with vanilla cream

One of my favorite pastries when I go to a confectionery is what we call in Sweden a "Pariserbulle". This delishous wheat bun is flavored with cardamom, filled with vanilla cream and sprinkled with sugar on top.
I don't know why but I have allways had the conviction that these buns are so difficult to bake, but today I really felt like trying anyway. It  went all well, that's both mine and my husband's opinion. I think we ate four buns each when they were freshly made and still a bit warm - mmm!
There are two ways you can do these buns:
1) Let the filling be totally wraped into the dough or 2) Make a crater in a bun and let the filling be shown. Both hese two ways are equally common here in Sweden. I decided to make alternative 1.

Cardamom wheat bun
50 grams fresh yeast for sweet dough
100 grams butter or margarine
3 deciliter milk
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 deciliter white sugar
2 teaspoon cardamom
9 deciliter flour

Filling 
Marsan cream or vanilla cream. Either you can use Marsan cream powder you buy in the grocery store
...or make it yourself:
2 egg yolks
2 tablespoon white sugar
2 tablespoon corn flour
3 deciliter coffee cream
eventually 1 tablespoon vanillin powder

Topping
25 grams butter or margarine
white sugar

How to...
Start with the marsan cream.If you use bought Marsan cream powder you just follow the instructions on the package. If you are not able to buy Marsan cream you can put two egg yolks, white sugar, corn flour and coffee cream into a sauce pan and let the mixture simmer while stirring. When the cream is thicken you take of the sauce pan from the stove and let it cool down. If you like to flavor it with vanilla you put 1 tablespoon vanillin powder into it when the marsan cream has cooled down.
Note: Make sure the consistency is firm, otherwise it will be difficult to keep the cream inside the dough.

1. Crumble the yeast with your fingers into a big bowl (or a baking machine).
2. Melt the butter/margarine in a sauce pan at low temperature and then pour the milk into it. Use a digital thermometer to check when the mixture is 37 Celcius. It is important that the temperature is not over 37 Celcius because otherwise you cannot be sure if the yeast will survive or die. If you don't have a digital thermometer you can use your finger. When you feel it neigher to be warmer or colder than your own finger it is probably good enough - they call it lukewarm.
3. So, pour the butter/milk over the yeast and use a spoon to solve the yeast.
4. Put salt, sugar, and cardamom into the mixture.
5. Measure up the flour correctly by using a digital scale or a liter measurement tool and just pour the flour from the package without shaking the measurement tool - you get too much flour if you shake the measurement tool to pack the flour.
6. Pour only 2/3 of the total amount of flour little by little into the mixture and let the baking machine work the dough about 5 minutes or until the dough let go of the bowl's edges. You can also work it by hand with a spoon.
7. Sprinkle some flour on top (to prevent a dry surface) and let the dough rest in 30 minutes under a towel - it should grow to twice it's size during that time.
8. Put the oven 250 Celsius.
9. Cover two baking sheets with baking paper.
10. Put the dough on a floured table and knead it into a nice big bun, use more flour if needed but be careful and don't use too much - divide the bun in two.
11. Roll out the dough, about 2-3 mm thick, and cut out circles (about 10 cm diameter) with a mug.
12. Add a dollop of marsan cream in the middle of each circle and use your fingers to pinch the edges of the circle like the picture shows. When it is firmly done, put the bun with the pinched side down on the baking sheet.
13. When a whole baking sheet is full, put a thin towel over them and let them grow for about 50 minutes.
14. Brush each bun with beaten egg and bake them in the middle of the oven for about 7 minutes. All ovens are different so instead of just trust the time, look at them often and put them out of the oven when they get a nice light golden brown color.
15. Let the buns rest on a grid with a thin towel over them. When they are cold, brush the ones you are planning to eat with melted butter on top and dip them in white sugar.
If you intend to freeze the buns, you should skip the butter/sugar topping until they will be served.